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However, their soldiers continued to charge towards the city, and many Shield Soldiers used their shields for protection while picking up the ladders from the ground. Even so, the Southern Tiger Empire only managed to set up eleven ladders at the base of the city after deploying their fourth wave of troops. Just as they positioned the ladders against the city wall, a dark substance known as Kerosene was poured down from the ramparts, and soon after, the ladders were ignited.
No soldier dared to advance on a ladder made of flames, so all the effort put into constructing those ladders at the base of the city was rendered useless as they were completely destroyed. The soldiers who had rushed to the base were also repelled by Rolling Logs and Stones. Before the four waves of soldiers, totaling twenty thousand, could even reach the city wall, they were nearly all annihilated by the Eastern Dragon Empire's forces.
Seeing such heavy casualties among his soldiers, Willy finally became furious: "All soldiers, heed my command! Charge forward! Cavalry to the base while infantry scale the walls. I refuse to believe we cannot take this small Dragon Glory City. Charge!"
With Willy's command, all soldiers and high-ranking generals surged forward, with the Siege Engineers leading the charge. Observing this situation, Shangguan Junpeng felt extremely anxious, while Shangguan Junhong patted his brother's shoulder and smiled, saying, "Second Brother, there's no need to worry. This time, the Alliance is destined to suffer losses."
Shangguan Junhong smiled at the nearby soldiers and said, "It's time to give them a grand welcome; prepare the Repeater Crossbows."
At Shangguan Junhong's command, six large cloths were lifted to reveal Repeater Crossbows underneath. This type of Repeater Crossbow was suggested by Liu Guanfeng; he merely shared his ideas with the craftsmen, and everything else was accomplished through their skills.
This Crossbow required two hands to operate; pulling a lever would draw back the bowstring and allow for rapid firing. Additionally, there was a magazine on top of the Repeater Crossbow where soldiers could continuously load bolts into it; gravity would automatically feed them into place.
The Repeater Crossbow had both greater speed and power compared to standard Crossbows. However, due to its difficulty in aiming accurately, it was particularly effective against large-scale assaults like that of the Southern Tiger Empire today.
The six Repeater Crossbows emitted piercing sounds as a multitude of bolts were shot down towards the base of the city. Their targets were knights without shields, and under special attention from the six Repeater Crossbows, many cavalrymen from the Southern Tiger Empire were killed.
Although Willy was shocked by the appearance of the Repeater Crossbows, it did not halt their advance. The entire force continued to move quickly forward. As they approached the base of the wall, their Crossbows began to roar, and casualties among Southern Tiger Empire soldiers continued to rise.
Finally, the first batch of Siege Engineers reached the base of the wall. However, just as they arrived there, a large amount of Kerosene was poured down from above. The ensuing flames not only burned many of the Siege Engineers but also terrified those Shield Soldiers who were about to rush forward.
Seeing this situation unfold, Southern Tiger Empire's troops had no choice but to halt their advance. At that moment, six catapults inside the city began to operate; massive stones were hurled one after another from atop the walls.
The destructive power of these stones was absolutely astonishing. While they posed little threat to commanders above Advanced Knight level, for ordinary soldiers and Minor Generals below Intermediate Knight level, these enormous stones were undoubtedly lethal.
What further infuriated Willy was that not only were stones being launched from within the city walls but also from above. A considerable number of Thunder Eagle Knights and Wind Eagle Knights soared through the sky with large stones and Fire Oil Bombs raining down on Southern Tiger Empire soldiers below. To avoid casualties, these aerial forces raised their altitude beyond reach of arrows; however, their attacks remained extremely fierce.
Under the intense attack of the air force and catapults, the soldiers of the Southern Tiger Empire began to panic, realizing they were no longer attacking a city but being slaughtered. The soldiers could not even approach the city walls. At this moment, Willy also recognized the problem and had no choice but to issue a retreat order.
Even during the retreat, the aerial forces did not let them off easily, pursuing them all the way back to their camp. Countless soldiers of the Southern Tiger Empire suffered casualties during the withdrawal.
When Willy returned to the Tent, he was furious. In front of all the generals, he thundered, "Can anyone tell me what is going on? Where did those people come from? Why has the strength of the Eastern Dragon Empire increased so much in just one day? What are those idiots from the Northern Bear Empire doing? Why do they still have such strong combat capability?"
"Grand Marshal, it seems that today the soldiers of the Eastern Dragon Empire are different from those in previous days. I noticed that their equipment and weapons are much stronger than before. Moreover, many of the weapons we have never seen before; it seems they must be reinforcements."
Upon hearing this, Willy gritted his teeth and said, "Is there a casualty report from this battle?"
"Returning to Grand Marshal, it is still being compiled and will be sent over shortly."
Before long, the casualty statistics were placed on Willy's desk. After seeing this record, Willy's previously suppressed anger erupted again, smashing the entire desk into pieces. The casualty report indicated that over one hundred thousand soldiers of the Southern Tiger Empire were either severely injured or killed.
Behind these ten thousand casualties was a whole army that had not even reached the enemy's city walls. It was truly infuriating and frustrating, but he had nowhere to vent his anger because the enemy's firepower was simply too fierce and strong.
After this defeat, Willy began to ponder countermeasures, but after thinking for a long time, he could not come up with any solutions. In the end, he could only go see if Guo Huai had any good ideas.
