Smoke rose from the chimneys, and the mannequins stood up.

However, the attack that Yun Zhe had predicted did not occur.

Yun Zhe was a little flustered. He could clearly sense the dissatisfaction of the soldiers around him, even though they appeared expressionless and focused on the front. However, the experience of eating dried meat strips and drinking cold water wasn't pleasant, especially after a long day's work. Therefore, their inner thoughts were far more complex than their facial expressions suggested.

Time passed second by second, the sun began to set in the west, and the world grew dark.

Elke ran to Yun Zhe's side and asked how long the fake fire would burn.

Yun Zhe was somewhat embarrassed and asked Elke to turn off the fire. He really couldn't understand why the opponent wasn't attacking. Were they really going to wait until tomorrow to attack? All of this calculation was actually just his own elaborate internal drama, while the opponent hadn't even considered any of it?

Yun Zhe glanced at the soldiers around him. Some of the sharp-eared ones had heard Yun Zhe's order to Elke to stop lighting the fire, and they quickly relaxed. Seeing this, the others also relaxed.

Yun Zhe scratched his head, signaling everyone to relax, and then leaned against the stone wall to close his eyes and rest.

"Sir, should we put these mannequins away as well?" After a while, a soldier ran over and asked Yun Zhe.

Yun Zhe watched as several soldiers squatted on the ground, dragging the dummies back and forth; they must be working very hard. "Let's withdraw one by one, not all at once, that would look too fake."

Upon receiving the order, the soldiers ran back excitedly.

Halfway there, an arrow struck him in the neck, and he fell to the ground against the city wall.

"Enemy attack!" Yun Zhe quickly covered the soldier's mouth and then signaled all the soldiers to be quiet.

The two soldiers operating the dummies in the distance saw their comrade fall and were about to stand up when Yun Zhe stopped them with a look and then signaled them to continue operating the dummies.

Whoosh, whoosh, two arrows struck the dummies. Following Yun Zhe's orders, the soldiers quickly felled the two dummies.

Yun Zhe climbed down, removed a few bricks from the city wall, and carefully observed the surrounding area through a hole in the wall.

Outside the west gate, dozens of men carried long ladders and cautiously approached the city wall. Behind them was a simple platform with several archers on it. Yun Zhe also spotted one or two figures dodging in the surrounding trees, indicating that there were enemies in the trees as well.

"The main point is at the West Gate. You guys hurry over there and give us a signal once you see the ladders being placed on the city wall," Yun Zhe whispered.

Then Yun Zhe looked at the archers behind him, "There are enemy archers in the trees and on the high platform, so be careful!"

Everyone nodded in agreement; their earlier complaints and dissatisfaction had now turned into admiration and praise.

Meanwhile, upon seeing the smoke from the cooking fires, Morrison quickly mobilized all his soldiers to prepare for the siege. Once the smoke dissipated, he gave the order to attack.

The archers went first, firing at the guards, then the ladder-wielding soldiers quickly attacked the city. As for the archers on the high platform, they were actually bait, used to expose the enemy's firing positions, though it might mean sacrificing these men. But for victory, there was no other way.

Things went very smoothly; three soldiers guarding the city fell to the ground. Ladders were also erected on the city wall, and soldiers had even climbed to the edge of the wall.

Everything went smoothly, almost too smoothly. But wasn't this the result we wanted—to launch a sneak attack while they were eating?

Morrison was both nervous and anxious, trying to reassure himself. He was both afraid of seeing a large number of city guards appear and worried that a large number of city guards wouldn't appear.

"Hurry, climb up!" Morrison silently shouted in his heart.

The soldiers on the three ladders finally leaped onto the city wall, followed by dozens of soldiers filing down. Seeing this, Morrison finally felt relieved, clenched his fists, and almost shouted.

Things began to go smoothly, and shouts and the clanging of weapons rose from the city walls. Morrison gritted his teeth, waved his hand, and dozens more soldiers charged forward.

Suddenly, a dozen archers appeared on the city wall and started firing wildly at the soldiers below.

Morrison felt a chill when he saw the archers; his previous confidence vanished instantly.

Although the enemy archers suffered heavy losses due to his careful planning, this also showed that the enemy was actually on guard, and he had already lost the initiative.

As for the first batch of soldiers who stormed the position? Morrison shook his head with a wry smile; they were probably doomed.

But there was no turning back once the arrow was released. Morrison donned his armor, drew his longsword, and prepared to personally lead the charge.

After all, he still had a numerical advantage, and the archers' surprise attack had caused huge losses to the enemy. Moreover, the continuous suppression by his own archers prevented the enemy from getting close to the three siege ladders, let alone destroying them.

This might be our only chance. Utilize the artillery's skillful use of both visible and concealed attacks, and take full advantage of our numerical superiority to conquer this castle!

Yun Zhe, hiding behind a high stone wall, had just finished off the last struggling enemy. He glanced down instinctively and was immediately targeted by two arrows. Luckily, he was alert and escaped. But the archers who had peeked out weren't so lucky. Half of them fell in a single exchange.

Archers were a highly skilled unit in this era. Without training, it was difficult to become a competent archer. This loss made Yun Zhe, who already had few archers, even more distressed.

My dear reader, there's more to this chapter! Please click the next page to continue reading—even more exciting content awaits!