Chaos erupted as, under the gaze of countless onlookers, the first wave of over two thousand cavalry charges faltered before even reaching halfway up the slope. The Grassland barbarian riders were thrown from their mounts. Those lucky enough could struggle to call for help, while the unlucky ones had broken necks and drew their last breaths. The second and third waves following closely behind hurriedly reined in their horses, dismounted to rescue the fallen. After a frantic period, they turned their mounts around and fled back. The observing barbarian warriors, who had been cheering, fell silent as if slapped across the face. Meanwhile, Pidro City atop the slope remained utterly still throughout this process...
Chief Kenuubi's expression was grim. The aborted assault had cost him dearly in face. "Go, bring Halikai, Runigigi, and Morimode to me. I want an explanation for why the attack was halted..."
The barbarian guards beside him brought only two people. "Noble Lord Kenuubi, your humble servants Halikai and Morimode pay their respects."
"Where is Runigigi?" Chief Kenuubi snorted from his nose.
"Noble Lord Kenuubi, Runigigi has returned to the embrace of the Wolf God," replied the older Morimode respectfully.
"What did you say?" Chief Kenuubi was stunned. "He's dead? Nonsense, how could he die? He drank a whole large jar of my fermented mare's milk and ate one of my roasted sheep just last night! Wasn't he perfectly fine when he charged out just now?"
"It's true, Noble Lord Kenuubi. Your humble servant wouldn't dare deceive you with lies. The brave Runigigi, following your orders, led the charge. But those despicable flatlanders dug countless horse pits across that slope. Runigigi's warhorse stepped into one, snapping its front right leg. He was thrown out, broke his neck, and so returned to the Wolf God's embrace..." Morimode explained in detail the cause of Runigigi's death.
"Hmm? You say the slope is covered in horse pits?"
"Yes, Noble Lord Kenuubi. Your humble servant did not deceive you. The two thousand cavalry Runigigi led lost over thirteen hundred horses. More than a thousand warriors were injured in the fall, and over a hundred warriors, like Runigigi, returned to the Wolf God's embrace. The despicable flatlanders didn't just dig the slope full of horse pits; they also dug many trenches and traps, filled with sharpened wooden stakes and iron caltrops. We simply couldn't charge up on horseback. That's why we decided to withdraw first..." Morimode hastily explained the reason for their retreat, clarifying it was not due to cowardice, but impossibility.
"Hmph. I hope what you say is true..." Chief Kenuubi looked Morimode and Halikai up and down with cold eyes. Seeing them standing there composedly, clearly not lying, he turned to Grand Duke Fisablen.
"Hehe, no problem, my brother, Chief Kenuubi." Grand Duke Fisablen, having overheard their conversation, spoke before Kenuubi could: "I will hand over all the shield carts I brought to you. You all know how to use them from the ambush. I believe with these shield carts, you can quickly fill the horse pits and trenches on the slope, and they will also protect your approach to Pidro City. I think the enemy digging so many horse pits and trenches on the slope only shows they don't have enough troops to defend, so they resort to such despicable means to obstruct and delay the advance of our brave warriors..."
What Chief Kenuubi had actually wanted was for Grand Duke Fisablen to send soldiers from his Border Patrol Cavalry Regiment to push those log shield carts to cover his men's attack on Pidro City. However, Fisablen had preempted him. You can have the carts, but don't even think about the men.
Secretly cursing "old fox" in his heart, Chief Kenuubi nodded to Grand Duke Fisablen, offered his thanks, then ordered Morimode and Halikai standing before him to receive the shield carts. He commanded the barbarian cavalry to dismount, take tools, and first fill in the horse pits, trenches, and traps on the slope...
Grand Duke Fisablen ordered the establishment of a campsite right there. This time, Chief Kenuubi did not object. How long it would take to push those log shield carts up the slope was unknown, and filling the horse pits, trenches, and traps required massive manpower and time. They couldn't just let the hundred thousand barbarian cavalry sit stupidly on their horses waiting. Kenuubi had already postponed the plan to capture Pidro City to tomorrow. For today, they would just clear an approach route.
By around four in the afternoon, the barbarian cavalry work teams pushing the log shield carts had approached to within about three hundred meters of Pidro City. Because the city had shown no activity, the barbarians carrying various tools lost their vigilance, focused only on burying the horse pits and trenches. Chief Kenuubi had given a strict order: a path must be cleared today. No barbarian wanted to face punishment upon returning. Their only thought was to finish quickly and get back to their tents for a good rest.
