Escape

Roderick instantly understood: the mysterious cavalryman who had saved him by piercing Olf with his lance at the last second must also be one of Lyon's men!

These cavalrymen were not sent out to engage in a direct battle with the Sauron army, but rather to use their mobility and shock force to act as a fire brigade in the chaotic street fighting, slowing down the Sauron advance, annihilating their small groups, tearing a path for the scattered, besieged defenders and fleeing civilians like themselves, and covering the retreat of the main force back to the inner city.

"Hurry! Now!" Roderick roared, not daring to delay, and led the three of them to accelerate towards the inner city, taking advantage of the chaos created by the cavalry charge.

With the cavalry providing support and cover on their flanks, their retreat became relatively easier.

Although sporadic sounds of battle could still be heard along the way, the number of organized Sauron interception forces had clearly decreased.

Clearly, the Sauron ' attention was severely diverted by these elusive cavalrymen.

Finally, just as the sun was about to completely sink below the horizon, the four of them rushed across the last open area, and a bright and clear view opened up before them.

The tall, sturdy stone walls of Carnford's inner city stand majestically in the twilight, like the arms of a giant!

However, the massive gate beneath the main city gate leading to the inner city remains closed, as it has been since the beginning of Carnford's reconstruction, while the new city gate on the other side, constructed from the collapsed city wall, has a relatively narrow side gate, reserved for personnel and a small amount of supplies, still open.

At this moment, this side door became the only way to survival!

The gate was crowded with a dense crowd! There were retreating soldiers supporting each other, covered in wounds, and fleeing people with their families, their faces filled with fear and exhaustion after surviving the ordeal.

The soldiers responsible for maintaining order shouted themselves hoarse, trying to keep the chaotic crowd in basic formation and to get them through the doorway quickly in turn.

On the gate tower and the walls on both sides, the defending archers and Musketeers watched the outside of the city intently, ready to deal with any possible Sauron pursuers.

"Quick! Line up! Get in!" An officer waved to Roderick and his group of four.

Roderick and his three companions dared not delay and immediately joined the noisy crowd, swept along towards the door that symbolized hope for survival.

As he passed through the dark, crowded doorway, which reeked of sweat and blood, Roderick could even feel the stickiness of the undried bloodstains on the stone slabs beneath his feet.

The moment their feet touched the solid ground of the inner city, the four of them almost simultaneously buckled in their legs and nearly collapsed to the ground.

Although the inner city was equally crowded, with makeshift tents and shacks everywhere, the groans of the wounded and the cries of children were constant, and the air was filled with all sorts of unpleasant smells, at least there were no swords drawn immediately or the howls of the Sauron.

"Hah... hah... finally... finally I'm back alive..." Mark could no longer hold on and collapsed onto the cold ground, his chest heaving violently as he gasped for breath, not even wanting to move a finger.

Elton slid down against the wall and sat on the floor, examining the new wounds on his body, wincing and gasping for breath.

The recruit plopped down on the ground, clutching his head, his body still trembling slightly uncontrollably, clearly not yet recovered from the extreme tension and fear.

Roderick also sat down against a pile of clutter, wearily closed his eyes, and felt the pounding of his heart gradually subside after the initial frantic beating in his chest. The exhaustion of surviving the ordeal washed over his entire body like a tidal wave.

The four of them exchanged glances and saw the same thing in each other's eyes: exhaustion, pain, but even more so, relief and a lingering heaviness.

No one spoke, nor was there any need to speak.

Being able to crawl back alive from that hellish outer city is a victory in itself.

But they all knew that the fall of the outer city was just the beginning.

An even more brutal battle is brewing just outside this city wall.

The respite was brief; they had to recover their strength as quickly as possible to prepare for the final battle in the inner city.

After a short rest, Roderick struggled to his feet and said hoarsely to the other three, "Let's go find the medic to get bandaged up, and then... report to the Quartermaster. The battle isn't over yet."

The outer city area has now been completely turned into a meat grinder.

The last rays of the setting sun pierced through the lingering smoke, staining the broken walls and flowing blood a chilling dark red.

Lyon crouched low, pressed against his warhorse's sweaty neck, the muffled thuds of swords slicing through flesh and blood, the wails of the dying, the restless snorting of his horse as it struggled in the confined space, and the crunching of its hooves on the bricks.

His saber had just grazed the neck of a Sauron spearman, warm blood splattering onto his arm armor, quickly turning thick and cold.

The alleyway is too narrow.

For cavalrymen accustomed to charging across plains on horseback and tearing through enemy lines with speed and strength, this labyrinth of collapsed houses and ruins was a nightmare.

The warhorse's massive body made it difficult to turn nimbly; every charge could result in a sudden crash into a broken wall, and every swing of the sword required careful avoidance of the eaves and wooden stakes extending from either side.

Speed, the cavalry's greatest advantage, is compressed to its limit here.

They even had to dismount and fight on foot, or simply use their horses as mobile cover.

When Lord Karl gave the order to "attack with cavalry and cover the retreat," Lyon and his cavalrymen did not hesitate for a moment, not only because of their unconditional obedience to their Lord's orders, but also because of the fire that had been burning in their hearts for too long!

During the more than twenty days of siege, these proud cavalrymen could only be trapped inside the city, watching helplessly as their infantry brothers fought bloody battles on the city walls, and as their newly-armed civilians were thrown into the meat grinder-like battlefield.

Every day they polished their sharp sabers, tended to their beloved warhorses, and listened to the deafening battle cries outside the city, yet their hearts were filled with a sense of powerlessness.

Carnford's terrain meant that cavalry would have little effect during the defensive phase.

This sense of humiliation from "doing nothing" is more painful for them than the injury itself.

They are cavalry! They are the sharp blades tearing through enemy lines, the hurricanes chasing down the fleeing enemy! Not prisoners hiding behind city walls, awaiting their final fate!

Lyon knew very well that the Lord's decision to send them out of the city was an extremely risky gamble, even... a suicide mission.

Using cavalry in urban warfare is extremely ineffective and inevitably results in heavy casualties.

But both Lyon and every cavalryman behind him understood the deeper meaning behind this. They used their most precious mobility and lives to buy more infantry and civilians a precious quarter of an hour, even just a quarter of an hour, to retreat back to the inner city! Even if it could only delay the Sauron for a few minutes, it would be worth it.