The next attack came a few hours later and it made one thing clear.
Whatever or whoever was controlling the beasts, was smart as the next wave was led by bigger beasts that could withstand the shrapnel thanks to their tough armor or in the case of some long-haired bulls their fur.
Seeing the bombs go to waste Paul ordered the throwers to switch to the incendiary ones.
Once the jars landed and exploded, everything in their surrounding area was covered in burning oil.
This caused the beasts to panic since most of them were afraid of the fire and some that were covered in the burning oil went on a rampage caused by the pain.
This time the losses on the beast's side were much more severe thanks to the rampaging beasts who trampled many of their allies and spread the fire among other beasts.
The long-haired bulls got the worst of it as their fur was susceptible to fire and once it started to burn it was hard to put it out.
Thanks to that they were almost completely wiped out.
This time there were a few thousand beasts left dead or dying on the ground but it was still only a fraction of the total forces they had.
After the attack was repelled the Mayor surrounded by elders from the prominent families of the town came to find Paul.
-Young man, we thank you for all the help that you provided us with.
The mayor said, couping his hands before Paul.
Seeing that everyone was stunned.
It was a great honor to be addressed by the mayor like that and even the elders of many families came personally to thank him.
-There is no need to thank me, I'm doing all that so I can survive this sige.
Paul responded.
-That may be true, but thanks to the bombs you created we killed around ten percent of the enemy force without losing anyone or even shooting an arrow.
One of the elders said.
-Then I'm glad that it is working but sooner or later the beasts will simply ignore the bombs so don't rely on them too much.
Paul explained.
-Then do you have anything else that could help us defend the town?
The mayor asked.
-Unfortunately, I don't, I never really studied the siege and the defense art and the bombs were just an idea I had and it just so happens to be working.
If we had a day or two to prepare then I might have a few ideas that would make it harder to attack the town but right now we can't go outside the walls to implement them.
Paul said, thinking about the medieval castles in Europe.
-Can you share some of those ideas with us?
If we can survive this siege we will implement them.
The mayor asked.
-No problem but just to make it clear, this would not work too well against humans but might slow down the attacking beasts or even stop them for a while.
Paul said and proceeded to explain what a moat was along with some ditches with sharp spikes on the bottom he also advised them to put some sharp spikes under the walls to make it harder to approach them.
These would be useless against humans of this world but they would work against the beasts at least the weaker ones.
-Thank you for this, and if we survive then I will implement those ideas immediately.
The mayor said and all the elders agreed.
Building a moat would be quite easy as all they needed to do was to dig a deep trench and connect it to the river.
But that would require people to work outside the barrier and it was impossible at the moment.
After some more small talk, the elders went back and Paul started to cultivate to restore his mana while he had the chance.
From then on everyone's respect for him grew as it was not every day that a mayor and the elders came to thank someone and even ask for his opinions.
This made Paul special in many people's eyes and they all thought that if they managed to survive then this young man would achieve great things in the future.
Paul actually had an idea for a poison bomb but that could be a double-edged sword and if the wind blew in the wrong direction it would poison the defenders instead of the beasts so he kept quiet about it.
There were no more attacks that day which let the mages restore their mana and prepare more bombs for the next time.
At the dawn of the next day, everyone was woken up by the alarm raised by the people on guard duty.
The beasts were attacking again but this time they were coming at them all at once.
When Paul reached the top of the walls he saw a massive wave of beasts charging at the town.
The ground trembled as they approached and even the bombs didn't stop them this time as any beast killed or wounded was simply trampled and left behind.
The fire bombs did a bit better but even they were not enough to stop the onslaught.
The beasts died by the hundreds but it was not enough to stop them this time.
Soon they slammed into the barrier which shook from the impact and Paul stopped the cultivators from throwing bombs.
The barrier was under immense stress as it was and it didn't need any more so they all switched to bows.
They fired arrow after arrow killing the beasts left and right but when one fell there were more to take its place.
The arrows fell like rain and the area around the barrier was starting to look like a slaughterhouse with hundreds of beasts dead under it but there were still more coming.
Paul ordered some incendiary bombs be thrown behind the enemy front line to create a wall of fire away from the barrier.
The idea was to slow down the incoming beasts and to kill the ones near the barrier first, unfortunately, it didn't work.
Even when they were burning the beasts ignored the flames and kept coming.
The only effect was that many of them died from the flames or by being trampled to death by their comrades.
After a few minutes of this relentless assault, the barrier started to crack here and there which indicated that it could not hold out for much longer.
The defenders did all in their power to kill the beasts as quickly as possible, in order for the barrier to be recharged but it was no use as the moment a beast fell another took its place.
It was just a matter of time before the beasts would break through the barrier and then all that would be standing between them and the town would be the walls and the defenders on them.