Chapter 56

One by one, sturdy siege ladders successfully reached the battlements of the Silaran city, and the Portland soldiers, holding knives in one hand and shields in the other, roared as they climbed toward the city walls.

"Stab! Stab! Stab! Put some effort in, damn it, don't stop, whoever stops dies!"

Raze, the commander of the city defense force of Lian City, moved back and forth under a tower shield in the rain of arrows, occasionally striking the nervous soldiers.

In their usual training and under the urging of their superiors, the city defense force soldiers gathered at the areas where the siege ladders were placed. Several spears took turns thrusting, and several shields were firmly held against the battlements to resist the arrows shot by the Portlanders.

Not only were there ordinary arrows, but also crossbow bolts as thick as forearms, which, after being fired by the massive ballistae, could easily pierce the city walls, providing a foothold for the agile swordsmen to leap onto the walls.

If such a powerful heavy crossbow bolt hit a person, it could directly knock them off the city wall, causing them to fall far into the city.

Barrels of oil were carelessly thrown down the city walls by the city defense force soldiers, even hitting the siege ladders. The flame, like a parasite, burned the Portlanders, causing them to scream in agony. Some soldiers who caught fire fell from the ladders or rolled desperately at the base of the wall until they were burned to death. The alchemically enhanced oil was not easy to extinguish.

Although the city defense force was far outnumbered by the Portland army, they could rely on the tall and thick city walls, and the efforts of the 5th-rank swordsman Raze to maintain the situation.

The first wave of the Portlanders' attack was quickly repelled by the city defense force soldiers, at the cost of two mobile arrow towers and hundreds of Portlanders' bodies, including a few Silaran city defense force soldiers, lying at the base of the city wall.

Apart from a few incendiary bombs that caused the walls of Lian City to tremble slightly, the mages on both sides did not unleash their full power, only probing each other before withdrawing, leaving the soldiers to fight to the death on the city walls.

"Lord Morsrig! The First Regiment has 316 casualties! Six siege ladders, two arrow towers, and eleven ballistae are lost."

The clerk responsible for battlefield statistics reported the casualties immediately and sent the information to the legion commander Bancroft in the main camp.

"Understood. The First Regiment will switch to a supporting role. Replace it with the Second Regiment, and double the number of siege ladders!"

This result was already expected by Morsrig, the commander of the Second Division of the Portland 'Lion Tyrant' Legion. After a brief rest, the second wave of the attack began. He did not want to give the Silarans more time to catch their breath.

"Yes, my lord!"

The war drums beat louder and louder, and the long horns sounded through the sky. The orderly Second Division began to mobilize, and the soldiers marched onto the battlefield, drawing their sharp blades, which gleamed in the sunlight, exuding a killing aura.

The first row of soldiers roared and carried the siege ladders forward, followed by the second row.

The Portlanders' attacks came in waves, with the base of the siege ladders crowded with soldiers. Some bold archers even approached the city walls to launch precise, scattered shots, causing some unprepared Silaran city defense force soldiers to scream and fall from the walls.

One side desperately charged up the walls, while the other side used human lives to block the attack points. From the beginning, the battle was in a close state, with siege ladders constantly being placed on the city walls.

The location of Lian City had a certain military significance, with two sides of the hill being steep. Ordinary civilians could enter without any problem, but it was not suitable for large armies to deploy, making it difficult to organize an attack. Therefore, the Portlanders focused their attacks on the eastern and northern sides, especially the eastern side, while the northern wall was mainly used for feint attacks and harassment with arrows.

The rigid textbook tactics were not without merit. As the attacking side, they could advance or retreat, with complete control over the situation. Therefore, while adhering to the rules, there were few flaws or vulnerabilities, forcing the defending Silarans to engage in a direct confrontation.

They could hold out for a short time, but as time went on, the disadvantage of insufficient manpower inevitably became apparent.

"Notify the rear to slaughter a few more wild bulls for the soldiers to eat. Use plenty of spices, as much as possible. If there's not enough, go to my steward, Asa, and he will provide the cooks with enough spices!"

The confident Morsrig, who promised to reward the soldiers with expensive spices, could easily imagine the welcome and glory he would receive when he returned to the capital of Portland after the war. The noblewomen would throw themselves at him.

This trip to gain prestige would turn into real gold, and he would be admired and worshipped by the young people in the capital's noble circles.

Seizing the opportunity, Morsrig smiled smugly!

"Damn! I didn't expect this Bird family boy to have some skills and catch the rhythm!"

Vander, the commander of the First Division, had extensive battlefield experience and keen insight. He had already seen the situation on the field, and the balance was gradually tilting towards the young nobleman leading the Second Division.

