Chapter 40: The Meat Grinder
The ten siege towers advanced like colossal steel beasts, and even the magic cannons could not shake them.
"Once those siege towers connect with the city wall… a massive number of soldiers will pour onto the wall through them." Buck's face flickered uncertainly in the multicolored glow of the magic cannons. Boone, Black Shark, Gates, Anke, and the others also wore grim expressions.
Linley stood on the city wall, watching the soldiers below, dense as locusts, and the ten siege towers. He, too, felt the gravity of the situation.
"Now comes the most brutal phase."
Even someone like Linley, who knew little of warfare, could foresee the coming frenzy.
…
"Charge!" Some soldiers, their faces twisted with fury, roared madly.
Thousands of scaling ladders were propped against the wall, and countless soldiers scrambled up them, desperate to reach the top and engage the defenders in close combat. But… the ladders could be pushed over or doused with burning oil.
Only one or two soldiers could climb a ladder at a time. Faced with the blades and spears of numerous defenders thrusting at them simultaneously, they could only die with regret.
A soldier on a ladder leaped, trying to land on the wall.
"Pfft!"
Several blades and spears stabbed into him at once. The soldier managed only a single slash before he was pierced like a honeycomb.
"Boom!" A ladder was pushed over, sending a stream of soldiers tumbling from a height of twenty or thirty meters. The stronger ones fared slightly better, but the weak were either killed or crippled by the fall. The worst part… the ground below was littered with the weapons of the countless dead.
Falling soldiers were impaled on the blades.
"Pfft—" Bodies were run through by the weapons.
Meanwhile, a torrent of soldiers below the wall frantically fired arrows upward. The dense volleys rained down on the wall, even reaching into the city of Kode County. Many defenders were struck and killed by the falling arrows.
…
Every moment, countless warriors died. Though many defenders also fell, the attackers' losses were far greater.
"Hurry. Hurry." In the distance, behind the main army, the Black-Cloaked High Priest of the Dark Church, Visport, muttered under his breath. "Hurry, push the siege towers to the wall." Visport could barely stand to watch.
He longed for the situation to change immediately.
The massive siege towers were the powerful tools that could turn the tide of battle.
Their terrifying height and steel-forged bodies.
This made the siege towers like movable walls. Fighting from a siege tower against the defenders on the wall would put them at no disadvantage. After all, the top platform of a siege tower could hold hundreds of soldiers at once.
"Fire at those siege towers!"
The commander shouted the order. Several magic cannons immediately fired at the siege towers, but the outer armor plates were several meters thick. Such thick steel was impervious even to the power of magic cannons.
At most, the towers would shudder, or soldiers on them would be killed.
But if soldiers died, more could charge up from below, since the other side of the tower was a sloped ramp.
"First battalion, over here! Prepare to hold this siege tower!" A commander shouted loudly. To counter the siege towers, elite soldiers were needed.
The defenders of Kode County tried every way to stop the siege towers.
But these siege "beasts" were unstoppable—
With a loud "Boom!", one siege tower finally connected with the city wall. Then, one after another—"Boom!" "Boom!" "Boom!"… The continuous crashing sounds rang out as siege tower after siege tower linked with the wall.
"Pull it open!"
On one tower, an officer roared. Several soldiers immediately worked the mechanisms hidden within the tower. With a "Clank, clank" of gears turning, a thick steel plate on the siege tower dropped toward Kode County.
"Crash!" This steel plate, a hundred meters wide and several meters thick, slammed heavily onto the wall of Kode County.
This created a hundred-meter-wide passage between the siege tower and the city wall. Since the siege tower was taller than the wall, the soldiers of the Radiant Church and the Dark Church could now charge down this passage, attacking from a height.
"Brothers, kill!"
"Avenge the squadron leader! Kill!!!"
…
Countless furious attackers howled as they poured through the passage onto the wall of Kode County. They had been fighting too long with pent-up frustration, stuck below the wall, killed by arrows and magic cannons without ever having a fair fight with their opponents.
That frustration had festered in their hearts.
Now, these soldiers finally erupted.
The ten siege towers created ten passages. A flood of soldiers streamed along them, attacking Kode County. The defenders did not retreat either, hurling boulders or pouring burning oil… The hundred-meter-wide space was packed with people.
One soldier cut off an enemy's head, while another drove his spear into his chest.
…
The junction of the siege towers and the city wall was nothing less than a meat grinder!
Attackers and defenders clashed at close quarters!
Piles of corpses grew so high they surpassed the height of the wall's parapet, then tumbled off. Blood pooled, turning the walkway into a crimson river. Countless soldiers still raised their weapons and charged at the enemy.
To save their own lives.
To avenge their comrades.
…
Everyone's eyes were bloodshot.
"Boom!" "Boom!"…
The dazzling fire of the magic cannons was aimed specifically at the siege towers, because the soldiers on them were packed ten times more densely than those below.
Soldiers tried to rush from the siege towers onto the city wall.
It was indeed fast.
