Steel, gunpowder, and spellcasters

Chapter 485 Rebuilding the Nation (Part 1)

As a training ground for siege tactics, Maple Leaf Fortress suffered ravages from the Iron Peak County army for nearly a month.

The land around the fortress, which had been carefully leveled, is now dilapidated and riddled with trenches of varying widths and shapes.

Viewed from the sky, the radial trenches don't resemble tentacles extending from the siege camp to the fortress at all; instead, they look like roots spreading from the fortress itself to the siege camp.

Although Maple Leaf Castle's rammed earth and stone main structure was extremely sturdy, apart from the captured 32-pound cannons, the Iron Peak County Army's most skilled and largest stock of 6-pound long cannons were like tickling them.

However, this did not prevent the Iron Peak County army's artillery from dismantling Maple Leaf Fort's defenses.

Drawing lessons from past sieges, from the very first day of the siege, artillery commander Richard Mason assigned different tasks to light and heavy artillery:

The heavy artillery, which is difficult to move and slow to load, is set up in a solid fortification and bombarded in a few specific weak points in the wall.
The lightweight and flexible six-pound cannons were not deployed in a fixed position, but were pushed to wherever they were needed, firing at close range, specifically targeting the transverse walls, battlements, and firing platforms above the main structure of the fortress.

The meticulous senior Mason also broke up and mixed the veterans and new recruits of the artillery unit, reorganizing them into artillery groups several times the number of cannons, with the veterans mentoring the new recruits and taking turns operating the cannons.

After nearly a month of prolonged bombardment, most of the buildings on Maple Leaf Castle were destroyed, leaving only bare walls that would kick up choking dust whenever the wind blew.

The triangular bunkers in the northwest and southwest directions were also blasted open in several places by the 32-pound cannons.

Without the defensive cover on the top of the fortress, the defenders dared not climb the walls to shoot at the enemy outside the city during the day—that would be tantamount to being used as target practice.

Even if the soldiers of the Tiefeng County Army came to the foot of the fortress wall with small baskets on their backs and swaggered away to pick up the shells that had been fired, the defending troops could only watch helplessly as the enemy left.

The defenders couldn't even repair the walls—every time they managed to rebuild part of the fortifications under the cover of night, they would be met with even fiercer artillery fire the next day, until all the wooden buckets and earthen baskets that the soldiers had painstakingly carried to the top of the walls were smashed before they would stop.

If you do nothing, you won't get hit by shells.

After several rounds of back and forth, the defenders inside Maple Leaf Castle and the attackers outside reached a tacit understanding: I won't build walls, you won't bombard me, we'll all live in peace and take it one day at a time.

Just as the defenders inside Maple Leaf Castle were gradually giving up, on the other side, the novice artillerymen of Iron Peak County Army had had their fill of fun and were even getting a little tired of fighting.

It is no exaggeration to say that the artillerymen of some standing corps who have served for ten years have fired more shots than they have in this one month.

After this practical training exercise, the artillery detachment of the Tiefeng County Army is ready to receive more cannons—waiting only for the successful casting of cannons at the Rewodan Smelting Plant.

When both sides were exhausted, Colonel Geza, Colonel Skull, and Lieutenant Colonel Matthias sent some officers and soldiers to the siege site of Maple Leaf Castle, ostensibly to "assist in the operation," but in reality to "visit and learn."

Anyone could see that Maple Leaf Castle was now a dilapidated building on the verge of collapse.

It's just waiting for someone to go up and kick it.

The two men who decided when to go up and kick it were watching it from their artillery bunkers, which were very close to Maple Leaf Fortress.

"I'm thinking about something."

Senior Mason cupped one hand in front of his eye, aiming at Maple Leaf Fortress in the distance. This was a little trick used by artillerymen to make distant views clearer.

"Ok?"

Winters peeled the grass roots in his hands and absentmindedly gave a reply.

"You didn't..." Senior Mason asked casually, "You never intended to use my allocation plan from the beginning, did you?"

Winters continued to respond with a curt "Hmm."

Before Winters could even realize what he had said, Mason pounced on him, grabbing his throat with both hands and swaying him from side to side through gritted teeth: "Then why did you make me do it? Do you know how much time I spent, how many nights I stayed up, how much hair I lost? Huh?!"

"Ugh." Winters immediately closed his eyes: "I'm dead."

Senior Mason released Winters, brushed the dust off his clothes, and kicked Winters: "If you're going to play dead, at least do it properly."

"Don't be angry, senior." Winters handed the clean, white grass roots to his senior, saying ingratiatingly, "Here, have some sweet grass."

