protracted war

The battle of 2nd Division of Falcon began on the second day of the siege.

2nd Division, with a total of more than 10,000 soldiers, was divided into two parts and attacked the west and north gates of Audis. It seemed that neither Marmen nor Kenzir intended to give the Shalorians a chance to breathe.

Locke's battalion was assigned to the team at the west gate. There was no specific task, just to harass and create as much chaos as possible.

Faustian's rulers also knew that Audis, a city garrisoned by the Shalorians, had long been built into a fortress-like existence.

What they needed to do now was to make a crack in this impenetrable wall.

To put it bluntly, Locke and the troops that attacked after the third batch were just feints. 3rd Division had already sacrificed enough yesterday. They believed that the Shalorians guarding the city knew a little bit about their power and wouldn't dare to fight outside the city.

This meant that the initiative was in the hands of the Faustian army. Kenzir, who had led troops for more than five years, was obviously better at military mobilization than Felippe and their king.

Locke, who still had Glace's request in his mind, went to the battlefield of the siege of Audis.

"Oghorn, Billy! Go! Go! Go! "Locke waved his arms and shouted to his soldiers at the foot of the wall.

Their battalion had been fighting in this corner of the west gate for nearly half a day. They launched at least five charges against the Shalorians on the wall, but they were all blocked. Countless kerosene and blackwood made the besieging Faustian soldiers miserable.

The cavalry platoon was Cardoj's trump card, and of course, he wouldn't let the soldiers die here in vain. Whether it was the powerful Wyr or a relatively safe attacking position, the cavalry platoon suffered low losses in the successive siege battles.

Locke, who had already advanced to a low-rank Knecht, didn't suffer any superficial wounds. The rolling stones and blackwood that fell were slow in Locke's eyes, and he could easily dodge them. The only thing he needed to pay attention to was the arrows that filled the sky.

Although they couldn't pierce through his armour, it was enough to hurt him if they pierced his skin through the gaps in his armour.

There was no strategy to speak of in this boring siege battle. It was just a head-on confrontation. Whether it was Faustian or Shalor, they were exchanging the lives of their own soldiers for those of the other side.

Since they were no longer in the same platoon, it was difficult for him to take care of them. Hanses was still fine. He had just started cultivating Dou Qi and had already condensed a Dou Qi Seed, so he had the ability to protect himself.

Kane, on the other hand, couldn't do it. He was originally a scout, so it was extremely disadvantageous for him to face such a head-on battle. I hope they can take care of themselves. Locke sighed.

However, he didn't have to worry too much. Hanses was already a platoon jarl, and Kane was currently a squad jarl. Each of them had a group of brothers under them, and the places they attacked weren't the most intense, so the danger wasn't that high.

Audis' resistance did not come as a surprise to Faustian's higher-ups. If Audis, the capital of a kingdom, could be taken down so easily, it wouldn't be called a royal capital.

Kenzir was not in a hurry, nor was Marmen. Faustian was not in a hurry either. In the face of the Shalorians' final struggle, the Faustians were patient.

Were they really not in a hurry? According to Faustian's food report last month, the amount of winter wheat planted in winter had decreased by another 20% compared to last year due to manpower and other factors. If there was not enough imported food, a serious famine would definitely break out in Faustian during the coming spring and summer. At least one-tenth of the population would die of starvation.

However, Faustian had actually been relying mainly on imports from the southern Ligia Union for food consumption for two years in a row.

If the Ligia Union stopped importing food to Faustian one day, Faustian's higher-ups simply couldn't imagine what kind of consequences it would cause.

But even so, after Faustian's higher-ups made a decision to slowly whittle away the Shalorians' last stand, Audis, like boiling a frog in warm water.

It wasn't until the evening that Locke and 2nd Division were transferred back by Marmen. On the way back, Locke found that the soldiers of 1st Division of Falcon were ready to go and had begun to approach Shalor's gate.

1st Division was the elite of the entire Falcon corps, and it was also the soul of the corps. Compared to the other three corps, their combat power was not just a little bit different. Locke believed that the battle tonight would definitely surprise the Shalorians guarding the city.

After two days and one night of 'small fights', Marmen was finally going to use his trump card on the second night.

Locke, who had returned to the camp, bit on the wheat cake that had just been distributed and ate silently with the group of soldiers. The continuous battle for a whole day had consumed a lot of their physical strength. The warm wheat cake came just in time.

Everyone was eating very quietly. The soldiers who had just experienced a battle were not in the mood to joke around. Today's battle was not too intense for Cardoj's battalion, and it was even less thrilling for the cavalry platoon. However, everyone was relatively quiet.

