Steel, Explosives, and Spellcasters

Moreover, once the Venetians connected the triangular fortress to the siege barriers through the trenches, they no longer needed to traverse the killing fields in front of the city walls but could directly enter the ditches from the triangular fortress.

Not to mention the long-range firepower on the fortress exerted suppression on the troops defending the city walls.

But the biggest problem with losing the triangular fortress was more than just that...

While both attackers and defenders were slaughtering each other around the ditches, behind the city gates, William Kidd's most elite Montani guards were assembling.

These heavily armored brave warriors were the best fighters and the most reliable troops within the Tanilia Federation. If placed within the Empire, the Montani Guard would equate to the Emperor's personal bodyguard. They were not subordinate to William Kidd but instead, the highest council had temporarily given William command over two of their companies.

William Kidd had always regarded these two hundred-plus Montani guards as his personal guard and supervisory force; the Montani Guard was the key to his command over the military.

However, due to the urgency, he was forced to deploy these elite reserve forces.

Without any warning, the double gates of Tachi suddenly swung open.

The Monta warriors let out a chilling war cry, bursting forth from the gates. Splitting into two groups, they plunged straight into the ditches, slashing at the Venetians inside like legendary berserkers.

Captain Zenus, brandishing his battle-axe, led the charge, cleaving the top of a Venetian soldier's head with an overhead strike. When the axe blade fully sunk into the skull and Zenus could not dislodge it after two pulls, he simply dropped the battle-axe and drew his sidearm for close combat.

No matter the situation, it was impossible for those standing on the walls to stop attackers from filling the ditches. Explore new worlds at empire

The only way was to send troops out to hit the enemy from both above the walls and below, slaughtering everyone inside the ditches.

Therefore, regardless of the situation, the city gates were the most powerful weapon for the defense's counterattack.

But now, the triangular fortress before the gates was in Venetian hands.

As large numbers of armored soldiers burst out from the city gates, the muskets and cannons on the fortress were immediately redirected to fiercely bombarded these heavy-armored foes.

Two musketeers together hurled a forty-something-pound iron-shell bomb toward the city gate. The Montani guards hit were instantly streaming blood from their eyes and nostrils, dying on the spot.

Other Montani guards, seeing the hissing fuse, panicked and fled. But it was too late. A thunderous explosion followed as the iron bomb detonated, nearly blowing the Venetians atop the fortress off their feet.

Between the city gate and the triangular fortress, the narrow space was filled with flying limbs, blood splatter everywhere. Even those Montani guards not struck by shrapnel sat collapsed on the ground, spitting blood in great gushes.

Before the city gate, it had turned into hell, yet the ordeal was far from over, as the Venetians on the fortress dropped three more iron-shell bombs successively.

The Monta soldiers, spitting blood, looked at the iron-shell bombs before them, frantically trying to crawl away as their limbs failed to respond. In desperation, he watched the bomb's fuse burn down,

"God, forgive me!" he cried out in his last moment of life, then was blasted into pieces.

No one heard his final penance because the battle cry "For Da Weineta" drowned out all other sounds on the battlefield.

Large groups of sword and shield bearers, roaring, poured out from the fortress and trenches in three directions. Two forces jumped into the trenches to engage the Montani guards in close combat, while the third group ignored everything else and headed straight for the city gates.

The two Lieutenant Generals had prepared a total of six hundred-strong sword and shield troops, poised for the possibility of a sortie from the defenders.

"Close the gates! Close the gates quickly!" William on the city walls, seeing this scene, shouted in panic.

The troops at the gates immediately chopped the cables, and the massive gates fell sharply, trapping several Venetian sword and shield carriers in between.

Before the gate, barrels of pitch poured down. There were still Montani guards alive before the gates, but the defenders could no longer afford to care.

A few torches were thrown down from above the city gates; the Venetians screamed and scattered as they ran. The pitch ignited instantly upon contact, and the defenders burned the Venetians and their own men alive.

On the other side of the gates, about a dozen defenders descended from the city wall through a passage into the gatehouse. Knowing they faced certain death, the trapped Venetian sword and shield fighters roared as they clashed fiercely with the Tanilians.

The combat in the ditches grew equally brutal. The Tanilia Council spared no expense on their "Imperial Guard"; the Montani Guard were all equipped with three-quarters plate armor. Meanwhile, the Venetian sword and shield fighters were also fully geared with half armor.

But the space was too cramped, combat was literally hand-to-hand, and many sword and shield fighters and Montani guards simply discarded their swords and axes, pulling out daggers and stabbing violently at the gaps in the armor, under the ribs, and other less protected areas.

The soldiers in the rear pushed those in front into a crush, leaving no room to dodge. The only way to avoid the enemy's stabbing blades was to strike at the enemy first.

Tang Juan, at the rear of the masses, grew anxious watching the clumsy melee. Glancing at the ditch walls to either side, he yelled, "Up! Get up! Climb up and stab them! Lift me up!"

The soldiers around the Centurion lifted him, boosting him to the outside of the ditch.

Juan dashed forward, next to the Montani guards at the front, and started stabbing downwards at the necks of Montani soldiers from outside of the ditch.

Noticing their comrades being stabbed to death, Montani guards clambered out of the ditch one after another. Juan's company had also arrived, and the two sides commenced a new round of brutal combat just outside the ditch.