Just as the knight Dre and Earl Gruenward expected, Princess Azona, who had the full support of Roden Rose, was really wealthy, and with a wave of her hand, she hired all the mercenaries in the city, and she didn't mean to worry about money at all.

"Hmph, it's just a rabble. On the outer wall of Uxhall, the commander of the Otlanji Brigade, Joljo, looked at the motley army marching towards the enemy garrison under the city, and said disdainfully to the Swadian overseers beside him, "This kind of garbage, ten times more will not be able to shake our defenses." ”

The Overseer was also a wonderful person, and immediately patted his ass and said, "Of course, your name is like thunder, Commander, I guess those miscellaneous people will be scared when they hear your name!"

"Hahahaha" both laughed at the same time.

To be honest, the noble-born Overseer still likes this captain. This heroic middle-aged man is very cheerful, even to the Overseer in charge of surveillance, he once reprimanded those killers when he was bullied by those mercenaries, "Although he is not one of ours, he is going to fight side by side, and they are all brothers who want to be friends with each other." Tell me, do you treat your brother like you?"

Just this sentence made the Overseer's favorability explode. Later, the Overseer learned that the regimental commander was also from a noble background, but after the collapse of the Great Empire, their family's territory of Fort Otlanji was destroyed in the war, and the lord at that time had no choice but to take a group of retainers who were unwilling to betray him and set up the Otlanji Brigade. And now, when the brigade passed into Jolcho's hands, it was already one of the largest mercenary groups. It's no wonder that the Overseers feel that they are quite close to the commander, they are both nobles, so they can talk about it. Thinking about his colleagues who had been squeezed to death in the other three mercenary groups, he couldn't help but thank the main god Merandor once again for giving him such a talkative leader.

The Asona army at the bottom of the hill made a decisive attack after a little preparation. To be honest, there isn't much time left for them. It was more important to ensure the safety of Uxhall than to deter the Salanders at Fort Gruenward. Therefore, it is conceivable that once the front knows that Uxhall is besieged, he will not hesitate to come to the rescue, and at that time, he will be attacked on his back.

The trebuchets and crash parts that had been built long ago were quickly unloaded from the flatbed trucks and quickly assembled, and soon the city of Uxhall was in the first rain of bullets. Asona used a gravel bullet, which was to stuff a large pile of gravel into the net pocket of the trebuchet and throw it out in a single post, which was a method of killing infantry on the wall. It's just that these stones don't seem to be of much use. Whether it is the Aotranji Brigade or the Beacon Mercenary Regiment, the protection is relatively complete, with shields and helmets in the way, and it is difficult for these small stones to cause effective damage. The Clippers were originally a pirates, and later found an opportunity to wash their hands and do serious business, so their armor was lighter, but there were not many casualties. As for the Great Sword Regiment, I don't know why, according to the information of those mercenaries who joined the gang, it seems that they did not appear on the wall.

Actually, it wasn't that Esona didn't want to use the solid bullets used to smash the city walls, but Uxhall's defense was too meticulous, and there was not a single stone of the right size on the entire hillside. If you really want to get a useful stone, you will have to dig three feet into the ground first.

After a round of stone-throwing attacks, a large group of stragglers began to charge towards the city, carrying ladders. Because of this battle, both sides hired a large number of mercenaries, and in order to distinguish their identities, Asona prepared a large number of red cloth bands for the mercenaries to tie on their arms. However, this did not help their ability at all, and at the head of the city, Commander Joljo once again showed that disdainful expression, "Cut, even a stormtrooper formation is not good." The crossbow team stepped forward and shot Lao Tzu hard!"

Behind the battlements, the soldier with the crossbow machine took a neat step forward, raised the crossbow machine in his hand and began to shoot. However, not all the crossbowmen were attacking, but in teams of two, one shooting and one winding, which undoubtedly ensured the continuity of fire from the city. Sure enough, when this round of arrow rain fell, those miscellaneous soldiers were immediately shot in agony, and when they saw their companions around them fall to the ground, the rest simply threw down the ladder and ran backwards with their shields, and a wave of offensive was easily defused. Two or three times such a futile charge came, and even the soldiers at the head of the city were a little bored, such as the crossbow team on the side of Otlanji, which was tired of dogs, and the sword team was idle.

