Steel, gunpowder, and spellcasters

Chapter 61 The Great Vinetta
Despite two rounds of calibration, Winters and Andrei believed that the heavy cannons aimed at the bay were still inaccurately firing 32-pound iron balls at the dock.

Rather than providing fire support for the sailors, it was more like firing cannons to boost morale. The main purpose was to make a sound and, incidentally, to inform everyone that the fortifications had changed hands.

After a period of silence, when the cannons of the duckbill fortress roared again, the naval officer who was directing the sailors to attack the dock keenly sensed that the battle situation seemed to have changed.

The duckbill fortress, which was originally firing at the cannons on the water, has now turned to fire at the naval dock.

Although the cannonballs indiscriminately struck both the attackers and the sailors, one might suspect that the attackers' gunnery was simply inadequate. However, another possibility exists—reinforcements arrived and recaptured the fortress.

The morale of the more than 400 sailors hastily assembled was on the verge of collapse. If it weren't for the naval officers retaining more than 30 boarding crew members as a supervisory force, this rabble would have thrown down their weapons and run away long ago.

The naval officers knew very well that this rabble could only fight when things were going well. Now that they had decided they couldn't win, they would turn tail and run at the first sign of any resistance.

Sailors are not soldiers; they are first and foremost sailors, and only secondly naval personnel. Their work on board is extremely demanding, leaving them with neither the time nor the energy for land combat training. This is why warships specifically have boarding squadrons for close-quarters combat.

Similarly, a naval officer's primary duty is to be a captain. It was already an extraordinary achievement that he was able to gather his sailors for a counterattack amidst the chaos. He truly lacked the ability to lead this rabble to retake the dock.

Therefore, the naval sailors' repeated assaults on the dock were all easily broken; as soon as one person turned and ran, everyone else followed suit. The naval officers watched from behind, anxious but helpless.

Upon discovering that the fortifications might have been recaptured by reinforcements, the naval officer was overjoyed. Leaving a captain with a supervisory team to oversee the demoralized sailors, the officer, along with a few guards, bypassed the dock and headed straight for Duckbill Cape.

----

On the high wall, the officers on night watch spotted a rider approaching the gate of the fortress in the darkness; the sound of hooves was particularly clear in the night.

Without saying a word, a highly stressed officer pulled out a red-hot iron rod from the charcoal brazier and shoved it into the ignition slot of the cannon.

A shell roared out of the barrel and flew into the night, its destination unknown.

Before the sound of the cannon had even faded, the gunner received a solid slap in the face.

"Who [swearing] told you to fire the cannon? Can't you hear the sound of horses' hooves? There's only one person! Why did you fire the cannon?" The officer on duty angrily cursed, and then slapped the gunner hard across the face.

Winters and Andrei, who rushed over upon hearing the commotion, fell silent, fearing they might get caught in the crossfire.

The rider was not deterred by the cannonball and quickly arrived at the gate, but instead of announcing his identity, he shouted that he wanted to see the person in charge of the fort.

The other party did not look like a messenger from the Eastern Camp at all. Several night watch officers exchanged glances and simultaneously grabbed their muskets to load them. Winters also took out his steel awl.

“We are the Venetia Army. State your identity!” the officer on duty replied.

Unexpectedly, the rider outside the wall, upon hearing this, turned his horse around and rode away without a word, leaving behind several bewildered army officers on the city wall.

A few minutes later, the rider who had run away returned to the outside of the fortress with the naval officer.

As the outline of the fortress became clearer, the naval officer grew increasingly uneasy. He decided to be cautious and sent a guard to scout the situation. Upon learning that the army had recaptured the fortress, they rushed over to request reinforcements.

But the overjoyed naval officer didn't even go inside the fortress gates.

The officer on duty refused to open the door for him without orders from a senior officer. When Colonel Kara arrived at the fortified position after receiving a report, he bluntly told the naval officer, "Whatever you have to say, say it outside."

Left with no other option, the naval officer craned his neck to explain his purpose, only to be flatly refused by Colonel Kara: "Admiral Zio's orders to me are to retake the fort. We must hold this position until we receive further orders. I cannot spare any manpower to support you."

"The pirates won't come to Duckbill Fortress anymore; their ships have all fled. This is just a rock, a dead rock!" the naval captain cried out in grief and indignation. "Are you just going to stand by and watch the pirates burn all our warships?"

Standing behind Colonel Kara, Winters caught a few key words: pirates, escaped. Winters doubted his ears: "What kind of pirates would dare attack the Venetta Navy's home port? Or did I hear wrong? Or does 'pirates' refer to a different kind of pirate than I think?"

But Colonel Kara remained unmoved. Pointing to the lone ship on the sea, he said to the navy, "The sailors on that ship, plus the men now, are enough to take back the dock."

“That’s not our ship! That’s the ship of the Oathbreakers! They won’t help us.” The naval officer retorted angrily, then pleaded in a low voice, “Help us! The pirates have already taken four of our large ships. If they burn all the ships in the dock, the fleet won’t recover for years.”

His words were so poignant that even the hard-hearted Colonel Kara could no longer remain indifferent: "My cavalry is too few in number to be of much use. Two battalions of infantry are marching here and will arrive soon; they will help you crush the enemy."

