Time Travel? Rebirth? I Win This Time!

On the seventh day, Otto stood behind the inner wall, facing the remaining reserve forces of the castle: just under 200 knights from the Order of the Templars, around 80 estate guards, and 300 armed workers. They were covered in grime, their bodies bloodied from days of fighting, their clothes torn and ragged, many of them wounded, with bandages wrapped around their limbs.

But this was all the castle had left.

"Gentlemen," Otto paused, "If my guess is right, this section of the wall behind me will collapse soon."

Though they had suspected as much, hearing Otto say it out loud left the soldiers and workers stunned. Faces filled with disbelief, helplessness, and despair.

"If we surrender now," Otto continued, looking at the Templar knights, "the Frankish warriors will suffer the disgrace of capture." He turned to the armed workers. "As for you, you'll be executed on the spot."

The workers were visibly shaken, fear gripping them, and many began to cry.

"Then why not fight for our lives?" Otto bellowed, his voice resolute. "The king's reinforcements are on their way! Hold out until tonight, and we'll all go home alive!"

The word "home" sparked a glimmer of hope in their hearts. Someone yelled, "Home! Home!"

A volley of stone projectiles struck the walls with thunderous crashes, but the noise couldn't suppress the newfound resolve within the defenders.

"Kill them all!" Otto raised his sword high. "Then we go home!"

"Go home!" The estate guards, seasoned from similar battles, were the first to charge. The armed workers, initially startled, quickly realized the weapon that had just been fired was theirs, and their morale surged as they rushed forward.

The defenders clashed with the demoralized Saracens, who were immediately overwhelmed by the ferocity of the charge. The breach became a battlefield, with a triangular defensive line pushing outward.

From the distance, Mike Bai hobbled over, watching the workers operating his secret weapon.

If someone from a future land, 400 years ahead, had seen it, they would have cried out in amazement: "A kingdom falls!"

Indeed, this was the weapon Mike Bai had spent three months designing. Two massive, 1.5-meter-long, 1-meter-diameter solid oak logs, carved into cannon barrels and secured with copper bands, formed his wooden artillery.

"Load the cannon!" Mike Bai urged, his voice frantic. The workers quickly scrubbed the barrels clean and loaded them with gunpowder and cannonballs.

"Push out Number One!" Mike Bai shouted, his eyes darting to the fighting outside.

"I'll do it!" Harold, a towering figure, knelt reverently before the wooden cannon, making the sign of the cross before he and four other Nordic men pushed the heavy gun carriage forward. Wounded and limping, Mike Bai barely kept up.

Outside, the enemy was in the thick of battle when they spotted Mike Bai and his men pushing the strange, copper-clad wooden contraption.

"Clear the way!" Mike Bai shouted.

The defenders, stunned by the sight of the contraption, quickly parted, fearing that the strange beast might unleash a deadly fireball. The huge cannon rolled unimpeded to the front line, its barrel almost touching a Saracen soldier's chest.

"Fire!"

With a thunderous roar, the cannon unleashed a blast, sending a hail of iron projectiles tearing through the 30-degree angle in front of it. Dozens of men were shredded into pieces, while others were drenched in blood and debris, their morale shattered.

The Saracens, who had only heard the thunderous sound moments before, now saw firsthand the devastating power of the cannon. Those who had been charging the breach froze, their eyes wide in shock.

"By the Lord's protection!" Otto shouted as he raised his sword and led the charge.

"To home!" The estate guards, having seen battles like this before, surged forward first. The armed workers, initially startled, now followed, their morale soaring.

The castle defenders, with the upper hand, turned the tide. What had once been a gap in the wall now became a blood-soaked field of victory.

Mike Bai limped over, watching the workers load his second cannon.

"Number Two, fire at that side!" Mike Bai ordered.

The second cannon rolled into position, and when the enemy saw it aimed directly at them, they panicked, abandoning their weapons and fleeing toward the other gate.

"Boom!" The cannon roared again, and dozens more Saracens were blasted to the ground. The fleeing soldiers picked up speed, but the gate was narrow, and those outside were blocked by more of their comrades. They couldn't escape.

In the frenzy to reach the gate, the fleeing Saracens trampled each other, chaos erupting within their ranks.

Mike Bai's cannon rolled into position near the gate, its ominous barrel aimed directly at the desperate soldiers.

"Drop your weapons and surrender!" Mike Bai called, holding up a torch and shouting in the Saracen tongue. "Otherwise, I will summon thunder again!"

At that moment, Mike Bai felt like a divine force was guiding him.