Steel, gunpowder, and spellcasters

Chapter 59 Duck's Beak

Duckbill Fortress gets its name from the Duckbill Cape located in Haidong Bay. This cape is shaped like a duck's bill and is also a natural breakwater, like an arm extending from the land to protect Haidong Bay.

By setting up artillery positions on Duckbill Cape, one could control the narrow entrance and exit of Haidong Bay from the outside; and from the inside, all ships in the harbor would be within artillery range. If necessary, an iron chain could be erected between Duckbill Cape and the opposite shore to block any enemy from the sea.

It was precisely because of the unique topographical conditions of Haidong Bay that the Venetia Navy built a dedicated pier here, making Haidong Port the home port of the entire Venetia Navy.

But now, the port has fallen. The heavy cannons on the duckbill fortress are turning around and bombarding the naval ships anchored in the port.

The army officers received orders to retake the place.

In the darkness, a troop of cavalry galloped wildly. More than a hundred officers received the news and assembled at the East Camp. General Qiao dispatched them all at once, led by a colonel, to Haidong Port.

Winters lay prone on his horse, closely following Lieutenant Colonel Field ahead. The sight of hundreds of warhorses galloping together was astonishing, their hooves thundering like war drums.

But Winters was not swayed by this momentum. The moonlight was obscured by dark clouds, and the road was pitch black, making it impossible to see anything. Galloping on horseback along this dark road was extremely risky; a slight mishap could cause the horse to stumble.

People fell off their horses from time to time along the way and were carried to the roadside to wait for rescuers.

After riding for an unknown amount of time, they began to faintly hear the sounds of gunfire ahead, meaning that Haidong Port was just ahead. Then Winters saw someone waving a torch ahead, so he slowed his horse and stopped.

On a vacant lot by the roadside, officers who had arrived before him were resting.

Although this cavalry unit consisted of only a little over a hundred men, when running at full speed, the marching column stretched for a kilometer. The lieutenant colonels leading the unit decided to use this location, where they could hear the sounds of gunfire, as their attack position. They sent three officers ahead to scout while waiting for the entire unit to assemble.

From this assembly point, the sounds of gunfire and artillery fire could be clearly heard from ahead. Thump, thump, thump—these were the muffled sounds that only heavy artillery could produce.

Lieutenant Colonel Field handed Winters a water pouch: "Drink some, and stay with me for a bit, don't wander off."

Winters pulled out the cork, and just as he was about to take a sip, he smelled a pungent odor: "Is it wine?"

"Of course it's alcohol."

Winters nodded and put the cork back in; he didn't think drinking strong liquor to numb his senses would be of any benefit in the fight.

The wait before the battle was long and agonizing. The officers didn't know who the enemy was or how many there were, but they had to fight these unknown enemies at a moment's notice, which made everyone uneasy.

Field and several other officers huddled in a small circle, smoking pipes and chatting quietly, occasionally letting out bursts of laughter. Winters didn't smoke and couldn't join in, so he simply found a rock to sit on, silently fiddling with the two steel awls in his hands. He had originally planned to go to the club that evening, so he had only brought three steel awls as spares.

Moritz, oblivious to everyone else, pulled a felt blanket from his saddlebag, spread it on the ground, and fell fast asleep; the major wouldn't miss any opportunity to doze off.

A man carrying a torch came over and relayed the order: "The scouts have returned, and Colonel Kara wants everyone to come to a meeting."

More than a hundred people formed a large circle, and conveying orders to all of them simultaneously was no easy task. Colonel Kara, who was in charge, wasn't a spellcaster, so he had to stand on a large rock in the crowd and shout at the top of his lungs:

"Duckbill Fortress has been confirmed lost, and the attackers are now bombarding the naval ships with cannons. The fiercest fighting is currently taking place on the docks, where the remaining naval personnel are fighting tooth and nail against the attackers." Colonel Kara sneered, "But this has nothing to do with us. Our orders are to retake Duckbill Fortress. The naval forces are drawing the enemy's attention, which is our perfect opportunity. Quietly advance on the fortress! Everyone stick close to your officers! Dismissed!"

The officers scattered to find their own horses. They had never trained together and were not all cavalry, so it was difficult to organize them into any high-level formations.

Therefore, Colonel Kara's tactic was to take advantage of the enemy's inattention, ride a fast horse and charge forward, engaging in hand-to-hand combat behind the artillery fortifications. For this group of officers, who were military academy graduates and included several spellcasters, melee combat was more advantageous than firearms shooting.

The officers were arranged in roughly two columns, with Winters in the middle, followed by Major Moritz and then Lieutenant Colonel Field. At the very front of the column was Colonel Kara, who had to be at the very front to command this cavalry unit composed entirely of officers.

