Steel, gunpowder, and spellcasters

Chapter 203 Prelude
The patrol boats on the River Styx were the first to issue a warning.

The object churning in the river rose and fell at great speed, passing the small boat and approaching the bridge.

The bridge is not afraid of the barbarian fire ships—this was the consensus reached by the bridge-building headquarters.

"Trying to use fire ships?" Colonel Haugwitz scoffed at the meeting. "Even barbarians need ships first!"

Shipbuilding generally requires timber, nails, adhesives, and sealants, the composition of which varies depending on the local produce.

The Venetians mostly use bitumen, while the United Provinces prefer to use straw ash and tung oil.

Material conditions were relatively easy to solve, but skilled shipbuilding craftsmen wouldn't just fall from the sky.

Even the seemingly simplest craft, the dugout canoe, which requires neither glue nor nails, demands an astonishing level of skill from its artisans and consumes an astonishing amount of time.

Anyone can wield a knife and chop someone down.
However, Plato's army was able to build furnaces to smelt iron, use water power to saw wood, and construct bridges across rivers right under the enemy's nose.

As for the Heds... Colonel Haugwitz said, "It would be good if they could make two rafts."

This is the difference in engineering capabilities.

Winters is also optimistic about the threat from the water.

Shipbuilding is indeed not a simple task. If it were easy, the Paratians would have crossed the river by boat long ago.

Despite using all the manpower and resources of the entire army, they could only manage to assemble twelve barely leak-proof, ten-person rowing boats. The soldiers even gave them a nickname: "The Twelve Apostles."

Even if he wanted to build a raft, the White Lion would first need to obtain ropes and nails. Most importantly, he couldn't find any wood.

Within a radius of fifty miles, there is no other forest like the one outside Qiaolin.

To prevent the white lion from taking advantage of the situation, even several sparsely populated groves were burned to the ground by Alpad and his men.

This is why the Platu people insisted on building a bridge here.

Furthermore, Sackler deployed three lines of defense on the water.

Even if the white lion can create a raft, he still has to break through three lines of defense before he can reach the bridge pier.

A dark shadow swiftly swept past the Palatine ship in the water, and the first line of defense was easily breached.

The thing was so fast that the musketeers in the main camp hadn't even gotten to their positions yet; only the sentries along the riverbank fired a few shots at it.

Therefore, the second line of defense also failed to function.

The dark figure, like a giant snake, darted through the water and charged towards the bridge.

Winters' palms were sweating; now it all depended on whether the third line of defense could be effective.

The moonlight was hazy, and dark shadows rose and fell in the water.

Winters couldn't see clearly at all; he could only barely make out that the shadowy figure was getting closer and closer to the bridge pier.

"Boom!"

A dull bang.

The dark shadow in the water crashed straight into the [Dragon-Slaying Sword] in front of the bridge pier.

Dragon-Slaying Sword—that's what Brother Reid calls it.

The Serica people often compare rivers to dragons, and the name of the dragon-slaying sword is both poetic and majestic. Winters thought it sounded nice and started calling it that too.

The Paratul engineers called them [water dividers].

That is, drive another wooden pile two or three meters upstream of the bridge pile, and install an inverted V-shaped water-dividing plate on the wooden pile.

The turbulent water flow will be split in two by the Dragon Slayer Sword, thus reducing the impact on the bridge piers.

Normally, the Dragon Slayer Sword is responsible for reducing the erosion of the bridge piers by the water flow.

Once attacked, the Dragon Slayer Sword would form a floating city wall.

If attacking from the water, the Dragon Slayer Sword must be destroyed first before approaching the main body of the bridge without hindrance.

However, if they wanted to use the boat to remove the Dragon-Slaying Sword, they would have to brave a hail of bullets fired from the bridge and the shore.

This is the third line of defense.

[Note: There are no ropes or chains connecting the water distribution piles. Otherwise, if one water distribution pile is pulled out, the others will also be taken away.]
The dark figure collided squarely with the Dragon Slayer Sword. The sword lurched to the side, but like a boxer struck head-on, it stubbornly refused to fall.

The dark figure was bounced away and swam downstream.

The Paratians on the shore—including Winters—both officers and soldiers, breathed a sigh of relief.

The third line of defense still played its due role.

But soon, Winters' smile froze on his lips.

