Chapter 70: Attack is the Best Defense (1)
Digald’s main army arrived in front of Count Perdium’s castle.
They positioned themselves targeting Perdium’s southern castle gate and walls.
Observing them setting up camp a little distance away from the castle, Zvalter felt dizzy.
‘Can we hold out?’
The disparity between what he had heard and what he was seeing was overwhelming.
Seeing the long lines of barracks and soldiers made his heart feel heavier.
‘No, we have to do this. We must hold them off, no matter what.’
He had to stand firm not just for himself, but for the territory residents as well.
As Zvalter steeled himself again, the soldiers and knights stationed on the castle walls were swallowing hard and shaking a little.
‘How are we going to stop this?’
‘We’re done for. The gate will be breached right away.’
‘It feels like we’ll all be dead just from them pushing in!’
All the experiences from the North, the strong camaraderie, and the long-standing loyalty were of no use at this moment.
That’s what overwhelming military power does.
Just their presence was enough to shatter the morale of the defenders.
Everyone was tense and didn’t know what to do as they watched the approaching enemies.
Digald’s army didn’t charge immediately.
After establishing enough sentries, they began assembling their siege equipment.
In less than a day, four massive siege towers and one catapult were completed.
The sight of them filled the soldiers of Perdium with an indescribable dread.
“S-siege towers.”
“I’ve never seen anything like that.”
“Are they really coming to our pathetic walls?”
They knew what siege towers were but had never seen one in person.
Seeing the anxious soldiers, Zvalter’s expression darkened.
“This is bad. We’re scared before the fight even begins.”
Just seeing those massive siege towers caused the Perdium army to lose their fighting spirit.
In contrast, Tamos wore a smug smile.
“Looks like Count Perdium was really only focused on the northern fortress. It seems in worse shape than ours!”
Even though Viktor had told him not to worry, you can’t control what’s in one’s heart.
Inherently timid, Tamos hoped the war wouldn’t drag on.
Since they had a significant troop advantage, he preferred to clash in one go and crush them.
“Such a shabby castle. Hahaha! What a relief! At this rate, it’ll all be over quickly. Won’t it?”
Viktor only gave him a sidelong glance, showing no particular reaction, but Tamos continued to laugh and chatter, unfazed.
Once the troop deployment was finished, a knight approached Viktor to report.
“Preparation for the march is complete.”
“Start with the catapult.”
As Viktor raised his hand, the catapult on the left began launching massive rocks.
Due to a shortage of rocks, they only used one catapult, but that was more than enough.
Boom! Boom!
“Ugh! Take cover!”
The soldiers of Perdium were startled by the sudden attack, hurriedly trying to dodge.
Typically, before a war begins, a messenger arrives first to demand “honorable surrender.”
Before becoming, the messenger rushed over to demand an “honorable surrender.”
But the enemy began attacking without any notice.
Their intention to sweep everything away was blatantly obvious.
Zvalter swung his sword and yelled at the top of his lungs.
“Everyone, take cover!”
The enemy troops didn’t budge, so there was no chance to attack.
At least it was a relief that the catapult had a slow attack speed and was difficult to aim, making it easy to dodge.
Kwahh! Kwaang!
Watching the castle wall slowly crumble, Zvalter bit his lip.
“If we had a catapult, we could have countered.”
The enemies seemed convinced that there were no catapults here, showing no signs of preparation.
“Probably those traitors told them.”
Kwahh! Kwahhh!
The catapult attacks suddenly stopped. They had run out of rocks to use as ammunition.
But even a brief attack had nearly destroyed Perdium’s castle wall.
Seeing that scene, Viktor smirked, lifting one corner of his lip.
“Good start.”
The debris of the castle wall piled up, making it seem like they could climb up even without a ladder.
When Viktor raised his hand, the troops finally began to move.
Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!
With the resounding drumbeats, Digald’s troops moved in perfect unison.
“Everyone, prepare! The enemy is advancing!”
As Zvalter shouted, the soldiers trembled and prepared for combat.
Just watching the trained soldiers form their ranks created immense pressure.
Moreover, the enemy had significantly more soldiers.
“It’s okay! We can hold them back! We fight from the castle!”
Zvalter kept shouting, encouraging the soldiers without rest.
The soldiers, hands trembling to the point of not being able to grip their weapons, somehow steadied themselves at their lord’s shout.
Drumdrumdrumdrum!