No one knew that at that moment, Eduvok, commander of the 23rd Battalion of the Guard, had just organized a surprise attack force of nearly a thousand men. They slipped out from Pidro City's rear gate, moved stealthily along the city moat to the front, crept closer and closer in a crouch, and then, at a distance of less than ten meters, suddenly leaped up and charged into the midst of the hardworking barbarians...
...and lost consciousness. Darkness filled their vision...
The one hundred thousand barbarian cavalry, already encamped, watched dumbfounded as the massacre unfolded on the distant slope. Each barbarian sent to work was slaughtered as easily as a chicken. The luckier ones towards the rear fled down the slope, crying for their parents. But their luck held out poorly, for because they had pushed many log shield carts up and Pidro City remained inactive, they had forgotten the danger of attack and, finding the carts cumbersome, left them behind.
Now those log shield carts became obstacles to their escape. The more people tried to pass, the more jammed it became. Barbarians left behind screamed piteously. The pursuing Guard soldiers could even pierce two or three enemy chests with a single thrust...
The barbarian cavalry in the camp finally snapped out of their shock. They roared in fury, heedless of everything, leaped onto their horses, and whipped them towards the slope. Just then, a clear bell sounded from Pidro City. The Guard soldiers who had launched the surprise attack stopped chasing the fleeing enemies. Instead, they took the oil pouches from their belts, poured fire oil onto the huge log shield carts, and set them alight. Around fifty towering bonfires erupted on the slope. After pausing briefly to loot some trophies from the fallen barbarians, they leisurely retreated back into Pidro City.
Of the three to four thousand barbarian cavalry sent up the slope to fill pits and trenches, only seven or eight hundred returned. Nearly three thousand lay dead on the slope, and even the fifty-odd log shield carts pushed up had become giant bonfires. This was a resounding slap to the face of every single barbarian warrior.
The cavalry rushing from the camp to reinforce them were furious. Having just received those seven or eight hundred survivors who had scrambled down the slope, pale and shell-shocked, and seeing the bloody corpses of their clansmen strewn everywhere on the slope, their eyes burned red. At that moment, the cheers and mockery ringing from Pidro City sounded unbearably grating to their ears. One barbarian cavalryman screamed wildly, charged up the slope on his horse. Countless others behind him roared and spurred their mounts to follow, launching an assault on Pidro City.
The enraged barbarian cavalry displayed superb horsemanship. They galloped swiftly up the slope, leaping over uneven terrain like flying, skirting the burning shield carts, stepping over the corpses of their clansmen, and rapidly closing on Pidro City. Only when they were less than three hundred meters from the city did they encounter real trouble. The ubiquitous horse pits and trenches finally slowed their pace. From time to time, barbarian cavalry fell as their mounts stepped into pits, or plunged headfirst into trenches if their charge was too fast. But these barbarians, maddened by rage, did not flinch. Those thrown from their horses, if they could still stand, continued wielding their weapons and charging towards Pidro City, shouting for the protection of the Wolf God...
"Fire!" Seeing the barbarian cavalry closing to within two hundred meters, Eduvok finally gave the order for the steel crossbows deployed on the city walls to shoot.
With a humming *whirr*, the two hundred steel crossbows on the walls loosed their first bolts. Like a fierce gust of wind sweeping across the battlefield, the charging barbarian cavalry tumbled, rider and horse, falling in swathes. Many were pinned to the ground, rider and mount alike, by the bolts that shot forth with murderous force. Screams of men and whinnies of horses merged into a single horrifying sound.
Though these two hundred bolts dealt a heavy blow to the attacking barbarians, none of the enraged riders halted their charge. More barbarians swarmed forward, ignoring the heavily wounded and dead pierced by bolts, ignoring the crossbow fire they were about to face, shouting loudly to encourage themselves and their companions, continuing to press towards Pidro City...
"Steel crossbows, fire freely! Longbowmen, prepare! When the enemy reaches one hundred meters, you may fire without further orders!" Eduvok commanded again.