"It will be too late by the time they arrive!"

"It's too late! Whatever's in your dock is now burned to charcoal. I won't let my officers die for charcoal. Please leave."

After saying that, Colonel Kara turned his head and left without a word.

The naval officer stood outside the fortress for a while, then rode away dejectedly.

As the dutiful naval officer's figure gradually disappeared into the distance, the officers on the fortress felt a pang of sadness. The joy of their victory was overshadowed, and they all turned and left in silence.

"Look over there!" Andrei suddenly shouted.

The officers turned at the sound. On the continent connecting Blue Ocean City and East Harbor, a thicket of black bushes was moving—it was a marching column. Accompanied by the beat of drums, the soldiers advanced in eight columns with perfectly synchronized steps. From a distance, the rows of extra-long rifles looked like a forest, moving with a chilling, orderly discipline.

Major General Antonio Serbiati has arrived with the Third Legion – “Giant Vinetta”!
A dark spot broke away from the ranks, circled the dock, and approached the gun emplacement. The cavalry officer spurred his horse on, galloping to the gun emplacement gate.

The warhorse was foaming at the mouth, and the messenger roared, "Where is Colonel Kara?!"

"I am!" Colonel Kara strode back to the city wall.

"By order of Major General Serbiati: Your unit is to cooperate with our unit in attacking the enemy entrenched in the dock!" After saying this, the messenger pulled on the reins and galloped away without stopping.

There was no explanation or clarification, only an order. The officers on the artillery battery were somewhat bewildered, and their gazes involuntarily focused on Colonel Kara.

Colonel Kara paused for a moment, then quickly regained his composure. He scanned the room and said, "Didn't you hear the order? Wake everyone up! The lightly wounded stay here, the rest of you go!"

The naval shipyard was connected to the sea to the north, and its land-based portion was separated from other port buildings by a stone wall. It was this stone wall that repelled several attacks by the naval sailors.

The attackers positioned a large number of musketeers along the breastwork and also dragged several short cannons off the ship that was under repair.

Naval sailors who came within fifty paces would be met with a barrage of arquebus fire, and those at the front, once shot down, would turn and run away if they were too cowardly.

The failure to stop a few individuals from deserting their posts only encouraged more people to flee. If the attackers then unleashed another round of fire from short-barreled cannons loaded with grapeshot, the morale of the attacking force would completely collapse.

Finally, the naval sailors only dared to stand sixty paces away, engaging the attackers in a feeble exchange of fire with their muskets.

But this time, the people who came were not sailors, but the most elite Venetta standing army.

The Allied Army's configuration and tactics had not undergone any major changes since the end of the Sovereign War. Marshal Ned improved the Duke of Arlian's phalanx pike tactics and retained some swordsmen and shieldmen to counter the Duke of Arlian's phalanx, while replacing crossbowmen and archers with musketeers.

During the Battle of the Butcher, Marshal Ned used this improved pike formation to defeat the Duke of Arlian's forces in open battle, and the composite system of pikemen, swordsmen, and musketeers has been used ever since.

However, a square formation was clearly unnecessary against the enemy before them. To the sound of drums, two large battalions of infantry smoothly deployed into a horizontal line. The spearmen placed their spears on the ground, drew their swords, and lined up behind the swordsmen and shieldmen.

The musketeers stood at the front of the line, two steps apart, pulled out the ramrods, and began loading their matchlock muskets.

Inside the dock, the enemy felt unprecedented pressure. This time, the attack was no longer launched by a rabble waving sailors' knives and shouting to bolster their courage.

The infantry of the Third Army Corps stood a hundred meters away, their ranks perfectly aligned, yet the silence was like hell. The only sounds on the battlefield, besides the wind, were the whirring of lead bullets being pushed into the barrels. The musketeers loaded the gunpowder, inserted the lead bullets, and inserted the ramrod back into the slot under the barrel. They then poured gunpowder into the ignition chute and fastened the cap. Finally, they attached the smoldering match cord, calmly completing the entire loading process under the enemy's watchful eye.

The officer in charge of commanding the musketeers swept across the front lines, and after confirming that all the musketeers had finished loading their weapons, he stood up in his stirrups and waved the battle flag hanging on his lance three times.

Antonio, standing behind the ranks, saw the flags waving and nodded to his standard-bearer.

The spellcaster officer rode forward and, amplified by a sound-enhancing spell, roared: "Great Vineta!"

The soldiers responded with a roar: "Kazar! [Long live!]"

"Big Vinetta!"

“KAzar!”

"Big Vinetta!"

"KAZAR!"

The three battle cries were more powerful than the last. Not only were the enemies in the shipyard terrified, but even the sailors behind them trembled with fear.

Startled, a musketeer behind the stone wall pulled the trigger, and a shot rang out, the lead bullet creating a crater in the ground. A dozen more shots followed, and the others instinctively opened fire.

The officers lined up outside the fortress heard the three battle cries and knew that the Third Army Corps was about to attack.

Time was of the essence. Colonel Kara drew his saber and shouted, "Arrowhead formation! Officers in front, young men to the back. I'll be first!"

