Imperial Crown.

Chapter 304 Sighing Wall
No one knows what Raven talked about specifically with the three big guys, Anthony, Thomas and Tyrone.

In short, after the meeting, the war will continue.

After resting in Mon'en City for three days, Raven led the Eagle Army to set off again.

The Wall of Sighs is still about 150 kilometers away. The supply line is not short, but it is all within the territory of Nord, so Raven did not wait for the logistics troops from the five northwestern counties.

Outside the city, only Hyde came to see him off.

"Would you like to come with me to fight Eivor?" Raven invited.

As a member of the Slater family, although Hyde's personal strength is currently only at the second level, the soldiers under his command are also elite and cannot be compared with the miscellaneous soldiers in the five northwestern counties.

If he really joins in, it will be a help to Raven, and he can also get support from the Slater family.

Hyde also knew that since his father did not stop him from being here, it meant that he was allowed to follow Raven.

But he still shook his head: "Forget it, I'm getting married next month, why should I join you in the fun now?"

Then he joked: "Besides, I am a viscount. If you give me the command, I can still consider it."

Raven picked up his whip and handed it to him: "The Second Legion is in your hands, are you coming?"

Hyde's heart beat fast, and he stretched out his hand, but just as he was about to touch the whip, he pulled it back:

"Forget it. You know your own abilities. I'm not that kind of person."

In the battle against the Order of the Hand of Death, Hyde brought with him the elite of his family and had a third-level magician to help him, but in terms of military exploits, he was still inferior to Raven, who only had a few dozen soldiers at the time.

From then on he realized that he had no talent for war.

And although he had a good personal relationship with Raven, he didn't think Raven could really succeed.

"I won't keep you any longer." Hyde gently patted Raven's shoulder: "If it doesn't work, come back honestly. Saving your life is the first priority."

"I can't die." Raven patted his shoulder as well. "But you, don't regret it in the future."

After saying this, he turned his horse around and rushed towards the front of the team.

Looking at Raven's receding back, Hyde felt an urge in his heart and wanted to urge his mount several times, but he finally held back.

In the next few days, the Eagle Army, having gotten rid of their burdens, began a forced march, advancing at a speed of 40 kilometers a day. However, in just four days, they arrived outside the Wall of Sighs.

In order to prevent the attacking troops from cutting down trees to set up camp and build siege equipment on the spot, and also to prevent fire attacks, there was not a single tree within 10 miles around the high wall.

Therefore, the outline of the fortress can be seen from a long distance.

It is located on the only passage naturally opened up by the mountains on both sides, firmly stuck at the lowest point in the center of the M-shaped mountain range.

As we get closer, the Wall of Sighs becomes clearer.

It was a 130-meter-long man-made building with gray-white walls up to 8 meters high, steep and vertical, embedded in the mountain on both sides, firmly blocking the only passage between the Principality of Eivor and the Nord Province.

The city gate is 5 meters wide and 8 meters high, and is firmly sealed with three iron doors.

There is a tower on the city gate, with a crossbow at each end, and then one placed every 30 meters.

Judging from the faint luster flowing on the crossbows, these six bed crossbows have obviously been enchanted and have been carefully maintained. They are definitely not just for show.

Although it is located in the low part of the mountain range, there is still a steep slope of at least 30° under the high wall of sighs.

There is no moat under the wall, but three rows of stone chevaux de frise fixed on the ground. Anyone who wants to move them away in the face of intensive attacks from the wall will have to pay a huge price.

In the past, this place was always bustling with caravans coming and going, but now, with the war approaching, it has become extremely desolate.

Raven ordered to set up camp by a river called "Drinking Horse River" 3 kilometers away from the Wall of Sighs.

This distance can ensure that there is enough reaction time when facing enemy attacks and observing the situation of the Sighing Wall at any time, and it can also ensure that the battle line is short enough.

Raven had already known the surrounding terrain, so he not only brought camping supplies, but also disassembled the siege equipment for transportation. Now that the camp was set up, he immediately began to assemble it.

That night, three catapults were set up in the camp.

At the same time, a military meeting was taking place in the main castle of the Sighing Wall.

Count Wanda sat at the top seat, with officers of various ranks sitting on either side.

There were torches on the walls, illuminating Count Wanda.

Just like in the previous information, the 44-year-old looks gentle and elegant, with smooth and naturally groomed hair and a very delicate short beard under his chin.

If he wasn't wearing armor, it would be hard to imagine that this man was one of the few Level 4 warriors in the entire principality.

The entire conference room was buzzing with discussion, mainly out of surprise -

Most people didn't expect that Raven would actually dare to station his troops outside the Sighing Wall and actually take an attacking stance.

"Does he really only have 1 men under his command?"

