What did you do with the dice?

Finally, he was the defender. In a town with stone walls and iron gates, the enemy had only 100 people and didn't even have siege equipment. Ono put himself in their shoes and realized that if it were him, he wouldn't be able to stop such an army from taking the city.

The time, the place, and the people are all favorable. As long as he, the commander, does not give blind orders, he will not lose even if he gives orders like "hold the city wall", "shoot arrows", "keep shooting arrows", "hold on", "Pikachu, get out of the way".

Even their own support is right next door. His team was sent here at the behest of the upper echelons of Esdi, which means that the people they are connecting with here must also be the top leaders of Sinidi. Although Lord Zhulei is only a baron on the surface, Ono still understands the principle of hiding in the city.

It's just a small squad of light cavalry. Zhulei Territory can take it down no matter what. It just depends on my attitude. I estimate that I only need to hold on for a few days and the reinforcements will arrive.

He had never fought a battle in which he had never expected to lose, and for a moment, Ono, who was used to life and death, felt a little uncomfortable.

The only variable is that there are extraordinary people or wizards in the opposing team, and they must be of a fairly high level, at least able to blow a hole in the city wall alone, and then quickly clear the chevaux de frise traps to clear the way for the cavalry.

Even if there really is such a person, he is a rare sight in the Viscountry.

Everything he thought was correct, the only mistake he made was mistaking Rusalka for a vassal of the boss.

Now Rusalka, accompanied by Sanita, is carefully selecting 10 light infantrymen to accompany him in the battle.

Those who were refugees were all very active. Among them, those mercenaries who had been living on the edge of life and had drifted here because their teams were wiped out or disbanded were even more eager to show themselves.

They are completely different from the indifferent natives in Zhulei Town who just want to be security guards and make a living. They have a feeling of not fearing death at all. The Sani Iron Tower can only be attributed to the difference in living environment.

Sanita finally followed Custer's advice and brought nine other people who were said to be smart and agile to follow him.

Following Sanitta's words, Rusalka said to Custer, "This time, I don't ask you to engage the enemy head-on. That's my responsibility."

Huh? You're in charge of combat? Then why are you training guards?

Sometimes, Caster wondered. He'd heard that the nobles of the neighboring Kingdom of Snidi fought behind the scenes, but why was he always the first to charge into Rusalka's ranks? And it was said he was incredibly aggressive. Before he arrived, he'd braved the fire of a dozen crossbows and chased down hundreds of guards (according to Clown).

Kaster didn't think it was all bragging, because he had personally seen in the duel arena that Rukasha killed without hesitation the demon believer who he might not have been able to defeat even in his prime. The demon believer also personally confirmed it, saying that Rukasha was at least at the level of a paladin captain.

The captain's statement was rather vague, probably about the level of a formal member of the Royal Guards, but that was before the battle. Given that the certified technicians are all dead, it would be more accurate to raise it one or two levels higher.

And from Rusalka's words, it can be seen that his firm belief in himself has enabled him to master such a powerful holy light power, so both his physical and mental strength are unimaginable to Skat. As a reserve soldier, he is definitely no match for Rusalka.

He even felt that Rusalka had let him win on purpose in the previous duel in order to comfort him and make him realize that his martial arts skills were not rusty and that he would be happier.

However, someone of Rusalka's stature, I heard, only managed to become a baron. In Esdi parlance, that's roughly equivalent to being the Patriarch of a small town church? In other words, not even reaching the level of a bishop?

This is terrifying. Is the threshold to becoming a Grand Knight in the Kingdom of Sinidi so high? It turns out that the intelligence from the Kingdom of Esidi was wrong and underestimated the nobles of Sinidi.

----

A day later, the light cavalry squad arrived near the town of Ropa, where martial law had been declared and the town gates had been closed.

The leader of this team was a heavy cavalryman whose configuration was different from that of the cavalrymen around him. He was covered in heavy armor and wore a visor-covered helmet. The mount he rode was not an ordinary warhorse, but an eight-legged monster that looked a bit like a tall-legged spider.

It was Viscount Consnat's second son, Consnat Flameheart, a great knight who, like Rusalka, had a title bestowed by the kingdom.

A cavalryman rode up to the town wall and shouted, "Listen up, town leaders! We are the White Horse Rangers under Viscount Conesnat. Following the Viscount's orders, we formally demand from Baron Rusalka that you withdraw from Ropa Town and return all Ropa family territories within one day."