Mason took the grass root and put it in his mouth.

"Ptooey, it's bitter."

"Looks like it's not the right season yet."

In this place far from subordinates and outsiders, Winters and Mason no longer had to maintain the image that people expected of them, and naturally regained some of the lively nature that belonged to people of their age.

Hearing the commotion outside, the garrison inside the triangular fort secretly crawled out of their hiding place and poked their heads out to look.

Winters picked up a stone and threw it at the soldier next to him, scaring him away.

"Two battalions will launch a feint attack, while one battalion will launch the main attack." Winters rolled over, sitting with his back against the wall of the artillery bunker, and gave a relatively conservative estimate: "We should be able to take it before dawn by launching the assault at daybreak."

"That's an exaggeration." Seeing that Winters was about to get down to business, Senior Mason also put away his anger and shook his head seriously: "Half a battalion is enough. The gap is only so big. Too many troops will only hinder our operations."

After he finished speaking, the artillery bunker fell into a brief silence.

After a short while, Winters muttered to himself, "But we've survived a major battle, it's not worth dying in a place like this at a time like this."

Upon hearing this, Mason sighed.

No matter how much preparation was made or how much firepower was deployed, Maple Leaf Fort remains the main base built by the New Reclamation Army over twenty years, and still the most fortified stronghold in the New Reclamation Area.

Even if it's already teetering on the brink of collapse, it's impossible to kick it down without drawing blood.

“My soldiers,” Winters said to his senior, “I would be heartbroken if any of them died here.”

Hearing this, Mason sighed again.

After a moment of silence, Mason looked at the enormous creature before him, which, though covered in wounds, still stood firm, with a troubled expression: "Why hasn't he surrendered yet?"

……

Meanwhile, inside Maple Leaf Castle, the poor Major [Old Felt] was also caught in a deep self-doubt: "Am I too good?"

Staring at the flickering candlelight on the square table, Major Felt cried out in silence, "Why haven't they come to persuade me to surrender?!"

If anyone has improved faster than the Iron Peak gunners during this siege that lasted more than a month, it must be Major Old Felt.

All the education, training, and upbringing the major received throughout his life, all the knowledge, skills, and methods he learned, and even the mind, physique, and virtues his parents gave him, seemed to be preparations made in advance for this siege.

The rebels blasted a breach in the triangular bunker, and he worked through the night to build a fence to block it.
The rebels smashed the bunkers on the city wall, so he organized people to make earthen baskets to repair them;

After the fortifications on the city wall were repaired, they were destroyed again. So he changed his strategy and dug hidden tunnels on the reverse slope to stubbornly maintain his troops on the city wall.
When his subordinates were demoralized, he ate and lived with them, personally weaving baskets, digging soil, and wielding a shovel to work.
His subordinates dared not climb the city walls, so he dressed neatly and inspected various parts of the defense line every day.

In this siege that was almost like being slowly tortured to death, Old Felt managed to maintain the bare minimum of his men's morale, preventing them from completely collapsing, while also preserving their basic discipline, so that they wouldn't bind themselves and surrender.

To achieve such a glorious accomplishment in such a difficult situation, even Major Felt himself couldn't help but shed tears whenever he thought about it.

Major Felt sometimes couldn't help but ask himself, "Am I really that good? Is it that the rebels are hesitant to launch a full-scale attack? Or...or are they deliberately...letting me win?"

Every time the latter thought popped into his head, Major Felt would slap himself, ordering himself to get rid of such wild thoughts.

He forced himself to believe that the reason the rebels hesitated to launch a close-range attack was not because they deliberately avoided it, but because his efforts had forced them to refrain from launching an attack easily.

It wasn't that Old Felt was too stupid to see the situation clearly, but rather that without the wake-up call of those slaps, the major would probably have collapsed much earlier than his subordinates.

Therefore, he chose to believe the "reality" he wanted to believe.

To be fair, although Maple Leaf Fortress's design was somewhat outdated, this did not prevent it from causing great difficulties for the enemy. Even in the eyes of the officers of the Allied Provinces, it was an impregnable fortress.

Maple Leaf Fortress has no shortage of weapons, ammunition, or food. If it has 500 qualified soldiers, the enemy will not be able to even get close to the inner walls of Maple Leaf Fortress without suffering three times the casualties. If the enemy surrounds it without attacking, Maple Leaf Fortress can hold out indefinitely.

Unfortunately, Felt only had about five hundred old, weak, sick and disabled people under his command.

Don't even think about inflicting three times the casualties on the enemy, let alone "defend until the end of time".

