Chapter 8
Following the arrival of the news about the siege, the force was forced to march out immediately with elves in tow. It took them 2 days of march to reach the capital. They could have reached it sooner with the forced march, but the General refused to, stating that he refused to allow himself get ambushed on his way there. And for once, his caution had paid off.
The first monster wave already attacked the city walls even before the force had left the Silveroak Forest. There was an ambush prepared for the force, ensuring that they would be delayed for long enough until a certain sinister plan would come to fruition. And once it was done and the fact that General Blackwood's force was still a day away from the capital, the monsters retreated in satisfaction, knowing the plan went off without a hitch.
While the force did learn about the ambush via the scouts, they had no idea why until they finally reached the capital and see first-hand just what exactly had happened. As the war had been starting to displace people from their homes, several thousand refugees had made their way to the capital. Hidden among them were the rebels who eagerly conducted their plan to the shock of the arriving force.
During the night the rebels launched their assault at the southern city gate with plenty of explosives. The defenders were overrun and, while the reinforcements were eventually sent to retake it, the damage was done. The fierce wooden gate was completely blown up, making the way open to the palace to anyone willing to take on the city defenders. Even worse, the siege weapons on the wall were destroyed, making sure that no support would be given during the eventual attack.
As soon as the General had passed through the ruined gates, he was met with urgent orders. He was to take his force to safeguard that position at any cost. They were mere hours away from the massive attack and the southern gate had become a massive weak spot. General didn't hesitate at all and ordered his force to set up camp inside the city. While giving them a short break to eat and rest, he had taken up the position at the wall, allowing him to have undisturbed sight at the future battlefield. From there he was able to position his forces in the best way he could.
He created a defence line nearly half a kilometre away from the wall, giving himself some wiggle room for manoeuvres. His flanks were guarded by the young forest. Due to what some exclaimed as poor maintenance, that forest was spurred up in the last 15 years, now coming in as clutch for the city defenders. He had placed the archers right behind them and then placed his artillery near the wall on both sides of gates. For once, he could finally count on more than one bombard as the dwarven crew from the outpost had followed him, accepting Agate as their commander.
From the high ground, he could see the devastation that the rebels did. Not only were there still blood stains and the wreckage of the wall mounted weapons, but outside there were corpses of sheep and a burned out farmstead. The poor shepherd must been caught surprised during the fighting and was more than likely dead with their corpse already taken care of. As much as he wanted to cry for the civilian lives lost, there was no time for that.
Thankfully, at least some of his sadness was alleviated by the knowledge that he would receive additional support. While most elves preferred bow and dual wielding their unique curved blades, the frontline was reinforced with elven spearmen and javelin throwers. That assisted in filling up the battle line. Even more helpful, however, was the arrival of the Order of the Holy Light. With the garrison fully reinforced, they were able to relinquish some help for the southern gate. And so, the paladins re-joined with their old member, Sir Gerald, and bolstered the frontline.
Another unexpected help came in the form of the company of arcane wizards. An order of wizards under Magnus Spellbane, they served directly under King Denas' command. To see any at all at the southern gate was quite a welcome sight. And so, as the frontline consolidated under Clancy's and Gerald's command, archers and mages behind them under Alleria and the Agate's artillery at the back, the Linirean forces were prepared to take on the enemy.
At least, that was how they believed. However, the reality turned out to be quite different. As the enemy approached the southern gate, everyone on the Linirean side could see a strange black thing approaching from quite a distance away. It was quite a strange sight. That was, until the realization had finally kicked in and the horror on their faces became more visible as that black thing continued to approach.
A human child could be easily squashed by an ogre or a giant as they didn't even reach the height of monsters' knees, let alone waist area. The black mechanical juggernaut that now stood in front of the Linirean defenders could do that same thing to ogres and giants. Easily over 12 metres tall, even with ignoring its impressive horns, with its arms alone being bigger than a human, it was clear that the enemy was no longer kidding around.
As soon as it reached the theoretical range of every single ranged weapons on the battlefield, the Linirean forces opened fire. Unfortunately, it was the juggernaut that struck first. It raised its right arm, opened the hatch at the place where his hand should be and launched a rocket. A recent dwarven innovation, it initially appeared as useless of a weapon as the dwarves believed it was in its current state, as it merely spun around in the air.
Unfortunately, when it finally had straightened its path, it had found its target. The wall position where General Blackwood was observing the battle from. The officers and some of the soldiers could only watch in horror as the missile struck its mark. The officers nearly jumped from their place and ran to see the results. It was only Clancy's orders that made them stay. After ordering two soldiers to inspect General's situation, he then turned to others. "There is little we can do from here other than hold the ground and ensure he is safe, especially with that thing and its friends over there. I am taking the command!"
Alleria was the first to recover from the shock and immediately went to ensure that the skirmishers continued the fight. A right decision at a right time as the juggernaut revealed another one of its weapons. It raised its left arm, opened the hatch and launched a circular projectile that landed between the frontline and the skirmish line. However, instead of explosives, it launched a round ball from which 7 small mechanical golems hatched out.
