Regarding the old general's decision, some were astonished, some perplexed, and some disdainful, but none wavered in their resolve to immediately attack the city.
After all, setting up camp and besieging the city in such weather was not only torture for all commanders but also a test for all soldiers.
More than ten thousand hastily conscripted cannon fodder troops would certainly not be able to withstand such a test.
Believing it had an absolute numerical advantage, the Ottoman Empire dispersed its forces, surrounding Spiš from all sides, preparing to launch simultaneous attacks to maximize its numerical superiority.
The Ottoman Empire army brought out siege engines and pushed them to the front lines, preparing for the assault, then shouted a final ultimatum: "Listen, people of the city, Allah is most merciful.
All soldiers lay down your weapons, open the city gates, and surrender.
The magnanimous Ottoman Empire will forgive your sins and allow you to convert.
If you stubbornly resist, not a single soul will be left alive after the city falls!"
If nothing was known, such a plea for surrender might have had some effect, but all the defenders knew the news of Hont's fall and massacre, and Lorenz had made thorough preparations, so naturally, no one would believe the Ottoman Empire's lies.
The city gates remained tightly shut, with no response.
The Ottoman Empire did not waste any more words; accompanied by the clang of war drums, a siege battle involving tens of thousands of people began.
Battering rams and siege towers, these behemoths, slowly moved under the combined effort of the cannon fodder troops, and countless ladders were carried, all systematically approaching the city walls from various directions.
Because the power of firearms would be greatly reduced in heavy rain, and cannons could not even be lit without cover, the Ottoman Empire brought a large number of trebuchets and catapults as substitutes.
After the long-range weapons entered firing range, an attack was immediately launched, and huge stones rained down on Spiš from all directions, initially causing some casualties among the defenders on the city walls.
However, such retro long-range weapons were, after all, limited in accuracy and insufficient in power; besides most stones flying to unknown places, the stones that luckily hit the city walls only caused some casualties and localized panic, and Austria's new city walls were almost unscathed under such a level of long-range attack.
Conversely, the long-range firepower on the defenders' city walls was terrifying.
There were many cannons, and they were all relatively advanced equipment, with ample shells and good waterproofing for ammunition boxes.
Sheds were reinforced and expanded to block the rain, and there were special firing ports for shooting and protection, though their accuracy and power would be affected by the heavy rain after being fired.
Under the high-angle barrage, large siege engines bore the brunt; several battering rams and siege towers were destroyed by concentrated fire as soon as they entered range, and the troops pushing the engines and the surrounding cannon fodder troops were affected, falling in droves.
As they were all hastily conscripted cannon fodder troops, the vast majority had neither been on a battlefield nor received training, and a large number of the cannon fodder soldiers at the very front immediately suffered mental breakdowns, with fear quickly spreading.
The cannon fodder troops were inexperienced, but the supervision teams stationed behind each unit were very experienced in handling such matters, decisively executing one group after another of soldiers who retreated or disobeyed orders, stabilizing the situation, and ensuring the siege army continued to advance despite heavy casualties.
The Ottoman Empire had not anticipated such fierce resistance from the Austrian defenders; now the defenders in the city could hit them, but they lacked effective means of retaliation, and even with strengthened defenses, the siege engines could not withstand a few cannon attacks.
The Ottoman Empire could only temporarily withdraw the cumbersome and slow siege towers and battering rams, first using only ladders to transport the cannon fodder troops onto the enemy's city walls to tie down the enemy's forces and firepower, and then seizing the opportunity to deploy large siege engines.
Without the large engineering equipment, the Ottoman Empire army's advance speed increased significantly, and soon the first ladder was placed against the city wall; besides cannons, more weapons of the Austrian defenders could also be put to use.
One ladder after another was erected and then pushed down, and one soldier after another climbed onto the city wall and then fell.
Under the combined assault of muskets, cannons, and rolling logs and stones, the corpses at the foot of the city wall piled up thickly, yet the Ottoman Empire continued to relentlessly drive the cannon fodder troops to their deaths towards the city wall.
