OBS Chapter 674 Falling into the trap
Chapter 674 Falling into the trap
The White Horse Knights' iron hooves rolled across the road, the clanging of armor mingling with the neighing of their warhorses.
General Laban rode at the head of the column, advancing deeper into the city.
At first, there were scattered weapons and broken armor on the outer streets, and occasionally a few corpses of Yoda soldiers could be seen. But as the group continued to venture deeper into the city, Laban's unease gradually surged.
The streets grew increasingly deserted, not a single human voice could be heard. Sections that should have been patrolled by guards were completely empty. There was no resistance as expected, no shouts from soldiers, only the sound of horses' hooves echoing in the air. This unusual silence made him frown more and more, a chill creeping down his back. He felt that something was wrong.
Having fought dozens of battles, he had never encountered such a smooth yet bizarre advance. The Yoda Empire's outer city defenses were already weak, and after penetrating deep into the heartland, it became completely silent. This was definitely not what a normal war should look like.
"stop!"
Laban gave a deep shout, his voice carrying a hint of seriousness. The knights on both sides immediately pulled on their reins, their warhorses rearing up and neighing sharply, and the knights behind them also slowed down.
Laban looked up and saw the street stretching into the darkness in the distance, deserted.
He steadied himself, his mind racing. The laxity of the outer city defenses might be an illusion, but for the enemy to achieve such complete silence, it meant either their fighting strength was exhausted or they had planned it all along, with the latter being far more likely.
After a moment's thought, Laban looked at the centurion beside him and said in a calm tone:
"Stay put and wait for the follow-up infantry. No one is allowed to move forward without authorization."
The captain of the knights nodded in agreement and immediately turned to relay the message to the rear of the column. The knights adjusted their postures, their warhorses pawing restlessly, exhaling white mist from their nostrils. The clashing of armor gradually subsided, leaving only the sounds of breathing and the light thumping of hooves.
Laban scanned the streets on both sides again. The shadows were heavy, and he couldn't see what was going on in the depths. His unease grew stronger. He raised his hand and placed it on the hilt of the sword at his waist. His palm, covered by armor, tightened slightly. He felt that there was a pair of eyes watching them from the shadows, waiting for the best time to launch a surprise attack.
Laban had just bowed his head to warn the knight beside him to be wary of attacks from both sides, unaware of the unusual activity lurking in the shadows at the street corner.
Behind the wall, the muzzle of an organ cannon slowly emerged, its dark muzzle gleaming coldly.
The gunner, Yoda, had his eyes fixed on Laban's direction, adjusting the angle of the cannon little by little.
"boom!"
Laban had just raised his head and hadn't even realized the danger when the cannon suddenly spewed fire, and a muffled cannon shot exploded in the street, shaking the air slightly. Several shells, accompanied by a sharp whooshing sound, headed straight for Laban.
The shells were incredibly fast, leaving no time to react. One of them struck Laban's horse with pinpoint accuracy. A shrill neigh was heard as the horse's body was instantly pierced by a hole the size of a bowl. Blood gushed from the wound, splattering onto the road. The horse lurched and collapsed heavily to the ground.
Laban was thrown violently by the impact of his warhorse falling to the ground, his body slamming into the road. The armor collided with the stone slabs with a heavy sound, his back ached from the impact, and his ribs throbbed. He struggled to get up, a dull pain shot through his chest, and a metallic taste rose in his throat, but he forced himself not to vomit.
The remaining shells landed around the area, directly piercing the horses and armor of several cavalrymen nearby, and screams of agony rang out one after another.
Laban gritted his teeth and pushed himself up from the ground. Just as he straightened his upper body, he heard a flurry of shouts coming from the alleys on both sides. Then, countless Yoda soldiers rushed out from the depths of the alleys, weapons in hand, charging towards the White Horse Knights. Spears were pointed directly at the knights, and chaos instantly engulfed the entire White Horse Knights.
Laban's heart sank; he instantly realized that they had fallen into Yoda's trap.
The previous slackness in the outer city defenses was not due to insufficient combat strength of Yoda's army, nor was it due to negligence in defense. Rather, it was a deliberate flaw exposed by the enemy in order to lure them into a surprise attack in the dead of night and into the ambush that had already been laid.
He had fought for many years and had seen many schemes to lure the enemy deep into his territory, but he never expected to be so badly defeated this time. He also never expected that the general of the Yoda Empire would be so bold as to use the outer city defenses as bait, betting that they would be eager to advance and ignore the risks behind them.
He gripped the hilt of his sword tightly, enduring the pain in his body, and glanced at the Yoda soldiers who had surrounded him. They outnumbered him far and were well-prepared, clearly having planned this for a long time.
"General, leave quickly!"
Several knights reacted quickly, immediately wielding their swords to force back the Yoda soldiers in front of them. Their swords slashed at the spears, producing a piercing metallic clang, deflecting the incoming spears one by one. They then dismounted and shielded Laban in the middle.
Just as Laban was about to get up, arrows shot from the shadows, grazing his armor and embedding themselves in the wall behind him. Clearly, the enemy had already positioned archers and crossbowmen to completely block their retreat.
"Retreat towards the city gate!" Laban gritted his teeth and spoke, cold sweat beading on his forehead. The pain in his body made his movements somewhat sluggish, but it kept his mind exceptionally clear. Although the outer city wall was Yoda's bait, as long as it was captured, a large number of Midland troops could enter Rona City.
The knights protecting him immediately nodded and swung their swords at the Yoda soldiers who were surrounding him.