The defending Silarans had gradually exposed their weaknesses. If he had known this, he should have competed for this mission with Legion Commander Bancroft.

Perhaps in just half a day, no, just one more attack, they could capture this Silaran city.

"My lord, these Silarans are really no match. Lord Morsrig is lucky, but the city of the Silarans has not been completely breached yet. It might still depend on you, my lord, in the end."

Aver, the deputy of the First Division commander Vander, could see that his superior was unhappy and cautiously tried to smooth things over.

"Ha ha, Aver, you are indeed getting better at speaking."

Flattery never fails, and Vander's mood indeed improved. He smiled, shook his head, and continued to observe the battlefield.

Flattery aside, Aver was not wrong. Before the balance of victory was firmly locked, anything could happen.

The first day of the battle was an extremely arduous day for Lian City on the eastern border of the Silaran Empire. Every Silaran involved in repelling the Portlanders' attack felt that the day was endless.

Unexpectedly, at sunset, the Portlanders launched an unprecedented attack. A section of the city wall was temporarily lost, but Dragon Knight Lin Mo and the distinguished nobleman He Si immediately rushed to the scene. Two arcs of elemental energy slashed through the Portland soldiers who had climbed onto the wall, creating a bloody wave.

In just a few breaths, the lost section of the wall was retaken, but it also sounded the alarm for Lian City.

High-ranking warriors might improve the local situation, but they could not completely change the overall battle.

"Major Lin Mo, this city can only hold out until tomorrow's sunset! You'd better make a decision soon."

The twin sister, who could have retreated into the city with the city lord Baron Hong Yu and others to command from a safe position, insisted on staying on the city walls. On one hand, she disliked the lecherous and shameless city lord, and on the other, she was collecting battle data on-site to assess the military strength of this world.

After all, military technology was different. The strategies of a gunpowder war and a cold weapon plus magic war might be similar, but the tactics were entirely different.

As her sister had said, she was conducting intelligence work for the defending Silarans, providing the best intelligence analysis for the Dragon Knight Major who was as stubborn as a mule, to maintain the situation he wanted.

Under immense pressure, she felt unprecedented difficulty, just like her sister. There were no reconnaissance satellites, reconnaissance aircraft, fire support, or special operations forces to assist.

The only thing she could rely on was her own senses and brain.

On the city walls, where the battle was still intense, the only way to protect herself was to hide carefully behind the battlements. Her automatic rifle could only be used at critical moments, and otherwise, she had only a small combat crossbow in her hand.

"Tomorrow's sunset? Is there no other way?"

The Dragon Knight frowned at the on-site assessment transmitted via radio by the twin sister.

According to his original estimate, Lian City should have been able to hold out for at least five days, enough to wait for the empire's reinforcements or to arrange for the orderly evacuation of the civilians. He did not expect the analysis by the twin sisters to be less than half of that.

"If there were, my sister and I would have informed you immediately."

Li Mubing observed the outside of the city walls. The damned Portlanders continued to attack like mad dogs, showing no signs of stopping.

The enemy seemed to be relying on their numbers, deliberately using a war of attrition to wear down the city's defenders.

The disparity in numbers was so great that the attackers, with their rigid and orthodox tactics, were able to overwhelm the defending Silarans.

In fact, the analysis by the Li sisters was almost as accurate as the final result, and it was not much worse than the analysis by the 'Night Shadow' special operations battalion's staff group. The title 'Night Shadow Twins' was not given lightly.

"Alright, it seems we can only execute a decapitation tactic."

Lin Mo was well aware of what would happen if Lian City fell. He would not sit idly by and wait for the worst.

On the day the city fell, not only the twin sisters but even he himself would be in grave danger.

"Decapitation?"

"Decapitation!"

The twin sisters were simultaneously surprised in the communication channel.

Focusing on assessing the combat capabilities of the Portlanders and the Silarans and simulating the battle, they had forgotten that Lin Mo, in the 'Night Shadow' special operations battalion, had combat capabilities equivalent to an entire combat squadron.

Decapitation was a specialty of special forces.

"Feasible!"

Under normal circumstances, the elder twin sister, Li Muxin, might not support this idea, but here, there was a significant possibility.

With the 'Dragon General' level of high-tech war equipment, which had no aura of battle qi or magic, using the cover of night to execute a stealth assassination decapitation tactic was entirely feasible.

Even if it did not succeed, it could at least alleviate the crisis of the city, even if it only delayed the fall of the city by one more day.

---

*The Dragon Knight's Fighter* is urgently seeking votes for the best work of the year and satisfaction upon completion. Please give your full support!