Steel, Explosives, and Spellcasters

Chapter 812 812 78 Dagger Revealed_3

?Chapter 812: Chapter 78: Dagger Revealed_3 Chapter 812: Chapter 78: Dagger Revealed_3 The Terdun people, having been frustrated in their assault on the second defensive line, had specifically crafted siege ladders targeting the weakness of the Shield wall—the low wall height.

Dozens of Terdun warriors arranged themselves into a shield wall formation, laboriously carrying large shields that could block arrows as they slowly advanced toward the trench.

Bows and arrows couldn’t penetrate the wooden shields, and even lead shot would get stuck in the wood. Lacking the angled structures of the Bastion, the defenders of the Shield wall could only watch helplessly as the shield wall formation drew nearer to the trench.

When the advance reached within five steps of the trench, the sides of the shield wall formation opened up, and two teams of Terdun warriors, lifting the siege ladders and shouting, charged toward the Shield wall.

Other Terdun people used the large shields as cover to shoot arrows at the defenders.

The Shield wall was only two meters high, and the siege ladders easily rested against the wall top, even bridging the trench in one stride.

The soldiers defending the Shield wall, armed with battle-axes and pushing poles, tried desperately to chop down or topple the siege ladders.

The instant the shield wall formation opened, Tamas, commanding despite an injured arm and a high fever, shouted orders: “Throw!”

The grenadiers, having waited for a long time, first lit the fuses, then stuffed the lit end into grenades, and hurled them fiercely at the Terdun people’s shields.

Winters had always used “insert the fuse first, then light it” for grenades. Elite soldiers who had undergone extensive training probably wouldn’t have any issues with this method.

However, when grenades were distributed to the militia, the tactic of “insert the fuse first, then light it” caused a series of accidents.

Some militiamen, in their panic, even threw grenades that hadn’t been lit, which were picked up by Terdun people and thrown back onto the heads of the Iron Peak County people.

After a costly lesson in blood, the grenadiers completely changed their throwing procedure to “light the fuse first, then insert it.”

Hissing grenades flew toward the shield wall formation.

One grenade hit a shield and rolled, gurgling, into the trench;
A lucky grenade flew through the gaps between the shields into the crowd;
More grenades were not thrown directly at the shields but targeted the recently opened, unprotected flanks of the shield wall formation.

The Terdun people didn’t hesitate, either stepping on the fuses or chopping at them with knives, quickly extinguishing them.

The bipeds’ firepower is formidable—the Terdun people already had a clear understanding of this.

Especially the “black thunder” just thrown, which exploded like a roar of thunder, “shattering men and horses alike”; they had suffered many losses during the assault on the second defensive line.

As the people of Iron Peak County paid tuition in blood, the Terdun people were also learning at the cost of lives, both sides forced by war to rapidly advance in the craft of killing each other.

Tamas saw it clearly, some Terdun people even carried water bags, immediately dousing any incoming grenades with water, causing the grenades to fail to explode.

Tamas, pounding his thigh furiously, bellowed orders: “Cut the fuses in half! Wait for my command to throw!”

Just then, a sudden commotion erupted from the shield wall formation, and Terdun people started jumping out as if running for their lives.

The lucky grenade that had flown into the shield formation would have met the same fate of being extinguished, if not for a dark-faced Terdun warrior who acted quickly, drawing a knife and slashing at the powder cord.

However, it was too crowded inside the shield wall, and the knife’s tassel was accidentally snagged by someone else’s belt.

The dark-faced Terdun warrior yanked his knife hard, but the powder cord had almost burned up in the blink of an eye—it was too late.

The dark-faced Terdun warrior recoiled in terror, shouting, “Herde Language: Black thunder! Black thunder!”

When the other Terdun warriors heard these words, they let out the agonized cries of mortally wounded beasts, shrinking their necks, abandoning their large shields, and fleeing heedlessly into the distance.

The dark-faced Terdun warrior watched in despair as the fuse continued to burn into the “black thunder.” After a brief moment of delay, the black thunder exploded under his gaze.

A large shield was blown away by the blast wave, and within two meters of the explosion’s epicenter, it was a bloody mess.

The dark-faced Terdun warrior had both legs blown off, and his breastplate revealed several dents. Coughing up blood, he couldn’t even make a sound, only whimpering intermittently.

Several more “black thunders” were thrown in, and the dark-faced Terdun warrior, thinking of the faces of his mother and son, closed his eyes.

Of course, Tamas wouldn’t miss such an opportunity; he yelled hoarsely, “Fire! Arrows! Hit them hard!”

More grenades, lead shot, and arrows flew into the shield formation from the breach, stirring up the bloody debris.

The Terdun people’s first assault was repelled, and immediately their commander sent out another hundred-man team with more large shields and siege ladders for a second assault.

After being vigorously repelled a second time, the Terdun people sent in the third hundred-man team, and then the fourth.

During the fifth assault, the Terdun people committed all their forces.

In the previous four attacks, they had already climbed over the Shield wall, turning the fight into close-quarters combat.

It was Tamas who eventually opened a secret gate, leading a cavalry charge from behind the Shield wall, sweeping from the flank and cutting off the enemies outside the wall that drove back the Terdun people.

Facing the fifth assault, Tamas was already prepared to retreat to the next line of defense.

However, the Terdun people retreated.

At the same time, three kilometers to the north of Tamas’s Fortress, another valley passable by a large army.

The son of Tie Chi, his armor stained with blood, was directing his troops to dismantle the Shield wall.

The Terdun people advanced and retreated three times, not waiting for a fourth assault before the defending Paratu People abandoned their positions, retreating along the valley.

Tie Chi was growing older and fatter, no longer able to take to the field.