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#401 - Chapter 135: The Fighting Style of the Corpse Demons (Part 2)

The obstacles that humans painstakingly cleared during the day were instantly filled by the tide-like onslaught of wights. "Attack! Attack!" officers roared hoarsely. Soldiers desperately fired their rockets, using every means to attack the enemy.

However, the enemy's numbers were simply too great. Wights that were set ablaze were quickly trampled underfoot by their swarming companions, the flames on their bodies crushed into nothingness. The running wights unhesitatingly slammed their bodies against the not-so-high defensive wall, causing it to shake violently, making it almost impossible for those standing above to keep their footing. Then, their remains were smashed to pieces by the wights that followed close behind.

As time passed, the corpses piled up higher and higher beneath the city walls, forming a tall mountain of the dead. The wights behind trampled over the remains of their companions, continuing their attack on the humans.

"Stay calm, don't retreat! We must hold our ground!" the officers shouted hoarsely.

"Quick, throw torches, stop those wights from getting close!"

"Ah, my leg is injured! Someone, help me..."

The battlefield echoed with the officers' roars and the soldiers' death throes.

Stannis witnessed with his own eyes a soldier beside him being forcibly dragged out from behind his tower shield by a wight, his screams quickly cut short. Countless wights piled up like surging waves, some even climbing the city walls and falling into the human lines. Although these wights were quickly eliminated, they created instability in the lines. The soldiers did their best to resist, but the line was still in critical condition.

At that crucial moment, Davos arrived with the reserve troops. Holding torches in one hand and jars in the other, they charged towards the wights without hesitation. Not even considering the possibility of friendly fire, they used all their strength to hurl the lit jars. The wildfire exploded in mid-air, instantly igniting large swathes of wights, the flames burning fiercely and spreading rapidly, temporarily halting the wights' advance.

Seeing this, the human soldiers were overjoyed, but they knew this was only temporary because the number of wights was simply too great. Aleken Florent said, "Your Grace, these wildfire jars are very effective against the wights. If we had enough ammunition, we would definitely be able to hold this place."

Stannis thought for a moment, then shook his head and said, "Unfortunately, these were unloaded from the ships by Salladhor Saan before he left. It's their last stock." He sighed inwardly, wishing they had more wildfire jars and barrels, things might be different. But reality was cruel, and they had to face the predicament of scarce resources.

Just then, a soldier ran over to report: "Your Grace, Lord Davos sent me to inform you that we have run out of wildfire jars, and the number of wights is still increasing." Hearing this news, Stannis's expression became solemn. He knew that it would be difficult to resist the endless tide of wights with just the existing weapons and tactics.

Stannis quickly made a judgment, realizing that such an attack intensity could not withstand the wights' offensive. He understood that he had to find a way to change the situation, otherwise, if this place was breached, everyone would face the threat of death.

He immediately shouted loudly to Aleken Florent: "No, this place cannot be defended at all! Aleken, Davos, the two of you immediately organize the rear guard to retreat first, light the firewood along the way, and reserve a few safe escape routes. Also, send a few more people to notify Commander Jon, tell him about our situation here, and have him make preparations for a response in advance."

However, although the fire was very fierce, the number of wights was too great, and the fire gradually subsided. To make matters worse, those wights carrying trees had also arrived on the battlefield. They used their immense strength to push the trees, like battering rams, and slammed them hard against the shield wall, knocking the soldiers behind the shields away.

At this time, the originally sturdy low wall could not withstand such a huge impact and was forcibly breached with gaps. Along the way, the broken wights and the dead and wounded soldiers outnumbered each other by more than ten times. Seeing that the defense line was about to collapse, Stannis decisively ordered: "Light the fire!"

Hearing the order, the soldiers in the back row quickly retreated and lit a row of trenches behind the protective wall. Patches of flames linked together like a wall of fire, illuminating the entire battlefield.

Stannis turned to look at Tormund, who nodded, then raised his great axe and shouted, "Free folk! Kill!" With his shout, the wildling warriors swarmed forward, wildly and fiercely attacking every wight that tried to climb the wall. They quickly replaced the exhausted soldiers in front, who breathed a sigh of relief and jumped off the wall, running without looking back towards the safe area behind the mid-section fire wall. There, they could catch their breath. Some of the soldiers continued to hold up lit poles, using the accumulated obstacles for defense.

However, facing the wights' frenzied impact, the defensive wall began to sway, as if it could collapse at any moment. Although the wildling warriors on the wall fought bravely, after a wave of fierce counterattacks, they gradually fell into trouble due to the lack of effective organization and command. They felt it increasingly difficult to resist the wights' attacks, and a sense of despair welled up in their hearts.

The archers in the rear kept shooting arrows, trying to stop the wights from advancing with a dense rain of arrows. But the wights seemed to have no fear of death, and they still charged forward one after another, their eyes flashing with greed.

At this critical moment, Stannis suddenly noticed that more wights carrying huge tree trunks had appeared in the distance, and they were approaching the city wall step by step. These tree trunks were like battering rams, posing a greater threat to the city wall. Further away, there were also some strangely shaped beast wights, and even giant wights. These terrifying monsters filled the soldiers on the wall with fear, and their morale was greatly affected. Looking at these newly appeared enemies, Stannis's face darkened, and a sense of foreboding welled up in his heart. He knew that this battle would be more difficult than imagined. Realizing that the situation was out of control, Stannis decisively issued a retreat order. The soldiers immediately blew the retreat horn, signaling the troops to quickly evacuate the battlefield.

Behind the fleeing wildlings, countless wights surged like a monstrous tide, packed tightly together, forming an endless wall of death. The sheer number of these wights was enough to inspire despair and terror.

