Steel, gunpowder, and spellcasters

Chapter 558 Siege (Part 10)

With the arrival of reinforcements, the newly formed infantry force outside Zhuwangbao City has reached the size of seven battalions.

Two battalions each from the Baishan County Infantry Regiment, Leiqun County Infantry Regiment, and Tiefeng County Infantry Regiment, and one battalion from the Bianjiang County Infantry Regiment.

However, since most battalions were understaffed, the total strength was less than three thousand.

For a large city like Kingsburg, this is still far too few.

Jason Cornelius had many misconceptions about the "Fourth Republic," but he was absolutely right about one thing:

In the Battle of River Valley, the "rebels" only achieved a Pyrrhic victory, and in just one month, it was far from enough for them to recover to their peak condition.

However, in addition to the seven battalions of infantry, the rebels also had at least a thousand light and heavy cavalry.

Therefore, the Southern Army troops inside the Fortress of Kings showed no signs of leaving the city for open battle; they simply crouched behind the trenches, waiting for the "rebels" to come to them.

For Richard Mason, the key to victory lies in how to allocate his manpower more efficiently.

[Siege Camp]
Before dawn, the cadets of the Second Army Academy were dragged out of their tents by the piercing sound of bugles and gathered sleepily in the open space.

Richard Mason appeared at the front of the line and said a few words of encouragement to the prospective trainees.

John Jessica hadn't actually arranged this process, but Mason still felt a bit guilty, so he made a special trip, since his name was still listed as the head of general affairs on the "Second College" roster.

Then, the reserve officers, who were hungry, were led out of the camp.

Houdel was in the queue, following along in a daze, not knowing where he was going, nor daring to ask.

The moon had long since set, and even if it hadn't, it was so small it looked like a tooth mark and was of no use.

In the long line, only a few torches were lit at the head and tail, and most of the reserve officers could only hold onto the belts of the people in front of them and move forward in complete darkness.

Stumbling and staggering, they reached a certain place, where the only torches were trampled out, leaving only the squad leader carrying a specially made, very dim lantern.

The reserve officers were then dispersed into smaller groups according to their classes and continued marching.

……

For well-known reasons, the first enrollment of the "Second Army Academy" far exceeded expectations, and the quality of the students was uneven, making the original educational plan completely unfeasible.

So a vice principal who has now disappeared from public view made the decision to temporarily not assign subjects to freshmen, and to assign specializations to students after the basic courses are completed.

This process can also screen out some people who should have been screened out during the entrance exam, but who were not screened out because the passing standard was lowered too much.

Therefore, the "classes" in the Second Academy are not linked to military branches; they are simply a group for living and studying, with a maximum of thirty people per class, managed by a squad leader.

The squad leader of Houdel's class, coincidentally, was the baby-faced lieutenant who always appeared next to Principal Jessica.

All the officers and staff of the Second Academy were missing something, except for Baby Face, who had all his limbs intact.

The trainees were initially curious about what was missing from the baby face.

Later, rumors began to circulate that the baby-faced man was actually a prisoner of war.

This makes sense; the trainees lost their curiosity about the baby face, and at the same time, they lost respect for it.

However, Houdel was unusually well-behaved in front of the babyface and did his best to prevent others from causing trouble for the babyface.

Because the moment the baby-faced boy walked into the classroom with a beaming smile and announced to Houdel's class that he was their platoon leader, Houdel immediately recognized him:

This baby-faced man was the prisoner who had practiced swordsmanship with Blood Wolf outside the prisoner-of-war camp when I first met him; he was very close to Blood Wolf.

Even if he were burned to ashes, Houdel would never forget the fawning smile on Babyface's face when he handed the water bottle to Blood Wolf before Babyface could.

……

Houdel's class consisted of thirty students, divided into two lines, following behind the baby-faced boy.

For some reason, the further we went, the more tense the atmosphere became.

The smile vanished from his baby-faced man's face. He squinted, pursed his lips, and carefully scanned his feet, as if searching for something.

As they walked, faint lights began to appear ahead.

At first glance, Houdel thought it was a firefly, but he quickly realized that the light was actually in a very far direction and was moving horizontally from side to side.

Just as Houdel was trying to identify what the light source was, a flash of red light suddenly appeared in the direction of the light source.

Immediately afterwards, two sounds—a muffled rumble of thunder and a strange whooshing sound—entered Houdel's ears almost simultaneously, and the latter sound instantly gave Houdel goosebumps.

"Cannon!" Houdel screamed, grabbing a classmate beside him, not caring about appearances, and fell face-first to the ground.

In fact, when Houdel heard the sound, the shell was already approaching, but the impact point was far away from Houdel's location. Therefore, many students in Houdel's class did not realize that the shell had just passed by them. Instead, they were startled by Houdel's strange shout.