He saw that the Dragon-Slaying Sword, which had been knocked askew, seemed to be under some kind of enormous force, and was slowly tilting down in the direction of the water flow.

Amidst the soldiers' cries of alarm on the bridge, the Dragon-Slaying Sword was uprooted and slammed against the bridge pier before flowing downstream.

With her sharp eyesight, Lieutenant Varga pointed upstream and exclaimed, "Look! More are coming!"

It turned out that the dark figure from before was just a scout, and countless dark figures were rushing towards the bridge in droves.

"Could it be that the barbarians are raising monsters in the river?!" Lieutenant Colonel Robert was both shocked and furious.

His subordinates were at a loss for words. The shore was deathly silent, with only the rushing sound of the rapids.

"I understand!" Winters slammed his fist into his thigh. The force was so great that even Qiang Yun was startled.

Winters, oblivious to the pain, gritted his teeth and stared at the water: "Rafts! The White Lion is going to launch rafts to destroy the bridge! No wonder! No wonder General Alpad went north!"

“A raft? How could that thing be a raft!” Lieutenant Colonel Robert frowned.

“If it really is a raft, it’s easier to deal with. Two small boats can kill all the people who are rafting it! I don’t know what to call it.” Winters grabbed the reins and gestured to his colleagues: “That thing in the river is a tree! The White Lion must have tied two or more trees together with ropes and chains and then lowered them from upstream.”

“[Angry profanity]!” Lieutenant Colonel Robert, sharp-witted and quick-witted, rarely uttered such a vulgarity: “Underestimating this barbarian! [Vicious adjective]!”

The other officers were still confused and didn't understand what it meant.

Winters gripped the reins with both hands, using the horse's neck as a bridge pier, and continued to explain: "A single log, if lowered, could likely float directly between the piers. But if two trees are tied together by ropes and rush down from upstream, even if the force isn't enough to knock down the dividing piers or bridge piers, it can still drag the logs down. It's like pulling a net in the river! This trick is useless against pontoon bridges; it's specifically designed for bridge piers!"

At this point, the other officers also suddenly realized what was going on.

But even seeing through the white lion's tricks was useless; the group of them stood on the shore, helpless and anxious.

Lieutenant Colonel Robert sent Varga to report everything Lieutenant Montagne had said to headquarters.

Winters also considered two other countermeasures: first, to use small boats to drag away driftwood with nets on the river; second, to send soldiers who could swim into the river to cut the ropes hanging on the bridge piers—the White Lion probably didn't have the resources to use iron chains.

In his haste, he could only come up with these two solutions. Winters said without much confidence, "Headquarters probably already has someone who has thought of what I said."

“Don’t worry about that,” Lieutenant Colonel Robert said decisively. “Just report it up.” The rapidly changing battle situation was giving Winters a severe headache.

During his apprenticeship with the Revenge Fleet, everything on and off the ship was taken care of perfectly; he was considered qualified as long as he didn't vomit in the cabin.

Vineta's large naval force is composed of many naval officers, each of whom is more skilled in surface warfare than he is; he's a landlubber who hasn't even learned to swim yet.

At this moment, Winters deeply missed the Venetia Army's loyal enemy—the Venetia Navy.

If Captain Spyder and First Lieutenant Cage were here, they would probably be able to come up with a better solution.
Thinking too much was pointless, Winters shook his head, trying to clear his mind.

"Let's go!" Lieutenant Colonel Robert pulled on the reins, turned his horse around, and said, "Our responsibility is to guard the camp and prevent the Heards from taking advantage of the chaos. As for the water, others will take care of that."

The officers followed suit.

One of the centurions grumbled discontentedly, "If they can't hold the bridge, all our hard work will have been for nothing..."

“No one can do everything. Trust your colleagues.” Lieutenant Colonel Robert said without turning his head, “I trust them as much as I trust you.”

Winters pondered the words, recalling General Naresha's words during the Battle of Lighthouse Harbor: "Veneta expects everyone to do their duty."

An army doesn't fight by one person or one centurion. In any case, he can still trust his seniors, predecessors, and even generals.

With this thought in mind, Winters calmed down.

After ascertaining the situation, the group rushed back to the Qiaolin camp.

The hundred-man squads had all assembled, and the area around the camp was pitch black, with no sign of any Hed people.

Lieutenant Colonel Robert suddenly sighed heavily: "Now... it all depends on Alpad's abilities."

The centurions were puzzled.

