Starting the siege(2)

A few hours had passed since the besieging army arrived, and the defenders of Confluendi—numbering only 400—watched anxiously from the city's battered walls. Out on the horizon, 700 soldiers toiled in disciplined silence, erecting an orderly camp as though they had all the time in the world. Even from their distant vantage point, the garrison could see that at least half of the enemy forces were not part of the labor, standing guard instead, ready to thwart any attempt at a sortie. 

 The garrison's own armaments were a sorry comparison—ill-maintained and rusted.As they had to scrap the barrel as the store-house was completely empty. 

Many of the defenders bore nothing but a simple sword or a crude lance, and fewer still had shields.