The north wall was still heavily defended. At least, that's what it seemed to the bandits below. The walls were manned by guards and recruits wounded in the previous days that were still too weak to march with the army. Most of them should have been resting and recovering but they bravely suffered through pain and injury to support the battle.
They were joined by cooks, tailors, smiths, and other craftsmen that could be spared from their duties. This was the decisive day and preparations were already complete. There was no more use for them except atop the walls. Even Basu and Grandpa Kapoor were here.
Gray was impressed by these people, by their spirit. It did not simply come from a desire to survive but a collective desire to protect their family and their home. They were determined to do this even if it meant their deaths. Whether it was the townsfolk, the Patel family, or even the Duanmu Clan, they were all fighting for their family. They were fighting for the people they loved and their community. He himself did not have such deep sentiments toward anything or anyone but he now understood these feelings and how powerful they could be.
Except... that wasn't quite correct. He remembered Xueling. He would probably fight for no reason just for her, perhaps even take unnecessary risks.
But that wasn't quite right either. He would fight for her but just to earn her approval and recognition, to make her like him. Would he still fight for her if there was no such possibility?
Gray shook the confusing thoughts out of his mind and focused on the battle below.
The bandit army was awake and maneuvering for their sixth day of the siege. Around two thousand bandits were loosely organized into two groups. The first group of a thousand were in the siege trenches while the second group stayed out of arrow range with the carts of supplies.
Two sets of siege trenches extended from beyond six hundred paces to their limit of around fifty paces from the base of the wall. Gray faced one of the trenches on the right side of the gate while the other set of trenches were directed to the left of the gate. Each set of trenches attacked the town with different methods.
The east side involved digging underground tunnels. The earthen ramparts were tall and the trenches were wide and roomy. They protected hundreds of miners and multiple tunnels being dug towards the northern wall. They aimed to reach underneath the wall and create unstable caverns. These could then be collapsed which would collapse the section of the wall directly above into a heap of rubble, opening a pathway into the town.
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The defenders expected this and started tunnels of their own to counter the siege tunnels. The tunnels from the inside and the outside haven't met yet but once they did, a bloody struggle would break out underground. The defenders would fight with blade and fist against the bandits while fresh tunnels might be dug to circumvent the bottleneck. The wall might still collapse from the sheer number of tunnels but the actions of the defenders would delay that possibility.
The bandits in the western trenches chose to attack using a siege ramp. There, they were busy building a ramp towards the top of the wall using dirt and rocks dug up from nearby. They even created a turtle-like structure out of iron shields to protect the front of the ramp against arrows and stones.
The siege ramp grew slowly but steadily. In five days, it was already over twenty paces in length and taller than an average person at the highest point. By the time it reached the wall, it would be tall enough for middle stage warriors to leap over. It might even be enough for those at the lower stage as well.
Both methods were real threats even without the existence of massive jade deposits or demons. But the defenders weren't sitting idle either. They rained arrows and stones into the trenches, causing casualties and damaging the siegeworks. The guard captains were especially accurate at this short distance, capable of sniping people through wooden shields with their powerful arrows.
Gray wasn't any good at archery but he was excellent at throwing things. He showed Alisha and the captains just how good he was as he picked up a piece of stone the size of his head. It weighed at least thirty, perhaps even forty, kilograms. He held onto the stone with both hands, swung it around to gain momentum, and flung it into the sky.
The stone smashed into the trench, digging a groove through the earthen rampart with a cloud of dust and shattering a wooden barricade nearby. Loud yells and curses came from inside the trench followed by a furious volley of arrows in retaliation.
“Good shot!”
“Amazing!”
The defenders around him cheered.
"Sons of demons! Bison shit eaters!" Gray shouted as he chucked stone after stone, causing mayhem down below.
One of the captains wasn't satisfied with Gray's results and tried to copy him. Zheng Bai was also an exceptionally large man who was only a few hairs shorter than Gray. With his bulky muscles, he was able to fling the boulders the required distance but his aim was wildly inaccurate. He could barely hit the trenches one out of five times compared to Gray who hit on almost every throw and never the same place twice.
Gray howled with laughter as Zheng stomped away in frustration, “Get me more stones, I’m only getting warmed up!”
“Yes sir!”
"Right away!"
“Look at him, what a crazy guy. Brothers, we can’t slack off.” Hana Patel said, shaking her head.
Harsh chuckled while the other captains muttered indignantly. They were the lord’s most trusted advisors and strongest experts. They refused to be overshadowed by a random teenager. Together, they drew their powerful war bows and rained death down the attackers.
However, they knew in their hearts that Gray was the real deal. He was the difference maker. Jade Hill Town had Gray and the bandits did not. Success or defeat in the upcoming battle would hinge on his performance.