The enemy’s central troops did not advance beyond a certain distance.
Instead, the two siege towers on each side began to move first.
Seeing the approaching siege tower, Zvalter shouted.
“Shoot!”
Whoosh!
Countless flaming arrows flew and struck the siege tower.
However, with wood wrapped in leather and soaked in water, the siege tower was not easy to ignite.
To burn such a large structure, the entire tower would need to be drenched in oil, and there was no such oil in Perdium.
And the enemies were not just standing by watching Perdium’s attack.
Swoosh!
Archers shielded by shield soldiers stepped forward, and soon a tremendous number of arrows flew toward the castle wall.
“Ugh!”
“Duck!”
“Stay close to the wall and shoot!”
A few soldiers were hit by arrows and fell. The remaining ones did their best to lower their bodies and return fire.
However, the difference in troop numbers was so significant that they could only manage to suppress with arrows.
In the meantime, the siege towers clamped onto both sides of the castle wall.
Boom! Boom!
The drawbridge from the siege tower descended and stretched over the castle wall, and crazed soldiers poured down from inside the tower.
“Block them! Randolf, go to the other side!”
Zvalter and Randolf separated, commanding the soldiers on the wall as they started to fight.
“Waaah!”
Clang! Clang! Clang!
A chaotic melee erupted on the narrow castle wall, making it hard to wield swords properly.
“Hold on!”
Zvalter and Randolf did their best to pierce the gaps and slice through the enemies.
Despite being outnumbered, they commanded the soldiers with synergy.
Their personal strength was remarkable; even as troops continued to push in from Digald’s side, they held the castle wall without giving in.
Watching this from a distance, Viktor’s eyes sparkled with intrigue.
“Indeed, they’re quite capable. Such talent is too good to rot away here.”
Tamos, watching beside him, urged impatiently.
“Can’t we just lead the knights and break the castle gate? That would be faster, wouldn’t it?”
“Is it the same?”
Victor looked down at him, failing to hide his disdain.
To break through the castle gate, we need to concentrate our forces here.
There are already troops on the castle wall, so there was no need to target another location.
Besides, using a knight just to open the castle gate…
Knights were invaluable assets. It’s better to lose hundreds of soldiers than to lose a single knight.
“If the castle gate is breached now, the enemy will abandon the wall and gather at the gate.”
“Then can’t we just push through?”
“The interior of Perdium is rather cramped. Even if we push in, there’s a limit to how many can enter at once, so we’ll be forced to use a staggered deployment.”
Staggered deployment is a strategy of continuously sending in split units.
Fighting that way may exhaust the enemy, but they have a fairly competent commander on their side, so if we’re unlucky, we might end up fighting around the gate for days.
Victor pointed to the castle wall again and said, “It’s the same with the wall. If we create more passages and scatter the enemy, we can take them down one by one. We have much larger numbers, after all. We should leverage our troop advantage to minimize casualties.”
Even though Victor explained while suppressing his irritation, Tamos still didn’t understand and asked again.
“Really? Then will it all end today?”
‘Should I just kill him now?’
A sense of intent to kill began to rise within Victor.
After all, he was a dead man, and the war would be over soon, so it wouldn’t matter if he killed him right now.
Victor pondered for a moment and let out a long sigh.
There were still guard knights and soldiers left beside Count Digald.
No matter how many, it wasn’t difficult to kill them, but there was no need to create unnecessary chaos in the rear that would boost the enemy’s morale.
“If our forces clash in such a confined space, the battle will inevitably take longer.”
Tamos didn’t understand half of it, but seeing Victor’s sour expression, he nodded anyway.
As Victor said, Perdium was in a dire situation.
If they failed to defend the castle wall, it would be akin to defeat.
They would be surrounded by enemies crossing over the wall and would be forced to retreat.
Yet, there were too many enemy forces to defend the entire long wall.
Zvalter and Randolf were managing to hold on, but the Perdium troops were growing weary against the endlessly incoming enemies.
‘But we must endure!’
Zvalter gritted his teeth. He needed to kill at least one more enemy before his soldiers got tired.
Victor smiled as he watched the wall enter a brief lull.
“Deploy troops to the fallen wall. Disseminate the forces between the wall and the gate. If we successfully seize it, just hold your ground.”
Boom! Boom! Boom!
The sound of drums and horns resounded again as the central troops began to move forward.
