“Here we go…”
Behind a mound, Lily extends her vision with the spyglass.
The end of her sight stood the fortress-city of Liston.
Lying its back on a rocky hill, overwatching the entire surrounding with its high stone towers on its wall, fortress Liston was the last point of the Latilian civilization in the East. Being built over an old Carthagian castle, Liston was designed to be a perfect defensive barrier between the two nations, at least until the Elestovakian War when it was captured.
“I’ve visited Liston once, about fifteen years ago.”-Lily says-”The fortress-city was home of five thousand people before the war, and is also the only place with large arable land in the whole highland….
“By simply taking Liston, we will liberate the entire eastern region from the Empire.”-Belisari then finished the sentence-”Then we may march toward Carthagia.”
However, it is easier said than done.
Per Lily’s account, Liston itself is half of a city and half of a fortress, with the perimeters being a wall that rivals even the capital city plus a tunnel system built within the hill it leans onto, which is a key in diverting troops within the fortress. In addition, the rocky steep is a natural defense to hamper any cavalry from attacking the gate. Then come trench, rocks, several lifeless trees,...It is almost impossible to be penetrated from the outside by conventional means, while on the inside the number of troops possibly reach up to three thousand.
As for the gates, there is one main gate to the West, which the army is facing at, two secondary gates to the South, which is covered in uneven terrain that stop any cavalrymen from trying to lead their horse into attacking those entrances. All of them being guarded heavily by archers, slingers and arbalists, there is no hope of a shock assault:
“We ain’t gonna take Liston by muscles alone, no.”
Gerald knows. In fact, back in many years, Kaval must have used one hundred thousand troops besieging just Liston alone in five months (even after the surrender of Latila) before the force inside, which was just five thousand troops, surrendered. Despite that, the defenders inflicted thirty thousand casualties for the invaders, making the siege the second deadliest battle in the Elestovakian War for the Empire.
Noting, the delay unknowingly saved Latila, as Kaval and that army were absent in the Siege of Latila, and his replacement failed to take down the capital city on time.
Anyhow, that should be enough to say how hard it is to take down Liston. Belisari and Lily only have over nine thousand troops left, and a tight schedule to reach Carthagia before turning around to relieve Vlenna. And to make it harder, the two previous tricks they used to breach Voyage and Fort Separ do not work with this obscure of information and difficult terrain. No internal rampage, no cavalry flank. As always, their only advantage is the element of surprise, they need a new tactic.
Fortunately though, they do have one trick in their sleeve, and a certain group that may work on that plan:
“Let’s put our faith in them.”-spoke a regular Marine, they will join the fight late today.
“Javeli Melee Squadron had successfully landed on the hill. They are approaching the wall. Angela is leading Vitta Squadron to the right.”
Following the plan, the landing elite fliers would stealthily enter the city from the hill the fortress is lying onto and launch an assault on the high walls. By taking their entrance far from the view of the men on the wall and choosing a landing point in a blindspot of the hill, the fliers landed undetected.
If they actually exist on Earth, the fliers can be considered airborne troops or even light fighters, very flexible for combat operation. It was a fortune for the Kingdom that the Elestovakians were rarely able to recruit these creatures into their force, otherwise the war would’ve been much harder.
Frankly said, the Latilian Army Air Force is stronger than any air force prior to 1917’s Earth.
“All men inbound.”
“Valya Ranged Squadron has landed.”
“Angela has taken over the squadrons. Ready.”
Ten minutes after take off, the entire skirmish Central Air Force, consisting of 100 individuals, had set their feet on the height of hill Liston. As the commander of the force, Angela immediately organizes the force into two prongs, the idea is to take a tower, using it as a turret and quickly overrun the wall defense:
“I wish I had more rounds per gun.”-says the former librarian, holding both of her pistols-”Still having a trump card though.”
The fliers lurk to the closest watchtower. As they move, the barricades of stone and windblow obscure their silhouettes and their heavy footsteps. According to accounts, Liston fortress had a small path that led to a flat surface on the hill. While humans cannot access the surface due to its height, fliers can, hence this plan needed Angela and her troops to be executed.
They quickly discovered a guard tower nearby their standing point:
“It looks promising.”
“But taking the tower won’t be easy.”
The turret is fortified with many archers and pikemen. Still, it’s their best bet if the team wants to have superiority in a flash. Without further consideration, they lock their target and discuss the plan-“Alright, the ranged troops will go for a skirmish first, then the melee men come and cover us, understand?”
“Yes, ma’am.”
“Good.And finally”
Before initiating combat, the leader opted for a final check-“All units report your weapon status.”
“Swordsmen ready.”
“Crossbowmen ready.”
“Gunners ready.”
“Great, descend.”-Angela jumps down the wall-“O our Lord, over the hill we die on, may you watch us serve the king who is faithful to you.”
