Steel, gunpowder, and spellcasters

Chapter 100 Triangle Fortress

It was a moonless night, just another ordinary night in the siege for Zekras Delbrook, a Confederate soldier on night watch at Triangle Fortress.

Zekras-Delbrook was the youngest son in his family. His father loved his youngest son dearly, so he begged the priest to give his youngest son a saint's name as his Christian name.

However, the name was too long and difficult to pronounce, and very few people could pronounce it fluently. Because his face was covered with freckles, the other officers of the Federation simply called him "Pockmarked."

As the son of a self-sufficient farmer, Ma Zi chose to join the army for a simple reason—his father had very little land, but many children.

Ma Zi has four older brothers and three older sisters. His parents only lost two children in infancy. This is both extraordinary luck and extraordinary misfortune.

So even when Ma Zi turned sixteen, his older sister Zoya still hadn't gotten married.

Zoya was not only a skilled worker, but also beautiful and gentle. Her father chased away countless young men with a stick.

However, the several marriage proposals arranged for her all fell through because Ma Zi and Zoya's fathers didn't have the money to prepare a dowry for their daughter.

Ma Zi's father only had a dozen or so acres of land, all of which were in remote, unconnected areas.

Therefore, Ma Zi's parents worked from dawn till dusk every day, and when food was scarce, they would take odd jobs to earn money to supplement the family income. Even with such hard work, they could barely raise their eight children, and his father simply did not have the means to save up a dowry for his daughter.

The eldest sister, Zoya, had become an old maid and would always secretly wipe away her tears in the yard; her parents were always frowning, sighing, and blaming each other.

Ceclas Delbrook saw all of this.

So, two weeks shy of his sixteenth birthday, Zekras-Delbrook gave his settlement allowance to his sister to prepare his dowry, and then left his hometown with the Federation's recruiting officer, becoming "Pockmarked".

Although his direct purpose in enlisting in the army was to prepare a dowry for his sister, it was also because Ma Zi didn't want to spend his whole life toiling in the fields like his father. His father's land wasn't enough to share with Ma Zi and his brothers, and Ma Zi also wanted to see the outside world.

But right now, on the triangular fortress outside the city walls, surrounded by Veneta's army, Ma Zi is particularly homesick.

"What are Mom and Dad doing now? They should be sleeping, right?" Ma Zi thought drowsily, trying not to doze off. "I wonder which family Zhuoya married into, and my older brother will be getting married soon too..."

As Ma Zi was trying to recall the houses and roads of his hometown, he suddenly heard several "whoosh" sounds ahead. He was jolted awake, but before he could react, three short, thick crossbow bolts had already flown to his side.

Two crossbow bolts struck the breastplate on Ma Zi's body with a "ding" sound, the arrowheads piercing through the breastplate but not completely penetrating it.

The third crossbow bolt struck Pockmarked Man squarely in the face, piercing his eye and bone, the arrowhead lodging in his soft brain, causing a fatal wound.

Ma Zi collapsed softly to the ground, his consciousness rapidly fading away, his memories along with everything within them vanished.

"Well done!" Field, who was lying in ambush not far in front of the triangular bunker, excitedly punched his knee, but before he could give the order to attack, the night was pierced by the shrill whistles and alarm bells.

Another sentry on the triangular bunker heard the strange noise and then saw Ma Zi fall straight backward, so he immediately sounded the alarm.

"[Enraged curses]!" Seeing that his plan had failed, Field cursed fiercely, then said angrily, "We weren't expecting to launch a sneak attack anyway! Blow the whistle! Charge!"

Inside the triangular fortress, the Union soldiers were jolted awake from their sleep. In the pitch black, they frantically groped for their weapons and immediately ran towards the fortress after obtaining them.

The garrison in Tacheng also heard the alarm bells, and one by one the braziers on the city wall were lit. The garrison soldiers who were resting in various parts of the city rushed to the city wall.

As the low-intensity siege dragged on, the defenders inside the city began to become somewhat complacent and dismissive of the Venetians outside.