The Overseer, however, was pleased, and said cheerfully to Giorgio, "Commander, the 'Bloodfront' is nothing more than that, and it looks like the walls are safe." ”

Commander Giorgio shrugged disapprovingly, "It's true that the walls are safe, but you must not take these rabble for 'blood fronts', we encountered them in a mission, and the charge of their cavalry still scares me." ”

Judging from the expression on the Overseer's face, it was obvious that he didn't take the regimental commander's words seriously, and he said disapprovingly, "If the 'Blood Blade' is really that powerful, why did you send these bedbugs to your death?"

Joljo glanced the Overseer up and down a few times, and asked, "I'm afraid Sir hasn't been on the battlefield." ”

"Well, I'm the clerk of Earl Gruenward. The Overseer replied, but as soon as he said that, he understood instantly, and cautiously asked, "I just... Isn't that a stupid question?"

"It's not stupid. Giorgio replied, "It's just that it's the usual method of the commanders." ”

"Why?"

The regimental commander stretched out his finger and pointed at the mercenaries who were desperately retreating, "I call this 'fire reconnaissance', through this seemingly meaningless offensive behavior, expose the arrangement of our soldiers, in order to find the weak point of the defensive line, and finally attack with elite troops, you can break through the enemy's defensive line." ”

Hearing this, the Overseer panicked, "Hey, hey, regiment... Commander, that... So what to do?"

"Ah, Ah," Joljo laughed, "even if you detect a weak point, you have to beat us, don't you?" ”

The Overseer breathed a sigh of relief when he heard this, but the regimental commander said, "Actually, it's a waste of us scattered mercenaries to put on such a good wall. If you can unify the command, think about it, deliberately put a false flaw to the enemy, let them attack with the elite, and then fight back fiercely, this time you can eliminate a lot of the strength of the besieging side. And we can't do that. Alas, what a pity. ”

These words made the Overseer admire the regimental commander a little, so he comforted, "Don't be sorry for Commander Joljo, as long as you can defend this city, you can say anything." "Hehe, I'm afraid it's not that easy. The regimental commander smiled, "Do you know why Aisona keeps sending people to death when she knows it won't work?"

"Why?"

"Waste our arrows, drain our stamina. "Their only advantage over us is numbers, so we have to be weakened as much as possible before the 'Bloodfront' starts attacking." Besides, there is no harm in dying more mercenaries, and it would be better if they were dead, after all, dead people don't ask for money, do they?"

Hearing this, the Overseer sneered, "Hmph, what about the knight princess, no one is cruel anymore." ”

"Actually, you are the same. ”

The Overseer's words stunned the Overseer, and he couldn't help asking, "What?"

The head of the regiment smiled and pointed in the direction of the inner wall of Uxhall, "Isn't it the same idea that your masters are huddled in the castle and send us mercenaries to the front line?"

"But... ”

"Needless to say," Joljo smiled and patted the Overseer on the shoulder, "it's all commonplace, we're used to it. ”

Under the city, in the camp of the besieging side, looking at the mercenaries who had collapsed and retreated, Aisona frowned deeply. I think she had been crisscrossing Swadia and Nord for several years, and she had never seen anything like this... Such a waste soldier, this has been fighting for a long time, and he hasn't even touched the city wall, and he screams and retreats when there is a little dead or wounded, not to mention any firepower reconnaissance, and he can't see anything clearly on the city.

Also, she glanced at Clerk Roden-Ross in the camp tent as he sorted out the contract, and she was angry. He has read the contract, the conditions are quite generous, and half of the commission will be paid as a deposit. . . Which mercenary group of Nima didn't take the money after the mission was completed? With this fifty percent deposit, who would be willing to work hard! I'm afraid that someone would have to run away with the money tonight! She especially raised this question with the clerk, but as a result, he insisted that this was personally explained by Boss Mu, and he was absolutely not allowed to change it! At this time, she was really helpless.

"Fatis, is there anything you can do?" the princess sighed and asked the knight beside her.

