Chapter 627: Attrition

Chapter 627: Chapter 627: Attrition

Although the watchtower is far from the camp walls, and even further from those Barbarians whose groins were pierced by stone spikes suddenly "growing" out of the ground, Shen Hao could picture the scene—surely, it was spectacular.

Just look at the way those rapidly "flowing" formations suddenly froze, and you’d know how terrifying that Earth Spike Array really is. In one instant, it must have skewered at least seventy percent of the Barbarians charging forward. And these stone spikes popping up so suddenly also serve as obstacles; the Barbarians behind have to deal with them before they can move forward...

"...Boom! Crash..."

Shen Hao’s thoughts stopped here, interrupted by a series of thunderous detonations.

He saw massive boulders being shoved forward from within the Barbarians’ formation, rolling with surprising speed. They closely followed the first wave of Barbarians, and crushed the protruding stone spikes off at their base with sheer weight.

Then Shen Hao realized—no wonder when the Earth Spike Array unleashed its power, the people atop the watchtower didn’t get excited at all. They must’ve long known the Barbarians had countermeasures. The Barbarians kept up their calm assault—clearly, they expected the Earth Spike Array. So, were those earlier Barbarians deliberate sacrifices? Throwing their lives away to take out a wide-area killing array?

The figures pushing those boulders were especially massive; even at this distance, Shen Hao estimated they were more than twice the size of the ordinary Barbarians nearby, and sported two horns on their heads.

Cow Race.

Shen Hao recalled that among the Barbarians, the Cow Race was considered one of the less aggressive tribes, relatively gentle. But gentle or not, when it came to killing, they didn’t hesitate. Their immense bodies and strength paired with heavy weapons made them second only to the Elephant Race in single combat—but their numbers far exceeded the Elephants.

Shen Hao had expected Cheng Jinhou to have more array tricks up his sleeve, but apparently not. On reflection, this made sense. Just yesterday, they suffered a major battle—a mountain of corpses. Even if Cheng Jinhou had arranged several defensive arrays, they’d surely be depleted by now. That Earth Spike Array was probably a rushed patchwork job at best.

Cheng Jinhou stood atop the highest level of the watchtower, hands behind his back, surveying the three walls of the camp—taking in the battle at a glance. After the Earth Spike Array, the Barbarians’ second wave advanced, even more numerous this time. Cow Race warriors pushed boulders in front, followed by groups of smaller, short ratkin carrying forks or short knives.

When they were still more than a hundred steps from the walls, the feathered arrows arrived. They were fired in arcs, no rhythm, total chaos—no pattern for the Barbarians to exploit, forcing them to advance hidden under wooden shields. But some arrows could be blocked; others, the wooden shields didn’t stand a chance.

Shen Hao looked down from the watchtower and saw soldiers fiddling with bed-like contraptions—thick as a grown man’s arm, giant arrows fired from these machines. And as they shot, the arrows spun in flight, then crashed down in high arcs—not just wooden shields, even iron shields would be punched through by these.

These things have a simple name: crossbow beds.

Unlike the ones from another world, these aren’t powered by bowstrings, but by arrays like the catapults. Each volley launches five to eight arrows at once.

Sadly, what Shen Hao saw as massacre machines weren’t numerous—behind each wall, barely ten setups per side.

And that wasn’t all. When they got within forty paces, there was still another barrier.

"Boom!" A firewall three zhang wide ignited, packed full of dry brush and fire oil, flames leaping nearly two zhang high. With the wind, even four or five zhang away, it could singe hair clean off.

"Roar roar roar..."

The beastly screams from below were largely incomprehensible to the camp’s crossbowmen atop the walls. They didn’t know the Barbarians below were yelling for the soldiers to dig and fill in the fire trench. They simply numbly pulled arrows from their quivers, knocked them to the string, half-drew their bows, aimed, and fired. At forty paces, any crossbowman could guarantee a ninety percent hit rate.

They specifically targeted Barbarians whose large shields had been shattered by the crossbow beds—aiming for their eyes or necks, a single arrow could kill. Chest or belly shots weren’t as certain; these Barbarians were strong, with thick muscles. Even hit there, they could endure for a while.

Before the fire trench was extinguished, this was the most efficient killing window for the wall’s crossbowmen.

But the Barbarians weren’t sitting ducks, either. Among them were cultivators—not wielders of Human Race magic, but body cultivators with monstrous physical strength. They hoisted the same massive boulders that the Cow Race warriors used to smash a path, and hurled them into the fire trench. One rock wasn’t enough, so three, four—soon, a boiling-hot path could be built across the trench. Walking across meant enduring the heat, but that beat standing around getting drenched in arrows, no?

Wait for the firewall to burn out? This fire would last at least the time it takes to burn one or two sticks of incense. Standing packed together for that long would be suicide. Only by rushing beneath the camp walls could they avoid the arrow rain, then the real bloody fight would begin.

Survive stone barrages, arrow storms, earth spike forests, then endure fire wall roasting to finally reach the camp walls—the ground behind already littered with corpses. But for the Barbarians, the battle was only just starting. The deaths of comrades were simply the necessary price on the road to victory. Destroy this camp blocking the key crossroads, and ahead lay smooth roads, meaning a giant leap forward in the war to retake their ancestral homeland.

Breathing in the bloody scent of their comrades, the Barbarian soldiers’ eyes grew so red they seemed ready to bleed, their savage instincts driving them to swarm up the stone paths carved by their body cultivators. Even those knocked off the path by accident wouldn’t pause or flinch.

"Woo woo woo woo..." Horns sounded again inside the camp, blowing a tempo Shen Hao didn’t recognize.

The crossbowmen atop the walls began to withdraw under the Decurion’s orders, continuing to shoot feathered arrows in an arcing barrage over the wall. Precision targeting was no longer possible.

Pairs of soldiers wielding spears and shields quickly took the crossbowmen’s place. Shields in front, spears behind, half a step from the wall, braced and ready, forming a second battlement behind the wall itself.

Why not stab their spears straight down below? Because stones or wooden javelins thrown up from the wall’s base could easily hit them—it’s a losing proposition. Only when the enemy climbs up and is unsteady atop the wall can they be hit with deadly blows. This was the tactic adopted by the upper camp’s soldiers now.

The imminent hand-to-hand combat atop the walls was about to erupt. And from the distant watchtower, Shen Hao noticed the Barbarians’ formation stationed further back released a third wave—obviously even more numerous than before!

"Command flag! Notify all Cultivators: Guard your assigned domain. Do not leave your sector without orders!"

"Command flag! Notify all soldiers: Even if you die, die in your position! Anyone who dares to retreat a single step will be punished under military law and stripped of all previous merit, treated as cowardice!"

PS: Only two updates today, taking a break. Please forgive me, everyone. Respectful bow!