Chapter 157: The Defense of Brandenburg — Rain

After the enemies quickened their pace and closed the distance, George finally managed to see what they looked like and how they were dressed. These men had long hair woven with red threads into braids that were coiled on top of their heads, looking quite strange. In fact, if a young girl had worn such a hairstyle, it might have looked quite exotic and charming. But on these rough, fleshy men, some of whom looked greasy from years of not bathing, it was absolutely disgusting!

Of course, not everyone left their hair exposed; some wore caps made of deer skin or felt. To call them armor was a stretch, though. While these hats offered little protection on the battlefield, they provided quite good warmth on the frozen grasslands of winter.

Seeing this, George felt the cold north wind blowing down from the valley, and he realized all the heat from his head was escaping through his metal helmet. While this wouldn’t affect his actions, the feeling was like sticking his head into icy water on a freezing day, which was terrible.

The loose-fitting, high-collared clothes they wore were mostly made of animal skin. Although they were far away, George could tell the knitting was quite fine with his sharp eyes. However, George clearly noticed that since they lacked buttons, their clothes were held together by a single belt. Especially when they ran, the front flaps of their clothes flapped out noticeably.

These running men carried nothing but wooden shields held at a slant in their hands. However, the bags on their backs showed their purpose: to fill the moat.

These barbarian suicide squads must have had very low status in their own tribes. Apart from their wooden shields, they had no other defense, so their casualty rate was something ordinary people could hardly imagine.

However, the distance between these barbarians was quite wide, forming a loose line like skirmishers. This made a covering rain of arrows useless—the cost was simply too high. Facing this situation, they had to save their arrows until the next wave arrived.

Standing on the city wall, George waved his hand and said, “Archers and crossbowmen, prepare. Everyone else put down your bows. If you have a free hand, help load the crossbows.”

“George, what are you doing?” Hiren asked, confused by this sudden move.

“There are too many enemies, and it’s likely this won’t be the only battlefield for the Duchy soon. Whether reinforcements can arrive in time is still unknown,” George sighed. “I spoke with Knight Val last night. According to the news he got from Baron Garfield this morning, the situation doesn’t look good at all!”

“Aren’t arrows replenished in large quantities every autumn? Just take last year as an example. Even without the Duchy’s help, Brandenburg still had arrows left until the battle ended,” Hiren said confidently based on his past experience.

George rubbed his head helplessly and said, “Then tell me, what is the biggest difference between this year’s barbarian invasion and last year?”

“The biggest difference? Of course, there are more than double the number of barbarians compared to last year!” As soon as Hiren finished speaking, he realized how stupid his question was.

He scratched his head awkwardly and gave a slightly clever but still honest smile. “Sorry, I just didn’t think of that part before.”

“Never mind, I’m used to you acting like this. But I hope you’ll stop doing it in the future,” George said. He casually took a composite longbow from the bow rack nearby and tossed it to Hiren. “Your archery skills weren’t as good as mine before, but they were close to Craig’s by now, maybe even better than mine. So don’t just sit there. Kill a few more barbarians now, and you might save effort later.”

Hiren caught the composite longbow that was tossed in mid-air, then gave a goofy smile. “I’ll listen to you.”

Through the cross-shaped viewing port in the recently installed watchtower, George noticed the barbarians were almost within the range of his bow and crossbows. He drew his longbow, placing the tip of the arrow slightly into the aiming hole. He constantly adjusted his angle based on the targets he saw, as well as estimating the wind speed, wind direction, and the effects of gravity.

When the barbarians came within 150 feet, George shouted loudly, “Everyone, hunt freely. Try not to target the same person. Make sure every arrow of ours hits a barbarian’s forehead or butt.”

With his rough but sensible words, a hundred arrows flew out over this section of the Bolerum Territory, scattering like flying locusts onto the heads of different barbarians.

These arrows flew toward the barbarians with a whistling sound. Their triangular arrowheads were very aerodynamic. If not for the headwind, they could maintain enough killing power even when shot 300 feet from this watchtower.

However, not every arrow hit its mark. This wasn’t like before when I was a sniper with a heavy sniper rifle costing over 200,000 units. Even these specially trained elite archers missed about half their arrows.

