When the Saintess Arrives, No King Exist-Chapter 871 - 822: Battle of Marenpo (Part 3)

The second day at Malenpo camp.

The sky was just turning light. The bodies left from yesterday's battle lay strewn across the muddy ground, with blood already frozen into black and red ice crystals.

Count Dretta stood on a high ground, his gaze indifferent as it swept across the frontline.

The knight commanders beside him whispered among themselves, discussing today's offensive.

"They're still holding the third line of defense." Baron Marchelov unfolded the map, pointing lightly at the third line of defense, "Those Imperial Knights have finally agreed to move out."

Dretta nodded slightly. Though there was no hurry, it couldn't be that there was no urgency at all.

Otherwise, King Jiji might turn into King Haste and put pressure on Dretta.

It was those Imperial Knights who were quite proud and previously unwilling to participate in such "dirty" siege warfare.

Letting them shoot some arrows was already the best they could do.

Unfortunately, those Red Knights belonged to Raffel's troops, indifferent to orders, and Dretta couldn't command them.

Fortunately, Dretta had brought out the royal command sent by King Jiji saying "Advance Imperial Knights by 500 meters," which finally made those high-handed Imperial Knights willing to dismount for foot battle.

As for the Red Knights, they were still unable to be directed.

"Today's goal, eliminate their fortifications and capture the third line of defense," Dretta said calmly.

At a command, the Leia Army began to move.

......

Just as the day before, large groups of Leia soldiers charged.

Sergeants bearing battle axes advanced under the cover of arrows, with Foot Knights holding tower shields for protection.

Unlike the previous day, this time the attacking forces included a large number of Imperial Knights.

In close combat, they encountered the skilled and heavily armed Imperial Knights.

It wasn't until they faced these Imperial Knights that the new recruits understood what kind of monsters the Saint's Grandson had once opposed.

These foot knight Imperial Knights, clad in heavy armor, could effortlessly wield a long halberd in one hand and a knight's sword in the other, easily slicing through plank armor.

Only by surrounding them with Black Crown veteran spear cultivators or getting close with Holy Gun Cultivators could they be taken down.

But even after being taken down, they weren't finished; they had to lift the skirt armor or faceplate and thrust a short sword in to be sure.

Thanks to the breathing technique, the Imperial Knights had a high ability to fight while injured.

Many of them were Nine-Section Breathing Technique knights, making it hard for even severe injuries to decrease their combat ability unless their throats were cut or lungs failed.

With the entry of the foot battle Imperial Knights, spiked wooden stakes were broken one by one, and fences were forcibly pulled down.

Huge trebuchets began bombarding the earthworks and fences, resounding thunderously across the battlefield.

Entering the dry season of winter, even Hotam County, full of sluices, didn't have enough water flow to be impactful.

So after the army fully deployed outside the camp and patrolled the river, they had to conserve the use of the spring cannon inside the camp.

Victor, for the success of this large-scale combat plan, left only half of the cannons allocated to each camp.

The rest was taken away by Dass.

On the battlefield, infantry like Kaler had to rely on the Holy Gunmen to destroy these trebuchets and crossbows.

Behind the parapet, Holy Gunmen and archers poured volleys out from the defensive line.

"Keep pushing! Let's see who dares to stop!"

Cracking a whip loudly, a Leia sergeant shouted.

Stepping on the slick, muddy ground, soldiers gritted their teeth through arrow showers and bullets, fighting while dismantling the wooden fences into pieces.

But the Thousand River Valley People's resistance was fiercer than they had anticipated.

Even with the fences destroyed, troops continued to fiercely defend the torn-down positions.

During this, the morale of Leia soldiers broke down several times.

Seeing the damaged fences, they thought it was over, but for the Black Crown Cultivators, it was just the beginning.

Thus, around the ruins, more small skirmishes of attack and defense unfolded.

"Close in on me, level your spears!"

With a loud shout, Kaler leveled his spear, and forty spear cultivators immediately formed a line in the front, spear tips pointing straight ahead.

Leia soldiers had already reached the forefront, clashing into the spear array, the sounds of metal clashing and screams blending together.

Kaler lifted his spear, thrusting it fiercely through an enemy's throat, blood spurting onto the cold ground.

But in the next moment, without the cover of the fence, more enemies surged forward.

Seeing the Thousand River Valley Army show signs of disarray, Dretta even ordered a full assault.

Shield wagons were pushed to the trenches, heavily armored infantry following closely behind, rapidly closing in on the earthwork parapet under the cover of spears and arrows.

"Praise the Holy Wind!"

Just as Kaler's order fell, the Holy Wind from a Holy Gunman burst through a few unlucky Leia soldiers.

Defending, attacking, seizing, assaulting — surrounding the earthwork and trenches, even the Holy Gunmen went red-eyed and charged. 𝓯𝙧𝙚𝒆𝙬𝙚𝒃𝙣𝙤𝒗𝓮𝓵.𝙘𝙤𝙢

As time gradually passed, the Black Crown's defensive line slowly began to falter.

By evening, Dretta finally achieved the result he wanted.

The Black Crown Cultivators finally withdrew from the third line of defense to the second, as black and red flags were torn down from the earthwork.

The flags were trampled into the mud, and Leia soldiers raised loud cheers.

Behind the second line of defense was the wall of Malenpo camp.

Though manpower and morale were considerably drained, Dretta breathed a sigh of relief.

At the current pace, the camp could be breached in at most two days; after all, the camp itself wasn't very large. The Thousand River Valley People wouldn't resort to fighting them in street battles within the camp, would they?

"Are there any villages nearby? Grab some women, get some cattle, and provide some drinks to reward the soldiers!" Dretta said loudly on purpose, "I'll pay!"

"Long live Lord Earl!"

"May you live long, Lord Earl."

In contrast to the excitement and cheers of the Leia Army, the atmosphere within the Black Crown's camp was grim and somber.

Clenching his teeth, Kaler, covered in blood, looked at the dirty flag.

But he knew they couldn't fight anymore. Based on orders and circumstance, they had to retreat to the second line of defense.

Furiously glancing at the knights executing prisoners at will, Kaler gritted his teeth: "Everyone, retreat to the second line of defense!"

The remaining Thousand River Valley soldiers began retreating to the rear like a slow stream, withdrawing into the second line of defense along the camp wall.

Standing on the arrow tower, Victor watched the battlefield now scattered with burning fences and heaps of bodies, yet he remained silent.

"Any news yet? The casualties today among the young men are quite severe," After a long silence, Victor asked the adjutant beside him.

The adjutant smiled wryly, "You ask three or four times a day. Even if there were news, how could it be so quick?"

Victor pressed his lips together, saying nothing.

Defeating these troops wasn't really difficult. However, annihilating them was quite troublesome.

If not annihilated now, when King Jiji arrives in the future, they might regain their combat strength.

If the vital forces weren't exterminated, then even if they won the battle, what strategic goals would have been achieved?

But seeing old comrades fall one by one still wrenched Victor's heart.

Among the Black Champions, his experience was almost the oldest; many new recruits had been taught by him hand-on-hand.

Yet they couldn't form a horizontal array to kill or die in the most honorable manner. Instead, they had to withstand small-scale skirmishes which were the enemy's forte.

But military orders were to be followed, regardless of his anguish.

Fortunately, as night descended, Victor, like Dretta, also got the result he desired.

"Dass says it's in place!" Jeanne's eyes glowed brightly, even though her face was smeared with dirty windproof lotion.