Chapter 59: Chapter Twenty-Four

Yazini'ge's guess was not entirely wrong; as for those in Wilderness Town who currently possessed combat capability, the guards on the city walls already made up the majority.

It was just that what Yazini'ge did not expect was that although these guards accounted for the vast majority in number, their combat capability, here in Wilderness Town, was merely at the bottom.

After all, besides them, Yamila had one hundred archers holding Elf Bows, three Skin-changers, and then the dozens of Horse Archers led by Desaiwei.

They were the main force Allen had left behind to guard Wilderness Town.

If the situation were extremely critical, Yamila could still assemble a group of militia composed of the elderly, women, and children.

It was just that they had neither suitable armor, and many had not undergone training; aside from a weapon, Yamila could not provide them with anything more.

Therefore, unless Wilderness Town reached a life-or-death moment, Yamila would not let them face the enemy directly.

They could have made greater contributions elsewhere, rather than becoming meaningless cannon fodder to exhaust the enemy's strength.

At this moment, Yamila stood on the west gate city wall, keeping a close eye on the Orcish movements at all times.

She had already ordered her subordinates to sound the alarm, and those three hundred-plus reserve soldiers were mostly gathering toward the west gate wall.

And the three Skin-changers and over one hundred archers had also finished preparations for battle.

Cress and Desaiwei had also arrived at Yamila's side at the first moment amidst the sound of the alarm.

On the city wall, Yamila watched the gradually approaching Orcish troops, estimating the strength of both sides in her heart and silently deducing.

Subsequently, her heart settled; this wave of attacks did not amount to much for the existing strength of Wilderness Town.

What she was more concerned about was the more than half of the Wolf Riders whose whereabouts were unknown; what exactly were they planning to do?

And then there were those five hundred-plus Human captives; how should she dispose of them?

At this time, leading the Orcish troops and advancing toward Wilderness Town was Yazini'ge's deputy, Fimbul.

Not so clever as he was, he also had his own merits, which was being very obedient.

At this time, he had brought over a thousand mixed troops and had already arrived near the west gate of Wilderness Town.

However, Fimbul did not order those infantry to attack the west gate, which had a barbican.

Instead, following Yazini'ge's order, he led these thousand-plus people and circled toward the south wall of Wilderness Town.

It was just that before they left, they quietly left some things near the west gate.

From such a distance, the Orcish thought no one would discover it, but all of this had already been taken in by Yamila, who was holding a telescope.

Yazini'ge, hiding in the forest, also knew that it was impossible to rely on nearly a thousand pieces of trash and two hundred-plus Wolf Riders to continuously break through two gates; this was truly too difficult for Fimbul.

Yazini'ge did not count on these people making any particularly large contribution; in his plan, Fimbul only needed to fulfill the duty of a decoy.

With the transfer of these Orcish troops, most of the guards on the west gate wall also transferred toward the south wall under Yamila's leadership.

The walls of Wilderness Town were too large; if all the troops were present, nearly two thousand people guarding four city walls would still be feasible.

But now they only had three hundred-plus people; guarding one wall already seemed somewhat stretched, not to mention that other places still needed to retain sentries, so the number seemed even smaller.

At this time, Yazini'ge, who was constantly moving in the forest, kept a close eye on the Human guards on the city wall.

When he saw most of the Human guards moving along with the Orcish troops, a smile of a conspiracy succeeded appeared on his ugly face.

But now was not the time for him to act; if Yazini'ge wanted to, the Wolf Riders could charge at full speed and reach outside the west gate of Wilderness Town in less than ten minutes, but he still wanted to wait a bit.

Because there would soon be other opportunities, and he still wanted to see the effect.

When Fimbul led the Orcish troops to the south wall of Wilderness Town, the sky was already bright; under the illumination of the morning sun, the temperature rose slightly.

Wargs would not be affected by the sunlight, but the Orcish, under the sunlight, all appeared somewhat listless; they did not like sunlight, hating it from the bottom of their hearts.

But Fimbul did not care about this; he himself also felt very uncomfortable, and as monsters bred by Morgoth to destroy the world, there was no such emotion as pity in their hearts.

Fimbul just kept a close eye on the Human guards on the city wall, recalling the task Yazini'ge had given him in his mind.