As for George, his luck wasn’t great either. Although he hit his target, the arrow stuck in the shield the enemy raised. Although his strong force pierced the shield and split the poor-quality item in half, the arrow stuck in the enemy’s arm didn’t seem to affect his next move after all this weakening.

In fact, unless a vital spot is hit for an instant kill, it is hard for arrows to disable an enemy immediately on the battlefield. However, the pain they cause can effectively weaken the enemy’s morale and fighting power.

Furthermore, the treatment of arrow wounds and potential infections will further increase the enemy’s combat losses. Unless they are willing to use large amounts of Alchemy Potions or Divine Arts. But judging by these barbarians, neither condition is met for large-scale use. Many armies don’t even have such conditions.

Apart from this section of Bolerum Territory, a large number of arrows also flew out from the other sections of the city walls and the watchtowers of the arrow towers. Like George, they decided not to use large-scale covering fire but adopted this sniper-style hunting method. This gave George a feeling that heroes often share the same ideas.

Even after ten rounds of volleys took down more than a hundred barbarians, leaving countless others wounded, it still didn’t stop the enemy’s advance. The barbarians behind stepped over the bodies of their fallen comrades, looking like they were moving forward without any hesitation. They quickly reached the moat by the city wall, dropped the bags they were carrying, and ran back.

This cycle repeated. Even under the fierce attack of the archers on the wall, they rushed forward regardless of life and death. Seeing something was wrong, George put down his longbow, which had hit ten out of eight targets and knocked four down. He looked at those barbarians who could be described as throwing themselves forward one after another with a strange expression.

Seeing George suddenly stop his attack, Hiren asked curiously, “George, why did you stop?”

“Hiren, how many times have you come to Brandenburg to guard the border in the past few years?” George didn’t answer directly but asked this question instead.

Hiren answered without thinking, “This is the second time. Because I always came with my father before.”

“Then in these past two times, have you ever seen the barbarians show this reckless behavior in front of us?” George asked in confusion.

“These barbarians sent to fill the ditches, even if they are criminals from their tribes or slaves after tribal annexation wars, if they dare to shrink back here without completing the mission, even if they escape with their lives, they will be executed when they return,” Knight Val, who had arrived by the group without them noticing, answered George.

“But even if they suppress their fear psychologically, won’t their physical movements still show some hesitation due to subconscious influence? But look at those barbarians responsible for carrying dirt to fill the ditches. Where can you see any reaction that should be there? If they were elite soldiers that tribal chiefs could trust, maybe there’s a possibility. But if they are criminals or slaves, I don’t believe they would serve the people who enslave them from their hearts,” George spoke very bluntly, with none of the rhetoric a Noble should have.

“Wait! Wait! Let me look,” Val said, bending down and sticking his head into the viewing port of the watchtower.

At the same time, the archers who had shot about 20 arrows stopped their actions and began to gently shake their shoulders and arms. This was a brief rest. If those archers wanted to keep their shooting careers for a long time, this adjustment was absolutely necessary.

As for the crossbowmen, although their shooting speed was slow if they did it themselves, with others helping to load the strings and having enough crossbows to replace them, they could still maintain a striking frequency not much worse than the archers. In fact, they had an advantage in duration, since the physical labor was shared by different people.

After watching a group of barbarian earth-fillers, Knight Val turned around and said, “There is indeed a problem here. I don’t know if they used a potion or if it was the magic of a barbarian Shaman or a medicine man. In any case, this phenomenon is exactly as George said, quite abnormal. By the way, George, your eyesight is really getting better and better.”

“If what Mr. Val said is true, using such a large-scale spell on these support staff, and with such a long duration, don’t you think the cost paid by the enemy is too high? It’s not just a matter of casting materials; gathering so many casters in the first place is a huge problem,” George was confused by this situation.

“Sacrifice! The barbarians performed a living sacrifice to their Great Spirit or Totem God to gain this power. However, since the enemy is still on the grasslands, we have no good way to deal with it,” Knight Val said, frowning himself.

Since the Great Spirit and Totem Gods were not True Gods, not even demigods, the range of their power was limited to the grasslands. This is why those barbarians became much stronger on the grasslands. It wasn’t just because the grassland environment suited their fighting style, but also the effect of these supernatural abilities.

