The cheers in Pitro City shook the heavens. The barbarian cavalry's two attacks had failed before even reaching the edge of the city walls. The slope was littered with the corpses of the barbarian cavalry, at least five or six thousand of them. They had only paid a small price to defeat the enemy twice. The first time, there were only ten casualties, and the second time, a few unlucky fellows had accidentally injured themselves. These were all small injuries, which gave the soldiers of the Imperial Guard Battalion and the ten thousand laborers a lot of confidence. They felt that the barbarian cavalry was only so-so, and that there was nothing to be afraid of no matter how many of them there were.
Edward, on the other hand, was not so optimistic. On the contrary, he was constantly on tenterhooks. When the mournful sounds of war horns and soul-stirring war drums could be heard from the grassland under the dusk, as well as the shouts of the barbarian cavalry at the bottom of the slope, Edward knew that the thing he was most worried about had happened. The barbarian cavalry had already been angered by the two defeats, and they were about to launch an attack that very night. For the defenders of Pitro City, the most difficult moment was about to come.
The first batch of grassland barbarian cavalrymen quickly approached Pydro City. However, with the help of the burning chariots on the slope, the city guards quickly discovered that the grassland barbarian cavalrymen were collecting the corpses of their comrades.
"Sir, they are moving the corpses downhill. Do you think the barbarians will still attack at night?" a guard asked Edward with a hopeful gaze.
"Perhaps, I am not sure what they are planning. We are still far away, so let's not shoot yet. If they are only collecting the corpses, then we will let them off. However, perhaps they are collecting the corpses in order to better attack, so we should not be careless, "Edward muttered.
The sky quickly turned completely dark, and those huge wooden shield carriages also turned into dark shadows, and then merged into one. The flames on the closest carriages were extinguished by the grassland barbarian cavalry, and it was impossible to see what was happening behind those black shadows. The row of wooden shield carts not only blocked the light from the flames below, but also blocked the line of sight of the defenders on the city walls.
"Archers, shoot a row of fire arrows. Let's see what those Grass Barbarians are up to," Edward instructed.
Dozens of flaming arrows drew beautiful arcs in the sky and fell down. With the help of the weak flames on the arrows, the defenders on the wall finally saw what the enemy was doing.
"They're filling in the hole!" a voice screamed.
"Looks like these grass barbarians want to attack the city overnight!" Edward's heart sank. Under the cover of night, the enemy's movements made it difficult for the guards on the city walls to deal with them as easily as during the day.
"Steel crossbows number 1 to 10, go get the kerosene can and tie it to the front of the crossbow. Take aim at those shielded vehicles and fire!"
"Archers, fire arrows! Our target is the Shield Carriage!"
Edward gave two orders in succession. Soon, ten small kerosene cans were tied to the top of ten crossbow bolts. The bolts with the cans stuck into the wooden shield carriages. Although they didn't injure any of the grass-barbarian cavalrymen, the kerosene cans were shattered, and the kerosene stained the wooden shield carriages. As the fire arrows fell from the sky, one of the wooden shield carriages burst into flames, followed by another …
"Very good." Edward was very satisfied with his sudden inspiration. "Steel crossbows number 1 to 10, continue to tie kerosene cans and fire at the shielded carriages. Don't let the flames on the carriages that are already on fire extinguish. The rest of the crossbows, use the flames to fire freely. Target the enemies who are filling in the holes and extinguishing the fire. Archers, continue to cover the area with fire arrows! "
The grass-barbarian cavalrymen who were filling in the holes had already discovered that the shielded carriages were on fire. As the cavalrymen who went to extinguish the fire were killed by the crossbows, they separated the ones that were on fire from the ones that weren't. Disregarding the casualties, they raised their shields and continued to fill in the holes. They were very fast, and were already less than a hundred meters away from Pitro City. However, they were powerless to do anything. All the wooden shield carriages that could provide cover for them had already become bonfires, illuminating the area below the city as if it were daytime.
Less than two hours after these grass-barbarian cavalrymen retreated, another group of grass-barbarians pushed the wooden shield carriages. However, these grass-barbarians were all carrying bulging sacks of grass, which were probably filled with soil. Borrowing the cover of the wooden shield carriages, these grass-barbarian cavalrymen threw the sacks of grass into the trenches, quickly filling in a path.
The archers had already switched to direct fire, and the steel crossbows were also continuously firing. However, there were too many enemies below the city, and the night was dark, so the effect of shooting wasn't very good. Meanwhile, the grass-barbarian cavalrymen didn't care about their casualties and continued to charge forward. While filling in the trenches, they borrowed the shield carriages' cover to fire arrows at the top of the city walls. The guards on the city walls also began to suffer casualties.
"Ah!" A close guard who was currently firing a steel crossbow released a miserable cry, falling to the ground while clutching his right eye. His arms and legs twitched, and soon after, he became motionless. The soldier who was currently loading the crossbow cried out in grief, "Brother …" He raised the steel crossbow and fiercely fired at the city walls.
