I'm not a lord

Chapter 369 Bombarding River Bend Fortress

“Your Majesty, without the maidservant that Earl of Coldwind arranged years in advance, plus the assistance of a large number of inside agents and spies, Lothair and I would never have been able to capture River Bend Castle back then.”

This castle was indeed the most impregnable fortress in the North. Successive kings of the North allocated funds to repair its defenses and arranged marriages with the Earl of the Reach, who guarded the castle. But it was also within this Reach fortress that Lothair forever lost his glory and his life.

Returning to his old haunts and reminiscing about the past, Count Gae was filled with emotion.

But now he should be called Baron Gae.

He followed the Marshland Dukes for decades, witnessing Lothair's growth and rise, the Marshland's court cavalry sweeping across the North, and the rebellion on a snowy night at River Bend.

Ultimately, it was he who opened the gates of Golden Deer and surrendered to Lynn, ending the Marshland family's more than two hundred years of rule over Marshland.

His title was downgraded from Earl to Baron, and still the lowest rank of Third Class Baron.

Why did he hesitate and bargain when he should have surrendered?

The fact that Lynn was able to retain an honorary title is all thanks to her magnanimity.

While Gae was indeed shrewd and cunning, and highly respected in the Marshlands, Lynn was currently at the height of his power and felt no qualms about using such a veteran of the previous dynasty.

In the staff headquarters established by Lynn, Baron Gae held a sinecure, occasionally offering advice on military deployments, which could be considered as letting the veterans continue to contribute.

Incidentally, the core function of this staff is not actually to provide military decision-making, but to handle all sorts of miscellaneous and tedious tasks within the military.

For example, coordinating logistical supplies for large armies, compiling statistics on military merits and spoils for combat troops, and planning marching routes for troop advances and retreats.
The so-called General Staff Department is more like a comprehensive logistics department.

After listening to Gae's recollections and analysis, Lynn turned his head to continue looking at the magnificent castle below the hillside. His gaze swept over a patrol of enemy soldiers on the city wall, and he said softly, "The problem is that I don't have any maids that I arranged years in advance, nor do I have any inside agents or spies that I can use."

Duke Lothair of the Marsh had been plotting the rebellion for a long time. He secretly colluded with Earl of Coldwind before the king's line died out. The two top nobles of the North had been preparing for many years, which enabled them to capture the important town of Riverbend at the very beginning of the war.

In terms of strength and authority, Lynn was actually stronger than the two of them at their peak combined, but his background was too humble, so he couldn't lay the groundwork for his future many years in advance.

Furthermore, Otto III had already replaced all the personnel inside River Bend Castle, so even if spies were planted in advance, they would probably not be of much use this time.

Baron Gae replied in a flattering tone: "Your Majesty is joking. Although you have no inside agents or spies, you have invincible cannons. No matter how thick and strong the walls of River Bend Fort are, they are ultimately just inanimate objects like stone."

Stonemasons know that no matter how hard the stone, it cannot withstand the continuous hammering, and your cannon is that heavy hammer that can shatter any stone.

After hearing this, Lynn continued to gaze at River Bend Castle, remaining silent.

While artillery technology was ahead of its time, it was not omnipotent or invincible.

The main reason is that the craftsmen who made the cannons were not skilled or consistent enough, and the current metallurgical casting technology had not kept up with the development of cannons.

During the naval battle that ended yesterday, a number of cannons suffered malfunctions such as barrel explosions and broken turrets, and more than ten gunners who were operating the cannons were killed.

To expedite the cannon casting process and save on model costs, the latest batch of long-barreled bronze cannons were all cast using sand casting.

Compared to the complicated, time-consuming, and expensive lost-wax casting method, sand casting is indeed cheaper and more time-saving, but the biggest problem is that it is easy to leave small pores called sand holes on the cannon body.

Too many air holes will affect the strength of the cannon barrel, leading to problems such as barrel explosion and breakage.

Due to outdated technology, cast bronze cannons and wrought iron cannons also faced another problem: the inside of the cannon barrel would have slight bumps and dents, making it difficult to achieve a completely smooth surface.

This leads to another serious problem: the accuracy and power of artillery are difficult to control.

Artillery shells are prone to deflection during flight; for every 100 meters they travel, the point of impact can deviate by 10 to 20 meters.

Furthermore, the range fluctuates greatly; the expected range is 400 meters, but in reality it may only be a little over 300 meters.

