Holding Fast

Above Morland Castle, the conscripted serfs on the ladders were almost at the top of the wall.

One conscripted serf poked his head over. Just as he was about to quickly step onto the wall, a longsword instantly severed his neck. His head flew up, then hit the ground and rolled several times.

Blood immediately spouted from his headless neck. Although his head was gone, his heart was still vigorously beating, and propelled by his heart, blood shot three to four meters high through his arteries.

As it fell, it scattered into individual drops, like rain, but a horrifying rain of blood.

After Logan chopped off his head, he brandished the longsword in his hand and shouted, "Look, soldiers! They are so weak! Use your swords! Use your spears! Kill them!"

"It's so simple! The enemy will stick their heads out from the ladders one by one, and all you have to do is chop them off with the swords in your hands, and pierce them with the spears in your hands! It's as easy as eating and drinking, or sleeping with your women! Don't be afraid! Baron Lobean will be back soon! And then these damned invaders will be like sheep, ready for you to slaughter!"

His words boosted the guards' morale. After actually seeing an enemy die, they felt much less afraid.

A dozen guards surrounded the area where the enemy's ladders were. Whenever an enemy poked their head out from a ladder, several spears and longswords would immediately stab and hack at them.

The battle lasted about five minutes, and over a dozen people had already died at the base of the city wall, under the guards' weapons.

Over a dozen corpses lay in the snow below the city wall, and the snow was stained red with blood, as if a red carpet had been laid out.

The bodies quickly froze in the icy weather, and the spilled blood and snow froze together, forming objects resembling ice sculptures, possessing a strange artistic sense.

The remaining conscripted serfs, seeing the death of their comrades ahead, felt a deep fear. Although their morale had been high before, it was ultimately just due to the allure of profit.

In the end, they were just a group of serfs who had just put down their hoes. They were cowardly and powerless, and after suffering a blow, they quickly scattered.

Now they just wanted to leave that place where many had died as quickly as possible. They wanted to survive and return home.

Suddenly, no one was left on the ladders; they had all fled. However, Baron Lobean was very clever. The height of the ladders was just enough for soldiers to climb onto the city wall, while still being out of reach for the guards on the wall.

Clearly, he had put a lot of effort into this. He knew the height of Morland Castle's walls very well. Although it was unknown where he got his information, it showed that his decision to attack Morland Castle was by no means a spur-of-the-moment one.

Baron Lobean, riding on his horse, watched the fleeing conscripted serfs ahead and calmly said to the knights beside him, "It seems we must give these commoners some motivation to attack!"

The knights beside him looked at him with a smile and said, "Yes, Baron Lobean, we will give them some motivation!"

Several knights revealed subtle smiles, apparently understanding Baron Lobean's meaning. They put on their helmets, mounted their charging horses, called for their squires, and with a flick of their horses' hooves, stirred up a cloud of snow. Over twenty people charged forward.

They were full of momentum, their horses' tails fluttering up and down with the snow, looking very agile. A knight swept past a conscripted serf, and with a movement of his longsword, a round head flew into the air.

"Back to your positions! Attack the city wall! Otherwise, you will lose your chance to go home forever!" The knight pointed his blood-stained longsword at the two hundred-plus fleeing soldiers and said in a booming voice.

The knights and squires beside him also drew their longswords and pointed them at the serfs. Facing these knights and squires on tall warhorses, the conscripted serfs felt a natural dread.

They shivered in the cold wind. As the knights slowly approached, they turned their bodies and, with tears, continued to trudge towards the city wall. The knights supervised them from behind, and if anyone hesitated or deserted, the knights would show no mercy.

The knights in front were supervising the battle, but Baron Lobean was in a very bad mood. He didn't understand why the city gate had not yet opened, even though he had arranged for a spy.

"Could it be that he was discovered?" Baron Lobean frowned, stroking the hilt of the longsword at his waist, lost in thought. But whether the gate was open or not no longer mattered, because the attack on the city wall had already begun.

He had arranged for the spy to open the gate merely to minimize losses. Now that the attack had started, whether the spy opened the gate was irrelevant.

"Do you see, soldiers! The enemy is retreating! They are afraid! That's right! They are afraid of us! Because we will chop off their heads, we will flatten their heads! Look, how much they resemble sheep afraid of slaughter! Maggots in dog feces are braver than them! We will be victorious!"

Logan brazenly used crude language on the city wall to encourage the soldiers.

"Yes, sir, they're afraid we'll smash their heads in!"

"I've never seen such cowardly soldiers!"

The soldiers also chimed in, mocking the enemy. Amidst such laughter, they finally cast aside their fear, realizing that this was indeed not so difficult.

"Stay alert, lads! They're coming again!"

The conscripted serfs under Baron Lobean, intimidated by the knights, once again ascended the ladders. They came from the fiefs of various knights and from Baron Lobean's own territory. Morland Castle might become the final resting place for many of them.

The brutal battle began anew. Wars between minor nobles like this were usually not very intense, and siege warfare was rare for them.

Even twenty years ago, before The Empire was unified, battles between minor nobles were mostly arranged duels followed by a decisive battle. Sieges typically lasted for half a year or more.

The reasons were a lack of siege equipment and generally equal strength between the two sides. A battle like Baron Lobean's attack on Morland Castle had not been seen in the Northern Territory for a long time.

"Phew! I'm a bit tired!"

"Don't say that, we have to hold on!"

The battle had been going on for half an hour. Baron Lobean's conscripted serfs had retreated three times, leaving forty to fifty bodies at the base of the wall, and the guards on the wall were also feeling very weary.

When the enemy retreated again, the soldiers on the wall gasped for breath, leaning against the battlements to relieve their fatigue.

Logan was also a bit out of breath at this point; after all, he wasn't a knight who actually fought on the battlefield.

"We will hold it! Baron has taken my letter to Lord Nanji! I swear, Baron Lobean will be back within five hours, believe me, soldiers!"

Logan said firmly. He had to maintain the soldiers' morale at this moment, otherwise, the castle would definitely not hold.

"Quick, stand up, soldiers! Brace yourselves! The enemy is coming!" Logan immediately shouted, looking at the enemy below the city wall.

The soldiers quickly stood up from the city wall. To survive, they had to persevere. Even the injured soldiers gripped their weapons, ready for battle.