Steel, gunpowder, and spellcasters

Chapter 99: Taking advantage of the situation
While Winters and Andrei racked their brains to build credibility on Chiliu Island, the two opposing armies in Tacheng clashed in several small-scale battles around the tunnel.

William Kidd only had light artillery, insufficient to destroy the tunnel at long range. Realizing the ineffectiveness, the defenders quickly ceased their bombardment.

That night, nearly a hundred Union cavalrymen quietly gathered outside the city under the cover of darkness.

As the Federation's cavalry led their horses out of the city gate, the sentries at Veneta, hundreds of meters away, were completely unaware, as they could not see the movement of the city gate.

The Tanirians built a temporary triangular fort in front of the city gate, which obstructed the view of the Venetian army and prevented the attackers from observing whether the city gate was opening or closing.

It wasn't until the thunderous sound of horses' hooves reached their ears that the sentry, Veneta, realized that Tanilao was attacking.

The Veneta sentry had barely sounded the alarm when the Union cavalry had already reached the front of the tunnel. Instead of entering the tunnel to attack the Veneta camp, the riders stopped at the edge of the tunnel and threw grappling hooks at the wall.

They didn't come to raid the camp; they came to tear down the walls.

The grappling hooks used by the riders were modified from those used in boarding operations at sea. One end was fitted with an iron hook resembling an eagle's claw, and the other end was tied to the warhorse's breast strap. With a single pull, the warhorse could easily drag the cages filled with earth and stones off the wall.

However, while the riders were busy climbing the wall, William Kidd, who was watching from the triangular fort, noticed something was amiss... There seemed to be some bushes moving indistinctly on the east and west sides.

"Fire the cannons! Bring them back! Quick!" William Kidd suddenly realized and shouted frantically, "Bring them back!"

The gunner beside him immediately pulled a red-hot iron rod from the charcoal stove and inserted it into the fire door.

In the silent night, the roar of cannons could be heard clearly even from a great distance.

By the time the artillery fire reached Veneta's camp, Layton was laughing so hard he could hardly breathe. He roared with laughter and commanded, "What are you hiding for? You've been discovered! Signal! Have the flanks close in immediately!"

Upon receiving the order, a spellcaster officer raised his hand and launched a signal flare dozens of meters into the air. The green flare exploded in mid-air, a much more efficient way to relay the message than firing a cannon.

On the eastern side of the battlefield, Lieutenant Colonel Field, who was in concealed maneuvering, saw the signal flare, leaped onto his warhorse, and roared amplified by a loudspeaker, "No more hiding! Second Battalion, follow me!"

Having said that, he fastened his helmet and charged ahead of the Confederation's cavalry, shouting the name of Saint Mark, the patron saint of Venetta, as he charged: "Saint Mark!"

The soldiers of the Second Battalion of the Saint Mark's Legion were stunned at first, then shouted the battle cry of "Saint Mark" and followed Field as he charged toward the enemy.

The same was true for another large battalion on the left wing.

Two battalions of infantry were encircling the Federation's cavalry from both flanks, like two arms embracing each other.

Meanwhile, a large number of halberdiers emerged from the main passageway. A dozen or so Union cavalrymen were dragged off their horses and killed by Veneta's halberdiers before they could even untie their ropes. In their panic, they even forgot that they could use their knives to cut the grappling hooks.

“William Kidd is such an idiot. Not only is he stupid, but he also thinks everyone else is as stupid as him…” Layton was still catching his breath. He wiped away tears of laughter as he said to Antonio, “...Are we fighting against this kind of scum?”

For veterans Antonio and Layton, William Kidd's ideas were as simple as water.

The logic of using artillery bombardment as an excuse to launch a night attack was too straightforward, and António and Layton were naturally prepared.

Layton had initially thought that Tanny wouldn't cause any trouble tonight, because "William Kidd wouldn't be so stupid as to try to ambush us that very night after failing to bombard us, would he?"

Unexpectedly, the Federation's cavalry actually came.

“I’m also a bit confused.” Antonio shook his head, somewhat puzzled and helpless. “It’s like we’ve switched opponents.”

"To be honest, William Kidd is just that level. He's just a pirate, what more do you expect from him? For someone who has never systematically studied military affairs to be able to keep these thousands of men together is already an extraordinary feat." Layton was quite dismissive of Antonio's doubts, and it was unclear whether he was belittling Kidd or praising him.

After thinking about it, Antonio actually found that what Layton said made a lot of sense.

Over thousands of years, warfare has evolved from a primitive struggle between tribes into a sophisticated technical industry.

Even a fool, after undergoing systematic officer training, can learn how to allocate troops and arrange formations. But even the most intelligent person, without training, cannot organize a large army based on intuition alone.

That is the purpose of training: not to make smart people smarter, but to make stupid people appear not stupid.

From António and Layton to Field and Moritz, and then to Winters, Bard, and Andre, they all underwent full military command training. They didn't become smarter, but they knew how not to make mistakes.

The commander of the Tacheng garrison made a big mistake tonight: he underestimated his opponent.

The infantry battalions on the left and right flanks, in coordination with the halberdiers in front, are rapidly closing in on the encirclement.

