Chapter 399: The City is Fallen! (Two in One! Please subscribe!)
Youssef was right.
The army outside the city did begin the attack.
With Rez's order, this giant city that had stood in the center of the empire for hundreds of years finally experienced the baptism of war for the first time.
Under the control of the soldiers, catapults roared, and the heavy stone bullets drew a perfect parabola in the sky, and then fell down with the force of thunder, turning the houses in the city into ruins.
Although the soldiers under Rez's command had experienced war after war, they were only relying on their past experience to throw stone bullets.
so……
Compared to the Idar soldiers who had studied mathematics and were equipped with telescopes to observe the enemy's situation, they were still far behind.
All they could do was to throw the stones with the catapults, but where and what they would hit was entirely up to fate.
As for hitting wherever you point, it is even more impossible to do.
Only veterans with sufficient experience can lock onto a rough range based on their intuition and judgment, and then operate the catapult to repeat the previous steps again and again.
At the same time as the catapults were hurling stone bombs, soldiers on the east, west, south and north sides of the imperial capital Saint Lawrence had already been on the alert, and under the command of their respective generals, they launched an attack on the giant city before them.
The siege was commanded by Imperial Marshal Teodoro Lawton, and the Second Prince Rez personally supervised the battle, vowing to conquer this giant fortress, which was like a solid wall of steel, in the shortest possible time.
Following an order from Imperial Marshal Teodoro Lawton, countless soldiers carried or pushed numerous powerful siege weapons and slowly advanced towards the nearby City of St. Lawrence.
Ladders, flying bridges, battering rams...
While the encirclement was being formed, the soldiers under Rez's command had already built countless siege weapons.
And at this moment, they finally came in handy.
The scene of tens of thousands of soldiers attacking the city together was undoubtedly extremely shocking.
Everywhere you look, it's all black, which brings a great visual impact to the defenders.
The war drums rumbled and the war flags fluttered in the wind.
The siege tactics were formulated by Marshal Teodoro.
No one likes to attack by force. Besieging without attacking is the most common strategy, because forcibly attacking a city means that the attacking army will suffer extremely huge casualties and cause extremely painful losses.
But……
Rez had no choice at this time.
The shortening of the war time can only be made up with the lives of soldiers.
Under the decision of Marshal Teodoro, the siege was divided into two parts.
As they rushed from the main camp to the city wall, the first row were all cannon fodder.
Their role was only to consume arrows and the physical strength of the defenders, dismantle the barricades, and push the weapons used for siege.
For example, battering rams, ladders...
However, in the process of rushing from the foot of the city wall to the top of the wall, the first row was filled with elite troops.
All of them are veterans who have been through many battles and have extremely rich combat experience. Their goal is to climb the city wall in one fell swoop and open up the situation for the following troops.
These veterans have the heaviest mission on their shoulders, because if the initial attack suffers a major setback, the morale of the army will undoubtedly suffer a very severe blow!
…
On the city wall.
The commander of the Royal Guards, Ian Padilla, looked at the soldiers coming towards him like a black tide not far away and could not help but frowning.
Four directions, four fronts.
The pressure he was under was really great.
Because although the imperial capital of St. Lawrence has towering city walls and was built by Pitsman into a giant fortress with abundant food and grass, the number of defenders is limited after all.
The disastrous defeat on the Central Plains caused heavy losses to the most elite Imperial Guard Division under Pitzman's command. Compared with the previous garrison, the number of defenders in St. Lawrence City was now tens of thousands less! Even if he forcibly recruited countless young civilians to climb the city wall, Yan Padilla still did not dare to say that he was sure of success.
"Shoot!"
Looking at the soldiers coming in like a tide, Yan Padilla finally gave the order.
Of course he knew that the people in the front were just cannon fodder to consume arrows, and most of them were temporarily captured strong men, but Yan Padilla had no other choice.
Immediately,
The defenders behind the battlements drew their bows and drew their arrows.
Thousands of arrows fired at once!
Dense arrows flew through the air, leaving corpses of the cannon fodder on the ground.
But even so...
Those civilian soldiers who were frantically charging towards St. Lawrence did not dare to retreat or even stop.
Because standing behind them were the supervisors holding sharp blades.
If they show even the slightest sign of cowardice, the members of the supervision team will not hesitate to kill them on the spot, and even their families and relatives will be implicated.
Therefore, they had to recall the appearance of their family members while staring with bloodshot eyes and rushing madly towards the city wall not far away.
If you charge forward, there is still a slim chance that you can survive to the end.
But once you retreat, what awaits you and your family is undoubtedly death.
"Damn it! These damn guys!"
Yan Padilla stared at the battle situation below the city wall. Although the attacking force of thousands of arrows left countless corpses, the distance between them and the city wall was shortening all the time.
"Delay them as much as possible and don't let them get close to the city wall..."
Yan Padilla knew very well that once the army under the city wall successfully climbed up the wall, these newly recruited civilian soldiers around him would certainly not be able to compete with those battle-hardened veterans.
But……
Under the encouragement of the supervisory team and the generous rewards promised by Rez, as long as someone fell, the soldiers behind would immediately take over that person's position and continue to charge forward carrying the ladders.
The dense rain of arrows showed no mercy, and countless soldiers fell.
However, with the crazy momentum of one after another, the distance between them and the city wall was constantly shrinking.
"Pang——"
finally,
With a distinctive sound, the thing Yan Padilla least wanted to see happened - the first ladder was set up on the top of the city wall.
But this is only the first day of the siege!
"Hold it! You must hold it!"
Looking at those trembling civilian soldiers, Yan Padilla let out a roar!
Just when the first ladder was placed on the city wall...
