Chapter 153: Outbreak of War (Part 2)

Guo Lang and his group slipped into the city wall and disguised themselves as defensive soldiers stationed atop the ramparts. In this era, horses remained a precious strategic resource. Elite units such as cavalry, crossbowmen, and even firearm squads were naturally not the top choices for Guo Lang and his team, as such units received closer scrutiny and their members were presumably more familiar with one another, making them unsuitable for infiltration.

Instead, what suited them best were the low-ranking foot soldiers on the wall responsible for rolling stones and dropping logs. According to information provided by Al, the Baila Royal Court was a tribe that emerged from the grasslands, a people of the horseback. Although they had conquered most of the agrarian lands and established an empire, the upper classes still prided themselves on horseback archery. Those who served as cavalry held a certain status, whereas soldiers tasked with managing rolling stones, logs, boiling oil, and nightsoil on the ramparts were undoubtedly at the very bottom of the military hierarchy. Because they were mostly conscripted temporarily and held extremely low status, replacing a couple of them would go entirely unnoticed!

Alice possessed the occupational secret art of disguise, which could alter not only facial features but also bone structure. Disguising herself as an adult soldier presented zero problem at all. Guo Lang easily imitated Alice's skill and blended in seamlessly. Then came Abel. His imposing physique was still quite likely to draw attention, after all, in a feudal era, low-ranking grunt soldiers who grew this robust were few and far between.

Therefore, after some consideration, Abel and Kelly were left behind not far in the rear to provide support, while he and Alice went up the city wall to reconnoiter the situation. When assigning tasks, Guo Lang decisively chose the job of boiling nightsoil. Although Alice looked somewhat reluctant, pressed by Guo Lang's demand, she could only pout and follow along grudgingly.

Guo Lang naturally had his reasons. Even among low-ranking odd jobs, there were distinct tiers. For instance, generally very few people were willing to take on the chore of boiling nightsoil.

The so-called nightsoil was a mixture of various types of human waste, emitting a stench of monstrous proportions. In this era of cold weapons, it was arguably the most cost-effective and highly efficient tool for defending city walls. Once boiled, the odor became even more pungent. If poured onto a person, given the medical conditions of this era, the consequences could well be imagined.

It was even possible that it would prove instantly fatal.

"Dad, it smells so awful! Can't we go over there and carry rolling logs instead?" Alice, disguised as a young man of about one meter seventy-five, lowered her voice and complained with a spoiled whine.

Guo Lang glared at her: "Cut it out. Stick close to me and don't wander around!"

Alice: "Mmh..."

Because the nightsoil stank so badly, most people avoided paying attention to this area, especially those of higher rank. This avoided the scrutiny of military officers as well as the notice of even higher-ups. Guo Lang had noticed quite early on that a somewhat frail-looking middle-aged man wearing the attire of a quartermaster was standing on the ramparts, surveying the overall situation.

This person was different from the rest! Guo Lang judged silently. He was a very astute individual, and neither he nor Alice could afford to get too close to him. Neither of them had the experience of such low-level cannon fodder, and they could easily betray telltale signs through habitual movements in front of such perceptive people. Therefore, it was better to stay well out of their line of sight.

However, Guo Lang found one thing rather peculiar: the opposing camp showed no sign of wanting to attack yet. Judging by the intelligence, they seemed to have just arrived beneath the walls, and under such circumstances, an immediate assault was unlikely. Yet Guo Lang discovered that the top of the city wall was gripped by an atmosphere of facing a formidable enemy—the mood was somewhat bizarre.

Suddenly... a heavy blast of a horn echoed, followed closely by the soul-stirring sound of rolling war drums!

This development narrowed Guo Lang's eyes, because both the horn blasts and the drumbeats came from their own side's army. In other words... were they planning to take the initiative and launch a sortie?

Guo Lang frowned. According to intelligence reports, the army of the Ros Empire had swept through all obstacles like a knife through bamboo, capturing five cities in succession, and their military momentum was blazing. From the logic of a typical defending general, shouldn't they first avoid the enemy's razor-sharp edge?

