Taiwei Four: Offense and Defense (1)

Around ten in the morning, on an open space within Taiwei Four City, a group of shirtless militiamen were training in formation, sweating profusely. At the very front of the formation, a circle of militiamen had formed, with Ronan, also shirtless, and a few militiamen facing him standing inside the circle.

The sweat acted like olive oil, making Ronan's sharply defined muscles glisten slightly under the sun, further highlighting their contours.

At this moment, Ronan was holding a wooden staff with both hands. The militiamen opposite him were holding wooden swords and shields. Ronan was currently testing their training results by sparring with three militiamen simultaneously.

Spinning the wooden staff in his hands, Ronan initiated the attack first. After days of sparring, they no longer dared to attack Ronan first, as he could always keenly spot their openings and, after dodging their attacks, decisively defeat them.

Ronan charged forward with his staff. The militiamen opposite instinctively raised their shields to block, but Ronan suddenly braced the staff against the ground, leaped into the air, and kicked straight at the shield with both feet. He sent the militiaman stumbling back several steps before falling to the ground.

Seeing this, the other two militiamen attempted to attack Ronan, but he was prepared. After landing, he immediately crouched down, gripped the tail end of the wooden staff with both hands, and swept it horizontally along the ground, tripping one of them. He then spun around, parried a wooden sword, and used leverage to disarm his opponent.

By this time, the first militiaman who had fallen had struggled back to his feet. He immediately raised his shield and charged headfirst at Ronan. Ronan shook his head slightly, dodged the charge with a spin, and simultaneously struck the militiaman's backside with the rear of his staff, sending him face-first to the ground.

With swift efficiency, he dealt with the other two militiamen in the same manner. Ronan shook his head and waved to the other militiamen gathered around, signaling for them to take their turn.

These militiamen were slightly stronger than the previous ones. At least they knew to protect each other by relying on their formations. They managed to hold out against Ronan for a while before he found an opportunity to close in on their formation. Once their formation was disrupted, they were lost, their ability to adapt to changing situations still insufficient.

After sparring with a few more groups of soldiers, it was lunchtime. Ronan took a towel from an attendant to wipe his sweat, then sat directly on the ground and began eating bread and soup. The dried meat in the soup had softened somewhat after being stewed, at least it wasn't hard enough to break teeth. Some of the sharper pieces of dried meat made Ronan feel they could even kill someone.

After a simple lunch, a wave of drowsiness washed over him. He instructed Nord guards and Vigilia knights to take over his duties and spar with the militiamen, then Ronan returned to his room for a nap.

He hadn't slept for long before Ronan was awakened by the sound of a horn. There were sounds of bustling footsteps within the castle. Not having time to put on the cumbersome plate armor, Ronan quickly donned his light armor, picked up his greatsword and katana, and pushed open the door to go out. However, Ronan still put on his iron gauntlets.

Squadrons of soldiers were rapidly running towards the city walls within the castle, and Ronan followed the procession towards the wall he was responsible for. Outside, the sounds of stones being launched by trebuchets hitting the city walls and the screams of wounded soldiers were already erupting.

By the time Ronan reached the city wall, the Valantis soldiers had already charged through the arrow storm and begun setting up scaling ladders. From the distant Valantis encampment, massive siege ladders were being slowly pushed towards the city walls by soldiers.

These siege ladders were made entirely of solid wood, even taller than the walls of Taiwei Four. They were long rectangular structures with four thick wheels at the bottom, requiring soldiers to push them. The interior of the siege ladders was hollow, with a platform at the same height as the city walls, which was already filled with soldiers. There were stairs behind them, allowing soldiers to quickly ascend to the platform of the siege ladders.

In front of the platform was a wide wooden bridge, which was currently retracted and standing upright. Once it got close enough to the city wall, it would be lowered to rest on the battlements, allowing soldiers to ascend. The advantage it had over scaling ladders was that it could carry a significant number of soldiers at once, allowing for faster ascent and easier occupation of the wall.

Furthermore, soldiers were less likely to be obstructed by arrows and stones. The front of the siege ladders was coated with fire-retardant paint, rendering Rexa's plan to use oil and fire arrows to ignite the targets completely futile.

At this point, the trebuchets that Rexa had ordered craftsmen to build came into play. The trebuchets were pushed into suitable positions, loaded with stones, and after the commander's orders, their positions were constantly adjusted and calibrated before they unleashed a barrage of giant stones.

The giant stones struck the siege ladders, creating large holes. Amidst flying wood chips, one siege ladder's support pillars were shattered, causing it to disintegrate. The soldiers on it screamed as they fell. Those who were lucky enough to survive were mostly left paralyzed from the waist down. However, Valantis never worried about dealing with wounded soldiers. These slave soldiers were treated if they had minor injuries, and the severely wounded were left to fend for themselves. Valantis didn't even bother with the crippled, not even providing them with food, as they considered it a waste.

Although most of the siege ladders were destroyed, two of them tenaciously reached the city walls. The drawbridges were lowered, resting on the battlements, and the soldiers within roared as they swarmed out.

Ronan picked up his bow and shot continuously, headshotting several soldiers from the side. One slave soldier, just as he was about to reach the city wall, leaped high and landed behind a defending soldier, stabbing him in the lower back with a sword. The defender struggled, trying to turn and counterattack, but his throat was then slit.

Another militiaman thrust his spear fiercely into a slave soldier's chest, then forcefully pushed him to the ground. However, he had clearly forgotten what Rexa had taught them: do not attack blindly, calmly observe the surrounding situation and the enemy's movements, and use your shield to protect yourself.

As he pulled out his spear, he intended to strike again, but was immediately beheaded by the enemy soldiers who rushed up behind him. Ronan noticed that this was one of the militiamen he had sparred with that morning. He couldn't believe that a lively young man from the morning was headless by the afternoon, but war was indeed this cruel; anyone could die in the next second.

Shaking his head, Ronan dropped his bow, drew his greatsword, and charged forward with his subordinates. These militiamen had not been trained for long. Fueled by their anger towards the invaders, they had courage but lacked defense. They suffered the heaviest casualties, but the enemy's numbers far exceeded those of Taiwei Four's defenders. Even a one-for-two exchange was unsustainable.

Ronan swung his sword down forcefully. The enemy reacted quickly, raising their round shields to block, but Ronan's immense strength made them lower their stance and their round shields were deeply scarred by his blade. Ronan swung his greatsword down again with force. This time, his shield was directly cut in half by Ronan, and the left hand holding the shield was also cut halfway.