Time Was Running Out

After Hawk took action, he used a brutal beheading to set the stage for the climax of this drama.

After a brief silence, the disguised elite soldiers of the duchy, though unaware of why they had been exposed, continued their investigation.

But now that the target has entered the pre-arranged battlefield where they were lying in ambush, they must continue to carry out their mission.

On the city wall, especially near Hawk and Ricardo, the soldiers drew their weapons and surrounded the two.

Fortunately, Hawk had seized the initiative and taken a good position below the watchtower on the city wall, at a perfect 90-degree angle.

In this terrain, Hawk and Ricardo only needed to deal with the enemies on both sides. Soon, several soldiers who overestimated themselves and tried to steal kills were directly killed by Hawk.

Seeing Hawk displaying his might, the others stopped taking turns charging forward and began to pick up long weapons such as spears, forming a formation and slowly pushing forward.

Hawk spat, watching the approaching gun formation. "They're quite clever, Ricardo. You think these guys are the enemy's elite?"

"It's almost certainly true, sir!"

"Then we can't be too polite to them!"

Hawk dropped his longsword, reached behind his back with both hands, and retrieved two items: a short-handled battle axe and a meter-long iron rod.

Hawk simply stuck the two things together, then twisted the iron rod. With a snap, a long-handled battle axe appeared in Hawk's hand, the handle of which had even extended.

Then Hawk took the initiative and charged into the spear formation. With a few snapping sounds, the first row of spears was broken in two by Hawk's battle axe.

The soldiers quickly realized that their spear formation was ineffective. The spears were long, but Hawk's long-handled battle axe was also quite long. Hawk quickly destroyed the spear formation, killing more than a dozen soldiers.

Soon the soldiers were thrown into chaos as they discovered that the army below the city was also beginning to charge up the city walls. Fortunately, the soldiers rushing up were not many; they were mostly the guards of the man in front of them.

The elites involved in the assassination quickly split into two teams. One team continued to besiege Hawk, while the other team began to use the terrain to their advantage to hold off Hawk's guards who tried to rush up.

At this moment, everything that happened on the city wall was observed by the officer corps of the Duchy's Direct Legion.

Labia's face turned pale and then red. After all, he hadn't expected that although their ambush troops on the city wall had the numerical advantage, they were now being suppressed, which made Labia very embarrassed.

Meanwhile, chaos erupted below the city walls. Hawk's guards launched their attack the instant Hawk made his move, charging directly towards the city walls.

Soldiers along the way, whether they were hidden enemy troops or not, were all killed on the spot, and the whole situation became increasingly chaotic.

Rubio and Lukaku witnessed everything that happened on the city wall. Baron Rubio appeared particularly flustered and turned to leave the scene.

But Baron Lukaku drew his sword and blocked his way. "Rubio, where are you going?"

Baron Rubio, watching Lukaku's actions, asked nervously, "Lukaku, what are you doing? Didn't you see the Legion Commander has been assassinated?"

"I see it. What I want to ask is, what are you going to do?"

Lukaku spoke slowly and deliberately, without taking a single step back, instead raising his sword and continuing to approach Rubio.

At this point, Rubio calmed down and said, "I'm going to send troops to rescue the Legion Commander, Lukaku, you should go too!"

"You can't go anywhere. The troops on the city wall must be your subordinates."

You took the initiative to lead this entire negotiation, so how did those soldiers who were attacking the Legion Commander manage to sneak in?

Baron Rubio Apricot Tree, you need to give us a reasonable explanation.

"You don't need to do anything for the army. I've already mobilized my troops here according to the Legion Commander's orders. If you don't want to die, stay here and don't move!"

Rubio suddenly laughed at this moment, "I didn't expect that."

Lukaku, didn't you look down on the Legion Commander the most? Why are you carrying out his orders so seriously this time?

Besides, the entire east city wall is our shared defense zone. If you suspect I let these assassins in, I'd suspect you too!

Just as Baron Lukaku was about to retort, Baron Rubio suddenly rushed forward a few steps, knocking down one of Baron Lukaku's guards. He ran back to his own guards, and soon Rubio shouted at Lukaku.

