Chapter 639: Chapter 639: Siege Begins
Lux Year 415, January 2nd.
After celebrating the beginning of the New Year and having a period of rest, the Wansheng Country Recovery Army resumed its recovery plan.
The West Fifth Army also set out to reclaim East View City.
This morning, the Lu Hua Army gathered all its troops, attempting to launch the first attack while the dark clouds still lingered overhead.
Having been promoted to acting General, Yang Yu had his own place in the previous meeting, where he could express his opinions and suggestions and was informed in advance of the strategic arrangements for this siege.
Overall, the siege strategy was similar to previous ones, only refined for the massive East View City.
The pitch-black walls of East View City were like cliffs, daunting to behold, with black cannons mounted on them, blending into the walls as if they were one entity. Anyone daring to harbor ill intentions towards the city would be shattered by these cannons.
These cannons were not built by beastmen but by the human troops that occupied East View City.
To keep the Beastmen completely out, these cannons employed the cutting-edge technology of the Luoze Empire, with long range, strong firepower, and wide coverage. Apart from being cumbersome, they had almost no other significant drawbacks.
Even if they managed to successfully scale the walls, the Beastman Army would have difficulty destroying these cannons in a short time.
This meant that the West Fifth Army had to advance under intense cannon fire to proceed with the recapture.
To minimize losses, the West Fifth Army decided to first send out various small agile Beast Sub-race units as the vanguard, to identify blind spots in the cannon fire coverage.
Then, they would dispatch an elite siege squad to climb the walls and create disturbances, striving to create more blind zones, allowing more troops to ascend the walls.
This important task fell to none other than Yang Yu.
Considering this, the Lu Hua Army did not disband Yang Yu’s troop arrangement after his return but reinforced it on its original basis.
After careful consideration, the Lu Hua Army also allocated one hundred Stripe Guardian Sub-humans to Yang Yu.
The remaining two hundred plus troops would be led by him personally to carry out the siege.
Facing unfamiliar and special soldiers, Yang Yu naturally was extremely vigilant, first taking them out to fight… to spar and harvest Experience, then meticulously researching their abilities to formulate battle strategy plans.
Once the battle commenced, Yang Yu’s elite siege team would blend in with all the other siege troops to move together.
When they got close enough to the walls, they would act independently to prevent the East View City garrison from reacting in time and obstructing their ascent.
As time passed, the gloomy clouds pressed lower.
A middle-aged general clad in heavy armor had just admonished his subordinates. He faced the vast plain, gazing at the gathering Beastman Army in the distance, lightly stroking his thick, uplifted mustache,
“This year is about to kick off as well. These Beastmen really are troublesome. How many of them need to die before they learn not to kick against the pricks?”
A Messenger Soldier hurriedly ran up to the middle-aged general via the stairs, delivering a message from another general:
“General Pirov, General Kahel has requested that you check the cannons again before the beastmen launch a real attack, in case a ‘traitor’ has tampered with them.”
“I understand. Tell that old man not to screw up himself. When it’s time to fight outside the city, he can leave it to the young ones; at his age, he shouldn’t overexert himself. He should be careful not to fall apart—just stick to commanding.”
“I will relay the message, General. Please be careful yourself.”
After speaking, the Messenger Soldier hurriedly left the city wall and returned to the inside of the city gate.
There, a lean, white-haired old general was assembling troops, ready to lead the city’s defenders out in case of an emergency to alleviate the pressure on the city walls.
Pirov’s dark face showed no emotion, but he snorted coldly to himself.
Gazing at the cannons lined up methodically, General Piluf was brimming with confidence.
At the end of the year, they had inspected the cannons repeatedly and had thoroughly vetted any potential traitors, not allowing anyone suspicious near the cannons, and now the moment to prove their efforts had come.
Suddenly, a thunderous drum sound shattered the calm of the snowy plains, as the Wansheng Country Army officially launched their attack.
Even if there really was time for an inspection, it seemed there was no time left, but no matter, Piluf raised his hand high, flicking his index finger towards the rushing West Fifth Army and shouted loudly:
“All troops! Prepare for battle!
Show these inferior barbarian races how great we humans are!
I want you to use the cannons to blast all the beastmen that dare approach the walls into pieces,
just like the years before!”
Hearing General Piluf’s voice, all Luoze soldiers were invigorated and returned to their posts, loading and firing the cannons.
Accompanied by a resounding “boom,” countless shells flew out from the black muzzles and landed among the West Fifth Army within range of the cannons.
Instantly, dust flew, and the rumble was relentless.
The probing troops of the West Fifth Army estimated the trajectory of the shells and dodged to avoid being exploded nearby the cannons.
But as they drew closer to the walls, they entered a zone of intense fire.
Even with their agile bodies, casualties were inevitable.
Before stepping into battle, every member of the probing troops knew this.
Most of them had already resigned themselves to death, continuing to brave the fierce cannon fire to test with their bodies.
Only so could someone in the army calculate the coverage area of each cannon and the time needed for the Luoze Empire to load and adjust the cannons.
Beside the Lu Hua Army, a small fox monkey beastman actuary, gritting his teeth, watched the battle, wincing every time a cannonball exploded among the crowd, concerned for the safety of the beastmen.
To not let their sacrifice be in vain, this actuary also oversaw the entire situation, his hand scribbling calculations in a book, confirming what changes and adjustments each cannon had undergone compared to the previous year…
Finally…
“General, I’ve roughly identified the blind spots in their artillery coverage.”
The fox monkey beastman marked two routes that could avoid the firepower on the map.
“Good work.”
The Lu Hua Army quickly memorized one of the routes and had Yang Yu memorize the other, then commanded the siege troops following the probing troops and launched a charge.
In a flash, the grand siege troops, carrying ladder after ladder and braving the fierce cannon fire, single-mindedly rushed towards the walls.
“The real troops have arrived! Increase the firepower!”
General Piluf ordered, but at that moment, something unexpected happened.
When a squad of soldiers, following routine operations, loaded the ammo into a cannon, they could no longer fire it as before.
“Report, incoming cannon 015, for unknown reasons, is temporarily unable to attack; currently, troubleshooting.”