Chapter Thirty-One: Besieging the City

  (First update, dormitory is a bit noisy, coding is a bit slow, forgive me..)

  Although the array was strong and had a mighty momentum, more than half of the 2,000 men under Count Ratzis were undisciplined peasants and scattered mercenaries. He had to spend a lot of time getting these amateur soldiers in line. The professional soldiers around him were scattered as temporary officers for those scattered soldiers. Shouting and scolding, a lively scene in the array.

  If this were in Tanias, an army of such quality would not last a blow. As long as the city gate is open, stepping out with a hundred or so riders can easily end the battle and make Count Lycis the biggest joke in the region for years to come.

  Unfortunately, this is the southern part of the empire, a place where good horses are not bred. Not all horses can be used as warhorses, just like not everyone is suited for battle. People generally think that it's better to fight on foot than to ride those inferior horses that are accustomed to lowering their heads and pulling loads. Therefore, there are only infantrymen here, no cavalry.

  Sometimes some merchants would bring beautiful horses purchased from Tanias to this place, and some nobles with a special fondness for high-quality horses would buy them. However, this had no impact on the appearance of war.

  The knights on the city walls could only watch as their opponents regrouped, unable to react in any way - they were even out of range of arrows. The Tabrizi troops, with twenty years of professional history, were extremely bored, pointing and laughing at the distant enemy army, mocking their disorder.

  The only thing that shocked them was the unchanged phalanx of the Wild Wolf Mercenary Corps. These four hundred people stood in the chaotic crowd, like a giant rock in a turbulent river, extremely eye-catching. Just standing there, a strong aura burst into the sky.

  After a long wait, the attacking troops finally had some semblance of order. Count Raisis wore dazzling full plate armor and rode a tall and majestic horse that looked very expensive, slowly emerging from the crowd with an air of elegance, walking slowly to the foot of the city wall. A young man in a long robe followed closely behind the count, jogging along. The count said something to the young man beside him, who nodded and loudly shouted at the top of the city: "The great Count Raisis says that you cowards are afraid of our army? Why don't you dare come out of the city and fight us fairly?"

  Jony thought to himself: These rich people are just showing off, and they even bring a loudspeaker with them!

  At this time, no one on the city wall responded. Normally, not responding at such times would be very damaging to morale. However, since their opponents were the despicable Count Lais and the evil Wolf Mercenary Corps, it didn't matter. This was the legendary "I'm too lazy to talk to you."

  But doing nothing is not an option either.

  Isatis drew his bow and shot an arrow, which stuck deep into the ground in front of the horse's hooves, startling it to rear up. Count Lajos was originally holding his head high with a victorious expression, but nearly got thrown off by the horse and had to lean forward to hug its neck, looking disheveled.

  This huge contrast seems to have a very entertaining effect. The city head is filled with laughter, and there are also laughter coming out from the troops under the city.

  Count Raisis patted the horse under him, his face looking very unsightly. He glared at the city head, saying something in his mouth. The humanoid loudspeaker spoke again: "The great Count Raisis said that now the army is pressing the border, if you surrender now, the count will forgive your rudeness! If you continue to resist, on the day the city is broken, you will have no chance to redeem yourself! You will suffer the endless anger of the count!"

  The extremely venomous threat was ruined by the "great" at the beginning. The people on the city wall laughed from head to toe, and some of them had already thrown down their weapons and started pounding the ground. Count Laissez, who was standing below the city wall, couldn't help but draw his long sword from his waist, pointing it at the city wall, his face flushed red, as if he wanted to shout loudly. But in the end, he restrained himself, put away his sword, and turned his horse around to leave, not forgetting to glare back at the people who were mocking him. This classic move, however, triggered even louder laughter. And so, the count galloped away, leaving a cloud of dust behind.

  Joni laughed along with everyone else on the castle walls, but he didn't find anything funny about it. If it wasn't because people lacked entertainment, then it was a deeper fear, like how people who are afraid of horror movies often laugh when discussing them, using inexplicable laughter to cover up their own fears.