Some wights fell directly into the burning trenches, instantly engulfed in flames. The flames licked their bodies, crackling and popping, accompanied by thick black smoke. These wights struggled in the sea of fire, but soon turned to ashes.

Perhaps because they had moved out of the White Walker's line of sight, the wights that broke through the defense line clearly showed fear of the flames ahead. They stopped, not daring to move forward, as if blocked by an invisible force. However, the wights constantly surging from behind ruthlessly squeezed their companions in the front row into the trenches, turning them into burning torches.

Stannis led the soldiers responsible for blocking the enemy, and they acted quickly, joining the wildlings to form a defense line, using shields and spears to resist the wights' attack.

Tormund wiped the blood from his face and cursed angrily: "Those damned ghosts! Our weapons can't effectively kill them at all. After I chopped off a wight's head, it could still bite my face, and it took me a lot of effort to smash it and break free." His face was full of anger and helplessness, obviously shocked by the wights' tenacious vitality.

The wildlings had no organization at all, and both their attacks and retreats were chaotic and disorderly. To prevent the White Walkers from pursuing them closely and causing the situation to get out of control, they had agreed in advance to let the professional soldiers retreat in an orderly manner first, and then organize resistance along the way to protect the wildlings' safe retreat and entry into the second line of defense set up by Jon.

After the troops successfully reunited, they turned back and stared at the battlefield ravaged by the wights, their hearts filled with endless helplessness and frustration.

However, they had no time to wallow in this sense of loss. Because even more severe challenges were waiting for them. On the defensive wall, the figures of the White Walkers had already appeared, and these evil creatures were directing those walking dead wights to start looking for things to put out the fire.

Seeing that the personnel had been evacuated, an officer decisively ordered the gaps in the fire wall to be blocked. Winter trees were not easy to burn, and the smoke was denser than the flames. The wights gradually approached, their hollow, lifeless eyes sending chills down people's spines. The soldiers nervously prepared, holding spears and bows and arrows, on high alert, their eyes locked on the enemy opposite them.

Suddenly, a loud noise came, and a section of the wall collapsed, and a huge figure appeared in front of everyone. This figure was a wight transformed from a giant, and its huge body was awe-inspiring. And beside it, there were wights transformed from large wild beasts such as mammoths, snow bears, and direwolves, and they all launched attacks on humans.

However, what shocked people even more was that a blue spider, larger than a camel, had also joined the battle. These large spiders were surrounded by frost, and their backs carried uniquely armored White Walkers. The cold air spewed from the spiders' mouths instantly froze everything around them, even gradually extinguishing the nearby flames.

Jon's eyes widened, and he looked at the scene in front of him in disbelief: "This... this is the White Walker's mount! Those stories are actually true?" His heart was filled with shock and fear.

Tormund cursed: "Damn it, how could I not have thought that they would have this kind of thing!" He clenched the battle axe in his hand, his eyes flashing with anger.

Jon gritted his teeth and said with a firm expression: "We must find a way to stop it!" He turned to look at Sam beside him and asked anxiously: "How much do you know about them?" He hoped to get some useful information from Sam.

Sam's face turned very pale, and his voice trembled slightly as he said: "Maester Aemon's books only contain brief descriptions and illustrations of these monsters, but there are no detailed combat methods. I only know that they are very powerful and difficult to deal with..."

Everyone's eyes were focused on the red priestess Melisandre, hoping that she could give some useful information. However, Melisandre shrugged and said helplessly: "There are no more records about ice spiders in Xia's collection either. The only mention is that the ice spiders are the true believers of the Cold God, and it was they who seduced the first White Walkers to fall and become the claws of the evil god."

Stannis was silent for a moment, then said in a firm tone: "In any case, for us, it does not matter whether these ice spiders are the White Walkers' mounts or the evil god's henchmen. What matters is that if we cannot stop them, all that awaits us is death. Commander Jon, how is the second line of defense being built?"

Jon frowned and replied: "The situation is a bit tricky. The land here has been frozen by the severe cold and is extremely hard, making excavation work almost impossible, and even trees are difficult to cut down. I have sent people to set up a second line of defense on the other end of the forest, but behind it is Hardhome, and we have no way to retreat."

Tormund: "Then let's fight them to the death, how is the evacuation of the clansmen in the rear going?" His eyes flashed with firmness and determination, as if he was ready for the final battle.

Sam: "It's going relatively smoothly. After Ser Salladhor's fleet joined, the evacuation progress has accelerated. Lord Stark has ordered the eastern fleet to come to support." There was a hint of relief in his voice, but the worry in his eyes could not be concealed.

Stannis: "Then gentlemen, prepare to fight to the death! We also have to leave ourselves time to evacuate." His tone was calm and firm.

In the Hardhome stronghold, Robb demonstrated strong leadership and decisiveness. Although the lords of the North were full of hostility towards the wildlings in their hearts, under Robb's tough attitude, they still restrained the soldiers under their command. After all, for thousands of years, the North and the lands beyond the Wall had been in a state of hostility, and the hatred between the two sides could be said to be deeply rooted. However, facing these unarmed children and women, they really couldn't bring themselves to do it, and it didn't fit the honor of a warrior.

The entire evacuation process was relatively smooth. To the wildlings, the family possessions they cherished were just a pile of old items in Robb's eyes. Therefore, before people boarded the ship, all weapons were required to be left on the shore to ensure the safety and order of the ship. This was simply unacceptable to the wildlings, but Robb would not make any compromises at all. In the end, under the pressure of survival, Morona had no choice but to agree to disarm.