Gunshot
“What was noise- Agh!”
In a swift moment after the first bullet was fired as a signal, while the Liston defenders were still clueless about the sound the round made as it exited the chamber, the Airborne Corps swarmed onto the right wall, beginning with a barrage of arrows and ammos from the ranged team.
“Intruder Alert! The right section is being attacked! The attackers appear to be armed with melee weapons, crossbows and guns, and are fliers, unknown nationality, numbering around half a hundred.”
“What are you doing? Regroup!”
Although the element of surprise was used, the defenders quickly identified their foes and began preparation. The pikemen grab available barriers nearby and separate the fliers from their position, protecting their archer behind hastingly taking out arrows. Meanwhile, with their projectiles discharged, the ranged fliers withdraw for their skirmishers to come front:
“Agh! Damn it. Is there any heavy axe?”-A sword landed upon the barrier, barely piercing through its thick wood, disabling the steam of the assault side. However at the same time, as the swordsmen continued to pour their men in a close range, the archers and pikemen of the Elestovakians could not properly counter attack except those on the tower.
The line bends upon the violence clash, but it maintains the stalemale. But the Elestovakians only need to wait, the Aeropostalis Latilians on the other hand, had not that option:
“How are the guns?”
“Ineffective”-said a gunner when asked if he can penetrate the reinforced wall. More and more, the Elestovakians place their barriers one after another. Angela fired two or three rounds into the shields, but them bullets cannot thrust too far. Others tried to burn them with their spells, but it is hard to ignite flame in such low air density:
“God…”
Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.
Bad news, more defenders are coming in.
“I guess it’s time for you to shine then.”
Impatient about the progress, the former librarian pulls out the one-of-a-kind stick she has towed along. It is a very fancy stick, with many parts unrelated to any melee combat, even a scope and a bipod attached.
Well, it is because the “stick” was actually a gun, a sniper rifle, tailored for the commander of the air corps:
“One that is very different apart from the others”-commented Angela-”I wonder what feeling I will have pulling the trigger. Melee, move out of my path.”
The little Aurora has designed the weapon to be portable and easily be used by Angela. With one knee down and the other lifting her arm and the gun up, the angel takes aim. The target is upfront.
Angela takes a deep breath.
Bang!
With a noise rivalling several pistols fired at once, a bullet rushed out from the barrel of the rifle, trailing behind by a blaze of flame. A 30 cal, as Aurora called it, effortlessly rips a hole on the barricade and kills the first men behind it.
“Good God…”
Upon its crazy recoil, Angela feels a tingle rushed within her blood, making her fingers excitedly tremble.
“Wha…what happened?”-several men who witnessed the gruesome horrifyingly uttered.
Click!Bang!
Another man fell, he was a wall holder. This makes the barrier weaker significantly, then:
“Charge!”
An airborne swordsman strikes his steel down the shield with all of his kinetic raw strength and collapses it. He was shot down right away by a bolt, but his bravery allowed other comrades to rush in and overwhelm the Elestovakians at hand to hand combat.
Click!Bang!
An archer on the tower falls, his body landed on the others, causing a disruption in the formation. Within three rounds fired from the rifle, the Elestovakian line shattered. The melee fliers chop their axes and blades on the panicked defenders, giving chance for their ranged to rush onto the castle to use its height to cover the troops underneath. Blood spilled all over the wall, splatting down the rocky grey beneath. The corpses of the fallen be towed away in order for the ranged troops to maximize their coverage.
“Commander Angela, the left contingent are moving.”
“Good, we have to attract their attention as long as possible. Two of you”-the angel points at two crossbowmen-”Come with me onto the turret, I need a better view of the surroundings.”
Entering the turret, the former librarian plants her weapon onto an open slit where she can watch the inner city from. Angela has two more rounds in the chamber, plus an addition of ten inside her inventory, she must use them with consideration.
Click!Bang!
A lightshot picks up two archers on the wall. Their corpses blocked an incoming contingent, slowing down the incoming foes for her subordinates to prepare their newly formed wall around her firing spot.
“Gather the melee combatants and any sufficient coverage at the front and the inner flank.”-the battle angel orders, holding firmly her gun’s trigger-Click!Bang!
**
“What was the weapon that killed our men from far away?”
“Seemed like a long barrel gun, reports from the withdrawn men suggested that its piercing power can wreck our wooden shields.”
“If that is the problem, deploy heavy infantry, the gate has a hundred of them, and direct them to confront the fliers.”
**
“One…two…three…ten. Just ten more targets. This is so expensive.”
Angela recounts her remaining sniper round. The value of each one of these is worth a hundred denarii. Every shot feels like throwing a fortune into killing somebody:
“Every bullet counts, that is the best thing I can do.”
