Feigned Defeat
Harald, riding his magnificent black warhorse and surrounded by his guards and tribal chiefs, observed from afar the Carnford Castle, which stood like a rock atop the mountain.
Even with his critical and hostile eye, he had to admit that the fortress's terrain was indeed exceptionally advantageous.
The main body of the castle is built against the mountain, with a steep cliff behind it and steep mountain ridges that are difficult to climb on both sides. Only the front has a relatively gentle slope.
However, this road leading to the castle was extremely narrow, no more than two or three meters wide at its widest point, and completely exposed to the gunfire, Cannon, and arrows of the defenders on the mountain, making it a veritable death trap.
Not to mention the exceptionally sturdy stone castle atop the mountain.
"Hmph, they did choose a good location." Harald sneered, his tone tinged with disdain. "Unfortunately, the commander seems to be a bit dim-witted. With such a treacherous terrain, why not concentrate forces and defend the hilltop castle to the death?"
"Instead of building another wall at the foot of the mountain to protect those insignificant fields and dilapidated houses, how utterly foolish! For such a petty gain, they're handing over their greatest geographical advantage!"
In his view, the garrison commander of Carnford made a fatal strategic mistake by dividing his forces to defend the outer perimeter, wasting valuable troops on secondary positions that could be easily overwhelmed by superior forces.
This undoubtedly greatly reduced the difficulty and cost of his siege.
"Since they're courting death, I'll grant them their wish!" A cold glint flashed in Harald's eyes. He no longer hesitated and was too lazy to play any probing attacks or drive slaves to wear down the defenders.
He wanted to use absolute power, with the overwhelming force of Mount Tai, to completely erase this fortress that had caused him to lose face and suffer heavy losses from the map in one fell swoop!
He wanted all the Goldspur to know that the price of resisting Sauron army was utter annihilation!
Around noon, the sunlight barely pierced through the winter clouds, bringing a faint warmth.
The thousand Sauron elite infantrymen selected as the vanguard feasted on half-cooked, bloody roasted meat and cloudy ale, their morale soaring to its peak.
They were eager to fight, their eyes gleaming with a thirst for battle and plunder.
In their view, breaching this seemingly flimsy outer wall would be an easy task.
"Waaaaah! Waaaaah!!!"
A deep, wild bugle call to attack suddenly shattered the silence of the valley!
"For the Great Chieftain! Slaughter Broomflower bastards!"
"Charge! Flatten Carnford!"
A thousand Sauron infantrymen roared and charged fiercely toward the outer walls of Carnford, carrying rudimentary but effective Cloud Ladder and battering rams!
The footsteps thundered, raising dust that blotted out the sky, their momentum astonishing!
On the city wall, the Broomflower Guards were already on high alert.
Under the calm commands of their commanders, the Musketeers formed neat ranks and aimed their dark gun barrels at the surging enemy tide.
"First Platoon! Aim! Fire!"
"Second Platoon! Aim! Fire!"
Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!
A burst of rapid, crisp volleys of musket fire rang out! White smoke instantly filled the city walls.
The Sauron soldier at the forefront fell like wheat being harvested by a sickle!
The crude Wooden Shield they held were utterly ineffective against the penetrating power of the lead bullets from the muskets at close range; they were instantly pierced, sending up sprays of blood!
The screams of agony instantly drowned out the shouts of the charge! The Sauron's offensive came to a halt.
Immediately afterwards, the archers on the city wall also began to draw their bows and unleash a dense rain of arrows upon the enemy.
Although not as deadly as muskets, it still caused considerable casualties.
The Sauron were fierce and brave; driven by the officers' roars and the Supervisory team' urging, they continued their frenzied advance despite casualties.
Their archers began to return fire, and stray arrows whizzed up the city walls and embedded themselves in the crenellations. Occasionally, a soldier would be hit by an arrow, letting out a muffled groan or a scream.
However, a perplexing scene unfolded.
After suffering this not-so-fierce counterattack of arrows, the Musketeers Broomflower the city wall actually began to retreat hastily, jumping off the city wall and running away, as if they had been frightened out of their wits by this slight long-range harassment!
"What's going on? They just ran away?" The Sauron soldier who were charging forward were stunned by what they saw and could hardly believe their eyes.
This resistance... it's such a letdown!
But the opportunity was fleeting, and they had no time to think it through.
Taking advantage of the retreating defenders, the Sauron quickly rushed to the foot of the city walls and slammed Cloud Ladder onto the top!
"Charge! Charge now! Capture the city walls!"
The Sauron soldier began to climb upwards with the agility of monkeys.
The few remaining defenders on the city wall symbolically threw down a few logs and stones, knocking over a few climbers and causing some minor chaos.
But soon, they also seemed unable to withstand the growing number of enemies and began to retreat along the city walls to both sides, eventually joining the main force fleeing towards the castle on the mountain.
The whole process went more smoothly than I expected!
They encountered almost no decent resistance! Sauron's vanguard scaled the outer walls of Carnford with virtually no bloodshed!
The last Broomflower soldier who was evacuating seemed to frantically grope around at the base of the wall before jumping off the inner side of the wall, and then ran desperately up the mountain without looking back.
The Sauron soldier who had climbed the city wall looked at each other, somewhat bewildered.
That's it...? We won? That was way too easy!
From launching the charge to completely capturing the city walls, it took less than half an hour! And the casualties were only a few dozen!
This was a far cry from the fierce battle they had envisioned against the Carnford defenders!
For a moment, an eerie silence fell over the city wall, broken only by the sound of the wind and the footsteps of the fleeing soldiers on the distant mountain.
The Sauron soldier even forgot to pursue the fleeing enemy, staring blankly at the empty city walls and the castle that seemed so close yet within easy reach.
"We won! The city walls are ours!"
"The Goldspur are terrified! They've run away!"
"Quick! Quickly notify the brothers behind! The city wall has been taken!"
After a brief moment of stunned silence, an overwhelming surge of ecstasy and triumphant cheers erupted!
The Sauron soldier on the city walls waved their weapons and roared with deafening cheers! The news spread rapidly.
The Sauron army, waiting behind, was even more excited upon hearing the news of the victory from the front!
More soldiers rushed toward the city wall, afraid that if they were a step too slow, someone else would steal all the credit!
The Cloud Ladder were crowded with people, and the city walls were packed with jubilant Sauron soldier. Everyone was immersed in the excitement of their easy victory, completely unaware that danger was quietly approaching.
Unbeknownst to anyone, in a dark corner at the foot of the city wall, several slowly burning fuses flickered with faint sparks, steadfastly pursuing their ultimate mission: the death trap, composed of two thousand pounds of gunpowder and buried deep in the foundation of the city wall, was inching closer and closer.