Guo Lang thought to himself: "To actually have the guts to launch an active sortie—truly carrying that grassland bloodline, quite fierce. However..." Guo Lang looked at the cavalry gathering near the city gate with some astonishment. Generally speaking, grassland horsemen mostly excelled at mounted archery, and heavy cavalry of this sort was rarely seen.

Even as he pondered, the city gates swung wide open. Guo Lang saw a heavily built, middle-aged giant over two meters tall, wearing exquisite chainmail, holding a cavalry lance several meters in length. Judging by the shape of the weapon, it somewhat resembled the knightly lances of the Western history from Guo Lang's previous life!

This kind of lance was categorized as a single-use item. The front section of the shaft was hollowed out. Once it struck a target, the immense recoil would cause the shaft to shatter. Lances of this type reached an average length of five meters and were made of very brittle fir wood—the same wood used to make modern pencils, giving an idea of just how fragile it was. These lances were first crafted into half-lance shapes, their interiors hollowed out, and the two halves then glued together and painted red, adorned with golden feather-like decorative patterns, with a pennon attached just behind the spearhead.

The middle-to-rear section of the entire lance featured a wooden ball designed to protect the hand gripping it. The iron spearhead was quite small, only about ten centimeters long, ridged, and equipped with long iron strips behind it to secure the spearhead to the shaft. Because the shaft was hollow, these lances rarely weighed more than three kilograms, and with the wooden ball acting as a counterweight, the center of gravity was shifted backward, making them easy to grip and control. A winged lancer charging at full gallop could skewer an armored enemy with the lance in hand, but typically the lance would simultaneously be shattered by the recoil.

Such disposable lances were extremely scientific and rational weapons, because a cavalryman using a spear differed from an infantryman in combat. When a cavalryman thrusts, the horse is running at high speed and cannot linger among the enemy forces. Because once they stopped, a stalled horseman with restricted mobility would become the ideal target for swarms of infantry.

This held true even when individual knights fought in duels. The two horsemen would charge at each other, and upon closing, exchange blows just once or twice—at most no more than three times—before their horses carried them far apart. If neither had secured victory and both still desired to fight, they would wheel around, charge at each other anew, exchange blows, and separate once more.

Thus, a single cycle of driving horses close, exchanging blows, and galloping apart was referred to as a "bout." Traditional storytelling referring to the number of bouts fought between ancient generals described this exact cycle: the "bout" was the process of turning the horses back to engage in combat, while the "he" or "closure" was the process of the two horses closing the distance. A single bout meant the two horses charging and engaging each other once. However, novelists expanded this concept, applying it even to foot combat and martial arts masters exchanging blows, which was actually a misnomer, because infantry combat tended to be a prolonged, tangled melee, vastly different from cavalry combat where contact was made and broken in an instant.

Generally speaking, during a mounted thrust, the rider borrowed the horse's momentum, the horse borrowed the rider's power, and rider and mount became a single entity, concentrating all the kinetic energy of this high-speed charge upon the spear tip. This force was immense. If the rider's seat on the horse was unstable, even if they impaled the enemy, the impact would knock the rider right off the saddle. Therefore, a crucial problem that had to be solved when using a lance on horseback was how to cushion this recoil!

After the invention of stirrups, to counteract the recoil of impact, these heavy cavalry lances were designed primarily for single use. After the impact, upon striking the target, they would snap, drastically reducing the backward shock and preventing the rider from being unseated by the reaction force. Once the lance broke, the rider would draw close-combat weapons such as a knightly sword, saber, or mace to continue fighting, or return to their squires to obtain a fresh lance!

Guo Lang silently watched this seemingly high-ranking commander lead over a thousand such elite heavy cavalrymen, swarming out through the city gates like arrogant gladiators, and shook his head inwardly.

Guo Lang had experienced many battlefields in his past life. Although he had been a mere extra, he had witnessed the appearance of cavalry in various low-to-mid-tier worlds. This troop of cavalry before his eyes easily fell into the category of exceptionally outstanding common soldiers; both their morale, equipment, and formation fully deserved the label of elite!

Yet Guo Lang still did not hold out hope for them, because their opponents did not belong to the category of ordinary mortals!