It was obvious to everyone that Maple Leaf Castle was indefensible; it was either surrender or die. Without a good reason, everyone would choose to surrender. Therefore, Old Felt's biggest problem was how to maintain the morale of these defeated soldiers and prevent them from collapsing—and most importantly, from "collapsed prematurely."

Whenever he had the chance, Major Felt would instill in his men the idea that "it's better to surrender later than to surrender early, and it's better to wait for someone to persuade you to surrender than to surrender voluntarily."

In a sense, Major Felt was not lying.

According to the custom of the Paratites, the victors had absolute control over the defeated and could arbitrarily execute, sell, and enslave prisoners.

However, executions and sell-offs now only occur during wars against the Hud.

It must be said that the establishment of the republican system profoundly changed this land.

In the past, the term "Palatu" was a loose concept. The wars of the Paratu were battles between lords, massacres between rulers and rebels. Killing prisoners was killing enemies, so the Paratu never hesitated.

However, as the imperial system came to an end and the idea of ​​a "nation for all" was widely disseminated and accepted, killing prisoners changed from killing enemies to killing compatriots, and was no longer tolerated by popular morality.

However, although the republican system changed the Platut people, so far, it has not changed them much.

Although modern Paratus consider killing their fellow citizens immoral, they feel no remorse whatsoever for extracting ransoms and forcing labor from their "defeated brethren."

Major Felt astutely grasped this weakness and seized every opportunity to explain the pros and cons to his subordinates.

First, he talked at length about how terrible the fate of those who became prisoners of war was—most of which was Major Felt's imagination;
Then it goes on to talk about how strong Maple Leaf Castle's defenses are—and that's no exaggeration;
He ultimately promoted his ultimate theory—Maple Leaf Castle is a bargaining chip belonging to everyone in Maple Leaf Castle, and everyone can use Maple Leaf Castle to exchange for better treatment from the rebels;
Therefore, we must defend it! The longer we defend it, the better our treatment will be!
The best outcome for everyone is to hold out until the rebels are powerless, until they can no longer restrain themselves, and until they take the initiative to persuade the rebels to surrender.

Major Felt even composed a catchy slogan, which he led the guards to shout three times before each meal:

"Open the door and surrender, become a beast of burden; wait for someone to persuade you to surrender, then take your money home."

Through the indoctrination of this theory, Major Felt also popularized its advanced deductions among his subordinates—since Maple Leaf Castle is everyone's bargaining chip, anyone who opens the gates and surrenders is betraying the collective, selling out friends for personal gain, and is despicable, shameful, and unforgivable!
Thus, Major Felt achieved self-monitoring of the garrison, with everyone acting as a supervisor, and five hundred pairs of eyes constantly watching to prevent any unscrupulous individuals from trying to pocket everyone's money.

However, a month passed.

The rebels outside Maple Leaf Castle came and went, their banners changed several times, but no one came to persuade them to surrender.

"Could it be," Major Felt couldn't help but fall into deep doubt, "that I'm really that amazing?"

……

[Siege Camp]
Winters held a general meeting at the siege camp, mainly to meet people and, incidentally, to discuss how to deal with Maple Leaf Castle.

A map table occupied the main space inside the tent, and the participants, according to their rank, consciously occupied positions around the map table at varying distances.

It was a rare occasion for the regular officers of the Iron Peak County Army and the officers appointed by Winters to gather together, while the officers of the allied forces who came to visit and learn politely occupied a corner of the main tent.

Even Andrei, who would go to the suburban horse farm whenever he had time, rarely appeared at the event.

After hearing the explanation, Andrei chuckled: "That guy from the United Provinces in Maple Leaf Castle, is he still dreaming of 'surrendering with dignity'?"

Major Seber grinned, "Well... he's a bit shameless."

It was nominally a plenary meeting, but in reality, only officials at the level of tribunal officers and colonels dared to speak. Many people were called in without really understanding the situation.

So Mason explained the rationale behind the decision to the officers listening in a gentle voice: "Maple Leaf Fortress stores tens of thousands of kilograms of gunpowder. If we were to offer to allow them to surrender first, Major Felt would definitely put the 'gunpowder' on the negotiating table. This is another reason why, in addition to practicing siege tactics, Tribunal Montagne and I decided to wait for them to offer to surrender on their own initiative."

“That makes things difficult. This guy from the United Provinces is quite stubborn.” Andrei frowned. “Why don’t we just let him get lost? I doubt he can cause any trouble.”

“The old marshal said that officers, like warhorses, gunpowder, and armor, are precious war resources that cannot be wasted.” Winters pondered for a moment, then chuckled, resting his chin on his hand. “To be honest, Major Ald Felt is quite capable… so I’m even less inclined to let him go.”

