“To a soldier defending a fortification, there is no sight more demoralizing than to see their vaunted walls broken.” - Liang Shi-Zu, famed tactician from the Huan Confederation.

Once more members of her platoon were fighting on the walkways of the palisades with her, Alycea slowly shifted from fighting at the front to commanding once more. As a commander, she needed to take note of the developing situation and give orders where necessary, and she was aware of that. She took the time she had to look around and observe the situation around her.

Her platoon was driving the Podovnian soldiers back from the northern end of the walkways on the eastern side of the fort, with the twins already leading some of the platoon members to blockade the staircase to prevent enemy reinforcements from climbing up. Further to her south, she saw that Zyd and Arne’s third strike platoon had pushed hard against the enemies in the central area of the walkways with brutal results.

What few enemies hadn’t been sent falling off the walkways now found themselves pincered between some of Alycea’s own troops and the third strike platoon, while on the other side, the Warforged under Alvaro’s leadership did the same with the other half of the strike platoon.

As for Alvaro himself, Alycea spotted the dark-skinned westerner fighting at the top of the stairs alongside Njeri as usual, the two practically holding the staircase by their lonesome as their troops busied themselves clearing off the last enemy troops off their side of the walkways and storming the nearby watchtower on that corner of the fort.

Since Branka’s archers were already starting to climb their way to the walkways as well, Alycea quickly gave the order to clear the watchtower near where her troops fought. The archers would appreciate the higher vantage point.

With the situation on the eastern wall under control, Alycea finally had time to check on the western wall for the first time. The distance was close enough that she could see what went on there with her naked eyes, and what she saw surprised her quite a bit, mostly because it had exceeded her expectations on how well the other side would have taken to her plan.

A large rent sundered the western wall into two halves, from where the very noticeable figures of Mischka’s platoons strode in, pushing aside all that stood in their path, followed by a large group of volunteers behind them. Alycea guessed since Mischka’s platoon was present, it was indeed not too odd for them to directly break through the wooden palisades of the fort.

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They definitely had more than enough brute force to do so in a short period of time.

In fact, the western side’s walkways were already pretty much cleared of enemy soldiers, with the mercenaries firmly in control of the wall itself and easily holding back the enemy soldiers on the staircases. Alva’s first archer platoon already had several of their members shooting from the watchtowers, even.

One glance and Alycea would tell why. Her elder sister was leading one side of the offensive there, whereas her mother personally led the other side. Both of them already led their close comrades past the corner where the watchtowers stood and moved on to strike at the enemies on the northern and southern walls.

Alycea quickly brought some of her own troops in the same direction, while ordering the rest to hold the stairs. The Podovnian soldiers on the northern wall did not last that long, with some of them even jumping off on their own to avoid certain death at the hands of the mercenaries. Within fifteen minutes of Alycea first setting foot atop the walls of the fort, the mercenaries had taken complete control of the walkways and the watchtowers.

Which left the Podovnian soldiers still in the fort in an unenviable position of being surrounded by enemies who had the high ground all around them.

The situation only went from bad to worse for the Podovnian soldiers, for that matter, as Alvaro and Erycea’s troops worked together to send some people down to strike at the enemy soldiers defending the fort’s southern gate. The strike force, which included the elites from both platoons, including Erycea, Alvaro, and Njeri themselves, made short work of the defenders and soon the gate was left ajar.

That in turn allowed the volunteers who had rushed towards the fort together with Alycea’s forces to enter the fort as well, and from there, the outcome of the battle was a foregone conclusion. The volunteers on the other side had simply entered through the gap Mischka’s people made on their way in instead.

Outnumbered and outmatched, the Podovnian soldiers were left with no options other than to open the northern gate themselves just so they could run for their lives towards their main camp. Once Alycea saw that happen, she ordered the rest of the troops under her to enter the fort and to shut the southern gate once more when they had all entered.

The main Podovnian army had noticed that the fort behind them had changed hands by then, which did unpleasant things to their soldiers’ morale. Combined with the fierceness of the Levainian and Caroman troops they faced, they were soon pushed back. Their commander contemplated a retreat, but the fort they planned to retreat to had been taken by the enemy, so they sent some of their rear troops at the fort in an attempt to retake it.

All they discovered was a fort full of mercenaries and volunteers who had already hunkered down in preparation for their arrival, freely raining projectiles from the walls of the fort with brutal intensity. Even when some of the Podovnian soldiers discovered the breach on the western wall, all who tried to enter that way only found a swift and brutal death instead, as Mischka’s platoon took to guarding the breach they created personally.

With their troop morale wavering, an enemy force that pushed hard against their lines and threatened to overwhelm them, and no place of succor nearby, the Podovnian commanders reluctantly signaled a full retreat after a while more, their troops circumventing the fort as they withdrew towards their main camp.