The Lord Of Blood Hill

Jonathan changes the subject. "Everyone, I assume you have already received the news."

"That knight lord from the south is currently leading his army here."

"He has broken through the defensive lines of Marquess Descartes and Duke Reyes one after another, and he has already begun approaching the Yundu River."

"What do you all think about this situation?"

No one answers, so Jonathan calls on someone. "Duke Marcus, he is your fine son-in-law. How do you think he should be handled?"

Marcus says, "What can I do? His legs are his own. I can't stop him."

Jonathan looks at the others. "And the rest of you? None of you have anything to say?"

Seeing that everyone remains silent, Jonathan nods lightly. "In that case, I will declare Henwell a traitor to the kingdom who can be killed directly."

Everyone's eyes widen as they look at Jonathan in confusion.

Marcus snorts coldly. "Kill Henwell? Your Highness has that ability?"

The others can't help laughing as well. This is something not even the various countries can accomplish, and it has always been a headache for Amir.

What gives Jonathan the nerve to challenge Henwell?

Jonathan seems not to care about their mockery at all. He says with a smile, "Henwell is powerful, but he is not invincible."

"His army is indeed very strong, but this time he has only brought two forces with him."

"His newly formed Seventh Legion will be dealt with later by the Steel Lion Legion and the Third Legion."

"As for his knight order, the Blood Lion Knights will keep it in check."

"Everyone, don't object yet. The Blood Lion Knights belong to the entire country."

"If Henwell uses that knight order to launch a charge, he will be provoking the entire kingdom."

"According to our original agreement, that is already enough reason for the Blood Lion Knights to intervene."

"As for Henwell himself, I have also made arrangements. Someone will deal with him."

At this point, Jonathan changes tack. "Of course, killing a pillar of the kingdom like the lord of Blood Hill isn't something I wish to see."

"So I have decided to give Henwell a chance, and to give him a condition he will find very hard to refuse."

"If he accepts, then I will spare him."

"If he can't recognize reality and insists on opposing me and Vorry Kingdom, then I also guarantee that this place will become his burial ground."

Hearing Jonathan speak with such confidence, everyone can't help frowning.

Henwell has already become an Iron Knight. Although it has not been publicly announced, it is a fact everyone recognizes.

Jonathan naturally understands this as well. He isn't some arrogant fool.

The fact that he endured until now and then suddenly rose up to kill his own father and brothers shows the depth of his scheming.

Since Jonathan says this, he clearly has already made preparations.

He truly has a way to kill Henwell, or at least suppress him.

If that is really the case, everyone has to seriously consider what they should do next.

Duke Marcus says coldly, "Henwell can't die."

Jonathan scoffs. "Anyone can die. Why can't Henwell die?"

Seeing the two about to clash, Duke Obiken speaks up. "That is a matter for later. Perhaps things won't reach that point."

"First send a message to Henwell and make him understand what he stands to gain."

"In addition, the most important thing right now is still to break Cellarwine City."

"As long as Arius dies, everything else becomes easy to discuss."

"Even if Henwell doesn't accept the condition you offer now, once Arius dies and the fact is already established, I believe he will understand the pros and cons and make the most reasonable choice."

"Duke Marcus said it just now. Your urgent task is to attack Cellarwine City. That is the most important matter."

Jonathan no longer argues. He rises and orders, "All units, prepare war supplies. We attack tomorrow morning. I will personally supervise the battle from the front."

Early the next morning, the heavy equipment needed for the siege has already been pushed by the other armies to the edge of Cellarwine City's long-range strike area.

The participating units only need to move over and push them forward.

For this siege, Daniel sends all his troops.

Two warbands continue attacking the two walls they attacked before.

In each direction of attack, four thousand-man teams form four attack waves.

At the very front are mantlet carts with enormous heavy shields, shields that even ballistae can't pierce.

Each mantlet cart has ten wheels beneath it and is pushed forward by dozens of strong men.

Behind them follows many infantry, and behind the infantry are wheeled siege ladders.

These wheeled siege ladders aren't the kind carried by hand. They have four to six wheels beneath them, and a long folded ladder on top.

After they approach the wall, that folded section opens and rests against the wall. Every rung of the ladder is made from thick, broad wooden planks.

The attacking soldiers can rush up the wall quickly through the ladder.

Aside from these, there are also battering rams prepared to smash open the city gate.

At the very back are the nobles' serf soldiers, pushing huge mobile arrow towers and heavy trebuchets.

When the mercenary guards on the wall see this formation, their hearts begin to pound. This looks completely different from the last few days.

As they wait nervously, Cellarwine City strikes first.

Observers on the wall use telescopes to observe the attackers' heavy war machines.

Then they pass the information to the trebuchet camp behind them through flag signals.

The squad leaders, long prepared, immediately calculate the target's direction and speed according to their tables.

After confirming the strike distance, they report a string of data to the operators.

Height, direction, and counterweight all have to be finely adjusted.

A moment later, the counterweight drops, and a concrete ball weighing more than one hundred kilograms is instantly hurled out.

It draws an arc through the air and smashes into the attacker's formation.

When dozens of concrete balls fall, strengthened by gravity, a single hit can shatter a siege vehicle.

Even if it is difficult to destroy the vehicle outright, it can still cause serious damage and disable it.

But the premise is that the shot has to hit.

Although many people in the defensive trebuchet camp are from Peace Haven and know how to operate these complicated big things, and although they have premeasured fields of fire, precise position reports from observers, and concrete-cast round projectiles to reduce error as much as possible, this is still a trebuchet, not artillery.

Its accuracy is better than shooting blind, but not better by an entire order of magnitude.

The concrete balls look large, but they are hollow inside. After landing, they produce strong splash damage.

How do they make hollow stone balls?

There are many methods. The simplest is to make a hollow wooden ball with wooden boards and then pour concrete around it.

The stone balls fired by Peace Haven have a hit rate of roughly thirty percent.

That seems low, but this hit rate is already enough to make the attackers' scalps prickle.

Not to mention that many of the shots also land among the infantry around the siege equipment, causing terrifying casualties.

However, the trebuchets are too inefficient. Firing once every few minutes already counts as well trained.

The pressure they place on the attackers is still more psychological than anything else.