Poking her gun’s barrel out of the slit, Angela takes no time to wait but looking for her new targets right away. A team of archers funnelled into the main wall, not worth it considering the chaos won't distort the movement of the men. They soon encountered a flier contingent moving there, and were hacked to pieces from the casted fire and blades.
Elite gunners flocking to the stairways to the occupied wall. Angela was a bit hesitant, but fortunately a flier dropped a fire charge at the place and effectively created hell in the tight stairways.
“Good job, Marla”
“Thank you, ma’am, but watch out.”
“No need for a warning, I already saw them.”
With an expected movement, the Elestovakian defenders finally deployed their heavy armed company. The flier crossbowmen and matchlock gunners upon noticing them discharged their arms at the men, but their reinforced steel shield and tilted position didn’t let the bolts and balls harm the armored soldiers. They were deflected.
“They are having troubles”
Angela and the commander of the armored company shared thoughts.
“Those shields…”-the angel recalls knowledge from a book she read-”They were reinforced steel, no wonder why they were so good at deflecting projectiles.”
And they are damned expensive as well, might be comparable to a fine set of armors. Moreover, Liston doesn’t have any blacksmith nor ore to make such things, so it’s likely that they were imported from other regions, which added to the overall price.
The Elestovakians poured a huge sum of money to solidify Liston, this region must be serving a purpose. With that in mind, they cannot lose this battle:
Click!
The battle angel reloads her firearm. Her breaths felt heavy and intense, but her eyesight did not waver. The former librarian pulls the trigger:
Bang!
“How the hec-”
In an unexpected development, the 7,62mm bullet echoes from its chamber rippled through the refined steel plate, carving a small hole on the metal surface where it continued the journey to the chest of the shield’s holder:
“Not…even…this thing can save us…”
Click!Bang!
Another hit, another man fell, then another. The sight was so phenomenal that some elite fliers forgot that their armor-piercing 7,62mm rounds inside their pistols could do the same work. It took a while for them to start firing, and when that time come it was hell for the Elestovakians:
“Felix! David!”
One by one, the first line of shielded men falls, then comes the second. Each bullet took down a man with it, and when the defenders realized that it was no use trying to use their shields to cover, their heart fell. But, the attack must be done, they march on, enduring the loss of their men side by side, while continuing forward.
“There must be an end to this.”-the commander thought, assuming the bullets must run out at some point, in which he was right.
Bang!Bang!Click!Click!”Damn it”
The rain lasted in the same magnitude for a minute, claiming up to forty deaths, before the first elite flier emptied her chamber. Fifty deaths, slowly, gunners let down their guns and draw out their blades in preparation for a close quarter fight.
“Just a little more…”
With just ten of them they can slaugh the entire formation of fliers, considering how excellent their training was in hand to hand combat. The fliers however, their enormous wings made the fighting hard for them. Along with the differences in weapons, they will win if they survive the volleys of ammos:
Bang!Click!Click!”I’m out”
The last gunner drops his firearms, ready for a bloody skirmish. Seizing the opportunity, the Elestovakian line charge:
“Forward!”
The fliers move in discipline, trying to form a line with their number superiority. However, facing a force with such weapon advantages, most will not make it.
“It should be enough.”
The shielded men closing in, they still have twenty men, a commander and a fierce determination to slaughter their foe-
Thump!
Out of thin air, a pair of wings appear in front of the forming fliers line. Angela deviated from the turret:
“What, who is that!?”
Upon seeing a new foe, the Elestovakians hesitated, but their attitude soon readjusted as their commander ordered them to march on, assuming that she is just another combatant, there is nothing to worry about. Actually, there is:
[Let you eternally rest, and be graceful upon receiving my solemn lament.]
The angel chants in her language. Then suddenly, from her pockets, Angela pulls out two fresh pistols, both full in chamber. When that happened, it was too late for the defenders to reach:
Bang!
Angela’s right hand pulls the trigger.
Bang!
Another shot by the left.
Bang!Bang!Bang!
Each time the triggers were pulled, another man collapses. The line of shields break into piles of corpses as the bodies fall upon each other.
“Mercy…”Bang!
The beg for surrender of the commander was cut short as Angela empties her chamber.
“We won.”
“We haven't.”
The flier commander looks to her left.
Unsurprisingly, as the fight dragged on, most men from other parts of the wall slammed into the height where the fliers were making their stand, like an eclipse of moths being attracted into a fire.
“But we’ve done the objective.”
Which is exactly according to the plan.
“Are everyone armed?”
At the same time as the battle on the wall is going on, another group of Latilians sets out to invade the main gate. Among them, five are dismounted Husarias, fifteen are Knights Cathedraller, ten are Marines, fifty are heavy infantry, forty are wall attackers, the rest being regular soldiers, about three hundred. They are planning to attack a secondary gate.