However, the Ottoman supervision teams had to maintain order among the cannon fodder troops at the front, so they could not be too far from the city wall, which meant that many supervision teams were also within the firing range of the Austrian defenders.
While the Austrian defenders might have felt a sense of helplessness in slaughtering the cannon fodder troops who were forcibly conscripted for the siege, they utterly detested these supervision teams composed of Ottoman Empire soldiers, and naturally, they prioritized striking them because it was the most effective way to curb the siege.
Sure enough, after the supervision teams also suffered heavy casualties, some cannon fodder troops began to riot, starting to flee and even resist the supervision teams; even though the Ottoman Empire continuously replenished the gaps in the supervision team personnel from the rear, they still could not keep up with the changes in the battlefield situation, and the pressure on the city wall suddenly lessened significantly.
At this stage of the siege, continuing the fight in the afternoon would inevitably lead to heavy losses, but withdrawing the troops now would certainly cause morale to collapse.
As a last resort, the Ottoman Empire began to send more and more main forces to join the cannon fodder troops in the siege to balance morale and maintain order.
However, the firearms of the defending army could not be completely unaffected by the heavy rain.
Even though the sheds and firing ports could temporarily block the rain, the humid air was pervasive, and moreover, the various sheds were severely damaged under the continuous attacks from the Ottoman Empire's catapults.
As the battle intensified, more and more muskets and cannons could no longer fire, greatly reducing the long-range strike capability of the defending soldiers.
With the addition of the main forces, the Ottoman Empire reorganized a highly threatening offensive.
The generals of the Ottoman Empire also became desperate; even if they couldn't capture the city, they had to give the defenders a hard time, otherwise, the loss in morale would be unbearable, so they directly ordered the main forces to push forward.
The transportation of rolling logs and stones required time, and the space on the city wall was limited; the main forces of the Ottoman Empire were not like the cannon fodder troops, and a large number of soldiers seized gaps and climbed onto the city wall, knowing they would surely die, yet still shouting "Allah is most holy" and engaging in bloody close-quarters combat with the defenders.
Seeing that the siege seemed to be making progress, the cannon fodder troops also followed closely, and a cold weapon confrontation, highly inconsistent with the era, was taking place in all directions of Spiš.
In the distance, catapults were still firing indiscriminately, regardless of friend or foe.
Seeing that they had finally inflicted effective casualties on the defending soldiers, the generals of the Ottoman Empire seemed to see some hope.
But before they could rejoice for long, they discovered a problem: people were constantly dying on the city walls of Spiš, but the total number of defenders observed was actually increasing, with a continuous supply of reinforcements from within the city!
This meant that the city had already undergone war mobilization, and the true number of defenders was far more than what was initially seen.
Close-quarters combat consumed both sides greatly, and the defending side still had the advantage of terrain; the main forces in their hands were the lifeblood of these Ottoman Empire generals, and wasting them here made everyone's heart bleed.
Some impatient generals were already on the verge of losing half of their main forces.
Finally, completely free from the threat of cannons, the Ottoman Empire was able to push the battering rams and siege towers to the city walls.
But just then, all the city gates suddenly opened, and countless defending soldiers rushed out of the city, desperately fighting back the foremost Ottoman Empire siege troops, destroying the battering rams, siege towers, and all the ladders.
Spiš had intended to launch a direct counterattack, but upon seeing a previously unmoving Ottoman Empire army suddenly advance en masse, for the sake of caution, they pursued briefly, beheaded over a thousand, and then ordered the entire army to withdraw back into the city.
Only then did the Ottoman Empire realize that the defenders of Spiš still numbered at least ten thousand, and everyone finally understood the old general's intentions.
As the Ottoman Empire soldiers remaining on the city walls were eliminated, this battle was declared over.
The siege battle, at this point, could no longer be described merely as a failure.
After this battle, the cannon fodder troops conscripted by the Ottoman Empire suffered casualties as high as one-third, and the main forces also suffered three thousand casualties, with very few siege engines remaining.
All the generals abandoned the idea of attacking the city and could only set up camp on the spot and dig tunnels, waiting for reinforcements.
Considering that the enemy might sally out for a sneak attack, all troops were stationed in the south, only conducting a symbolic siege.