Steel, gunpowder, and spellcasters

Chapter 572 Siege (Twenty-Four)

Where did the rebels get their new artillery?
Montecoli had no clue about this.

Countless conjectures flashed through his mind in an instant, but none of them could be verified at this moment and in this place.

While Montecukoli was in a state of utter confusion, the battle on the riverbank continued.

In the sky, the illumination rocket exhausted its short life, reluctantly collapsing into a small red spot of light before disappearing into the night sky.

Both sides subsequently lost a primary source of light.

However, the liquid fire thrown into the trench had not yet burned out. The flames, filtering through the veil-like smoke, vaguely illuminated everything on the riverbank, casting frenzied shadows behind the Lordwick assault team members who leaped over the breastwork.

The timing of Lordwack's attack was excellent. The rebel artillery had already fired a round to cover their own soldiers' landing and had temporarily fallen silent, leaving only the rebel musketeers firing fiercely.

The soldiers of the Lordwik unit who charged at the forefront all left a white tail behind them, like the wakes left by ships on the water.

Driven by the wind, the white tail quickly lost its shape and spread out to both sides.

Only then did someone realize that the so-called "tail" was actually a wisp of white smoke.

Montecuccoli, however, had a higher level of understanding than the ordinary soldiers; he recognized the origin of the white smoke at a glance.

That was real alchemical smoke, fast and intense, and it stuck to the ground, far superior to the smoke produced by burning wet straw or clothes.

The smoke released by multiple Lordwick assault team members mingled together, almost completely obscuring their route of attack.

Now, neither side can see anything.

However, in Montecouli's view, using the precious alchemical smoke was completely unnecessary, as the smoke cover was actually of no use to Lieutenant Colonel Lordwick's men.

The rebels' advantage lay in the fact that they had pre-built artillery positions.

If Montecuccoli himself had been in command of the rebel artillery, he would have measured the distance and calculated the angle in advance, and even if he couldn't make visual corrections, he could still get it close to the mark.

Rather than hoping that the smoke would help, it would be better to hope that the rebels' old-fashioned siege cannons were too cumbersome and lacked wheeled mounts, making them unable to accurately return to their positions.

The rebel musketeers might be distracted by the smoke, but a human body two hundred meters away is only the size of half a thumbnail when the arm is outstretched, making aiming difficult, let alone accurate shooting.

On the contrary, the friendly musketeers who were closer in distance were more affected.

Moreover, the smoke would hinder the assault team's operations, so in the opinion of the artillery lieutenant colonel, Lieutenant Colonel William Lordwick's use of alchemical smoke was somewhat like a desperate attempt to find a cure.

The key is to spread out, to ensure that the soldiers are spaced far enough apart, and not to stack on top of each other, but to spread out the formation thinly.

However, soldiers fighting individually are at a disadvantage in close combat, and a loose assault is unlikely to be effective.

Therefore, in essence, this is an unsolvable problem.

This question was originally prepared by Raymond Montecouccoli for the "trainees" who served in the rebels.

But at this very moment, on Margit Island—a tiny testing ground—the artillery lieutenant colonel could only watch helplessly as his comrades solved the problem.

Trailing white trails, the soldiers of the Lodwik unit at the forefront had already rushed to the edge of the trench.

He was greeted by a jet of fire from the muzzle of a gun.

The soldier from Lordwik's unit had a hole in his breastplate. The huge impact made him freeze for a moment, and then he slumped back down.

The jar bearing the Magical Warfare Bureau logo, hanging behind him and pressed down by his body, was still hissing out white smoke.

However, the rebels in the trenches had too few muskets, and the few sporadic shots were completely insufficient to halt the momentum of Lordwick's charge. More and more Lordwick soldiers rushed out of the smoke and leaped into the trenches.

The hand-to-hand combat began.

Swords clashed against swords, chests against chests; in this narrow encounter, neither side had a place to retreat. Roars and screams mingled together as musketeers on the slope and across the river fired desperately.

The iron canister, once brought into the trench, continued to spew alchemical fumes, billowing white smoke that surged downwards and quickly filled the trench.

Nothing can be seen.

However, Montecuccoli still hadn't given the order to load the shells, nor had he even told his men which type of shell to use.

The adjutant beside him couldn't wait any longer. He took a step toward the lieutenant colonel, his lips trembling, as if he wanted to say something.

But Montecuccoli only glared at him, causing his student to swallow back the words he was about to say.

After a difficult respite, the rebels' cannons began roaring again.

However, it wasn't those old-fashioned heavy cannons, because their firing sounds were crisp and clear.

Montecoli immediately unscrewed the three hourglasses representing the six-pound cannon, flung the remaining sand from the hourglasses onto the ground, and then quickly tightened the hourglasses again and inverted them.

"Fire! Halve the gunpowder!" Montecuccoli roared. "One shotgun shell at a time!"

"Reduce gunpowder by half! Load one shot!" The adjutant shouted as if waking from a dream, rushing towards the gun position.

The gunners shouted and repeated the orders, the loaders filled in half a portion of gunpowder, then placed a partition and stuffed the tin can filled with lead into the muzzle.

Montecuccoli personally adjusted the firing angle, turning the screw to raise the muzzle of the six-pounder cannon, which was already aimed at the rebels, to an almost oblique angle towards the sky.

"Don't waste your cannons on cannons that destroy the enemy."

This is Montecuccoli's instruction to every artillery cadet.

Because the opportunity to fire a cannon is too precious, and the efficiency of using cannons to destroy cannons is too low.

Not to mention that it was pitch black at night, so even if they wanted to have a "cannon duel," they couldn't aim accurately and could only fire vaguely at the spot where the enemy's position was lit up with fire.

Moreover, if the rebel artillery commander had listened attentively to the artillery section chief's lectures, he would have set up cover in advance and used movable barriers to close the firing ports after each firing.

In contrast, the artillery position where Montecuccoli is currently located was hastily constructed and far from being considered sturdy.

The enemy has cover while we have none. To engage in a firefight under such unfavorable conditions, especially at such close range, is practically suicidal.

The enemy artillery could completely ignore Montecuccoli's cannons and focus on eliminating the infantry of the Southern Front.

The vast majority of artillery officers who graduated from the Union Army Academy used textbooks written by Montecouccoli.

He knew exactly how his students would think, prepare, and respond.

Tonight, Montecuccoli will break his own teachings.

"Fire!" The moment the order was given, Montecoli desperately wanted to know which student was on the other side of the river.

The muzzle of the six-pounder cannon burst forth with deadly red flames, and tin cans filled with lead were hurled high into the air, disintegrating in mid-air and raining down a deadly firestorm upon the rebel artillery positions.

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