The first wave of elite soldiers following the cannon fodder also rushed over and began to climb the city wall using ladders.
The falling stones and the hard wood...
Under the threat that the enemy might climb to the top of the city walls at any time, the soldiers defending the city seemed to have overcome their fear. They used swords and axes to frantically hack at those soldiers who wanted to climb to the top of the city walls, and pushed stones and wooden planks off the city walls one by one.
Both sides suffered casualties, and the attackers suffered several times more casualties than the defenders.
But……
Although his heart was bleeding all the time, Rez couldn't stop.
Just like that, one day...
Two days...
Three days...
After three days of unsuccessful sieges, Rez's troops finally reached the top of St. Lawrence on the morning of the fourth day! Rez sent veteran soldiers who had been through many battles, while the defenders were fully armed royal guards and civilian soldiers who were temporarily organized.
but……
To be honest, although the name of the Royal Guards sounds intimidating, they have never been on the battlefield before.
Marshal Theodore, who was commanding the siege, also keenly discovered the gap in the south wall. He immediately sent more elite troops to the city, intending to take down the south wall of St. Lawrence in one fell swoop!
…
When Christopher followed his team and was urgently sent to the south wall, the place was already in chaos.
There was chaos on the city walls. The attacking army and the defending army were fighting fiercely. Blood was flowing, corpses were piling up, and the scarlet blood almost dyed the battlements red.
As an honest civilian, had Christopher ever seen such a tragic scene?
The only thing he could do was to stand there blankly with the saber in his hand, his legs shaking uncontrollably.
but……
The defenders kept coming from behind Christopher, so even though he was extremely scared, he was still pushed forward by the soldiers... forward...
When he came to his senses, those ferocious siege soldiers were only three to five meters away from him! His legs trembled with fear.
But when he really faced the danger between life and death, incomparable strength seemed to burst out of his body, and sudden courage ignited in his heart!
At this moment, Christopher had only one thought in his mind, that is...
He wants to go home!
He doesn't care if he can kill someone, he just wants to stay alive!
Because he still has a wife and a son, and they are still waiting for his safe return in the city!
The soldiers in front of him fell one after another. They fell heavily to the ground. The blood gushing from their wounds dyed the battlements red and made the bricks and stones under Christopher's feet particularly sticky.
finally……
When the last soldier standing in front of Christopher suddenly turned into a headless corpse, he had to face the enemies whose armor was covered in blood! He didn't even have time to take a look at the other party's appearance, and the sharp blade flashing with cold light was slashing towards him.
"clang--"
This is the sound of swords colliding head-on.
Between life and death, Christopher's instinct for survival made him suddenly raise the saber in his hand to block the oncoming attack.
At this moment, his mind was clear of all distractions, and he only had one thought in mind - he wanted to live! He wanted to kill the enemy in front of him!
This civilian, who was from a poor family and had never even killed a chicken before, clenched the saber in his hand and swung it hatefully at the enemy in front of him.
In that person's astonished eyes...
With a "whoosh" sound, the saber in his hand pierced into the enemy's abdomen.
He, Christopher! A commoner who had been very honest for generations, finally at this moment...
To survive,
Murder!
He struggled to pull out the saber that had stabbed into the enemy's body.
The originally cold blade was now soaked in warm blood.
Drops of blood dripped along the tip of the knife and fell onto the city wall under Christopher's feet.
but……
This was just the first one. In front of him, countless enemies were running towards him.
He chopped hard and swung the weapon with all his might, the cowardice in his eyes having long since faded away.
Either the enemy dies or he dies! The belief of returning home supported him to kill the enemies rushing towards him one after another.
but……
After all, he was just a civilian who had never been on the battlefield before.
In a flash,
Christopher suddenly felt a sharp pain in his abdomen, just like when he killed the soldier before, he was also hit by the enemy's sword.
He only felt the weapon twisting violently in his abdomen, and his whole body was suddenly surrounded by a heart-wrenching pain.
At this moment, his vision became blurred and his hands and feet became weak.
He seemed to feel his right hand loosen, and the sharp blade that he had been holding in his hand suddenly fell to the ground.
The saber was drawn, and Christopher fell heavily to the ground like the soldiers who had died before.
He felt like someone was stepping on him, making it hard for him to breathe. He felt the blood gushing out of the wound in his abdomen and felt his life slowly slipping away.
The shouting and screaming in his ears seemed to have faded away from him.
At a certain moment, he seemed to hear his wife's call and remembered his promise to his son...
finally……
Christopher's eyes went dark as another honest civilian died on the wall of St. Lawrence.
…
Marshal Teodoro's plan was successful.
After suffering the casualties of more than two thousand elite soldiers, Rez's soldiers finally occupied the south wall of St. Lawrence on the afternoon of the fourth day of the siege.
The wide and heavy city gate finally collapsed under the repeated impact of the siege vehicles.
This last fortress belonging to Pizman finally revealed a huge gap at this moment. Under the order of Marshal Teodoro, countless soldiers poured into the city like a tide.
The fighting in the city continues.
But at this moment, anyone could see that the defeat of the defenders was irreversible!
The huge rock that had been weighing on Rez's heart finally fell down at the moment the city gate was breached.
There were corpses everywhere under the city walls, and countless civilians who were forcibly conscripted were buried forever on this battlefield.
Rez looked at the imperial capital not far away from afar with mixed feelings.
For the crazy siege in the past few days, Rez suffered more than 40,000 casualties!
but……
It's all worth it! "This war..."
"It's time to end!"
Thanks to book friends "Souraka", "Lynching", and "Book Friend 20190303220231860" for their rewards!
(End of this chapter)
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