Steel, Explosives, and Spellcasters

His words were so sorrowful that even the stony-hearted Colonel Kara couldn't remain indifferent to him, "My cavalry unit is too small; it's not of much use. Two battalions of infantry are on their way here, they will arrive soon and help you crush the enemy."

"By the time they get here it'll be too late!"

"It's already too late! Whatever is in your shipyard, it's now all burnt to charcoal, and I won't let my officers die for charcoal. Please go back."

After speaking, Colonel Kara turned his head sharply and left without compassion.

The Navy Lieutenant Colonel stood dazed outside the fortress for a moment, then rode away on his horse, his spirit crushed.

Watching the retreating figure of the diligent Navy Lieutenant Colonel, a bitter taste rose in the throats of the officers atop the fortress. The joy of victory was also diluted, and everyone turned away in silence.

"What's that over there?" Andre suddenly shouted.

At the sound, the officers turned their heads. On the mainland connecting Sea Blue City with Haidong Port, the black shrubs were moving—it was a marching column. With the beat of a drum, the soldiers advanced in an eight-row column, uniform in their steps. From a distance, the exceedingly long lances looked like a forest on the move, orderly and ominous.

Major General Antonio Serviati, with the Third Legion—"Da Weineta," had arrived!

A single black dot broke away from the formation, circled past the shipyard, and approached the battery. The cavalry officer spurred his warhorse urgently, galloping to the battery's gate.

The warhorse frothed at the mouth as the messenger bellowed, "Where is Colonel Kara?!"

"Here I am!" Colonel Kara rushed back to the watchtower.

"Orders from Major General Serviati: Command your unit to coordinate with mine in attacking the enemy entrenched in the shipyard!" With that, the messenger jerked the reins and again galloped off without stopping.

There was no explanation, just a command. The officers in the battery were somewhat stunned, their gazes involuntarily focusing on Colonel Kara.

Colonel Kara hesitated for a moment but quickly regained his stern composure. He scanned the area: "Didn't you hear the order? Wake everyone up! The lightly wounded stay here, the rest of you, to the attack!"

The north side of the naval shipyard connected to the sea, and its land portion was separated by a ring of stone walls and other port structures. The attackers had used this wall to repel several assaults by the navy sailors.

The attackers had set up numerous gunmen along this breastwork and had even dragged down several short cannons from ships undergoing repairs.

Once navy sailors came within fifty paces, they would be harshly shot at by matchlock guns, and once the leading men were downed, the more cowardly would turn and run.

The behavior of individuals fleeing in the face of combat could not be stopped, and it spurred others to run as well. Then the attackers barraged them with a round of grapeshot from short-barreled cannons, completely breaking the assaulting side's morale.

In the end, the navy sailors only dared to stand over sixty paces away, exchanging inconsequential gunfire with the attackers from a distance.

But those arriving this time were not sailors; they were the most elite troops of the Vineta Standing Army.

Since the end of the Sovereign Wars, the Alliance army's equipment and tactics had not undergone significant changes. Marshal Ned improved the square pike formation tactics of Duke Arian and retained a part of the sword-and-shield men to counter Duke Arian's squares, also replacing crossbowmen and archers with gunmen.

In the Battle of Butchers, Marshal Ned utilized this improved pike square formation to crush Duke Orlean's forces in field combat. The combined system of extra-long pikes, sword-and-shield men, and gunmen had been used until today.

However, squares were obviously unnecessary against the current enemy. Amidst the drumming, two battalions of infantry smoothly deployed into horizontal lines. The pikemen rested their long pikes on the ground and drew their swords, lining up behind the sword-and-shield men.

The gunmen took positions at the forefront of the ranks with a two-step interval, drawing out ramrods and beginning to load their matchlock guns.

The enemies inside the shipyard felt unprecedented pressure; those now advancing to attack were not a motley crowd wielding sailor's knives and yelling to bolster their courage.

The Third Legion's infantrymen stood a hundred meters away, their formation as neat as a cut by a knife but silent as the grave. All that could be heard on the battlefield, aside from the wind, was the sound of lead bullets being pushed into the barrels.

The gunmen poured in the gunpowder, inserted the lead bullets, returned the ramrods to the slots beneath the barrels, and then filled the priming pans with powder, closing the covers. Lastly, they attached the smoldering match to the serpentine, and in the enemy's sight, they calmly completed the entire loading process.

The officer in charge of the gunmen swept past the front lines, and once he confirmed that all gunmen had finished loading, he stood on his stirrups and waved the battle flag hanging from the pike three times.

Antonio, in the rear of the formation, saw the flags wave and nodded at his ensign.

The Spellcaster officer rode forward, his voice amplified by a spell as he roared, "Da Weineta!"

The soldiers roared back, "Kazar! [Hooray]"

"Da Weineta!"

"Kazar!"

"Da Weineta!"

"KAZAR!"

Three war cries, each more thunderous than the last. Not only the enemies within the shipyard were intimidated, but even the navy sailors behind them trembled with fear.

Startled by the war cries, a gunman behind the stone wall involuntarily pulled the trigger, firing a shot. The lead ball gouged a hole in the ground. Then a dozen more gunshots rang out as others instinctively fired their guns.

The officers lined up outside the battery heard these three war cries and understood that the Third Legion was about to attack.