Chapter 104: The Siege Of Joltz

As the sun began to creep through the ashen clouds of the morning, the Luxenberg army began their assault on the southern and eastern walls of the city of Joltz. 

500 cannons unleashed their fury upon the stoic walls of Joltz. Their deafening screams rang throughout the area, as the cannon balls flew towards the grey stone walls. Although powerful and riding a swift momentum, the cannon balls simply bounced off the stone walls.

Victor was not surprised, from his extensive research of the Fontaine Faction, he found that Joltz had long been recognised as the strongest defensive city on the continent. Its walls were thick and towering, making it highly difficult to penetrate or scale.

What was more concerning was the effectiveness of the defenders, they may have been militia but were well-drilled and made use of their superior position. Their commander, Gerhard, understood siege warfare and defensive tactics, thanks to his father's tutelage. Now was the time to emulate his teachings, in a real-life setting.

"Captain, are we going to let these bastards continue to fire upon us uncontested? Load the cannons, and prepare to fire. Let us show them the might of the Joltz garrison," Gerhard commanded. His soldiers promptly executed the order and were ready to fire on command.

With a nod from Gerhard, the garrison captain yelled out fire. The serenade of the Joltz cannons spread through the city. In the first volley, they had taken out 30 Luxenberg cannons. Victor was surprised and annoyed at how much damage they had suffered in a single volley, almost a tenth of his cannons and their crew were now out of action.

Joltz's cannons continued to rain down upon Victor's artillery. By midday, Victor had lost 100 cannons along with their crews. It was a substantial loss for Victor, an entire corps worth of cannons had been lost in a few hours. Victor had no choice but to pull his artillery back and rethink his approach.

Atop the walls, Gerhard and his men celebrated their victory. They had accomplished something that Simeon and his army could not. This was the first setback for Victor and his men. 

Inside the Luxenberg camp, stern expressions had plagued everyone. For an army that had not lost a battle under Victor's rule. The top brass in the Luxenberg army was convened in a tent to try and formulate a new plan of attack.

"My liege, I recommend we revisit my idea about a prolonged siege. If we can starve the city out, we can avert further losses. We are going to need our cannons for the main Fontaine army," General Bertrand suggested.

"I concur, my liege, General Bertrand's suggestion is valid, let us starve them out. If we are lucky, there is a possibility of them surrendering rather than fighting to the last. In my opinion, if we wanted to take this city with brute force, we would need the other corps," General Tauentzien said in support of General Bertrand.

Victor nodded, it was a basic strategy but the looming threat of the Fontaine army attacking them was concerning. There was no guarantee that Simeon and his army would remain camped in Osterbon. If the grand duke, decided to ride out and attack Victor's army, it could put Victor and his army on the back foot.

"My liege, I disagree. We should focus all our cannons on the eastern wall and level it. There is no assurance that Grand Duke Fontaine and his army will continue their encampment. Our army must seize this chance and take the city. Grand Duke Fontaine must not be allowed the opportunity to use this city as his final stronghold," General Bülow stated in a booming voice. The rest of the advisors agreed with Bülow, even if his delivery of the suggestion was a bit forceful. 

Both ideas had their merits as well as their flaws, however, Victor was not sold on either of them. He was hopeful for a more viable plan that could promise a certain victory without extensive casualties. 

"I will need to think on these ideas, gentlemen. We shall reconvene tomorrow evening. As for now, we will halt any further attacks onyed the city. They have won the opening engagement and destroyed many of our cannons, if we do not carefully plan our next move, we will continue to lose more and more soldiers," Victor said in a serious tone.

With his words, the tent was emptied. Victor was left to his own thoughts as he stared at the waxed canvas roof of the tent. He played out multiple scenarios in his head of how each plan would work out. Neither plan proved to be overly successful. 

Wanting to try and find inspiration, Victor turned to the system's store, hoping to find an answer to his current conundrum. When he opened the store there were multiple options for Victor.

There were multiple 100-Man Infantry Summons and 10-Gun Artillery Summons, even a Legendary-Level Commander Summon. None of them were the solution Victor was looking for. However, as Victor combed through the store there was one item that stood out to him.

There were two 10-Gun Special Artillery Unit Summons, they each cost 50,000 Store Points. This immediately piqued Victor's curiosity, he had a small hunch on what this could be. If he was right this could change the entire situation of the siege.

Victor had originally saved up to 100,000 Store Points, he had planned to use his points for a Legendary-Level Commander Summon, but with the current situation his men faced in this siege, the 10-Gun Special Artillery Unit Summons were potentially a game changer.

Not wanting to use all his points, Victor only bought one of them as he did not truly trust what the summon would give him. With no hesitation, Victor used the summon. Like all other of his unit summons, a green screen popped up with only one option.

A giddy smile crept onto Victor's face, the 50,000 Store Point gamble was worth it.