The general of the Samara-Kairuku coalition army immediately ordered his men to start attacking Fort Shadowsong after the negotiations failed and so, the enemy soldiers immediately started to charge toward the walls of Fort Shadowsong.
However, how could Blanc let them reach the walls so easily?
Projectiles such as arrows and ballista bolts flew everywhere which decimated the ranks of the Samara-Kairuku coalition army.
However, after a while, the enemy army started to adapt and formed shield fortresses to minimize the damage dealt to them by the projectiles.
Although their strategy proved to be effective against the arrows, it exposed them to more ballista bolts.
Still, they had to choose the lesser evil among the two so the general chose to just endure the ballista bolts since there were way fewer ballistas than archers.
Finally, after half an hour, the enemy's infantry reached the foot of the walls. The ladder bearers immediately tried climbing up the walls but unfortunately for them, Climbing up the wall using the ladders is futile without the support from other units.
As the enemy infantry fell in batches, the enemy archers slowly got into position while the siege towers slowly advance
After seeing how the battle was going, Blanc smiled satisfactorily. If things carry on, the enemy soldiers will be wiped out even if they manage to get inside the fort.
A few more minutes passed and the siege towers finally latched on the walls as droves of enemy infantry charged out from the towers' exit gates.
However, Blanc was ready for this. His elite infantry was already stationed before the tower gates to hold off the enemy attack.
Blanc's elite infantry easily decimated the enemy infantry squads who charged out from the gates.
The enemy general frowned upon seeing that the tides of the battle easily turned towards Rougenfort Kingdom.
He then signaled the Samara Kingdom's elites to fight the Rougenfort Kingdom's elites to create a bit of space for the ladder climbers to reach the top of the walls.
After losing around four thousand men, there were finally some positive results for the Samara-Kairuku coalition army.
They managed to gain a foothold outside the gates of the siege towers and in addition to this, some of their infantrymen managed to reach the top of the walls using the ladders.
Still, Blanc was unfazed.
He knew that the enemy army would reach the top of the walls sooner or later but as long as he could keep the enemy army busy on the walls, there was no chance for them to breach the adamantite gates of the fort.
This proved to be true as the battering rams of the Samara-Kairuku coalition army failed to destroy the gates even after more than thirty hits and the gates still weren't even dented.
The general in charge of this operation bit his thumb to think of a solution but in the end, he chose to call a temporary retreat. It was almost nighttime and since he still hadn't thought of a solution yet, losing more men would be meaningless.
"Retreat!"
After hearing the command of their superiors, the enemy infantry who were in a bad position felt like they were granted a new lease on life so they immediately turned around and retreated.
"Tch! Retreating already? What a bunch of wusses!"
Helena didn't expect them to retreat so early on the first day of the war. Still, she wouldn't let go of the chance to deal more damage to the enemy before they got out of range.
"Archers! Ballistamen! Fire at will!"
The archers and the Ballistamen immediately started killing enemies again using their arrows and ballista bolts. Before the enemy could successfully retreat, they lost around a thousand more men.
Helena smiled widely after seeing the massive damage the enemy received before they were able to successfully retreat.
On the contrary, Blanc frowned. It seems that this battle will be a bit trickier than he thought. The enemy general still thought of the best course of action calmly even while losing a lot of men.
He didn't get angry even though he lost so badly on the first day. In addition to this, Blanc expected to get a few thousand more before the enemy called the retreat.
Who would've thought that the enemy general would decisively call the retreat before losing more men?
Blanc narrowed his eyes at the silhouette of the enemy general as the Samara-Kairuku coalition army set up camp for the night.
"For him to be so patient even though they would lose in a battle of attrition…Is he waiting for something?"
He muttered to himself as he pondered about the possible adaptations of the enemy army to the current situation.
Still, a war of attrition is advantageous to them so he didn't mind them taking their time.
"I guess that's it for the first day huh? Helena, order the men to rest in rotation. I shall go towards the great hall to ponder about their possible tactics."
"Got it! I'll follow you to the great hall after a few arrangements."