Knight Honor waved his hand, silencing the recruits around him, and shouted, "What if we don't agree?"

"Then accept this letter of challenge."

The cavalry tied a letter to an arrow, drew their bows and shot the arrow, which was nailed to the battlement.

A hanging basket was also lowered here, and a person was transported down to retrieve the letter of challenge.

"You have one day to think carefully, otherwise you will face the Viscount's wrath and our swords."

After saying this, the cavalryman rode his horse back to the team.

Knight Honor didn't even bother to read it. He turned around, tore up the letter of challenge, and burned it. He then said to a soldier beside him, also wearing a white cloak, "Deputy Commander, pass the order down. Martial law will be imposed on all troops. Each of the four squads will defend the city walls. The order remains unchanged. Also, check the defense equipment to make sure it's all usable. If there aren't enough, please report it in advance."

"Yes, Captain." The other party was also a young man. He saluted hurriedly and turned around to run around to pass on the order.

----

Seeing that the town was silent and more and more people were on the city wall, the cavalry captain with a red tassel on his head rode up to the giant spider and said, "Second Young Master, it seems that the other side is not willing to surrender. Do you want to attack directly?"

The heavily armored man on the spider said in a deep voice: "Don't call me Second Young Master when we are marching or fighting. Call me Commander."

"Okay, sir, please give your instructions."

"The scouts will be divided into two groups. One will return to meet the infantry transport team, and the other will head to the mine entrance to guard. Rusalka will definitely lead troops to support them. The mine is the only way between Pearl Tear Territory and Ropa Territory. We will set up camp here. If there is any movement over there, we will prioritize intercepting Rusalka's group."

"Sir, could we attack the town first to test its strength?"

"The declaration of war says tomorrow, so tomorrow is tomorrow. I am a great knight, and whether in duel or battle, I will conquer my opponent in an honest way."

"But sir, before we..."

"Don't tell me what you should have done before. Now, I am your commander. Do you have any questions?"

A hint of dissatisfaction flashed in the captain's eyes, but the higher-ranking officer was more powerful than the other. "No, I'll do whatever you say."

Yan Xin said coldly: "Then go and carry out the order."

After waiting for several hours, Knight Honor felt very strange when he saw that the enemy was starting to set up camp outside the range. Logically speaking, the greatest advantage of the Rangers was their mobility, and catching the enemy off guard was their best tactic. Even if it was difficult to capture the city wall with cavalry, harassing and shooting arrows, preventing the enemy from arranging defensive equipment on the battlements, and building more battlements so that the enemy would not dare to climb the city rashly, was what the Rangers should do immediately after arriving.

The other side said they would attack in one day, but Ono certainly didn't believe such nonsense. Most of the battlefields he had experienced were battles with evil creatures or pagans. There were never any rules, and victory was decided only by life and death.

"Commander, it looks like the enemy is planning to set up camp. Should we still impose martial law?"

Ono thought about it and felt that he might have really met a fool, but for the sake of safety, he still remained on guard: "Have the sentries continue to stay on the city wall, and the others go down to rest. Don't remove the shields and other equipment that have been deployed, and leave them on the city wall."

"Ok."

----

As evening approached, the small force of the Pearl Tear Territory was about to cross the valley.

Following the instructions of Sanita, Rukasha ordered a halt to the march.

Since there were not many people, he just made a gesture to stop the two carriages.

The next step is to set up camp and rest on the spot.

It was still early and daylight, but why did they go to bed so early? Rusalka didn't quite understand what Sanita meant.

Sanita: (If I were the enemy commander, as long as I was still sane, I would send sentries to seal the valley exit. We can only go to support Lord Luopa in a carriage, which is very obvious and easy to expose. Once exposed, it will be troublesome. The enemy cavalry will definitely turn around and attack us. The valley is open, and the only way to escape is to hide in the mines, which is quite embarrassing.

If we choose to abandon the carriage and walk from the valley entrance to Ropa Town, although there are ways to circumvent the sentries, it will still take at least three days, which is definitely too late.)

Rusalka: (What do you mean?)

Sanita: (If we rush to the enemy camp by carriage, we can reach the vicinity of Luopa Town in one day by taking a detour. It's too risky to act during the day, so we must quietly eliminate the sentries here tonight.)

Rusalka: (You say that easily. The sentries are probably hiding in the miners' area near the mine. We might run into them if we go further into the cargo area. We don't know them, so how can we get rid of them?)

