Steel, gunpowder, and spellcasters

Chapter 110 The Edge of the Knife

A besieged city: those outside want to get in, and no one knows what those inside are thinking... but they certainly don't want those outside to get in.

After weeks of attrition warfare, Winters set foot on the city walls for the first time.

They encountered no enemies, nor did they step on any traps. The soil beneath their feet was very muddy, seeping with a red liquid.

Limbs and pieces of flesh were everywhere; the six rounds of grenades not only destroyed the spirits of the Tanirians, but also their bodies.

The Venetian soldiers who rushed through the breach killed all the surviving Tanilians—who were not going to survive anyway; their swift death was a special kind of mercy.

Just as Lieutenant Colonel Vauban had estimated, the defenders had filled in thick mounds of earth behind the city walls. However, not all of the walls had been reinforced in this way; it appeared that the mounds were only placed in areas that had been heavily bombarded.

The low, simple wooden shacks were faintly visible in the sea fog, and the familiar architecture made Winters feel as if he had returned to his hometown.

The slums here are no different from those in Hailan, where poor miners have built makeshift shelters behind the city walls.

Many of the wooden houses had already been demolished, and it's not hard to imagine they were used as timber by the defenders. More prefabricated houses must have been outside the city walls, but those had been cleared out long before the Venetians arrived.

Some low-lying bungalows were set on fire by other troops who had breached the city walls, and the smoke from the burning damp wood further reduced visibility.

Winters could no longer see Lieutenant Juan, but he could vaguely make out the red flag with a golden lion. Juan's hundred-man squad did not advance into the city, but instead began their assault along the base of the city wall towards the city gate.

Don Juan charged wildly toward the city wall like a madman. Major Moritz and his spellcasters could not catch up with him no matter what they did, and the golden lion banner in front of them was almost disappearing into the fog.

"Watch out! Don't get separated! The Tanirians won't surrender so easily!" Moritz, leading the way, said in a deep voice to the spellcasters without turning his head.

Several officers, swords drawn, stood less than a step apart, trudging through the thick fog. Winters nearly tripped over corpses several times; the heavy fog seemed eerily unsettling, concealing countless enemies.

Lieutenant Pisani suggested, "Let's work together and use our wind manipulation technique to disperse this fog!"

"Save your magic!" the major replied coldly.

At that moment, Winters clearly heard the sound of hurried footsteps coming from his right front, along with some peculiar noise... the clanging of armor parts as they ran.

"Enemy attack!" Winters immediately shouted to warn them.

The Veneta soldiers at the front also noticed something amiss, but they weren't sure if they were friend or foe. Several soldiers called out, "Who goes there?! Password?!"

The only response they received was a few arrows fired at the sound, and a small squad of Union soldiers burst out of the thick fog of the slum alleys and crashed into the ranks of the Venetta soldiers.

"Enemy attack!"

"There's a Tanny!"

First came a few shouts, then the battlefield fell into a terrifying silence.

This silence was not silence in the strict sense. Gunfire could be heard from afar, and dying soldiers cried out beside him. But apart from this white noise, all that could be heard was the crisp sound of weapons clashing and the horrifying sound of weapons entering human bodies.

The Venetians and Tanirians, locked in a fierce battle, could not utter a sound. Their teeth were clenched tightly, their muscles tense, and their brains were almost completely blank as they hacked at each other out of instinct.

Without saying a word, Moritz charged straight into the fray.

Clearly, Moritz's group wouldn't be able to escape if they couldn't deal with the enemies in front of them. Although they had deviated from their original mission, Winters and the other officers had no choice but to kill the Tannrians first.

With the assistance of this small squad of exceptionally skilled officers, the Tanilians, who had the advantage of surprise attack, not only failed to defeat Juan's 100-man rear guard, but were instead driven back by the Venetians.

However, the sounds of fighting attracted more Union soldiers from the slums. Before Lieutenant Don Juan could turn around to provide support, another group of enemies had already run into Lieutenant Juan's vanguard.

Just as Moritz and his men were fleeing back to the slums in panic from their immediate enemy, another group of Tanirian soldiers attacked from behind.

Moritz immediately took command of the rear guard, shouting, "Go and meet up with Don Juan!"

The soldiers didn't recognize him, but instinctively obeyed his orders. Juan's hundred-man squad retreated while fighting, moving closer to the Golden Lion Banner.

At the same time, many figures appeared on the rooftops of the slums, followed by a volley of crossbow bolts. The defenders' archers climbed onto the shacks and began firing at the exposed Venetians.

