Refining the Heavens 4 (炼天四)

Chapter 47: Sworn Brothers

They marched three days later, and after walking for another three days they finally saw the Ku Kang Camp from far.

It was a frightening sight, with an oppressive plateau facing them with fast waters surrounding it.

Because of the horseshoe river, this place has become an impenetrable fortress.

That doesn't mean that the Frosthral army were holed up in this place without doing anything while believing they will always be safe.

As their camp were seldom challenged they had a lot of free time to fortify the plateau, refining it with uncountable layers of protections with bricks, steel, runes, and all kinds of stratagems. This means that while the highland acts like a great wall of a fortress, it is unwise to treat it as a conventional barrier.

For one, siege machines would be far less effective on bulwarks that rests on soft soil and bedrock.

When a hard object strikes a piece of hard plating it aims to do two things: Penetration and Demolishing.

The layers of runic steel that the Frosthral Feudal State had stacked up on the plateau's sides over the years had made demolishing it into a long and tedious undertaking.

Piercing the armoured exterior also causes little damage to the Ku Kang Camp, when instead of hiding behind walls, their soldiers are technically living on top of the walls. Yet, at the same time, they are not unsheltered. They do have a military stronghold with a just-as-fortified roof, situated at the northern half of the plateau. It is like a tremendous bunker that allows soldiers to scoot back underground in case of a heavy air raid.

Besides the traditional archer towers, archer platforms, the Ku Kang Camp is also filled to the brim with cannons. The plateau's body isn't just a lump of soil and rocks, but a well-tunnelled megastructure that held incredible amount of weapons accumulated over the years. This means that they can counter both land and air strikes.

Granted, most of those weapons are ancient and outdated or poorly pieced together due to the Feudal State's lack of a powerful economy to back up their expenses but just staring at the heavily fortified stronghold was enough to deter most armies.

Besides the manmade fortifications, the natural terrain is no less treacherous. The only way up the plateau is by travelling between the grounds below the high grounds and the churning river and walk to the opposite end where the river bends. Over there is a gate which leads to the only path up the cliff to the plateau.

It is straightforward, but when the army is trapped between a cliff and fast waters, they are asking to be decimated.

Another option is to build a bridge across the fast river directly to the gate at the north side while weathering attacks. Of course, it is possible, but no less difficult than the first method.

Kairos offered them a third option, and that is to build a bridge directly up the plateau. He did not reveal the way to do so but with his reputation on the line, everyone trusts him.

Just as they saw the stronghold, the Frosthral soldiers also discovered such a large army approaching.

The camp had long been in a state of full alert and all the guards are in position.

The strange thing is, they are not in the usual formation where archers line the south wall to pick off the attackers until they eventually give up after losing great numbers.

This time, joining the archers is a battalion of warriors. Although each soldier is equipped with a beast-horn long bow, they are still in the way with their cumbersome armour.

Don't see that defending a siege is only placing soldiers on the walls, the amount of activity in that limited area is overwhelmingly high.

While the archers are firing, there will be countless soldiers moving along ammunitions, replacing tired men, passing along food and water, or simply removing the dead.