#435The whole army retreats, you should thank meAI Model: gemini-2.5-flashChapter 435: The whole army retreats, you should thank meAaron saw the archers aiming from the Castle walls and knew he couldn't slack off anymore.Watching was fine, but he still had to be careful with his actions.Those participating in the raid were all Narnian elites; if they suffered heavy losses in this siege, the subsequent battles would be even harder to fight.Bang! Bang! Bang!Three clear gunshots reached everyone's ears, causing both sides in the battle to pause involuntarily.After a brief silence, the Centaur leader shouted, "Retreat, quickly retreat."The Narnians abandoned their current opponents and rushed towards the Castle gate.Aaron twirled his silver pistol a few times, put it away, and then silently retreated outside the Castle gate.Having done this much, he had a clear conscience; at least he had preserved Narnia's fighting strength to the maximum extent."Close the Castle gate, quickly close the Castle gate!" Miraz roared furiously.In his opinion, tonight should have been a beautiful defense of Telmar.Although it was a bit thrilling, as long as they annihilated all invading enemies, everything would be worth it.If he killed Caspian, he would be the sole heir to the throne.If he annihilated the Narnians, he would have fulfilled his ancestors' last wish.This achievement would be enough for him to legitimately inherit the throne, and the elders of the council would not be able to find any fault.But if he let them escape, this defense would be flawed, like a thorn in his heart.Peter was also completely bewildered; he hadn't expected Aaron to have a second gun, nor had he expected him to issue a retreat signal over his head.He was about to charge into the Castleto capture Miraz, but once the retreat signal was given, he lost the cover of others, and going in alone would be suicide."Let's go, Peter!" Susan shouted loudly.Peter's chest heaved with anger, but whether he liked it or not, he could only retreat now."Take her out," Peter said to the Centaur leader, asking him to take Susan away.He himself remained inside the city, doing his best to help the wounded evacuate."Where's Caspian?" Susan asked as she passed the Castle gate."I didn't see him," Aaron said truthfully. "Most likely he went to save his tutor.Don't think too much about it; the retreat signal has been sent. As long as he's not deaf, he'll know where to run."Susan was speechless and quietly followed the Centaur leader away.Edmund also heard the gunshots, but with pursuers behind him and a wall dozens of meters high in front, he truly had nowhere to go.Fortunately, the Griffin that brought him seemed to sense his helplessness and quickly flew over, grabbing his shoulder and carrying him high into the sky.Clang! Clang! Clang!The soldiers on the Castle tower strenuously cut a chain, and a large bag of stones attached to it fell.This was an emergency control device, capable of temporarily closing the Castle gate and drawbridge, designed to handle situations like this and prevent external enemies from escaping.The Castle gate began to descend, and the drawbridge outside also slowly rose.More than eighty percent of the Narnian army had retreated, but a portion that was farther from the Castle gate didn't have time to withdraw.Seeing this, a Minotaur immediately stood beneath the Castle gate, single-handedly holding up the several-thousand-pound portcullis, buying time for others to escape.At this moment, a side door within the Castle suddenly broke open, and Caspian and Cornelius rushed out.They were each riding a horse, and Caspian had even led one for Peter.Peter didn't hesitate, immediately swung onto the horse, and charged towards the Castle gate."Attack, order the attack!" Miraz said."But our men are still down there," the general said with difficulty.Miraz didn't care; he snatched a crossbow from the general's hand, "Attack now!"If those Narnians escaped, then so be it. He could always lead his troops to encircle them after the bridge was rebuilt.But he couldn't let Caspian escape; this was a threat to his throne and his son.Moreover, Caspian now knew the cause of his father's death; there was no room for reconciliation between them. If Caspian successfully seized the throne, he would definitely not spare him.Dense crossbow bolts shot towards the Castle gate, and many Narnians fell on their retreat path.The Minotaur's thigh was also hit by a crossbow bolt, but he continued to hold on."A tough guy!" Aaron exclaimed. "To be honest, I don't really like your