HCB Chapter 434: Meat Grinder and Sudden Support
Chapter 434: Meat Grinder and Sudden Support
Dougal stood in the makeshift command post, carefully watching the artillery bombardment of the Earl's Castle through a telescope, while listening to Bosgod's report, his brows gradually furrowed.
Bosco looked solemn, with a hint of worry in his tone:
"Marshal, the Mitlan people have built a tighter defense line in the north. According to our scouts, unless we can gather tens of thousands of troops to make a concentrated breakthrough, it will be impossible to go north and enter the Forest Territory."
Dougal listened and slowly put down the telescope. On the artillery position, solid bullets flew towards the Earl's Castle like raindrops. The city wall was shaking under the impact of the shells, and brick and stone debris were flying.
In the Earl's Castle in the distance, the Mitlan soldiers were busy operating the artillery to fight back, while the crossbowmen were also firing waves of arrows. Even so, the Yoda soldiers still rushed towards the city wall like a tide under the cover of their own artillery.
"Humph, it seems the enemy's defense is more difficult than we thought."
Dougal muttered to himself. He turned to the generals around him and said:
"We have to adjust our previous plans. The current situation in the north is indeed not optimistic."
At present, the 200,000-strong army in the north, except for two armies of tens of thousands of people concentrated on attacking the Earl's Castle and Nilan City, most of the rest were scattered on various fronts and occupied areas. In the occupied areas, the situation was even more troublesome. Those Mitlan soldiers who had not been wiped out began to use various small-scale sneak attack tactics.
"They are now using small groups of troops to attack our bases and baggage wagons, and are also spreading these papers on the battlefield."
Bosco said angrily. After that, he took out a piece of paper from his pocket and handed it to Dougal:
"Marshal, take a look. These are the words they spread on the battlefield. They say our war is unjust and we will be defeated sooner or later. They also tell the Yoda soldiers to go home quickly."
Dougal took the paper, read it through, and raised the corners of his mouth slightly, revealing a disdainful smile:
"Humph, you want to conduct psychological warfare on our soldiers? How foolish. Most of our Yoda soldiers are illiterate. These papers are nothing but waste paper to them. They can't affect our morale at all."
Everyone felt relieved after hearing this, but the situation on the battlefield was becoming increasingly tense, so Dougal once again raised his telescope and closely watched the changes in the battle situation.
Over there, under the cover of their own artillery bullets, the Yoda soldiers charged towards the city wall like a tide. The artillery exploded, dust flew, and the shells blew holes in the city wall. The Mitlan soldiers immediately moved to other positions and carried the wounded off the city wall.
As the Yoda soldiers charged, they endured the fierce fire from the Mitlan soldiers' long-range weapons. Shells and arrows rained down on them, and soldiers kept falling down, their blood staining the ground red.
Finally, the siege tower slowly approached the city wall with a roar. Below, the Yoda soldiers rushed to climb the siege tower and started a fierce fight with the Mitlan soldiers and White Wolf Knights on the city wall.
The Yoda soldiers on the siege tower used their shields to resist the arrows and stones shot down by the Mitlan soldiers. They tried to climb up and try to climb onto the city wall. The Mitlan soldiers on the city wall attacked from above, and arrows, stones and boiling oil continued to pour down from the city wall.
"Go to hell!"
A White Wolf Knight swung his battle axe and chopped down at the Yoda soldier on the siege tower. A Yoda soldier tried to block with his shield, but was also knocked back a few steps by the huge force of the battle axe.
Another Yoda soldier took the opportunity to grab the White Wolf Knight's legs and tried to pull him down, but was kicked away by the White Wolf Knight, who then chopped the Yoda soldier to death with an axe.
On the battlefield, shouts and screams were intertwined. The Yoda soldiers kept climbing the siege tower and fought a desperate battle with the Mitlan soldiers and the White Wolf Knights. The Mitlan soldiers on the city wall also kept rushing out from the nearby towers, and their artillery and crossbows kept firing, trying to repel the climbing Yoda soldiers.
However, as more and more Yoda soldiers successfully climbed the city wall, the situation immediately became unfavorable to the Midlan defenders. The fighting space on the city wall became narrower, and the hand-to-hand combat between the soldiers of both sides became more intense. In the fierce fighting, even the Midlan artillerymen had to draw their swords and join the battle to resist the Yoda soldiers.
"It's too late. Draw your swords and protect our artillery positions!"
An artillery captain shouted loudly, his eyes revealing determination and resoluteness. After that, he drew the long sword at his waist and rushed towards the nearby Yoda soldiers.
The surrounding artillerymen also followed their captain into battle. Holding swords, they engaged in close combat with the Yoda soldiers on the crowded city walls, trying to repel the enemy's attack in order to protect the artillery they had worked so hard to deploy and the artillerymen who were still operating the artillery.
