Under the Lionheart City.
Dozens of massive military formations lined up, with the blue dragon banners fluttering in the wind.
Under the unified military banner were various insignias of other nobles: the sword and shield of the Conqueror, the talons of Viscount Balle, the blue leaves of Baron Terry, and the lion’s head of Garcia…
On the city wall, Duke Wellington stood with a blank expression, watching the allied forces below, his hands already clenched tightly behind his back.
The Hand of Shadows had ceased all contact with him. William the Conqueror, who should have been dead, had arrived here and immediately discovered that the assassination attempt had been orchestrated by him… All of this felt like a nightmare dragging him into an abyss, from which no struggle could free him.
“Zaga Wellington!”
A single rider galloped out from the army, a knight clad in blue armor, exuding confidence and charisma, his voice ringing loud and clear across the battlefield.
“I, William Wallace, ruler of the Windfly Plains, King of the Windfly people, and the Conqueror, swear this: if you surrender immediately, I shall still grant you the title of Duke and make Lionheart City your fief, forgiving all your previous vile deeds and crimes! Surrender to me!”
“Surrender!”
“Surrender!”
“Surrender!”
…
Twenty thousand soldiers roared in unison, beating their shields and armor, creating a deafening and earth-shaking clamor.
“So that’s the Conqueror—William Wallace?”
Duke Zaga Wellington looked down at Wu Ming, who stood so confidently below, his expression growing even grimmer and more wary.
He keenly sensed the wavering of his vassals. After all, Garcia Wellington had already defected to the Conqueror and was still being trusted and employed—why wouldn’t they consider doing the same?
As for whether the Wellington family would be fragmented? Honestly speaking, the minor branches of noble families might even welcome such a situation.
“Fire the arrows!”
Wellington remained silent for a while, seemingly contemplating this suggestion carefully, then turned his gaze northward before finally waving his hand.
Shooo!
A long arrow was fired in a high arc, falling short a dozen feet in front of Wu Ming.
It wasn’t an assassination attempt—it was a declaration that negotiations had failed, and war was the only outcome.
“It seems you still won’t surrender. So, sending Verron to Storm’s Point for reinforcements and giving up Frostbite City gave you confidence, huh?”
Wu Ming pulled his horse around and returned to the army ranks: “Attack!”
“Attack!”
A nearby general screamed at the top of his lungs, and a thick, guttural horn suddenly sounded.
Boom! Boom!
Formation after formation advanced, causing panic among the Wellington defenders on the city walls: “What is that?”
At the front of the formation were shield and spear units, archers, and knights guarding both flanks—these were all familiar troop types.
But within Wu Ming’s army, they saw many strange devices.
For instance, long eight-foot wooden logs mounted on carts—now they roughly understood these were the so-called “Holy Fire” that the Church had preached about, actually wooden cannons with unusual firearms, skilled in wielding the power of fire.
But besides that, the siege towers and arrow towers as tall as the city walls, the massive siege rams covered in thick plating like the shell of a monstrous beast, and finally, the trebuchets—these were all beyond their comprehension.
“Let the trebuchets strike first. Once enemy morale is broken, the wooden cannons, siege towers, arrow towers, and rams will advance immediately. The sappers will distribute tools and be ready to dig tunnels and plant explosives at any time.”
As Wu Ming issued his orders one by one, Viscount Balle looked at Lionheart City with nothing but pity in his eyes.
Even he had been stunned into silence during the war council earlier when he heard about the uses and power of these weapons.
That knight who had developed commerce in the Carros territory was not only brilliant at devising methods to earn vast amounts of gold, but also terrifyingly adept at applying his intelligence to warfare and slaughter.
“Prepare the trebuchets!”
A large number of soldiers shouted as they used levers and mallets to load massive stones, each weighing over a hundred pounds, into the uniquely designed trebuchets.
Unlike conventional trebuchets, Wu Ming’s designs employed mature technology, adding a counterweight mechanism. Key components were made of iron and steel, with overall performance similar to the “Huihui Pao” of ancient times. These machines could hurl stones weighing over a hundred pounds, making them terrifying siege weapons in this age of cold steel.
“Fire!”
At the command, over a dozen counterweight trebuchets roared to life, launching over a dozen stones weighing more than a hundred pounds each directly at the walls of Lionheart City.
Boom!
Flying debris crushed the stunned defenders into pulp.
Boom!
A large crater opened up on the wall, with countless cracks spreading outward.
Boom!
It felt like an earthquake, and for any ancient soldier, the sensation of the heavens and earth shaking was a terrifying psychological burden.
“Continue firing with the trebuchets! Whoever hits the gate will be directly rewarded with one hundred gold ducats!”
