Steel, gunpowder, and spellcasters

Chapter 89 Attack
Although it is a strong attack, a strong attack does not mean a direct confrontation.

Before attacking the fortress, Winters ordered his soldiers to return to their posts near the fortress and light torches to call for reinforcements.

The remaining men lay in ambush between the gun emplacements and sentry posts, ready to ambush the defenders who came out of the gun emplacements and seize the opportunity to break through the gate.

On this continent, no group of people understands city defense tactics better than officers from the Senas Military Academy. This is because during the Sovereignty Wars, the Imperial Army's elite forces were decimated in siege after siege by the Senas Allied Forces.

Therefore, city defense tactics are a top priority in the army academy curriculum. Relying on city fortifications, even the weakest and most powerless civilian can take down three elite enemies.

For this reason, Winters believed that attacking an enemy inside a fortified fortress was the worst possible strategy. Even if a direct assault was unavoidable, it was best to lure the enemy out of the fortress and fight them on flat ground.

The sentries on the fort saw the torches being waved from the coastal outposts, unaware that the iron chains had been cut.

After several shouts went unanswered at the coastal outpost, the commander of the artillery fort decided to send a few men to investigate.

After a brief commotion, the gates of the fortress opened, and five soldiers emerged carrying torches.

When they were still a dozen meters from the shore, the Heds, who were lying in ambush in the grass and mud along the path, pounced on them, while Winters, who was closer to the fort, led the Venetta soldiers toward the fort's gate.

Five Tanirian soldiers were suddenly attacked and were tackled and stabbed to death before they could even escape.

The fort commander saw his soldiers being killed by people crawling out of the bushes, while an unknown number of people were running towards the fort.

He immediately realized what had happened and hurriedly ordered the soldiers downstairs to close the door.

This makeshift fortress had no trenches. When the Venetians rushed to the fortress gate, the gap between the two gates was less than a finger's width. A Venetian soldier quickly thrust his spear through the gap.

The hardwood spear shafts creaked under the pressure of the door, but they didn't break. At that moment, several other Venetian soldiers carrying spears also inserted their spears through the crack in the door, completely jamming it shut.

The gates of the fortress opened outwards, while the gates of the gun emplacements opened inwards. The Tanirians inside were pushing outwards with all their might, while the Venetians outside were pushing inwards with all their might.

Several long knives stabbed out from the crack in the door. The Veneta soldier closest to the crack was stabbed four times in the arm, ribs, and thigh, screaming as he staggered back two steps and fell to the ground.

The Tanilians inside the door continued to pry open, one of their knives extending too far, revealing the hand holding it. A Veneta soldier, who was originally tasked with breaching the door and wielding a short axe, struck hard, severing the knife-wielding hand at the wrist.

Both sides switched to long weapons and stabbed each other through a crack in the door less than a finger's width, engaging in a clumsy, comical, yet incredibly bloody and cruel battle.

When the commander of the fortress, Taniriya, saw someone trying to break through the gate, he immediately ordered the alarm bell to be rung.

The alarm bells were rung with reckless abandon, and three beacon fires were lit atop the artillery fortress—the agreed-upon signal for reinforcements.

Hearing the alarm bell, Winters knew time was running out; the enemy at Red Sulfur Harbor would soon arrive to reinforce. He shouted anxiously and angrily, "Where's the gunpowder? Where's the person with the gunpowder?"

"Coming, sir, coming!" the soldier in charge of carrying the gunpowder replied breathlessly, having fallen behind during the earlier assault.

Having defeated the enemy, the Hud people arrived at the entrance of the fortress. Seeing the two sides locked in a stalemate at the fortress, several valiant Hud people, with short knives in their teeth, began to climb the earthen walls of the fortress.

The defenders inside the fortress regained their composure from the initial panic of the surprise attack and began using ranged weapons to kill the Venetians outside the walls.