"Lukaku, you'd better go and save your legion commander right now. As long as you clear the way and let my troops leave, we can still be friends. I'll put in a good word for you with Legion Commander Kimberly afterwards!"

Just as Rubio was feeling smug, he suddenly heard the sound of horses' hooves hitting the ground.

He turned his head and saw a troop of Cavalry charging toward him.

"This is a Cavalry squad that the Legion Commander assigned to me. Although they may not be the best suited for charging into battle, they are more than enough to deal with your men!"

Baron Rubio's troops were quickly scattered by the Cavalry, and then Lukaku led his men to charge forward.

Baron Rubio was eventually captured by Baron Lukaku, but his resistance was so fierce that Lukaku had no choice but to break all four of his limbs.

Finally Baron Rubio could only close his eyes in despair. "Lukaku, you still have this chance? You might even be able to advance further because of this, provided you can save our Legion Commander."

Lukaku ignored Rubio's performance and simply tossed Rubio to his men.

He led his troops and Hawk's guards in an attack, but the ducal assassins, taking advantage of the terrain and risking their lives, held them firmly at bay.

The fighting on the stairs was extremely fierce. The front-line soldiers on both sides were constantly being worn down, like pieces being exchanged, and the attacking forces could not push forward at all.

Just as the battle reached a stalemate, a group of soldiers suddenly appeared on the southern sheep and horse path of the city wall and charged directly at the group that was besieging Hawk.

These troops were transferred from the southern city wall by Ricardo as a backup, but they unexpectedly came in handy this time, and their addition became the final straw that changed the course of the battlefield.

These elite troops of the principality were once again attacked from both sides, and the soldiers on the stairs were also attacked from behind. This time they failed to stop it, and Lukaku and his men took the opportunity to open a passage and climb the city wall.

Soon, all the Duchy soldiers who had infiltrated the city were killed, and their bodies were thrown down the city walls on Hawk's orders.

At this moment, Hawk noticed that the officer corps of the Duchy's Direct Legion had been standing in the distance, had all disappeared.

"Ricardo, look at these enemies, they really lost more than they gained this time!"

Now that we've cleared the city of any remaining threats, is it possible they'll abandon the siege altogether?

"Stop dreaming, sir. They will definitely not give up. This is their best chance."

Even if we catch Rubio, the mole, his troops will definitely need to be carefully vetted, especially their officers. How many of them are actually following Rubio? These troops will need to be thoroughly investigated.

In the meantime, they might launch an even more terrifying attack.

Just as Ricardo had predicted, the two Duchy's Direct Legion launched another attack that afternoon.

This time, they attacked every section of the city wall without missing a single one, and the attacking forces were quite even, especially the east and west sides, which were extremely dangerous.

Hawk and his men fought until evening. Fortunately, they had already ordered a high level of vigilance, and the other sections of the city wall were unaffected.

Meanwhile, the eastern side, which suffered the greatest troop losses, managed to withstand the Duchy Legion's vengeful attack thanks to Hawk's personal command.

As for Baron Rubio, Hawk had no intention of interrogating him at all, and simply threw him into the dungeon to await handing him over to Count Colt.

As for Baron Rubio's private army, all the officers were arrested by Hawk's men, and the remaining soldiers were assigned by Hawk to the more severely damaged units as replacements.

It's possible that some of the lower-ranking officers were unaware of their lord's actions, but Hawk simply didn't have the energy to discern the truth, so they were just unlucky.

As for the soldiers assigned to other units, it's highly likely that few will survive until after the war; they will bear the brunt of the most dangerous battles for their respective units.

Inside the central camp of the Fifth Legion of the Principality, Kimberley and several others were holding a discussion.

Labia said impatiently, "Commander Kimberly, the Seventh Legion has been attacking fiercely all afternoon according to your plan, but the east and west walls are still impregnable. There is no shortage of troops as you said."

In just one afternoon, I lost two battalions on the east side of the city wall. The wounded soldiers' camp was already full, and the remaining troops had already lost morale before they even went into battle.

Moreover, we've lost all our inside agents, and all 50 elite soldiers I sent into the city are dead. Is it still necessary for us to fight so hard?

If this continues, will our troops still be able to fight? My troops need to rest and regroup to adjust their condition.

