Ningxia Commandery.
Outside the city, yellow sand billowed. A large number of Roman soldiers were on the move. On the city walls, Wei soldiers tightly gripped their weapons. Wei Bao, with his personal guards, gazed at the scene outside.
In the distance, waves of troops surged like ants, heading towards the city in a mighty procession. The central army halted in place, while the Roman vanguard continued forward, stopping only when they were very close to the city.
This time, the Romans had also deployed a large number of cavalry. Previously, Wei Bao had taken advantage of the Romans’ lax defenses, joining forces with the Wei army outside the city to launch an attack on the Roman forces. This time, Roman cavalry moved on the flanks, ready to respond to any unexpected situations.
On a gentle slope further in the distance, Roman troops were still migrating in large numbers.
The Romans had suffered losses last time due to their carelessness, and Vasili was extremely indignant.
To suppress internal dissenting voices, Vasili deployed almost all of the Roman army this time to besiement this city.
Hundreds of thousands of Roman soldiers, like a colossal war machine, were displaying their immense power!
In this era of cold weapons, few nations could muster such a vast army. The Roman Empire had undoubtedly reached the zenith of this era.
However, the Wei Kingdom was not to be trifled with. Capturing this city was not a simple task for the Romans.
Wei Bao stood on the city wall, straining to see the Roman army outside.
The immense dust kicked up by the vast army arrayed on the ground made it difficult for Wei Bao to clearly discern the Roman formations. He could only vaguely make out their deployment.
The Roman army was divided into several parts, each consisting of densely packed formations of several thousand men. The Romans ultimately chose formations they were familiar with. Even if these formations had their issues, the Romans would not risk using unfamiliar ones on the battlefield.
Roman cavalry patrolled the flanks of the army, protecting it.
The sheer size of the Roman army was both an advantage and a disadvantage. It took considerable time to deploy their forces.
Inside the city, many Wei soldiers felt their scalps tingle and their limbs weaken at the sight of the dense enemy forces outside.
Wei Bao was aware of this situation, so he moved around with his men to boost morale, and the Wei army's spirits gradually recovered.
Had the Romans seized the opportunity when the Wei army was disoriented and attacked then, Ningxia Commandery might indeed have fallen.
But now, the Romans could only plan for a direct assault.
From within the Roman shield formations, the shouts of their generals rang out, and the soldiers began to advance towards the city in rhythm.
In the eyes of the Wei soldiers, these strangely shaped men, shouting incomprehensible slogans, approached the city, and the breathing of many Wei soldiers grew heavy.
Roman soldiers, holding heavy shields and long spears, slowly advanced. Countless Romans churned the yellow earth into dust, their strange cries like a pack of ravenous beasts.
"Prepare arrows!" the Wei generals shouted.
The Wei soldiers within the city raised their bows and began to shoot into the army formations below. At this point, the Wei soldiers did not need to aim. The area below was so densely packed with people that any arrow shot would likely hit its mark.
Instantly, a dark cloud of arrows flew towards the Roman army surrounding the city.
"Clang, clang! Clang, clang!"
However, this dense volley of arrows did not inflict much damage. The Romans were extremely skilled in their use of shields. It was likely because the Romans excelled at using arrows, and thus were proficient in defending against them.
Roman soldiers marched forward, setting up scaling ladders and charging towards the city walls, with arrows flying chaotically in the air.
Although the effectiveness of the arrows was not great, both sides continued to fire arrows desperately, and screams were occasionally heard from both armies.
Since the ranged arrows did not cause significant casualties, the Romans were soon able to reach the city walls.
Having stayed in the northwest for a long time, and with many Western Army soldiers being from the northwest, many northwest weapons had been introduced into the army, such as the wolf-tooth club.
The wolf-tooth club was different from ordinary weapons; it was almost entirely made of iron weighing tens of kilograms, with various spikes added. It was extremely lethal when swung.
However, the wolf-tooth club had a drawback: it was too heavy and inconvenient to carry, and it required great arm strength from the wielder. Thus, it was not very common in the Western Army.
But in previous defensive battles, the Wei army discovered that the wolf-tooth club had an almost unique advantage in defending cities. With a single sweep, even a shielded person struck by it would be knocked down. Therefore, the Wei army had equipped a considerable number of wolf-tooth clubs this time.
As a Roman soldier climbed onto the city wall, before he could react, a Wei soldier on the wall immediately swung a wolf-tooth club at him.
