Steel, gunpowder, and spellcasters

Chapter 18 The City Burns Amidst Flames (Part 1)

The Guitu City Arsenal (also known as the Alliance Army's First Arsenal) was originally the Royal Weapons Bureau of the Mountain Province during the Imperial period. When it was first established, transportation conditions were the main consideration, so it was located on the coast near the Guitu City dock, where ships could directly dock at the Weapons Bureau's small pier.

Initially, this place was only staffed with four blacksmiths, essentially a large blacksmith shop. Its role was to store and maintain the weapons and equipment allocated to the royal army stationed in the province of Civic Tiberias; it had no manufacturing capacity.

After the United Provinces militia captured Guitu for the first time, they immediately occupied the Royal Armory and emptied its armory.

When Guitu changed hands for the second time, the provincial militia realized that the war was unlikely to end anytime soon, so they immediately transformed the old Royal Armory into the new Guitu Armory.

Its functions were no longer limited to maintenance and storage; the Guitu City Arsenal began to have the ability to produce and manufacture cold weapons.

The sovereignty war that lasted for more than a decade brought about a strong demand for weapons, and the technology and production capacity of the Guitu City Armory also made great strides time and time again.

Initially, the arsenal could only forge weapons using readily available iron. However, due to trade blockades, the copper and iron purchased from outside sources gradually became insufficient.

The Gui Tu City Arsenal recruited blacksmiths and established a smelting bureau, enabling the arsenal to smelt ores and supply its own raw materials.

Later, as the war continued, the proportion of soldiers using gunpowder weapons in the militia increased. Therefore, the Guitu City Arsenal added gun and artillery bureaus to specialize in gun and cannon manufacturing technology.

In the latter half of the war, the Guitu City arsenal began to produce muskets and cannons in a steady stream, arming a large number of unarmed civilians.

Field Marshal Ned once praised the Victory Arsenal, saying, "Without the Guido Arsenal, there would be no Victory!" From then on, the nickname "Victory Arsenal" became a household name and was used to refer to the arsenal within the Union Army.

For over two decades, the Victory Arsenal has expanded time and again, like an insatiable glutton, constantly devouring the surrounding land and houses. From a corner of the dockside, it has evolved into a city within a city occupying a significant portion of the port area.

But at this moment, there was no longer any Victory Arsenal; only a sea of ​​fire remained.

A dozen minutes earlier, when the trainees reached the ruins of the old city wall, the entire street was already filled with a light mist.

The smoke seeped into every roadside alleyway and every detached courtyard. Residents living on the outskirts of the city were awakened, some peeking out of their windows, others standing at their doorways, watching in astonishment as the cadets marched toward the direction from which the smoke came.

The further they went, the thicker and more pungent the smoke became. Winters' eyes watered from the spiciness, and coughs echoed throughout the queue.

The horses the instructors were riding began to become restless and refused to move forward no matter how much they were urged.

Left with no other option, the spellcaster instructors had to take turns using magic, always maintaining two horizontal wind manipulation spells at the front of the column to blow the smoke into the residential areas on both sides of the road.

As they continued forward, the situation worsened when they could see the firelight.

The flames had already spread from the arsenal to nearby houses, and many residents died from the toxic fumes before they even woke up. Some fleeing civilians cried out as they ran in the direction the cadets had come from.

"Judgment has come! Judgment has come!"

"It's the devil! The devil is spreading through the streets!"

"Run for your lives! There's nothing we can do! Run!"

The fleeing people ran, shouting and yelling, clutching their belongings clutched tightly to their chests as they fled their homes. Their houses were engulfed in flames, and what they held was now their only possession. The cries pounded against Winters' chest, causing him great distress. Facing the fleeing crowd, the cadet brigade moved forward in silence.

Further ahead, a scene of hell unfolds.

Here, darkness was dispelled by the raging fire, the streets were illuminated by the flames, and the smoke was so thick that even wind magic was powerless. The crackling of burning wood and the rumbling of collapsing houses echoed continuously.

A woman knelt by the roadside, wailing hysterically. No one knew what had happened to her, and no one paid any attention to her.

The people who narrowly escaped the fire were terrified and were scrambling to run out of the city.

Meanwhile, the residents whose homes were only meters away from the front line of fire were plunged into despair:
Some of them haven't given up yet, and are still trying their best to move their valuables out of their homes;
Some people beat their chests and stomped their feet, loudly cursing the devil;

Some people went crazy, grabbing their hair and banging their heads against the ground desperately;

Some people gave up resisting and closed their eyes to pray silently.

But fire and water are merciless, and all their efforts were in vain; they could only watch helplessly as their houses were consumed by flames.

When Winters first noticed the strange phenomenon in the sky, he had a very bad feeling. If the sky could be burned and changed color, the fire area must be quite large.

But when he actually witnessed the scale of the fire, he realized that his initial thoughts were too optimistic.

The military academy cadet battalion couldn't even get close to the walls of the Victory Arsenal; the heat and thick smoke kept them a block away.

"Sir! Sir!" A man dressed in a brown short-sleeved outfit ran up to the military academy's commander, adjusting his hat. "I'm the captain of the port fire prevention team. It's so good that you've come!"

"How can I serve you, my lord?" the commander asked coldly.

"The fire is beyond extinguishing; we can only demolish the surrounding houses and create a firebreak. Your trainees have arrived just in time." The fire brigade captain, not wanting to keep anyone in suspense, quickly revealed his plan.

“I’m here to save the army’s assets. The arsenal is finished now, and I won’t use my valuable officers on firefighting; that’s your job.” The minister turned to leave.

"Sir! Please have mercy!" The fire brigade captain pleaded, pulling on the reins of the commander's horse.

"Hmph." The department head snorted coldly.

"Please! Look at the wind direction. It's blowing inland from the coastline. The wind is fanning the flames. If we don't build a firebreak soon, the entire port area will be engulfed in flames, and then the entire city."

The minister remained expressionless and said nothing.

"Sir, if the entire city of Guitu is on fire, can your school survive alone?" The fire brigade captain saw that the person who was obviously the highest-ranking in the military academy was showing some signs of wavering, and he was even more unwilling to give up this last straw.

"The bigger the fire, the faster it will spread. If we don't act now, it will be out of control! Have some compassion, sir! Look at these people!" the fire brigade captain continued to plead.

(End of this chapter)