Upon hearing the signal to retreat, the Union riders began a desperate flight towards the city walls. Seeing this, Field immediately changed direction and plunged into the gap between the Union cavalry and the city walls.

Several more cannon shots rang out as William Kidd's artillery, which he had positioned on the city walls, began firing at Field's battalion in an attempt to cover his own cavalry.

But Field's battalion ignored the flying shells and resolutely cut into the Union cavalry's escape route.

The Allied cavalry, preoccupied with fleeing, had lost their command. Everyone was only thinking about getting back to the city as quickly as possible, and under such circumstances, the officers were unable to deliver orders to everyone.

Upon seeing a large number of spearmen blocking their way, some of the cavalrymen panicked and turned their horses around, fleeing to the east and west.

This was exactly what Field wanted. His main force was completely disorganized; he was at the forefront, with the last soldiers still three hundred meters away. He wasn't trying to annihilate the cavalry here, but rather to drive these terrified riders into a rout, fleeing east or west.

These disorganized infantrymen posed no threat to cavalry. If the command structure of this Union cavalry unit had not failed, they could have bypassed the Field Battalion's blockade by simply turning a corner, and might even have been able to directly overwhelm the Field Battalion.

But it's no use saying anything now. These riders, who only want to get back to the city, have lost their minds and are driven by the instinct to survive. This instinct is driving them to flee to less populated areas.

Most of the riders turned their horses around and ran east or west, getting further and further away from the city gate. The Venetians surrounded the city, and they eventually found themselves with nowhere to go, as the rest of the infantry contingents of the Grand Venetian Legion and the Legion of St. Mark were waiting for them.

Whether they were too clever or too foolish, some riders did not dodge or avoid, and charged straight toward the city gate of Tacheng.

The two groups of men clashed head-on. Field, lying on his horse, stretched his cavalry sword forward with all his might.

In the instant the two horses passed each other, he stabbed the oncoming rider, almost knocking him off his horse, while nimbly dodging another scimitar.

However, after the collision, apart from the enemies that Field had killed, most of the remaining riders who were running still broke through Field's blockade.

Because Field's soldiers' formation had already broken down while running, and without coordination, few two-legged men could stop four-legged horses.

Field only ordered a retreat when the enemy was within range of the muskets at the triangular fortress. Watching their retreating figures, Field couldn't help but think with frustration, "If only I had led a large cavalry unit..." The fighting continued in other areas, with the Union cavalry fleeing to the east and west encountering even more Venetia soldiers. Apart from five or six who escaped to the moat and returned to the city along it, the other Union cavalrymen who were driven away either surrendered or were killed on the spot.

The result of the chaotic night was that the Venetta soldiers ate horse meat the next day and captured a few prisoners.

After interrogating the prisoners, Antonio and Layton determined that the highest commander of the city's garrison was the former Captain William Kidd—now General William Kidd (Layton scoffed contemptuously upon hearing this title).

There are now about four thousand Tanilian soldiers in the city, a number that surprised both Antonio and Layton. They had originally thought there were fewer than three thousand defenders in the city, but according to the prisoners, a group of Federation mercenaries had already entered the city three weeks ago, before the Venetians even arrived.

Layton was skeptical of this intelligence, but after several prisoners were interrogated separately, their accounts were all similar.

António concluded at the colonel-level officers' intelligence meeting: "This means either what they say is true, or they don't know the truth either."

As for how much grain was left in the city, the prisoners had no idea. They only knew that William Kidd had confiscated all the city's grain reserves and placed them in the former Earl's Tower, where they were guarded by his most trusted soldiers, and no unauthorized personnel were allowed to approach.

A strict food rationing system is in effect in Tacheng, and the morale of the soldiers is generally low.

"Without warhorses, we can eat in the city for a few more days." At the intelligence meeting, Layton stroked his stubble and said jokingly, "The fool did make a bit of an unexpected gain, but it's a pity the horse meat is too awful."

In the days that followed, Vauban began to oversee the construction of more tunnels, with earthen and stone tunnels extending like tendrils from the city walls toward the city ramparts.

The fastest-progressing tunnel has even reached about 200 meters from the city wall, and the beards of the soldiers guarding the city wall can be clearly seen from inside the tunnel.

The defenders were not idle either. Although their first large-scale night raid ended in a crushing defeat, the Tanilians did not seem to be discouraged. Instead, they began to send out smaller assault teams more frequently to sabotage the tunnel.

As the tunnels drew closer to the city walls—even closer than the Venetians' fortifications—the difficulty of defending them increased.

The Tanilians defending the city tried various methods. First, they sent small groups of soldiers with gunpowder to blow up the tunnels. However, António was more than willing to exchange the earthen walls for the defenders' gunpowder. After all, the walls could be repaired, but the defenders' gunpowder was becoming increasingly scarce.

The defenders only carried out the blasting operation a few times before turning to setting up makeshift catapults on Half Moon Fort and then using them to throw smoldering sulfur into the tunnel.

Sulfur mining is a pillar industry in Tacheng, so it's not hard to imagine that William Kidd now has a large amount of sulfur ore in his hands.

