A hundred miles away from Bern City
"General, the 10th Infantry Division is here. Should we wait for them?”His subordinate asked Wu Luo.
After carefully looking at the map in his hand, Wu Luo made a decision.
"There's no need to wait. Bern City is small and narrow, two divisions can't hold their ground. We'll go first, and the 10th division will be the second echelon.”
Empire Calendar, Year 1098, December 13
There was finally some movement outside the city. Locke stood on the city wall and watched the Darcy army that had appeared outside the city.
The enemy troops that arrived outside the city in the morning only set up a simple camp and began to gather, preparing to attack the city. They were obviously very confident in taking down Bern City.
In General Darcy's mind, a small city guarded by scattered soldiers could be taken down in one charge. There was no need to set up camp at all. They could just enter the city and prepare for the celebratory lunch.
I'll definitely make you bleed! On the city wall, Locke gripped the iron whip in his hand tightly.
A series of low horn sounds rang out, and tall Darcy warriors kept pouring out of the crude enemy camp, gathering in the open space in front of the camp.
More and more infantrymen gathered in a square formation. Under the orders of the general, they marched towards Bern City.
They wore thick armor. Although it was not as exquisite as the Empire's armor, no one would doubt their defensive capabilities.
Behind the infantrymen was the cavalry regiment. The horses galloped, and the ground trembled under the feet of thousands of horses.
The low horn sound turned mournful. The Darcy infantry raised their shields high, some drew their bows forward, and some carried sandbags that they had prepared in advance. They covered each other and launched their first attack on Bern City. The cavalry behind the infantry also carried sandbags on their backs.
The sandbags were used to fill up the moat. If they did not take care of the moat and only relied on the pontoon bridge to pass through, the Darcy soldiers would not be able to display their numerical advantage at all. It would be a tactic of adding fuel. The moat of Bern City was not wide, so Wu Luo decisively chose to fill it. The only question was how much it would cost to fill up this moat, which was not wide but was difficult to cross.
The Darcy soldiers below the city walls were getting closer and closer, and the soldiers on the city walls began to counterattack. Wave after wave of arrows rained down, causing blood to splatter everywhere below the city walls. The Darcy Archers below the city walls also began to counterattack. From time to time, people on the city walls would be shot down by arrows, and some would even fall off the city walls, causing water to splash.
Darcy's soldiers quickly filled up the moat, paying a huge price. The moat became narrower and narrower, but the remaining section was the most difficult. Darcy's soldiers who approached the city wall would not only have to face arrows pouring down, but also rolling stones. The guards on the city walls smashed down the prepared rocks, and the Darcy soldiers were often smashed until their bones were broken and their flesh was badly mutilated. It was a tragic sight. Screams of pain could be heard from below the city walls.
At noon, the moat of Bern City was finally filled with sandbags and corpses. However, Darcy's soldiers did not attack the city immediately after. The horn to withdraw the troops sounded, and Darcy's soldiers retreated like the tide.
Wu Luo narrowed his eyes as he looked at the rising sun. This sunlight had a great effect on the warriors of Darcy who were attacking the city. Although he wanted to quickly take down Bern City to prove his bravery, he was not a brainless person who only knew how to attack.
Locke, who had been watching the battle closely on the city wall, heaved a sigh of relief. The combat strength of the Darcy warriors was indeed not something that the Empire's border guards could compare to. They had iron-like discipline and were not afraid of death. No wonder they were able to defeat the Empire's northern border guards in a single move.
There was not much suspense in the morning's battle. Before the moat was filled, the Darcy Army would not be able to pose any threat to Bern City. Locke was more concerned about the results of the battle. After clearing the battlefield, the guard reported the situation.
The two sides exchanged fire. Because of their high altitude and cover, there were not many casualties. A total of 248 people died and 984 were injured. Most of them were light injuries from stray arrows. It was not easy to calculate the casualties on Darcy's side, but based on the corpses below the city, their death toll was at least 2000.
A 10 to 1 battle loss ratio. Locke nodded. It was already a good result to be able to achieve such a result when there were not many arrows and the lack of iron cannons. However, when he looked at the Darcy camp outside the city, which was preparing food in an orderly manner, he frowned deeply. There were still nearly 18000 Darcy soldiers there. Although the two sides were close in numbers, and he was still the one who had the advantage in defending the city, Lockhart was still full of worries about the upcoming battle. The cultivation, aura, and equipment of the Darcy soldiers were enough to make up for the disadvantage in the terrain.
The warm afternoon sun melted the snow, and the ground became muddy. Every step on the ground was a little strenuous, but this did not stop the advance of the Darcy Army.
After noon, the sun set slightly, and the horn sounded outside the city again.
This was a real siege. The previously loose formation became more compact, and it was obvious that they had a main attack direction. Thousands of Darcy warriors carried battering rams, scaling ladders, and brandished their weapons. They faced the arrows and launched an attack on the front of Bern City.
A regiment of 4000 men stood guard on the city wall. Bern City was not big, so only one regiment could be deployed on the city wall. The other regiment guarding the north wall was a reserve team.
Braving the rain of arrows, Darcy's soldiers climbed up the ladders and charged towards the city walls. However, the defenders on the city walls were prepared. Rolling wood, stones, and kerosene poured down, causing Darcy's army to suffer heavy losses. The north gate was being hit by the ramming wood, but Locke, who had expected it, had already ordered his men to seal the gate. Their ramming could only be in vain.
Seeing the losses of the attacking soldiers continue to increase, Wu Luo was expressionless as he quietly watched. Finally, he saw that the arrows of the defending soldiers were about to run out, and the arrows that were being transported up from the bottom of the city wall could not completely keep up. He waved his right hand forward fiercely, and the cavalrymen who had already been in position rushed out.
Darcy's cavalry quickly approached the city wall, took out their bows and arrows, and began to use them to suppress the defenders on the city wall. In order to avoid the concentrated attacks of the defenders, they could only watch their comrades fight with blood. Their eyes were red as they shot the arrows in their hands at the city wall. Under the rain of arrows, the defenders on the city wall began to suffer heavy casualties.
Seeing this, Locke immediately ordered 50 crossbows. In an instant, nearly 5000 arrows rained down, and the approaching Darcy Cavalry were harvested like wheat.
At this moment, while the arrows on the city walls were decreasing, Darcy's soldiers had already charged up the walls. There were constantly fierce Darcy soldiers with blood-red eyes, biting their weapons with their mouths. They braved the rocks that fell from the city wall and crazily climbed up, engaging in a hand-to-hand battle with the city guards.
The soldiers guarding the city were similarly bloodthirsty. Once a Darcy warrior broke through the defense line and rushed up the city wall, they would not hesitate to raise their swords and kill him. Everyone on the city wall knew clearly that once the enemy rushed up the city wall and successfully gained a foothold, it would be the time for their destruction.
The fierce battle lasted until the sun set in the afternoon. The battle was in a stalemate, and both sides paid a heavy price for it.
On the first day of defending the city, more than 2000 people died in Bern City, and nearly 5000 people died in the Darcy Army.
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