Unknown Knight

The city of Zion is located on a large platform next to the river beach at the mouth of the Zion River. The entire platform is very large and long. Looking down from a high place, it looks like a clenched fist, striking directly from the land into the sea.

The main body of the city is divided into two parts, namely the inner city part which is in the shape of a square fist and is slightly higher in terrain, and the outer city part which is like an arm and is slightly lower than the inner city.

The square fist goes deep into the sea and is a peninsula surrounded by the sea on three sides. The terrain here is dangerous and only one side is connected to the land. The other three sides are cliffs facing the sea. Only the slave trading dock belonging to the Ogebai family has a slightly flat terrain. The core members of the five major families in the city basically live here.

Connected to the fist is the outer city of Zion, where live most of the residents of Zion, mostly ordinary people from the middle and lower classes. The outer city is also the main commercial and handicraft distribution area of ​​Zion.

At the outermost part of the outer city is a city wall that is more than 100 meters long and more than seven meters high. In addition, there is a moat that is more than two meters deep and five meters wide. It is considered a relatively strong city defense in that era. When Aix attacked Zion for the first time, he stopped here.

In order to avoid repeating the same mistake as last time, Aix was fully prepared this time. Not only did it build eight siege towers, but the number of people participating in the battle was also much higher than last time, including a slave corps of more than 300 soldiers, a redemption corps of more than 300 soldiers, and a Bedouin mixed infantry and cavalry corps of nearly 500 temporarily recruited soldiers.

The number of people alone far exceeds that of the last time, and they can definitely crush Zion's army in terms of strength. In addition, Aix also used the 300-man navy led by Mathilde as a surprise force to attack Zion's inner city from the sea. This move was only to attract some enemy soldiers in the city, reduce the pressure of the frontal siege on the outer city, and at the same time create chaos to reduce the enemy's determination to resist.

The specific method was to use small catapults installed on ships, loaded with flaming oil to attack the mansions of the five major families in the inner city, set fire to cause chaos in the inner city, and then make a gesture of landing and attacking, so as to attract soldiers defending the outer city to return for support.

Originally, this strategy was added temporarily. The territory had used up its limited supply of incendiary oil when defending against the attack on Berbera City last time, and had no ability to launch a fire attack.

Coincidentally, not long ago a Bedouin believer actually brought two cans of natural oil to Fort Standstill to trade. He was also trying it out. The Bedouin who sold coal to Aix made a fortune before. After the news spread, this believer also wanted to follow suit, so he brought two cans of oil to try it out.

In this way, the territory naturally discovered an open-air oil field. Come to think of it, the topography here is very similar to a certain area in the Middle East in the original world, so it is normal to find oil.

This natural petroleum can be burned, but it produces thick smoke and a strong odor. Without modern purification technology, it is almost useless in this era. However, it is indeed an excellent material for making pyrotechnics. After some experiments, a new type of pyrotechnics was made by mixing it with a certain proportion of coal powder, sulfur and other substances.

The new fire oil burns with a fierce flame, which is not inferior to the fire oil made from animal fats. The liquid has strong adhesion and is difficult to remove once it sticks. It is placed in a pottery jar and launched out with a catapult. After the pottery jar breaks, the fire oil liquid spreads over a wider area and has a better effect. It also produces thick smoke when burning, which makes it very suitable for use on the battlefield.

The discovery of this open-air oil field made Aix so excited that he even postponed the plan to attack Zion for a week, and then urgently produced a batch of pyrotechnic oil for the attack on Zion.

He didn't care about burning the city of Zion to ruins. It was just a small town made up of mud houses with a chaotic layout, so it was a good opportunity to tear it down and rebuild it.

The second attack on Zion began on the morning of this day. They arrived outside Zion at dusk the previous day. After a night’s rest and a hot breakfast in the dim morning light, all the troops were ready to go.

In front of the city wall, Aix said to the soldiers of the Redemption Legion who were already eager to try:

"This small town in front of you will be the end of your sins, and also the beginning of your happy life. Conquer it, wash away your sins, conquer it, and become a true citizen of Fort Standstill!"

With a cry of "Ah--", more than 300 well-equipped soldiers of the Redemption Legion took the lead, lined up in neat formation, followed behind the siege tower, marched in neat steps, shouted neat slogans, and pressed towards the trembling City of Zion.

However, Aix had a bad premonition in his heart. Just yesterday evening, after he led his troops to set up camp outside the city, when he was patrolling the barracks at night, there was a loud noise suddenly in the inner city of Zion, and a gorgeous firework was set off in Zion.

You saw it right, it was a firework, the kind of salute-grade firework that cost at least two hundred dollars in the original world. Based on Axe's understanding of this place, this kind of salute-grade firework is no different from seeing UFOs in his original world, it is an impossible thing. This makes Axe feel puzzled and at the same time, he has an inexplicable worry in his heart, always feeling that something bad is about to happen.

However, he soon dispelled his doubts. The siege went surprisingly smoothly. The heavy armored infantry leading the Redemption Legion used a shield formation composed of large broad shields, which had a very good defensive effect. They climbed to the top of the city almost unscathed.

There was only a small incident during this period. The experience of the last defense of Fort Standing seemed to have spread to the city of Zion. The people here seemed to know the role of fire attack in defending the city, and they also prepared a dozen cans of imitation fire oil, which they threw onto the siege tower.

However, the incendiary oil they imitated was extremely poorly flammable. It was probably made from animal fat collected in the city. The flames were not big at all and were quickly extinguished by the covering soil prepared by the siege tower. It did not affect the progress of the siege army at all.

From time to time, cheers could be heard from the city wall. They were made when the soldiers attacking the city used a simple battering ram to destroy a low wall. This meant that the city wall was being breached bit by bit, and the city was about to be captured.

The only thing that worries Aix now is the navy led by Mathilde. At this time, they have not launched a fire attack on the inner city. As a result, the enemy troops in the city have not fallen into the expected chaos. They will probably rely on the narrow streets to carry out successive resistance, and there will be many casualties at that time.

Seeing that the low wall on the city wall had been almost cleared, the Redemption Legion on the city wall could break into the city at any time and start a bloody street fight, and bad things still happened.

Not far away on the seashore, a sloop took advantage of the wind and rushed directly onto the beach without any hesitation.

Several panicked crew members came down from above, pushed aside the soldiers who came to inquire, and ran towards Aix. Before they got close, they shouted a shocking news:

'Fort Standstill was attacked from the sea by a mysterious enemy!'