During yesterday's naval battle, a cast-iron shell fired by one of the warships deflected severely and struck the enemy flagship, which should have been captured.

That single shot not only sank the enemy flagship but also killed the enemy commander, Mayor Neil.

If Neil were still alive, Lynn might have been able to obtain more useful intelligence through him and reach a cooperation agreement with Amber Harbor more quickly.

Besides the inherent flaws of the artillery itself, Lynn's artillery tactics actually faced a rather awkward situation.

As the saying goes, "When the cannons roar, gold pours in," the firing of cannons itself requires a lot of resources.

The North lacks natural sulfur mines, so the sulfur used to make gunpowder must be imported from the South at high prices.

Due to the war, trade between Amber Harbor and the northern inland areas has long been cut off. The sulfur Lynn uses is all stock from previous years, and every bit used is a bit less.

Furthermore, the shells fired by the artillery are very expensive. In pursuit of power and accuracy, cast iron shells are now used. It is uncertain how much damage can be achieved with a single shot, but the resources and money consumed are real.

After a fierce naval battle, nearly half of the cannonballs on each warship were used up.

Limited by financial resources and iron production capacity, Lynn can currently only equip each bronze cannon with about thirty shells.

Once all these shells are used up, it will take at least half a year to replenish them.

Miners and blacksmiths are human beings too, and cannot be treated like donkeys. During the harshest winter in the North, iron mines are basically shut down completely.

Given the terrain of River Bend Fortress, Lynn's carefully trained army will be of little use. Whether the main castle on the island in the middle of the lake can be captured quickly depends entirely on whether the navy's artillery is powerful enough.

According to Victor's detailed analysis last night, Lynn must capture the castle within two weeks, otherwise it will be difficult to gain the initiative in this war.

After careful consideration, Lynn began to issue clear instructions:
"Victor, take note of this. I'm making the following arrangements."

"Give Yang and Soward orders for their troops to set up camp near the castle on the north bank. Tomorrow afternoon, once Leon's navy has blocked the river, we will launch a strong attack on the castle on the north bank with infantry and archers. We must take it within a day!"

"Send word to Leon that his fleet must depart promptly tomorrow morning, carrying all the bronze cannons and shells! Bombard Riverbend Fortress at all costs!"

"Have Hugh's light cavalry advance forty kilometers eastward, and at the same time set up outposts and temporary post stations on the north bank of the Jinghe River west of Three Rivers City. I need to keep a close eye on Otto and Tristan's movements! The heavy cavalry should also be ready for battle at any time." "As for Joseph's Second Legion, they are responsible for building a military camp five kilometers north of River Bend Fortress that can accommodate 40,000 men, and also building a temporary granary to the west of the camp. It must be completed within a week."

Lynn's combat troops were indeed less than 20,000, but if you include the auxiliary soldiers, laborers, and the more than 1,000 newly captured prisoners of war, the number would be close to 30,000.

If we can capture River Bend Fort in a short time, the number of prisoners of war may increase by two or three thousand. It is not unreasonable to build a large camp that can house 40,000 people in order to prepare for the future.

It is foreseeable that Lynn and Otto will be locked in a protracted battle over the final ownership of River Bend, and they must be prepared for a long-term struggle.

Victor immediately pulled out his small black notebook and started writing furiously.

Soon, as the orders were relayed, Lynn's various units began to execute them in an orderly manner.

That evening, he set up camp with his personal guards and command headquarters north of Hewanbao.

At the same time, Lynn's movements were also detected by scouts from River Bend.

“Count Schultz, the scouts have spotted Lynn’s movements. His camp is less than six kilometers from the North Shore Castle.”

“Are you sure it’s him?” Count Schulz was having his dinner at the moment.

Despite it being wartime, the River Bend commander's table was set with expensive Southern wines, roasted sausages, and a basket of freshly baked white bread.

Compared to the Northerners who are accustomed to eating wheat porridge, the Southerners prefer to eat refined bread.

Among Count Schulz's entourage were two excellent chefs from the South.

The subordinate standing by the dining table replied, "The scout cavalryman spotted his royal banner, the one with the white bear and narwhal."

At this moment, a young general who was having dinner with Earl Schultz suggested, "Why don't we send out cavalry to try a night raid while his camp is still under construction? Even if we can't capture Lynn alive, we can at least delay his attack on the castle."

