"Tsk, my decision was indeed correct."
In front of the Moscow Red City gate, Milia, escorted by several shield-bearing soldiers, looked at the situation above.
What met his eyes was a small mountain of corpses piled up by the Christians at the city gate, made from the bodies of traitors, while the crossbowmen and archers on the city wall continuously fired arrows.
Arrows constantly flew over Milia's head, forcing him to repeatedly duck to avoid them, and several of the rougher fellows beside him weren't so lucky, being shot down directly.
The Red City was located on a slope, so to enter it, one had to climb. If one didn't want to climb, they could only take the road leading to the city gate, but this road was under the constant attack of those archers and crossbowmen.
Milia watched as many fanatical comrades rushed forward only to be shot down by crossbow bolts and arrows; the small road had become a path of death, with people constantly falling there.
But this did not affect the believers' fanaticism; they feared no death, continuously pushing forward. No matter how many people fell beside them, they showed no fear. Their minds were only filled with killing, killing, and killing.
And after finally reaching the city gate, apart from a few impatient fellows who rashly climbed over the wall of corpses and were then killed by the Rus behind them, everyone else was unloading the corpses one by one, throwing them down the slope by the roadside to roll away.
Although their minds were full of fanaticism, it hadn't burned out their brains yet. The pagans still knew what to do, but during this process, they still had to endure the arrows raining down from above.
Actually, this was already good luck; they were facing arrows, not poured-down asphalt. As for where the Red City's asphalt went, this material was always stored in the gatehouse for easy use, so Milia directly dumped it when he controlled the gate.
And the place he dumped it was also very interesting.
"Fire arrows! Aim at the place where I poured the asphalt beforehand!"
Milia commanded the archers, and then, as the archers loosened their grip, a volley of flaming arrows fell upon the designated spot.
The guards' barracks, not far from the city gate, began to burn, the sudden flames startling everyone.
Then came the inevitable panic. Domnal slapped his head; how did he step on something sticky and muddy at the downstairs entrance? Damn, it was asphalt.
At the same time, he was glad there was no one inside, otherwise, someone would truly be done for.
"Don't panic, everyone! It's just a fire, and there's no one inside. Move anything that could catch fire away from that house, then continue doing what you were doing."
Just as everyone was in a panic, Zoe's clear voice rang out, and with her command, everyone found their backbone, beginning to work according to orders, no longer so flustered.
After all, men, as creatures, don't want to lose face in front of women, especially in front of beautiful and noble women. Not to mention, this woman, besides being noble and beautiful, also had a terrifying and respectable side.
Everyone still knew Lady Zoe; after all, in Moscow's various daily almsgiving or events, this lady always stood in the main position, in the Prince's position, and her noble demeanor was deeply imprinted in everyone's minds, her authority still fresh in their memory.
Zoe's teacher had told her the importance of authority and ceremony in establishing prestige among the populace, and Zoe indeed did so. Even if she were to be a vase, she would be the most noble and splendid vase—of course, not the fragile kind, otherwise, she would look like a coveted trophy.
For this, during her husband's absence, she had continuously supervised the execution of death sentences, letting the populace watch how she ordered the condemned to endure various tortures before being killed.
However, deep down, Zoe was ultimately afraid, but she had already learned to disguise her emotions. She could pretend, and she could pretend very well.
At the city gate, finally, the pagans opened the wall of corpses, and just as they were about to rush in, a volley of crossbow bolts shot at them.
In a hurry, a large number of pagans fell to the ground, but more enemies also rushed up, colliding with the long-waiting Christian shield wall.
A brutal slaughter immediately erupted inside the gatehouse. Both sides pushed their shields, constantly jostling each other, trying to repel the enemy. Long swords and spears seized every opportunity to stab and slash, and those who were killed couldn't even fall; falling to the ground had become a luxury at that moment.
All sorts of battle cries echoed within, as if this could give them more strength to defeat the enemy, but the fact was they were still in a stalemate.
However, the defenders had arrow support from the murder holes; the crossbowmen above continuously fired arrows and threw stones, taking down many enemies.
Unfortunately, there were also archers among the pagans; they drew their bows and aimed at the murder holes, forcing the crossbowmen above to not even dare to show their heads, only throwing stones down without looking.
But even so, some were shot and rolled down from above, though the falling bodies still crushed a few pagans. However, after this scene, few people even dared to throw stones anymore.
"Hold the line! Hold the line! Steady your formation! Raise your shields! Right now, the main thing is to protect yourselves and block the enemy, not inflict casualties!"
Domnal's voice echoed among the soldiers, guiding them to do what they should. His expression was not very solemn, because with the current fighting, they could hold out for a long time.
However, Domnal overlooked one point: the pagans on the other side had also anticipated this and had prepared corresponding countermeasures.
"Bring up the battering ram!"
At Kuna's words, the pagans rushed forward, carrying a massive battering ram. This ram was a large tree trunk, simply processed, with only its branches trimmed and the front end sharpened; even the bark had not been removed.
The soldiers carrying the ram were all clad in iron armor, wrapped up like iron cans, indicating that all the iron armor of the entire assault team was concentrated here, and they were accompanied by a group of shield-bearing soldiers, guarding them as much as possible.
With its appearance, the pagans and rebel soldiers quickly made way, allowing this breakthrough siege engine to advance.
Originally, this battering ram was prepared for awkward situations, but it also had another use, one that could break the current stalemate.
The crossbowmen and archers on the city wall naturally also noticed the appearance of this battering ram. Although they didn't know what the pagans were bringing this thing up for, they subconsciously fired at the ram.
Arrows flew through the air, constantly landing on shields and the ram, kicking up bursts of wood splinters. From time to time, someone would scream and fall, but the ram's advance remained unstoppable.
"Lord Dir, the pagans are bringing up a battering ram!"
The soldier on the city wall quickly reported the news, and Dir, hearing this, subconsciously felt bewildered. What were those pagans doing carrying a battering ram? Hadn't they already dealt with the gate?
"Men! Form ranks!"
Although he didn't know what the pagans intended, Dir still had some soldiers re-form ranks behind the shield wall, to serve as a reserve force, ready to respond to any possible situation.
Meanwhile, the main force of pagans assaulting the gate suddenly began to retreat, their officers' retreat orders coming from behind them. This sudden scene left the defenders bewildered; why had their offensive stopped?
Because of this, they did not press forward, but continued to stand confusedly in place, only drawing their shield wall closer.
It was also because of the pagans' sudden retreat that the bodies, which had previously been a luxury to fall, finally collapsed, instantly covering the ground.
And in the very next moment, they understood why: the pagans carrying the battering ram began to run forward, getting faster and faster, and then suddenly appeared before the Christian soldiers.
Several pagans, unable to dodge in time, were struck by the charging ram team before they could get out of the way, then were "carried" forward by them, and subsequently trampled to death on the ground, merging with the blood and corpses.