But soon, everyone, like Hoddle, lay prostrate on the ground—because red lights appeared one after another ahead, followed by thunderous roars that shook the earth.

Now even the most oblivious person would realize that it was a cannon.

All the trainees lay on the ground, too afraid to move.

"Where have you led us?" Houdel asked the baby-faced man in a shrill voice, disregarding the silencing rules for night marches.

"Where else could it be?" The baby-faced man looked innocent. He wasn't lying on the ground, but rather half-squatting, his posture very composed. "Of course, it's the Fortress of Kings."

Houdel clearly felt his classmate next to him shudder. He didn't know what to say, so he could only mutter angrily, "[Platovian swear word]!"

“Cadet Houdel, you’ve lost a point,” the baby-faced man said, flashing the same friendly smile he used when introducing himself to the class. Then he turned to the other reserve officers and said with a grin, “Don’t worry, at this distance, only the unlucky ones get hit by shells. Stand up and keep going, we’re not there yet.”

Having said that, he stood up first, picked up the lantern, and continued walking forward.

The trainees looked at each other, hesitated for a moment, and finally got up one after another, bending over and kneeling, and carefully followed.

It was at this moment that Houdel realized that the baby-faced boy wasn't just wandering around.

On the ground, both the way we came and the way ahead are guided by a white line.

Houdel picked up the white powder that formed the lines.

Hmm? Lime?

With the route planned in advance, and recalling the Chief of General Affairs' first address, Houdel's heart, which had been in his throat, finally settled down—he had thought that Kadar Lagrès, that pretty boy, was going to lead them to defect to the enemy.

Sure enough, after walking a short distance further, the baby-faced man finally found what he was looking for.

He stopped in front of a small pile of stones.

It was a small, inconspicuous triangular pile of stones. If it weren't for the lime plaster applied to the side facing the crowd, it's hard to say whether Kadar would have missed it.

“Alright, this is it,” Kadar turned and called to the students, “Sit down and rest here.”

"Rest here?" one of the trainees exclaimed in surprise. "But it's a cannon..."

Kadar concealed his disdain for the mediocre, still smiling, "Didn't I tell you? You're safe at this distance."

"But……"

Kadar sat down directly next to the triangular pile, picked up a stone covered in white lime, and gestured to the students present:
"See this rock? Major Richard Mason set it up himself. If Major Mason can go into danger, what do you have to be afraid of?"

After saying that, Kadar blew out the lantern and said, "Rest where you are."

With the only source of light gone, the surroundings were plunged into complete darkness, with only a few lights visible in the direction of the Kings' Castle in the distance.

Leaving was out of the question, so whether they liked it or not, all thirty trainees sat down. Houdel was the first to sit down, or rather, he lay down—since it was pitch black, no one could deduct points from him even if he was improperly seated.

Claude crept up to the monkey and whispered in its ear, "Do you know why Babyface brought us here?"

Houdel thought for a moment, then suddenly chuckled, “I guess it’s digging toilets.”

“No, you…” Claude was getting a little anxious.

"Don't believe me?" Houdel asked, feigning profundity. "We'll see."

The garrison at Zhuwangbao seemed to have discovered that the "rebels" were still too far from the city walls, and firing cannons at this point would be a waste of ammunition.

It's also possible that because the baby-faced guy blew out the light, they completely lost their target.

In short, the defenders stopped firing their cannons, and even the fires on the city walls were extinguished, which gave Houdel a chance to secretly take a nap.

Just as Houdel was half asleep, someone touched him on the shoulder.

"Who?" Houdel was startled and almost jumped up from the ground.

The man who came to see Houdel was also taken aback, but he quickly recovered and identified himself, saying, "I want to thank you."

Houdel then realized that the person who woke him up was the same guy he had pinned down during the first shelling.

Being woken up at the most crucial moment made Houdel a little angry, but he held back and didn't lose his temper. He wiped his drool and nodded perfunctorily, "It's nothing, that shot probably wasn't even aimed at us."

The students who came to express their gratitude realized they had disturbed Houdel's sweet dream, so they wisely thanked him again and left.

Houdel fell to the ground again, and when he opened his eyes again, it was already dawn.

Two horse-drawn carriages arrived beside the group. The baby-faced man called out to the trainees and led them to unload shovels, pickaxes, and stacks of woven baskets, each half a person's height, from the carriages.

After unloading the goods, the wagons left. They couldn't stay there too long, or the artillery bombardment would come soon.

"Have you rested enough?" Kadar picked up a shovel and casually drew a line on the ground. "Then let's start digging."

"Dig...what?" one student asked, puzzled.

“Dig a bunker,” Kadar said with a smile. “First dig a trench, then build a wall. It doesn’t need to be too big, just a ten-meter-circle earthen enclosure will do.”