Schultz forked a piece of sausage and stuffed it into his mouth, then slowly took a sip of red wine before giving the young general a disdainful look: "Have you forgotten what we promised His Majesty yesterday? Even if Lynn took off his pants and danced on the shore, we would not be seduced by him."

He then emphasized, "Our mission in this war is to hold the castle for as long as possible. No one should even think about going out to fight. Even if we fight to the last man, the gates of River Bend Castle will not be opened even a crack!"

Schultz's tone was very serious, as if he would sacrifice anyone who dared to disobey his orders.

But he regretted it the next afternoon.

Boom, boom, boom!

Schulz stood in a two-story tower inside River Bend Fort, listening to the bursts of cannon fire outside the window, the cracking of stones on the city walls, and the shouts of soldiers. He began to regret why he hadn't tried a night raid outside the city the day before.

Nobody told him that Lynn's cannons were that powerful!
Schulz had never experienced the Battle of Tranquil River; all his knowledge of artillery came from verbal descriptions by his allies.

He originally thought that artillery was just a variant of the counterweight catapult, both of which launched various stone or iron projectiles, but the former was lighter and could be moved with the army.

He never expected that the accuracy of artillery fire could far exceed that of catapults!
In terms of the size and weight of the projectiles fired, the counterweight catapult was actually superior to the cannon. However, this thing was too bulky and inconvenient to use. In addition, the projectiles fired were parabolic and their trajectories were difficult to control, making it difficult to control the landing point of the projectiles.

Back in the South, Earl Schultz had used counterweight catapults before, and even when the same catapult was fired from the same location, the impact points could differ by tens of meters.

The long-barreled bronze cannons mounted on Lynn's warships were quite different from catapults. These golden tubular weapons could fire projectiles in a straight line and hit designated areas on the city walls with relatively high accuracy.

Despite the fact that the enemy fleet had twenty cannons firing, all of these cannons were aimed at the western wall of River Bend Fort, and they were targeting several weak points in the city gates and walls for focused attacks.

"My lord, both towers on the west city wall have been destroyed! The dozen or so heavy crossbows positioned on the towers have also been destroyed! The soldiers have suffered heavy casualties!"

"The west city wall has been blasted into two huge dents by enemy artillery fire. The outer stone slabs have completely collapsed, exposing the inner layer of rubble. If the enemy continues to attack these two dents, the city wall may even be breached!"

"This is bad! The first wall of the west gate is severely damaged, and one gate has completely collapsed! If the other gate is also breached, the second iron gate may also be destroyed by the enemy!"

Less than two hours after the shelling began, Count Schulz received a series of bad news.

He himself dared not risk going up the city wall to observe the situation in person, but only dared to hide in the relatively safe rear tower and listen to the tragic scene at the front.

In Lynn's view, the accuracy of these early cannons was very worrying, and there was still a lot of room for improvement.

From Count Schulz's perspective, the enemy's artillery was incredibly accurate!

More than half of the shells were repeatedly bombarding a few fixed points, and the shells fired were like heavy hammers continuously pounding the stone city wall.

If this situation continues, the western city wall will eventually be breached by enemy artillery.

At that time, the enemy infantry could land on the island in the middle of the lake under the cover of warships and artillery, and then attack River Bend Fort through the breach.

"This is only the first day! Can't we even make it through a week?"

Schultz listened to the battle reports brought back by his subordinates and almost began to question the meaning of life.

Even in the war-torn southern region, River Bend Fortress is considered a first-rate fortified city. As long as the defenders can maintain their fighting spirit, it would be impossible for the attacking forces to breach the city without a siege lasting six months to a year.

But now, only two hours later, the western city wall has already begun to crumble.

This completely shattered Schulz's accumulated war experience.

Moreover, not only is the main fort of River Bend Castle in danger, but the North Bank Castle, which is positioned at an angle to the main fort, is also under tremendous pressure.

"Your Excellency, the North Shore Castle is also under heavy attack from the enemy. Baron Jørgensen, who is stationed at the castle, has sent out a distress signal!"

At the critical moment, Count Schulz bit his tongue sharply, forcing himself to regain consciousness through the excruciating pain, and issued a clear instruction:

"The river is full of enemy ships. How can we possibly reach the castle on the north bank? Also, immediately recruit brave soldiers to come with me to repair the dents in the city gates and walls! We must not betray His Majesty's trust!"

(End of this chapter)