Chapter 23: The Volunteer Army of Xianlin City
"The lord has issued an order, a large group of beastmen are approaching, all the guards and warriors of the Meilin family gather at Xianlin City!"
A large number of messengers rode out in all directions, and the entire Xianlin County was stirred up. Many people inside Xianlin City had already learned from informed mercenaries that tens of thousands of beastmen were coming to attack. A large number of timid merchants or small aristocrats packed up their valuables and moved with their families to the eastern part of the human territory. Most people, however, gathered at the city lord's mansion to plead for help. These people were mainly scattered mercenaries who had not joined any mercenary groups and ordinary citizens who were good at martial arts. Xianlin County has always been a place where multiple forces have competed for survival, and those who can survive here are not weak. The timid cowards who fled before the battle even started were in the minority after all.
These volunteer soldiers who were willing to fight the beastmen to the death, along with the family guards, formed a group of 500 people for Lin Tian. Among them, there were two level-4 warriors and 100 level-3 warriors, while the rest were either level-2 or level-1. This army of 500 people with average low quality was naturally no match for the 1000 beastmen elite with an average combat power of level-3. So although they were all excited and eager to fight, everyone knew in their hearts that without reinforcements, these people would definitely die.
Lin Tian walked slowly towards these excited warriors with the accompaniment of 4 third-class guards, their eyes chasing after this young lord.
"The kingdom's messengers have brought news that every region is under fierce attack by the beastmen, and they cannot spare even a single soldier to support us!" The crowd was shocked into silence for a moment before quieting down, clearly waiting for the young baron to continue speaking.
"But we have reinforcements, and they are a powerful coalition of elves and dwarves!" Lin Tian swung his hand forcefully, pointing in the direction he had just come from. At the entrance of the city lord's mansion, a beautiful elven female warrior stood majestically on her horse, which was none other than the rare flying horse. This powerful female knight obviously possessed the strength of a 5th-level elite knight.
"Yes, Honorable Lin Tian*Mei Lin. Our powerful fairy tribe troops have set out!"
"Our dwarf troops have also set out, with over a hundred elite giant axe warriors, awaiting the lord's command!" Behind the white divine horse, a dwarf emerged, wielding a giant axe and swinging it fiercely, his voice coarse. At least three levels of strength or higher, many sharp-eyed mercenaries judged immediately. If what these two tribal envoys said was true, then victory was still uncertain. The volunteer soldiers found hope for victory, and morale surged greatly.
Lin Tian then arranged for the highest-ranking family member, 4th-level Knight Reed, to take charge of organizing the volunteers. After lunch, they set off in a southwest direction along the main road. Lunch was arranged by the old steward using food from the castle lord's mansion, supplemented with various monster meats stored away, and several large pots were set up outside the castle gate to treat these brave volunteer soldiers. Lin Tian himself quickly set off ahead of time to conduct reconnaissance. In the evening, the young lord found the volunteer army marching along the main road and ordered Reed to set up camp and rest.
Day 2 of Week 3.
"Constructing Human Tier 1 Special Building Stable - 2000! Remaining 75,100 gold."
Human Stable: Greatly increases the hero's movement speed for this week.
"Constructing Spirit Tribe's 1st Tier Special Building: Blacksmith - 2000! Remaining 73,100 gold."
Blacksmith: Can provide heroes with primary war machines: Primary catapult, Primary ballista, Primary first aid tent. If the hero's war machine ability is upgraded, it can be continuously upgraded to the corresponding level for free in the blacksmith shop.
In the previous upgrade, the house had already learned basic war mechanical skills, but it was always put on hold without building a blacksmith. Now it's finally useful. A batch of 3 types of war machines were bought in, each for 1000 gold. Remaining 70100 gold.
Lin Tian summoned 140 long gunners, 90 dwarf warriors, 110 archers, 30 guards, and 20 priests in a deserted place. He took command of the troops and led them to the ambush point he had scouted out yesterday... This is the only way for the beastmen to attack Xianlin City, with a wide road and dense forests on both sides, making it easy for the elf warriors to lay an ambush.
The commander arranged the troops here, with 90 dwarf warriors forming a thick defensive formation in the middle of the road, followed by 30 guards at intervals, then 20 priests who were good at attacking and healing, and finally a dense archer camp. Lin Tian consciously pulled the long gunner battalion to the back of the team and opened up the wing positions. The volunteer soldiers filled the wings, since they had joined the battle, they should have made an effort, of course, Lin Tian also had his own motives, which was also to let his troops share the damage.
The warriors didn't have to wait for too long, the beastman troops who thought they were strong, after plundering the whole village, rushed towards the direction of Xianlin City. From a distance, they saw the well-equipped human and dwarf coalition army on the main road. This not-too-intelligent catman general simply adjusted his formation and let his soldiers charge...
The catapult with the longest range spoke first, hurling a massive boulder high into the air, which then whistled down onto the beastmen. These were originally designed to breach city walls, mercilessly crushing any enemies who failed to dodge into pulp, before bounding and rolling away under their powerful momentum, injuring another batch of unlucky souls. The actual damage was limited, but the intimidation factor was off the charts.
Immediately following the dull sound of the crossbow's bowstring, a huge bolt shot out, its size almost comparable to a long spear. It rapidly pierced straight ahead, and the charging beastmen had no awareness to dodge. In an instant, four were penetrated, and with remaining force, it was thrust into the nostril of the last catman. This poor little catman was only half the height of the pig-headed man in front. Originally agile, it might have been able to dodge, but because it wanted to use the stupid pig-headed men as a meat shield, its line of sight was not obstructed, and it died unjustly.
20 priests began to chant, and 20 small ice spikes suddenly appeared, falling from the sky at an incredible speed. The cat warriors who were unable to dodge were instantly killed. They moved quickly but still couldn't avoid this sudden aerial attack, and their weak life force was exposed without a doubt. On the contrary, the clumsy pig warriors charged forward with a roar. Their movements were slow, but they had strong vitality and wore armor with certain defensive power. A small ice bullet couldn't take their lives.
"Twang!" A short, uniform sound like a single bowstring echoed through the air as 110 archers simultaneously activated their scatter shot skill. The sky was filled with arrows in an instant, covering the sun and densely covering a large area of beastmen troops. Unfortunately, only a small number of unlucky ones actually died. The scatter shot skill increased the arrow density by three times, but at the same time greatly reduced its killing power. Moreover, these beastmen were not lower in level than the archers, so they couldn't be killed instantly.
The remote troops only had time to make two volleys, and the brave beastmen in the front row trampled on the corpses all over the ground and heavily crashed into the human defense line.
The cruel infighting has begun!