The charge began with a slow march, and once the cavalrymen had spread out to within two or three meters of each other, Colonel Kara gave the order to jog.

Winters didn't know which direction he was going, nor did he need to know. While a column charge had weak impact, it was agile and could quickly adjust direction; as long as each cavalryman followed the one in front, formation could be maintained. The trooping cavalry left the road and entered the forest, the branches whipping their bodies like lashes. After several minutes of traveling through the woods, firelight began to pierce through the gaps in the trees.

This meant they were about to leave the forest. Winters took a deep breath and drew his saber from its scabbard, tucking it between his knees.

After crossing the deliberately cut forest line, the view suddenly opened up. Less than a kilometer ahead was the Duck's Beak Fortress, where the navy and the attackers were engaged in fierce fighting on the dock to the left.

Major Moritz, ahead of Winters, suddenly accelerated, charging towards the fortress like an arrow released from a bow. Winters followed behind, for the first time thrusting his spurs forcefully into Qiang Yun's flanks, launching his own charge.

This charge was without shouts or buglers; the officers silently urged their horses on. Winters saw for the first time Strong display his prowess at full speed, overtaking Major Moritz's horse and finally running neck and neck with Field's black horse.

The kilometer was covered in an instant. A dozen or so attackers on their way from the fortress to support the docks hadn't even realized what was happening when they were cut down by the cavalry rushing in. The officers in front didn't give the men behind them a chance to swing their sabers; Winters only saw a headless corpse.

Killing those dozen or so enemies was just a casual matter; the entire cavalry didn't slow down at all and continued charging straight toward the fortress.

Duck's Beak Fortress was not a bastion; it was built to defend against enemies on water, not on land. Therefore, it was simply a square fortress constructed of stone and mortar, clumsy yet sturdy. Later, crescent-shaped fortresses were added at the four corners, but the overall structure remained unchanged, still featuring a single entrance and no moat.

This was actually a gamble. If the attackers kept the gates closed, then these hundred cavalrymen would have no way to take down the stone fortress with its outer walls that were eight meters high, because these hastily assembled light cavalry units had no means of siege warfare and could only swarm up the walls like ants.

Colonel Kara was betting that the attackers wouldn't expect reinforcements to arrive so quickly, nor would they expect the reinforcements to head straight for Duckbill Fortress instead of rescuing the port.

Upon receiving news of the attack on Haidong Bay, General Zio assembled his troops to provide support, taking less than three hours in total. In those three hours, before the attackers could even eliminate the defenders of Haidong Bay, this light cavalry force, composed entirely of officers, had already arrived.

The gate to the Duckbill Fortress was closed.

But the latch wasn't in!

The dozen or so people who came out just left the gate slightly ajar, and the attackers simply didn't have enough manpower to defend the Duck's Beak Fortress.

The men at the front pried open the door and pushed it open with all their might. The cavalrymen behind them filed in and rushed into the open space inside the fortress.

Meanwhile, the attackers inside the fortress remained completely unaware, still engrossed in operating the cannons within.

Colonel Kara dismounted and shouted, "Capture a few alive!" He then kicked open the wooden door from which the sound of cannon fire was coming from, and charged in, sword in hand.

Winters hadn't expected the attackers' defenses to be so lax. This was a blind spot in the attackers' thinking; they only thought about ambushing others, never considering that they themselves might be ambushed. Having gained the advantage of surprise, they had already won half the battle.

Colonel Kara led the way, and a dozen officers rushed in without hesitation, swords in hand. From inside came screams and the dull thud of metal striking flesh-covered bones.

But Winters didn't move; he and Moritz were waiting for Lieutenant Colonel Field's orders.

“No need to follow them. It seems there aren’t many enemies here,” Lieutenant Colonel Field calmly assessed. “Let’s go to the powder magazine. I’m worried these guys might turn on us and fight us to the death.”

As he spoke, Lieutenant Colonel Field stopped two men in junior officer uniforms: "You two guard the gate. Once our men are all inside, lock the gate. Do not open the gate for anyone without orders from a colonel."

The two lieutenants originally wanted to follow Colonel Kara into the fray for a real fight and vent their anger. However, they were stopped halfway by Lieutenant Colonel Field, but unfortunately, rank always trumps rank.

Lieutenant Colonel Field, along with Moritz and Winters, did not follow the main force but instead headed in another direction.

"Do you also know where the gunpowder depot is?" Winters asked, unable to contain his curiosity.

Lieutenant Colonel Field snorted: "The powder magazines in the fortresses are all in the same location—the furthest place from the artillery."

(End of this chapter)