“The Styx River is winding, and the place where the Hud people placed their rafts upstream would not be too far away. Otherwise, all those things would be washed ashore.”

One of the centurions asked, "General Alpad just led his troops from the camp to deal with the Hed people upstream?"

“I guess so.” Lieutenant Colonel Robert frowned.

"Where did those barbarians get the wood?" Winters was also puzzled. "Didn't we clear out all the woods around here?"

"I don't know either." The lieutenant colonel gripped the whip tightly, his voice filled with anger, helplessness, and resentment. "White Lion isn't your average barbarian. We... underestimated him!"

……

The Paratul people are fighting desperately to protect the bridge.

The cold wind howled, and the brave soldiers stripped naked, with only a rope tied around their waists, and jumped into the icy river.

They didn't have much time; every second the river would take away a lot of heat from their bodies.

One by one, the water diversion piles were pulled down, and those that hadn't been pulled down were just barely holding on.

Bridge piers, due to their arched structure, can barely withstand one or two impacts.

The ropes of the Hed people were tangled in the bridge piers, and the Parat people who had dived into the water had to cut them before they lost their heat.

Fires were lit on the bridge to warm the diving soldiers.

However, many soldiers were so cold that they could not speak when they were pulled up, and their bodies were trembling uncontrollably.

Some people's skin has turned bluish-purple, and their limbs are swollen like radishes.

Sackler was filled with sorrow; these soldiers who had leaped into the River Styx were his best sons.

But he couldn't show any emotion; he just kept sending more people into the water.

The River Styx flowed swiftly, carrying giant logs as it crashed into the bridge.

The Paratites were fighting against the power of nature. Swords and firearms were now useless; all that remained of humanity's weapons were courage and will.

All twelve small boats were dispatched, but in the rush, no fishing nets could be found, so the soldiers on board could only use their long guns to try their best to intercept driftwood in the water.

A tree trunk, about half an arm's length thick, was half-submerged in the water until it floated to the surface near the bridge pier.

The soldier who was cutting the rope next to the bridge pier was unable to dodge in time and was hit directly by the tree trunk, immediately vomiting blood.

He was already dead when he was pulled from the water.

This was a very young and handsome man, but at this moment he was lying naked on the bridge, his eyes wide open in a daze, bloodstains on the corner of his mouth, and a large chunk of his chest was crushed.

Someone is crying softly.

Sackler removed his cloak, covered the young man's body, and gently closed his eyes.

"What's his name?" Sackler asked.

“I don’t know, General,” Colonel László replied expressionlessly.

The Hed people on the opposite bank also noticed the unusual activity of the Plato army. Regardless of whether the White Lion had communicated with them beforehand, they would not miss this opportunity.

Arrows and stones were thrown at the Paratians on the bridge, and the brazier served as their best guide.

Hunters carrying rifles rushed over, the sounds of gunfire and arrows whistling through the air mingling. Some fell into the river, others collapsed on the bank.

"A boat!" exclaimed the Paratians on the small boat.

On the river, a massive object is emerging from the darkness, steadily approaching the bridge.

Where did this boat come from?

“It’s not a boat.” Colonel László glanced at it and answered calmly, as if it were none of his business. “It’s a raft, a sheepskin raft.”

The Platonic soldiers on the small boat rowed with all their might, charging toward the huge sheepskin raft.

Meanwhile, there were also Harts on the sheepskin rafts, who were shooting arrows at the oarsmen of the small boats.

“Such a large sheepskin raft,” Sackler sneered. “It must have taken a long time to prepare… I thought I had overestimated him. In the end, I still underestimated him.”

The Paratul were eager to return home, while the Hed were equally determined to annihilate them. Therefore, the barbarians would not miss any opportunity to pursue and intercept them, and neither would the Paratul.

The white lion had prepared rafts for crossing the river; he hadn't expected the Parat people to be able to build a bridge across it. Like his formidable enemy, he reacted to each situation as it arose, making the most of his limited resources.

This chapter contains some illustrations. If you don't see them, please refresh the page later.

The [Dragon-Slaying Sword] can not only cleave water, but also break ice; it can be found on the Lugou Bridge.

Even reading this story myself, I felt that Winters had it too hard. I swear I'll treat him better in the next volume...

Thank you to all the readers for reading, subscribing, recommending, voting, tipping, and commenting.

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(End of this chapter)