"Do not be in a hurry to attack; you must wait until the Human guards are ready before launching the attack."

The not-so-clever Fimbul did not understand why this had to be done; in the past, they always launched surprise attacks when the Humans were not prepared, quietly slitting their throats in the dark of night.

He could not quite understand Yazini'ge's order, but Fimbul was just obedient, which was also the reason Yazini'ge chose him.

And at this time, Fimbul felt that the Humans were about ready, because there were at least three hundred-plus Hunting Bows on the city wall pointing at them.

Fimbul did not hesitate either, waving the Curved Blade in his hand and roaring loudly: "Let these dregs attack."

After the Wolf Riders heard the order, they began to wave the whips in their hands, forcing the Orcish infantry and those slaves to carry the Siege Ladders and approach the city wall.

Those Human slaves experienced some chaos after hearing the order, followed by a few shrill screams.

Those hungry Wargs had long been unable to wait; in full view of everyone, dozens of Wargs tore the corpses on the ground to shreds.

Watching this tragic scene, the remaining Human slaves no longer hesitated, nor did they speak; they just stared at the ground with numb eyes, carrying a dozen or so Siege Ladders, and walked toward the south wall with their heads lowered, neither fast nor slow.

As for those Orcish infantry, they picked up the weapons in their hands and, using their relatively thin bodies, tried every possible way to shrink their figures behind the Human slaves, following them as they walked toward the city wall.

This scene was seen by all the Human soldiers on the city wall; their expressions were extremely angry, and they gripped the Hunting Bows in their hands one after another, staring fixedly at those Human slaves—or rather, staring at the Orcish behind the Humans—with eyes spitting fire.

And some people looked worriedly at their female Town Mayor, fearing that the strong-willed woman would give them the order of "indiscriminate shooting"; these people did not want to shoot their own compatriots.

Yamila, standing on the city wall, likewise saw this scene; she glanced at Fimbul in the distance, then looked at the Human slaves without any equipment and the Orcish infantry hiding behind them, falling into deep thought.

After thinking it over repeatedly, Yamila did not give the order to shoot.

Because she felt that the current situation was not quite right; relying solely on these less than five hundred Orcish infantry and five hundred Human slaves without any equipment, it was absolutely impossible to break through the city wall guarded by more than 300 Human soldiers.

They could not even cause too much trouble for these soldiers.

After all, those were just some Snaga, and their equipment was terrible, not even having decent armor.

Under these circumstances, Yamila decided to give those Human slaves a chance, as long as they did not take the initiative to climb the Siege Ladders.

Besides this, Yamila had another layer of consideration: if those Human slaves washed their faces clean, it was very likely they were the families of her own soldiers.

She also knew that many of the soldiers guarding this wall must also be thinking about this problem.

After all, the Orcish of the Misty Mountains, the Human slaves they abducted, were they not all these Woodland Residents?

Among these Human slaves, there might very well be the fathers, mothers, brothers, and sisters of these soldiers; she could not give the order to shoot these people without any misgivings.

Yamila also knew that the Wolf Rider who gave the orders, performing such evil acts, must still have other conspiracies.

Suddenly, Yamila remembered those few things that were deliberately left behind by the Orcish at the west gate.

After thinking for a moment, Yamila whispered a few words to Cress beside her, and then Cress called for Desaiwei and left.

Yazini'ge did not see this, nor could he pay attention to the actions of one or two people; he was waiting for those Siege Ladders to be set against the city wall.

Once they were set, the Orcish infantry would attack up along the ladders, and his first step of the plan would be considered a success.

Yes, the idea of letting the Orcish hide behind the Human slaves was also thought of by Yazini'ge.

Long ago, Yazini'ge had learned of the lord's personality here from some Humans bought by gold, so he wanted to gamble, and the result told him he had bet correctly.

For a moment, the scene of this siege battle was somewhat eerie.

The Human slaves carried the Siege Ladders unhurriedly, heads bowed as they approached the city wall; they did not want to look up and see their own kin, and some even thought that if they walked slowly, they might as well just be shot to death.

Meanwhile, the guards on the city wall had not received orders to fire, and they were unwilling to take the initiative to shoot, so they could only watch as the enemy slowly approached the wall.

Soon, some of the Archers on the city wall watchtower had enough of an angle to see some of the Orcish hiding behind the Humans.

