The faint morning light gradually brightened, making the blue-stone city walls more distinct. From afar, the walls were covered with sooty char and the dark red of coagulated blood. Under the sunlight, the morning dew gathered into glistening droplets on the ramparts, slowly meandering downward. The droplets slowly fell into the deep red, then darkened into black, silently dropping to the soil. Following this trail, one could discern the true color of the walls—the sturdy, blue-gray stone bricks.
Xiulote gazed at these impenetrable city walls and sighed inwardly.
The massive army had marched south and now, obstructed by these six-meter blue-stone walls, had been besieging the city for a month.
At the onset of the siege, he was full of confidence, believing that, buoyed by their sweeping victories, they could directly storm the city and the Rivermouth Fortress would easily fall. The Young Commander’s prestige was high at this time, and Bertade was healing on the North Coast, making all the generals submissive and unquestioning. It was then that the distinguished teacher, Olosh, spoke up and advised caution, prompting Xiulote to act prudently.
Heeding the advice, he first set up large camps to the south and east of the fortress, and built a water camp by the Cuitzeo Lake. He then dispatched Samurai to patrol and control all passageways, effectively isolating the Rivermouth Fortress as a lone city, with all land and water routes cut off. Subsequently, under the cover of shield-carts, the Otomi Militia began to fill the eastern moat and dismantle the wooden palisades outside the city. They also constructed shooting mounds about a hundred steps from the south of the city, reaching seven to eight meters high, from which Crossbowmen could shoot from an elevated position. Only after all these preparations were the proper assaults on the city launched.
The Rivermouth Fortress was in an excellent position, easy to defend but difficult to attack. Surrounded by rivers, and with soft, waterlogged soil, it was impossible to dig tunnels or to collapse the walls. The fortress gates were blocked, and with insufficient metal tools, they could not ram or dig under the walls. Conquering such a fortress relied only on traditional methods of scaling the walls, but if the Defending Army was numerous and resolute, the casualties from such attempts were unacceptably severe, as demonstrated by their recent attempts.
Recalling the ferocity of the siege, Xiulote shook his head slightly. This had been his first real encounter with a strong city as the commander-in-chief of a large army.
On the first day of the attack, the Mexica Northern Army mobilized its full force. Behind the cover of shield-carts, Crossbowmen suppressed the enemies’ firing, and trebuchets moved close to launch projectiles. Then, with high morale, the Holy City Samurai approached the city walls, climbed ladders, and fell one after the other. The brutal fierce battle lasted only for a quarter but cost five hundred Samurai lives!
The six-meter Stone Fort walls were nothing like the three-meter Wooden Fort walls. When the Samurai got within twenty steps, a rain of spears and stones fell, piercing Leather Armor and helmets. At five steps, lime and soil were continuously thrown down, obscuring vision. The moment the ladders were fixed, rolling logs and huge stones smashed down, breaking bones of those they hit.
More troubling was the Tarasco people, who had somehow replicated over three hundred Mexica Longbows, plus over a thousand Tlaxcala Wooden Bows, shooting from inside the city and killing any approaching Samurais. Under the deadly power of the strong bows, the Samurai were as fragile as autumn flowers, withering as quickly as the Militia. And when a few brave Samurai reached the ramparts, they were immediately met with dense Spear Formations of Tarasco men and quickly overwhelmed and killed.
After watching the battle for a quarter-hour without seeing any hope of breakthrough, Xiulote decisively blew the conch shell, ordering a retreat. The Holy City Samurai, carrying their shields, withdrew awkwardly while the Crossbowmen shot rapidly, suppressing the enemy on the city walls. Afterwards, he briefly tallied the numbers, and his heart ached. These were the most loyal Holy City Samurai, his family’s most reliable force!
The Young Commander immediately had the nobles captured during the naval battle brought forward to inquire about the source of the Longbows. These Longbows had been the first batch of new weapons transported from the Capital City at the beginning of September. If not for the rapid southern advance of the Mexica army in October, an even larger second batch of Longbows would have reached them.
"The Tarasco people are already mass producing Longbows in the Capital City, prioritizing supply to the southern front line where the fighting is definitely more brutal. War, a matter of survival, truly is the fastest pathway for the spread of technology! After this battle at Lake Yuriria, spies from various states eager to learn about Gunpowder will probably swarm from all directions, like flies drawn to the scent of blood. Fortunately, the craftsmanship of Gunpowder is complex, and there’s little chance of it leaking out in the short term."
Thinking this, Xiulote tilted his head slightly, his thoughts drifting to the distant future.
Olosh, dressed in the grand uniform of a Legion Commander, strode forward. The Commander was promoted to Deputy Marshal, holding command at the North Coast Wooden Fort. He now temporarily took over as the Legion Commander, leading the Holy City Legion, fulfilling his long-held desire.
"Your Highness, the Samurai are ready. Shall we feign an attack to lure the enemy as we did in the previous days, engaging them from a distance?"
Looking at his close mentor, Xiulote smiled faintly, shaking his head.
"The craftsmen have just made about a dozen simple nest carts, which will allow the Archers to shoot from a closer range. Today, we really attack again! Call Jiowar forward."
Since the first day of the siege, the Young Commander had realized that attacking a fortress was a lengthy process. Unwilling to lose too many core Samurai, he could not rush. Recollecting historical battles, he reformulated his plans. First, he aimed to exhaust the elite and combat-ready Samurai of the Defending Army, then gradually demoralize the Militia inside the city. Only once the fighting spirit and manpower of the Defending Army had significantly weakened would he launch a real total land assault and a surprise naval attack!
Under this new strategy, subsequent sieges mainly focused on ranged depletion. The Otapan Samurai were responsible for feigning attacks, making constant threatening moves toward scaling the walls to force the Defending Army to expose themselves. Next came the exchanges of fire between Archers, with the Northern Route Army leveraging its long-range advantage, occasionally launching burning Paper Fireballs. If the Defending Army completely took shelter behind the rampart’s shielded platforms, then a real scaling attempt would follow, forcing a redeployment.