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The newly promoted level-nine great mage faced off against three level-six and seven senior mages. Despite the fact that these state-sponsored mages had never relaxed their cultivation of magic, the gap in levels was still enormous. The large-scale spells they used to suppress the orcs on the city walls—“Meteor Shower,” “Chain Lightning,” and “Explosive Ice Ring”—were shattered by countless multicolored orbs from Old Wellington's “Rainbow Spray.” Subsequently, the combined efforts of three senior mages, four mages, and twenty mage apprentices, using “Great Thunderstorm,” “Chaos Storm,” and “Summon Planar Creatures,” were all thwarted by Wellington one by one. Finally, a massive meteor summoned by everyone together was also disintegrated into dust by Old Wellington's newly mastered level-nine spell, “Greater Disintegration.” It was then that humans realized that the opposing orcs had a level-nine mage stationed there.

"Shameless traitor, despicable scum, disgrace to humanity, lackey of the orcs. As a mage, you have forgotten the glory of the Twelve Sages and willingly serve filthy beasts. All mages will be ashamed of you!"

While it is unknown how effective human commander Basten's leadership skills are, his naturally loud voice was quite impressive, rivaling my Peach Blossom Island's practical life skill, "Crimson Sea Roar." More remarkably, even in the midst of his furious tirade, Basten spoke clearly, every word piercing through the air, truly befitting a noble son trained from a young age. However, precisely because he cursed so clearly, the old mage immediately retaliated with a barrage of fireballs and wind blades. Fortunately, Basten was riding the "Lightning Unicorn Silver Pegasus," and the level-nine top-tier magical beast's "Vortex Thunderfield" absorbed all the low-level spells.

With the trebuchets proving ineffective and the mages suppressed, the infantry corps naturally faced strong resistance from the Minos defenders. Warriors climbing ladders could not carry long spears, and ordinary swords did little damage to the Minos minotaurs who had activated the "Totem of Vigilance" and cultivated the Golden Bell Shield. Conversely, the light armor of human soldiers was like thin paper under the massive mountain-splitting axes, resulting in bloody carnage.

Seeing the disadvantage, the rear commanders hastily pushed out the only four siege towers. These towering structures, as high as the city walls, slowly approached the fortress, lowering their thick wooden walls to connect with the battlements. Heavily armored warriors carrying large shields and long halberds charged onto the walls, creating gaps for the subsequent waves of soldiers to climb up. The previously suppressed human mages, after downing potions, launched a full counterattack against Old Wellington, preventing him from destroying the siege towers with magic.

"Hmph, if our fortress had complete defensive mechanisms, how could siege towers ever reach the walls! Hmm, we need to dig a moat around the castle and divert the Red River to encircle it properly."

Although I was somewhat annoyed by the humans breaching the walls, I wasn't genuinely afraid of this situation. Our shaman group of two hundred shamans immediately began casting, and hundreds of elemental totem poles rose from the battlements, significantly enhancing the combat power of the Minos warriors within their range, stabilizing the situation once more.

If we had launched a countercharge at this point, we could have forced the humans back down from the walls. However, I didn't intend to let them off so easily; instead, I needed to use this opportunity to deplete their strength further. Thus, I allowed them to repeatedly gain and lose ground, continuously replenishing their forces. Consequently, an unprecedentedly fierce battle erupted on the walls of the fortress, with humans advancing and retreating step by step, leaving countless corpses behind.

This tactic would normally have inflicted significant casualties on our side as well, but fortunately, we had numerous shamans supporting us, and the four thousand Minos warriors possessed the "Totem of Vigilance" and "Aura of Endurance." The humans, due to internal strife, had not brought along clerics from the Radiant Temple for support. Therefore, our casualties were minimal compared to theirs.

The battle on the walls continued throughout the day. By sunset, the second army corps and noble private troops participating in the assault were exhausted and had to retreat, leaving over four thousand dead.

"Damn Zuo Wen, what kind of plan was that? You said the orc fortress had major flaws and was vulnerable. Look at the situation now! Our troops have suffered over fifty percent casualties." The one angrily berating his staff officer was none other than Ivy, the commander of the second army corps. His troops had suffered the most casualties today. During the attack, he felt that just one more push would break through the orc defenses, so he kept sending more troops forward. In the end, he discovered that over three thousand soldiers had died, and including those severely wounded and unable to continue fighting, the entire second army corps had lost half its combat strength.

"Zuo Wen, we need an explanation." Not just Ivy, but everyone was shocked by today's losses. Even though Basten highly regarded this chief staff officer, he couldn't help feeling resentful.

"My lords, generals, I understand that today's battle did not go smoothly, but this does not mean our previous assessments were incorrect. Did any of you see catapults on the orc fortress? Were there ballistae? They didn't even use rolling logs, rocks, or arrows. The intelligence about the magic cannons was also absent. Our troops managed to climb the walls and engage in direct combat, which is essentially no different from a plain battlefield encounter except for the absence of heavy cavalry charges. Is this advantage not enough for you? Do you expect the enemy to be weaker without a fortified city? The orcs have mages and shamans suppressing us, and the minotaurs are exceptionally skilled and well-equipped. These disadvantages existed regardless of whether we attacked the city or not."

Zuo Wen spoke confidently, leaving the generals speechless. In truth, everything he mentioned had been evident on the battlefield today, which is why they had become increasingly agitated, continually increasing their forces to break through the city. However, the orc defense proved resilient, and despite several back-and-forth battles on the walls, the humans gained no advantage and suffered heavy losses. This led to their questioning of Zuo Wen, who had suggested the assault.