But the garrison
made a sortie, seized the towers, destroyed them, and killed or
captured the soldiers who manned them.
Spencer on several occasions demanded the surrender of the town,
but all his proposals were rejected. The English pressed closer and
closer, but were repulsed with heavy losses whenever they delivered
an assault. The hopes of the garrison rose high on August 7, the
sixty-first day of the siege, when news arrived that a French army,
100,000 strong, accompanied by the forces of the Count of Flanders,
was marching to the relief of Ypres. Early next morning the English
made a fresh attempt to force their way into the town, but they
were once more driven back. A little later in the day they twice
advanced with the utmost bravery. Again they were beaten back.
So were the burghers of Ghent, whom the English reproached for
having deceived them by saying that Ypres would fall in three days,
and whose answer to this accusation was, a furious attack on one
of the gates, in which many of them fell. In the afternoon the
English again advanced, and succeeded in forcing their way through
part of the formidable thorn hedge; but it was of no avail, and once
more they had to retire, leaving heaps of dead behind them.
Pages:
72
73
74
75
76
77
78
79
80
81
82
83
84
85
86
87
88
89
90
91
92
93
94
95
96