The Green Leaf Group's forces on top of the apartment building were still quietly waiting, ready for battle, watching the Black Arrow Tower Seventh Dynasty's vanguard forces surge towards Deherim, their hearts growing increasingly fervent.
They all knew that the most crucial battle was next; if they could defeat Deherim, then the entire Bali River Street would be their territory.
They would gain a better future, better harvests, become stronger, and enjoy a more beautiful life later on.
Everyone was waiting excitedly.
Meanwhile, on Deherim's city walls, Shen Mu frowned as he directed the Swadian Militia on the wall and the Holy Tree Forest Guardians who had been mobilized, continuously firing.
Crossbow bolts and arrows from hunting crossbows and bows rained down, striking the Skeleton Legion soldiers within the black mist, causing many Skeleton Soldiers to instantly turn into scattered bones and fall as the crisp sound of their Skeletons breaking echoed.
With the dense crunching sounds of bones being trampled, eventually, the ground beneath the black mist became covered in bone fragments.
These were clearly the Skeleton Soldiers who had been shot down.
However, Shen Mu's brows furrowed even deeper at this; he found that even though he urged his Crossbowmen to fire rapidly, it was still useless.
This was because the number of Crossbowmen he currently possessed was simply too small.
Adding them up, there were only 500 Swadian Militia and 100 Holy Tree Forest Guardians, and even with the Steppe Bandit Elite and Steppe Bandits forming the princess's hands, the total number was still less than a thousand.
Moreover, it should be noted that except for the Steppe Bandit Elite and Steppe Bandits who used quality Nomadic Bows and ordinary Nomadic Bows, the Swadian Militia only used hunting crossbows, and the Holy Tree Forest Guardians only used hunting bows, all of which were the lowest-grade ranged weapons.
Even if they could be shot out, they were soft and lacked much force, unable to cause significant damage to the enemy.
It was only because the enemies he currently faced were Undead Monsters, specifically Skeleton Soldiers with extremely weak defenses, that they could achieve some effective killing power amidst the dense rain of arrows.
They could shoot down some Skeleton Archers, turning them into shattered bone fragments collapsing to the ground.
However, for the actual battle situation, it had little effect; the Skeleton Legion continued to move rapidly towards Deherim through the mist, steadily advancing, completely undisturbed by the Crossbowmen on the city walls and showing no hesitation.
In fact, this was true; after all, Undead Monsters, no matter how one looked at them, were merely puppets of negative energy. Deep within their souls, they possessed only the desire to attack and hatred for the living.
Concepts like morale and courage held no meaning for these Undead Monsters; they had neither morale nor courage.
They also knew no fear or worry.
For these low-level Undead Skeletons, they were merely manipulated monsters, Skeleton puppets without minds.
Therefore, the sparse rain of arrows released by the ranged attackers on the city walls had little effect on these Undead Monsters. Even a dense formation of ranged attackers would be considered ordinary by these Undead Monsters, who had no consciousness and would not break down; they would still surge forward to attack.
This caused Shen Mu's expression to change as he observed the current situation on the city wall; he truly couldn't understand why there were so many Undead Monsters appearing from the darkness, and with a seemingly endless supply.
Especially when Shen Mu saw countless mists emerging from beyond the maximum range of the Holy Light Torch Tower's light, advancing towards them, his face grew increasingly grim.
"Something's wrong, this is really a bit off. How can there be so many Undead Monsters attacking from this direction? Even if I offended these Undead Monsters in the subway tunnel before, they wouldn't attack me so hysterically, would they?" Shen Mu frowned tightly at this moment. He truly couldn't figure out why there were so many Undead Monsters attacking him from outside, and from all directions in the surrounding darkness, converging on him.
Because there were truly many Undead Monsters all around.
Not only from the east gate direction where he was currently, but also from the west gate direction, the city wall outside the south, and the city wall direction of the Castle District to the north, reports of Undead Monster attacks had already come in.
This was practically a siege of his Deherim from all sides, a full-scale military operation.
"Now, Fatis, you go to the west gate to command and prevent those damned Skeleton Soldiers from attacking our west gate." Shen Mu didn't hesitate, immediately turning to Fatis and giving instructions.
"Understood, Lord Shen Mu, I'll go at once." Fatis immediately nodded without hesitation, leading his ten Holy Tree Knights who were assigned to protect him, and quickly walked towards the west gate, also taking about 20 Swadian Knights and 50 Swadian Heavy Cavalry.
In critical moments, these heavily armored Swadian Heavy Cavalry and Knights could also go up the city wall to act as heavy infantry to resist the enemy's attack.
These were very useful infantry.
After all, Heavy Cavalry could act as heavy infantry after dismounting, and in critical moments, these heavy infantry could also serve as a shield wall against enemy attacks and the main force of resistance.
Even though the Skeleton Soldiers currently showed no signs of any siege equipment, it was still necessary to be prepared for contingencies. Fatis never dared to take risks; he was always a very meticulous and cautious person.
This was also why Shen Mu would let him command the west gate.
"And Lezalit, you will be responsible for commanding this east gate." At this moment, Shen Mu looked at Lezalit, the evil-aligned instructor, a versatile general, and said in a deep voice, "And the ballistas on the towers, the light ballistas, and the trebuchets will all be under your command as well."
"Understood, Lord Shen Mu, I will not let you down." Lezalit also nodded and replied in a deep voice.