The initial panic and fear of being surrounded by the army gradually dissipated, and many Union soldiers began to think, "What? The Venettas are nothing special, all they do is build walls."

The Venetians outside the city stopped building the passageway when it was about 200 meters from the city wall, and instead began to extend it parallel to the city wall, seemingly just to build a closer siege barrier.

Some veterans of Tanilia, who had served for many years, said to the new recruits in a seemingly profound tone, "The way Venetta is working so hard to build the wall is a good thing for us soldiers."

The new recruit asked naively, "What good news?"

The veteran would proudly reply, "The harder they work to build the wall, the less they want a direct assault; they just want to starve us out. In this situation, once our food runs out, the higher-ups will have no choice but to surrender, even if they don't want to. Isn't it a good thing that we don't have to fight?"

However, the Federation defenders, who thought they were safe, did not expect that the Venetians would suddenly launch an attack tonight, and once they did, it would be as powerful as a thunderbolt.

In the darkness in front of the city wall, a sharp whistle rang out first, followed by the simultaneous blowing of hundreds of whistles.

Upon hearing the whistle signaling the attack, the Vinnetta officers throughout the passageways and ramparts blew their whistles and ordered torches to be lit.

In an instant, hundreds of torches blazed in front of the city wall, as if a vast army was moving through the night. Accompanied by the flickering torches, the shouts of the Venetian soldiers rose and fell like waves, pounding on the morale of the defenders.

The panicked defenders frantically loaded muskets and cannons, strung bows and crossbows, and searched aimlessly for arrows.

The officers of the Federation no longer heeded the orders to conserve gunpowder and urged the gunners to fire as soon as the guns were loaded.

For a moment, it was unclear how many bullets the defenders fired at the distant torches and figures; they simply kept repeating the process of loading and firing.

Fear is contagious. The deafening roar of the Venetians instilled fear in the defenders, and only firing at the enemy could give them a slight sense of security.

Under the cover of shouts, firelight, and gunfire, a large number of Venetta soldiers were pouring out of the passageway directly opposite the city gate and the triangular fortress. These soldiers did not shout or carry torches; instead, they carried ladders in groups of three and rushed towards the triangular fortress quickly, led by officers who were not night-blind.

Lieutenant Colonel Field and several other crossbowmen who had quietly crept up to the vicinity of the fortress were waiting for them.

The garrison on the triangular fort immediately noticed the anomaly. The braziers around them made it impossible for them to see the open space in front of them, but the footsteps ahead could be heard clearly and were getting closer and closer.

While the east-west direction was impressive, from the perspective of the triangular fortress, it was clear that the torches were not placed close to the city wall, but were simply moving back and forth.

Captain Sanogela, who was in charge of defending the triangular fortress, realized that the movements on the east and west sides were just feints. He shouted warnings to the city walls, but the defenders on the walls were already caught up in a fanatical state of mind, and it was no use even if a few of them noticed him.

Left with no other option, Sanogela had to send men running back to the city via the drawbridge between the triangular fortress and the city wall to request reinforcements.

But it was too late. A large number of Venetas rushed out from the misty night, causing Sanogella to gasp in shock.

The defenders fired arrows, killing the first rank of Venetians, but for every one who fell, more would rush out into the night.

Like the city wall, the makeshift triangular fort in front of the city gate lacked the protection of a moat. Furthermore, to withstand artillery fire, it was primarily constructed of earth and only about five meters high.

The triangular structure eliminates blind spots, allowing the rear walls to provide comprehensive fire support. The low, thick main structure not only absorbs the force of artillery shells but also enables the walls behind the triangular fortress to fire over it.

This is a fortress of the new era, and António will use tactics from the old era to breach it tonight.

Lacking the protection of a trench, the Venetta soldiers, carrying ladders, rushed to the base of the triangular fortress wall in one go, set up the ladders, and began to climb.

Venetta's fearless and reckless spirit instilled fear in Sanogela, who shouted orders to lead the defenders in a counterattack.

The defenders of the triangular fort abandoned their muskets and hurled large stones at the Venetians. Those Venetians hit by the stones were killed instantly.

