Meanwhile, Carnford's main assault formation on the front had already surged to the edge of Village No. 2's ruins amid blaring charge horns and the furious roars of its soldiers!
"Fire!" Svein roared hoarsely from within the village.
"Boom! Boom!" The two Sauron Bronze Cannons fired again, this time loaded with grapeshot! Great blooms of flame and thick smoke burst from their muzzles as countless lead pellets, like a storm of iron sand, fanned out toward the Carnford soldiers charging close!
"Pfft pfft pfft...!"
"Argh!"
More than a dozen Carnford soldiers at the very front were struck head-on as if by invisible sledgehammers. They screamed and crashed to the ground, blood mist bursting from their bodies. But the other bronze cannon misfired at the critical moment. Its gunners frantically worked at the barrel, but to no avail.
The gap in the bombardment lasted only an instant. Carnford's soldiers trampled over their comrades' corpses and roared even more furiously, flooding into the ruins like a burst dam! Many of the Sauron Musketeers in the village had just emptied their barrels and had no time to reload. In their panic, some threw down their muskets, grabbed bows from beside their feet, and hastily fired at enemies almost within arm's reach. Yet the sparse arrows achieved little at such close range and amid the melee.
"Kill!"
"Sauron dogs! Die!"
The next instant, steel and flesh, bayonets and curved blades, spears and battle axes crashed together amid broken walls and rubble, in narrow lanes, and around every corner of the ruins!
A fierce, unadorned, utterly brutal close-quarters battle erupted in an instant across every inch of Village No. 2!
Blood, like cheap paint, splashed across charred walls, pristine snow, and the twisted faces of soldiers on both sides—some savage, some anguished. From the very