"Change the batch of people, and rush a few more times. Fatis's answer was simple, "If we really can't help it, we still have a killer idea." ”

Hearing this, the princess raised her head, looked at the black oil canisters scattered in the camp in the distance, and couldn't help but sigh. Mu secretly sent another batch of these things, and also asked someone to demonstrate the power on the spot, and the princess deeply realized that the name blood really lived up to its name. With it in hand, breaking the city shouldn't be a problem. However, there is no doubt that it will cause irreversible damage to the city, and the princess really does not want to use this thing in this land that is about to be ruled by her.

She took a deep breath and made up her mind, "Later tomorrow, you attack with the 'Blood Edge', and if that doesn't work, we'll use blood." We don't have a lot of time. ”

"Yes, Your Highness. ”

Of course, Aisona didn't do nothing. For example, she sent the One-Eyed Dragon and his bounty hunters to pull nets along the river to hunt down anyone suspected of being a Swadian herald, hoping to prolong the time that news of the siege of Uxhall reached the Rhodok front. However, even if the one-eyed dragons were indeed from this profession, after all, the river was so long, and there was a high chance that something would happen, so Her Royal Highness did not intend to give too much hope to the group of bounty hunters. As a result, the siege continued, and Aisona sent more and more people to storm the city walls, of course, the casualties were getting heavier and heavier, and by the time Mingjin finally withdrew his troops, the morale of the mercenaries had fallen to the bottom. They used to just think that the fortress was a gimmick, and no one really took them seriously, but once it really came to them, they realized that this city of blood was really red and worthy of the name.

They pushed the siege tower forward against the rain of arrows, you know, this is an uphill slope, and it is quite difficult for the siege tower to get close to the city wall. However, at this moment, several bed crossbows suddenly came out of the city, and the powerful crossbow bolts instantly dismantled the siege tower to pieces. They also desperately pushed the cart to the city gate, but they were burned to ashes by the hot oil and torches poured on the city wall, and the brothers in the cart were suffocated to death in the city gate hole. What's even more infuriating is that no matter how much they begged for help or wailed, those "knight masters" didn't move, just quietly watched them crawl and struggle, struggling to survive. Throughout the day, the mercenaries' mentality changed from self-confidence, poisefulness, to despair, and in the evening, they even began to pray to the gods they had never believed in again, praying that they would not be chosen and join the next charge. Finally, when the princess Mingjin withdrew her troops, these unlucky people were finally relieved. After the exhaustion of the day, they don't care about any dignity, grab the food and eat it in three or two bites, and then lie down on the ground, breathe a long sigh of relief, only occasionally when their eyes meet, will you look at me, I look at you, the eyes are tired and afraid.

Ai Sona, who has been in the army for so long, naturally senses this not good atmosphere, and the low morale makes her quite worried. What happened on the battlefield today, she saw it all, those struggles, those sorrows, those angers, those futility, she herself knew that these people who died today were sent to death in vain, but in order to lay down that towering city, she had to do this, at least to find out the enemy's deployment. To be honest, as Her Royal Highness the princess who admires chivalry, when she gave this kind of order, she herself felt uncomfortable, but fortunately, the 'Blood Blade', as the main force, was not affected, which also made her a little relieved.

"Don't worry, Your Highness," Fatis said, "With me here, there will be no problem with the 'Blood Edge'. Watching Fatis leave, Mathilde, who had been silently guarding behind the princess, suddenly spoke, "Your Highness, there is a sentence that I don't know whether to say or not... ”

"Say it. ”

"Here, only we, 'Roden-Ross' and 'Bloodfront', are truly loyal to you, and the life and death of those mercenaries have nothing to do with you. They were originally a bunch of guys who traded their lives for money, and it is not surprising when they will die. They should have been mentally prepared when they embarked on this line of work. ”

"I understand, Mathilde, I understand ... ”

Hearing this, the former princess of thorns suddenly raised her voice and roared, "Since you understand, then throw away your useless sympathy, don't put on such a miserable expression, people will think that you are dead and your parents are dead!"

The princess was stunned for a moment, then suddenly smiled, looked at Mathilde and said, "Thank you, Mathilde, indeed, I don't have time to think about it so much. ”

Mathilde tilted his head, "Figured it out?"

"Well, figured it out. Mathilde, however, felt that her expression was not at all relieved.

Princess Thorn sighed softly and said, "If you figure it out, go to bed quickly, and you have to continue fighting tomorrow!"