The Venetians were shoving each other to avoid the arrows, and their organization was on the verge of collapse.

Moritz turned back, and steel spikes flew from his left hand. Winters then realized that the fighting power the major had displayed before him was far from his limit; when he unleashed his killing spree without reservation, even his heart of stone trembled.

The Union crossbowmen on the prefab houses were cleared out in the blink of an eye. To ensure Moritz killed them, he fired two steel spikes at each of them. The Union crossbowman struck between the eyebrows had his brains splattered, and he died instantly without even a scream.

To the Tanilians, who couldn't see clearly what Moritz had done, it seemed that whoever the man reached out to would die instantly.

Only the devil could have such an ability. The Union soldiers, realizing what was happening, shouted in terror, "Devil! Demon!" and scrambled to escape into the depths of the slums.

The other officers, besides Winters, finally understood why some people said that this slightly thin and undisciplined man was the strongest magical combatant in the army.

With his unparalleled skill in archery alone, even if everyone else were bundled together, they wouldn't be enough to deal with Moritz.

"Should we pursue them?" someone asked the major.

"No chasing!" Moritz answered decisively. "Go and rejoin the front team!"

Moritz and his men followed Lieutenant Juan all the way to the city gate. The spellcasters disguised themselves as ordinary soldiers and killed any enemies who tried to approach Don Juan on the spot.

During this time, they did not see any more signal flares. Lieutenant Juan's hundred-man squad, in coordination with the troops attacking from the triangular fortress, defeated the defenders at the city gate and quickly captured the city gate of Tacheng.

The entire process went incredibly smoothly, so smoothly that even the spellcaster officers felt somewhat uneasy.

But that's how unpredictable battles are for mages. Corpses don't speak, so it's possible that Moritz and his group didn't kill a single enemy mage, or that they killed only enemy mages.

The enemy was dead, and all of this could no longer be verified. The spellcasters could only suppress their unease and continue to stand guard beside Don Juan.

The sky was beginning to brighten, the sun was rising higher and higher, and the fog was gradually being dispelled by the sunlight.

After more than two hours of fierce fighting, the city of Ta suddenly fell silent. Winters could only hear the occasional sounds of gunfire and the groans of the dying in the distance.

The spellcasters, like the ordinary soldiers of Juan's centurion, collapsed to the ground like the dead. It was they who served as the arrowheads and the spearheads, enabling Juan's centurion to so swiftly seize the heavily guarded city gate. The golden lion banner fluttered on the gate, but the exhausted Venetians had no strength left to continue the attack.

When the fog completely dissipated, the sight before them filled even the most resolute Venetas with a sense of despair.

Winters heard the sentry crying, but he didn't understand what was happening until he also stood on the city wall and looked out.

Not far away, a mud wall surrounds the "Count's Tower" of the city, and the flag of the Tanilia Federation is still planted on the castle.

William Kidd built another wall inside the existing walls, but the Tanirians still did not give up the fight, and the battle was not over yet.

……

……

For this all-out offensive, the Venetians mobilized nine battalions—nine full-strength battalions.

The two legions together only had a total of twenty battalions, not to mention that many of those battalions had already suffered heavy losses in the siege.

The Venetian military leadership wanted a decisive victory, but the Tanilians were incredibly tenacious.

This is the helplessness of living in this era: tactically, offense overwhelms defense, but strategically, defense overwhelms offense.

Even the most skilled troops, when faced with strong fortifications and tenacious defenders, can only turn war into an endless exchange of numbers.

Thirty years ago, the Cenas coalition used dozens of fortified towns to wear down the Duke of Arlian and force a peace with the Emperor. But today, someone else had used the same tactic on them, and all the Vinnetta officers felt uneasy.

"Fight! Keep fighting!" Layton slammed his fist on the table during the military command meeting. "We're losing men, but the Tannis aren't? [vulgar language] Keep fighting! Let's see who can hold on until the last breath!"

Layton's anger was so intense it could practically set the air ablaze, but the officers present didn't react much. The battalion commanders avoided Layton's gaze and silently lowered their heads.

The nine battalions responsible for the general offensive today are exhausted, and many battalions have even lost more than 30% of their soldiers. It is a miracle that the morale of the troops has not collapsed.

Under normal circumstances, one would have to praise their effective military discipline. However, the silence of these battalion commanders was not due to any concern for their soldiers' lives, but rather because they clearly understood that their battalions had reached their limit. Continuing to force their soldiers to attack the city would likely result in an immediate mutiny.