Yoda's soldiers launched increasingly fierce attacks, their coordinated assaults relentlessly breaching the White Horse Knights' defenses, making the knights' resistance increasingly difficult.
In the blink of an eye, the White Horse Knights had left behind dozens, even hundreds, of corpses. The remaining knights could no longer hold on and could only follow the group protecting Laban as they broke out of the city.
Yoda's soldiers were hot on their heels, arrows raining down from behind. Several knights were struck by arrows and fell to the ground, never to rise again. Laban sat behind another knight, glanced back at the fallen knights, his throat tightening, but he could only steel himself and lead the remaining knights in a rapid retreat out of the city.
Not far away, on the top of the inner fortress, General Yoda, who was in charge of the defense, was holding up a telescope and watching the battle situation on the street.
The lens reflected the firelight and carnage below. When he saw the White Horse Knights abandoning their corpses and fleeing in panic, and Laban being protected by the knights as he escaped, a mocking smile appeared on his lips as he slowly lowered the telescope.
"The Midlanders are indeed foolish; they can't even see through such a simple trick."
His tone was calm, but it couldn't hide the arrogance in his bones.
"They think they can easily take over the city with the strength of the White Horse Knights, without even considering whose territory this is."
He had already intercepted the night raid plan through spies planted in the Midland army. As soon as the plan reached him, he immediately finalized the ambush plan, deliberately relaxing the outer city defenses and having the soldiers pretend to be weak in combat, luring the White Horse Knights deeper into the city step by step.
Once they enter the heart of the city, immediately launch an ambush, use organ cannons to severely damage the enemy's main force first, and then have the soldiers ambushed in the alleys surround and kill them, giving them no chance to breathe.
At the same time, he immediately wrote to Commander Atton, asking him to bring his main force to support Midland while a portion of Midland's main force was trapped in the city, so that they could take down Midland's army from both sides.
He turned to his adjutant beside him, his tone calm and steady:
"Pass down the order to have the Yoda garrison in other areas proceed as planned, entangle Midland's troops, and prevent them from easily retreating outside the city. Make sure to expand the gains and eliminate as many enemies as possible."
He then continued to observe the distance through his telescope. Although this ambush had failed to surround Count Yuris or wipe out Midland's main force, it had stopped Laban, his old rival, and severely damaged the White Horse Knights, thus achieving its expected goal.
Laban had fought him several times, and each time the battle was evenly matched. This time, he was naturally pleased that he had managed to make Laban suffer such a great loss.
On the other side, Laban led the remaining White Horse Knights in a retreat towards the outskirts of the city, blood still dripping from their armor and running down the edges of their plate armor.
After an unknown amount of time, the outline of the city gate finally appeared in front of them. Laban breathed a sigh of relief and slowed his pace slightly. As soon as he got close to the city gate, he saw Guts and the others cleaning up the battlefield.
Guts, wielding a greatsword stained with blood, kicked aside the corpse of a Yoda soldier. The soldiers around him were also busy, showing signs of post-battle fatigue, yet still working in an orderly manner.
As Gus looked up, he caught sight of Laban leading his remaining troops charging towards him. His eyes were filled with surprise. He subconsciously stopped what he was doing and stared at the figure of Laban and his group, wondering to himself, "Could the battle in the inner fortress be over?"
But looking at Laban and the others, their armor was shattered, they were covered in blood, and the number of people in the group was more than half of what it was when they set off. They had obviously encountered an accident and did not look like they had returned victorious from a battle. He instantly realized that Laban and his men had not only failed to break through, but had also suffered losses.
Laban saw Gus, and a surge of urgency welled up within him. He strode forward, his voice urgent:
"Where is Griffith? We've fallen into Yoda's trap. They knew we were going to launch a night attack and laid an ambush in the city. The White Horse Knights have suffered heavy losses."
The night raid has completely failed, and the battles to come will only be more difficult. We must rendezvous with Griffith as soon as possible to discuss our next steps and avoid further losses.
Upon hearing this, Gus's face instantly darkened; he hadn't expected this outcome.
Just as he was about to respond, a white-horse rider galloped over at high speed, looking flustered.
The knight dismounted and ran quickly to Laban, his voice urgent:
"General, a large contingent of Yoda soldiers is approaching from different directions. There are many of them, and they are estimated to be near the city gate in about half an hour. They are moving very fast, as if they are trying to surround us."
Laban's heart tightened. Sure enough, Yoda's soldiers caught up with them, splitting up in different directions, clearly intending to drive them out of the city gates completely.
The soldiers near the city gate had just gone through a battle and their strength had not yet recovered. The White Horse Knights had also suffered heavy losses and were simply unable to stop the attack of the large force of Yoda soldiers. They had to call for reinforcements as soon as possible, otherwise they would either have to retreat or be trapped here.
He immediately steadied himself, his gaze hardening, and turned to look at one of the knights beside him, his tone calm:
"Return to the camp immediately and inform Count Yuris that we have been ambushed and the White Horse Knights have suffered heavy losses. A large contingent of Yoda soldiers is now heading towards the city gate. Tell him to send reinforcements as soon as possible, or it will be too late."
The knight nodded immediately, without the slightest hesitation, leaped onto his warhorse, tightened the reins, and galloped off towards the military camp.
Laban then turned to look at the remaining white horse riders, his gaze sweeping over their tired yet resolute faces. Although they were wounded, none of them retreated; their eyes were filled with the fierce courage of battle.
Laban took a deep breath, his tone carrying a hint of authority:
"White Horse Knights, prepare for battle, form ranks and resist! We must not let the Yodas capture the city gates before reinforcements arrive, otherwise all the sacrifices of our brothers will be in vain!"