The Lord Of Blood Hill

For three straight days, no army comes to attack.

Although the cavalry and infantry moving back and forth outside the city look quite imposing, and at first badly frighten the mercenary guard regiment defending the city, the other side continues to delay its attack.

The mercenary guards gradually relax from their initial tension.

They believe the kingdom rebels don't dare attack Cellarwine City, which is protected by walls.

But on the fourth day, two warbands suddenly launch attacks from the east and west.

Cellarwine City's wall has five sides and is roughly a regular pentagon. Its pointed end faces the Yundu River to the south, while the northern wall faces away from the direction of Silver Peak City.

Now, the kingdom's two warbands attack the four forward-facing walls.

At every corner of the walls stands an arrow tower more than ten meters higher than the top of the city wall. Each tower has three levels. Each level is equipped with three ballistae and more than ten crossbowmen.

During the three quiet days, a four-meter-tall platform has also been built every thirty-some meters along the walls.

Each one also has two levels, with one ballista on each level, as well as four crossbowmen.

Under each archery platform are deployed three ten-man melee squads, one of which is a veteran squad.

Aside from these forces, the rest are mercenary guards.

As the kingdom's two warbands approach the walls in formation with shields raised, Arius's adjutant Green asks, "My lord, should we prepare the reserves? The Freedmen Guard Army has not finished reorganizing yet."

"They are still training right now. If we put them up there now, they may not hold."

"And these mercenary guards are fine against bandits and local thugs, but once real blood starts spilling, I fear they will rout."

Arius puts down the telescope. "No rush. This is the Yundu River Garrison Legion."

"Their combat power is limited, and they have not brought heavy siege equipment."

"Let's watch for now. This is only a probing attack. They want to see how strong our defense is."

"At the same time, they want to figure out the weak points in our defense."

The Freedmen Guard Army on the arrow towers and archery platforms is also extremely nervous at this moment. They adjust the ballistae in a panic, and some soldiers even fire the bolts in their hands because their hands are trembling.

The squad leaders patiently calm them, repeating the key points and techniques again and again, doing their best to make these young men who have only recently become soldiers calm down.

Arius notices these things during his inspection and says to the messenger beside him, "Notify the Guard army. Don't follow the previous field of fire."

"Reduce the planned firing range by another third. Wait until the enemy comes closer before shooting."

Then Arius gives another order. "Have Albert steady the mercenary guard regiment."

"The enemy isn't close yet. Their arcing shots is useless and only wastes strength."

Albert of Peace Haven is currently serving as commander of the mercenary guard regiment.

As a knight, he has long been famous in mercenary circles.

The mercenary regiment he leads is also well equipped, and its members are of good quality.

Having him serve as commander is something the mercenary guards can more or less accept.

After the enemy advances nearly another hundred meters, the ballistae fire first.

Accompanied by the deep thrum of bowstrings snapping back, bolts more than two meters long tear through the air with shrill whistles and shoot toward the enemy formation.

That powerful force isn't something infantry shields can block.

After hitting a target, the shield-bearing soldier and his shield both explode into fragments. The splashing fragments, mixed with blood and flesh, knock down several nearby soldiers as well.

The kingdom army's grassroots commanders shout at the soldiers, "Don't panic!"

"Hold formation! Raise your shields! Don't scatter! Keep advancing at a steady speed!"

At a time like this, if they keep the formation and concentrate their men, are they not becoming live targets for the ballistae?

Of course not. The ballistae fire much more slowly, and the number of soldiers they kill is limited. They are more a form of psychological pressure.

Once the formation scatters, however, they lose the protection of their shields.

The archers on the walls will then pick off the soldiers running around below.

Ballistae are terrifying, but due to the angle, once they get within one hundred meters of the wall, they no longer need to worry about them.

But if they enter within one hundred meters of the wall and their formation has scattered, losing the shield wall, then they will face the defenders' archers shooting down from above.

By then, they will be shot dead beneath the wall before they even touch it.

Cellarwine City's walls aren't high. Even after Peace Haven's later renovations, they are only thirteen or fourteen meters tall.

Because the terrain to the south is slightly higher, some parts of these two walls have a height difference of less than twelve meters.

That is only equivalent to a three-story residential building. Specially reinforced siege ladders can easily catch on the walls.

The first-wave climbers don't need to spend much effort before they can rush up the walls.

The premise of all this is that the formation must remain orderly. Otherwise, they won't even be able to raise the ladders.

Finally, after enduring volley after volley from the ballistae, the attackers reach the blind spot in the ballistae's field of fire.

At this point, the twenty hundred-man teams in the attacking force have not lost many men, and their commander can completely accept the losses.

At least seventeen of the teams still retain their combat strength. Next, they must hold their shields well and persist until they reach the base of the wall.

All defensive forces on the wall, including the mercenary guard regiment, begin loosing arrows downward.

The mercenary guard regiment isn't equipped with Peace Haven's Recurve Crossbows. They use military longbows, and shooting from above gives them considerable power.

But it is still difficult for them to pierce shields whose surfaces are covered in iron sheet and steel plates.

In fact, even Recurve Crossbows have difficulty piercing this kind of large shield wrapped in steel with solid wood behind it.

This type of large round shield, a little more than one meter in diameter, can protect the soldiers below very well.

But the advantage of the Recurve Crossbow is that it takes less strength to draw, allowing the user to aim more steadily.

Some crossbowmen can shoot bolts through the gaps in the shield formation and cause effective casualties.

But not many recruits can reach that level.

In the tense environment of this battlefield, most soldiers simply draw, load, and shoot at the enemy below.

Only by pouring out as much firepower as possible can they ease the tension in their hearts.

So the attackers, enduring the rain of arrows, don't suffer much damage. It remains within what they can endure.

Next, several hundred-man formations smoothly reach the base of the wall, and more than ten siege ladders catch on the walls.

The first-wave climbers raise smaller round shields and carry longswords on their backs as they begin climbing the ladders.

The remaining soldiers continue raising shields for protection, allowing the comrades beside them to lift bows and crossbows and shoot back at the top of the wall.

This forms suppressive fire and reduces the pressure on the first-wave climbers.

On the wall, commander Albert shouts, "Move the defense carts! Move them to the positions of the enemy ladders!"

The defense cart is a city-defense tool developed by Peace Haven. Its four wheels allow it to move sideways along the city wall.

On top of it is a sloped rail, which sends defensive objects such as logs and stones down along the rail onto the enemy's siege ladders.

At Albert's command, the defense carts move to the positions where the various ladders are hooked.

The operators quickly turn the wheels, adjusting the position of the rails to line up with the angle of the ladders.

After confirming the angle, they pull the trigger mechanism, and stones or logs are accurately sent onto the siege ladders leaning against the wall.

The enormous force smashes the climbing soldiers straight down.

With a bit of luck, it can knock down an entire line of them.