With a "clang!" of metal on metal, the wolf-tooth club struck the shoulder armor, causing the Roman soldier to cry out. He dropped his shield and fell directly from the city wall.
Many Roman soldiers who attacked the city wall were met with the same fate, being swept away with little resistance.
And Ningxia Commandery's city walls were extremely high. Those who fell were either killed or crippled.
On the long city walls, the sounds of battle were deafening. Sparks from colliding metal glinted like golden stars in the yellow dust. The sounds of metal clashing were incessant, and at every moment, soldiers from both sides let out roars and screams.
The engagement surface on the city walls was very limited. Furthermore, the Wei army's defense with wolf-tooth clubs posed a significant threat to the Romans. Although the Romans quickly scaled the walls, they could not gain a foothold on the battlements.
At this point, the archers played a more significant role. The most casualties on both sides were inflicted by archers.
As the attacking force, the Romans suffered more casualties. Roman soldiers fell row by row. But with the mad enemy soldiers in front and dense ranks behind, with no retreat, the Romans could only fight desperately!
The Roman formation was such that as long as it did not break, its combat effectiveness could be maximized.
The only drawback was its vulnerability to attacks from agile enemies. The Wei army's raid earlier was precisely of this nature.
But now, the Romans used their sheer numbers to offset this drawback of their formation. Moreover, they had a large number of cavalry guarding their flanks.
At this moment, soldiers from both sides were panting heavily, fighting under immense physical strain.
For any country, any army, the primary requirement for elite soldiers was physical strength and robust health, as cold weapon combat consumed a vast amount of physical energy.
Normal infantry soldiers had to wear armor weighing tens of kilograms and wield heavy weapons. The drawing power of infantry bows often reached one dan, and a single archer would feel fatigued after a few draws, needing to stop and recover arm strength.
Moreover, on the battlefield, it wasn't just about charging forward blindly. Soldiers also needed to observe the battlefield and dodge arrows and other weapons, which also consumed considerable mental energy.
Therefore, many soldiers would feel completely exhausted after a battle.
A Wei soldier on the city wall saw a Roman soldier climb onto the wall. The Wei soldier who was originally in that position had been shot and fallen off the wall. He drew his bow, took a deep breath, gritted his teeth, and prepared to shoot down that Roman.
Unexpectedly, at that moment, another Roman soldier from the side picked up a spear and charged forward with all his might.
In a flash, the Wei archer did not hesitate. He immediately turned his bow and fired at close range with a "snap."
But the danger was not averted. The Roman soldier in the distance did not stand idly by. Instead, he charged towards the archer, yelling incoherently, and pierced through the archer's armor with his spear.
Nearby Wei soldiers saw the situation and immediately turned around to kill all the Romans charging at them.
Such scenes were repeated endlessly on the city walls, with blood staining the battlements. The city had almost become a meat grinder.
Meanwhile, in the central army formation of the Roman forces in the distance, Vasili was overlooking the battlefield situation.
The Roman generals around him looked at the somewhat stalemate situation ahead with some impatience but dared not speak rashly.
This was a battlefield, and Vasili was not someone to be trifled with. If anyone dared to say anything they shouldn't at this moment, Vasili was truly capable of killing them!
Vasili stood motionless, observing the yellow dust and the bloody chaos ahead, his expression very indifferent, showing no signs of losing composure.
Vasili's goal was to capture this city. As for the losses involved, Vasili cared little. As long as the final objective was achieved, all sacrifices would be worthwhile.
Vasili waved his hand, and Roman messengers hurried out to relay military orders to all parts of the army.
At this moment, Omda turned his head and looked at Vasili, wanting to speak but hesitating. In the end, he turned away and remained silent.
The Roman formations began to shift slowly. Some advanced, while others began to retreat.
The tactic of attrition.
This was the Romans' calculation. Vasili had mobilized almost all of the Roman forces on the eastern expedition this time, intending to capture the city in one fell swoop.
Since there were so many troops, Vasili naturally wanted to utilize the army's full potential. The tactic of attrition was the Romans' best choice!
The Romans, shouting and yelling on the battlefield, appeared like savages to the Wei people. However, the Romans were clearly not truly primitive people.
The Romans had swept across the entire Eurasian continent, and the Roman Empire was a truly formidable great power. Their military achievements were certainly not to be underestimated.