Chapter 150: 150: Arrow Rain

The Deres army wasn’t just picking up pace.

Roderic’s eyes narrowed as he glanced into the distance.

The siege machines had stopped moving for a moment, alongside the thousand soldiers supporting them.

In their stead, nearly two thousand infantrymen began surging past them.

Rather than advancing as one enormous formation, they had divided themselves into dozens of smaller groups.

Each group carried one or two large wooden ladders, surrounded by soldiers holding their shields above their heads to protect against the arrows raining down from the walls.

Despite their numbers, their movements were incredibly organized and well-trained.

‘Mhm…’

Roderic glanced towards the massive siege machines once more.

‘Are they planning to keep us occupied before bringing those in?’

It seemed like a pretty simple strategy.

If the Whitemane soldiers were too occupied to fire incendiary arrows at the wooden machines, they’d be able to bring them closer without much interference.

‘Simple but very effective,’ he thought, his expression darkening. ‘Aldric sure is using his numbers advantage well.’

At the same time, Arthur stepped forward without sparing anyone another word.

He raised his sword high into the air and opened his mouth.

”ARCHERS!” he shouted. ”HOLD YOUR FIRE!”

The order quickly spread amongst the battlements.

Hundreds of archers lowered their bows, waiting for further instruction.

Arthur’s gaze had long since shifted towards Captain Harris, though.

”Have the firepits lit and the incendiary arrows prepared,” he commanded. ”I want a hundred archers ready for those siege machines.”

Captain Harris immediately nodded.

”Understood, my lord!” he said. ”I’ll inform the squad leaders right away.”

With that, he and another two-seal knight hurried off in opposite directions.

Arthur’s gaze immediately flickered back to the battlefield.

”Three hundred… two hundred ninety…” he muttered, estimating the distance between them.

For a moment, he fell silent.

Then his gaze snapped back towards two familiar officers.

”Henry, George!” he commanded. ”Get the spearmen into position along the walls! Keep the reserves ready behind them!”

”If any of those bastards manage to climb over, I want them dealt with immediately.”

George and Henry nodded without hesitation.

Without wasting another second, the two officers hurried off to carry out their orders.

Roderic watched on in amazement.

‘Damn…’

He had known Arthur was an experienced commander, but seeing him in action was something else entirely.

‘Guess the old man still has something to show for himself.’

However, his attention quickly returned to the approaching army.

By now, the Deres soldiers had covered another few dozen meters.

Their footsteps echoed across the battlefield as thousands of armored men continued marching towards the walls.

THUD! THUD! THUD!

”Two hundred forty…” Arthur muttered, just barely audible under the noise.

The spearmen had already taken their positions along the wall, while the archers stood ready behind them.

Nobody had fired another arrow since his command.

Thump! Thump!

Roderic’s heart started pounding heavily in his chest.

‘This is it,’ he thought, narrowing his eyes. ‘My first real war.’

The Deres soldiers continued their advance, steadily closing the distance with every passing moment.

As they drew closer, nervousness started spreading amongst the soldiers.

”One hundred eighty…” Arthur continued slowly. ”One hundred seventy.”

His voice slowly faded away as he squinted his eyes.

One moment later, he opened his mouth wide.

”ARCHERS! READY!”

Creak! Creak! Creak!

Hundreds of bowstrings were drawn simultaneously.

The Deres soldiers immediately tightened their formations, closing as many gaps between their shields as possible.

Just then, Arthur swung his sword down.

”FIRE!”

WHOOSH! WHOOSH! WHOOSH!

Hundreds of arrows shot into the sky.

Roderic watched with wide eyes as they formed a dark cloud above the battlefield.

A moment later, they began descending.

Before they even met their target, Arthur’s next command rang out.

”NOCK YOUR ARROWS!” he shouted. ”DRAW!”

THUD! THUD! THUD!

Their previous volley of arrows finally connected with the Deres soldiers.

Most slammed into their shields, but some slipped through the gaps between.

”AARGHHH!”

”MY LEG!”

Several soldiers collapsed almost immediately.

One of the ladders at the front nearly fell after the front two carriers were killed.

But despite the casualties, the enemy formations didn’t slow one bit.

Whenever someone fell, another soldier quickly stepped over the corpse to take his place.

Arthur’s sword suddenly slashed down once more.

”FIRE!”

WHOOSH! WHOOSH! WHOOSH!

Another volley of arrows shot into the sky.

Roderic blinked several times.

He’d been observing the attackers so closely, he hadn’t even seen Arthur raise his sword.

THUD! THUD! THUD!

Arrows rained down upon the Deres army once more.

‘Damn…’

However, he quickly pushed the thought aside.

The Deres soldiers were getting dangerously close.

Despite the continuous volleys, their formations remained surprisingly intact.

A few dozen bodies already littered the battlefield, yet the soldiers behind them continued marching forward.

”AIM AT THE FRONT RUNNERS!” Arthur’s voice echoed out loudly. ”FIRE!”

WHOOSH! WHOOSH! WHOOSH!

Another volley of arrows shot out.

This time, however, they were aimed at the nearest groups of soldiers, who had reached within fifty meters of the wall.

THUD! THUD! THUD!

More Deres soldiers collapsed.

Suddenly, a loud shout erupted from the enemy formations.

”CHARGE!”

The Deres soldiers immediately broke into a sprint.

Their tightly packed formations began spreading apart as the ladder carriers rushed towards different sections of the wall.

Arthur lowered his sword as his expression changed.

”FIRE AT WILL!” he shouted.

The archers immediately began firing at their own pace, sending arrow after arrow towards the approaching soldiers.

They knew they had little time left before the enemy reached the walls.

”SPEARMEN! PREPARE YOURSELVES!”

Hundreds of Whitemane soldiers stepped forward, readying their weapons.

Roderic’s heart began pounding even faster.

‘Here they come.’

The first group of Deres soldiers reached the base of the wall.

Loud shouts and roars echoed out below.

”RAISE THE LADDERS!”

”KILL THOSE FUCKERS!”

”GO! GO! GO!”

A massive wooden ladder rapidly shot up.

BANG!

It slammed against the stone.

Several more quickly followed, each shooting up from the back of the Deres squads.

BANG! BANG! BANG!

Within moments, dozens of ladders had been raised against the wall.

Roderic drew both his blades.

‘So it begins,’ he thought, his eyes narrowing.

Sorry for the last two days, I really had to research how exactly medieval sieges worked.

I’ll now maintain the normal upload schedule again.