Belvaldo's overnight attack completely disrupted the Galician royal family's plans.
These Galician royalty had long anticipated their inability to defend the capital. So they held a meeting through the night, and after much deliberation, finally devised a treacherous plan: to use the lower city as bait, luring Belvaldo into their siege. Once the enemy entered the lower city, they would immediately set it ablaze, burning the attacking soldiers to ashes. Even if they didn't wipe them all out, they would at least halt the advance and buy themselves a day or two for their own retreat.
The plan initially executed well, but the only drawback was the sheer number of enemy troops attacking. Even with such a small force, they failed to hold off the enemy as expected, thus failing to draw more Belvalid troops into the lower city. As a result, the lower city fell, but because they felt they hadn't drawn enough Belvalid troops, they didn't set fire to it. And when Belvalid began attacking the upper city, they lost their chance to set fire again… Until the entire lower city was illuminated by torches of all sizes, making it almost indistinguishable from being set on fire, the Galician royal family abandoned the idea.
So the saying "hesitation leads to defeat" is indeed true. The Galician royal family's momentary greed and hesitation caused them to completely lose their only chance to gain the initiative in this siege.
The plan to burn down the lower city was not feasible, but the city's defenses still needed to be maintained. The Galician royal army finally displayed the qualities expected of a normal army. They clashed with the Belvado soldiers on the city walls, ultimately holding them off. Both sides fought with all their might, striving to achieve their strategic objectives.
Even with some reservations in their offensive, Belvaldo still deployed 40,000 to 50,000 troops in successive assaults. While the Galician forces defending the city had a slight numerical advantage, unfortunately, few were truly capable of countering Belvaldo's army. With the influx of second-line soldiers, the Galician defenses quickly showed signs of fatigue. After their elite regular troops were almost entirely wiped out near the city walls, the hastily assembled units, in terms of both combat skills and fighting spirit, could not match the original garrison. Ultimately, the walls fell, and Belvaldo captured almost all the city gates, beginning their assault on the palace.
Upon hearing the news of the victory at the front, Yom was slightly surprised, astonished by the speed of the siege. He had expected the city to take two or three days even with a full-scale attack, yet it had fallen overnight?
While overjoyed, Yom couldn't help but suspect that Galicia might be behind this. As the saying goes, something unusual must be going on. The fact that the siege was going so smoothly made people wonder if something fishy was going on.
"But what tricks could the Galician royal family possibly have?" As Yom pondered this, he ordered his soldiers to be cautious in their attack on the city, to prepare an escape route, and not to advance blindly.
Kruger stood beside Yom, watching him skillfully issue command after command, and felt a mix of emotions.
"Kruger, quickly assemble your cavalry, a thousand or two will do, and have them scout around the city gates of the capital to see if any suspicious troops have escaped. If you encounter any, intercept them with all your might, and let me know while you're at it," Yom said to Kruger after giving the order.
Kruger nodded without asking why. He wasn't being temperamental; he genuinely understood Yom's thinking. Yom believed the situation was settled and intended to send him out of the city to pursue the fleeing Galician royalty.
This was clearly creating an opportunity for him to make a name for himself. It has to be said that this arrangement surprised and pleased Kruger. It also made him feel that the young man before him was even more distant and unfamiliar.
Yom's real intention was to test his theory: if the Galician royal family had indeed fled, then the defeat was most likely genuine. If not, then he would order a retreat.
In truth, Yom didn't need to be so cautious. The Galician royal family had no further plans to implement. All they did was set fire to houses in some streets and erect burning roadblocks on the main road leading to the palace to slow the enemy's advance. The remaining elite troops, no longer attempting to hold off the enemy, began packing their belongings, clearing a path, and fleeing with the Galician royal family.
Catherine Lunlang and Gregory Lunlang stood on an inconspicuous set of steps on the side of the palace, watching the busy soldiers below and listening to the intermittent shouts of battle in the distance. Catherine unconsciously pulled her magnificent, heavy fur coat tighter around her; the coat was large, but it couldn't hide her swollen belly. Besides worry, a deep anger lingered in Catherine's eyes.
Yes, anger, not directed at anyone else, but at his brother, Gregory. At this moment, Gregory remained relaxed, even somewhat gloating, watching everything unfold before him. He wore a heavy cloak, but held a bottle of red wine and a wine glass in his hand!
Gregory tilted his head back and drank the red wine in his glass, then turned to look at his sister who was staring at him, and couldn't help but chuckle.
"Little sister, you're angry again, hiccup!"
Catherine rolled her eyes and didn't want to talk to her brother.
"Cheer up! We're leaving soon, leaving this damn, dilapidated cage. Shouldn't we be happy?"
Catherine's heart stirred slightly; Gregory's words touched a soft spot within her. Indeed, she didn't find this place particularly appealing. Since arriving in this so-called capital, she hadn't had a single moment of genuine joy. Every day was filled with exhausting struggles and the frustration of being constantly pointed at and judged. Thinking of this, she suddenly felt that leaving now was actually quite a good idea. There was only one thing: their future, indeed, as the Emperor had said, remained remarkably bright.
Thinking of this, Catherine's relaxed mood vanished instantly.
With a sharp, distinct crack, the sound successfully drew the attention of everyone present.
Gregory slammed the cup in his hand to the ground, shattering the glass and scattering it everywhere.
In an instant, the soldiers went back to their tasks, heads bowed. Only Catherine watched as Gregory raised the bottle, gulped down half a bottle of red wine, wiped his mouth, and abruptly threw the bottle into the flowerbed.
Catherine walked up behind Gregory and gently patted him on the back.
Gregory's body stiffened abruptly, then he let out a long breath.
"Little sister, it's alright. Sooner or later, I will bring you back to this place, bringing with me the glory of the Lunlang family!"
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