"It's for sure. Their scouts are good, but we're not bad either. We've already confirmed that there are indeed only two legions."

"Two legions dare to attack the Wall of Sighs?"

In a siege operation, the defender has a huge terrain advantage. It is common sense that the attacker's force must be at least three times that of the defender.

In the eyes of these officers, to be able to do such a thing, Raven could only be a madman or an idiot.

Or a crazy idiot.

Wanda's deputy Linden stood up:
"Sir, why don't we just attack Raven while he's just setting up camp and his footing is unstable?"

"Anyway, he has already stepped into the Principality's territory, which is essentially an invasion. Let's teach these Nords a lesson!"

Wanda neither agreed nor refused, but asked:

"So specifically, what are you going to do?"

Since Linden dared to bring it up, he was certainly prepared: "Although Raven's camp site is good, according to our scouts, his army has been marching rapidly and is definitely not strong enough for combat now."

"We don't need too many people. Let me lead 2000 elite soldiers to charge forward. A round of enchanted crossbows will set Raven's camp on fire. They will panic and will naturally let us slaughter them."

This statement immediately aroused a wave of agreement, and the officers clamored to charge out.

Wanda suddenly chuckled and looked at Linden deeply. The latter immediately stopped talking and sat down. The conference room instantly became quiet.

"That's a good idea, but there are some issues you haven't considered."

Wanda gently rubbed his middle finger with his left index finger, which was his habitual action when he was thinking or nervous.

"Since you are going to attack, what is the composition of the two legions under Raven's command?"

"He chose to camp two miles, or three kilometers away. We don't have any cavalry, so it will take at least 2 minutes to get there. You also said that Raven's scouts are very good. What if he finds us and is not prepared?"

"The last question is, Raven is a third-level magician. Do you know what kind of magic he controls? How do you deal with it?"

Three questions were asked in succession, pouring a bucket of cold water on the originally excited atmosphere.

Wanda sighed softly.

It was also because they had not seen a war for a long time, and the soldiers under his command did not take the war seriously enough.

This cannot be blamed on them. The last time the Principality of Eivor participated in a war was nearly 40 years ago. At that time, Insa passed through Eivor to attack the Nord province, and Eivor also participated in it.

Wanda began to rub her middle finger again, and thought of the private message sent by Gatugen.

It was indeed mentioned above that Wanda should take the initiative to attack and annihilate this army.

But Wanda didn't want to do that.

Gatugen was a court nobleman and did not know, or did not appreciate, the importance of private soldiers to a nobleman.

It's okay to let Wanda lie about military intelligence, but he would never risk his own fortune for Gatugen's career.

Thinking of this, Wanda raised her eyelids and looked around the room: "So, are there any more questions?"

"No more, sir!" said Lyndon.

Wanda nodded: "Very good, then pay attention to defense, patrol shifts more strictly, no one can take the initiative to attack without my order."

He looked around the room and emphasized:
"Remember, we are the border guards. If we do not make any mistakes, it will be a great achievement!" The military meeting was thus dissolved.

In the next few days, Wanda did not relax and went to the city wall every day to observe the movements of Raven's camp.

Watching the catapults rising from the ground, and watching the logistics troops transport supplies to Raven Camp.

May 1199, 5, 5 days after Raven arrived.

Wanda received a letter that was shot onto the city wall with a crossbow.

The handwriting was a bit ugly, but it contained extremely arrogant content - Raven demanded that Wanda open the door and surrender immediately, otherwise he would launch an attack tomorrow.

He also threatened that the day the Sigh Wall fell, the city would be flooded with blood.

"Ha!" Wanda sneered:
"I can defend this city till I die!"

He can indeed have that confidence.

Since the Wall of Sighs was built, no one has ever been able to breach it.

That night, Raven, Eric, Simon, Weston, Link and others perfected the attack plan for the last time.

The next day, July 5st.

The sound of war drums dispersed the morning mist.

After breakfast, Raven's army put on their armor, poured out of the camp, and lined up outside the camp.

The muffled sound of wheels and the creaking of wood could be heard as the assembled catapults were pushed out of the camp.

The wooden wheels and triangular frame are 5 meters high, like a giant's arm.

Raven sat high on the clawed yellow flying lightning, took a deep breath of the cool morning air, and waved his arms violently: "Attack!"

The order turned into flag signals and then into the clarion call for attack.

The army is moving.

There was no thunderous charge, only silent footsteps.

1000 heavily armored soldiers, divided into groups of 20, were dispersed into 50 small square formations, with the inner layer carrying ladders and the outer layer holding large shields.

Behind them, 26 catapults slowly moved forward.