The cavalry platoon led by Wyr was not without casualties today. Compared to professional infantrymen, the dismounted cavalrymen were still a little less nimble. Locke and Wyr had tried their best to reduce the casualties, but after all, it was a platoon of more than 100 people, and the two Knechts could not do everything.

Four soldiers left the battle after today. Two were hit by the black wood that fell from the top of the city and died on the spot. The other two suffered arrow wounds and kerosene burns and needed to be recuperated in the rear.

In conclusion, as platoon jarls, Wyr and Locke could still accept today's results. Compared to the other four platoons, their losses were already very few.

In addition to the First and Second Platoons led by Captain Mond and Uncle Yoshk suffered low losses, Hans and his platoon, which was mostly composed of recruits, showed their immaturity as recruits in today's first battle.

A full one-fifth of the soldiers suffered varying degrees of injuries and needed to recuperate, which stood out among the other platoons.

The 4th Platoon, which was made up of mercenaries, left a deep impression on the soldiers of Cardoj's battalion. That was because they were the first to rush up, but their losses made everyone's eyeballs drop.

The zero casualties made the soldiers of Cardoj's battalion realize the ability of this mercenary team, which had done business in the surrounding countries of Faustian.

Cardoj, who was watching the battle from the rear, had the deepest understanding of this team because he had been paying attention to the movements of the frontline from the beginning to the end.

Cardoj thought that the money was not spent in vain. In order to hire this team of nearly a hundred mercenaries, Cardoj emptied half of the cart of gold coins he seized from Farlans.

The results were gratifying. Cardoj was confident that this team of mercenaries would be able to earn enough compensation for him in the distribution of the spoils of war.

After Locke finished eating, he took the time to check on Hans and Kane.

Both of them were fine, but Hans's brother, Hank, was shot in the right arm by a stray arrow. Fortunately, the wound was not deep and he could still move normally after being bandaged.

The baron would not allow such a minor injury to be treated at the rear, but because he was Hans's brother, everyone turned a blind eye and asked the doctor to carry him away.

Hank was also quick-witted. He knew when he shouldn't and when he shouldn't. He didn't try to be brave and followed the injured soldiers to the rear.

At night, outside Audis, there were still shouts of killing. Whether it was Falcon's 1st Division or Lion's newly added division, they all gave the Shalorians a big surprise.

Miller's eyes were red as he carried logs under the western gate of Audis. Ever since he was forcibly pulled out of his house by the soldiers guarding the city last night, he had been carrying supplies for the defense of the city.

Miller had to drag it to the top of the city wall by himself. It was so huge that it would take two men to wrap their arms around it. He could not stop in the middle. He had been carrying them for a whole day and night, and he only secretly took a few bites of the potatoes he brought from home.

Fortunately, his wife was smart enough to put a piece of potato in his clothes before he was taken away.

Originally, the Shalorian guards would give them food to work on the city wall, but because the Faustian attack did not stop for a moment, the soldiers guarding the city had not had a good meal until now. Who would have the leisure to care about these coolies?

After dragging another log to the city wall, Miller bent over and carefully went down the steps. From time to time, arrows and boulders would fall, making him feel insecure on the city wall.

"Pfft!" An arrow accurately hit the eye socket of a Shalorian soldier next to Miller. The arrow entered the soldier's left eye and came out from the back of the right head, bringing with it a large amount of white and red brain matter.

Some of it even splashed on Miller's face.

He tried his best not to vomit and quickened his pace. But God would not let him get what he wanted. "You! Come here! Yes, it's you! "A person who looked like a Shalorian sergeant pointed at Miller and asked him to come over.

Miller, who was just a civilian, ran over with his waist bent. "Take this!" The sergeant stuffed a spear into Miller's hand. "Go and guard that arrow mound!"

Miller, who was just an ordinary citizen two days ago, was so frightened by this sudden encounter that he could not speak properly. "My Lord... I-I'm just carrying the supplies... "

"Cut the crap! Go! "The sergeant interrupted him and turned to run in another direction. The battle on the city wall was still very fierce, and there were battles taking place everywhere.

Miller, who was holding a spear in his hand, moved in the direction the sergeant was pointing at with trembling legs. He did not dare to sneak away, because there were many corpses of Shalorian soldiers on the surrounding walls. They were not shot by the Faustians, but executed by Lega for deserting.

Miller, who had just taken two steps, suddenly turned back.

Not far away, an archer in an arrow mound had already aimed an arrow at Miller. He had shot many deserters in the past two days.

But in the end, he did not shoot the arrow, because he saw the deserter stop.

Miller turned back and walked to the unlucky soldier who had just died. He nimbly took off the dead soldier's armour and put it on himself, ignoring the discomfort of the blood. He also took the longsword in the soldier's hand and a dozen copper coins hidden in his trouser pocket.