Sauron soldiers climbed frantically up dozens of short assault ladders raised against the city wall. They clenched War Sabers between their teeth, held small round shields over their heads and faces with one hand, and struggled upward with the other hand and both feet along the slick, bloodstained log rungs.
Above them lay an abyss where Death grinned ferociously.
From the firing slits of the bastions on either side of the earthen wall and the adjoining wall sections, the musket volleys never ceased.
Lead balls poured down upon the climbers like hail. Men were constantly struck, screaming as they fell from the ladders and crashed into their comrades below, triggering cascading falls.
Defenders leaned out from behind the battlements and hurled lit Molotov cocktails and explosive packs down with all their strength.
The fire jars shattered amid the crowds or on the ladders, their sticky flames clinging and blazing in an instant, turning the unlucky into wailing, rolling torches. The explosive packs inflicted even more dreadful devastation—with a muffled boom and a flash of fire, shrapnel and shockwaves could clear an entire ladder and every living thing within several meters of it, leaving behind only a mangled mess and drifting smoke reeking of blood.
Smoke and dust filled the air, flames flashed relentlessly, and ladders were raised, overturned, then erected anew by the red-eyed Sauron soldiers behind them.
The "Fire Shooter Guards" at the rear of the Sauron formation, urged on by their officers, also risked advancing closer. They blindly fired suppressing shots at spots atop the earthen wall where defenders might show themselves. Their accuracy was dire and stray bullets flew everywhere, but they did indeed create some interference and pressure for the defenders, buying their climbing comrades an exceedingly brief yet incomparably precious moment to catch their breath.