Fall

"Damn it, where did they come from?"

Inside and outside the outpost where Xibro once served, shouts of battle filled the air.

Just now, the guards at the outpost suddenly discovered an unidentified army on the trade route they were guarding.

Just as the officer who succeeded Xibro was questioning people on the city wall, he was suddenly attacked by this army.

The newly appointed garrison officer was ambushed by arrows, and along with most of the garrison troops on the city wall, they were killed by a volley of arrows from this army.

In the rush, the deputy sergeant hurriedly organized a defense and managed to hold off the first wave of attacks. Then he saw through the firing ports on the parapet that a steady stream of troops were pouring in from the trade route.

Knowing that he and the few soldiers stationed at the outpost had no chance of stopping such a massive army, the deputy outpost commander couldn't help but curse loudly.

After giving up for a while, he realized he couldn't just give up like that, so he found the only two Light Cavalry at the outpost.

"Hank and Fis, hurry back to Ironwire City and inform the young master that we have encountered a mysterious army. The enemy is very large, at least ten thousand. Please make preparations immediately, young master!"

"Deputy sergeant, what about you and the other brothers?"

The middle-aged soldier shook his head and patted the two men on the shoulder.

"We're fine. Even if we can't hold out, I believe that Boss Xibro, Viscount Ferry, and Count Lloyd will avenge us. What you need to do now is get the message to Ironwire City as soon as possible."

The two Light Cavalry finally managed to leave the outpost before it was completely surrounded, and headed straight south.

Just as the deputy sentry was relieved, he saw a Cavalry force of several hundred men appear in the besieging army, trying to bypass the sentry post and chase after the messenger.

"Damn, they dared to bypass the checkpoint directly. We can't let them underestimate us!"

"Rupert, and Buck, bring out that new treasure. It was fought for us by Boss Xibro, and we haven't even used it yet."

Soon, a wooden cart covered with a cloth was pushed out from the west side of the city wall of the outpost.

Several soldiers pulled the Mongpud aside; it was the Bed Crossbow that Viscount Ferry had purchased in the Golden Sunflower Territory.

Under the soldiers' operation, the Bed Crossbow was quickly loaded with bolts and its angle was adjusted.

A Squad Leader Rupert looked at the deputy sentry and asked, "When do we launch?"

"Wait, fire when that Cavalry tries to bypass our western city wall, make sure to hit the leading officer."

"Don't worry, I guarantee it won't miss."

Rupert patted his chest and assured him.

Soon, the Cavalry, in pairs, under the cover of the besieging troops, attempted to bypass the sentry post from the west side of the city wall and pursue the fleeing messenger.

The besieging troops continuously used crossbows to suppress the outposts and city walls, making it impossible for them to activate their Bed Crossbow for the time being.

Rupert gritted his teeth and, along with several of his operators, ran to the Bed Crossbow with long shields, holding them up in front of the Bed Crossbow's arms.

He carefully followed the operating procedures he had learned before, aligning the tip of the crossbow bolt with the device called the lookout on the Bed Crossbow.

"Emission!"

Following Rupert's command, Buck was operating the controls behind him, lowered the lever.

"Whoosh!" The crossbow bolt shot straight at the advancing Cavalry, but it was too late. The Cavalry captain at the front was not hit, but the standard bearer behind him was hit instead.

As the standard-bearer fell, the entire Cavalry's battle flag toppled. Coupled with the sudden crossbow attack, the Cavalry captain was so frightened that he immediately reined in his horse and turned back.

This series of actions caused chaos in the Cavalry ranks. The retreating front Cavalry collided with the advancing rear Cavalry, and the horses were also startled. Many horses lost control and crashed directly into the archer phalanx on the side.

The deputy commander, who was on the city wall, saw this scene. Although he regretted not shooting the Cavalry captain, he was delighted that the army below the city had been thrown into chaos.

"Rupert and Buck, you did a fantastic job! Keep shooting!"

But after he gave the order, no more crossbow bolts were fired from the city wall for a long time.

"What's going on? Didn't my orders reach Rupert and Buck?"

Just then, the messenger returned and reported to the deputy commander in anguish, "Captain Rupert and Buck are both dead. The enemy fired multiple volleys of arrows at them with their Bed Crossbow, and they couldn't dodge them."

"Bang!" The deputy sentry slammed his right hand hard against the city wall.

"Is the Bed Crossbow damaged? Can it still be fired?"

"It won't work!" The messenger shook his head.

"Damn it, go and set the Bed Crossbow on fire. Even if we fail, we can't let it fall into the enemy's hands."

"Deputy sergeant, look!" another soldier called out to him.

"What's wrong?" He walked over.

The soldier pointed down to the city walls, "Deputy sergeant, wasn't that the Cavalry commander from earlier?"

The deputy sergeant looked in the direction the soldier was pointing and saw that the flag of the Cavalry unit that had just fallen had been raised again. However, this time, in addition to the flag being raised, a head was hanging on the flagpole. Judging from the style of the helmet, it belonged to the commander of the Cavalry unit who had just fled.

The deputy commander was speechless at the sight before him, while the Cavalry unit below the city once again began to circle around from the west side of the city wall.

This time, they seemed completely unafraid of the previous attack, charging over the city wall in a denser formation at a faster speed.

"Damn it, Hank and Fis!"

The deputy sentry could only pray that the two wouldn't be caught; he had no time to worry about anything else.

The army below the city launched a general attack. In addition to a dense rain of arrows, ladders were put up on all four sides of the city walls to scale them.

"Looks like they're really willing to go to any lengths! In that case, brothers, let's have a good fight!"

A few quarters of an hour later, the main structure of the outpost was engulfed in flames.

Turas stood in an open space beside the trade route below the city, looking at the outpost. "You mean, before they stormed the outpost, the garrison set the castle on fire themselves?"

"Yes, sir!"

"Forget about this place, let's head south as quickly as possible and reach Ironwire City before the enemy can react!"