World-Ending Demon Emperor
Chapter 319 - 182: Defeat was like a collapsing mountain, the last day of Zhi Ning Allied Forces!_2

Chapter 319: 182: Defeat was like a collapsing mountain, the last day of Zhi Ning Allied Forces!_2

"Judging by the speed and power of his arrows, he must be an intermediate-level archer," remarked the Dragon Archer.

Turing Duo exclaimed in shock and anger, "Two Dragon Archers, and you still can’t suppress a single intermediate-level Samurai archer?"

The reality was just that, divine archery talent is against the heavens.

But just Fen Mo alone, being a divine archer, wasn’t enough.

There was still plenty of boiling oil being splashed down, landing on the shields and siege ladders.

Then a fire arrow came down, and instantly, flames roared.

The huge shields burned, the siege ladders burned.

"Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh..."

In the blazing fire, the Samurai holding shields eventually couldn’t bear it, showing slight signs of faltering.

"Bang, bang, bang..."

The terrifying boulders smashed down fiercely, and the Samurais holding shields finally couldn’t withstand it anymore, collapsing and falling from the dozen-meter-high ladder.

Then...

"Swoosh, swoosh, swoosh, swoosh..."

An unending torrent of arrows was shot down, boulders and rolling logs were thrown down, and boiling oil was poured down.

"Ahh..." Screams of agony were incessant.

In just a moment, all the soldiers on that siege ladder perished miserably.

They were either burned to death, crushed, or fell to their deaths.

On each siege ladder, almost all the soldiers were essentially protected by the single shield-bearing Samurai at the front. Once that person fell, basically everyone on that ladder would die.

It was like domino bone tiles; after the first shield-bearing Samurai fell, the second, the third, the fourth, the fifth...

Yan Yan watched helplessly as one shield-bearing Samurai after another fell, as one siege ladder after another was destroyed, as dozens, hundreds of men died.

Yet, not a twitch crossed his eyes.

This was a siege battle, entirely stacked with lives, devoid of any tricks. Whichever side was stronger, less afraid to die would win.

"The second wave, charge!"

At his command, another few hundred strongmen, braving the sky full of arrows, charged with the huge siege ladders.

The earth-shattering sound of war drums continued to deafen.

...

The entirety of Tianlang Pass had turned into a meat grinder.

From midnight into the battle till dawn, then the sun rose, and then it reached midday.

Several hours had passed.

On the battlefield, countless volleys of arrows had been shot, every inch of the ground outside Tianlang Pass was studded with arrows.

Yan Yan had lost track of how many times he ordered to lift ladders for the siege, wave after wave of strongmen rushed up, wave after wave of siege ladders were set up.

One after another, shield-bearing Samurais could no longer hold and fell, then everyone on the siege ladders died.

The pile of corpses below the city walls grew larger and larger.

Hundreds, thousands, two thousand, three thousand...

In the end, there were corpses everywhere.

Yan Yan’s army has never managed to breach those twenty-odd-meter-high walls.

Seeing that this last wave of siege troops was about to fail as well, Yan Yan, his face as cold as iron, said, "Next wave, charge."

Tu An said tremblingly, "My lord, there is no next wave. Almost all of the shield-bearing Samurais are dead in battle, and there are only a few strongmen left."

A twitch crossed Yan Yan’s eye as he demanded, "How many losses?"

"Five thousand," Tu An replied. "We are the elite troops, but with casualties over thirty percent, collapse is imminent. We are field mercenaries, not adept at sieges."

Yan Yan said, "There is nothing about being adept or not. Sieging is about stacking lives."

Tu An said, "However, we don’t have as many men as the enemy. Currently, the enemy inside Tianlang Pass has suffered negligible losses."

Yan Yan sank into silence.

Tu An said, "We should retreat. In a few more hours, Suo Lun’s troops will arrive, and then we can launch another attack."

Yan Yan closed his eyes and said, "No, to retreat now would waste all our previous sacrifices, all our achievements forsaken. Right now, what’s at stake is spirit, is will."

Tu An said, "But, we have no more men. Look at our brothers, too many have died, there’s no morale left."

Yan Yan looked at the surrounding soldiers, indeed every one of their faces was beginning to show terror.

The battle over these few hours was a complete meat grinder; no matter how many Samurais and soldiers were sent up, they all died.

Not one was able to successfully climb the walls!

The remaining ten thousand troops had indeed reached the verge of collapse.

Any army sustaining over thirty percent casualties faces a very deadly consequence. The slightest cause could trigger a major rout.

...

Meanwhile, inside Tianlang Pass, the previous day’s despair was swept away, replaced by an especially rousing spirit.

For the enemy’s waves of attacks had been repelled again and again.

The Linhai Army and the Black Cloth Army were indeed elite; they had repelled how many of Yan Yan’s Army assaults.

Now, the momentum of Yan Yan’s Army had run out, barely organizing new attacks.

This battle truly was terrifying and exhilarating; Yan Yan’s first wave of attacks was so astonishing that it almost breached Tianlang Pass.

It had scared Zhi Ning out of his wits, fearing that Tianlang Pass was about to fall.

Yet, to his surprise, Yan Yan’s first assault was also the only time they came close to the wall. In subsequent attacks, almost none made it up fifteen meters before dying or being utterly devastated.

"What are our casualties?" Zhi Ning asked.

"Under a thousand," Nurdan replied.

"What about the casualties of Yan Yan’s Army?" Zhi Ning asked.

"Over five thousand," Nurdan replied. "With casualties over thirty percent, this battle can no longer be fought; the enemy will retreat soon."

Zhi Ning said with a cold smile, "It seems that the mercenaries truly are not adept at siege warfare. Once Yan Yan retreats, we must immediately send out our elite to pursue and kill them. By then, Yan Yan’s defeat will be as crushing as a landslide."