Chapter 84

He doesn't understand combat, but he understands the fear of insufficient firepower.

So when all twenty cannons on the city wall fired at the same time, all worries vanished!

Boom!

The deafening roar of the cannons followed the first volley, and almost all the Kainter soldiers at the forefront fell, leaving only a few survivors, who were killed by muskets before they could even get close to the city walls.

"Holy crap! That's a really powerful cannon!"

An old soldier on the city wall couldn't help but shout.

Those who have never served in the military will not know how much a good weapon can affect them. Times have really changed; the era of charging into battle with swords and knives is a thing of the past.

Knightly duels remain a symbol of honor, but war is not a duel. It's not that you and I have to fight one-on-one for honor. Why should I fight you one-on-one if I have more people? Why would I use Cross Sword if I have a musket?

These soldiers are neither Supernatural Being nor skilled Bounty Hunter; they are just ordinary people.

All they knew was that all truth lay within the range of cannons!

What they didn't know was that Ryan had emptied his coffers to collect all these cannons; the cannons were indeed very useful, but also incredibly expensive.

"Damn! That was so awesome!"

"They simply can't get through!"

The tense atmosphere eased considerably after several cannon shots.

"Don't let your guard down, the real battle hasn't even begun yet!" an officer roared. "The happier you are now, the more miserable you'll be later. As long as the battle isn't over, anything can happen in an instant!"

The officer's reprimand brought everyone back to reality.

Ryan nodded slightly. There are still talented people in the army. Just because there are problems in the command level doesn't mean that everyone is wrong. It's like how there are many nobles who truly value honor and care for their people.

As expected, after the attack was halted by the cannons, Magic Power shields appeared in the Kainter's army. Under these shields, the soldiers charged forward, their muskets firing volleys at the city walls, and at the same time, their siege cannons finally opened fire.

"Supernatural Being, huh?"

These Magic Power shields were all released by Supernatural Being. Although they could not withstand the cannon fire for long, they used the precious time to unleash a barrage of siege cannon fire on the city gate.

Rumble~~~

The shells exploded at the city gate, but the gate remained undamaged after the smoke cleared.

"Once Supernatural Being join the fray, the way wars are fought will change."

The cannons are very powerful, but if a defensive barrier is set up in advance, it can hold out for a period of time without any problem. However, in a siege, every second counts.

Boom!

In terms of cannons, Berman City had more than Kainter; with twenty cannons firing simultaneously from the city walls, the temporary shields erected by the Supernatural Being completely collapsed.

The Kainter army never dreamed of this; they had never seen such 'armed sheep' before.

Of all the cities along the borders of the Augustus Empire, Berman City was probably the most unique.

Ryan had an even more ruthless move: he immediately switched to the 'Ina' character interface and had her transport all the remaining cannons over.

The eighty cannons were initially distributed evenly across the four city gates, but after observing the movements of the Kainter army, Ryan withdrew ten cannons from the north gate, and five cannons were also removed from both the east and west gates.

These twenty cannons are kept as backup; once the main attack point of the Kainter army is determined, they can all be brought over.

When forty cannons were lined up on the city gate, not only Ryan, but even the soldiers guarding the city couldn't help but straighten their backs.

"They've withdrawn! They've withdrawn!"

The siege lasted less than an hour before the Kainter army began to retreat to their camp.

Looking at the cheering soldiers, Ryan didn't feel much. After all, this was just a probing attack, so he didn't even use his Supernatural Being, and Jonathan and the others didn't make a move.

"Everyone, rest where you are and be wary of Kainter sneak attack," Ryan said.

"Don't worry, Mayor, we can handle no matter how many times they come!"

"Very good, that's the kind of momentum we want."

After giving a few instructions, Ryan went down from the city wall and contacted Jonathan, asking him to arrange for the Burning Covenant's men to prepare for battle.

After the probing attack, the Kainter army will surely launch an even more intense siege. Cannons can only hold off frontal attacks and armies, but they cannot stop Supernatural Being.

Actually, this thing is only useful in siege warfare. If you really take it to the field, the situation changes too quickly during marches and battles. Sometimes the battle is over by the time the cannon is delivered.

"I wonder how these guys are going to attack next."

Ryan ordered the twenty cannons at the south gate to be removed so they could provide support should the Kainter army change its main attack position.

After doing all that, he opened the game interface. 'Shally' didn't rush to act, after all, there were still 5,000 men left behind in Kainter, so it wasn't the best time to attack.

After a two-hour rest, the Kainter army resumed its operations.

Just like last time, they did not change their attack position. In fact, with Supernatural Being constantly monitoring their movements, it would be impossible to sneak around to the north gate and launch a surprise attack.

