novelraw Chapter 186 : The Vanquished
Chapter 186 : The Vanquished
Chapter 186: The Vanquished
"Sein! The eastern line is in danger!"
A shouted alarm rang out. A bloodline knight, covered in blood, was shouting up from the base of the wall beside the rampart: "A third-tier bloodline user has appeared on the battlefield — suspected to be the lord of the Eastern Mountain Territory!"
"Damn it!" Sein cursed from atop the wall.
There was a small dent on his helmet — a mark left just now while dealing with the enemy’s scaling assault.
Fresh blood ran down from that dent, slid over his cheek, and gathered at his chin, dripping one drop at a time like stalactite water.
As commander of Westerburg, Sein's power was only second-tier, and the two bloodline knights under his command were merely first-tier. So, foreseeing a high probability that a second defensive battle for the White Mountain Territory would erupt, Yam naturally could not allow White Mountain’s defenses to be left undermanned. He had therefore already, while using the transport channels, seconded several bloodline knights registered in Gem Territory to Westerburg.
Among them were Hachi and Ryan,
two of the thirteen veteran survivors from the first White Mountain defense. Those two together with Sein were the commanders of the thirteen veterans and formed the "triumvirate" of the Soderbell family’s bloodline knights. However, as Yorles — who managed the intelligence system — had been increasingly promoted, people now spoke of a "quadruple leadership" inside the Soderbell family.
Westerburg had been divided into three fronts according to the battle lines: east, west, and north, corresponding respectively to the Western Wind Territory, Spring Breeze Territory, and Eastern Mountain Territory.
Since the sudden night raid two days earlier, Westerburg had been fighting for three full days and two nights, with less than ten hours of rest in total. The intensity of the war was therefore extremely high. Especially for the recruits who had joined real combat for the first time, the intensity had caused nearly a quarter of them to break down. What truly surprised Sein, Hachi, and Ryan was that those gang members tricked into coming to Westerburg by Aches had adapted extremely quickly.
That group had nearly become the main fighting force of Westerburg.
At that moment, the assembled soldiers in all of Westerburg numbered well over two thousand: two second-tier bloodline users, six first-tier bloodline users, and if the forced conscription orders were factored in — rounding up residents and caravan guards to man the walls — total manpower could even exceed four thousand.
But they could not demand too much in terms of actual combat quality.
So, in theory, holding Westerburg should not have been a problem.
In fact, apart from the heavy early losses caused by the initial night raid that triggered some chaos and the outbreak of war, once Sein and the others had quickly stabilized the defensive lines according to their prepared plans, the enemy could not break in at all. Even the initial advantages the attackers had seized were swiftly lost, and they had been driven out of Westerburg before dawn.
That advantage lasted until yesterday.
The enemy had finally completed assembling their siege engines. Once those engines were formally brought onto the battlefield, Westerburg’s defensive edge evaporated.
After all, Westerburg was not a war fortress.
As a fortress for wartime, Westerburg still contained residential and commercial areas, so many designs could not be fully optimized for warfare. When millstone-sized stones were thrown into the fortress, panic inevitably swept through Westerburg; it even sparked an internal "bloody dispute" that forced Sein to order the elimination of some caravans.
After that, the situation rapidly deteriorated.
Battles that previously required scaling the wall to reach close quarters could now be fought by charging directly through the breached wall ruins — drastically reducing the attackers’ difficulty. Especially given that the attackers had two third-tier bloodline users leading them, the scales of war had begun to tip the moment the wall was smashed.
Westerburg remained able to hold only because, at present, the breached sections were limited to two portions on the eastern side.
Because Spring Breeze Territory had not found enemy traces, Sein had left only a small squad to observe there and sent most of the fortress soldiers to the eastern line under Hachi and Ryan’s command. He himself stayed with five hundred men on the western line to fight the siege troops coming from the Western Wind Territory.
Sein could not fathom how the enemy had transported the siege engines.
