Section 20: The Fortified City

Tekken Keep is a castle that is actually located in the Iron Claw Mountains. The name of the castle is "Iron Fist Fort", which does not mean that it is made like a fist, but it is taken from the allegorical meaning that this castle is like an iron fist that humans have smashed into the Iron Claw Mountains.

In fact, Tekken is a castle with little physical features, like most castles built by humans. But its location is wonderful, right in front of a mountain pass, and the cannons at the head of the city firmly control the right of way in the vicinity.

The normal garrison of Tekken was two thousand people. And this amount turned out to be very appropriate. The Greenskins of the mountains have attacked Tekken Keep more than once (because of its proximity), with the number of Greenskins reaching tens of thousands at one time. But each Greenskin's attack was repulsed by the defenders, and nothing was found but corpses everywhere.

And now, in order to deal with the imminent huge army of greenskins, the garrison of Tekken Castle has been doubled, and the supplies and weapons have been strengthened accordingly. The Shem hierarchy has decided to rely on the castle to implement their planned defensive-contain-counter-attack tactics.

Prince Ebollandon stood on the castle's tallest watchtower and watched the green waves swarm from the ground line in the distance.

As the prince of the Shim Kingdom, he volunteered to be the garrison of Tekken Castle half a month ago. With the sudden death of the king a year ago, the entire kingdom of Shem became turbulent. As the younger brother of the king's concubine, Ebollandon was also pushed to the forefront. Even if he doesn't actually have any ambitions, his lineage and status determine what happens to him. If anything, this is also a trick of fate. The king, who was originally young and strong, and in good health, suddenly died overnight, leaving only a breastfeeding son, and the whirlpool caused by this power vacuum has not yet subsided.

This is also the reason why he wants to be a prince but a front-line general.

Strictly speaking, Tekken is not the best position to execute tactics. Because this castle is completely protruding, there are no other castles to support it. When Crook the Greenskin Killer first used this tactic, he never chose such an isolated castle as a battlefield. Ideally, three fortified castles that are close together and can echo each other, plus a barracks for the main army, will ensure that the Greenskins cannot concentrate their forces to break through.

As far as military affairs are concerned, it is a better choice to abandon the Iron Fist Forts and look for a more suitable battlefield in the rear.

However, if Iron Fist is abandoned, it is politically unbearable. There is a world of political difference between keeping the enemy out of the country and letting the enemy into the country. The Queen Mother would never have agreed to such a "cowardly" action.

"Do you want to open fire?" said an officer, hurrying to Ebollandon. The Greenskins were already within range of the city's cannons. On Tekkenke, there is a special city defense cannon that has a far longer range than ordinary cannons. Almost no one knows where the cannon came from, but every cannon caster is amazed by the intricate craftsmanship of the cannon when it comes to overhauling it. The common theory is that the cannon came from a deal with the dwarves - the problem is that those who really know the inside story know that even the dwarves don't use such sophisticated artillery on the battlefield. Another theory is that the cannon came from a gift from the church, but how the church could forge the cannon is a mystery - and the Church of the True God has never confirmed this, but is only ambiguous and vague.

There are a total of six of these cannons in the entire kingdom of Shem, all of which are placed in the defensive line against the Greenskins.

"Don't worry about the green-skinned infantry. Ai Bolandon replied. "But if you see the greenskinned siege engines, fire them at once, and don't have to ask me for orders. ”

"Your Royal Highness!" another lieutenant stepped forward. "Did you see the situation? This is the green-skinned striker...... All are goblins. ”

Indeed, from this vantage point, almost all of what one sees are goblins, the more cowardly and timid of the greenskins. Humans and Greenskins have fought enough times to understand the difference between orcs and goblins. The goblins formed a phalanx, wielding weapons and banners, and shouting at the city in a green-skinned language that humans could not understand. However, although they were arrogant, they were very cautious, and never entered the range of ordinary cannons.

"We should take advantage of the fact that the green skin is not firmly established and the main force has not yet arrived, and we should have a surprise attack. The deputy continued. "Just give me five hundred knights, and I can teach these green monsters a hard lesson. ”

Aibollandon nodded. This is a good idea, the goblins are not very powerful, and a fierce assault can greatly deal a blow to the arrogance of the greenskins and boost the morale of their own side. Besides, with the support of your own city's fire resistance, even if the battle situation is unfavorable, you can return in time and will not lose too much.

"Your Highness, it looks like the green-skinned siege machine hasn't arrived. Another attendant said. If it was a human army, it must have been the simultaneous arrival of siege weapons and armies. And the loose greenskin doesn't seem to understand this truth. On the premise that there is no siege equipment, the siege side is actually very passive towards the fortified city, and can only be beaten but cannot fight back.

The trumpets sounded, the gates of the castle were opened, and hordes of human knights rushed out of the castle and headed for the front of the greenskinned army.

The goblin phalanx in front of him collapsed almost immediately without contact. As many people know, only a well-trained soldier can face a galloping horse without fear. On the battlefield, only a tight formation, good training, and high morale, combined with proper weaponry, could keep the infantry up against the knights' charges. Goblins, on the other hand, do not possess any of these conditions.