After all, a force of several thousand people is easy to spot unless someone is blind, unless they can eliminate the Burning Covenant's intelligence agents beforehand.

But that was obviously impossible; even Ryan didn't know where the intelligence agent was hiding.

However, this time the Kainter army intensified its attack. The number of men attacking the east and west gates remained at three thousand, but the number attacking the south gate head-on reached as high as seven thousand.

Having identified the main point of attack, Ryan continued to position his cannons on the south gate, engaging in a direct firefight with the Kainter army's siege artillery.

"Mayor, something's not right." The officer in charge of combat frowned. "The Kainter army seems to have slowed down, although they still have a lot of numbers."

Ryan nodded slightly. "Continue on defense, I'll be back for a bit."

After descending from the city wall, he entered an alley and met up with the members of the Burning Covenant who had been lying in ambush there.

Then I waited for almost ten more minutes.

Ryan took out his pocket watch and glanced at it. Suddenly, a signal flare exploded in the sky in the direction of Westgate.

"It's Simon!" an investigator exclaimed. "Vice Captain, let's go over there!"

"Don't rush."

Ryan waved his hand.

A few minutes later, a signal flare was also fired from the east gate.

"They're attacking both sides simultaneously?"

The investigator asked, puzzled.

These signal flares were arranged in advance by Ryan to notify them should they encounter an attack from Kainter's Supernatural Being.

Ryan doesn't understand warfare, but he understands the significance of the existence of Supernatural Being. If they launch a frontal attack, it will be very difficult to break through the city unless the Kainter are willing to suffer huge losses from artillery bombardment.

Therefore, they will definitely take advantage of the special characteristics of Supernatural Being. Any Supernatural Being with agility can easily climb over the walls of Berman City.

All we need to do is open the city gates from the inside and let the army rush in. At that point, no matter how many cannons are placed on the city walls, they will be useless.

Of course, Ryan wasn't 100% sure; he was just gambling, and it turned out he was right.

At this moment, signal flares exploded one after another on both the east and west sides, but Ryan still did not take action because there were already enough people in those two locations.

The East Gate is guarded by Caslathdi herself and her men, who possess the magic to kill top-tier third-tier Supernatural Being. If she can't hold it, then no one can.

As for Simon, with 'Vainay' and Jonathan leading several investigators, it's not a problem either.

Although 'Vainay' has not yet advanced, she has already captured two elite Soul Swordsmen, plus four ordinary Soul Swordsmen. She alone is equivalent to three or four Second Tier Transcendent.

Therefore, Ryan was not worried about both sides being breached. As for the south gate, it was obviously a smokescreen put out by the Kainter army, which sent 7,000 men to make him mistakenly believe that the main attack point was at the south gate.

In reality, regardless of which gate is breached, the defending forces on both sides will only number 1,500, and their quality will be far inferior to that of the Kainter Kingdom's army. They will be unable to stop the enemy's 3,000-strong attack.

In other words, whether there are three thousand or seven thousand people, the effect is the same.

After confirming that there would be no problem with the south gate, Ryan immediately gave orders to all the investigators around him to prepare to go out of the city to fight— the Iron Blood Legion had already begun to move. Gruk was leading his men to attack the rear stronghold of the Kainter army, and 'Shally' would act immediately once she saw the signal. The Iron Blood Legion was holding back the Kainter army's defenses, and her mission was to lead the thousand Royal Guards straight to the granary and set it on fire!

At this moment, on the game interface, 'Shally' led her troops to attack, and Ryan also acted decisively. He knew that the Kainter army had been attacked from the rear and would inevitably retreat after the attack on the front failed.

He certainly wouldn't send anyone to pursue them, but he was bold enough to take advantage of the chaos to destroy the enemy's siege cannons.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

Three kilometers south of Berman City, the Kainter military outpost.

"Hurry! Stop fighting, get back to defense! Get back to defense!"

The officer from Kainter shouted loudly.

Ahead lies an Iron Blood Legion!

The heavy cavalry's charge easily shattered the shields. Although there were only two or three hundred of them, they were a nightmare for the Kainter army.

However, they had nearly three thousand men, so even if they fought a protracted battle, they wouldn't be completely routed. Once the siege army retreated, they could easily wipe out the Iron Blood Legion. But... the granary was about to catch fire!

When 'Shally' appeared with her men, the Kainter garrison wasn't stupid. They were clearly after the grain depot, so he had no intention of fighting. If the grain was burned, he would have to commit seppuku to atone for his sins!

But how could two thousand Iron Blood Legion be so easy to deal with?