One had to know that siege engines — especially trebuchets — even with a fifteen-man team of skilled craftsmen assembling them, not counting material procurement, would need five to ten days to be completed. If sourcing materials on site, the construction time could extend to twenty to thirty days. If they had pre-prepared components and transported them to the battlefield for assembly, it could indeed be finished within two days.
But that raised another question: how had they transported such large parts?
Since Westerburg had been completed, the Hundred Mountain Territory's patrol layout had expanded considerably. If the Eastern Mountain Territory wanted to transport such large materials, it would have been impossible to avoid the patrol routes Sein had arranged.
No matter how they had managed it, the fact remained: Westerburg had fallen into a perilous situation.
Especially now that the enemy’s third-tier bloodline user had formally entered the battlefield, Sein had to consider whether to continue defending or to gather his soldiers and attempt a breakout toward White Mountain City — the enemy had at least three trebuchets, according to military reports, and those reports had to be taken back to Baishan City!
"How are Hachi and Ryan?"
"Hachi was gravely wounded. Bofis and Aroma are dead." The bloodline knight below answered quickly. "Ryan drove off that third-tier bloodline user with his men, but the enemy only had depleted strength and was not injured. Ryan said the enemy would very likely launch another assault this afternoon or tonight, and the forces on the eastern line were already pressing forward — the pressure is enormous!"
Hachi’s bloodline was a first-tier "Swiftwind Falcon." He excelled at blocking the enemy’s ranged attacks, so his combat effectiveness faltered in close hand-to-hand fighting — Yam had wanted to find a second-tier bloodline elixir for Hachi,
but Hachi was already not young; he was nearly forty. Even if they had found the elixir, he most likely would not have lived long thereafter, so he had refused.
Bofis and Aroma, also survivors among the original thirteen veterans, were both first-tier bloodline users. They had survived the first White Mountain defense but had fallen in this second defense.
"Commander, you should go to the eastern line and take a look. The enemy there has just pulled back; they certainly will not organize a strong attack for now," Bom said in a low voice.
Carlisle nodded in support at his side.
Sein did not waste words. He glanced at the enemy from the Western Wind Territory, slowly retreating beyond their attack range, then quickly left the wall and hurried to the eastern line.
"Sir, an urgent dispatch from the Eastern Mountain allied forces."
A middle-aged man reached out, opened the letter, and scanned it quickly.
No particular emotion showed on his face.
Soon he finished reading the dispatch and casually tossed it into the brazier nearby.
"What did the dispatch say?" a bloodline knight asked as he stepped forward.
"The Eastern Mountain forces have breached the wall over there, and they have made an initial entry. They confirmed there were no third-tier bloodline users in the fortress, so they asked us to take men and secretly circle east to join with them, and under cover of tonight's darkness strike in together and annihilate them here." The middle-aged man said in a low voice. "I didn’t participate in the war against White Mountain ten years ago, but the returning veterans told me it was a complete slaughter that time."
"White Mountain’s development speed is a little frightening—"
"Heh." The middle-aged man neither agreed nor denied. "They sapped so much blood from our Fertile Territory; how could they not grow quickly?—"
This time, however, they could force White Mountain to disgorge everything they had invested over the past ten years in one go. If they moved quickly, perhaps they could also force Gem Territory to also vomit up what it had swallowed."
With the tacit consent of the three lords of the Fertile Plains, large quantities of resources had been smuggled into White Mountain, then through Gem Territory's channels swiftly to Red River Territory for various trades. Of course, the three lords also profited: smugglers could not run one-way trips — on return they would carry resources from Red Eagle Territory back to the Fertile Plains.
Given the current shortage of bloodline resources in Fertile Territory relative to Red Eagle Territory, one successful smuggling run could cover two to three failed attempts. For risk-taking smugglers, death was less frightening than losing money; without huge incentives, none would take such risks.
So the ones profiting were not only White Mountain and Gem Territory.
