touchnovel Chapter 80: Misjudgment
Chapter 80: Misjudgment
After all the deserters were executed, it was already fully light.
Hilfa directed everyone to cook, and after the meal, they began the siege.
Ron, who was on the city wall, had seen everything that was happening inside the Knights of the Inspectorate camp. He put down his binoculars.
Ron said, "They've already started fighting amongst themselves before even going all out."
The former mercenary Leonardo said quite naturally, "That's normal. At first, those mercenaries followed us to attack us, thinking that we had only been in the wasteland for a few months and wouldn't have strong fortifications. But when they arrived, they found out that we not only had stone walls, but also various defensive structures. Anyone who isn't stupid would understand that it would be extremely costly to take down such a fortified city."
Fanta, standing nearby, nodded in agreement: "Mercenaries are good at fighting when things are going well because they can plunder and make a fortune from the war. If you make them fight to the death, their combat effectiveness will drop by at least 30%. If it's a siege, it will drop by another 30%. It's normal for deserters to appear."
Ron then realized what was happening.
Seeing that the enemy camp had already begun to form ranks, Fanta immediately shouted, "Tell the soldiers guarding the city not to rush, wait until the enemy gets close to the city walls before shooting arrows."
Ordinary militia members have not received professional archery training; they are simply taught how to draw a bow and shoot arrows, and their accuracy is almost nonexistent beyond ten meters.
But this was no problem for defending the city. When the enemy got close to the city wall, they fired wildly. At such close range, with their dense formation, even a blind cat could catch a dead mouse.
Compared to the attack of tens of thousands of goblins, the formation of these few hundred mercenaries could not bring any sense of pressure to the militia on the city wall.
They were all seasoned veterans, and even the women's team didn't react much. Only the women who were climbing the city wall for the first time were a little nervous, but after seeing the calm reactions of the militia and the women's team, they gradually calmed down.
"These few hundred men aren't even enough for two waves of catapults to bombard us. I really don't understand where they get the confidence to attack us."
One militiaman made a disdainful remark, which immediately drew agreement and laughter from the other militiamen.
Russell was in the mercenary column, but they were lucky enough to be in the middle, with a squad of knights behind them.
They were called the "support team," but in reality, they were just a supervisory force. If they dared to retreat during the siege, they would be killed on the spot.
Russell slowly pushed the battering ram closer, while the mercenaries carrying the ladders were terrified.
They were less than 100 meters from the city wall, but still did not see any movement from the soldiers on the wall.
Fifty meters away from the city wall, the soldiers on the wall remained motionless, watching them below.
When the battering ram was less than ten meters into the gate of the city wall's barbican, Fanta still made no move. Although Ron's palms were sweating with anxiety, he did not interfere with Fanta's command.
Fanta only waved his hand suddenly when the battering ram arrived at the city gate and the siege ladders were placed on the city wall.
"Shoot the arrows! The boulder! Hit them hard!"
The terrified mercenaries suddenly saw the wall suddenly filled with people, followed by a rain of arrows and rocks falling from the sky.
The first wave of attacks completely stunned the mercenaries.
Just as a few mercenaries with bows and arrows were about to draw their bows to suppress the attack on the city wall, they were immediately met with two volleys of arrows.
Although Ashwood's archer squads are few in number, they can still form a forty-man archer formation without any problem.
The remaining mercenaries threw away the ladders and battering rams, turned and ran. Some were hit in the back by boulders and lay on the ground unable to get up.
Some people lost their shields and ran faster, only to be cut down by the overseers behind them with a single sword.
The fleeing troops huddled together outside the city gate, while a hail of arrows rained down from above, each scream adding to the chaos of the crowd.
Russell dragged his injured arm backward through the rain of arrows. He glanced at the garrison knights at the very back, cursed under his breath, and then took advantage of the chaos to crawl into the battering ram, using the wooden planks on top to shield himself from the arrows and stones falling from the sky.
He's not dead yet, but he'll be soon. If this kind of injury isn't treated in time, even if it doesn't get infected, he'll die from excessive blood loss.
Meanwhile, Ivan was squatting in a ditch outside Harvest Town, looking at the tall city walls and arrow towers in the distance.
boom!
A loud explosion rang out from the city wall in front of the archers.
Old Hall immediately pointed southeast and shouted, "Young master, two professional mages, about a hundred meters away, they are casting fireballs to attack the archer team."
The fireball spell may look like a small fireball, but upon landing, its power is similar to that of a self-defense grenade, causing explosive damage.
"Thun!" Ron shouted to the enemy tower.
Thun immediately turned the Eight-Bull Crossbow around, and another enemy tower followed suit.
Each watchtower has two eight-ox crossbows, which are cocked early on and ready to be used against suitable targets.
Thun's thumb pressed on the trigger of the crossbow.
He slowly moved the crosshairs of the sight from the mage's chest to his throat, and then to his mouth.
Casting spells requires chanting, and the mouth is the outlet for the fireball spell.
The mage was still chanting incantations when the first arrow was shot from the enemy tower.
The crossbow bolt pierced his open mouth, exited through the back of his neck, and sent him flying, crashing into the carriage behind him.
At a distance of 100 meters, Thun could almost always hit the bullseye.
The second mage reacted quickly; he immediately stopped chanting, held his staff horizontally in front of him, and a semi-transparent magical barrier unfolded before him.
The barrier had barely taken shape when crossbows from another enemy tower arrived.
The crossbow bolt struck the barrier, its tip penetrating half an inch before becoming stuck.
The barrier didn't break, but cracks spread outwards from the point of impact like a spider web.
The mage staggered back two steps, the crystal light on his staff beginning to flicker.
However, the other two crossbows arrived one after another, piercing through the magic shield and pinning the mage to the ground with three shots.
They were dead beyond dead. The knights of the Imperial Guard, who were just about to charge, stood frozen in place. Two of their squadron's official mages had died just like that.
Seeing this, Hilfa subconsciously swallowed.
Hilfa knew very well how strong the magic shield of a formal mage was; it was no less powerful than the heavy armor they wore, yet it was still pierced by the ballista.
Tony's face turned ashen, and he cursed, "The remnants of the Ashwood family." He then put on his helmet and waved his hand dismissively.
"All troops, charge! Follow me to the city walls. Even if we can't break through the city or capture anyone, killing Ron Ashwood will count as completing the mission."
Hilfar nervously reminded him, "Sir, they have crossbows."
"What are you afraid of? We've seen ballistae before. How long does it take to wind them? And how many can there be on the city walls? If there were many, they would have used them when the mercenaries attacked. Those ballistae are reserved for dealing with us and mages. I guarantee they only have one at most."