To be honest, this move really startled Venetta when it was first used.

The Venetian soldiers, busy with their work, only saw things spewing blue flames hurtling towards them. The flames splashed upon landing, burning through flesh instantly. The resulting smoke was so thick it was impossible to breathe.

Like a demon crawling down from hell to earth, the smell of sulfur filled the air, and the Venetians fled in terror.

Lieutenant Colonel Woban once again rushed to the rescue. After taking samples on site, Woban quickly figured out what these "blue flames" were—they were actually sulfur.

The city's defenders first smashed the sulfur ore, ignited it, and then put it into earthenware jars. Finally, they used counterweight catapults to throw the jars into the tunnel.

The gases produced by burning sulfur are extremely pungent and denser than air. So when a "blue flame" hits the tunnel, the resulting smoke settles in the tunnel and lingers for a long time, making it difficult to breathe.

A blue flame blasted in, making a section of the passageway uninhabitable.

Even with their years of military experience, António and Layton had never seen such a bizarre poison fog weapon.

Seeing that this tactic was effective, the Tacheng garrison immediately threw blue flames even more vigorously into the tunnel to disrupt Veneta's progress.

However, the blue flame soon lost its effectiveness. If William Kidd thought he could stop the Venetians' army in this way, he was underestimating the Venetians who had once defeated the Imperial Guard.

Lieutenant Colonel Woban, an engineer, quickly found a solution. He found inspiration in the section on "Effects and Countermeasures of Poison Smoke" in the Army Tactics Manual and applied the tactics used by the militias of the various republics to deal with the court mages under "Mad Richard" during the Sovereign War to Tacheng.

Lieutenant Colonel Woban's response was very simple and effective:
First, the tunnel design was improved by leaving a ventilation opening every meter on the ground floor to ensure ventilation and allow the smoke to dissipate naturally.
Secondly, during the Sovereignty War, the militia discovered that the court sorcerers' poisonous fumes were highly soluble in water. Lieutenant Colonel Vauban then applied this knowledge, flooding the tunnels with water and maintaining a shallow level of about five centimeters in the trenches, while simultaneously adding quicklime. This way, the poisonous fumes that settled to the lowest point were quickly absorbed by the water, and their toxicity was neutralized by the quicklime.

Finally, Vauban provided the engineers with a large number of wet blankets. If the tunnel was hit by the blue flames, covering them with wet blankets immediately would minimize the formation of toxic fumes. Also, if someone was unfortunately ignited by the blue flames, they could be immediately wrapped in wet blankets to extinguish the fire.

Vobán, who shone during the siege, became increasingly pleasing to Layton. This subordinate had earned him so much face that Layton spoke with a three-pointer in front of Antonio.

In the eyes of the other officers, it was a foregone conclusion that Lieutenant Colonel Woban would be promoted to Colonel Woban after the capture of Tacheng.

However, at the military intelligence meeting, Vauban reported to the two major generals with concern: "Even with various countermeasures, the Blue Flame has still caused considerable trouble for the Venetians and slowed down the progress of the fortifications."

Woban even said with lingering fear, "Fortunately, the geological conditions in Tacheng make it impossible to dig tunnels. Using a weapon that can quickly turn air into poison gas in tunnel warfare... I don't know how many people would die..."

But in any case, the passageway was getting closer to the city wall every day.

Soon, the defenders realized that the blue flames were losing their effectiveness, and the Venetians gradually learned how to counter them. After the blue flames entered the tunnel, the Venetians no longer fled, but instead used some method to quickly extinguish them.

By this time, the passageways had generally been repaired beyond the centerline.

In other words, the distance from which the Tacheng defenders attacked the tunnel was initially shorter than the distance from which the Venetians reinforced the tunnel.

The battle then reverted to hand-to-hand combat, with William Kidd frequently sending small elite squads to raid the Venetians' engineers and laborers who were building the tunnel. António, in turn, repeatedly set ambushes and counterattacked the Confederate soldiers who ventured out of the city.

After several engagements, António confirmed that the morale of the defenders remained high; otherwise, the soldiers would have mutinied long ago if William Kidd had been sending men out of the city so frequently.

The two sides kept countering each other's moves, engaging in a battle of wits and courage on the open ground in front of the city walls, but no real siege had broken out.

The Venetians never attempted to attack the walls, but the Tanilians were also firmly imprisoned within the city.

William Kidd probably thought his efforts had caused the Venetians considerable trouble. Some Venetian officers shared this view, such as Lieutenant Sarah of the 5th Battalion of the 3rd Army.

But soon after, Lieutenant Sarah understood why the corps commander had said, "Time is not on their side."

The Venetians' cannons have been delivered to the front lines in Tacheng.

The input method's word memory was inexplicably wiped clean, and I have to retype all the nouns, as if my long-time dog suddenly stopped recognizing me...

Thank you to all the readers who voted for this book before, especially the readers Zhengyi Chunjie Shi Koala, Hei Se Diao Du Jie Pi, Yuan Hongjian, Bu Zhi Jiao Shi, and Tianshui You Jia Ren. Thank you everyone.

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(End of this chapter)