As a versatile instructor, he indeed knew a bit about everything, and was quite proficient, though not as expert as other generals. However, being versatile, he could command the defense of the city and also direct various siege weapons on the towers to attack outwards.
He was skilled in all of them.
And Shen Mu never arrogantly believed he knew everything. He only possessed some tactical and strategic skills learned from games in his previous life. Perhaps strategically, due to playing games and having a modern mind, he was more quick-witted, but in tactical details, he was indeed not as proficient as these generals who had experienced countless battles in the Mount & Blade World.
"Then, Lord Shen Mu, Bestour can also serve you." At this moment, Bestour, who was still beside Shen Mu, also spoke up anxiously, patting his chest and saying, "Whether it's fighting on horseback, or close combat with a scimitar and round shield against enemies, or even shooting enemies with a bow, I'm good at it."
After all, Fatis and Lezalit had already been assigned important duties, responsible for the security of the east and west gates.
Wouldn't he, Bestour, feel very awkward here?
Although in the Castle District, the one named James and Manid were also not given any important tasks, this was a time of war. James was a doctor and a mage, and Manid was a merchant and administrator. How could they be compared to him, Bestour, a proper warrior?
"You stay by my side; I still have important arrangements for you, Bestour." Shen Mu waved his hand, signaling him not to be so nervous, as he indeed had important arrangements at this moment.
And looking at the approaching mist outside, his brows furrowed tightly, but he formed an idea in his mind and slowly said, "Bestour, look at the Undead Monsters in the mist outside; are they all just Skeleton infantry units?"
"That's right, they're all Skeleton infantry. They don't have any mounted or mobile units." Bestour also turned his head to look outside, nodding to confirm Shen Mu's statement, because he had already scouted before and said with certainty, "They're all Skeleton infantry and Skeleton Archers; there are no Undead Monsters like Skeleton Cavalry."
Regarding Skeleton Cavalry or Death Knights, he had encountered them before; after all, at the border, he had even engaged in close combat with those Skeleton Cavalry Death Knights.
And it had given him quite a shock; after all, even if the cavalry units among those Undead Monsters were weak, just Skeletons, as long as they were cavalry, they had enough mobility and charge power to pose a significant threat to infantry or other units.
Therefore, Bestour was quite concerned about Undead Cavalry, so during his reconnaissance, he focused on checking to ensure that the Undead Monsters in the mist, or those entering Deherim, were only Undead infantry units, primarily Undead Warriors and Undead Archers, with no Undead Cavalry.
"Yes, they're just Undead Warriors, Skeleton Warriors, infantry units." Shen Mu spoke slowly, not caring if the terms he used were inaccurate, as they could be described in any way.
What he was more concerned about now was whether there was a way to easily resolve this crisis, as these infantry units were launching a siege on his Deherim, and it was a full-scale assault from the start.
A few thoughts suddenly emerged in his mind.
"Lord Shen Mu, do you seem to have some arrangements?" Bestour, having mingled among the Kujit people, was usually quite straightforward, but he also understood human nature and how to read expressions. When he saw Shen Mu's thoughtful expression, he couldn't help but raise an eyebrow and tentatively asked, "Then, shall we launch a proactive attack?"
"Wait a moment, I want to see what's going on with those Undead Monsters." Shen Mu didn't speak directly, but instead extended his right hand, making a stopping gesture, signaling Bestour to quiet down first.
Then Shen Mu looked at the approaching mist outside, frowning slightly, and a thoughtful expression appeared on his face: "Since those forest monsters don't have attack methods, then facing Deherim's city walls and the moats outside the walls, what can they do?"
It should be known that Deherim's city walls were 6 meters high, and outside the walls, there was a 5-meter deep and 3-meter wide moat already filled with water.
The water in these moats flowed from the springs in the Castle District, a large amount of water filling the moats in the Castle District and Town Area, and then through the connecting seams of the moats to the moats surrounding Deherim's outer perimeter, forming a defensive moat.
And the moat also served as the primary water source for irrigating the extensive farmlands outside Deherim. The water in the moat, due to rising levels, continuously flowed into the irrigation channels in the fields, forming an irrigation network.
Of course, the irrigation network was the main reason for nourishing agriculture and not much to care about, but precisely because of the ample water in the moat, it could form an excellent defensive moat.
Therefore, Shen Mu thought this way: never mind that these Skeleton Legions currently showed no signs of siege methods; even if they had siege weapons, what then?
The Skeleton Legions would first have to fill the moat before they could approach the city walls.
During this process, the defenders on Deherim's city walls would have already smashed the Skeleton Legion's Skeleton frames into bone fragments.
After all, the defending side truly held the advantage.
"In that case, if these Skeleton forces attack Deherim, aren't they just committing suicide? They have no siege weapons, no way to ensure a successful siege, so why would these Skeleton troops attack my Deherim?" At this point, doubt arose in Shen Mu's mind.
"Yes, why?" Bestour also suddenly thought of this question and couldn't help but frown. After thinking carefully, he said with some suspicion, "Is there some conspiracy, Lord Shen Mu?"
"Hmm, that's why I'm saying it seems there's a problem." Shen Mu nodded, then closed his eyes, pondered for a moment, and slowly said, "In my memory, I seem to have heard others say that the Skeleton Legion hidden in the underground tunnel seems to be conscious, with high-level commanders, and not like those low-level Undead Monsters that descend in the night, attacking chaotically and without order."