Sou sou sou sou! A wave of wind sounds could be heard. Close to a hundred arrows landed on the top of the city walls. The dozen or so reserve soldiers who were transporting the crossbow arrows and treating the wounded looked as if they had been hit by a torrential downpour, their bodies pierced by more than ten arrows. Unlike the guards, they did not have well-equipped armor, and the arrows that were shot from below the city walls caused them to suffer heavy casualties.
"Over there!" A close guard quickly discovered the place where the grass-barbarian archers were gathered. It was behind a burning shield carriage. Several dozen steel crossbows turned around, launching a retaliatory counterattack against these grass-barbarian archers.
"Whoosh!" Another group of grass-barbarian cavalrymen pushed a dozen or so wooden shield carriages over.
"Have the steel crossbows and archers pay attention to the grass-barbarian archers below the city walls. Suppress them …" Edward gave an order that he regretted endlessly.
Pitro City's walls were six metres tall, and the city gates were covered in iron. There was also a large iron fence at the back. So what if the grass-barbarian cavalrymen reached the city walls? Who knew how long it would take for them to break through the city gates with the weapons they had on hand? As such, Edward decided to deal with the grass-barbarian archers who were firing arrows first. After all, they were the ones who posed a threat to the guards.
He didn't expect the grass-barbarian cavalrymen to be so nimble and quick. They reached the bottom of the city walls in two or three steps, and then pulled out many long ladders from the wooden shield carriages. After tying them together, they placed them on top of the city walls. There were also some grass-barbarian cavalrymen who used ropes and grappling hooks to hook onto the city walls and climbed up. There were even some grass-barbarian cavalrymen who carried short spears on their backs. They used their qi to insert the spears into the city walls and climbed up like ladders.
"The grass-barbarians are on the city walls!" A cry of alarm startled Edward. He turned around and saw a few grass-barbarians on top of the city walls. They were waving their weapons and shouting as they fought with the guards.
Not too far from him, a Grass Barbarian leapt onto the city wall. A cold light flashed, and then the crossbow shooter that was aiming at the crossbow exploded with blood, falling head first onto the ground. The three assisting guards didn't even have time to react before they were all knocked over by this Grass Barbarian.
Edward's eyes almost popped out of their sockets. He pulled out his sword and slashed at the grass-barbarian's head. The grass-barbarian saw that Edward's sword didn't have any sword light, so he carelessly thought that Edward was just an ordinary guard. He raised the dagger in his left hand, while the dagger in his right slashed at Edward's throat like a viper.
The grass-barbarian didn't expect that when Edward's longsword and dagger collided, there would suddenly be a flash of sword light. The grass-barbarian was shocked, but it was already too late for him to change his attack. He could only watch as the flickering sword light cut through his dagger, and then cut down on his left shoulder.
He kicked the grass-barbarian's corpse away, and immediately after, he chopped down another grass-barbarian who was about to flip over the city walls. He grabbed an oil can and smashed it on a ladder outside the city walls, then threw a torch down. Only when the ladder was set ablaze did Edward let out a sigh of relief. He hurriedly ordered the messenger beside him, "Hurry up and have the shield brigade and heavy spear brigade ascend the city walls. Have the reserve soldiers prepare to receive us with spears."
Unfortunately, this order came a little too late. More and more grass-barbarian cavalrymen had already scaled the city walls. The five ballistae simply couldn't stop these fiendish enemies. Many of the ballistae on the city walls had already stopped firing, and the grass-barbarian archers below the city walls were also increasing in number, causing great damage to the guards on the city walls who were still fighting back.
Edward knew that he had done something stupid. Because the two-meter-wide city walls were equipped with ballistae and longbowmen, as well as a passageway for the laborers to transport the ballistae, he hadn't arranged for the shield brigade and heavy spear soldiers to ascend the city walls. In any case, they couldn't do much against the enemies below the city walls, so he might as well let them rest below the city walls. Who would have thought that these grass-barbarians would actually scale the city walls so quickly? This was completely unexpected to the guards …
"Retreat, retreat back to the towers and close the gates. From the towers, fire at the grass-barbarians on the city walls. Don't let them go up or down …" Edward saw that there were more and more grass-barbarian cavalrymen on the city walls, so he hastily gave the order to retreat to the towers.
After Pitro City had been modified into a fortress, the front of the city walls was a tower that protruded out of the city walls. It was also two meters taller than the city walls, and on both ends were two towers that connected the city walls. Each side of the wall was a hundred meters long, and at the corners were two towers. The towers were used as stairs to go up and down the city walls, and also to prevent the current situation. If the city walls were lost, as long as the towers could be held, the enemies occupying the city walls wouldn't be able to break through.
Edward grabbed a soldier beside him and said, "Singh, immediately organize fifty ballistae to the second wall and focus on shooting at the enemies on this wall. Go!"
The second wall was two meters taller than the one in front, and it was fifty meters away. It was the last line of defense of the fortress. Only by breaking through the second wall could the fortress be considered to have truly fallen.
The soldier called Singh knew that the situation was urgent, so he saluted without hesitation and hurriedly left.