The Venetians, armed with muskets and bows, began to fight back, while the Heds broke off spears captured from the fortress and hurled them at the enemy on the wall as javelins.

However, the uphill attack was extremely ineffective, while the Tanilians on the wall had the upper hand. The distance was too close; as soon as a gunshot rang out or a bowstring vibrated, someone outside the wall would fall. Watermelon-sized stones were thrown from the wall, and Venetta soldiers who couldn't dodge in time had their heads smashed into their chests.

Winters snatched the iron pot full of gunpowder, placed it by the crack in the door, inserted a fuse, and shouted, "Back off!"

Then, he used the fire-starting technique to ignite the gunpowder fuse.

The gunpowder was found inside the fort, but there was only gunpowder, no sealed containers. So they had to put it in an iron pot and an iron kettle.

Seeing the fuse lit, everyone quickly scattered. However, after the fuse burned out, there was only a muffled thud near the door, with no explosion whatsoever. Upon closer inspection, not only the door but also the iron pot were completely undamaged.

Although Winters used a narrow-mouthed pot and tried to seal it as tightly as possible with a makeshift wooden stopper, the seal was still insufficient. The method of igniting the fuse and the successive burning caused the surface gunpowder gas to disperse the gunpowder below, resulting in a whole pot of gunpowder that, like fireworks, was less powerful than the explosive detonation of a powder keg.

Enraged, Winters abandoned the idea of ​​blowing up the city gate and instead used gunpowder bags with iron nails attached.

The powder pouch was also part of the fortress musketeers' equipment; instead of being made of ox horn, it was sewn from leather to increase its lethality. Winters had several iron nails wrapped around the outside of the powder pouch.

This time, Winters simply stuffed the soft pouch through the crack in the door. He didn't use the gunpowder fuse again, but instead activated the fire spell with all his might.

Unlike gunpowder fuses that ignite layer by layer, the ignition technique acts directly on the entire bag of black powder. The black powder, having absorbed a large amount of energy, breaks through the energy barrier and explodes instantly.

With a loud "boom," the gunpowder bag exploded violently, and the iron nails tied to the outside of the bag were propelled by the gunpowder gas, shooting out in all directions.

A nail flew out from under the door, carving a bloody furrow in Winters' head. The situation inside was likely even worse; screams erupted from the crack, and the force pushing the door away diminished sharply.

"On my command! Break down the door together!"

With their combined strength, Venetia and the others rammed into the gate, and the fortress gate was finally breached.

The Tanirians on the wall realized that the gate to the fortress had been breached and shouted at the top of their lungs.

"Section Chief, you take two men and destroy the door hinges, the rest of you follow me!" Winters drew his sword and was the first to charge into the fortress.

Both the Venetta soldiers and the Hurd soldiers had their left arms exposed, and when they rushed into the fortress, they killed anyone who didn't have their left arm exposed.

The corridor leading to the second level of the fortress was too narrow, with nowhere to dodge. Those behind were blocking those in front, and those in front had nowhere to go but to fight back and forth with their swords.

Not only the Venetians and Hedians, but even the Tanilians were bloodthirsty. The front-line fighters on both sides let out inhuman howls as they stabbed at their enemies or were stabbed down.

As soon as someone falls, someone else immediately follows.

The ancient empire's phalanx tactics involved constantly replacing the soldiers in the front ranks, but modern soldiers no longer receive this kind of training.

In this bloody, meat-grinding battle, they could only fight to the death, and if the fighting continued like this, everyone would die. One by one, those in the front ranks would fall, and those in the back ranks who were temporarily safe would become the front ranks.

At this stage of the battle, the outcome is no longer determined by tactics and strategy, but by willpower and manpower. It comes down to who has the toughest nerves and who can hold out for just one more minute; if neither side is afraid to die, it comes down to who has the numbers.

However, in the corridor that could accommodate three people walking side by side, Winters's sword was already dulled, and when it struck the enemy, it was like an iron rod.

