Governor William

Meanwhile, in Ward Town, the atmosphere was heavy yet unusually resolute.

In the town's central square, an elderly man with white hair was standing on a makeshift wooden platform.

He was wearing a well-preserved set of ancestral plate armor engraved with the ancient family crest. This man was none other than Governor William, the former governor of the Northern Border Province who had stepped down from his post in Fran City three years ago and returned to his hometown of Ward Town to retire.

When news of the approaching Sauron army arrived, panic gripped the town, with the mayor and many wealthy households advocating for surrender.

It was Governor William, the old man who once held supreme military and political power in the Northern Territory, who, against all odds, stabilized the situation with unquestionable authority and determination.

In front of all the panicked crowd, he personally drew his sword, beheaded the traitor who had come to persuade him to surrender, and hung his head on the city wall!

This most direct and bloody method demonstrated Ward Town's determination to resist to the death!

"Fellow countrymen! Warriors!" Governor William's voice boomed, though aged, it carried the authority of someone long accustomed to a high position and a resolute determination to die for their cause. "You have all seen it! Wherever the Sauron Barbarians have gone, those who surrendered have been reduced to pigs and dogs, and those who resisted have been utterly annihilated!"

"We, Ward Town, have no way out! Behind us lies our homes, our parents, our wives, and our children! Surrender means death, resistance might offer a glimmer of hope! Even in death, we will die standing, like men of the Broomflower Kingdom! Let these barbarians know that the land of our Goldflower Kingdom is not to be trampled upon at will!"

His gaze swept over the townspeople and garrison below, their faces filled with fear yet gradually igniting a fighting spirit, and he continued to roar, "I, Gregory William, swear by family honor and oath! Today, I will stand with my sons and my grandsons at the forefront of the city walls! I will live and die with Ward Town! The city stands, we live; the city falls, we die!"

"I swear to live and die with Ward!"

"Follow Governor William!"

"Let's fight those barbarians!"

Governor William's bold words and leading by example greatly boosted morale, and fear was replaced by anger and a determination to die.

Soldiers began distributing weapons to able-bodied men, whether they were rusty spears, hunting bows, or simple pitchforks and sticks.

Women were also mobilized, busy moving stones and rolling logs, boiling oil, and even teenagers helped pass arrows and take care of the wounded.

The entire Ward Town, amidst despair, erupted with astonishing cohesion, rapidly transforming into a fortress of resolute fighting.

Governor William's eldest son, a middle-aged man also dressed in knight's armor, and his grandson, who was only sixteen years old and had a childlike face but a firm look in his eyes, closely guarded the old man.

Three generations of a family, clad in gleaming armor, stood like three steadfast rocks atop the city wall, about to be battered by a storm.

Soon, the Sauron vanguard surged like a black tide beneath the city walls.

Crude Cloud Ladder were erected one after another, and the fearless Sauron soldier began to climb upwards.

"Release the arrows!"

"Throw stones!"

"Pour in the hot oil!"

Governor William calmly directed the defense.

Although the defenders were poorly trained and armed, they relied on the height of the city walls and their desperate courage to repeatedly knock down and shoot down the Sauron soldier who were climbing the walls.

Boiling oil and water poured down, and a series of shrill screams immediately erupted from below the city.

The battle was intense from the very beginning.

The tenacity of Ward Town's resistance far exceeded Asgeir's expectations.

Beneath the low city walls, the corpses of Sauron soldier began to pile up.

"Damn it!" Asgeir watched the battle from a distance, his face growing increasingly grim.

He never expected that such a small town could unleash such powerful fighting strength.

"Reinforcements! Send two more battle regiments! Use battering rams to smash down their gates!"

More Sauron soldier joined the battle, and massive log battering rams were brought up and began to violently pound the not-so-sturdy gates of Ward Town.

The city gate groaned in pain from the impact, teetering on the verge of collapse.

The pressure on the city walls increased sharply, and the defenders began to suffer casualties.

A Sauron even climbed onto the city wall, wielding Battle Axe and felling two guards. Governor William's son roared and charged forward, engaging in a fierce hand-to-hand battle with him, finally killing him but also sustaining injuries himself.

Governor William's silver hair and beard fluttered in the wind. Although he was old and no longer needed to fight on the battlefield, he had never slackened his martial arts training over the years.

At this moment, he stood calmly on the wall, drawing his bow and nocking an arrow with his own hands, his eyes sharp, each arrow aimed precisely at the Sauron Army who was giving orders loudly below the city.

He was not just a commander, but more like a flag erected on the city wall; his very existence silently inspired every soldier.

Seeing the governor fighting alongside them, the soldiers' will to resist grew stronger, and despite heavy casualties, no one retreated.

This fierce battle lasted from noon until sunset, far exceeding the expectation of General Asgeir, the leader of Sauron, who boasted that he would "flatten Ward Town in an hour."

The small Ward Town was like an iron nail firmly driven into the path of the Sauron Tiger Corps's advance. Seemingly insignificant, it was incredibly resilient, causing the self-proclaimed elite enemy to pay an unexpectedly heavy price.

As the sun slowly sank, the sky was dyed blood red, contrasting sharply with the blood-soaked land in front of Ward Town, creating a particularly tragic scene.

The low earthen and stone city walls were damaged in many places, with gaps everywhere, and the wooden city gate was on the verge of collapse after being hit repeatedly.

The defenders suffered nearly half their casualties, and those who survived were all wounded and exhausted, relying solely on an indomitable will to keep their bodies afloat and continue gripping their dulled swords.

Asgeir gazed at the town that still flew the Broomflower dynasty flag in the distance, his initial contempt replaced by disbelief, frustration, and rage.

He couldn't understand how this seemingly vulnerable garrison could display such tenacious fighting spirit. Seeing that darkness was falling and night fighting was disadvantageous, he suppressed his anger and finally forced out the order through gritted teeth, "Order! Cease the attack! Retreat to camp!"

He needs time to reorganize the team and reassess this challenging objective.

The deep, drawn-out sound of retreating horns echoed across the battlefield. Sauron's soldiers retreated like a receding tide, leaving behind a scene of carnage: corpses strewn about, broken weapons, and utter devastation.

On the city wall, the wounded defenders, seeing this, let out a low cheer of relief, but their voices contained little joy, only endless exhaustion and hoarseness.

Governor William, leaning on his nicked sword, steadied himself with the help of his son, his body trembling slightly from exhaustion.

He gazed at the retreating enemy troops, his face showing no sign of relief, his brows furrowed, revealing only unfathomable worry.

He knew perfectly well that today's victory was only temporary, and his opponents would never accept defeat willingly.

When the sun rises tomorrow, we will surely face an even more frenzied and brutal attack.

However, he and the soldiers and civilians of Ward Town have already declared a fact to the entire kingdom with their blood and lives.

Not everyone will easily kneel before the barbarian's iron hooves!

On this land, there are still indomitable spirits.

Although the city walls are dilapidated, the banner of will still flies high.