When the Saintess Arrives, No King Exist-Chapter 835 - 786: Haji Castle Siege and Defense

Hotam County, Lvwa Village.

On the riverside highlands, the fog formed an ash-gray mantle swaying in the air.

The surging river water stirred the mist.

In the fog, a star-shaped fortress appeared, like a giant beast baring its fierce tusks.

Located on a crucial tributary of the Nao'an River, Haji Castle is a bridgehead, watching over and assisting Adan Castle upstream.

Although this is not as important a fortress as Xia Lvcheng, it is a vital link in protecting Nao'an River transport.

The commander of this rampart, with a total of four hundred soldiers, is Bether.

Standing behind the parapet, he wiped the dew off his breastplate with leather gloves, watching the massive blades of the winding machine being driven by the rapid water flow.

Earlier in the attack, a dozen Red Knights dove in, attempting to sabotage the winding machine.

But the Thousand River Valley People, having suffered previously, would not fall for it again.

These Red Knights, with seemingly low intelligence, initially got lost in the complicated underground passages.

Later, they were shot at with spring guns and shrapnel, causing their limbs to shatter, and they finally retreated.

With both hands on the parapet, Bether couldn't help but caress it.

Earlier, he wasn't too trusting of these short walls that only reached the neck.

But after the rampart sieges in the Shattered Stone Plain War, he had come to love these ramparts deeply.

The construction was swift, troop movements were flexible, and placing two spring cannons at each corner ensured no blind spots.

Especially in the recessed protrusions of the angled corners, once the enemy troops entered, they would be attacked from all sides.

A good fortress, truly a good fortress.

The Haji Castle on the riverside highlands was transformed from an old Knight Castle, only adding three layers of parapets and cannons, and its defenses skyrocketed.

Bether's 400 men were besieged by 5,000 for a month, yet sustained little damage.

They even drove the Leia officer commanding the siege to despair, who yesterday came to the rampart, demanding a one-on-one duel with Bether to settle the score.

"How ridiculous, do they still think it's the old days?" Bether wanted to laugh.

"Their shield carts are moving!" the sentry in the watchtower suddenly shouted.

Bether rushed to the direction indicated by the sentry, pressing his eyes to the sightglass, and gazed at the black dots emerging amid the tree line on the opposite bank.

As the fog gradually dissipated, the black dots became clearer.

Twenty shield carts covered in oak appeared in the fog, each pushed by six heavily armored soldiers, the wet cowhide on top gleaming with ominous oil slick.

"Load it!" He snarled while ringing the copper bell next to the cannon position, and the iron cannon latch opened with the sound of gears turning, "Let the Leia brats witness the power of the spring cannon!"

These Leia Soldiers thought they were clever enough to use shield carts to block the three-pound falcon cannons.

But they hadn't considered that with the current high water levels of the Nao'an River, and the rapid current, a new batch of six-pound cannons had arrived from the spring warehouse.

Since mastering the technique of skip fire, the artillerymen suddenly realized they could now use much more powerful spring warehouse cannons.

After all, the spring cannon had no airtight issues; using a six-pound spring warehouse on a three-pound cannon was no problem at all.

With the sound of gears clattering coming from within the stone wall, the bronze springs of six three-pound cannons simultaneously tightened.

The gunners inserted chain-wrapped cannonballs into the barrel and began to pray.

"Holy Spirit running through the cannon, we praise you..."

As the first shield cart entered the three-hundred-yard firing range, Bether's scimitar sliced through the damp air: "Fire!"

The deafening cannon shot tore through the rolling fog, with cast iron shells spinning in the air to perform a deadly dance.

Six cannonballs splashed dozens to hundreds of sprays and water columns on the riverbank and puddle, and stones flew wildly.

Unfortunately, the first shots didn't hit, but instead spurred the shield carts to speed up.

"Don't rush." Bether shouted, "They're still far away, reload and fire again when they pass the marker."

A minute later, as the gunners called out to the Holy Thunder, six cannonballs flew out again.

Having set markers, this time three of the six shots were on target.