Wu Ming nodded in satisfaction as he watched: “After three volleys, the siege ladders and rams will advance. Archers will suppress the defenders on the walls, covering the wooden cannons and sappers!”
The siege ladders and arrow towers were as tall as the city walls, allowing archers to fight on equal footing without having to shoot upward.
In this world, there were extraordinary knights whose individual valor was extolled to the extreme, but the study of overall warfare techniques was somewhat shallow.
With Wu Ming’s advantage of knowledge from another world, even though the defenders outnumbered them, they were immediately overwhelmed.
“Order our family knightly order to charge and destroy those wooden monsters!”
However, this world was different from ordinary ones due to the existence of knights who could act as sharp blades on the battlefield.
For example, upon witnessing the brutality of these siege weapons, Duke Wellington immediately issued orders.
“Bravery! Loyalty!”
“For honor!”
“Charge!”
Many knights, clad in armor, rushed onto the walls, skillfully dodging most attacks before leaping onto the siege towers and ladders, immediately launching a massacre.
Of course, some unlucky knights were targeted and died gruesome deaths.
Even with their supernatural powers, they were still flesh and blood. If struck by a trebuchet, they would still be crushed into a pile of meat.
“Our knights will go too!”
Having conquered the entire Windfly Plains and gained the allegiance of some highland nobles, Wu Ming now had no fewer knights than Duke Wellington.
Once the knightly orders joined the battle, the situation stabilized instantly.
“Hehe… Kill! Kill!”
On the city wall, a siege ladder connected with the wooden bridge, continuously delivering soldiers onto the ramparts. A knight wearing a horned helmet, towering and massive like a demon, charged forward fiercely, wielding a massive iron axe. Wherever he went, a storm of blood and flesh erupted.
He roared like a raging beast.
“Ragebeast Rief! He’s the strongest mad dog under my uncle!”
Garcia’s pupils constricted as he watched this scene.
“Just a knight? Perhaps he’s even broken through to a higher level, a great knight maybe. But so what?”
Wu Ming’s calm voice had barely finished when a loud explosion rang out.
In the explosion, a terrifying metallic storm spread.
It turned out that on the arrow tower, a wooden cannon had been secretly stored, specifically for breaking the deadlock on the walls.
Rief unfortunately stood right at the epicenter. His body was torn apart in an instant, blood and entrails flying everywhere.
The hellish scene immediately made Garcia feel nauseous.
“Do you see now? Training a knight like Rief requires years of cultivation from childhood, preparation of horses and armor, anointment with holy oil, and rewards of estates. Whether he can achieve anything is purely a matter of luck!”
Wu Ming smiled: “But what was our loss? A dozen soldiers and a wooden cannon? Not even a tenth of the cost of training a knight! This is the victory of systems and war potential!”
Garcia was already a clever man, and now he understood at once.
He also roughly knew how wooden cannons were made—just a few carpenters and blacksmiths working for half a month or so. But how long did it take to train a knight? Twenty years? Thirty?
For William, even if he traded ten wooden cannons for one knight, it would still be a great profit. But for his enemies, no matter how they did it, they would always end up at a loss.
Boom!
At that moment, a sudden wave of cheers erupted from the front.
It turned out that after continuous bombardment from the trebuchets and wooden cannons, and repeated ramming by the massive siege rams, the gates of Lionheart City finally gave way under the pressure and collapsed with a thunderous roar.
Seizing this opportunity, the Blue Dragon Alliance displayed excellent discipline. Under the commanders’ shouts, no one rushed recklessly.
Then news came from the sappers, and Wu Ming immediately gave an order without hesitation:
“Light the fuses!”
A line of fire was ignited, spreading toward the base of the city wall.
Boom!
Then came a massive explosion, with thick black smoke rising into the sky, vaguely forming the shape of a mushroom cloud.
A section of the wall collapsed, burying all the soldiers on top alive, a horrifying scene.
“That’s enough. Charge!”
Wu Ming immediately issued the command.
For the defenders, the tall city walls provided a sense of security—their last bastion of confidence. Once the walls were breached, the psychological blow was immeasurable. Some defenders might even collapse entirely.
While a single breach might still be sealed, with two breaches under simultaneous attack, even Duke Wellington no longer held out hope.
“After entering the city, capture all members of the Wellington family. Do not let a single one escape!”
“Disciplinary units, patrol every street, strictly prohibiting our soldiers from committing looting or other immoral acts!”
“Bring the small wooden cannons into the city to prevent anyone from engaging in street fighting with us!”
…
One order after another was calmly issued by Wu Ming.
Garcia stood there, stunned, watching the red lion flag fall in Lionheart City as a large number of armored soldiers poured in, raising the blue dragon banners and cheering loudly.
For some reason, his eyes grew moist, and he almost shed tears.
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