From the base of the siege tower, up the ramp, to the city wall—less than a hundred meters! At a warrior's speed, this distance could be covered in under ten seconds. They clung to the hope that the magic cannons wouldn't hit them in those ten seconds.
But!
The magic cannons fired at the siege towers. A single blast could kill hundreds. Yet the rate of killing from the magic cannons was far slower than the terrifying speed of the hand-to-hand slaughter. The defenders of Kode County began to die in massive numbers as well.
"In close combat, the casualty ratio is nearly one to one." Buck looked at Linley. "Lord Linley, if this continues, we can't afford to trade with them."
Indeed, the enemy had a total force of 1.6 million. Though they had suffered some losses earlier, it was nothing compared to that massive number. But Kode County only had 500,000 men. If they traded one for one…
Even if the enemy lost 300,000 to 400,000, they would still have over a million. But if they lost 300,000 to 400,000, they would have only 100,000 to 200,000 left.
This couldn't continue!
Of course, this was only the ratio among those fighting at close quarters. When factoring in those killed by magic cannons and arrows from below, the defenders still held a significant advantage.
"Gates, the rest of you, destroy those passages." Linley pointed at the steel plates connecting the siege towers to the wall.
Those hundred-meter-wide, several-meter-thick steel plates—once destroyed! Then there would be a gap of nearly ten meters between the siege tower and the wall. Only those with sufficient strength could jump that distance. And if they jumped from the siege tower, the defenders could just meet them with spear points—
"Yes, my lord." Gates replied loudly.
Boone, Anke, and Black Shark followed without hesitation. Since Buck had reached the Saint Domain, he refrained from acting.
Gates's body was wreathed in battle qi. Gripping his massive axe, which weighed 5,300 jin, he stomped the ground and leaped toward the most fiercely contested passage. The hundred-meter passage was packed with enemy soldiers, all trying to charge onto the wall.
"Pfft—" A terrifying axe-shaped blade of battle qi flew out, cutting dozens of soldiers in half. Limbs flew, blood sprayed, and a clear space appeared on the passage.
"Boom!"
Like a demon god, Gates landed in that space, wielding his terrifying 5,300-jin axe. But the enemy soldiers instantly filled the gap again, attacking him wildly.
"Hmph!" Gates swung his axe, slamming it straight down.
The axe fell like a drifting leaf, landing on the steel plate below. With a faint sound, a deep gash appeared in the steel, and powdered steel dust scattered in the wind.
Effortless weight!
"Boom!" The battle qi around Gates burst outward like countless arrows, killing a swath of the surrounding attackers.
"Pretty thick," Gates muttered to himself. Even a peak Stage 9 undying warrior couldn't split this steel plate. But his first strike had cut through most of it, leaving less than a meter of thickness.
"No!" Many from the Radiant Church and Dark Church saw this and shouted in horror, their eyes wide.
"Break apart." Gates swung his axe again, lightly.
"Boom!" The extra-thick steel plate split in two. The two halves fell from the wall and the siege tower respectively, taking many soldiers with them. This rendered the siege tower nearly useless.
To cross now, soldiers would have to jump from the tower to the wall.
But the defenders were waiting with their weapons, spears and swords pointed at them. Jump… and the result was predictable.
"Boom!" "Boom!"… The crashing sounds of falling steel plates rang out one after another. Before Gates, Boone, Anke, and Black Shark—four terrifying peak Stage 9 warriors—the steel plates of all ten siege towers were split in two.
The Radiant Church and Dark Church, who had just glimpsed victory, were now in agony.
"We were so close, damn it." Visport growled in fury.
If that situation had continued, even with the magic cannons bombarding them during close combat, Visport believed that sacrificing 700,000 to 800,000 troops would have crippled the enemy.
"Visport, what now?" Gilmore looked at him.
Visport looked back. "It's still early. We'll wait until five in the morning." Both Gilmore and Visport understood each other's meaning.
"Even though the passage plates are destroyed, the siege towers still have their uses." Visport gazed into the distance… Indeed, many soldiers climbed the siege towers and, taking advantage of the height, fired arrows and hurled boulders at the wall.
Some even jumped directly onto the wall.
Though the first soldiers died in droves, as more jumped and secured a small foothold, they could still hold their ground against the enemy.
"Everyone's gone mad." Even Gates, a veteran of many battles, felt the pressure.
Too many were dying.
Time passed, minute by minute.
Three in the morning…
Four in the morning…
In just a few hours of darkness, the defenders had suffered nearly 200,000 casualties. Such a horrifying number gave a clear picture of the losses on the Radiant Church and Dark Church side.
When five in the morning arrived, Visport and Gilmore looked at each other.
"Visport, as you said, it's time to use our trump card." Gilmore spoke.
PS: This is the first chapter. Sorry, it's a bit late.
It's over!
Yesterday, Tomato didn't write a single word. After squeezing out this chapter today, I couldn't write any further.
Lately, Tomato's been in a bad state.
Sorry… I know I've let everyone down. I'll try to get back on track as soon as possible. I clearly remember the three chapters I owe you all. Please understand…
Right now, Tomato is very tired.