"You guys go as well," Edward said to the longbowmen on the tower. There were only a hundred or so longbowmen who had retreated to this side of the tower. They had already done their best, and each of them had shot no less than forty to fifty arrows. They could only blame the enemy for having too many enemies. When they had exhausted their strength and were resting, the enemy had taken the opportunity to launch a surprise attack. The ballistae had been suppressing the grass-barbarian longbowmen, but the grass-barbarians had attacked the city walls. In the process of resisting, they had lost close to a hundred men.
Right now, the most intense battlefield was under the four towers at the two ends of the city walls. Each tower only had six shooting windows facing the city walls, so only six arrows could be fired at a time. This was completely useless against the barbarians on the city walls. The grass-barbarians who had successfully occupied the two sides of the city walls went crazy with excitement. They didn't care about the crossbow arrows coming from the towers, and raised their shields, wanting to use the weapons in their hands to break open the iron gate between the towers and the city walls. Very quickly, under the hacking of several silver-ranked grass-barbarian warriors, a large hole was opened in the iron gate below the towers. However, these grass-barbarians didn't even have the time to celebrate their success when four or five spears shot out from the towers like lightning, piercing their chests.
Inside the towers, ten heavy spearmen of the Imperial Guard Battalion formed a circle, facing the entrance of the towers. When they saw the grass-barbarians rushing in, they would fire their spears and take their lives. However, from time to time, the grass-barbarians on the verge of death would launch their final counterattack, causing injuries to the heavy spearmen. The wounded would then be replaced by the heavy spearmen behind them.
Corpses piled up like a mountain at the entrance of the towers, almost blocking the entrance. However, the grass-barbarians on the city walls were increasing in number. They grabbed the corpses of their clansmen and threw them down from the city walls. Once the corpses were gone, they would rush into the towers and turn themselves into corpses, waiting to be thrown down from the city walls …
When the time came, one would regret not having enough soldiers. A platoon of heavy armored spearmen had no more than five hundred people, and each of the four towers only had a little more than a hundred people. Soon, these heavy armored spearmen were either killed or wounded, and the platoon of saber and shield soldiers began to fill in the gaps. However, the blade and shield battalion suffered more casualties than the spearmen. Even though they could hold on for a longer time, they soon couldn't hold on. Edward Walker could only order the reserve soldiers to fill in the gaps.
Even though these reserve soldiers were all strong laborers, they hadn't gone through any training, and their equipment wasn't good either. Most of them only held spears and relied on their numbers to resist the enemy's attacks. Their losses were even faster, and it took about five or six reserve soldiers to kill one grass-barbarian. This time, the corpses piled up like a mountain in the towers, and the ones who died were the reserve soldiers.
When these dead or wounded reserve soldiers were dragged out and transported to the rear, some of the reserve soldiers who were waiting to go into battle broke down. They threw away the weapons in their hands and screamed as they ran around. Edward Walker had no choice but to order the only unit under his command, the Fallen Shield Soldiers, which consisted of more than sixty people, to act as a law enforcement unit. They dealt with nearly a hundred deserters on the spot, chopping off their heads and stabbing them into spears.
When the four towers became the flesh grinder for the reserve soldiers, the steel crossbows and longbowmen on the second city wall were finally in position. They launched an attack on the grass-barbarians on the first city wall, which dealt a heavy blow to the grass-barbarians who thought they could break through the wall. On the bare city wall, there weren't any wooden shields or carriages for them to hide in. After being hit by arrows, the grass-barbarians fell off the city wall like fallen leaves …
Corpses piled up on the city wall. There was almost no space for them to step on. Blood covered the soles of their feet. Crossbow bolts and feathered arrows were stuck in the corpses. From a distance, it looked like a neat little forest had grown on the city wall. The sky had already begun to brighten. Finally, there were no more grass-barbarians climbing up the city wall. The sorrowful sound of a retreat came from the grassland below the slope. It was as if the war drums that had been ringing all night had already died down, and the red glow of dawn on the horizon was dazzling …
Edward Walker, who was covered in blood, stood up with difficulty with the help of the bricks on the city wall. He raised his head and looked down, only to see the backs of a few grass-barbarian cavalrymen retreating down the slope with longbows on their backs.
The enemy has finally retreated. We've defended Pidro City … Edward Walker let out a long sigh of relief, but the pain from his wounds made him groan uncontrollably. This was the most dangerous moment of the night. A dozen grass-barbarian warriors had used ropes to swing onto the city wall. Although Edward Walker and his personal guards had fought and killed them, they had suffered heavy casualties. Even he himself had been hit by three swords and an axe. Fortunately, it wasn't fatal, and he could continue to command his men to defend the castle after bandaging his wounds.
"My lord, my lord, reinforcements have arrived …" Singh, who was commanding the second wall, rushed up and supported the swaying Edward Walker, "It's Lord Freya's flag. The chief has finally arrived …"
Edward Walker suddenly wanted to laugh. He remembered a joke in his family's army that reinforcements would always arrive after the battle … He opened his mouth to say something, but his vision darkened and he fainted.
… …
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