At this time, the artillery in front of the opposite Yoda formation was still roaring. The heavy siege artillery was particularly eye-catching. The huge guns trembled slightly with the firing of the shells. Every firing was accompanied by a deafening roar, as if to shake the whole world.
"Boom! Boom!"
The siege artillery fired again, and the huge solid bullets roared towards the city wall like a black death. The soldiers on the city wall only felt the ground beneath their feet shaking violently, as if the city wall would be completely destroyed in the next moment.
"Oh my god, the firepower of this artillery is too strong!"
A Mitlan soldier shouted in horror, his voice filled with fear.
"Hold on! Don't let yourself be shaken to pieces!"
The commander on the city wall shouted loudly, trying to keep calm and boost the morale of the soldiers.
Under the shock of artillery fire, the Midlan soldiers struggled to gain their footing and continued to fight with the Yoda soldiers who climbed onto the city wall.
Their eyes began to reveal fatigue and unwillingness. Soldiers were continuously killed by Yoda's soldiers. Then another soldier stepped forward to kill the Yoda soldier on the opposite side. The entire city wall had turned into a battlefield like a meat grinder, and the Mitlan soldiers' range of activities was only limited to the area near the tower.
Just as Yoda's army was about to take control of the city wall, a cloud of dust suddenly appeared in the distant sky. The dust was like a huge yellow dragon, rushing towards the battlefield at an extremely fast speed.
"Look! What's that?"
A Yoda trooper shouted in horror.
"Could it be reinforcements?"
Another Yoda soldier had a hint of doubt in his eyes.
In the dust, you can vaguely see a group of nimble figures galloping. Gradually, cavalrymen dressed in Kushan costumes rushed into the battlefield from both sides of the city wall.
"God is great! Kill the warriors of Kusha!"
The Kusha cavalry shouted slogans, and the scimitars in their hands flashed a sharp cold light, as if announcing to the enemy that their arrival would bring death.
The Kushan cavalry rushed into the Yoda soldiers like a whirlwind, swinging their scimitars non-stop, and every blow could harvest the lives of a Yoda soldier. They specifically attacked the weak defenses of the Yoda soldiers, instantly disrupting the Yoda soldiers' formation.
"Quick, hold off these cavalry!"
General Yoda, who was in charge of the siege, immediately shouted loudly after seeing this, and tried to organize the soldiers around him to resist the Kushan cavalry.
However, the Kushan cavalry were extremely agile, using their cavalry's speed and mobility to move freely across the battlefield, slashing enemies with their scimitars and shooting down the Yoda soldiers who tried to escape or stop them with their bows and arrows.
What was even worse was that the Kushan cavalry were targeting the Yoda officers on the battlefield. A centurion was about to order his soldiers to gather together when he was spotted by a Kushan cavalryman and was instantly chopped to the ground by a scimitar.
"Damn it! Watch out for those cavalry!"
General Yoda shouted anxiously, realizing that the goal of these cavalrymen was to disrupt their own command system.
Dougal observed the battlefield through the telescope, his brows tightly furrowed.
"General, send my Purple Rhino Knights!"
Bosgod beside him asked anxiously.
Dougal shook his head silently, pointed at the large number of Yoda's defeated soldiers running back from the battlefield, and said helplessly:
"The heavy cavalry can't catch up with these lightly armed archers. If you keep wasting time like this, your knights will definitely suffer heavy losses. Moreover, these Kusha cavalry are not numerous, but they are heading straight for our officers, which has already thrown our soldiers into extreme chaos."
"But...if we retreat like this, won't we lose a lot of soldiers in vain?"
Bosco said somewhat unwillingly.
Dougal looked at the battlefield in front of him, feeling helpless and angry. He had already climbed onto the city wall, but the sudden appearance of these cavalry disrupted his plan.
"Order all troops to retreat in an orderly manner now! Do not linger in the battle, and reunite with the main force as soon as possible!"
Dougal was speaking to the scouts.
"The Marshal has ordered all troops to retreat in an orderly manner!"
After hearing the order, the Yoda soldiers slowly began to retreat to the rear. However, the Kusha cavalry did not intend to let them go. They continued to chase after them, trying to cause greater losses to the Yoda soldiers.
"Hurry up! Don't let them catch up!"
The Yoda soldiers shouted to each other, and began to run towards the rear amid the roar of artillery fire and the pursuit of the Kushan cavalry.
The Yoda soldiers on the city wall saw their companions starting to retreat, and their morale was instantly in disarray. They were no longer as brave and fearless as before, and just ran towards the city wall without any choice. They crowded under the siege tower in a disorderly manner, scrambling to get down to the city.
Seeing the Yoda soldiers retreat, the White Wolf Knights and the Mitlan soldiers pursued them like autumn wind sweeping away fallen leaves. They quickly took back the strongholds on the city wall that were previously occupied by the Yoda soldiers, and waved the white-bottomed black eagle flag and the White Wolf Knights flag to announce that John's soldiers had once again protected the city.