The defenders on the city wall had already discovered the movements of Raven's troops. They loaded their crossbows with crossbow arrows as thick as roof beams and adjusted their targets.

3 kilometers, 2 kilometers, 1 kilometers...

500 m.

The trumpets sounded louder and louder, and the vanguard of the Eagle Army launched a charge carrying ladders!
At the same time, 26 catapults were fixed and launched a neat round of catapults!

whoosh-

26 huge rocks streaked across the sky and fell in irregular parabolas.

Most of them flew over the Wall of Sighs and crashed into the city, causing howls of terror; a small portion fell outside the city wall, smashing the stone chevaux de frise to pieces.

Only one of them whistled and landed on the top of the city wall, smashing three defenders who were boiling hot oil with their pots to pieces.

At this moment, the string of a crossbow beside the city wall was tightened, the crossbow body flashed with light, and shot out a thick crossbow arrow.

After the crossbow arrow flew away, it was covered with a layer of blazing white flames, and then slammed into a charging team.

The arrow was not sharp, but the huge kinetic energy it carried easily tore apart the shield, heavy armor and the flesh and blood inside, piercing through four soldiers in succession before it barely stopped.

Then the fire exploded, enveloping more soldiers, turning them into fire men, howling and rolling on the ground.

Of the 20 soldiers, only half survived.

Among the survivors, some stood there in a daze, some howled and rushed forward desperately, and some barely maintained their sanity and found the nearest team to join in according to wartime regulations.

This tragic scene did not stop the Eagle Army's attack.

Wanda on the tower was not satisfied with the result:

"I said, the crossbow cannot fire without my order!"

"Aim at the enemy's trebuchet - don't let that thing continue to attack!"

Under Wanda's command, the crossbow that had just been fired began to reload, and the remaining five each aimed at a catapult and fired out.

The stability and accuracy of the crossbow far exceeds that of the catapult.

With just one round of salvos, three catapults were completely destroyed. Although one was only hit and its core components were not damaged, it could not be repaired in a short time.

Only one arrow fell into the air.

The Eagle Army's vanguard rushed to 200 meters below the city wall, and the steep slope slowed down their pace.

At the same time, rows of archers stood up on the city walls and started shooting archers from a high position!
Feather arrows flew across the sky, almost blocking the sun, and then came down like waves.

Most of the arrows were blocked by the raised shields, making bursts of dense dull sounds.

Occasionally, an arrow would pass through the gaps in the shields and hit the Eagle Army soldiers, but it was completely powerless to penetrate their heavy armor, which slipped off one after another.

Another round of stone bullets were thrown over the battlefield, but this time the luck was bad and none of them hit the wall.

However, three huge rocks hit the outside of the wall, creating three passages among the dense stone chevaux de frise.

In this era, catapults were often used as tools to bombard city walls, so the weight and angle often needed to be constantly adjusted in order to achieve the best hit rate.

But Raven had a different idea.

Anyway, no matter how you adjust the catapult, its accuracy is not as good as the crossbow, so we have to win by the density of firepower!
As long as you throw it out, you succeed.

Under the guidance of this policy, Raven's catapult can launch a round of projection every 30-40 seconds.

The reloading frequency of the bed crossbow is at least 5 minutes.

Under the cover of catapults, the Eagle Army's vanguard advanced to within 100 meters of the Wall of Sighs.

At this moment, they were finally able to vent their accumulated anger, fear and anxiety, and launched a real charge with howls!

The archers on the city walls were withdrawn and replaced by rows of crossbowmen.

Following the officer's order, the enchanted crossbow arrows whizzed down.

However, the result surprised Wanda on the city wall.

This is a crossbow arrow specially designed for heavy armor and has been enchanted with "sharpness", but even at a distance of 100 meters, it still cannot cause much effective damage to the Eagle Army.

Most crossbow arrows were blocked by shields and bounced off armor. Only a very small number of crossbow arrows that hit eye sockets or armor joints could cause limited casualties.

This is armor made by the gray dwarves. It is not only carefully designed, but also has some misty heavy iron added during the forging process.

Although the overall weight of the armor has increased by about 13%, its defensive capabilities have been greatly improved.

"Damn, where did they get such good armor!? Are we facing the Iron Legion?"

He began to rub his middle finger with his left index finger again. Although he had read a lot of books, it was Wanda's first time to actually command a battle, which made him feel nervous.

He licked his lips and recalled the contents of the tactics book:

"Have the crossbowmen stop first, and wait until the enemy is within 20 meters before shooting!"

Just then, a scream was heard from the top of the city.

Wanda frowned and was about to get angry when one of his guards rushed in:
"Sir, there is something in the sky!"

Turning around, Wanda suddenly discovered.

At some point, a shadow covered the city wall.

……

(End of this chapter)