The iron spheres swept across the top of the shield cart, their doubled-powered force slicing through the oiled cowhide along with the arms beneath.

"Beautiful!"

As the gunners started to cheer, Bether felt the hairs on the back of his neck standing.

"Watch out!" Deputy Edwin pulled Bether's collar and rolled off the parapet as a one-meter-two-long steel crossbow arrow pierced through the stone wall with terrifying force.

Stone fragments rained down on Bether's breastplate, and he listened to the teeth-clenching sound of tearing coming from overhead.

Just as Bether looked up, an arrow as thick as a quail egg scraped past his helmet.

When the steel arrowhead drilled into the stone wall, it kicked up dust and sand that showered Bether's head.

"It's a ballista!" Deputy Edwin shouted with a hint of bloodlust, "They're using the shield carts as bait!"

More crossbow arrows emerged from behind the shield carts.

Bether crouched behind the parapet, listening to the muffled thuds of those meter-long weapons drilling into the stone wall.

When a scream suddenly exploded at the right cannon position, he saw the young gunner Roy being pierced through the chest by a crossbow, pinned to the wall like a rag doll.

"Medic!"

As Bether was about to stand, Edwin grabbed his sash and pulled him back: "Do you want the Holy Father to collect another lost soul?"

The river tirelessly powered the spring device, but among the eight cannons, three were in dead silence.

It's not that people were dead; they were all trembling under the embrasures.

Bether counted the heartbeats waiting for a break in the arrow barrage, then suddenly leaped up and seized the sightglass.

In the lens, hundreds of soldiers clustered around ladders, advancing toward the moat under ballista cover.

"Switch to shrapnel!" He tore open his stone-cut garment collar and shouted, "Blast those ladders to bits!"

The surviving gunners trembled as they loaded iron cans into the cannon barrels. When the hammer smashed into the lever, nearly a thousand lead balls turned into a metallic downpour, drenching the moat bank.

The Leia Soldiers setting up ladders immediately fell like cut wheat stalks, with blood dyeing the river water into a bizarre pink.

"Die, Leia bastards!" Bether personally operated the spring cannon's screw, "Load chain shots, aim for those ballistas; they move slowly!"

......

When the sun set in the west, the Leia finally withdrew their blood-stained battle flag.

Bether collapsed on the spring warehouse, watching the medics use saws to handle Roy's body.

The crossbow went in too deep, they had to saw down both the man and the arrow altogether.

"Casualties?"

"Two killed, five severely injured." Edwin's quill ticked through the roster, "Three-pound cannons lightly damaged, a crack appeared on the western parapet."

Bether gulped down sour beer, suddenly squinting at the opposite bank.

In the twilight, the Leia camp was filled with unusually dense torches, faintly visible figures bustling in the light.

"They're digging." Old gunner Walker came over, his pit-marked nose twitching, "Judging by the noise, at least ten trench teams are working simultaneously."

When the new moon rose to the tip of the rampart, soldiers sent out for reconnaissance confirmed Walker's judgment.

Three trenches snaked toward the moat like serpents, as if weaving a spider web.

The Leia helmets glowed ominously in the moonlight, and the creaking sound of soil baskets faintly drowned out the clamor of the river.

"If only we had a twelve-pound cannon, with a double spring to shoot into their uniformly aligned trenches." Confirming the news, Walker clucked, "That would be pretty grim."

"The six-pound cannon can be used." Bether handed a piece of soaked bread to Walker, "Let them dig tomorrow. When they get close, show them what you've got."

"Heh, just watch."

"Get the boys to take shifts resting." By the fire, Bether polished his scimitar, "Send a carrier pigeon to Xia Lvcheng."

Bether was quite confident in front of his subordinates.

But honestly, he wasn't that confident.

Previously in Horn's artillery tactics class, it was mentioned that zigzag trenches could effectively reduce artillery damage.

Now, the Leia had grasped the straight-line trench but didn't know when they would discover the secret of zigzag trenches?

"His Majesty Saint Sun, we still believe in you, please don't abandon us..." Mumbling to himself, Bether took another swig of wine.