Before the asphalt could even boil, it was poured down the wall. The Venetians, their heads scalded by the hot asphalt, let out ghostly howls. Then, several torches were thrown down from the wall, turning them into burning figures.

Four-pound and eight-pound cannons, each loaded with a dozen or so iron bullets the size of walnuts, fired at the Venetians, each shot unleashing a storm of blood and flesh.

Cannons and arquebuses roared incessantly, the dying screamed in agony, thick smoke billowed and flames raged, as if the whole world was about to be destroyed.

But even with the defenders' fierce resistance, they could not stop the Venetians' offensive.

Tonight, Antonio and Leighton deployed two large teams to attack the two midfielders of the triangular fortress simultaneously.

The two battalions responsible for the main attack were elite troops selected from the two legions. The colonel, the battalion commander, was now standing at the foot of the fortress wall directing the attack, while the centurions, biting their swords, were the first to climb up.

After suffering heavy casualties, a small number of Venetta soldiers quickly climbed up the triangular bunker and began hand-to-hand combat with the bunker's defenders.

Lieutenant Colonel Field saw this and was anxious. He hadn't been assigned the main attack mission tonight; his task was to command the musketeers to provide cover for the main attacking force.

However, the speed of troop movement through the tunnel was limited, and the two hundred-man squads of musketeers lagged behind. By the time the Venetta soldiers in front had already climbed the triangular fortress, the musketeers had finally arrived.

“[Foul!] What have you been doing! You’re so slow! [Foul!]” Field glared and yelled at the centurion of the musketeers.

The two musketeer centurions, Lieutenant Lyman and Captain Philip, dared not, and could not, offer any explanation.

The two centurions commanded their musketeer squads to quickly deploy in front of the triangular bunker and begin suppressing the defenders on the bunker with arquebuses.
The long-range weapons had an immediate effect on suppressing the defenders on the wall. A dozen Tanirian soldiers who were leaning out of the wall to throw stones and pour boiling asphalt were shot to death and fell off the wall with screams.

The remaining Tanirian soldiers were too frightened to show their faces and could only reach out from behind the breastwork. The morale of the fortress defenders collapsed, their killing efficiency began to decline, and the pressure on the Venetta soldiers who were climbing the ramp was greatly reduced.

However, the Union garrison on the city wall finally realized what was happening, and William Kidd, having received a plea for help from the garrison at Triangle Fortress, dispatched a large number of messengers to the city wall to relay the order.

Upon receiving orders, the garrison troops stationed on the city walls immediately rushed to the city gates to reinforce the Triangle Fortress. The cannons on the two crescent fortresses also adjusted their firing angles and began firing at the Venetians below the Triangle Fortress walls.

The design of the fortress in the new era has finally revealed its fangs. The triangular shape of the fortress means that the projectiles fired from the rear two walls are unobstructed and have no blind spots. Every shell is a terrifying flanking firepower.

A cannonball fired from the eastern Half Moon Fort killed all the Venetta soldiers in a straight line, then bounced off the hard volcanic rock, smashed two ladders, and became embedded in the walls of the Triangle Fort.

Seeing this, Lieutenant Colonel Field dispatched two squads of musketeers to suppress the enemy marksmen on the walls behind the triangular fort. However, he knew that suppressing the enemy musketeers would be of little use; the enemy's real weapon was the flanking artillery positioned on the half-moon fort.

Field roared inwardly, "Fire! Fire!"

The God of Artillery heard his call, and the dull roar of cannons echoed throughout the battlefield.

But this time it wasn't the cannons on the city walls roaring; the Venetians' artillery finally began to unleash its power.

Several stone projectiles flew out from behind the newly built wall of the Venetians. Most of the projectiles went astray, and only one hit the target, slamming heavily onto the eastern Half-Moon Fortress.

Stone projectiles collided with the wall, sending rubble flying and dust billowing everywhere. All the Tanilian gunners on Half Moon Fortress were killed or wounded by the rubble, and the main gunner's chest was dented by the impact, and he died on the spot.

The cannons on the eastern half-moon fortress immediately fell silent.

