18. Siege of Halab


    Faiz had been notified of the fall of the Kingdom he had served, but that didn’t stop him fighting the Church of Order. In fact he faced off the 15,000 strong army anyway. Lightning bolts and fire balls were exchanged both ways, in a stunning display of god power, the two gods’ of war channeling the devotion of the faithful. Faiz used flanking cavalry to hit the Church of Order army hard. General Sanchez in charge of the Perians managed to inflict heavy blows as the native Church of Order priests inside of Nova began shooting lightning bolts at Faiz. Faiz cavalry did indeed score casualties, but the lightning bolts hit and weakened his men, killing lieutenants and damaging morale. His fire mages indiscriminately fired back, burning parts of the city. Sanchez had 15,000 and Faiz had 20,000, so Faiz should have had the advantage, but the Church of Order priests were doing their damage. Lightning bolts slowly assassinated important figures.


    “Damn it! Find those heathens and kill them! By god these lands are promised to us!” Faiz shouted.


    In the middle of battle, a letter came to Faiz.


    If you so wish, we will allow you safe passage back to your homeland. I hear pagans rule your homeland. Raise your voice if that’s what you wish.


    Signed yours sincerely Sanchez.


    Faiz grimaced, raised his hand and shouted:


    “We are leaving! Grant what you said you would, or I will slaughter all of you!”


    Faiz had lost 1500 troops, something he was not happy with, he still had 18,500 men left to take back to Moru.


    I’m not finished here. I will return. He thought grimacing beyond words.


    Faiz’s ships were boarded and they sailed to Moru.


    Two days later Faiz’s force sailed to Halab and began siege works. The gates were sealed shut, barricaded with stone, still Faiz used his Church of Light priests to try burn the gates down. Disorder was spotted inside the city.


    “Our holy men are doing holy work,” Faiz said, “look at those pagans burn.”


    Which was true, but crossbow bolts were heard endlessly clicking and dispatching of the Moru sympathisers. Faiz turned to his lieutenants.


    “What is that sound?” He asked.


    “I have no idea,” a lieutenant said, “shall we storm the walls sir?”


    I can’t believe our loyalists haven’t opened the gates somewhere yet.


    Some fireballs had made fissures in the walls, creating a breach. Faiz smiled, his cavalrymen already willing to report what his eyes could see.


    “Aim for the breach, some of you scale the walls to divide their attention!” Faiz commanded. Finally get my chance to avenge Khalid.


    However Mardonius and Zelra had found out of the siege, and had more crossbowmen in waiting, he just needed to stall them. Ex slaves, urban poor lined up in the streets.Reading on this site? This novel is published elsewhere. Support the author by seeking out the original.


    “Get the ammunition ready!” Men shouted, beckoning the bolts through with waved hands.


    Faiz’s cavalry attempted to smash through the breach but wooden stakes had already been prepared to outright kill or at least de-horse riders. Crossbow bolts shot and shot.


    “Shoot in volleys men, that way they’re always receiving metal!”


    Faiz’s men fell off their horses, and infantry likewise were hit in the head. Fireballs smashed into the towers, causing many to duck and others to even flee.


    “Come back here and shoot at those pricks!” A man said, “someone aim for those mages, take them out!”


    Screaming was constant from the Halab garrison to the point Faiz stared with consternation.


    “War cry!” He shouted to a roars from his troops, “send in the next lot.”


    Soldiers clambered on the battlements, and there they had more luck, but even then people from down below targeted the Moru soldiers, the towers shooting targeted shots at the soldiers as they attempted to storm the city. With every click of a crossbow, a man fell over or was close to, Faiz’s men had high morale and drive to begin with. They took over a stretch of wall, but the peasant militia was being reinforced constantly, even the lousiest shots got lucky sometimes, a Moru soldier in the rump, falling over the walls and into the ground below. The breach was cleared to a small rise of morale in Faiz’s army, but entering the city just revealed small wooden palisades with crossbowmen shooting past the clearing.


    "Shields up men!” An officer desperately shouted.


    Even then, mere moments later he was struck in the foot and fell over. As one was taken out the formation opened up and the cacophony of bolt fire killed a whole cluster of Moru soldiers. Fireballs pelted the walls, Church of Light priests screaming their damnations against the pagans.


    “The infidel will burn for their transgressions!”


    “For the God of Trade! For the three!” A war cry from the within the city arose.


    A statue was toppled by a particularly eager Church of Light priest who came foolishly into the city, he was quickly riddled with bolts. Again Faiz attempted to take a wall, and again his men were whittled down rather efficiently. While it was certainly true that the troops guarding the settlement were not high quality they did not need to be. Mercenary cavalry awaited orders from Mardonius as they spotted Faiz’s headquarters.


    “Let them exhaust their forces a bit more,” Mardonius said, “I will see to the defence.”


    All the while ex slaves and urban poor were armed with crossbows, the temple constructions continued uninterrupted, many of the builders prepared to fight if necessary.


    “Are you sure we are not needed Mardonius?” A builder said rather enthusiastically, “not yet, if need be we will fight them in the streets.”


    Another breach was made, and Faiz sent more troops to try storm the breach. He was correct that palisades were not so quickly made. His troops were viciously targeted by bolt fire, they saw an opening and they went deeper into the city, and the houses and apartments near the northern stretch of the city walls began bellowing salvos at them. They had landed near the eastern coast, and attacked the eastern walls, so the walls next to the sea were assumed to be weaker, but the ex slave community there took out 4000 of Faiz’s army. He was down to 10,000, a little bit demoralised but nonetheless confident that the city would fall. Before Faiz even made his camp though, 2000 cavalry thundered into the rear, Faiz himself was taken out in the charge, a spear driven through his chest, the Church of Light priests put up stiff resistance, but were cut by the rushing horses, albeit many of whom were burned. Crossbowmen rushed out from the city walls, a generally ill advised tactic, but the combination of attacks had Faiz’s army crack and crumble, quickly surrendering.


    “Drop your weapons! Drop your weapons now!” Men with crossbows said to the far superior armed and armoured soldiers.


    Faiz was bleeding into the sand, while the mercenary cavalry had lost some 600 men in the rear assault. Mardonius awarded the commander a handsome 900 gold, 600 as restitution for the dead, and 300 to the commander. The commander graciously accepted and looked at the site of such a victory.


    “Bitter work, war,” he said wistfully and with forlorn, “I should have been a poet.”


    An old man, covered in scars he had seen his fair share of scraps.


    “Ah, thank you for your services to the Republic commander, no doubt we will need you again.”


    “You are welcome,” the mercenary commander said, refusing a handshake.


    A victory was a victory, even if it came with a cost. The prisoners were lugged back, but without their general and without the priests they were largely harmless and would soon come to understand what Yerek was really about.