The standard deployment for a
The first time Eduvok organized the Guard soldiers to sally forth was for close-quarters combat. Now, the steel crossbows on the walls were performing long-range precision kills on the barbarians below. One by one, the barbarian cavalry breached the horse pits, leaped the trenches, but the bolts streaking towards them concentrated all their rage and effort in that single moment. From time to time, barbarian riders were lifted off their horses by the bolts' impact, falling into trenches or onto the ground. In this storm of crossbow bolts, not a single barbarian could approach within one hundred meters of Pidro City.
Chief Kenuubi and many other barbarian clan chiefs stood together, cursing loudly while cheering on their warriors: "Charge! Kill them all! Slaughter the entire city!"
Finally, Grand Duke Fisablen couldn't watch any longer and offered a reminder: "I think it's better to withdraw first. If we want to attack, we have plenty of log shield carts. Charging like this now just makes them targets for arrows, getting our brave warriors killed for nothing..."
Chief Kenuubi snapped to attention. "You're right! Sound the horns quickly! Have our warriors withdraw first..."
...the slope, leaving behind a field of corpses and blood.
After all the barbarian cavalry returned to camp, the clan chiefs conducted a tally. Everyone was furious. Before the formal assault had even begun, nearly six thousand brave barbarians already lay on that slope. Chief Kenuubi was especially filled with regret. Between the first group sent to fill the pits and the second group who had charged spontaneously, his own tribe had already lost over four thousand men...
Grand Duke Fisablen advised: "Though the initial battle went poorly, we have now learned the basics of Pidro City's defenses. A momentary setback due to carelessness is nothing. Let's rest for the night, and we will attack Pidro City again tomorrow."
Chief Kenuubi, his eyes slightly reddened, coldly rejected Grand Duke Fisablen's proposal. "No! We will attack through the night. We will not let the enemy in Pidro City rest peacefully for another night. Blood debts must be repaid in blood. We have one hundred thousand men. From this moment on, we will not give the enemy in Pidro City a moment's respite. We will attack continuously until the city falls... Lord Lion Duke, please give us all your remaining shield carts. We are about to arrange the attacking forces and sequence."
"Of course, we are allies, standing together. I will arrange for all the shield carts to be handed over to you at once. I also wish you success in capturing Pidro City in one fell swoop, avenging our fallen warriors." Grand Duke Fisablen smiled and agreed to Chief Kenuubi's request.
The horns sounded again. Three barbarian cavalry formations gathered below the slope, each comprising four to five thousand men. Before each formation were placed twenty to thirty log shield carts. These barbarian cavalry had dismounted. They would advance in three waves, pushing the huge shield carts up the slope to approach Pidro City. The first wave received simple orders: once near Pidro City, they were to collect all the corpses of the fallen barbarian warriors, ensuring these brave martyrs did not lie exposed in the wild. The second wave of barbarian warriors was to use longbows to suppress the enemy on the walls, covering the rest of the cavalry as they filled in traps and trenches. Naturally, they also had to watch for surprise sorties from the city.
The third wave of barbarian cavalry would be the main assault force. Besides shield carts, they carried many long wooden ladders. Once the second wave cleared a path to Pidro City, they would advance along it to the walls. Under cover from the barbarian longbowmen behind them, they would use the ladders to scale the walls, kill the enemy, seize that section of wall, and enable more barbarian warriors to gain the city, ultimately securing final victory.
This method of siege warfare was a tradition passed down among the barbarian tribes for centuries to deal with flatlander towns. Therefore, the third wave集结了all the most famous warriors and strongmen from the various barbarian tribes. At this moment, they were nonchalantly drinking fermented mare's milk from their pouches, adjusting their armor, and cleaning their weapons, laughing and joking loudly with each other. The rest of the barbarian cavalry watched them with awe...
Dusk began to fall. On the nearly kilometer-long slope, the light from the fifty-odd burning shield carts blazed with extraordinary brightness. The horns sounded again. This time, however, they were joined by the rumbling thunder of war drums. The deep boom echoed across the open plains, bringing with it an air of solemn slaughter and heart-pounding tension...
The barbarian cavalry below the slope let out a deafening roar: "Huzhola!"
This was the name of the Heavenly Wolf God worshipped by all the barbarian tribes on the northeastern great plains. To cry out this name meant a charge forward unto death or victory, with no thought of retreat. The first wave of barbarian cavalry pushed the log shield carts and surged up the slope. The assault on Pidro City had begun.
... (To be continued.)