The other battalion commanders who did not participate in today's attack also remained silent, and no one knew what they were thinking... Perhaps the fierce battle today had left them with a lingering sense of unease.

"General Layton is right. Victory in this battle depends on which side can hold out for even one more minute," the Serbian legion commander said coldly, his face dark. "No matter how much blood we shed, William Kidd's men will shed even more. We can't give the Tanirians a chance to breathe; I don't need to explain that to you. At this point in the war, it's all about who has the hardest heart and the most ruthless. We don't care if we all go to hell, as long as we get William Kidd down there first! Are you... really not as good as William Kidd's pirates and slave traders?"

The atmosphere in the conference room gradually heated up as Major General Serbiati spoke. The officers, panting heavily, clenched their fists and looked at the two legion commanders.

"No rest, attack the city tonight! I'll make sure William Kidd doesn't even have time to pee." For the first time, Major General Serbiati didn't consult with Layton beforehand, decisively issuing orders to the two legions: "Forget about reserves, the four battalions of the general reserve will lead the attack! Report any remaining 100-man squads from your battalions; form temporary battalions to handle the second wave of the attack. Move out now! I want to hear the charge whistle within an hour! If you don't, I'll execute all four of your battalion commanders!"

Layton, standing nearby, was startled by these words, but he held back and said nothing. The officers then realized that General Antonio Serbiati, who seemed more rational, might actually be the more madman of the two legion commanders at heart.

From the start of the siege of Tacheng, the Venetta army always maintained a reserve of four full-strength battalions. This reserve was never intended for the siege itself, but rather to guard against potential reinforcements from the Confederation.

War cannot rely on the enemy's defeat. Deploying four battalions of reserves to attack the city means that both legions are already fighting to the death.

If the Venetta Navy makes a mistake and allows even a small contingent of Alliance reinforcements to land at Red Sulfur Harbor, it would be a catastrophic disaster for both the Grand Venetta Legion and the Saint Mark Legion.

But the legion commander had made up his mind to pay any price, and the others only needed to obey.

The remaining 100-man squads were quickly assembled, and Lieutenant Don Juan's 100-man squad was prominently featured.

“Conte! You take a temporary battalion!” Layton called on a colonel, then another: “Field! You take one too! And…”

“Commander…” someone interrupted Layton, reminding him with difficulty, “…Lieutenant Colonel Field was killed in action this morning.”

Having been reminded for the fifth time, Layton dropped the parchment in his hand.

……

……

Winters and Moritz stood silently facing Lieutenant Colonel Field's body.

The lieutenant colonel's face was covered by the military flag, but he was no longer breathing.

“Colonel Field is gone. He’ll never talk to me, laugh, or race horses again… Has he just vanished like that?” Winters felt like he couldn’t breathe.

“Let’s go.” Moritz led Wintes away: “This is just Field’s corpse, not Field.”

The first red flare came from Lieutenant Colonel Field, and the second red flare came from another fallen Lieutenant Colonel, Petrarch.

When Moritz and Winters arrived at the second red flare, the mysterious sorcerer in the city had already killed Lieutenant Colonel Petrarch and most of the witnesses, and disappeared into the mist.

“If we…” Winters’ eyes welled up with tears, “…if we could get there in time, wouldn’t that…”

"Don't think about such things! Don't even have that thought!" Moritz glared angrily, gripping Winters' shoulders tightly, and shouted sternly, "You, me, Field, we will all die, it's just a matter of time. When Field dies, a part of us will die with him. But he won't feel pain, regret, or sadness, and no matter what you think, it won't affect him. Do you understand? Don't feel guilty for the dead; that's just the living finding solace in themselves, there's no need for it."

Three officers were killed in today's siege, all due to organ damage and internal bleeding. The autopsy results, on-site investigation, and testimonies all point to the mysterious magician.

The strategy of using highly mobile spellcaster squads to counter enemy mages proved to be a complete failure.

However, the joint command also discovered that using elite spellcasters as the spearhead of an attack was surprisingly effective.

That afternoon, Moritz and the other nine spellcasters received new orders.

They will act as the spearhead of the main attack force, leading the assault on the embankment.

Thank you to all the readers who voted for this book. Special thanks to readers Tianjingtou, Yushitongzhou, Nishenghuoliduozui, Tianshuiyoujiaren, Heisedianbanpaijie, and Zhengyichunjieshikaola for their votes. Thank you everyone.

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(End of this chapter)