Some soldiers who prided themselves on their excellent marksmanship began to loudly ask Yamila for permission to fire, and Yamila nodded in agreement.

Soon, arrows were continuously shot from the watchtower, flying toward the crowd carrying the Siege Ladders.

In a short amount of time, the lives of over a dozen Orcish were taken.

The nearby Human slaves were stunned for a moment, but they still did not look up and continued to walk forward, only their walking speed became slower.

Those Orcish infantry hiding behind the Humans had already begun to panic; the vast majority of them began to adjust their angles, using the crude Shields in their hands to cover themselves to avoid being targeted by the Archers on the wall.

At the same time, they began to use the backs of their blades and their fists and feet to beat the Human slaves, urging them to speed up.

After all, their walking speed was very slow now, and once targeted, there was no difference from death.

And more than a dozen Orcish, terrified to the extreme, actually left the cover of the Humans and fled madly in the opposite direction, and in the process of fleeing, most were pinned to the ground by arrows.

The luckier guys who escaped to a safe distance did not survive either.

Fimbul, commanding the Wolf Riders, bit them to death at the first opportunity.

Their deaths also warned the other Orcish who had not fled, letting them know that there was no other way to live but to attack.

Even the stupid Orcish already knew that they had reached the edge of death.

In order to survive, ferocious expressions appeared on their faces, and many Orcish began to roar to cheer themselves and their kin on.

Soon, those dozen or so Siege Ladders, under such circumstances, were set against the six-meter-high city wall of Wilderness Town.

In an instant, all the Orcish flashed out from behind the Human slaves and climbed the ladders to attack the city wall.

As for those Human slaves, they squatted down on the spot.

Seeing this, Yamila finally let out a sigh of relief, then loudly ordered the soldiers to prepare for battle.

She did not give the order to push over the Siege Ladders; she just wanted to see what those Wolf Riders were really trying to do.

She even gave the order for all the guards on the city wall to come and support the south wall.

At this time, a fierce battle finally broke out on the south city wall, and a large number of arrows began to fly from the watchtower toward the enemies climbing the ladders.

The Orcish who were hit tumbled down from the ladders, and some even struck other Orcish climbing the same ladder as they fell.

However, some of the timid soldiers could not possibly shoot all the Orcish climbing the ladders.

Soon, the Human guards on the city wall engaged in battle with the Orcish who had climbed up.

The guards' eyes seemed to be spitting fire; a dozen of them stared fixedly at one Siege Ladder, and as soon as an Orcish showed their head, a dozen weapons would instantly hack down.

The Orcish infantry, however, were like madmen, climbing rapidly on the ladders, howling and roaring, throwing themselves at the Human guards regardless of their own lives.

They used the weapons in their hands, their own filthy teeth, and sharp nails to fight the Humans; in their despair, they had lost most of their sanity.

At this time, during the fight between the Humans and the Orcish infantry, Yazini'ge made his move, and he also discovered the actions of the guards on the city wall.

Thinking he had found the best opportunity, he led the remaining Wolf Riders to pounce from the forest toward the West Gate closest to them.

Most of the Orcish in the Misty Mountains who could cooperate with Wargs were the elite among the Snaga.

They were not only well-equipped, but their morale was also higher, and relatively speaking, they were also smarter; otherwise, they would not be able to communicate with the Wargs at all.

Yazini'ge was one of the elite among them, and at this moment, he played a trick he thought was very clever.

He sent those five hundred or so cannon fodder to attract the attention of the Human guards, while he himself took over eight hundred Wolf Riders, preparing to attack Wilderness Town from the West Gate.

He was intent on opening the gate of this town so that he could coordinate with the Wargs to rush in together and burn, kill, and loot in this town.

Under Yazini'ge's urging, the Wolf Riders soon approached the barbican of the West Gate; at this time, not a single person could be seen here.

Yazini'ge commanded over eight hundred Orcish to sneak with him to the bottom of the barbican.

Then they set up a Siege Ladder; this wall surrounded by wood was not as high as the brick city wall, only about four meters.

Because the height could not be connected to the main city wall, Artimenner did not intend to station soldiers on it when designing it, so it was just a perimeter wall.