The officers inside the tent also burst into laughter.

In a corner, an honorary officer from White Mountain County, who had been listening in, mustered his courage and raised his hand to ask, "Sir, why can't we just attack directly? Maple Leaf Fortress has already been almost completely destroyed, hasn't it?"

“Because soldiers are just as valuable war resources, even more valuable resources.” Winters looked around at his subordinates and answered seriously, “Therefore, we must not waste them… Each and every one of you remember this.”

The tent fell silent instantly, and the honorary officer who had asked the question involuntarily shivered.

The officers' meeting was convened primarily because Winters wanted to see his men and stabilize morale, which might be affected by the upcoming general assembly of free men.

Discussions about the fate of Maple Leaf Castle are secondary, as the final decision rests with Winters himself.

Seeing that the atmosphere was becoming somewhat tense, Mason ended the discussion about the siege of Maple Leaf Castle and led the officers to the dining area.

After everyone else had left, Mason returned to the tent.

"Sigh." Mason tidied up the maps on the table and complained, "Why are you getting so angry with a guy who bought his position?"

"Losing your temper?" Winters was taken aback. "Did I lose my temper?"

“Of course there are.” Mason replied helplessly, “The ‘wolf cubs’ are terrified.”

"What wolf cub?!" Winters jumped up as if pricked by a needle: "Who gave that name?"

“That’s what everyone calls you.” Mason waved his hand. “Fine, fine, if you don’t want to hear it, I won’t use it anymore.”

After a while, the two put away all the maps in the tent.

“If all else fails, let him ‘get lost.’” Winters paused for a moment, then laughed. “While both are valuable, our soldiers are far more valuable than Major Felt.”

“Alright.” Mason nodded. “I’ll send someone to talk to Major Felt tomorrow.”

“No need to rush, it’s been so long already, one more day won’t make a difference.” Winters stroked his stubble and asked, “I think I had someone look for veterans who know anything about the situation inside Maple Leaf Castle. I think… there was such a thing, right?”

“Yes.” Mason folded the map table back up and placed it in the corner of the tent. He glanced at Winters and scolded, “Have you forgotten yourself?”

Mason walked to the filing cabinet on the other side of the tent, rummaged through it briefly, then returned with a paper bag and handed it to Winters: "Here you go."

Winters, puzzled, opened the paper bag and pulled out the files inside. They turned out to be multiple interrogation records, all related to Maple Leaf Fortress, including records of interrogations of officers and soldiers.

“Senior,” Winters said sincerely, “how could I live without you?”

A cold snort, devoid of any trust, escaped from deep within Mason's nostrils.

Winters pulled out a chair and sat down at the tent entrance to watch.

“Nothing special, though.” Mason stood to the side, recalled the contents of the dossier, and gave Winters a brief summary: “Maple Leaf Castle is very strictly managed, and the security of the underground storage is of paramount importance. Even officers are not allowed to move around freely, and soldiers know even less.”

Upon hearing this, Winters simply stuffed the file back into the paper bag: "Does no one in Maplestone City know anything about the situation in Mapleleaf Castle?"

“If I had to name one, there really is one, who might even be the person who knows the most about the internal structure of Maple Leaf Castle.” Mason rubbed his forehead and pulled up the memory he needed: “That’s the chief ‘stonemason’ in charge of the daily maintenance of Maple Leaf Castle, Marbru Figney—Old Figney.”

Winters' eyes lit up instantly.

Mason deliberately whetted Winters's appetite for a while before adding, "However, Major Felt was very careful. After escaping back to Maple Leaf Castle, he immediately kidnapped old Figny and his family and brought them to Maple Leaf Castle. He even burned down old Figny's workshop—probably because he was worried that we would find the blueprints."

Winters, who had been full of anticipation, was instantly disappointed: "Then what's the point of all that talk...?"

“I’m happy,” Mason said with a smile.

"Never mind." Winters stood up and stretched heavily. "Let's go have a meal together."

He said with a hint of regret, "It seems Major Felt got lucky this time."

“It’s about time he had a lucky break,” Mason shrugged.

After saying that, the two looked at each other and laughed, then walked together towards the sounds of laughter and the aroma of meat.

Major Felt's misfortune should have ended there.

However, the day after Winters said, "Major Felt got lucky this time," things took a turn for the better.

[There was a typo at the end of the previous chapter; it should have been "The Red Rose" banner hung listlessly on Maple Leaf Castle, not "The Blue Rose" banner.]
[The original text has been corrected, but many readers may have already read the previous chapter, so this is a supplementary explanation.]
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