Changge Fortress sits on a tributary of the Redwater River, with the city bisected by the river. Most residents live on the west bank, while the east bank is filled with compact farmland.

Unlike other large cities that place farmland in the suburbs, the fortress's towering walls enclose both the residential area and some of the farmland. This seems less about defending against evil beasts and more about guarding against attacks from fellow humans. Even if the city is surrounded by enemies, the fortress won't run out of supplies.

Because of this, the outer walls of Changge Fortress form a break at the river's entrance to the city. Several arm-thick barrier cables are suspended between the two sections of the city wall. If the enemy intends to attack the fortress using the Redwater River, they only need to cut the hemp ropes, and the iron cables will slide into the river.

However, attacks by fleets are rare in the Western Region, so these iron cables have hardly ever been used, and this time is no exception. Roland's fleet raced all the way, and by dusk, they could already see the outline of the fortress walls. The smoke of war still lingered above the city, adding a touch of ink to the darkening sky.

"The enemy is mainly concentrated in the area of the lord's castle. A small number of militiamen are still fighting the guards on the north gate wall, but it looks like they won't last long." Lightning had already scouted the situation in the city and reported to the prince in detail. "The number of people besieging the castle is about two hundred. The first floor has already been lost. The enemy does have weapons similar to muskets, but they are completely different from what we use."

"Is Peiluo alright?" Roland was most concerned about the safety of his agent.

"He's fine, just a little frightened, but..."

"But what?"

"His family suffered," Lightning pouted. "Apparently, Lord Peiluo had received advance notice and brought his father into the castle, but the rest of his relatives who stayed in the territory... including the Countess, were executed one by one by those nobles as hostages to force him to surrender." The little girl paused. "I took the opportunity to fly into the castle and meet him, telling him that you would arrive soon. He only made one request to me."

Roland nodded, "Tell me."

"Blood for blood."

There is an unwritten rule among the nobles that they rarely kill those with titles. As relatives of the Honeysuckle Earl, most have knightly titles. But now the Four Families dare to completely tear up the agreement. Besides the hatred for the Honeysuckle's earning of a lot of profit by joining Roland, another point is probably for the sake of the forces behind them.

Roland can now basically confirm that the person standing behind the opposition should be the new King, Tifeike. Wimbledon. Assisting the church in killing nobles and helping the king execute rebels are two completely different things. He looked in the direction of the fortress and said coldly, "Pass down my order, the entire army enters the city directly and occupies the docks!"

Aite heard footsteps again below the city walls.

He numbly raised his flintlock and aimed it at the dark hole at his feet. This was the only passage from inside the city wall to the top. The enemy had launched several waves of attacks after capturing the city gate, but they had ultimately failed to take the northern section of the city wall.

The battle had been going on since noon yesterday. He never thought he could last so long in the bitter cold. He could no longer think about anything else after seeing the teammates who came to support him fall into pools of blood one by one.

"They're coming again?" A spear extended out next to him. Aite glanced to the side and saw that it was his squad leader, Tongshan.

"I heard movement," he replied weakly, "but it's so dark now, I can't see how many people there are."

"They also don't know how many of us there are," Tongshan comforted him.

"Then... how many are there?"

Tongshan hesitated, "Five. Crow swallowed his last breath just now."

"Most of us won't live past tonight," Aite said bitterly. From the initial fear and panic to the current numbness, he finally understood the instructor's saying that only experiencing real combat can make you mature quickly. But this doesn't bring any change to the predicament. The three squads that gathered together now have only five people left. Even if the enemy doesn't climb the city wall, they will be frozen to death on it due to a lack of food and supplies to keep warm.

"Is it still useful to surrender now?"

"Surrender?" Tongshan snorted, "Didn't you hear what they were shouting? Suppress the rebels! Even if we surrender, we will only die. It's better to kill a few more of them here."

Aite knew that the captain was right. Many of the Second Army soldiers who came to support them yesterday had their heads chopped off after being captured. They were not nobles, so naturally, they had no value to be kept for ransom. But... he was unwilling to die here.

The instructor had described to him the various beauties of Border Town, and promised that as long as the Months of the Demons ended, the soldiers of the Second Army who performed well could be promoted to the First Army and get a free new house. There was an abundance of food, well water that would flow automatically when the valve was opened, and heating that could make the room hot without lighting a fire...

He wanted to survive and see the magical things the instructor had mentioned in Border Town.

"They're coming!" Tongshan suddenly whispered and pulled the trigger. With the light of the muzzle flash, Aite saw the outlines of six or seven enemies illuminated in the darkness, climbing up slowly with shields. He could even see the horror on their faces.

Although the captain's shot didn't hit the target, it had already pointed him in the right direction.

He aimed at the fleeting figure and fired.

The bullet hit the wooden shield, making a muffled sound, and one person screamed instantly, followed by the sound of heavy objects rolling down the stairs. The remaining people, seeing that their whereabouts had been exposed, rushed to the exit regardless of everything.

Tongshan was still reloading ammunition, his frozen hands affecting his speed. Aite pulled back, and his heart could not help but cool when he reached for the gunpowder pouch on his waist. The pouch was empty, he had used up all his gunpowder.

According to normal training, he should fix the bayonet at this time.

He gritted his teeth and pulled out the bayonet, spending a long time fixing the socket on the gun barrel. Before he could level the spear, the enemy running in the front had already rushed out of the hole.

Tongshan decisively opened fire and knocked him to the ground, but the second enemy who followed closely stabbed the captain's chest with a long sword.

Aite's mind went blank. He subconsciously thrust out his spear according to training, but it stuck on the opponent's shield. The enemy kicked him to the ground, and the firearm also slipped from his hand.

Was he going to die here?

He desperately raised his head, only to find that there was a sudden shadow in the sky.

It should be difficult to distinguish such a dark thing in the snowy night, but this shadow was too close to him, like a collapsing night, rushing down towards him.

As the outline became clearer and clearer, Aite couldn't help but widen his eyes. It was actually a huge monster!

He swore that he would only see such a terrifying monster in a nightmare. It had a blood basin mouth, its head was bigger than a calf, and its wide wings could almost cover the entire top of the wall.

The beast slammed directly in front of Aite, directly crushing the enemy who crawled out of the hole into a meat pie!

"Awoo!"

It let out a deafening roar!