Seeing that many trainees still looked bewildered, Kadar solemnly reminded them: "When you finish depends on yourselves, but I suggest that you try to finish before dawn. After all, if the enemy forces in the city break out—although the possibility is slim, if they do break out, this earthen fortress will be your only refuge."

“So, gentlemen,” Kadar clapped his hands, “let’s dig in!”

……

Bread can be eaten by the whole class, but digging soil cannot be done by the whole class, so group work is a natural thing.

Houdel naturally became one of the group leaders, after all, with his identity as a "Blood Wolf Soldier", everyone subconsciously looked up to him.

Houdel naturally chose Claude as one of his team members.

Just as he was preparing to select all the trainees from the Iron Peak County Army, an unexpected person appeared in front of him.

"Can you take one with me?"

The student who had just been tackled face-first by Houdel but then came to thank him mustered his courage and asked shyly.

Houdel and Claude exchanged a surprised glance.

Because the student who volunteered was Majjah Raul.

Majjah Raul is considered one of the more unconventional figures among the "young masters".

He had a wealthy father—reportedly a well-known landowner in Vaughan;
There was also a guy who bought an official position—reportedly still weaving baskets in a prisoner-of-war camp.

In terms of background, Majjah Raul was a true "rich kid" and should be closer to the "Boot Boys".

However, among the cadets who were "commissioned officers," young Majad stood out from the crowd.

Because he took the entrance exam voluntarily.

When some commissioned officers wish they could submit blank papers and simply leave the army, but are unable to do so, a fellow officer who actively took the exam will naturally not be welcomed.

So Maja Raul was always alone at the military academy; the soldiers didn't accept him, and the former commissioned officers didn't treat him like one of their own.

It was for this reason that Houdel hesitated when faced with Madia Raul's request.

He tilted his head and looked at Claude questioningly.

Claude, always a helpful man, shrugged and cheerfully handed Pony a shovel: "Come on then, we're short-handed."

Maggie Raul, who was extremely nervous, suddenly broke into a smile. He took the shovel with both hands and then went to pick up other tools from the ground, as if afraid that Houdel and Claude would change their minds. He kept asking, "Where are we going to dig?"

“Sigh,” Houdel unconsciously put on airs again, hands on his hips, and said in a pretentious manner, “You don’t have to do this.”

Claude kicked Hoddle in the butt, "Take it in, take it in, disgusting."

Then he turned and extended his hand to Little Majiya, “I haven’t formally introduced myself yet. I am Claude Lee, and this is Houdel, who calls himself the ‘Blood Wolf Guard’, but he’s just an errand boy for you. You can just call him Monkey.”

Majad's eyes stung a little, because this was the first time he had been welcomed since entering the Second Army Academy.

He awkwardly tucked his tools under his left arm, grasped Claude's hand, and said, "I am Madia Raul."

“No need for introductions, you’re too famous,” the monkey pushed past Claude and shook hands with little Maja. “Also, I have to tell you—the bodyguards are just errand runners!”

Little Ma Jiya nodded, seemingly confused.

“I have another good buddy named Doug, but he’s in a different class,” Houdel said, patting Maggie’s shoulder with an air of superiority. “I’ll introduce you to him later.”

However, due to differences in nutrition, Maggie Raul, although younger than Hoddle, was a full head taller. Therefore, Hoddle had to secretly stand on tiptoe to reach the little horse's shoulder more easily.

Little Ma Jiya nodded like a chick pecking at rice, so happy she was almost fainting.

“Let’s go,” Houdel said, turning to call to Xiao Ma to get to work.

As far as the eye could see, other classes were also busily digging in the soil.

“Well then, let’s begin,” Houdel thought.
-
Meanwhile, on the arrow tower of the new city wall, Jason Cornelius was observing what Houdl was seeing from another angle.

Furthermore, because of his superior vantage point, he could see a more comprehensive view than Hoddle did.

On the iron-gray plains, surrounding the new city of Kingsburg, a series of small fortifications are rising from the ground.

The distances between the various small fortifications are roughly equal, and the distances from the city wall are also roughly the same, which indicates that the locations of the fortifications were carefully calculated and not randomly selected.

Small fortifications stretched from the riverbank to the riverbank, like a pearl necklace, loosely or tightly entwining the urban area on the west bank.

"The cannons are ready," Fritz reported from the top of the arrow tower.

Cornelius estimated the distance and shook his head. "Two kilometers, too far. Don't waste ammunition."

"Should we send someone out of the city to catch them off guard?" Fritz dutifully offered his suggestion.

Cornelius shook his head again. "Leaving the city would be playing right into our hands. Our troops are precious; we can't waste them in open battle."

"'Rebels'," Fritz said, unable to hide his doubt, "what exactly do they want? Do they intend to besiege us for a long time? Are they planning to abandon the troops in the bishop's castle?"

Cornelius put down his binoculars and said thoughtfully, "I guess they're 'putting on an act'."

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