Alleria led the way by piercing three of them with a single draw from her bow. A multishot technique was quite rare among the elves so, when her arrows pierced through 3 of those golems, it boosted up the morale of others which led to the utter destruction of the remaining ones.
Meanwhile, the juggernaut was now the sole attention of the artillery and the mages as it was being pummelled with shells, spells and even the Rain of Fire. It continued to move, however, as it fired another rocket and few more balls, causing casualties among the archers. A lucky shot from the bombard struck the rocket arm just as it was firing its third shot, damaging the hatch. Seeing how it couldn't fire any more and the golems weren't doing as much chaos as expected, it changed tactics.
The officers saw that it hunched down and checked the state of its body. After it finally got support from the rebels, Clancy realized what it might do now. "He is going to charge us! Disperse! Disperse!" While the bugler sounded the disperse call, Agate realized a terrible thing. The juggernaut's charge was targeted at Big Bonne. Seeing that, Agate ordered others to abandon the post.
"But what about you, Sir?!"
"I will repay the bastard. Now go!" While the dwarfs were forced to abandon the bombard, Agate stuffed several shells into Bonne. "Sorry, big girl, but at least I can give you a fitting send off." As the juggernaut finally started charging, he dumped a bag of gunpowder and started running. Of course, with his stature, he couldn't have gone far.
The juggernaut had passed through the battle line uninterrupted as no one wanted to be stomped by it. As it approached to the bombard, Agate turned around, took a flintlock pistol and targeted the bag. "Eat this! Bonnie's treat!" His shot made the bag explode which caused a chain reaction and triggered a much bigger explosion and sent him flying. Agate was blinded, deafened and in massive pain. He had no idea what was going on around him, let alone what he was doing. But he was sure of one thing. Agate was laughing maniacally.
The juggernaut tried to smash the bombard with its feet and, just as it raised its leg, the explosion went off. It was so powerful, it had actually managed to be launched in the air by several meters, enough to crash into the wall rampart and fell down. The projectiles tore apart its leg and its torso armour fell apart across the area. Bonnie herself was destroyed, the barrel too warped to ever be used on battlefield again.
The sudden death of the juggernaut caused a morale boost for the defenders and a shock for the attackers. A mixed force of monsters and humans clearly didn't expect this development. Regardless, they tried to push on. The rebel forces had knights and archers to try and harass the frontline while gargoyles, flying monsters, swooped in from the sky, trying to disrupt the skirmishers. Sadly for them, they became prime targets for the elven archery, as the elves competed to see who would shoot down the most.
The rebels fared no better. Thanks to the presence of the Arcane Wizards, the Rain of Fire spell was recharged much faster than Southport mages were able to do so earlier. That was something the knights learned the hard way. The sunlight of the late afternoon sun picked up their black armour from a distance, making them a prime target. By the time the clouds hid the sun from the sky, no knights were left standing.
As the fighting became intense, there was one unexpected sight. General Blackwood, wounded and bleeding, was spotted by the officers while Agate was being dragged away. Before they could reach him, they spotted what he was about to do. As he raised his sword, trembling in his arm, he yelled out: "CHAAAAARGE!" It seemed as if for a brief moment all defenders managed to hear his order among the chaotic battlefield. Any doubts of it being a mere illusion was removed as the bugler sounded the order the charge.
The furious charge swept away the rebels regardless of their race and size. After it, there was not a single enemy present between the capital and the river. Everyone was dead, wounded, captured or giving their all-time best at running to the forest of Hushwood. The battle in the southern section of the city was over.
Of course, they weren't the only ones fighting that day, so once the charge was over, the knights and the wizards were immediately reorganized and went to support other units, leaving the rest to handle the dead, the wounded and the prisoners. After insuring the orders were given out, Clancy returned to check the General at the city gate, who was now properly bandaged up. "That was reckless of you."
General shook his head. "Maybe, but that was the best way to repay him for saving me." He said so while looking at the nearby cart that held a corpse that was covered up by cloth. Clancy realized about who he was talking about. "Damn it!"
"Yeah. He really wanted to be remembered by his heroics. How sad that will only happen now that he is dead."
"Then I might as well start that." He made his way to the middle of the street and on top of his lung shouted: "ATTTTEEENTION!" The troops stood in attention as they wanted to see why did Captain ordered that. Clancy approached the cart, then placed his hand on the cart itself and then turned around to everyone. "To the first of many that sacrificed their life today to bring us the victory. For Captain Richard Hawes, SALUTE!"
Everyone raised their hands in salute instinctually. It took them a moment or so before they realized just who it was. Indeed, the captain of the 6th Battalion lost his life protecting the General when that rocket struck, killing him instantly. Realizing the implications, the militia bannerman came to stand near the cart and lowered the banner to make it appear as if it were at half mast. Meanwhile, several footmen and militiamen took the cart and led it away to the nearby church in silence with the bannerman in tow.
And so, the force honoured the dead captain as he was taken away. Captain Richard might not have been the most known or well respected among the troops, but no one deserved to have their sacrifice be forgotten. More would follow in his footsteps as the fighting in other wall sections continued until the night, the day's light being replaced by the night filled with rain as it showered those that have fallen on the battlefield, both allies and enemies.