Although spells like Dispel Magic could easily remove the effects on those barbarians, no one would do it. Just like George suspected earlier, the cost and benefit were too disproportionate.

“Woo-woo-woo-woo-” Just when both Knight Val and George were at a loss, a horn sound came from the enemy camp. It was clear this was not the signal for a general attack.

Through the viewing port of the watchtower, George could see those barbarians. Whether they had already dropped their backpacks and returned, or were carrying backpacks and ran halfway, they were all running back happily. Their speed seemed even faster than when they came to fill the river. At the same time, there were over a thousand corpses left behind, and the number of wounded was several times that.

“It seems the spell time has run out,” Knight Val gave this answer after seeing the situation.

Looking at the moat that was less than one-tenth filled, George thought for a moment and said, “It must be so. But with such losses, the enemy must be in pain too. Excluding those who died directly, if half of those who return survive, that’s already good. Even if the barbarians treat this batch as slaves, that’s still a huge amount of wealth!”

“Based on my experience, the slaves brought by the enemy this time will suffer losses of about one-tenth of the total after this battle,” Knight Val said with a very optimistic tone, a smile appearing on his face.

Taking advantage of this time when the enemy began to lower their flags and stop fighting, George and his men quickly arranged for the missed lunch. In such cold weather, after a bowl of hot soup, George felt warm all over. However, without normal trade, there were no fresh meats or leafy green vegetables in the food. Only dried meat, salted meat, onions, radishes, and potatoes.

As for soybeans, they were only grown in the Bolerum Territory within the entire Duchy of Nohan. There wasn’t even enough to make soy sauce, let alone bring them to Brandenburg. Black beans were excellent horse feed here, so George couldn’t ask to eat them. As for spices, George hadn’t seen any since he arrived in Brandenburg.

At sunset, the sky was beautifully colored by the sun. Unfortunately, due to the valley’s obstruction, George couldn’t see the beautiful sunset. However, the weather on the grasslands changed like a girl’s heart, shifting eighteen times a day. The sun that had just turned half the sky red disappeared in an instant. Dark clouds rolled in from the horizon like a tide, followed by pitch-black skies. The heavy air predicted the coming storm.

The pouring rain not only blocked people’s vision but also affected the light in Brandenburg. Soon, torches were lit in various places within the fortress, but the situation outside remained unclear. Suddenly, a dazzling flash of light cut through the clouds. The fangs of lightning pierced the hills in the east. In that instant, all the defenders saw a nightmare scene below like broad daylight: the ground was crowded with black figures, some short and fat, some tall and strong, wearing helmets and black shields. Thousands of enemies kept surging toward the moat, pouring and throwing something into it. This black wave splashed all the way to the cliffs on both sides. Lightning rolled in the valley, and the heavy rain fell mercilessly.

George and others, who hadn’t paid attention before, suddenly turned pale after hearing the report from the Guard. Several people rushed to the viewing ports to learn about the situation outside. Immediately, Knight Val left this section of the defense area. It looked like he went to negotiate with other Knights about this matter.

“Alright, boys, get up. I know you can’t see outside,” George said before he finished his sentence. Water seeping from the watchtower above dripped onto George’s helmet, making a crisp sound.

George ignored it. “Just shoot as I tell you. I’ll guide you. Do you understand?”

“We understand!” George received a very enthusiastic reply.

“One hundred twenty feet ahead, fire!” With George’s voice, the trained shooters among the defenders of Bolerum Territory responded with their actions.

In an instant, more than ten people in the densest crowd within the bow and crossbow range fell. The entire filling work in this section stopped instantly. The barbarians, realizing their plan was discovered, simply beat their War Drums and got ready to rush the attack.

The unified response of the Brandenburg defenders soon appeared. A dense rain of arrows fell from the city wall. As a large number of people fell, the attackers hesitated for a moment, their formation broke, and they had to turn and run. Soon after, they regrouped, only to be driven away by the rain of arrows again, repeating this cycle. Each wave they formed raised the moat by a few inches or centimeters.

At the same time, behind the fillers, a group of barbarian archists swarmed forward, preparing to suppress the defenders on the wall. Unfortunately, a rain of arrows as dense as the heavy rain was aimed at the city wall. Even though most were blocked by the solid rocks and the strong Ebony watchtowers, only a very few hit their targets.