TGS - Chapter 109
Chapter 109: Defending and Besieging a City
Outside Senna City, an army of nearly ten thousand men was arranged in a semicircle, surrounding the city which was backed against a mountain wall.
Autumn was approaching. The northern winds whistled past, blowing the banners emblazoned with the royal crest to the side.
Within the orderly military formation, Alyuin stood upon a chariot drawn by two fine horses, clad in light armor.
Lotus was by her side, also dressed as a warrior, her long hair tucked into a silver helmet, looking very sharp and capable.
The two raised their heads to look at the city walls. Compared to larger cities, Senna City's defenses were not grand or magnificent; they could be called simple, yet they were well-suited to the local terrain.
The slaves who had reportedly started the rebellion stood on the walls, wearing standard-issue Solancian army armor and holding weapons. However, their stances held no intimidating power; it was as if their commander had never considered a proper military formation.
A local commander, accustomed to being contrary, craned his neck and squinted, sizing them up for a moment before inwardly scoffing at the Princess's earlier alarmist warnings.
What is this? he thought. With these slaves who don't even know how to stand properly, they must have gotten lucky and seized the lord's manor while Senna City's guards were completely unprepared and lax. Faced with a besieging army, they'll probably throw down their weapons and flee in no time.
Damn it—if the Princess hadn't insisted on replacing the elite vanguard, we could have definitely taken Senna City in one go today!
The commander felt a pang of regret, but on second thought, the events to come would prove the Princess was just worrying for nothing. He would get to see her surprised and regretful face then. Thinking of it that way, it wasn't so bad.
As the men and horses below looked up at the city walls, the makeshift soldiers defending the city were also watching them.
As makeshift soldiers, these slaves truly had little concept of warfare. Facing a relatively well-trained army, it was inevitable that they would feel uneasy.
"Is this really going to be okay? If it doesn't work, let's just surrender," a man muttered. "If we surrender, they probably won't kill us."
Someone else agreed, "I think so too. There are so many of them..."
Standing between her two companions who were losing heart before the battle even began, a woman with a slave's brand on her forehead held back her frustration, but finally gave each of them an elbow to the ribs.
"Are you kidding me? Surrender? Don't forget how we killed that inhuman city lord. Do you think surrendering will just make that go away? Or do you think those big shots will see slaves as people?"
"The fight hasn't even started and you're already demoralizing yourselves. Useless. Didn't we say before? They're sure to underestimate us. We'll catch them completely off guard!"
Looking at her appearance alone, it was hard to imagine that this thin woman was the leader of the Senna City slave rebellion. Yet, the fact was that she had been the first to charge into the city lord's manor under the cover of night, drag the sleeping lord out of bed, and cut him down with a single stroke.
Scolded harshly by their leader, the two slaves looked at each other and lowered their heads, swallowing their resentment.
At that moment, one of the commanders below the wall received a signal from the Princess and began the formal procedure of calling for surrender.
This commander had a booming voice and was quite eloquent, easily making one entertain the thought that "surrender might be a way to survive." But the female leader immediately leaned over the wall and made an extremely insulting gesture towards those below.
"Who are you trying to fool? You're all liars! If you want us to believe you, wait for the next life, you gutless bastards!"
The commander: "..."
He was stunned.
The intelligence reports hadn't mentioned that the opposing leader was a woman. The soldiers below the wall were all momentarily astonished. In contrast, the contingent that had accompanied the Princess wore calm expressions, thinking these northerners were making a big fuss over nothing.
From a distance, Alyuin studied the female leader's expression and confirmed once again that these rebellious slaves must have something to rely on.
Nevertheless, the assault had to proceed. Otherwise, they would never find out what the enemy was hiding.
Alyuin's expression turned solemn. She slowly raised her slender arm and swung it down.
Behind the formation, a large banner was waved vigorously. War cries shook the heavens as soldiers, holding up their shields, charged toward the city wall under the cover of a volley of arrows from the archers behind them.
Some fell, but siege ladders mounted on wooden wheels were laboriously brought forward and placed against the wall for climbing.
Although the space is limiting our performance, isn't this going rather smoothly? At this rate, scaling the wall is just a matter of time. What crisis is there to speak of?
If our elite troops were at the front right now, the enemy might not even have the strength to put up a fight.
The local commander subconsciously glanced at the Princess, who was frowning slightly, feeling both smug and dissatisfied.
Suddenly, shields were raised behind the city wall. To call them shields wasn't quite accurate; the wide, upright panels were like iron towers or stone steles, completely protecting the people behind them.
Under the protection of the shields, the slaves began to throw javelins.
The shields used by the attacking soldiers were mostly wooden. But even a harder material would have struggled to withstand the impact of heavy, sharp javelins coming from above. The vanguard climbing the ladders fell without any chance to resist, and the soldiers at the base of the wall were also struck down one after another. Many were skewered together by the javelins.
The commander's eyes widened, and he snapped his head up.
