Chapter 949

First Volume, Chapter 949: Both Enemy and Ally Are Elite Troops

Five hundred archers pulled their bows, arrows aimed at the top of the City Wall; with a release of their hands, five hundred arrows traced arcs at nearly a forty-five-degree angle, flying into the city.

These arrows fell nearly vertically, clinking and clattering against the defenders' bodies; Qin Feng himself saw one defender pierced through like a hedgehog.

Worse still, the soldiers and laborers transporting stones and crossbeams beneath the City Wall were also under severe threat from parabolic arrow fire.

Qin Feng's gaze instantly grew grim; he immediately ordered: "Send shields—quickly!"

Materials piled behind the City Wall were carried up by soldiers and laborers braving the ArrowRain; these men divided their tasks, some dedicated to hauling supplies, others holding great shields to protect themselves and comrades from falling arrows.

Shields were brought up onto the City Wall—great shields and small leather shields alike.

The great shields had stands; planted against the City Wall's edge, they effectively raised the defensive parapet by five feet, further blocking enemy arrows, while each man was issued a small leather shield, its diameter just over three feet, with two rings on the back to slip over the arm.

Many soldiers even discarded their weapons entirely, holding the small leather shields above their heads; since the arrows came in at shallow angles, even the tiny shield surface proved highly effective at deflecting stray arrows.

The enemy archers caused immense trouble and held absolute numerical superiority; Qin Feng swiftly ordered: cease arrow exchanges—all bow infantry now become Shield Soldiers, cooperating with comrades to topple Cloud Ladders and sever Hook Chains.

The defenders' sole objective was to prevent the enemy from scaling the City Wall.

Qin Feng did not know that the five hundred enemy archers, once in neat formation, had been scattered; now they grouped in circles of ten or so, each before a roaring firepit. All had switched to Rockets, their Yan Tou wrapped in CottonCloth soaked in Fire Oil, igniting instantly upon contact with flame—no unified command needed; whoever lit their Rocket simply fired it into the city.

One by one, Rockets flew through the air into the city; they posed near-zero threat to the defenders but posed terrifying danger to Military Supplies—piles of materials soon caught fire, soldiers and laborers scrambled to extinguish flames.

From the start of battle until now, only half a Envoy had passed, yet the fighting was ferociously intense; the enemy committed fully, launching their initial assault as a full-scale attack, while though the defenders' casualty rate remained low, their Materials and Supplies were being consumed rapidly—the stones piled on the City Wall were nearly exhausted, and the crossbeams stacked below kept igniting from Rockets.

Weapons littered the City Wall; over seventy percent of the defenders had abandoned counterattacks, relying solely on their shields.

When the first enemy soldier scaled the City Wall, a nearby defender punched straight at him; before his fist touched the enemy, the leather shield on his arm slammed hard into the enemy's face—the shield's iron-edged rim struck with the force of a small Hammer, knocking the enemy off the wall in one blow.

"Hurry! Come here—this section's falling!"

The soldier screamed, swinging his small leather shield.

A five-man squad rushed over; one defender held a great shield, four others jointly lifted a large wooden fork to topple the Cloud Ladder before them.

Just as they knocked down this one, another Cloud Ladder was already leaning against the wall.

Unable to destroy the Cloud Ladders, as long as the enemy retained offensive strength, the toppled ladders kept being re-erected; while defenders focused entirely on the ladders, many enemy Infantry had silently climbed up via Rope.

"Enemy on the wall!"

"Where are the Tianji Camp Guards?"

Beixi Soldiers roared, locked in struggle with the Cloud Ladders, unable to spare hands for enemies already on the wall; weapons lay scattered everywhere; small leather shields alone could not stand against the enemy's full weapons—these infantry who scaled the wall were elite veterans, left hand bound with Small Shields, right hand gripping swords, Battle Axes, or Armor-Piercing Hoes.

Two Tianji Camp Guards rushed over; leveraging the reach of their Step Spears, just two men blocked the breach—four enemies, all armed with Short Weapons, could not close in and were pierced from afar one after another.

These elite veteran pioneers' mission was to carve out a battlefield, pin down the defenders, allowing their comrades to scale the wall safely; the weapons they carried were naturally Long Weapons designed to break formations.

Unfortunately, these elite veterans faced Tianji Camp Guards who held the advantage of terrain and wielded Long Weapons; they could not withstand them—anyone who scaled the wall survived, on average, only a few breaths.

This high-intensity initial battle was not entirely disadvantageous for the defenders, for they too were fresh, their energy and stamina fully charged; though the DefensiveLine appeared on the verge of collapse, it held firm as a fortress—so long as the enemy could not scale the wall in force, they could not break through.

At the same time, messengers came and went constantly beside Qin Feng and Jing Peng, reporting battle developments.

"Lord, over thirty defenders have fallen—should we reinforce from the East-West Defense Line?"

Qin Feng did not hesitate: "Do not move any troops!"

"The enemy outnumbers us, the Battle Line is stretching—if we keep draining defenders from the east and west walls, the enemy will exploit the gap and attack from both sides—we won't hold!"

"Hold the Cheng Nan Fang Xian at all costs—do not deploy reserve forces unless casualties exceed half!"

Though the order was cruel, Qin Feng watched his close comrades fall in pools of blood, his heart like a knife twisted—but war demanded sacrifice; momentary mercy would bring greater loss.

Jing Peng also frowned tightly as messengers shouted continuously.

"General, the enemy's DefensiveLine is exceptionally strong—we cannot break through."

"The first volley from our Bow Infantry has been exhausted; the enemy line shows no disorder—clearly, minimal effect."

"General! The enemy defenders… are too well-equipped—countless great shields, every man with a small shield; our arrows cannot pierce their defense."

"General! Our assault troops are stalled—Cloud Ladders cannot be erected properly."

"Seventh Battalion has suffered over thirty percent casualties, Eighth Battalion over fifty percent—their Main Generals beg for retreat, or morale will collapse."

Only so little time had passed, yet the Seventh and Eighth Battalions had already suffered such heavy losses—they were no longer combat-effective.

Jing Peng swiftly ordered the Seventh and Eighth Battalions withdrawn from the front, but did not halt the assault—he replaced them with the Fifth and Sixth Battalions.