Sanita: (Why not try asking the almighty Phoenix?)

Rusalka: (Huh? Okay, I'll ask tonight.)

So that night, as the night deepened and the bonfire dimmed, the timing was perfect. Rukasa pulled open the curtain of the carriage and said to Phoenix, who was sitting inside with her eyes closed, "Phoenix, are you still awake?"

Phoenix opened her golden eyes, which looked particularly bright in the dark carriage. "What's wrong?"

Rusalka then asked her if she could help get rid of the enemy sentries here.

To be honest, this was the first time Rusalka had ever heard such a request. He almost wanted to laugh after saying it. It was like Party A saying to Party B, "I have a brilliant idea. Let me draw a diagram, and you build this perpetual motion machine for me."

Anyway, it has the same purpose as the "settlement design" of the Sunny Tower, and the main feature is freedom.

Rusalka, who was originally planning to accept Phoenix's question "Are you kidding?", saw Phoenix nodded and said "OK", and then the golden eyes were gradually obscured by darkness.

Finally, her body seemed to blend into the darkness and disappeared into the carriage.

"Is it reliable?" Rusalka asked Sanitta in a low voice after returning to the tent. To be honest, he felt that he was very unreliable. It was hard for him to imagine whether Phoenix, who received an unreliable order, could be reliable.

Sanitta didn't answer him, but nodded to show that he believed Phoenix.

The next morning, when the dew had just wet the leaves and the sun was still dozing in the morning mist, Phoenix returned to the caravan, said "It's solved" to Rusalka, and closed his eyes to continue sleeping.

So the convoy continued to move forward. When passing by the miners' gathering place, they found that there were many people gathered there, with frightened expressions on their faces, and seemed to be discussing something.

Before Rusalka could hear what they said, the carriage sped past.

The nearby Sanita said to him: (I selected the familiar talent and shared intelligence with it last night. A total of 10 people died here, 4 of whom were spies.)

Rusalka: (How do you know it's 4?)

Sani Iron Tower: (Because there are only four war horses nearby, the difference between the miners' pack horses and the war horses can be seen at a glance. The scouts left the horses in the horse stallion area, so the number of people must still be one-to-one.)

Rusalka: (What about the other six?)

Sanita: (Don’t ask me about this. It’s best if I don’t know.)

Rusalka: (What the hell? Tell me, don’t force me to open your mouth with a magic explosion.)

Sanita: (I'll ask you again, are you sure you really want to listen?)

Rusalka: (Every time DM asks me this, I know that my actions will definitely lead to bad things. He is helping me, but I am quite rebellious. I want to know what bad things can happen from this. Come on, I am sure, tell me.)

Sanita: (Oh, okay, Phoenix must have killed these six people by mistake. They might have been chatting with the spy or had contact with him before, so he killed them all at once.)

Rusalka: (Huh?)

Sunita: (What are you doing? You wanted to hear this yourself. Besides, Phoenix is ​​just like that. Steamed bun, you’re not convinced? How about you go out now and sentence Maomao to death? Hang her up?)

Sure enough, the more you know, the less happy you are.

So Rusalka mourned for those poor people in her heart for a few seconds and pretended that she didn't know.

Chapter 44 Raid

At noon the next day, accompanied by a loud military bugle call, the chaotic sound of horses' hooves trampling across the plain became louder and louder.

The Rangers finally launched their attack.

Perhaps a war did not require any atmosphere to be created. Everything proceeded step by step. When the enemy entered the effective shooting range of 50 meters, countless arrows and rubble flew down from the city wall.

Of course, the light cavalry simply raised their light shields and casually knocked down these attacks that were neither accurate nor powerful enough. Then they drew their bows and arrows, ignited flames on the arrowheads coated with grease and burning materials, and shot countless flaming arrows at the battlements.

Most of the city walls were made of mixed wood materials, as were the city defense equipment. The attackers did not expect the flames to kill the enemy, they only needed to destroy the equipment and raise smoke to interfere with the defenders' vision.

"Logistics troops, quickly put out the fire. Call in the reserves from other garrisons to support the main gate. Evacuate the wounded and prioritize rescuing your teammates. Move! At the fourth sector wall, don't throw stones. They're ineffective at this distance. Shoot arrows instead! At the second sector wall, cease attacking. Prioritize extinguishing the flames. Don't let them ignite the hot oil."