They were headed toward the section of the fallen wall where the catapult had struck.
As more enemies poured in, Zvalter grew anxious.
They were short on troops to defend the crumbling wall against those pouring from the siege tower.
“Randolf alone can’t block them all! There are too few troops at the wall!”
The enemy’s central army aiming for the gate and the cavalry in the rear were still not moving.
It was clear that the enemy intended to disperse our forces, but regardless, they had to be held back.
If the breached wall was captured, it would be the same as creating a point of entry for the enemy.
Zvalter shouted urgently.
“Ghislaine! Block the fallen wall!”
Ghislaine was waiting inside the gate with mercenaries.
They were all heavily armored in black helmets and armor.
It looked like something had been carefully attached over the helmets and armor.
Near the gate’s opening mechanism, Skoban and the Forest of Monsters guard unit had gathered.
“Lord! An order from the lord has come! You must go support! The knight commander is in danger!”
“Your command has been issued! You need to go support them. The Knight Commander is in danger!”
Skoban shouted frantically. Ghislaine shook his head.
“We’re not blocking the castle wall.”
“Huh?”
Skoban and the soldiers looked bewildered.
Ghislaine decided to support the dangerous side and retained command of the mercenaries.
But what on earth were they supposed to do if they weren’t going to defend the castle wall?
Skoban and the soldiers began to panic, unsure of what to do.
It seemed they were debating whether they should go and support after all.
The mercenaries looked at Ghislaine with puzzled expressions. What did he plan to do if they weren’t blocking the castle wall?
Just then, Zvalter’s voice rang out again.
“Ghislaine! Move! What are you doing!”
Randolf also roared.
“Grand Duke! What the hell are you doing! The enemies are coming!”
The enemies had already approached close to the fallen castle wall.
Ghislaine gauged the time and ordered Skoban.
“Open it.”
“Huh? Open what?”
“The castle gate.”
Skoban gasped and waved his hands.
“Oh, no! Grand Duke! What do you mean? Why are you opening the gate!”
“This is a very good opportunity.”
“What opportunity? Don’t say nonsense!”
Seeing that Skoban might not follow his orders, Ghislaine gestured to the mercenaries beside him.
The mercenaries hesitated for a moment but then moved according to his direction.
They rushed forward and began to lift the descending barred gate, starting to open the castle gate.
“Oh, no! You can’t open the gate!”
Skoban frantically tried to stop them, but the mercenaries carried on regardless.
Drumroll!
Through the slowly opening castle gate, they could see the enemy’s main force in the distance.
It seemed they were still relaxed, showing no signs of movement.
“Looks like this is a pretty good situation for us to move.”
Clang!
Ghislaine smiled and lowered the faceplate of his helmet.
His helmet was also covered in some kind of black material.
Clang! Clang! Clang!
All the mercenaries covered their faces with helmets as well.
Though they prepared after Ghislaine, the mercenaries started feeling a bit anxious.
Belinda’s face turned pale, and cold sweat began to trickle down her brow, while Gillian’s expression hardened stiffly.
Only Kaor shone with eyes like a child presented with a gift.
At that moment, Zvalter shouted again.
“Ghislaine! What’re you doing! Why aren’t you moving yet?”
He checked below the castle wall, brushing off the enemies, and stammered in panic.
“W-What the hell! Why did you open the castle gate!”
The gate was open, and the son and the mercenaries were ready to charge out.
He had clearly told them multiple times to follow orders!
“Close it! Close the gate and head to the wall!”
No matter how loudly Zvalter shouted, Ghislaine and the mercenaries showed no reaction.
“You! This is the lord’s command! Hurry and help Randolf defend the wall!”
Randolf also confirmed the situation below the wall and shouted in alarm.
“Grand Duke! Why did you open the gate, you crazy fool!”
Ghislaine pretended not to hear them, slowly lowering his body.
Gripping a massive two-handed axe, he gathered mana at his legs and said.
“Defending the wall… Skoban, do you know something?”
At Ghislaine’s words, Skoban looked as if he had lost his country and replied.
“What? That we’re all doomed?”
“No.”
“Then what do you mean?”
“That attack is the best form of defense.”
“Huh?”
“When an opportunity arises, you shouldn’t hesitate. You just have to move.”
A red light flickered from inside the helmet.
And then.
KWA-BOOM!
Ghislaine’s body shot out at an incredible speed.
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