He had four or five knife wounds on his limbs. If it weren't for his instincts from years of sword practice protecting him, he would have been dead long ago.

Winters had begun to become numb. He was no longer excited, no longer tense, and no longer even afraid. He simply mechanically parried the swinging weapon and then turned it around to slash at the opponent's shoulder and neck.

Spellcaster, officer—these identities are meaningless. The meat grinder needs neither officers nor spellcasters; it only needs meat.

This tiny corridor swallows up lively, energetic people, then vomits up mangled, bloody corpses.

Winters didn't know how many people he had cut down, but he could definitely feel himself advancing while the enemy was gradually retreating.

The enemy in front of him wielded a club and began to strike Winters repeatedly. Winters mechanically parried and slashed.

However, numb to the situation, he failed to notice that the "stick" was not actually a stick, but a flail. He managed to block the "stick," but the chain-linked handle at the end of the stick bypassed the blade, swung in a semi-circle, and slammed into Winters' head.

Winters felt his consciousness suddenly become hazy, and everything went black before his eyes. For the first time in combat, he dropped his weapon.

Just as the flail-wielding Tanilians were about to press their advantage and deliver another fatal blow to Winters, the Venetian soldiers and Hedren around him quickly protected him and carried the nearly unconscious Winters to the back of the corridor.

Half-conscious, Winters heard the gong. He shook his head, trying to rouse himself, but felt an inexplicable, sharp pain in his skull.

Winters' stomach was being squeezed by his diaphragm, and he involuntarily gagged twice, but nothing came out.

"Was that a gong?" Pale-faced Winters grabbed the soldier supporting him. Unsure if he was hallucinating, he asked the soldier with difficulty, "Did you hear a gong?"

"Sir, it's the sound of a gong. You heard right, it's the sound of a gong."

Upon hearing the soldier's reply, Winters' expression suddenly relaxed. He let out a long breath, blood streaming from his head down to his chin, making his smile somewhat sinister: "Withdraw! Withdraw now! Warrant Officer Cellini has succeeded!"

In the tactics course at the Army Officer School, Private Winters Montagne learned only four things: deploy reserves on the reverse slope; if the front cannot be penetrated, flank from the side; contingency plans will come in handy sooner or later; and—before the real attack, always launch a feint attack in another direction.

[At the Army Officer School, cadets automatically receive the rank of private upon enrollment.]
There was at least a hundred enemy soldiers in the fortress. Winters never thought he could break through the Tanilians from the main gate with his own thirty-odd remnants and a hastily assembled force of slaves.

All attacks from the main gate are feints; the bigger and more intense the better.

Once the battle at the main gate has drawn the attention of all the Tanirians, Andrea Cellini will lead four elite Venetta soldiers and Hed men to climb into the fortress from another direction.

Casting cannons is difficult, but destroying them is easy. Andrei has enough nails and hammers to nail shut all the cannon vents on Chiliu Island.

The sound of the gong was the signal that Andrei had succeeded.

The surviving Venetian soldiers and Hed men carried Winters and quickly withdrew from the fortress. The enemy inside the fortress, unaware of the situation, dared not pursue.

Winters sat on the ground, leaning against a tree trunk, and silently counted the remaining men. He had only eleven men left, and all of them who were still alive were wounded.

Including the three from Bard's side and the five from Andrei's side, Winters' men have lost twenty-three men tonight, half of them.

Herstius, who remained at the attack position, was treating Winters' wounds. The old shaman first cleaned the wounds, then washed them with warm salt water. Finally, he began chanting in a strange, incoherent manner.

An astonishing scene unfolded: Winters' deep, bleeding wound on his left shoulder, which exposed bone, began to shrink slowly. The wound, about two and a half fingers long, healed visibly before everyone's eyes, eventually becoming a faint red line.

Despite their injuries, the surviving Hed people knelt down, their foreheads pressed to the earth, and continued chanting.