"Why don't we continue the siege and wait for the Third Legion Corps to arrive? With the morale boost from the reinforcements, we'll surely be able to take it in one fell swoop."

Silence fell over the entire tent. Count Kimberly slowly spoke up, "Legion Commander Rabia, the enemy is clearly on the verge of collapse. When you attacked the eastern wall, their Legion Commander was fighting. Doesn't that tell you the story?"

As for the issue of troop losses, my troops also suffered heavy losses.

"Rasul, introduce him to the Legion Commander Rabia."

Rasul, who had been standing to the side, began to report, "The Fifth Legion lost three battalions today, and they have basically lost their combat capability. The casualty rate has reached 60%."

If it weren't for the supervisory team, these three battalions would definitely have collapsed, and the deserters alone accounted for more than 10% of the total casualties.

Furthermore, as of now, the Fifth Legion has suffered losses exceeding 5,000 men, with over 3,000 killed in action. It urgently needs replacements, and this has severely impacted the corps' combat effectiveness.

When Labia heard this, he curled his lip. He knew that Kimberley was using what he had just said to retort to him. In terms of the extent of the losses, the Fifth Legion's losses were definitely greater, but even so, Kimberley's attitude remained firm.

At this moment, Count Kimberly spoke again, "Legion Commander Rabia, you and I both know why you led the Seventh Legion to Sextus County ahead of schedule. Isn't it because the Duke and the War Department want us to use our superior numbers to open up the war situation ahead of time?"

Now you're giving up so easily? What will the major guilds think of you? You should know that if it weren't for the major guilds helping you, you would have lost your position Legion Commander long ago.

"Even if the Third Legion arrives ahead of time, the credit will be much greater for the two of us than for the three of us, especially considering how much effort we've already invested and how many soldiers we've lost. Can you accept the credit being split equally among three parties?"

Kimberley's words made a lot of sense, and Labia's mind wavered. He thought for a moment.

"That's settled then. We'll launch another all-out attack tomorrow, and this time I'll bring the supervisory team to oversee the operation."

"If we still can't take White Earth City after this, you need to give me a day to reorganize my troops. I can't continue fighting during this time."

Labia gave his terms, Kimberley, seeing that he had relented, did not pursue the matter further. The two agreed to continue the attack the next morning, committing all their Reserve Force to it in an effort to achieve victory in one fell swoop.

Three hours earlier, on a hill 100 kilometers from White Earth City, a large Cavalry force took a short rest.

Alex patted his panting warhorse with heartache. This horse was his beloved horse, and it was so exhausted from the forced march that it couldn't even drink water.

Just then, three officers ran over, and Alex looked up to see that they were his three Regimental Commander.

The three men bowed to Alex, and the most burly of them, the Regimental Commander, spoke up, "Viscount, our soldiers are alright, but the warhorses are almost exhausted. The water is fine, but we only have enough rations left for one more meal. Why don't we let them graze here for a while? That way they can regain some strength."

Alex paused for a moment, then patted his warhorse. "Look, this is my beloved horse, named Black Cloud. It's one of the few fine horses in the Iron Birch Horse Ranch. Even so, it's exhausted after running for a day and a night. It couldn't even drink water just now."

Are the other warhorses in better condition than Black Cloud? They can recover their strength by eating some grass and resting.

I know you're heartbroken over the warhorses and reluctant to part with them, but our time is extremely limited, and we simply cannot afford to waste any more time.

Alex took a deep breath. "Pass on my order to feed all the warhorses Boiling Blood Grass and keep them running until they can't take it anymore, then switch them to the spare horses."

The three men fell silent upon hearing this. The leader, the Regimental Commander, spoke again, "In that case, these warhorses are already not getting enough food and water. Feeding them Boiling Blood Grass on top of that will not only exhaust them, but most of them will die from exhaustion. Is this really necessary, Viscount?"

Alex lowered his head. "Execute the order. Tell all the soldiers to be resolute in the face of victory."

The three looked at each other, then bowed to Alex and left.

Shortly thereafter, the entire Cavalry army set off south again, this time at a much faster pace than before, though the overall atmosphere within the ranks had become somber.