Among the three lords of the Fertile Plains, the Eastern Mountain lord profited the most — they were the poorest and thus the most willing to take risks. Even so, the Western Wind and Spring Breeze lords were biding their time, waiting for the right chance to strike into White Mountain and reclaim the wealth previously devoured by White Mountain. If possible, they also intended to seize Gem Territory’s holdings.
These families were not lacking in patience; they were even glad to see White Mountain continue to grow because the longer time passed, the more wealth White Mountain and Gem Territory would accumulate. When they attacked later, the gains would be greater. Especially since White Mountain and Gem Territory did not possess many third-tier bloodline users, they only needed to swiftly take the opponent’s castle before the Kasein family could react.
As they had expected, that opportunity soon arrived.
Marquis Visen’s funeral.
The lord of White Mountain, the lord of Gem Territory, and Soderbell family’s two third-tier bloodline users all went to Red River Territory to attend the funeral.
This was the perfect moment they had waited for!
"The Kasein family killed my sister; I could do nothing to them." The middle-aged man looked coldly toward the wall. "But I can at least exact some interest from White Mountain and the Soderbell family." Prepare — seal off the south, and once we breach the fortress tonight and they press in we'll immediately attack and raise the blood banners."
The bloodline knight's pupils contracted; surprise showed clearly on his face.
But he nodded quickly anyway. "Yes!"
"Urgent report—!"
Yet before the bloodline knight left, a long-drawn shout sounded.
A messenger galloped into the camp and charged wildly; several dodging recruits were knocked down in the path, but the rider did not stop and continued to surge forward until he reached the main tent, where he quickly dismounted.
"Lord Agut, urgent report!" the messenger shouted. "About two kilometers west of our camp, enemy forces bearing the Kasein family banner have appeared! Judging by the emblem, it should be Kasein’s Karlen Hod. Enemy numbers are about two to three hundred."
"Urgent report!"
Another messenger came charging in.
"Lord Agut! About three kilometers south of the camp, enemy forces bearing the Kasein family banner have appeared! It should be Kasein’s Dali Stone knight. Their numbers are around one to two hundred!"
"Urgent report—!"
"Spring Breeze Territory’s army attacking White Mountain City has been counterattacked by White Mountain’s garrison. The Wolf Soldier units and Knight Adema are completely out of contact. Enemy banners of the Kasein family and the Bole family have appeared. The commander is suspected to be Bole family’s Knight Commander Ion Soderbell, with Kasein family’s Foss among them. Enemy strength exceeds two thousand! Spring Breeze Territory requests reinforcements!"
"This is impossible!"
Agut Karco’s face showed indescribable shock. "We didn't receive any prior message—"
"Young Master Agut!" A desperate shout rang out. Agut looked at the blood-covered bloodline knight before him, who had lost an arm; his eyes instantly welled with tears. "Uncle Arskin! You—"
"Lord Russell ordered your immediate retreat!" Arskin cut in before Agut could finish. "This is a trap! Tyrot Kasein led a thousand warriors from the Eaglehead Mountains into White Mountain and completely severed the border between White Mountain and Eastern Mountain. Lord Russell is now pinned down by Dean Seia. We must withdraw immediately. If we delay, none of us will escape!"
"How could Kasein family forces be here?"
"Monica!" Arskin said with bitter grief, "That madwoman used the news of Visen Kasein’s funeral to set a trap and attempt to wipe us out. Eastern Mountain and Spring Breeze are lost. Lord Russell ordered an immediate retreat! Moreover—"
"Moreover what?"
"The conscription order for full mobilization of the southern region has already been signed! If we cannot save the army, there will be serious consequences!"
This second joint invasion by the three Fertile Plains lords aimed at White Mountain had targeted the weak defenses, and they dispatched a large army — not the small-scale skirmish of the last time. If their entire force were to be buried here,
then responding to the conscription later would be devastating. After this war, their lands might need decades to recover to their present prosperity.
Agut seethed in anger. "Monica — that woman! She would even use her grandfather’s funeral to scheme!"
"Retreat! Full withdrawal — immediately!"