The Venetians, whether Catholics or Protestants, were deeply moved by witnessing the miracle of wound healing.

This is the divine art that can "bring the dead back to life and heal the wounded," and this is why the Catholic Church was able to rise from a banned and persecuted foreign church to replace the polytheistic religion of the ancient empire and become the state religion of the ancient empire.

Who could see such divine magic and not prostrate themselves before the Catholic pantheon?

“Old man, don’t waste your divine magic on me.” Winters grabbed Herstace’s hand: “Go save the others.”

Herstace nodded and went to treat the wounds of the others.

The Hed people were filled with pride and honor when the old shaman cleaned their wounds; to have Herstus personally treat their wounds was an unparalleled honor for them.

The Venetians, on the other hand, avoided Herstus's "witchcraft" like the plague. Some Venetians whose injuries were too severe to be healed by divine magic trembled as they recited the Lord's Prayer and the Rosary.

The Heds glared angrily at the reluctant Venetians.

"That was fucking awesome! I fucking nailed all the breechblocks of their cannons shut! [Andrei's crude and vulgar words]! Where did those Tanyans get such good cannons? But I nailed them all shut!"

Before even seeing the person, Winters heard Andrei's gruff voice.

"We destroyed so many cannons, how could the higher-ups not give us a medal worth a kilogram? How could they? Ah..." Andrei's tone was extremely excited as he boasted about his achievements.

In the Vinnetta Army's regulations, nailing an enemy cannon in battle was equivalent to capturing it, and officers below the rank of lieutenant colonel were promoted one rank, while soldiers were given money and land to go home and become small landowners.

However, seeing the miserable state of the Venetians and Hedren who were responsible for the feint attack on the main gate, he could no longer laugh.

Andrei walked over to Winters, squatted down, and looked at the knife wounds on Winters' body and his coat, which was almost stained with blood. His voice trembled as he said, "Brother... are you alright?"

"It's nothing, just minor injuries." Winters' lips were bloodless as he asked with a bitter smile, "The cannons are all taken care of?"

“It’s solved, they’re all nailed down firmly.” Andrei nodded, then added after a moment’s thought, “The heavy cannons in the fortress are all 32-pound bronze cannons, and they all have long barrels. The Tani people probably don’t have the ability to cast such cannons. I really don’t know where they got them from.”

"It's good that it's destroyed." Winters felt relieved, and said in a relaxed tone, "Don't worry about where they got the cannons from. Let the big shots worry about that. We've done our job."

Another sound of footsteps came from the south, and Bard returned to the agreed meeting point with two Venetas.

"How did it go? Did you get in touch?" Winters asked anxiously as he tried to stand up when he saw Bard return.

"Don't move, don't move, just sit still." Bard quickly pressed Winters down and whispered, "We've made contact, our warships have already set sail."

Bud pointed in the direction of the bay: "Look, they're here."

The faint sound of cannons could be heard coming from the direction of the bay entrance, and behind the hazy shadows of the trees, warships sailed into Chiliu Bay one after another.

The Venetta soldiers shouted excitedly.

Seeing this, the Hed people realized they were about to go home. Even the toughest men were moved to tears, embracing each other and weeping.

Winters, Bud, and Andrei exchanged pleased smiles.

……

……

It was the sound of artillery fire again, and heavy artillery at that; the booming sound made the leaves tremble.

Winters' expression turned grim... No, the direction is wrong... The cannon fire wasn't coming from the entrance to the bay, but from the second fortress in the middle of the bay, the one they had just attacked.

Winters and Bud stared wide-eyed at Andrei.

Andrei was almost in tears: "I...I...I really fucking nailed all the fire doors shut!"

Thank you to all the readers who voted for the book before, especially writersblock, Ami, Yanyunsan, and Zhengyichunjie is Koala. I wrote and posted it yesterday, and I'm thanking them all today.

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(End of this chapter)