diymy #677 - Seven-day siege plan
#677 - Seven-day siege plan
In the lands of Black Serpent Bay, many towns were built around the temples of the Old Gods.
These temples included ruins of the ancient Norn tribes and sacred sites of the southward-migrating Serpentfolk. Being readily available, the people of Black Serpent Bay had a habit of building fortified towns around these temples.
Those residing within the fortified towns were the so-called Black Serpent Bay Warriors and Arcane Society Wizards, while those living outside were mostly uncivilized savage village tribes.
Among these uncivilized savage tribes were both remnants of Frankish-influenced Norn tribes and Frankish villages that had degenerated into tribes.
Thus, in Black Serpent Bay, temples often served as the names of settlements.
The Temple of Avis, as an important transportation route to Fort Sola, had its walls repeatedly repaired and fortified. The thickness was enough for about four people to walk side by side, estimated to be about three meters.
The height of the city wall was about twelve meters, thicker at the bottom.
However, the Church's army used trebuchets when attacking the Temple of Avis, so the city wall had already suffered minor damage.
Lourdes frowned: "If the city wall only suffered minor damage, how was the temple captured?"
"Um, the Witch Hunters ambushed the city gate under the cover of night, catching us off guard," an Arcane Society wizard who had escaped from the Temple of Avis said awkwardly.
The terrain around the Temple of Avis was unremarkable. To the west was the Moen River, a tributary of the Ibe River, and to the east was a large, impassable forest swamp.
A dozen barges were docked at the Moen River port to the west, and several ships and cage stones had been sunk by the Church in advance at the confluence of the Ibe and Moen Rivers to prevent Horn's fleet from entering.
In the village east of the forest, they had stationed Serpentfolk auxiliary troops hired from the Green Dragon Forest Sea, numbering around 1,000.
The garrison stationed in the city, based on the number of cooking fires and tents, was estimated to be about 3,000-5,000 people.
"Originally, there were more than 2,000 Black Serpent Bay Warriors and their families in the temple, right? Where are they?" Das, the commander of the Guard Battle Group, stared at the map on the table.
"They were captured as slaves, and some were transported to the rear through the port."
"With Fort Sola not breached, how did they bypass it to get to the Temple of Avis?" Das asked, staring at the map.
"They bypassed Fort Sola by sailing upstream along the river, captured the port, and then transported grain and supplies from the rear through the port." Pettier picked up a pebble and placed it on the small port west of the Temple of Avis. "There should be a garrison of several hundred people here."
Das immediately perked up: "Wouldn't that mean that if we occupied the port, the Church's garrison in the city would be cut off from supplies?"
The Arcane Society wizard who had escaped from the Temple of Avis immediately coughed: "Well, there are still some grains and weapons in the Temple of Avis that hadn't been transported away."
"The Church's army attacked so quickly? There wasn't even time to set fire to the grain?"
"There was time, but the city defense officer at the time thought it would be a waste to burn so much grain. If the city hadn't fallen, wouldn't it have been burned for nothing?" The Arcane Society wizard lowered his head awkwardly. "So, we only started burning the grain when the Church's army stormed in, but only a small portion was burned before it was extinguished."
The officers at the long table exchanged glances, seeing confusion and surprise on each other's faces, but out of friendship, they didn't want to be too blunt.
"If we were to bombard, how long would it take to break through the city wall?" Horn turned to Mormont, who was beside him.
"Your Majesty, according to the calculations, a three-meter-thick stone wall would require about a thousand bombardments to break through." Mormont calculated on the spot as he spoke. "If we bombard for 12 hours a day, with Gryphon Cannons and Sand Sculpture Cannons attacking the city at the same time, it would take about eight days to break through the city."
The term 'breakthrough' as used by Mormont has a clear definition in the 'Artillery Manual': 'The siege artillery successfully opens a large enough gap in the target city wall, allowing infantry or siege equipment to break through the city wall defenses and enter the interior of the castle.'
