Repulse

After Ronan dealt with the enemy, the nearby defenders finally reacted and blocked the breach. Under Ronan's command, they picked up the stones piled in the corner of the wall and hurled them down the siege ladders. Due to the height and the force of the stones themselves, the soldiers holding the ladders were knocked down along with their shields, their arms twisted into grotesque shapes, clearly broken. The unluckier ones had their necks snapped.

Before the enemy could reinforce and hold the ladders, Ronan grabbed one and, with a guttural roar, pushed it over with both arms. Arrows shot from afar struck Ronan's plate armor, unable to penetrate, only producing a clanging sound.

Seeing Ronan's actions, the defenders at other positions did the same, and soon all the siege ladders were overturned. The Valantians were forced to retreat, coming and going in haste. In less than two hours of fighting, Valantis retreated, leaving behind hundreds of bodies, while the defenders of Taiwei Four suffered nearly a hundred dead and many more wounded.

This was merely a probing attack. If Valantis were to commit their entire army and attack from all directions, the situation would be grim. If the Eredar and Valantis were to join forces after a prolonged siege, they would likely be unable to hold out. After all, the thousand militiamen left by the King of Terra were of questionable combat effectiveness, mostly individuals who had only received basic training with no practical experience.

Ronan discovered today that many people's hands were trembling with fear when facing the enemy's attack, unable to even hold their weapons steady. How could they fight? Rexa also noticed this, and thus decided that he needed to properly train these new recruits during this period, otherwise, major problems would arise sooner or later.

Rexa had the soldiers gather the bodies and then light bonfires in an open area for cremation. After all, they would be defending this place for some time, and if the bodies were not dealt with, a plague could break out, causing Taiwei Four to fall without a fight.

The Valantians had also taken their bodies with them when they retreated. After all, if a plague were to break out, it would affect not only the defenders of Taiwei Four but also them at such close proximity.

Ronan had already returned to his room, his armor removed. A few servants, temporarily filled by villagers, were using rags to wipe the bloodstains from Ronan's armor and greatsword.

"My lord, you must have killed many enemies!" said the village woman wiping Ronan's armor. She was only forty years old, but already looked like an old woman.

"Why do you say that?" Ronan asked, wiping his face with a freshly thrown towel, a look of curiosity on his face.

"Because there are so many bloodstains on your equipment. This is Valantian blood, isn't it, my lord? You must defeat them soundly."

"Do you hate them?"

"Yes. If they hadn't invaded, we wouldn't have had to leave our village, and my sons wouldn't have had to join the army."

"Which unit are your sons serving in now?"

"Taiwei Two, my lord. I wonder how they are doing now."

"They will be alright, and we will defeat the enemy." Just as Ronan was about to say something more to the village woman, Mario's voice sounded from outside the door.

"Rodrit, Rexa has summoned us to a meeting. It's likely to discuss the next course of action."

Ronan smiled at the village woman, put down his towel, put on his shirt, and walked out the door. Mario was waiting for him outside, with Inella Phantom Feather standing beside him. Ronan glanced at them curiously, wondering how these two had gotten together.

Mario gestured to Ronan, then turned and led the way. By the time they reached the castle's council hall, everyone else was already there; they were the last. As they sat in the empty seats, Inella sat next to Ronan. Ronan stole a glance at her. He had to admit that so far, Ronan hadn't seen any elves who had grown up poorly; they were all above average, and Inella could be called a beauty. It's just that, like her brother Thursma, she gave off an air of aloofness.

With everyone present, Rexa began to speak.

"From today's battle, we have also understood the strength of the Valantians. Only their slave legions were deployed today, but their most famous main force is their cavalry, and their siege capabilities may not be that strong. However, these slave soldiers are well-trained and fearless of death, indicating that the Valantians have invested considerable effort in them.

Our current forces with sufficient combat power are only the Xinteland troops we brought. Those thousand militiamen are not very useful, so I plan to personally train them during this period to at least make them somewhat effective.

The Valantians have already started building siege ladders outside the city. Although I had previously sent soldiers to cut down all the nearby trees, they still managed to transport lumber from elsewhere.

However, I already have a plan to deal with these siege ladders, so they are not a threat. As long as there are no mistakes, we will surely be able to hold out until the troops are fully assembled.

To prevent enemy night attacks, the city walls and watchtowers must be manned twenty-four hours a day. Each of our clans will be responsible for a section of the wall, and we will arrange shifts ourselves. Similarly, the remaining soldiers must be ready to fight at any moment. My requirement is that they must be able to equip themselves and reach their posts within ten minutes of the alarm being sounded. I hope everyone can endure this.

Seeing that everyone understood, Rexa nodded with satisfaction. After assigning the sections of the wall for each clan to guard, Rexa dismissed the meeting.

The Silver Moon Clan was assigned the north wall. Mario was put in charge of arranging the guard duty. Ronan couldn't be bothered with these trivial matters; his sole responsibility was combat.

The night passed peacefully. Valantis did not choose to attack at night because elves have good night vision, and attacking at night would be disadvantageous for their own archers.

For several days, both sides were at peace, each busy with their own affairs. Valantis was busy building various siege equipment, while Rexa was busy training the militia. Under the pressure of death, the progress of these militiamen was quite good. After a few days of training, their formations were starting to take shape, and their archery accuracy had also improved significantly.

With nothing else to do, Ronan joined Rexa's efforts to train the militia. Ronan didn't understand any training techniques; his combat skills were directly implanted by the system's templates. However, although Ronan couldn't teach them anything, he could act as a sparring partner to test their training results.

It turned out that Rexa's training was somewhat effective. At the very least, the survival rate of these militiamen had improved significantly. From being knocked down by Ronan in one hit at the beginning, they could now block a few of Ronan's attacks with their weapons and shields, which was considered significant progress, even though Ronan wasn't using his full strength.