appearance, but I greatly admire your actions.""Stop talking nonsense, get out of here quickly! I can't hold on much longer," the Minotaur said in a booming voice. "When I fall, it's not just the Castlegate that closes, but the drawbridge too."Hearing this, Aaron sighed thoughtfully and re-entered the Castle gate."Are you crazy? Get out of here!""I'll see this through. After all, I sent the retreat signal.It would be somewhat inappropriate to stand by and watch." Aaron said, drawing his long sword and deflecting several arrows aimed at the Minotaur. "But let me say this first: I can at most block the crossbow bolts aimed at you, but I can't look after anyone else."The Minotaur fell silent for a moment, unsure what to say.For the next few minutes, Aaron continuously swung his sword, with clear rhythm and no wasted movements.After everyone had retreated, besides a few bodies, there were dozens, even hundreds, of fallen arrows in front of the Castle gate.Not only the Minotaur, but even the Telmarine soldiers, the general, the king, and even Peter and others on the other side of the drawbridge were stunned.It was as if they had returned to when they first learned sword fighting, and Aaron was the sword master, demonstrating top-tier swordsmanship."Kill him," Miraz murmured, a hint of apprehension in his expression. "He must be killed; his threat is too great.""But... Your Majesty, our archers can't hit him.""Then engage in close combat. I believe he can fight a dozen, but he definitely can't stop dozens," Miraz said coldly. "And the Minotaur is still there; he won't retreat easily."The general nodded, immediately selected fifty soldiers, and charged towards the Castle gate."That's enough.""Yes, that's enough," the Minotaur said with relief. "You can go. The Kings and Queens are lucky to have a friend like you.""Perhaps!" Aaron shrugged, then kicked the Minotaur in the abdomen, sending him flying onto the drawbridge.Clang!The huge, heavy iron portcullis quickly dropped, kicking up a layer of dust on the ground."You..."The Minotaur quickly got up and ran to the Castle gate, trying to lift the portcullis.But he had expended too much strength and now couldn't lift this Castle gate at all."Why did you come over? The drawbridge is about to rise.""What about you?""I'll definitely be fine," Aaron said confidently, then crouched to the side, grabbing the iron gate with one hand and slowly lifting it onto his shoulder.Gulp!The sound of swallowing saliva rose and fell.The Minotaur immediately turned and ran out, dragging his injured leg.The general and dozens of soldiers stopped in stunned amazement at this sight. If they hadn't seen it with their own eyes, they would never have believed that a human could possess such strength.To lift a several-thousand-pound iron gate with one hand? There had to be a limit to jokes!"Only fifty men, can they win?" the general thought doubtfully, feeling that it would take at least a hundred men to take down Aaron."Hurry up and attack!" Miraz roared. "What are you standing there for? Kill him now!"The general snapped out of it and immediately ordered, "Kill!"Dozens of people charged again, but they were a step too late. By the time they reached him, the iron gate had already been lifted to shoulder height by Aaron."Goodbye."Clang!Aaron flipped over and jumped outside the Castle gate.As the portcullis fell, the drawbridge outside also began to slowly rise.Aaron didn't delay, took a running start, and at the moment the drawbridge was halfway up, he leaped high, spanning five or six meters, and landed steadily on the other side of the drawbridge."You..." Caspian opened his mouth in astonishment. "Are you really human?""Fifteen years old?" Susan's eye twitched uncontrollably."Don't insult my noble character with your suspicious gazes," Aaron said, rolling his eyes. "Don't just stand here; we're at the Castle gate!""Retreat!"Peter reluctantly gave the order, leading the Narnian army away from the Castle.On the way, Aaron took out Lucy's potion bottle and had Susan treat the wounded, which didn't affect their speed of advance.At dawn, everyone returned to the bunker.However, compared to before, the atmosphere in the group was a bit more subdued."What's wrong?" Lucy asked worriedly."Evidently, it failed," Aaron shrugged casually, then returned the potion bottle to Lucy. "This thing is really useful; it saved quite a few wounded!""I knew it was missing," Lucy said speechlessly, but couldn't really blame him."You should return my gun now, shouldn't you?" Aaron asked Peter, looking at him