Industrial Revolution of the Mage Lords

Chapter 445: Battle of the Royal Capital
In the watchtower on the west wall of the royal capital, Dickinson, the chief knight under Grand Duke Saint Valen, was pacing back and forth anxiously, occasionally taking a telescope from his subordinates to observe the movements of the enemy outside the city.

Frankly speaking, Dickinson himself didn't understand why the situation in the principality had developed to its current state.

Use the extraordinary abilities of the Federation's spellcasters to consolidate your rule, and rely on the spread of the church's faith to maintain the stability of the people's hearts... As the agent of secular royal power, His Majesty the Grand Duke should understand the principle of checks and balances and strive to maintain the fragile peaceful relationship between the church and the spellcasters.

But a corrupt plague whose origin was unclear broke the balance in an instant. The spellcasters were persecuted and expelled, and the church suddenly became the dominant force. Taking advantage of the fact that the Grand Duke was seriously injured and unconscious, the Archbishop became the actual ruler of Jinhui City.

And now he seemed determined to fight a life-and-death battle with the notorious lord of the north in the royal capital.

Forced to be caught between the church and the spellcasters are the wavering nobles... and tens of thousands of innocent people who are at a loss.

Hearing the rustling of footsteps behind him, Dickinson gathered his thoughts, let out a long sigh, and turned around to say, "Your Excellency, there's no need for you to come in person... The enemies outside the city are not making any unusual movements."

The middle-aged priest snorted coldly, "The bishop ordered me to supervise the battle, and I won't tolerate any perfunctory behavior... Why are your soldiers in the royal city so timid and their morale so low?"

Dickinson smiled bitterly, not knowing how to explain it. When the nobles sent their generals to fight, they knew to promise rewards or power before the war. At the very least, they would improve the soldiers' food or pay the overdue wages in full.

But the church is totally unreasonable. It wants these soldiers of civilian origin to die for them just by talking. Does it really think that everyone is the devout believers in the Holy City whose heads are full of doctrines and creeds?
"Rumor has it that the Northern Lord possesses a powerful magical weapon that can instantly kill an opponent from a distance... The soldiers aren't afraid of fighting, they just don't want to die in vain."

The priest frowned and scolded, "Ridiculous! No matter how powerful a magical weapon is, it still requires a spellcaster to operate it. How many spellcasters are there among the pagans from the North? During our battle with Daeus on the border, the wizard regiment sent by the Federation only had a mere three hundred or so!"

Just over three hundred people...? With just these three hundred spellcasters, along with the assistance of the alchemists of the Quest Society, they were able to pin down nearly a thousand of the Church's Inquisitors and Battle Priests, as well as the three thousand noble coalition forces sent by the princes of Saint Valen.

Of course, Dickinson could only secretly criticize such things and did not dare to express his resentment out loud.

A knight regards protection and loyalty as the highest honor. As the chief knight of His Majesty the Grand Duke, he has shouldered the heavy responsibility of guarding the royal capital since the day he was appointed. No matter what the reasons for the current situation, Dickinson believes that he must fulfill this responsibility.

Before climbing the city wall to meet the enemy, he took out all the gold pounds and silver coins stored in the mansion and distributed them to the hands of the most trusted elite soldiers of the Royal City Guard. This elite force of less than 500 people would be Dickinson's greatest reliance in defending the eastern section of the city wall.

……

"Sir! The enemies outside the city are moving and seem to be preparing to attack the city!" Dickinson's entourage ran into the blockhouse.

The chief knight ignored the supervising priest and said decisively, "Pass my order. All soldiers on the west wall must be in place. The ballistae and trebuchets must be ready to fire. The kerosene and battering rams must also be prepared!"

No matter how powerful and terrifying the enemy's magic weapons are, they still need to use their flesh and blood to climb the city walls. When the siege reaches a tense stage, hand-to-hand combat is inevitable.

He raised the telescope again, but found that the enemies outside the city did not retreat immediately. Instead, on the Ralph River farther away, nine ironclad ships were lined up parallel to the river bank. These iron ships emitted thick white smoke from their heads from time to time. Without sails or oars, no one knew how they could sail on the river. Fortunately, the waterway into the city had collapsed, and no matter how strong the iron ships were, they could not go ashore to participate in the siege on land.

"What are those iron ships planning to do?" the supervising priest asked, also picking up his telescope. "Are they hoping to use the iron ships' strength to directly crash through the massive boulders blocking the entrance to the city? Those boulders probably weigh over a thousand pounds each..."

Impossible... Dickinson was also a little surprised. Since they had already deployed a siege formation at the city gate, they should not try to enter the city through the waterway. That was a whole section that collapsed and was blocked by filling... It was impossible to break it open with a boat.

He was about to explain to the supervising priest when, among the ironclad ships lined up along the riverbank, a brilliant flame suddenly lit up from the front of one of them. It was as bright as the morning sun, then vanished in a flash.

A few breaths later, a muffled thunder suddenly exploded in Dickinson's ears, and along with the thunder... a huge column of earth and dust rose from the ground less than five meters away from the city wall.

"The enemy buried dragon flame powder at the foot of the city wall?" The chief knight felt a chill in his heart. He clearly inspected every part of the city wall in person every day, and always arranged trusted soldiers to be responsible for patrol and guard at night. How did these northerners get to the base of the city wall quietly?

Before he could figure out what was happening, fire suddenly appeared again in the distance... There was the same low roar, but this time the explosion occurred in the middle of the city wall not far from the city gate.

The rubble collapsed and a huge hole was blasted in the city wall. Dickinson could even faintly feel from the soles of his feet that the entire section of the city wall was shaking slightly in the explosion.

It's not dragon flame powder, it's a magic weapon!

The middle-aged priest supervising the battle took a few steps back in disbelief, muttering, "Didn't the people who escaped say...the magic weapons they possessed were the same silver iron pipes held by those pagans? Why..."

At this moment, thunder and lightning struck the top of the city!
The sound of the explosion was so loud, it was like thunder exploding right next to my ears.

A section of the battlement of the city wall suddenly broke into pieces, and countless smoke and stones splashed everywhere. The entire city wall shook violently, and even the blockhouse was crumbling.

Dickinson stumbled out in a hurry, holding on to the wall with one hand and his sword with the other, and barely avoided falling. His ears were buzzing... He saw that the entire city wall was in chaos, but he could not hear any sound.

The Chief Knight's respite was brief. After finally regaining some hearing, he grabbed hold of the fleeing guards and was about to yell at them not to leave their defensive positions on the battlements...

The thunder explosions, with the force of the sky collapsing and the earth splitting, hit the top of the city one after another.

Dickinson almost watched helplessly as the war supervising priest, who was only a few steps away from him, was instantly hit by a flying stone that came from nowhere, and half of his head was smashed into pieces... With his brain splattered, his body fell limply on the parapet, and thick blood flowed down the wall.

The thunder coming from afar did not stop, and seemed to be getting more intense.

We can't just sit there and wait for death! The Chief Knight stumbled to his feet and prepared to walk down from the city wall. He had also deployed a team of guards at the city gate. As long as they stayed away from the city walls, the magical attacks from afar would not be able to penetrate the city walls and enter the city.

Just guard the gate...

Suddenly, he heard another explosion very close to him, and the stairs he was standing on to go down to the city suddenly collapsed, almost making him fall down from the city.

Faintly, there was a chaotic commotion at the city gate below, with people and horses falling to the ground, and it seemed that some soldiers were shouting something at the top of their lungs.

"Run for your life! They have breached the city gate!"

(End of this chapter)