Ono's command was effective, but he himself felt an unprecedented boredom.

A battlefield like this is like returning to my youth and participating in simulated combat exercises at the Non-commissioned Officer Academy.

Long-range harassment, transporting the wounded, returning to the front line, everyone fought each other with weapons made of rubber, with red ink bags hanging on their bodies. Students whose bags were shot through had to lie on the ground and wait for the students next to them to drag them back to their own safe zone, and then hang new bags on them before they were considered successfully treated, and then they could return to the "battlefield".

At that time, I was very excited after winning the game. I thought I would be a very good soldier or even a commander. However, when I actually joined the Knights Templar, I watched my comrades die one after another on the battlefield. I experienced the real life-and-death struggle. After struggling on the brink of death, I was forced to choose between saving my own life and rescuing my teammates. Only then did I realize that the battlefield was not a joke.

But now, the opponent's attack was very textbook. After a round of rockets, they immediately launched an echelon-style rain of arrows. The cavalry interspersed and shot arrows in a roundabout way, trying to stay away from the effective killing range while harassing the defenders as much as possible, paving the way for the infantry's attack.

But this is wrong. This textbook cavalry siege method requires the coordination and cooperation of infantry to be effective. No matter how Ono looks at it, it doesn't look like there are infantry.

But they are not considered infantry just because they dismount. Infantry troops must at least wear light armor to protect themselves from stray arrows and flying stones, and carry shields so that they can get close to the city walls and set up ladders.

Not to mention wearing armor, there is not even a trace of ladders. How can such an army fight a siege?

Besides, when you are outside the effective killing range, long-range attacks are even less likely to be fatal to the defenders who are already standing on a more advantageous high ground.

Although the recruits and militiamen were unfamiliar with each other and some were often accidentally injured by the rain of arrows, the injuries they sustained were very textbook-like - not fatal.

Ono also discovered that most of the wounded were actually able to move on their own, but because of the fear and pain stress of their first injury, they were lying on the ground twitching and unable to move. He wanted to go over and kick them, telling them that they could move on their own and stopped pretending to be dead.

But this did not prevent the new recruits under his command from reacting like a conditioned reflex. They would immediately rush forward and drag them behind the battlements, and then call for a teammate to come over and hold up a shield for cover, and then use the weak holy light they had just awakened to heal their wounds and finally bandage them.

The handling here was also very textbook. Ono thought: If it were on the front battlefield, this behavior would be like giving away three lives. Two living forces would be wasted for a wounded soldier who fell to the ground due to fear and had no short-term rescue value. Perhaps in the school's simulated combat, it could get a high team performance score, but it is quite inappropriate on the ever-changing battlefield.

"The enemy's momentum hasn't weakened, and the rescue of the wounded is very orderly. It seems that they have received formal combat training." Yan Xin calculated the frequency of counterattacks on the city wall and said in a low voice: "I haven't heard of any news of mercenaries being hired recently. I wonder where Rusalka found such a city defense force? Or did he bring troops from the Pearl Tear Territory?"

"Sir, I'd like to remind you that we have no infantry. If the enemy chooses to resist stubbornly, this harassment will have no practical results. There's no breach through the main gate, but the town's western wall is slightly tilted, with numerous cracks that can be climbed. The enemy is now concentrating at the front. Should we move the reserve troops to the west?"

"Let's retreat first. Try to recover all the usable arrows. Let the wounded go back to rest. Their arrows and supplies are not endless."

The adjutant really wanted to say that if they retreated, it would mean that the previous half-hour fight had been in vain. The best way now was to launch a sudden attack on the west side to determine whether the enemy's garrison was sufficient. If the enemy had not discovered it, perhaps they could take the opportunity to find a loophole and sneak into the town.

As long as we find a way to open the town gate, we will win.

But due to Yan Xin's arrogance, he did not say these words in the end, but just silently obeyed the order.

Although I feel helpless, there is no way my side will lose. Let the commander be a little stupid.

This wave of harassment lasted only half an hour, and the defenders of the town suffered no casualties, only some minor injuries.

Although there were no casualties among the cavalry, there were five wounded soldiers and three horses were unfortunately shot and killed by arrows.

"Master, have we won?"

"It's early." Facing the excited adjutant, Ono sighed, "This can't even be called a battle. Let's take a break. The enemy is just testing our resolve to defend the city. Besides, they suffered no casualties, while we wasted a lot of arrows. Don't get complacent. Go count the losses."