"What are you thinking?" Colonel Bozukhov spurred his horse forward, flicked Colonel Kara's back with the back of his sword, and laughed and scolded, "Why are you standing at the very front all by yourself?"

After three battle cries, Antonio turned to his adjutant beside him and whispered, "Let's begin."

With a command of "Advance!", the drums sounded, and the musketeers at the forefront, the Third Army began its advance.

The soldiers of the Third Army Corps advanced on the shipyard like an unstoppable tsunami. When they were about sixty paces away, another musketeer inside the wall could no longer bear the psychological pressure and opened fire on the approaching army soldiers.

This time, it wasn't just a dozen or so men firing; all the musketeers with gunpowder in their muskets pulled the trigger. The gunfire was like popping beans, and even the short-barreled cannons opened fire.

Dozens of grape-sized shrapnel shells shot out from the muzzle, forming a barrage.

Amidst gunfire and artillery shells, more than twenty musketeers were instantly felled, their bodies riddled with four or five bloody holes.

Being shot to death outright is actually a mercy; most deaths are accompanied by brutal suffering. A musketeer with a punctured lung, blood rushing into his trachea, his alveoli being squeezed out of his mouth, yet he had not yet breathed his last, lying on the ground whimpering helplessly.

But the soldiers of the Third Army continued their resolute advance. The musketeers stared straight ahead, not even glancing at their fallen comrades. And so did the swordsmen and spearmen behind them.

The soldiers ignored the corpses and the dying on the ground, stepping over them as if they were fallen logs.

After advancing about fifty paces, the human wall stopped moving with a command to "stop".

"Put the guns on the rack!"

The musketeer planted the support rod in the ground and set up the matchlock musket.

Meanwhile, their enemy was frantically loading ammunition.

"Prepare!"

The musketeers gently blew on the matchlock and opened the lid of the powder trough.

"aim!"

He pressed the gun to his shoulder and aimed the rearview mirror at the enemy.

"Fire!"

Pulling the trigger, the smoldering rope tip traced an arc, igniting the gunpowder in the trough. A flash of light, a gunshot rang out, and a volley of lead bullets flew towards the stone wall through the smoke, screams echoing from behind the smoke wall.

"charge!"

Following behind the musketeers, the lieutenants, leading their troops, spurred their horses forward, charging to the front. The swordsmen and shieldmen followed behind, shouting as they charged toward the Haidong Port shipyard.

On the other side of Haidong Port, the officers' cavalry had finished their formation and were galloping towards the dock at a brisk pace.

Four colonels led the charge, guiding the advance. Behind them, the width of the column gradually increased.

The overall shape of the charging formation is arrowhead-shaped; this formation is called the arrowhead formation or the arrowhead formation. Just as red with horns doesn't make you faster, arranging your troops in an arrowhead formation doesn't increase the penetrating power of the charge.

The true advantage of the arrowhead formation lies in the fact that as long as each cavalryman behind follows the cavalryman in front, the cavalryman at the very front can guide the direction of the entire charging column, and under this premise, maximize the width of the formation.

When they were less than a hundred meters from the shipyard wall, Colonel Kara roared the order to charge. All the officers drew their sabers, crouched down, and accelerated with all their might.

It was originally expected that the officers would have to brave a hail of bullets to break through this distance, but no gunfire was heard from inside the stone wall.

The cavalry encountered no resistance and quickly reached the stone wall. Colonel Kara, without hesitation, spurred his horse and leaped gracefully over the breastwork.

Kara's leap over the breastwork left the other officers dumbfounded. Winters, for example, had never trained in hurdling. When he saw Colonel Kara leap over the breastwork, the warrant officer's heart skipped a beat.

He had no idea whether the strong wind would suddenly stop at the stone wall and throw him off, breaking his neck. But if the senior students in front of him all jumped over it, he would have to bite the bullet and jump too.

Fortunately, the others weren't as reckless as Colonel Kara. Colonel Bozukhov reined in his horses by the wall and stopped. The rest of the men followed suit.

Bozukhov, cursing and swearing, led the other two officers over the breastwork and opened the gate.

The cavalry charged into the shipyard, only to freeze in place. There were no enemies inside, just people scattering and fleeing.

"[Vulgar language]?!" Colonel Bozukhov cursed. "The Third Army Corps did all the work! They left us some leftovers."

"What should I do?"

"What do you mean, what to do?" Bozukhov glared fiercely at the person who asked the question: "So what if we don't eat the leftovers? Kill everyone who isn't wearing a uniform!"

Having said that, the colonel slapped the horse's rump with the side of his saber and charged toward the enemies who were fleeing toward the sea.

Winters saw Andrei following Colonel Bozukhov, excitedly chasing after the fleeing enemy.

Throughout the entire series, the bonus for cavalry arrowhead formations has always been increased penetration power. This formation actually exists, but its main advantage is ease of turning; the lead rider can control the charge direction alone. Thank you to all the readers who voted for this book before, thank you to reader 烟云散 for your vote, thank you to 不知叫啥 for your vote, and thank you to writersblock for your vote. Thank you everyone.

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(End of this chapter)