Crane city was not heavily populated, not by the standards of Tristan and Fulah city-states. However, it did boast of having a population of more than 50,000 people, factoring in the surrounding villages that were also taken in.
Many of the residents had been excited to get the chance to enter the walls, even though the cause was war. However, that did not make them indifferent to it. They were quite appreciative of the Tristan Queen. They knew that it was because of her that they had been allowed in the gates. Had it been left to the devices of their king, they would be locked out to fend for themselves.
Their presence was a boon since they were free labor. Many young men were used in the construction and fortification of the walls, while others were used in building up better defenses. A moat had been built and field with water in a day. Several more war machines had been built and were being elegantly laid all over the city, on the walls or within them.
Atop the walls stood a multitude of warriors, each holding a bow and several arrows. Anyone that could fire a bow and had an able body, regardless of gender, was sent to the walls with a bow and a quiver of arrows. That being said, they could only find about 10,000 civilians to use with the bow.
Using his censors, Barda deduced that Crane City was surrounded. However, the bulk of the army had massed at the from of the city. He watched them form up as he stood at the top of the gate.
General Morio and Commander Greer soon joined him. Having learned the lesson from Tristan's attack, the Queen and King Sahir were safely within the palace doors.
"How are the preparations?" the general asked.
"As well as can be," The commander answered, "How about you, how are things on your end?" The commander was asking Barda. In his heart, salvation was only going to come from the machines and the technology, since they did not have the numbers.
"Better than expected," Barda replied with a conniving smile that fanned the flames of Commander Greer's heart.
Across the open field overlooking Crane city's main gates, the army amassed. Barda counted 114,230 soldiers coming in. The rest were spread around the city. They had 10 trebuchets, 20 catapults, 30 ballistae, 2 battering rams and who knew how many ladders to scale the wall. Similarly, coming out in broad daylight was as brazen as it gets.
Looking at the numbers, Barda understood the plan, as he would have done the same. Crane city wall was surrounded by several houses, outer residents of the city. All except for the wide-area in front of the city gates.
The enemy wanted to make a bold attack from the front while a portion of the army, of which Barda guessed was the elite, would flank the city from the side, masking their approach as they did. Unfortunately for them, Barda was looking at the city through his 3D map, and he could see their approach.
[Frontal Assault: 114,230 targets]
[West-Flank Assault: 20,000 targets]
[East-Flank Assault: 20,000 targets]
[Perimeter Guards: 45,770 targets]
The army came to a halt 1.2km away from the gate. Looking at them, Barda guessed that they would try to waste time with intimidation tactics for the flanking teams to get close enough, but he wasn't going to give them a chance.
Technically, the general was in charge, but Barda didn't feel like asking for permission. Also, if he brought a victory, the general wouldn't mind too much. He wasn't the petty kind. Barda signaled the hornblower indicating the number 3 with his right hand. Seeing that, the Hornblower let out a deep blast with his horn.
Suddenly, hundreds of rocks took to the sky, shot from the trebuchets. At 1.2 km, they were effectively out of range of any of their weapons, or so they thought. 2 things would change their estimation that day and get a chance to repay a favor.
The first was Barda's reinvention. Having studied the trebuchet design from one of the books in the library, Barda understood that the major weakness in a trebuchet was the weakness in the materials. Lighter metal such as cast iron was brittle and would break if subjected to such a load, while harder metal such as steel was too bulky and would affect the range of the trebuchet.
Sadly, his old invention, Bronze, and the new steel he had created in Tristan was not much help either on solving this as they too were either too soft or too hard, respectively. That was when Barda decided to make a softer version of his steel, light enough to be malleable and ductile but also sturdy enough to withstand the strains of a trebuchet. He had to readjust the formula 33 times but he had done it, he had created medium-carbon steel.
The advantage of this new steel was that it added power and range to the trebuchets. However, they were not strong enough to reach the enemies, that's when the second thing applied. That morning, if Arnea had not come, they would have been in a sticky situation. However, she had come at just the right time with just the right solution.
A gifted enchantress herself, Lady Arnea had enchanted the trebuchets with wind magic by drawing magical runes on them. However, they didn't have much time for her to draw on all the trebuchets, but she had drawn on just enough.
***
Commander Hasion sat atop his horse as he watched Crane City. Even though he was a mighty commander, he was not at the front, but way behind the lines, watching and commanding his forces.
He watched as the huge boulders came upon his soldiers with a cross face. This was his default state, few had ever seen him smile. The only other emotion he had ever shown with that face was a sneer at the enemy. He was sneering now as he watched the boulders descend thinking, 'that b*#ch of a princess has prepared quite a landing party for us.'
Despite the multitude of boulders, he was not impressed. As a soldier, he had been in situations watching boulders coming down before. It was easy to evade them, only dunderheads would remain in its path. Ballistae were harder to evade since they were faster and more numerous, but he had the numbers to spare.
He was the commander of an elite squad that had more than hundreds of thousands of soldiers. he did not see any way the enemy would come out of this alive. However, all his conceitedness changed in an instant, the moment the boulders landed.
At first, he had assumed his men were far enough, but to his shock, the boulders kept coming closer and closer. Moreover, they seemed to arrange themselves in formation, with some flying further while others falling closer to the front lines.
When they fell, the boulders seemed to shatter like an egg. More accurately, they were made of ceramic which shattered. The pieces acted like shrapnel, instantly killing the nearby soldiers, even those that had evaded the boulders.
Looking closely, the commander realized the ceramic boulders were hollow inside, and in them, there were little black balls. These balls had been dispersed by the shattering of the boulders as far wide as possible, creating pandemonium among the soldiers as they did not understand what they were.
[5...]
[4...]
[3...]
[2...]
[1...]
[Detonation.]
Barda watched the countdown in his head. He had set the incendiaries in his makeshift grenades to last 5 seconds after ignition. The ignition was caused by the friction generated from the shattering of the ceramic boulders they were in.
Suddenly, the Gumina side lit up like a Christmas tree all around the area the boulders landed. The repeated explosions not only killed the soldiers but also disoriented them, disrupting their formations. Despite that, Barda was not letting them off that easily.
Both Crane and Tristan city residents on top of the walls were stunned by what they saw. Even those that participated in the making of these machines were appalled by their killing efficiency. Luckily, the guys firing were down below on the other side of Crane City wall, firing over the wall. They didn't get to see the end products of their work, they just heard the cries of the enemies, and rejoiced.
"Commander, I don't intend any of these dogs to go back alive, do you?" Barda asked as he picked up a firearm.
"No, I do not!" The commander answered with a bloodthirsty look on his face.
"Then lend me some of your guys, I'll lend you mine, we'll meet in the middle."
"Solid plan!"