The Orcish of the Misty Mountains had extremely strong climbing abilities; if they were not wearing armor, Yazini'ge could climb up with his bare hands, and even wearing armor, his speed on the ladder was very fast.

Soon, his head appeared above the wall, and he quickly observed the situation around him, discovering that there was not a single guard here; a trace of doubt flashed in his heart, and he felt a hint of something wrong.

Subsequently, the sounds of killing coming from the south interrupted his thoughts.

Yazini'ge steadied his mind, quickly slid down from the wall, and turned back to open the gate of the barbican.

In an instant, hundreds of Orcish carrying Siege Ladders poured in, and they rushed toward the city gate without stopping, wanting to repeat the same method to open the second gate.

At this moment, dozens of jars were suddenly thrown from the city wall above the gate, smashing onto the Orcish; this was the Fire Oil that Allen liked best, and he was never stingy with such supplies.

Subsequently, hundreds of fire arrows were shot from the city gate, and the instantly rising flames ignited large swaths of Orcish, followed by a large number of arrows pouring toward the Orcish who had entered the barbican.

It turned out that Cress and Desaiwei, who had long received orders, had been waiting for them here for a long time with those one hundred and some Archers.

Even the people who were originally on guard here were deliberately called away by Yamila, just to see what these Orcish were trying to do.

Now, they had waited for it.

Under the arrangements of the few of them, the barbican of the West Gate was a scene of extreme tragedy.

Large swaths of flames were burning, and many Orcish, after being ignited, made all kinds of crazy movements, rolling on the ground, using weapons to hack off their own burning limbs, and even more were fleeing madly toward the gate while burning.

But that was the location the Archers were focused on; they did not shoot those guys tortured by the flames.

But as long as anyone wanted to approach the gate, their arrows would cover that area, shooting any enemy who wanted to escape.

Very quickly, a pile of corpses composed of Orcish formed at the entrance of the barbican.

Lucky Yazini'ge, brave Yazini'ge, because he charged at the very front, by the time the Oil Jars were smashed down, he was already close to the main gate, so he and a dozen or so subordinates who charged at the front were not hit by the Oil Jars.

At this moment, they were frantically hacking and slashing at the ignited Orcish, he did not want those flames to come over, he did not want to be burned to death.

Slowly, in Yazini'ge's terrified eyes, the flames inside the barbican subsided, and all the Orcish who had followed him into the barbican no longer made a single sound.

He was now extremely regretful; why couldn't he have just led the Wolf Riders away from here? Even if they had continued the standoff, such a tragic situation would not have occurred.

He could only watch helplessly from the gate, looking at his mount, the leader of the Wargs, hoping that they could charge in to save him.

To his disappointment, those Wargs did not move at all, just watching him and his subordinates coldly.

Subsequently, the gate behind him slowly opened, and from the wide gate, three giant black bears walked out.

Yazini'ge turned his head in terror, and in an instant, he felt the world spinning, then everything went black before his eyes; his corpse was flung away directly by Beorn's son, Grim.

Grim, who killed Yazini'ge, let out a roar toward the Wargs outside the gate.

"Awoo—"

Amidst this earth-shattering howl, the Wargs outside the west gate fled in a panic toward the direction of the Misty Mountains, not even caring about the small portion of Orcish that had not entered the barbican.

And Cress, who had been following behind the three Skin-changers, walked out leisurely, hopping and skipping to avoid the corpses on the ground, and with Grim's help, closed the barbican gate once again.

By this time, the battle at the south wall had also ended; as the black smoke at the west gate rose, Fimbul knew that Yazini'ge's plan had failed, and he likewise led the remaining Wolf Riders to flee toward the Misty Mountains.

All that remained were about five hundred of the weakest Snaga; after the Wolf Riders left, the Orcish who were not dead also fled one after another along the ladders.

Yamila did not arrange for anyone to pursue, because there was no need; she still had other work to handle.

In the fighting, the Humans also suffered dozens of soldier casualties, but Wilderness Town had a robust hospital, so the loss was only a small matter.

Next, Yamila began to arrange for personnel to clear the battlefield, while simultaneously accepting the five hundred or so slaves abandoned by the Orcish.

Of course, there were naturally people to do this work, and Yamila, on the city wall, recalled today's battle and looked toward the direction of the Lonely Mountain.