In an instant, the knights had broken through the first phalanx, splitting the green square like sharp knives, and hitting the next target. The second phalanx didn't last long, as the Ironclad Knights slammed into the screaming and weapon-wielding Greenskins, knocking them down, impaling, or trampling them to death. The goblins fled in all directions, and the knights suffered only minor casualties.

Ebollandon watched as his army rushed left and right in the greenskins, invincible, and the goblins fled in confusion. A hint of joy finally bloomed in his brows. The crowd on the watchtower was beaming with joy and whispering and laughing. Almost no one realized that the knights had rushed too far, far beyond the city's firepower.

The sound of war drums suddenly sounded from afar.

The people in the watchtower stopped laughing and stared blankly at the source of the sound of war drums in the distance. They saw that the knight had stopped. Just now, an invincible group of knights and a green-skinned phalanx were tightly glued together, holding each other. Only those with the best sight can see that they are not goblins, but orcs riding wild boars.

Condescendingly, although the situation of the battlefield was clear, the people in the castle could only watch as another group of orcs detoured from the rear. More and more orcs rushed out, brandishing their weapons to join the siege. Even the goblins who were on the verge of collapse before have been killed. The green wave firmly encircled the knights in the encirclement, wave after wave, until finally it completely engulfed the knights.

All this made everyone's face change.

At the end of the horizon, green-skinned tools of war begin to appear. The orcs had lined up to approach the walls, and the drums of war beat the melody of the tribe. In the eyes of the defenders, the newly victorious orcs raised their bloodied savage machetes in the air and shouted at the top of the city.

The city's cannons had already opened fire. But the firepower of a cannon is not even as good as tickling for a huge number of green-skinned war machines. Before the other cannons opened fire, only one siege vehicle was smashed by hits. Several goblins were shaken into the sky by the sheer force of the cannonballs, and then fell screaming, while the other Greenskins laughed at their companions.

Aibo Landon rushed down the watchtower. By the time he appeared at the head of the city, he had already taken off his rich robes and put on the armor of an officer. The Queen Mother's plan was to let the Iron Fist Forts be defended for at least a month! There was no foreign aid for the first three days, but when they made the plan, it was obvious that they did not expect that the green-skinned army would prepare so many siege weapons.

The city was filled with gunsmoke. Bullets and arrows flew all over the sky. The green-skinned archers frantically rained down on the city to cover the charge of the rest of the troops. Farther away, ballistas, catapults, and various other equipment were in place to fire at the city's cannons. In this kind of weapon fire, in terms of range, hit rate and power, human cannons are much more powerful. But the number of green-skinned war machines seemed to be endless, and the number was simply suppressed by the cannons.

Herds of goblins are filling in the trenches with gravel, dirt, and other garbage. The places that had been filled in were erected with long and dense ladders. The roaring greenskins are braving bullets, arrows, rolling stones, and hot oil, charging fiercely.

Born into a royal family, Ebollandon has always been pampered, and although he has been trained as a warrior, this is the first time he has been on the battlefield. But at this moment, he behaved no less than any good city defense commander. He led his own guards, where the situation was critical, and fought bravely while encouraging the soldiers, while also taking into account the dispatch of troops to check and fill in the gaps.

"Quick!Bring in a hundred soldiers to replenish here!" Ebollandon slashed down a goblin who was about to climb up to the top of the city with a gap, and then stabbed another orc who had just exposed his head on the wall. His sword stabbed through the orc's fanged jaws and stabbed out of the back of his neck. As he drew his sword back, the orc let out a dying roar and disappeared over the walls.

"Your Royal Highness, be careful!" a guard slammed into him through the back door, knocking him to the ground. When Ebollandon got up, he saw that the loyal guard had been struck by an orc bow. The bow and arrow pierced his neck, causing him to stagger and collapse to the edge of the battlements.

Reinforcements rushed up from the rear. Someone carried the casualties off the battle line. And if it weren't for the guard who sacrificed his life just now, he would have been one of these people who were carried away.

He hadn't expected Greenskin's attack to be so ferocious. There are many veterans in Ironfist Castle who have fought with Greenskins many times, but none of them have ever been attacked so violently. If the garrison inside the castle had not increased, the castle would not have lasted more than three days, even by the most optimistic estimates. Ebollandon now clearly understood how much he had made a mistake, and he had lost five hundred of his best soldiers. If there were five hundred more reserves in the city now, the situation would be much better.

However, under the city, Greenskin suffered far more casualties than the defenders at the head of the city. The smoke of gunfire filled the city like a cloud, and countless cannons and muskets fired the destructive projectiles at the greenskins. The greenskins had no cover at all, and they didn't even have many shields, so even a low-precision shot could easily hit a greenskinned warrior or archer. For every defender down, at least five Greenskins will be killed.

Another thing that made Ebollandon happy was that the castle was indeed very strong. The green-skinned catapult repeatedly bombarded the walls, but each time the boulder hit the wall, it just rolled down harmlessly, and even knocked over a few goblins who couldn't avoid it.

"Let's go, let's go south!" The battle here has stabilized, and someone has begun to push down the green-skinned ladder with a long pole. Ebollandon led the guards out to support the other side. He must hold on to this castle, no matter what, he must hold on!