Exactly one mile separated the iron-reinforced gates of the city from the vanguard of the Tang expeditionary force. General Zhao Feng had forcefully reorganized his remaining forty-four thousand imperial troops, strictly ensuring that his pavilions and supply wagons were situated safely beyond the maximum parabolic trajectory of the Iron Empire's heavy siege mortars.
The Eastern commander had already paid a catastrophic price of six thousand elite soldiers to learn the exact range of industrialized artillery.
Within the high walls of Wessex, the macroeconomic reality of a prolonged siege was beginning to dawn on the local nobility.
Standing near the primary command post on the elevated ramparts, Lord Ealdred nervously twisted a silver ring on his index finger. The elderly Saxon noble looked down at the courtyard...