  The morale seems to be high, but is it really? Joanie wasn't so sure. He smiled as he observed the expressions of everyone around him.

  Nothing can be seen, everyone has the same smiling face, as if they have already won. The city outside is just two thousand goblins. But this does not match the situation in the city at all.

  The recruitment of mercenaries announced by Earl Darras ended in complete failure. The messenger, on his way to meet with Earl Darras, shouted the news of three thousand troops and the participation of the Wild Wolves, fearing that the residents of the city would not know about it. As he wished, this news spread throughout the entire city of Tabri within a day, even beyond the city walls. This uneven battle was not what mercenaries liked to do. In the end, the defense forces of Tabri City had only six hundred professional soldiers and four hundred recruited citizens and nearby farmers. That's all, almost everyone was a soldier.

  As for the military equipment, all the goods in the armory have been taken out and distributed to the 400 recruited soldiers. The crossbow arrows and bow arrows are still sufficient, but there is no follow-up. The military equipment workshop in the castle - currently the only weapon production point in Tabor City is working hard to produce arrow shafts, but at a slow speed.

  The attack of the Wild Wolf Mercenaries can be said to be extremely poisonous. This poison has only now truly revealed its power.

  No matter how you look at it, it's a dead end, so why are they so happy?

  "Adult." Jony softly called out to Odara in front of him, "Why does everyone look so... like they're very confident?"

  Audra heard Johnny's question and turned back with disdain, saying: "Do you think it's good to have low morale and be timid? War is about morale!" After finishing speaking, she looked towards the enemy array again.

  That makes sense! Joanie nodded and immediately furrowed her brow: But, was it really just a facade to cover up the fear?

  There was no more time left for him to think. Perhaps still angry, Count Ratzys returned to his own army and the first thing he did was order an attack.

  Attack? Joanie looked at the crowd slowly closing in under the urging of their respective officers, her head full of question marks.

  What right do they have to attack?

  The mercenary group of Wild Wolf remained completely still.

  The doubts of the crowd did not last long. Count Raiseth quickly gave the order to withdraw his troops. He had finally discovered the problem. He had come from afar, siege engines and all...

  It can be foreseen that no matter what the outcome of this war is, Count Ratzel has already become a laughing stock.

  No matter how foolish the enemy was, what was bound to come would eventually come. The siege engines were soon ready. In this era, there weren't many variations of siege warfare. Similarly, cities didn't have much variation either. A three-story high city wall and two thick wooden doors constituted a city gate. So it's easy to understand why the Earl of Laissez's troops dared to launch a charge with just two freshly cut tree trunks.

  Joni looked at the battering ram still covered in bark, sweating profusely. But he didn't have time to continue watching the war drama from the city wall. Earl Darras ordered all close combat infantrymen to gather at the gate.

  Joni left when the crossbowmen had already started shooting.

  On the side of Darry, the crossbowmen were well-trained and under the command of Essatis, the crowded miscellaneous soldiers outside the city fell down in batches. However, the golden time for the bowmen soon passed. The 400 mercenaries from the Wild Wolf Mercenary Group suddenly took out a crossbow from behind their backs, neatly following the charging troops, covering the soldiers on the city wall with firepower. Although it couldn't be called a volley, the dense arrow rain created by the 400 people caused heavy casualties among Darry's bowmen, forcing them to hide their bodies behind the crenellations. The infantry below took advantage of the situation and approached the city wall, shouting slogans as they slammed the giant logs in their hands against the city gate.

  Bang! The city gate shook.

  At this scene, the troops behind the city gate rushed forward and pressed against the city gate with their bodies. The archers on the city wall could not get up, and the crossbowmen crouched on the ground, laboriously tightening the strings, then stretched out their hands from the battlements, without even taking aim, shooting arrows in the direction of the city gate. The mercenary wolf troops below the city continued to pour down a rain of arrows, as if endless. From time to time, crossbowmen were shot in the arm and lost their weapons.

  The situation is extremely grim.