Chapter 561
Our Discord Server: https://discord.gg/PazjBDkTmW
You can buy coins here to unlock advanced chapters: https://gravitytales.com/coins-purchase-page/
Chapter 561: Fierce Offensive
Meanwhile, outside Gaoling City, a siege battle was unfolding.
Unlike the small houses within the city that matched their height, the naturally timid Goblins had built Gaoling City’s walls incredibly tall and imposing to ensure their lives were protected.
Most exaggeratedly, to accommodate as many defensive siege weapons as possible, the city walls were absurdly wide, even exceeding the scale of Mirror City’s walls.
Heaven knows how much manpower and resources Gawain had expended on this city wall.
If not for the Goblin Civilization being a special civilization known for its technical and scientific prowess, a regular civilization at that stage simply could not have built such a city wall.
It could truly be said to be the crystallization of their Goblin Civilization’s technological capability.
Facing such a city wall, Zhang Zhenguo, the invading player, felt his psychological pressure mounting even before the battle began.
However, he was, after all, a veteran who had been struggling in the Bronze tier for decades.
He would not be deterred by such a spectacle.
His civilization urgently needed a large amount of resources.
Previously, he had continuously fought four or five novice players, yet despite exhausting himself, he hadn’t plundered many resources.
In one of those battles, even though he won, the returns felt like a loss.
In other words, those weaklings in the Bronze tier had been squeezed almost dry.
Continuing to fight them wouldn’t yield many resources.
Thus, helpless but in urgent need of resources, he could only set his sights on targets that were not easily provoked.
Although Luo Ji had been gaining significant momentum recently, compared to the powerful figures who had consistently dominated the top 200 rankings for years, he was, after all, a newcomer.
Zhang Zhenguo surmised that Luo Ji’s foundation was still shallow and could likely be exploited.
Ultimately, among a collection of difficult targets, Luo Ji was still picked out as the softest one to squeeze.
This wave of invasion, although Zhang Zhenguo hadn’t sent his entire force, was still a fierce offensive.
He was clearly desperate due to his civilization’s urgent resource shortage.
He directly dispatched 5,000 troops to hold the line, along with 7 siege weapons.
It was completely a stance of ‘I will bite off a piece of flesh from you no matter what!’
The military formation, consisting of 5,000 troops, quickly spread out.
The 7 siege weapons began to be pushed forward from the rear.
Guo Zhen, observing the movements outside the city through his telescope, showed a hint of solemnity on his face.
The enemy’s siege formation was quite grand.
He looked back at the wide city wall beneath his feet, almost wide enough for horse racing, and the defensive siege weapons manufactured by Goblin Tech on top of it.
Guo Zhen’s confidence slightly increased.
Although these siege weapons would largely become useless once the distance closed, they could at least inflict considerable damage on the enemy from afar.
Guo Zhen entrusted all operations of the siege weapons to Gaoling City’s Goblin soldiers.
In a direct confrontation on the battlefield, these short and slender Goblin soldiers were vulnerable.
However, when it came to operating these large military machines, they were exceptionally skilled, each moving swiftly and efficiently.
As soon as the enemy entered range, the catapults and triple-bow crossbows on the city wall immediately began bombarding the area outside the city.
The entire process didn’t require Guo Zhen to utter a single word, because the Goblin Civilization had previously relied on this very method to forcefully deter invading players!
This relentless bombardment immediately crippled half of the 7 siege weapons the enemy had pushed forward.
Zhang Zhenguo, located in the rear, felt his heart wrench.
“Damn it! How many defensive military machines does the enemy have on that city wall?”
If it were an unranked novice, or a newcomer who had just risen to the Bronze tier, facing such a display would likely deter them instantly.
But facing a veteran like Zhang Zhenguo, who had witnessed all sorts of strategies, deterring him so easily was no longer possible.
Not to mention, this trip alone cost him at least hundreds of thousands in military expenses; how could he simply retreat?
Indeed, the enemy had no intention of withdrawing.
Accompanied by the sound of an attack horn, the enemy responded to the challenge.
4,000 troops quickly dispersed into small square formations, significantly reducing the hit rate of the catapults and triple-bow crossbows.
Then, with large shield soldiers leading the way, the siege units in the rear carried scaling ladders and pushed siege towers, rapidly launching an assault on Gaoling City!
Guo Zhen’s heart sank upon seeing this.
“Archer units, prepare!”
Then, he seized the moment the enemy’s siege units entered range.
“Fire!!”
Volleys of arrows rained down on the area outside the city, one after another.
But the enemy’s siege units were incredibly tenacious, maintaining their shield-raised advancing posture, moving step by step closer to Gaoling City’s gate!
After advancing a certain distance, the enemy’s archer units also retaliated, beginning to shoot arrows towards Gaoling City’s walls.
Guo Zhen, holding a large bronze shield and having successively blocked two volleys of arrows, gritted his teeth.
With the limited troops he had, he simply could not stop the enemy siege units’ advance.
Judging by the situation, a close-quarters battle was unavoidable.
The disparity in troop numbers was too great, so charging out would clearly mean no chance of victory.
Thus, they could only fiercely defend the city walls!
Seeing the enemy about to push up to the city wall, Guo Zhen quickly waved his hand, signaling the soldiers on the wall to move the rolling logs and boulders and hurl them down.
At the same time, he loudly shouted.
“Keep a close eye on all sections of the wall! Don’t let the enemy set up their scaling ladders!”
Guo Zhen held a shield in one hand and an axe in the other, resembling a formidable guardian who could hold off 10,000 men.
With such a fierce general defending one section of the wall, it would be incredibly difficult for ordinary soldiers to charge up.
The other soldiers focused on fiercely defending the remaining sections.
For a time, the battle was extremely fierce.
Outside the city walls, a man wearing light armor with a long sword at his waist pondered for a moment, then turned to Zhang Zhenguo and spoke.
“Your Majesty, the enemy’s defending forces are fighting tenaciously. It is likely difficult to capture this city wall today. Perhaps we should temporarily retreat, rest, and fight another day.”
Hearing this, Zhang Zhenguo, clad in bronze armor, looked grim.
“Fight another day? Strategist, you know we have no time left!”
He had done something foolish before, which directly led to his civilization’s resources falling into an extremely scarce state.
His previous few invasions had targeted small fry, and the resources plundered were barely a drop in the bucket.
In other words, if he couldn’t plunder a large amount of resources to fill this void, he would collapse!
How could he not be anxious?
Looking at the distraught Zhang Zhenguo, the man referred to as the Strategist sighed inwardly, then spoke again.
“Your Majesty, haste makes waste. The enemy’s defending forces have consumed a large amount of defensive resources in this battle. When we fight again next time, it will certainly be much easier. Furthermore, as the saying goes, ‘The spirit is roused at the first drum, slackens at the second, and is exhausted at the third.’ Our army’s morale is low now. Continuing to fight will bring no chance of victory, only increasing casualties.”
“Temporarily retreating and fighting another day is the best strategy.”