"Cannons? Where did these cannons come from?" On the city wall, William Kidd grabbed the officer beside him with a ferocious expression and roared, "When did the Venetians bring these cannons up here? Why didn't you tell me you saw the Venetians setting up their cannons? [Pirate swear word] I'll kill you!"

As he spoke, he reached for his knife.

“Sir…no…we didn’t see anything…” The officer, who had been captured by William Kidd, was so frightened that he was about to cry. He answered in a trembling voice, “We didn’t see anything…no one saw the Venetians carrying cannons at all.”

"Ah!!!" Enraged William Kidd slammed his blade into the breastwork, sparks flying.

About two hundred meters away from the city wall, behind the Vinetta fortifications parallel to the city wall—these fortifications were built laterally after the passageway was built two hundred meters from the city wall—the engineering lieutenant colonel, no, now the artillery lieutenant colonel Vauban, observed the impact points of the shells and ordered: "Team One, Team Two, adjust to 1/4. Team Three, Team Four, return to position."

Beside him, the gunners were busy loading four short, stocky cannons.

There was a fortified wall separating the cannons from the defenders of the city, and the defenders on the wall could not see the movements of the Veneta gunners behind the wall.

These four cannons were Vauban's secret weapons, weapons that could be deployed right under the noses of the defenders without being detected. They were not ordinary cannons, but mortars—mortars salvaged from warships.

Ordinary artillery requires a gun emplacement and a firing port.

The cannons on the city wall were positioned high up, and once the defenders discovered that the Venetians had deployed cannons, the Venetians' positions would be immediately bombarded.

The mortar's trajectory is high-angle, making it a curved-fire weapon rather than a direct-fire weapon. Therefore, it can be deployed behind fortified walls to kill enemies on the walls from behind them.

Although the accuracy was a bit low, it was the only way to catch them off guard. Moreover, the Guzhi Road connecting Tacheng and Chiliu Port was not yet fully repaired, so heavy artillery could not be delivered. The Venetians could only temporarily move a few light mortars as a makeshift solution.

While Lieutenant Colonel Vauban's four mortars suppressed the artillery of the Eastern Half-Moon Fortress, Winters, who was waiting with his horse at another tunnel exit, finally got his turn to attack.

Winters had very few people with him; including Winters, the small group of riders consisted of only sixteen people.

The officer in charge of leading this small cavalry unit was none other than Major Moritz, an old acquaintance of Winters'.

That's right, all sixteen riders were spellcaster officers. And apart from Major Moritz, they were all junior officers.

Major Moritz, abandoning his usual lazy demeanor, looked at the group of junior officers who were casting spells and sternly ordered, "Don't linger, don't dawdle, come in and out quickly, and withdraw immediately after completing the mission!"

"Yes!" the fifteen spellcaster officers answered in unison.

Moritz glanced at Winters, nodded, and shouted, "Mount up!"

Sixteen riders galloped out from the east side of the battlefield. Winters, disregarding the safety of his horse, urged it on and rushed towards the Triangle Fortress at full speed.

As they charged to the side of the triangular fortress, Moritz roared, "Throw!"

Fifteen lieutenant spellcasters took the smoke bombs hanging on their chests, activated them with fire spells, and hurled them with all their might between the triangular fortress and the city wall.

Some highly skilled spellcasters also used the Arrow spell simultaneously to throw the smoke bomb even further.

The "Activated Portable Alchemical Smoke Generator" exploded in the air, and the thick smoke obscured the view of the defenders on the east side of the city wall, preventing them from seeing the Venetta soldiers climbing the triangular fortress behind the smoke.

After completing the smoke bombing operation on the east side, the casters moved to the west side and threw out all the remaining smoke bombs.

Winters had never used spellcasting materials so lavishly in his entire life; the two legions handed over half of the smoke bombs in their armories. António and Layton were determined to get their hands on this small triangular fortress.

The smoke wall completely blocked the view of the Tanilians on the city wall, and with no wind tonight, the smoke wall lingered for a long time.

William Kidd roared in anger, but there was nothing he could do.

