Chapter 140: War of the Empire (2)

Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

“Boom!”

A gigantic fireball was descending onto the city of Blanc. As the giant flaming rocks descended, and waves of dust rolled into the city, the fire spread out.

Instantly, some of the orcs that did not have the chance to dodge the rocks were crushed into mincemeat. These rocks, which were coated in flaming oil, caused numerous roaring fires, which set surrounding structures aflame.

Many people, who were dosed directly by the flaming oil, were lit on fire. These people struggled in agony, before burning to death. Meanwhile, people on both sides rushed about frantically, attempting to put out the fires.

As the flaming rocks continued to descend, trails of fire rained down ceaselessly from above, landing within the city. Following the trails of fire outside the city, there were a row of catapults, which were barraging the city wall continuously.

Also outside the city, a huge orc army stood. Beneath the sun, the layers of their armor flashed blindingly. They seemed to be an endless sea of warriors, when seen in a single glance.

With over tens of thousands of soldiers, their ranks seemed to limitless, especially since another large army of fifty thousand stood off in the distance as well. In fact, the armies now surrounding Blanc extended all the way beyond the hills.

With their numerous spears and shields shining, dense like a forest, all of the soldiers looked at Blanc with a ravenous hunger in their eyes. As the catapults kept striking the city, all of them could feel the pressure of the black smoke, pluming from the attack.

This sort of warfare had first originated from the human kingdoms. It seemed that the origin was based off of the weapons of human wizards.

The first time such methods entered a large scale battle was during the destruction of the Kingdom of Menkaure. The tactics were seen for a second time during Verthandi’s succession battle against Mad King Lemegeton Narando.

With the support of the Faith of the Sun, Verthandi had taken the designs of the catapults and commissioned large numbers of craftsmen to create them. Only then did she achieve overwhelming victory in all of the siege battles, forcing Lemegeton’s surrender of the throne of the Kingdom of Engido.

After witnessing that battle, everyone recognized the power of these catapults. As a result, many nearby kingdoms began purchasing catapults from the human kingdoms.

These orcs from the south of Engido had actually procured a large number of catapults, which they were using to bombard Blanc. Luckily, Blanc was a defensive fortress with over a hundred years of history. As such, its wall was tall, sturdy, and definitely difficult to breach.

The shape of the city wall was also different from the traditional squares and circles, taking the shape of a polygram instead. As such, no matter which direction the city was attacked from, its inhabitants could return fire. This way, the structure was also sturdier, a true fortress. That was why Lanto could attempt to hold the city with only three thousand knights, along with those scattered soldiers and fresh recruits from within the city.

“Sir!”

“Sir!”

Lanto was pacing within a channel inside the city wall. Under his chainmail, he was clad in a purple robe with the sigil of the sun embroidered on it, representing his status as a Holy Knight.

Wherever he passed by, the surrounding soldiers and archers would stand in attention and salute Lanto. He nodded lightly, as the endless barrage of the catapults continued in the background. A few of his attendants could no longer hold back from addressing this situation.

“Sir, should we arm our own catapults and return the attacks? This way, we can disrupt their rhythm. Perhaps we can even destroy some of their catapults, too!” A young dog-man general, dressed in chainmail, spoke impatiently, while standing before Lanto.

Lanto did not answer him, but mounted the city wall to look at the opposing army. The mere sight of the majesty of the large, dense mass was enough to scare a person until they were weak-kneed, not to mention the specks of fireballs that were whizzing overhead. Even some of the soldiers were shaking.

At that moment, a stone landed on the city wall, not far from the group. Immediately, the entire section of the wall began shaking violently, as the group felt their footholds becoming unsteady.

Finally, Lanto grabbed the dog-man general and patted his shoulder. Only then did his answer his question. “It’s not time yet. Right now, they are only testing us. Their catapults are the large models, with a range of four hundred meters. We only have mid-ranged catapults, with a maximum reach of two hundred sixty meters. What’s more, based on the current direction and speed of the wind, they have the advantage, since we’d be shooting against the head wind.”

Lanto continued his explanation. “If we shoot now, we will fall right into their trap. They would find the locations of our catapults, then destroy them immediately. Then, we would truly be in an hopeless situation.”

Lanto had fought during the succession battle for Verthandi, so he was very familiar with the usage of catapults on the battlefield. This experience allowed him to speak now with such authority and confidence.

The continuous barrage of the catapults was disastrous for the morale of the soldiers within the city. As such, Lanto and the generals continuously paced around the city, boosting their morale and encouraging them to hold down the fort.

As expected, the opponents tested them via a round of pressuring shots, before moving into siege warfare. The masses of soldiers rushed at the city wall with all sorts of weapons. The human tactics of siege warfare had slowly disseminated through the orc nations, following the destruction of the Kingdom of Menkaure. These insights had also revolutionized warfare and strategy within the orc nations.

At this time, the catapults within the city immediately began their counterattacks. The three thousand knights that Lanto brought were all elites, who had been through the succession war. Luckily, there were soldiers, who were capable of assembling and controlling catapults, among them.

The accuracy of the catapults left much to be desired, but their timing control and their distance from the enemies was excellent. Compared to their opponents, their control over distance and wind was much more precise. After a few rounds, the battlefield outside the city was in a scene of complete chaos.

After a few rounds of test shots, the opponents had initially thought that there were no catapults within the city. As such, the opponents were completely defenseless to the sudden activation of the city’s catapults!

Large sections of the opponent army were pulverized by huge stones, as their blood dyed the battlefield a crimson red. Many of the siege machines and ladders were also completely destroyed, one after another.

However, since the other side had a force of fifty thousand strong, they continued pushing forward by brute force. As more ladders were wheeled towards the wall, the battle stagnated, reaching somewhat of a temporary stalemate.

Still, objects rained down continuously upon the enemies, including stones, wood, oil and boiling water. Orc soldiers screamed piteously, as they fell from the ladders.

The archers in the city pelted an endless torrent of arrows downwards, yet the other side kept rushing at the city wall. They rushed forward with no regard for life or death, like a stormy wave.

Beneath the city walls, the bodies of the dead were already piling up thickly. A few of the invaders had made it onto the city wall, and as the skirmishes moved onto the city wall, the defenders of the city attempted to keep knocking the intruders off. So it continued, wave after wave.

Lanto led his troops with his own Sword of the Holy Knight, which glowed white. Brandishing it proudly, he weaved through the soldiers on the wall, knocking the invaders down.

The Holy Knights had received the same divine seed inheritance as the Saints. However the Holy Knights did not strengthen their bodies, but rather strengthened their weapons, which were transformed into deified metallic cells. As such, they wielded a power called ki. It was essentially the same as the Judgement Ray of the Saints, with only a few differences in scale.

Battles erupted all over the wall, as the enemy soldiers continuously struggled onto the wall. The sound of slaughter rang throughout the entire around. Every moment, someone died. The resulting smell of blood was enough to make people vomit.

Lanto was bathed in blood, as he pushed a hammer-wielding bear-orc down the wall after stabbing him to death. Finally, the enemies began retreating.

However, Lanto knew that this was only the first wave of a battle of attrition. The invaders would continue to storm the city walls, and he had promised his King to protect Blanc for ten whole days.

He knew that this would be a tremendously difficult siege battle. Yet, he was not going to give his enemies a single inch!

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