Chapter 411: It Turns Out the Supervising Officer's Word is Law!

Waaah!

"Kill!"

Soon, with the sound of the horn, the first wave of the assault began.

This first wave of twenty thousand included ten thousand on the front and five thousand on each flank!

Under the cover of five catapults, the serf soldiers quickly rushed to the base of the city walls and then began climbing up ladders.

Meanwhile, the defenders above started constantly dropping stones and rolling logs, or shooting down arrows to block and defend.

Of course, in terms of siege warfare, the human race is actually professional.

For instance, siege weapons are far superior to those of the Beast Race.

Besides simple wooden ladders, there were also mobile siege towers resembling watchtowers.

The outside of the siege towers was shielded with wooden planks and wet ox hides, while the stairs were in the middle.

Soldiers could safely reach a platform level with the city wall inside the siege tower, then extend siege ladders and wooden bridges to jump onto the wall.

This not only reduced the risk of climbing but also allowed for the rapid deployment of large numbers of personnel to the top.

Of course, due to the numerical advantage of the orcs on the city walls, even with such sharp weapons, capturing the wall remained very difficult.

The battle had only just begun; even if some soldiers managed to jump onto the ramparts, the next moment they would be ruthlessly cut down by enemy spears or greatswords.

The offensive by the twenty thousand lasted about an hour.

After an hour, the retreat horn sounded.

However, this did not mean the Kingdom's main army was pausing the siege; rather, it was time for the minor noble contingents to take their turn in combat.

This was also standard procedure in siege warfare.

In the era of cold weapons, sieges lasting several days or weeks were considered short; some lasting several months or even years were not unheard of.

Therefore, to sustain such a long siege, the soldiers fought in shifts.

Otherwise, the same batch of soldiers, fighting day and night without sleep, would exhaust even an iron man.

Soon, the second wave of twenty thousand appeared.

Their siege situation was not much different from the first batch; they tangled with the Beast Race army above and below the city walls for an hour, killing some auxiliary troops while suffering some casualties, before being replaced.

After they were replaced, the third minor noble contingent took over, followed immediately by the fourth.

And just as it seemed an hour away from Gervas's turn, Adams suddenly came looking for him.

His nominal purpose was to find Mil, but in reality, he came to find Gervas, subtly handing Gervas a letter.

After Adams left, Gervas opened it to look, and the contents of the letter surprised him.

In the letter, Adams reminded Gervas to order his subordinates not to use their full strength during the siege.

He told the subordinates to ensure their own safety as much as possible rather than fighting bravely to kill the enemy.

In other words, he was telling Gervas to have his subordinates go through the motions without putting in real effort.

Such a thing would certainly be unacceptable in any army.

The reason Adams made this suggestion to Gervas was because his father had secretly leaked a piece of news.

That was, the key point of this siege was not during the day, but tonight.

Therefore, the results achieved by the minor nobles were actually irrelevant.

Because, if they truly relied on such frontal combat to capture the city, it would likely take four or five days or even more than a week.

"Tonight?"

This news came from Adams, so it was basically correct.

Moreover, Adams cautiously told him to burn the letter immediately after reading it and not to leak it to anyone else.

From this alone, it was evident that very few people knew this news.

Only a big shot like Hou Jue Austin would be qualified to know such things.

Immediately, Gervas directly summoned Lei Meng and Mil, whispering a few instructions to each of them.

After hearing this, the two nodded repeatedly.

Soon, an hour passed, and finally, it was the turn of the fifth contingent to go into battle.

Lei Meng led the Storm Legion, charging onto the battlefield amidst the sound of the horn.

Soon, everyone arrived near the city walls.

Unlike the other contingents, Gervas's force this time consisted entirely of archers and crossbowmen.

Although three hundred of his subordinates had long swords hanging at their waists, they did not use the long swords; instead, they constantly drew their strings and nocked arrows, using bows and crossbows to shoot at the enemies on the city walls.

Although their aim was certainly not as precise as that of professional archers and crossbowmen.

But with bows and crossbows, once one knows the three-point alignment aiming method, they are absolutely dozens of times more accurate than using a longbow.

Furthermore, since the top of the city wall was covered with people, these longsword wielders could still achieve quite a few kills.

"Gervas, you are still so clever!"

"Yes! Haha, all archers; your subordinates won't need to rush onto the city walls!"

"There are so many charging soldiers; a few of mine are not missing, but there are not enough archers to cover their advance!"

"So, having my subordinates assist with bows and crossbows can also avoid casualties among my men; this is a two birds with one stone good thing!"

"Indeed, a good thing!" Mil and the others naturally did not think there was anything wrong with Gervas doing this.

After all, Gervas had collected so many heads before, which was enough to prove Gervas's merit.

Moreover, his subordinates were so powerful in combat; if they were exhausted in such a cruel siege battle, it would indeed be a waste.

Of course, while Mil and the others did not care, there were certainly those who did.

Minister Weilade had been in a very bad mood these past few days; after all, he had plotted so much against Gervas, only to find that Gervas had dodged it.

And today, upon seeing Gervas use his longsword guards as archers, he naturally would not let Gervas have his way.

"Viscount Gervas, do you not know that you are already shirking battle!"

"I give you two choices now: either have your longsword climb the wall and fight immediately, or I will record this offense of yours in the ledger of crimes!"

Soon, Minister Weilade went straight to find Gervas.

Upon meeting, he did not hold back and spoke harshly to Gervas.

"Is that so? Lord Inspector Weilade, what if I choose neither?" Gervas saw Weilade step forward and was not surprised in the slightest.

If such an opportunity arose and this fellow still did not appear, that would truly be strange.

"You don't want to choose? Viscount Gervas, this is not for you to decide. Last time, you said I was merely an inspector and could not change your battle order!"

"But this matter falls under my authority as inspector, so I will count to ten. If you cannot make a decision, then I will make it for you!"

Weilade showed a sneer.

If this were recorded in the ledger of crimes, the merits Gervas had previously gained would most likely be offset by his offenses.

And if Gervas did not want that, he would have to send those subordinates to the battlefield, where casualties would surely be high.

Therefore, no matter what, Gervas would have to pay a price.

Yet, contrary to Weilade's expectations, Gervas showed no tension or worry; instead, he sneered, "Is that so? Inspector Weilade, then you may try!"

"You think I dare not?" Weilade's anger immediately flared. "Very well, since that is the case, Viscount Gervas, I have already warned you. This is your own choice!"

Saying this, Weilade wasted no time, immediately picked up a quill pen, and prepared to register Gervas's crimes.