Generally, a gap of 2-3 meters horizontally and penetrating the entire wall vertically is required.
"If we use Red Dragon's Breath, can we shorten this time?" Lourdes suggested.
Horn frowned: "Red Dragon's Breath is a powerful tool for field battles, and it's not cost-effective to use it for sieges. If there's a choice, don't use Red Dragon's Breath. Does anyone have any other ideas?"
The officers fell into deep thought. Horn's gaze swept over the faces of the attendees, and he saw a wizard who had escaped from the Temple of Avis looking hesitant.
"What's your name? Do you have something to say?"
The Arcane Society wizard quickly stood up: "My name is Orion, Your Excellency. I know some information about sieges, I don't know if it's useful..."
"It's okay, what's said at the pre-war military conference stays at the table. Even if you're wrong, it's my fault for adopting your opinion. You can speak freely."
"The city wall of the Temple of Avis is not entirely built of sandstone. One section of it previously collapsed due to an earthquake and was rebuilt with rammed earth encased in sandstone bricks." The Black Serpent Bay Arcane Society wizard Orion perked up. "Rammed earth is definitely not as strong as a sandstone city wall."
Rammed earth walls are different from sandbags that block cannonballs. Although both are essentially earth, the former is compacted earth, while the latter is relatively loose earth.
When subjected to cannonball impacts, the energy is concentrated at the point of impact, and the rammed earth structure is prone to cracks or local collapses.
"Which section is the rammed earth wall?" Mormont immediately perked up.
"It's on the eastern side of the Temple of Avis, about one-third of the way from the corner."
The company commanders and officers present stood up and gathered around the map.
"If we want to attack from this section, we must first occupy the water-lifting wheel on the east side of the temple to ensure uninterrupted bombardment." Horn pointed to the water wheel-shaped icon on the map. "Is it possible to transform this into a temporary clockwork spring-loading point within a day?"
Leonardo said confidently: "It's entirely possible."
The transformation of this water-lifting wheel would normally take three days of construction time, and one day would not be possible.
Because the first step is to build a temporary spillway dam to increase the water flow speed, and the second is to make suitable gear sets and reconstruct the mechanical design on-site.
However, these two problems are nothing to the Savior Army.
The former can be completely handled by these Arcane Society wizards. They may not be able to attack the Temple of Avis, but they can always raise a low dam in the river, right?
As for the temporary production of suitable gear sets, it would have been a big trouble, but for Novia, who can manipulate the shape of metal, it's not a big problem.
Finally, Leonardo didn't want to be too disrespectful about the reconstructed mechanical design, but he could design a perfectly adapted temporary spring-loading device with either his big head or his small head.
Having determined the main direction of attack, the next step is to plan the city breach around the main direction.
The first problem to be solved is the Serpentfolk auxiliary troops stationed in the eastern village. They can adapt to the forest swamp environment. If they are not annihilated before the artillery is deployed, they are very likely to be constantly harassed.
At the same time, two battle groups control the important traffic locations, and construction begins in the direction of the water-lifting wheel.
After the construction is completed, the Gryphon Cannons are transported to a suitable location on the second day and begin to attack the city.
As for the port on the west bank of the river, first send cavalry to monitor it, and then bombard its reinforcements when the 6-pound cannons arrive.
"The port garrison is estimated to be only a few hundred people, why don't we just occupy it?" A new company commander of the Divine Retribution Army couldn't help but raise his hand and ask.
"Because you must leave a gap for the surrounded enemy. The Church and the Arcane Society are mortal enemies, which is different from aristocratic warfare. If they are heavily surrounded, the knights in the city will not surrender." Horn tapped Fort Sola on the map with his index finger. "Don't waste time here, Fort Sola is our strategic focus."
"Consider it lucky for this group of knights, they picked up a life for nothing." Knowing that this was unavoidable, the company commanders of the Divine Retribution Army could only sigh.
Horn couldn't help but laugh: "I only said to leave them a gap, who said we were going to let them go?"
"Ah?"