The formation he had previously thought was loose was clearly the most suitable stance for this type of attack, as long as the enemy had enough weapons—but how could they have enough? They were just bluffing, making a final effort. As long as they pressed on, they could—
"Retreat."
Alyuin's concise and powerful command rang out.
"We can't retreat! They just want to force us back to get a chance to breathe! We just have to wait until their weapons run out..."
"If we do that, we will be the ones to suffer heavy losses," Alyuin said coldly. "Take a closer look. What are those?"
They're javelins, what else could they be—
The commander suddenly froze. It wasn't just javelins. There were also pointed stone cones, iron spikes, and all sorts of strange objects. Their lethality might not match that of a proper javelin, but they were extremely vicious when used in a city defense.
—A colosseum was under construction in Senna City.
There would be no shortage of things like that.
Without another word from the Princess, the commanders shouted at the top of their lungs for a retreat. In a gap amidst the chaos, Alyuin narrowed her eyes.
On the wall, someone was gesturing in her direction with a javelin. Probably thinking he couldn't hit her by throwing it, he switched to a bow and arrow.
In doing so, his upper body leaned out from behind the shield, making him a perfect living target.
Alyuin silently drew her bow and nocked an arrow. Her movements were so fast that people had no time to react; it seemed she had even skipped the time needed to aim.
The sharp arrow shot from the bowstring.
The slave standing next to the female leader fell at the sound. The shield remained upright, preventing those below from seeing what was happening behind it.
But Lotus knew that this arrow had surely hit a vital spot.
It couldn't turn the tide of the battle, but given the man's position next to the leader, this was perhaps the greatest gain of the day.
The first day's assault thus ended in a retreat.
"Let's lay siege."
A commander said helplessly.
Against a small city with sufficient defensive forces, a siege was originally the most suitable tactic. Dig trenches, build arrow towers, prepare for a protracted battle, and see who could outlast whom.
Obviously, the isolated slave rebel army could not outlast a regular army. In the end, their only choices were to surrender or be trapped and die in the city.
Alyuin's knuckles tapped lightly on the table. She remained silent for a long while.
Attack by fire, tunnels, intermittent raids... she rejected them one by one.
The local commanders could perhaps afford to wait, but if they truly had to rely on a siege to solve the problem, the Princess and her retinue would be truly bogged down here.
Lotus, as an observer, rested her chin on her hand and gazed thoughtfully out the window, as if she were detached from the world's affairs.
Even the commanders in the room were muttering to themselves. What was the meaning of the Princess bringing a female official to a war council? It seemed she even brought her onto the battlefield.
As if sensing their gazes, Lotus glanced back at them, her expression cool and faint.
Several commanders quickly lowered their heads. Only the contrary commander stared back with bulging, frog-like eyes.
Alyuin asked, "Would you like to go back and rest first?"
Lotus shook her head and answered irrelevantly, "The sandstorm season is coming."
The northern lands were dry and windy. The sandstorms were relatively worse in late summer and early autumn. At their most severe, they could often make it impossible for people to open their eyes.
This was another major use for the leaf hats besides shading from the sun—blocking the wind.
Alyuin nodded along with her words, then suddenly realized something, a glint in her eyes.
Lotus produced a few thin leaves from somewhere—the same kind the locals used to weave their hats. Her fingers deftly manipulated them, the pale red leaves a striking and moving contrast against her fair, almost translucent fingertips.
Alyuin's gaze unconsciously followed the movement of her fingertips.
In just a few moments, the leaves were woven into a small straw figure, complete with arms and legs, looking quite convincing.
Lotus pinched one of the straw figure's arms and wiggled it from side to side.
Alyuin took the small figure, her eyelashes lowered in thought. Then she suddenly looked up.
"I understand. This might work."
The commanders: "..."
Weaving such a little thing during a serious meeting... she must be arrogant because she's favored.
And what did you understand, Your Highness?!
Overnight, a fortress-wide arts and crafts activity began in earnest in the northern lands.
The people here were already skilled at weaving leaf hats, which was a good way to supplement their household income. Both men and women did it in their spare time, so they all had some basic crafting skills.
However, making humanoid figures didn't require much technical skill. As long as they looked like people from a distance, it didn't matter if they were made of straw, wood, or cloth filled with sand.
With such crude processing and assembly-line work, a steady stream of human-like objects was produced in just a few days, without even using many resources—weeds and sand were things the northern lands had in abundance.
On a dark and windy night, the late summer sandstorm arrived as expected.
"I'm dead tired. When's the shift change?"
On the city wall, a slave wearing soldier's armor yawned and complained to his companion.
Perhaps yawns really were contagious, as the other slave also yawned. "Who knows? Stop asking me and keep an eye on what's below."
"The sand is getting in my eyes. Those noble lapdogs wouldn't come in this weather, would they? All they have to do is surround us."
"What if they do? Anyway, just listen to the boss and keep a good watch."
Just then, the slave glanced down, and his expression instantly changed.
"Look over there—they're really coming!"
In the darkness of the night, amidst the sandstorm that severely limited visibility, chariots carrying human figures were approaching.
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