Chapter 120: Mairun

凯克顶着木条捆成的大楯，领着步兵们冲在最前头，当云梯车即将驾到前头时，他丢下大楯，解下背后的筝型盾，一马当先地踏上云梯车，从车厢内两侧士卒让开的过道登城。
将登城的板条放下，凯克大吼一声，拎起单手战锤，一步就踏到外头，径直将一个刚拔出弯刀的奴隶兵敲烂，后者没有头盔，头骨狰狞地凹了下去，整个人皮革一样软倒地上。
With a roar, the infantry behind also hold their weapons and rush out of the cloud ladder, charging towards the recently gathered defenders. The veteran soldiers are the first to climb the city walls, followed by the new recruits. They are mostly organized into small squads of four, with two wielding spears, one with a sword and shield, and one with a hammer and shield. With their years of training, they coordinate with each other, shouting, "Glory be to the Lord!" and "Eradicate tyranny, eliminate the tyrant!" They strike down and intimidate the slave soldiers who are defenseless and frightened.
For a moment, blood splattered along with the glimmer of swords.
他们的旗兵砍断了城墙上国王的旗帜，将艾兰必因的旗帜插上去飘扬。
A man held a telescope, observing all of this.
披着铠甲戴着头盔的士卒们英勇奋战着，男人转过眺望筒看去那些观察城墙的侦察兵们，焦急地等待。
先登上城墙的士卒们奋力拼杀着，以此掩护后登城墙的战友们与猛烈撞击大门的攻城槌，男人按紧长剑的剑柄，屏息凝神，希冀城墙上的士卒们吸引到足够的守军，以让攻城槌顺利撞破王都的大门。
“主啊，庇佑我们吧。”男人喃喃道。
紧接着，他看到科尔文指挥的弓箭手们又一次搭起羽箭，将弓弦拉满，抬高，瞄准城墙上的几座箭塔。
The fiery feathered arrow soared over the dilapidated tower, lacking maintenance and repair. The decaying wooden planks ignited instantly amidst the continuous rockets, plummeting down like shooting stars, causing sparks to scatter in all directions.
In the midst of the flames, the tall and brave Keke, holding a hammer, was accompanied by two equally courageous soldiers. He raised his shield and knocked down the high-ranking slave charging forward in armor. With eyes filled with hatred, he struck the terrified face of the enemy with the iron hammer.
城墙上，无数守军士兵哀嚎着，鱼涌地逃下这段城墙，身披重铠的凯克怒吼一声，领着士卒们有序地拼杀，恐惧的捶打下，大多奴隶兵溃不成军。
无数胳膊挤着胳膊，互相推搡，夺路而逃，碎肉和血块乱飞。
凯克高高地立在城头，领着一组接一组的士卒，冲杀那些守军，敌人已经开始调度了，远远能看见一批盔甲锃亮的上等奴隶拿着盾牌和弯刀赶来。
Suddenly, he furrowed his brows, his lips trembling, as a familiar flag appeared on the opposite side of the city walls.
It was Melin's flag.
.............
In the camp, a man raised his binoculars, astonished to see the defending soldiers on the wall organizing themselves. A group of well-armored elite slaves emerged on the city ramparts, exuding an imposing aura, completely different from the fleeing slave soldiers around them.
“怎么回事...上等奴隶怎么来得这么快，而且组织能力这么好...”男人凭着眺望筒，隐约看见那些上等奴隶们分成两排，前排搭起盾牌，后排搭起长矛，朝着登上城墙的城邦士卒们推进，维持着极好的纪律性，同其他奴隶兵们以及他们曾见过的上等奴隶们迥然不同。
男人还来不及深究，有传令兵驱着奔马赶来。
“执政官！城门破了！”
传来一个好消息，男人不禁兴奋，朗声道：“叫第二、三编队的骑兵们准备，推进出空间就冲进去。”
It seems unnecessary to search for weak city walls.
This is what the man thought.
只要夺下一段城墙及王都内的一部分，就意味着整个王都开始崩溃，他们能稍作驻扎后快速杀到王宫。
However, shortly after, the man, through a telescope, saw the infantry on the city walls gradually contracting. Those tightly arranged elite slaves formed a tight square, advancing with great discipline. Such a situation was extremely rare in the king's army, and among them were the king's guards. The man immediately guessed that this was to keep the elite slaves obedient to commands.
"...Could it be... MacLain?!" The man suddenly thought of something.
艾兰必因城邦国的军团对比国王的奴隶军团，一大优势就在于严密的纪律性，团结有序的小队战阵，以及个体的精锐程度。
而眼下，那些受麦伦训练和编制的上等奴隶们，他们也拥有了同样的方阵，加上王都用作士兵的上等奴隶，基本都身负精良的盔甲与锋利的武器，同时在长期良好的伙食下，身材高大，基本比城邦军团士卒要高上半个头。
For a moment, even though the city-state infantry had a slight advantage on the city walls, they were unable to drive away these advancing upper-class slaves.
"Damn it, cunning Makin!" the man cursed.
The crashed open city gate was flooded with the infantry of the city-state. However, they encountered a large number of the king's royal guards, wearing feather-adorned helmets and wielding finely-crafted curved swords and shields. These guards possessed exceptional resilience and morale. During the time it took for the battering ram to break down the gate, the king had timely redirected the royal guards to the scene.
The infantry soldiers relied on their initial charge and advancement to force the Imperial Guards back for a certain distance. The two sides became entangled, pushing and shoving with shields, and slashing with blades and swords.
However, immediately after, under the tight defense of the Imperial Guards, the progress of the city-state infantry was hindered. The space they advanced into was simply insufficient to clear a path for the cavalry and create enough charging space.
Before pushing through that space, they will all be isolated and helpless.
"Damn it!" The man is anxious, thinking of countermeasures.
The scouts have reported several times before, but they haven't found any weaknesses in the city wall. If they can't knock down the wall, the trebuchet will have no other purpose besides intimidation, just like a larger version of a bow and arrow.
王都的守军们已经逐渐从混乱中恢复过来，他们开始组织反攻，调度比此前所见的，快了足足一截，男人立即确定是麦伦在指挥，后者以前是先锋军团的副军团长，同时拥有对局势的优秀判断能力。
“传令兵！”男人大声扯了一嗓子，把传令兵叫到自己身前，“我得带人赶去城门，亲自指挥，必须要推进去，推出一段让骑兵进城的空间，你立刻去叫卡塞尔准备好！配重投石机也要拖出去来，掩护我们进攻！”
他一边说着，一边翻身骑上战马，摘下腰间的烛台，轻吻台侧。
“主啊，请怜悯。”