When Gruk saw them retreating, he immediately sent his entire army to pursue them, cutting them down like vegetables. In a short time, the Kainter army suffered heavy losses.

When they finally managed to turn back, they found that most of the thousand people left behind had been wiped out by 'Shally' and her men, and the rest were struggling to save food from the fire.

"Fire! Fire!"

"Hurry, hurry, hurry!"

"Something's wrong, there's an ambush—Ah!!"

"Those damned Augustians are still here!!"

"They're back!"

Of course, 'Shally' didn't leave.

There are only a mere thousand people left here. Who do they think they are? A thousand people are not enough to kill anyone!

So after setting fire to the granary, 'Shally' only pretended to retreat. The Royal Guards was small in number, and with the fire covering the area and the darkness of night, the Kainter's army was focused on putting out the fire and didn't notice them at all.

When 'Shally' led her men out to attack, the group of Kainter soldiers immediately panicked.

There are wolves in front, tigers behind, and the house is on fire!

"Send a signal quickly! Requesting rescue!!"

The emergency flare was fired, and the Kainter army attacking the city began to panic. They had planned to launch a general attack the moment the east and west city gates opened, but they waited and waited and waited and there was no movement at the city gates. Instead, the fire broke out in the backyard first.

But what if the city gates reopen after they leave? Then all their efforts in sending out Supernatural Being would be wasted. In the end, only the army attacking the south gate, numbering nearly four thousand, withdrew; after all, the south gate was originally intended as bait.

As soon as the South Gate people retreated, Ryan immediately ordered the investigators to take action.

He had eight men on his side, all of them first or second tier, but they were still capable of destroying the cannon under the protection of a group of ordinary soldiers, since this was a sneak attack rather than a frontal assault.

The cannons on the city gate were still firing, the siege had not stopped, and various things were mixed together, making the scene extremely chaotic. There were no telephones in this world, so there was no way to keep in touch and learn about the situation in real time.

Fortunately, Ryan could get a general idea of what was happening on both sides through the character interfaces of 'Shally' and 'Vainay'. The fire in the granary lasted for almost twenty minutes, and the reinforcements from the Kainter army that was launching a frontal attack finally arrived late.

However, by this time, the more than 3,000 people who had originally stayed behind had almost been wiped out by the Royal Guards and the Iron Blood Legion.

In terms of hard power, the gap between the two armies is quite large. The Kainter Kingdom can only fight against the private soldiers of the Augustus Empire lords, and is no match for the regular army of the Empire.

Not to mention the Blood Knight 'Shally', a killing machine. Blood is a product of a grand feast and revelry. 'Shally' doesn't need to make any special sacrifices. She kills her way through, and the blood flowing on the ground seems to be drawn by some force, naturally forming a crimson blood mist on the battlefield.

When the blood mist dissipated, the entire battlefield became extremely eerie.

What's going on?

Not to mention anyone else, even 'Shally' didn't know.

But it didn't matter. She didn't know what had happened, nor did she care. All she knew was that she was about to go on a killing spree!

If any elders of the Blood Cult were present, they would kneel down and shout "Blood Sacrifice to the Blood God," and even ordinary members of the Blood Cult would do the same. But "Shally" didn't care. As the chosen one of the Blood God, even if she didn't shout the greatness of the Blood God, Doklodus was still willing to focus his attention on her!

The appearance of the blood mist made everyone suspicious, even the Iron Blood Legion. They even thought it was a conspiracy by the Kainter army. Fortunately, after seeing the heroic performance of their allies— the Royal Guards —who were still fighting, they realized that the blood mist might also be 'friendly forces'.

The Royal Guards were calm, even excited, because the killing by the blood mist came from their temporary commander, Miss 'Shally'. After witnessing 'Shally's' power, the Blood Minions were no longer terrifying. They were very happy to see these blood figures rise from the pools of enemy blood and slash off their heads with their swords.

"Blood mist... is this the Blood God's Power?"

Within the Iron Blood Legion, Gruk was dealing with the last group of Kainter's garrison. As Third Tier Transcendent, he could vaguely sense the effects of the blood mist on people.

The Iron Blood Legion became excited and brave. Look at those Royal Guards, slaughtering everyone around Miss 'Shally' while chanting 'Blood Sacrifice to the Blood God'? What the hell, is there something wrong with me or them?!

Gruk was stunned at first, but he quickly realized that he was also a veteran of the battlefield. More importantly, he had once had the honor of following Grand Duke Magana on a campaign. The situation was just like before, with Magana fighting in front of them, and an invisible domain seemed to have formed around her.

Everyone who fought alongside the Grand Duke seemed to receive a power boost, becoming brave and fearless, with their combat strength skyrocketing.