pointedly.He pursed his lips and handed the revolver back."You had a second gun, why didn't you tell us?""You didn't ask!Besides, I'm not familiar with you all. I wouldn't dare hand over my weapon without a backup.""Don't you owe me an explanation for the retreat signal?" Peter said with an unfriendly expression."You should be thanking me," Aaron said righteously. "From the moment the alarm was raised in the Castle, we had no advantage whatsoever.You stubbornly insisted on attacking. I didn't stop you, because people always die in war, and we were all mentally prepared for that.But when you fall into a disadvantage, you should make a decisive move. You were blinded by bloodlust at that time. If I hadn't sent the retreat signal in time, and Miraz had closed the Castlegate, complete annihilation would have awaited us.""I wanted to capture the king first, take down Miraz...""Impressive!" Aaron clapped his hands. "But the premise is that you have to fight your way up to the Castle tower. Even if the fighting soldiers ignored you, you'd still only need to take down about forty guards.""I had others covering me," Peter said, unconvinced."I don't deny that," Aaron nodded. "But by then, two rows of archers were already in position. Were you planning to charge up through a rain of arrows?Even if you were incredibly lucky and made it up, the Narnian army would probably be decimated.""Your gun was in my hand. If I had a chance to get close, it might have been possible.""Hehe!" Aaron couldn't help but laugh. "With all due respect, you probably haven't handled firearms, have you?How confident are you in your marksmanship?""This..." Peter was speechless. At that time, there were many guards next to Miraz. If the first shot didn't kill him, there wouldn't be a second chance."You should have been able to kill him, right?" Caspian asked tentatively."Yes, you had a second gun," Peterseemed to grasp the key point. "Your marksmanship is so good, if you...""Stop right there," Aaron said, exasperated. "At that time, I was at the Castle gate, and Miraz was on the Castle tower.To kill a heavily guarded king with a pistol from several hundred meters away, that's a bit too much of a joke."Aaron was very clear about his own abilities. His marksmanship was good, but there was still a big gap between it and perfect accuracy.At a distance of several hundred meters, unless he swapped the pistol for a sniper rifle, he really couldn't hit it.But if he brought out those two guns, he wouldn't be able to explain it, and he didn't want to use magic in front of so many people."Speaking of which, you and Susantogether couldn't take down Miraz?"Hearing this, Peter immediately flared up, glaring fiercely at Caspian, "You'll have to ask our Prince about that.""Me?""If you had followed the plan, we wouldn't have been in such a mess.""I admit I have responsibility," Caspian took a deep breath. "It's really hard to stay calm in front of your father's killer...""Father's killer?" Aaron immediately showed an interested expression, a dramatic scene of brothers fighting for the throne flashing through his mind."None of your business," Caspian's mouth twitched slightly, and he continued: "Even if I had followed the plan, we might not have succeeded.You two were also in his bedroom; his crossbow was by his pillow when he slept. Nothing would have changed.If you ask me, staying here and fighting defensively might have a better chance of success.""You called us here, did you forget?"Caspian paused, "That was my mistake.""No, your mistake was thinking of yourself as a savior who could lead everyone.""It wasn't me who abandoned the Narnians.""But it was you, your father, Miraz... who invaded Narnia.""Enough!" Aaron interrupted the two. "I must remind you both, the bridge at Beruna will be finished soon, and the Telmarine army will attack very quickly."Hearing this, Peter and Caspian stopped arguing.The current situation was very unfavorable for them. Building defensive fortifications to deal with Miraz's army was the top priority.At the same time, in the Telmarine Castle.Miraz was formally crowned in the council hall, with Sopespian performing the anointing.The elders of the council no longer raised objections, as the Narnians' raid last night had made them all feel threatened.They couldn't be sure whether Prince Caspian was colluding with the Narnians, but that was no longer important.What the Telmarines needed most at this moment was not a prince, but a king who could eliminate threats and defend the kingdom, and no one was more suitable than Miraz.