Although the cannons on Half Moon Fort had their firing angles set, the lack of visual aiming correction significantly reduced their accuracy. The gunners had no idea whether they had hit the target or missed, let alone make any corrections.

Not to mention the musketeers on the city walls, who could only blindly fire into the smoke.

After completing their mission, the spellcaster rider quickly retreated to their attack position.

In front of the triangular bunker, Lieutenant Colonel Field, who was commanding the musketeers, saw what he had been praying for—a Veneta flag planted atop the bunker.

“Urrahhhh!!!!!!!!!” Field roared wildly.

Realizing what had happened, the musketeers joined in with excited shouts: "Urrahhhh!!!!!!!!!"

"Hahaha! They've broken through!" Layton, who was watching from the rear, laughed wildly and punched the breastwork wall: "Well done!"

"As planned, the engineer battalion and reserves shall now depart," António calmly ordered the other officers.

More and more Veneta soldiers climbed onto the triangular fortress; for every Tanilian killed, two more would rise. The defenders were retreating uncontrollably, and no amount of Sanogela's attempts to stop them were of any use.

When the deafening battle cries echoed through the triangular fortress, the morale of the Tanirians completely collapsed, and they began to flee into the city along the drawbridge between the fortress and the city wall.

The Union's elite armored troops, sent to support Triangle Fortress, were blocked at the bridgehead by fleeing soldiers and could not advance.

During the pre-battle briefing, Layton and some senior officers believed that if the enemy did not cut the drawbridge, they could use it to directly attack the city walls and breach the city in one fell swoop.

However, Lieutenant Juan, who had climbed up the triangular fortress, suddenly realized that because the Venetians could never outpace the Tanilians in deploying their troops, not only could his side not utilize the drawbridge, but the enemy could instead use it to continuously send reinforcements to push the Venetians off the triangular fortress.

Upon realizing what had happened, Lieutenant Juan shouted to his hundred-man squad, "Drawbridge! Drawbridge! Cut down the drawbridge!"

Juan's hundred-man squad, which was chasing and killing the fleeing soldiers, heard the order and began to attack the drawbridge.

Upon reaching the city walls, William Kidd was furious to see the deserters on the bridge running into the city and the reinforcements heading towards the Triangle Fortress, with both sides locked in a stalemate. He roared, "Useless! Push all the deserters off the bridge! Get to the Triangle Fortress!"

Upon receiving the order, the armored Allied soldiers began pushing the fleeing Triangle Fortress defenders off the bridge.

On the bridge, Sanogela, the commander of the triangular fortress, who was squeezed by the crowd, shouted in grief and indignation: "Why? Why?!"

No one paid him any attention. One by one, the garrison soldiers of the triangular fort were pushed off the bridge, screaming as they fell to the ground. Some of them did not die on the spot, but continued to emit horrifying howls.

Lieutenant Juan had already rushed to the edge of the suspension bridge, raised his sword and began to chop at the suspension bridge cables.

Several soldiers rushed over to help.

Finally, the suspension bridge was cut down.

Losing their anchor at one end, the deserter, the reinforcements, and Sanogela all fell to the ground from the bridge.

After suffering heavy casualties, Triangle Fortress now belongs to Veneta... for the time being.

I wrote half of the 6,000 words yesterday and the other half today. I'm having so much writer's block that I'm practically tearing my hair out.

The battle for the Triangle Fortress actually has a real-life counterpart, as some readers may have already recognized: it's based on the battle for the Triangle Fortress of St. Elmore during the Siege of Malta. "Cannons and arquebuses roared incessantly, the dying screams were chilling, thick smoke billowed, and flames raged, as if the whole world was about to be destroyed." This is the original description of that battle. Of course, due to different geographical environments, the process was not entirely the same.

Thank you to all the readers who voted for this book before, especially the readers who voted: Helpless Dreamer, Yuan Hongjian, This Mountain You, Black Computer Accessories, Social Justice Old Wang, Please Call Me Happy Sheep, and I Don't Know What to Call Me. Thank you everyone.

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(End of this chapter)