Chapter 341: Brutal Defense of the Royal Capital
"Third column, fire!"
A spirited cry echoed atop the city walls.
Old York hastily pulled the trigger, adjusting the scope on the gunstock, targeting specifically the nobles adorned in borate attire.
He had marked his targets during the two previous volleys, especially eyeing the most mboyantly dressed among them!
"Charge... Charge!" Duke Baro''s booming voice echoed below the royal city''s walls. Despite the dense gunfire and the continuous roar of cannons on the battlefield, he harbored no fear. He believed in divine protection and in the impable armor bought at a hefty price.
Faintly, Baro envisaged himself rushing into the city, ying the false king Hatar, and seizing the crown!
An indescribable excitement filled his mind. But in the next moment, his thoughts froze. A round lead bullet whizzed through, piercing the divine shield instantly and prating Baro''s eye!
The power of divine protection waned, consciousness rapidly slipping away. At the moment of losing consciousness, Baro finally realized that the throne of a king was nothing but an elusive temptation. They were all merely pawns meant to exhaust the enemy.
"Perfect!" Old York, who had imed another victim on the wall, cheered for his exceptional marksmanship. That unfortunate fellow in such exquisite armor must have been a high-ranking noble, surely?That meant a handful of gold coins earned!
With a gleeful change of bullets, Old York resumed using his telescope to search for the next target.
Simr to him, many riflemen harbored such thoughts. Controlled by magic and desire on the battlefield, the nobles soon met their demise amidst the sessive gunfire.
While not everyone was a sharpshooter, and despite the nobles wearing the finest armor, facing a barrage of several rifles resulted in them being riddled with holes after a single volley.
Increasing casualties gradually liberated Hebrew and hispanions from the grip of magic.
Not easily deceivedmoners, despite the temptation to rule a kingdom, sumbed ultimately to their fear of death. Their charge slowed down, some even withdrew tomand their troops...
The soldiers suffered even more casualties. In less than an hour, over four thousand perished beneath the city walls, painting thend beyond in crimson...
ughter and gunfire resounded continuously on the battlefield, asionally apanied by sporadic arrow showers, quickly interrupted by cannon bombardment, leaving only scattered arrows, posing little threat...
These sacrifices were not in vain; they had breached the line of death, reached below the walls, wheredders had been set up.
Simrly protected battering rams arrived at the city gates under the human shield but were hit by several cannonballs, causing them to tilt.
The iron heavy hammer struck the gates, producing a bearable dull sound.
Yet, despite the gate shaking slightly, it stood firm, backed by a half-meter thick cement wall magically constructed by Lynn and others, extremely sturdy. Not just the battering ram, even divine arts might struggle to breach it.
As soldiers amassed below the gate, the wizards on the walls finally took action, casting mes, frost, lightning, and falling rocks... turning the entire battlefield into hell!
Under this barrage of magic, thousands more perished. The meticulously constructed siegedders and rams were reduced to ashes...
After clearing the soldiers near the walls, Elok and the others ceased casting spells, leaving the riflemen to continue their assault.
A wizard''s magic wasn''t limitless; usually casting five or six spells of the same level would strain their mental power. Considering these sorcerers hadn''t directly entered the battlefield, they couldn''t exert too much strength.
The immense casualties didn''t daunt the remaining soldiers. They continued as if oblivious to the harrowing screams of theirrades, rallying for "the divine" while continuing to erect the siegedders...
The deeper their belief in the supportive magic, the greater the influence it held!
To these impoverishedmoners with nothing, who usually relied on prayers to endure life''s hardships, Lynn and others on the wall seemed like the perpetrators of all suffering, the ones responsible for their misery!
Their madness even caused hesitation in Old York before firing. These people were like demons from hell, even with a leg missing, they crawled to the wall, scratching at the sturdy barrier with their nails!
"Truly dreadful!" Raphael sighed, unable to bear witness. This was his first experience with suchrge-scale warfare, yet he had no intention of intervening, simply observing quietly. This small scene was far from necessitating their action.
Lynn furrowed her brow, thoroughly puzzled. She couldn''t fathom Edweil''s intentions—bringing these people here to their deaths?
ording to military strategy, without multiple times the troops or more advanced weaponry and tactics, a direct assault on a city was no different from a massacre...
Even if these tens of thousands were all in, they wouldn''t budge this stronghold an inch...
Edweil couldn''t possibly be a brute who only understood direct assault. Otherwise, he wouldn''t qualify to lead the army,manding both the Divine Punishment Army and the Griffin Knights, two elite forces.
"Could they be nning to exhaust our ammunition with these people''s lives?" Sanchez spected.
At those words, Raphael and the others grew concerned.
Guarding the walls, the ten thousand riflemen, after a few rounds of fire, had already expended tens of thousands of bullets. Their hourly consumption rate started at a hundred thousand!
They weren''t familiar with the lead bullet''s production process, but they noticed its roundness and consistent specifications, although notplex, would still consume a significant amount of time.
"Haha, that''s just wishful thinking! Perhaps you don''t know how these bullets are made!" Dennis chuckled, speaking up.
"Even if it''s simple, how many can a person make in a day?" A great wizardughed heartily. "Bullets don''t fall from the sky, do they?"
He could guess the production method somewhat: melting lead ore at high temperatures, then somehow shaping them into consistent-sized spheres.
"No, indeed, they do fall from the sky!" Dennis said with an eerie expression.>
Unlock exclusive early ess to The Complete Novel (All the chapters) before anyone else by bing a valued member of my <b>Patreon</b>munity.As a cherished member of our <b>Patreon</b>munity, here is what you''ll get:
<b>For just $5, you''ll receive:</b><ul><li>Early ess to 100s of chapters before they go public. (You can find all the novels I''m tranting <b>HERE</b>, all the novels have 100s of exclusive early ess chapters and some are <b>COMPLETE</b>.)</li><li>Your name will be prominently featured on the "<b>Wall of Gratitude</b>".</li><li>The power to vote on which novel I trante next.</li><li>You Get Ad-free Chapters.</li></ul>
<b>If you decide to pledge $10, you''ll get all the perks from the $5 tier, plus:</b><ul><li>You get to suggest a Novel for me to trante.</li><li>Your name featured on the "Wall of Gratitude" (in <b>gold</b>).</li></ul>
<b>And if you''re feeling generous with a $20 pledge, you''ll unlock all the perks above:</b><ul><li>You get to rmend an abandoned Novel and I will immediately start tranting it.</li><li>Your name featured on the "Wall of Gratitude" (in <b>blue)</b>.</li></ul>
Don''t let this amazing opportunity slip through your fingers!