"Assaulting a fort head on? Definitely ill-advised, unless you either got the siege engines to properly pry open the fortifications, or mages to otherwise render them irrelevant. Even then, it tends to be a bloodbath." - Dean O'Malley, retired combat engineer, formerly of the Stone Shapers.
The next morning, after a quick breakfast, Reinhardt brought his three hundred - not one of them had been silly enough to risk their life and limb for mere vengeance, fortunately - towards the section of the forests assigned to him.
He saw around two, maybe three hundred of Graf Harscape's men and around fifty of Barnaby's join the reserve of light infantrymen, and could only shake his head. Then again, it was their decision to make, and not his place to judge.
This close to the center, the tropical jungle which dominated the south and the further reaches of the west of the Holy Kingdom receded, as the climate also became somewhat more temperate. Even so, it was still hot and humid, and the forests remained dense, if not as dense as what they had to deal with previously.
The Free Lances were assigned the woods to the north-east of the fort. It was a dense patch, situated in between the major roads that led to Zefirous and Uraeos, the eastern city. It was also one of the more likely places for the destination of a secret escape route.
Reinhardt had the scouts and part of his forces split into five groups, led by Elfriede, Salicia, Grùnhildr, Dacia, and Ylisera, each with ten scouts and forty soldiers under their lead.
He himself had the rest, which included Mischka's entire detachment, and waited by the forest's entry for the possibility that help would be needed. They were also left out partially because their large bodies made them unfit for maneuvering within the dense undergrowth of the forest.
Hannah was in the air, above the forest, at a height where it would be very difficult to shoot her down, while it allowed her to keep all five groups in her sights at the same time. She served as their lookout for the operation.
Over at the fort, the assembled dwarves already formed up and surrounded three sides of the fort, leaving only the north side open. Even then, it was not an option to escape from, considering that was where the bulk of the patrolling cavalry awaited them.
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Unlike Fort Ascher, Fort Prydwen was a proper fort. Its walls stood a full seven meters tall, with crenellations all over and smaller towers manned by archers every fifty meters. On the four corners of the fort were larger towers which each housed a catapult on top, as well as many more archers.
They rained arrows on the dwarves the moment they moved into range, yet the dwarves stoically raised and interlocked their shields together. Most of the arrows were stopped by the shieldwall they formed, and of those that made it past, they clinked harmlessly against the thick armor worn by the dwarven heavy infantry.
Heavy boulders hurled from the catapults on the other hand, managed a handful of casualties. Even then, it was not a sure thing. Reinhardt whistled when he saw a group of particularly burly dwarves catch a boulder on their shield and just slowly let it fall harmlessly.
Once the dwarves were closer, they were well within the catapult's minimum range, which rendered it useless. With their shields raised to cover their bodies, the archers did little damage as well.
With how all the dwarves dressed similarly and the raised shields covering them from sight, none of the defenders noticed the combat engineers in the midst of those dwarves. They went to work once they were close enough to the wall.
Over two hundred earth mages pooled their efforts, and in an instant, created works even the greatest of archmages would be hard pressed to replicate. The land surged up from where the engineers were located, as it formed a ramp that rose so high, its highest point was a full two meters taller than the top of Fort Prydwen's walls.
The earthen ramp was not just to cover the dwarves from many of the archers on the walls - those in the towers still shot at them - but also to provide a means of entry for the attacking force. As if on cue, the dwarven heavy infantry charged up the ramp, sprinting up the incline with surprising speed considering their heavy armor and short legs.
With loud bellows, the heavily armored dwarves ran to the top of the ramp, and took a flying leap from there, down towards the top of the walls of Fort Prydwen.
A few dwarves died when spears happened to find a weak point in their armor and the force of their fall impaled them. More often than not however, it was the defenders who were crushed under a heavily armored dwarf's boots, their bones crushed and flesh mulched by the impact.
Once the heavy infantry reached the top of the walls, they immediately streamed left and right, climbing the towers and descending the stairs. Lighter armored infantrymen streamed in behind them like a wave.
The defenders within Fort Prydwen never stood the slightest bit of a chance, as the dwarves quickly found out that there were less defenders present than expected.
A few tried to escape from the north gate, which was the only gate not under siege. They quickly found themselves cut off and run down by dwarves atop their rams or rhinos. Not a single one survived or escaped.
Around that same time, Reinhardt heard a shrill whistle from above, in a two-three-two pattern. It was a signal from Hannah, following codes they had agreed upon beforehand.
The first two whistles meant the second group, the one led by Elfriede. Three whistles after, signaled that they had found some enemies, but had the situation under control. The last two at the end meant they needed him present to make a decision for some reason.
Reinhardt left most of the group with Mischka in case there were other groups that needed assistance while he left, and only took five people with him, as he headed into the woods towards where Elfriede's group was stationed.