"Marshal Willy, you’re here?" At this point, Guo Huai already knew about Willy's defeat, so upon seeing him, Guo Huai did not complain; instead, he offered encouragement.
"Imperial Envoy, I have disappointed you."
"Not at all. Marshal Willy, please sit down and talk."
Willy sat down on a nearby chair. "My lord, there’s something wrong with those soldiers of the Eastern Dragon Empire."
"What problems do you see? Please tell me."
"Sir, based on today's offensive situation, the soldiers defending Dragon Glory City have been replaced. These soldiers are far more powerful than those we fought against from the Northern Bear Empire, and all their siege weapons are ones we have never seen before. Our charges have been repelled by these weapons, and our Southern Tiger Empire soldiers have suffered heavy losses."
"Have you thought of any solutions?"
Willy shook his head. "I'm sorry, sir, but I haven't come up with any good ideas yet, which is why I came to consult you to see if you have any suggestions."
"I'm sorry, my Power Grand Marshal. In this regard, I may not be able to help you much. However, I can give you a hint: they have an air force, and your country should have one too. As long as your air force can defeat the Eastern Dragon's air force, capturing Dragon Glory City will be just around the corner."
"Sir, it seems that our empire's air force is not as numerous as that of the Eastern Dragon. Even if they come, they won't make much of a difference. Just look at the situation."
"I knew you were crafty. Don't worry about this; I'll call the Grand Marshals of the Northern Bear Empire and the West Lion Empire over shortly and ask them to bring their air forces. I think that should suffice."
"Thank you in advance, sir."
Guo Huai had a Messenger summon the two Grand Marshals from the West Lion Empire and the Northern Bear Empire to his tent.
"Sir, may I ask why you called us here?" Feski from the Northern Bear Empire spoke first, his mood quite poor due to the failure of their last offensive.
"Feski Grand Marshal, please remain calm. Here is Marshal Willy from the Southern Tiger Empire, who has something to discuss with everyone."
"Gentlemen, today our Southern Tiger Empire launched a large-scale attack against the Eastern Dragon Empire, but we encountered fierce resistance. They have added numerous siege weapons to their walls—ones we have never seen before. Our army suffered significant losses and was unable to breach the city. Therefore, I would like to ask both of you for assistance."
Feski, aware that his failure had brought joy to Willy's Southern Tiger Empire, saw this as an opportunity for retaliation: "What? Has Marshal Willy also encountered strong resistance? Our soldiers suffered many losses, yet I didn't trouble Sir Guo Huai. Why can't you handle a small setback?"
"You... you." Willy struggled to find a retort because he knew he still needed their air force.
"Feski Grand Marshal, I understand that your soldiers from the White Bear Empire are brave warriors and that you lost many during your last siege. I empathize with your feelings. However, we are discussing the overall battle situation now. I hope you can prioritize the bigger picture." Guo Huai's words were effective; Feski immediately fell silent.
"Lord Guo Huai, do you have any good ideas?" the Grand Marshal of the West Lion Empire asked, trying to ease the atmosphere.
"I came here to inform you all that due to the strong air force of the opponent, I hope each Grand Marshal can report this matter to your kings, so that they can send their air forces to assist the Southern Tiger Empire in eliminating the Eastern Dragon Empire's air force. Otherwise, not only will the Southern Tiger Empire struggle, but your two other countries will also find it difficult to gain an advantage."
"Lord, what happens after we eliminate the Eastern Dragon Empire's air force? Which country will Dragon Glory City belong to?"
"How about this: once you eliminate the Eastern Dragon Empire's air force, whichever country captures Dragon Glory City will receive half of its income, while the remaining half will be distributed based on the number of enemy aircraft each of the other two countries has shot down."
Grand Marshal Feski of the Northern Bear Empire had no objections because his soldiers were already dwindling, and the ownership of Dragon Glory City was becoming increasingly distant for him. However, he would agree to this condition if possible. The Grand Marshal of the West Lion Empire was not concerned about these matters; he was simply following orders and quickly agreed.
Five days later, the flying knights from all three countries arrived. Due to the difficulty in capturing flying Mounts, each empire had a limited number of air forces. The Northern Bear Empire mobilized its entire air force, totaling one hundred knights; the Southern Tiger Empire sent eighty; and the West Lion Empire brought fifty.
Although their numbers were not overwhelming, over two hundred flying knights still surpassed those of the Eastern Dragon Empire.
The only drawback was that the overall strength of these three empires' air forces was significantly lacking. The purpose of these knights' air forces was primarily for reconnaissance, so they mainly used low-level Mounts with high speed, and their weapons consisted mostly of short bows.
Despite this, they held a numerical advantage, and with pressure on the opposing air force, Willy regained his confidence. With three days left before his attack on Dragon Glory City, he urged Guo Huai to launch an assault the next day, insisting that they must capture Dragon Glory City within three days.
As the air forces from all three nations were reorganized together and could not command each other, command fell into Guo Huai's hands. Upon receiving Willy's request, Guo Huai readily agreed and instructed each airman to prepare two stones the size of soccer balls. The reason for preparing two was that their Mounts had low carrying capacity and lacked equipment for carrying stones.
The next morning, the Southern Tiger Empire reformed its formation while the air force remained stationed in Guo Huai's military camp as a trump card.
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