Industrial Revolution of the Mage Lords

Chapter 735 Thunder in the Rainy Night
The Julian family's mine fortress was built in a natural pass in a towering mountain range. It was originally built to guard a gold mine that had been carved deep into the mountain, with only one heavily guarded entrance to the outside.

In the past, this mountain fortress was mainly built to defend against the invasion of monsters in the mountains and the occasional sparse evil beastmen who would wander here from the northern border during the winter. It had hardly encountered any attacks on ordinary days, so the walls at the entrance of the fortress were built very simply, with the height of the piled-up stones being less than five meters.

If it were an ordinary low-level bloodline warrior, a single leap would be enough to easily scale the wall, making it unlikely to provide much defensive protection.

Especially after the Earl drove all the people from the Twin Cities to this place a few days ago, the entire castle was overcrowded. Most of the ordinary civilians had to be temporarily housed with the mine slaves in abandoned mines dug against the mountainside, enduring the cramped and crowded space while suffering in the damp and cold rainy night.

The earl's private soldiers, who had been stationed here for a long time, had basically never experienced any large-scale battles. When the Northern Army's portable cannons roared in the rainy night, many people mistook them for thunder and lightning from the sky.

The first to suffer was naturally the towering wooden watchtower on the wall. A solid shell pierced the fragile tower, and the base of the watchtower also collapsed, falling to the ground without any warning.

Before Count Julian, standing on the city wall, could react, the knight attending him had already realized that something was wrong.

At the same time, a section of the wall a few meters away was also hit by two shells. The stone-built wall piers exploded with a loud bang, and the flying debris swept across the entire area. Two guards were thrown off the wall before they could even scream. More wounded private soldiers lay on the ground rolling around. Many of them had no idea where the attack came from.

Under the torrential rain, it was impossible to hold a torch to check the situation... By the faint light coming from the buildings behind the mountain fortress, it could be seen that several places on the low and narrow city wall, which was less than forty or fifty meters long, were in chaos after the thunderclaps.

In the chaos, the count was also forcibly dragged down from the city wall by the knights. Just as he was about to call his attendant to bring his warhorse over, another storm of wind, rain, and thunder, accompanied by a sharp whistling sound, struck overhead. The stable more than ten meters away collapsed in response to the thunder. The shockwave from the explosion ripped off the roof of the stable, and the more than ten horses tied up inside were blown to pieces, a gruesome scene.

"Heretical wizards! It must be those heretical wizards!" Count Julian exclaimed in alarm, looking around and shouting, "Those damned Saint Valens, they must have sent wizards in to infiltrate and harass us with spells from the shadows!"

"Quickly! Send bloodline warriors to search the entire fortress! We must find those damned heretics. They have no ability to fight in close combat, and once they are surrounded, they will have no way to escape!"

The old steward scrambled down from the city wall, grabbed the count's sleeve, and cried out in a trembling voice, "My lord... no... don't open the castle gates! Don't charge them! That lightning... it's a magical weapon of the Saint Valens!"

His reminder came too late. The Earl's orders and promises of generous rewards had already made a small group of fearless private soldiers impatient. Before the chief knight could give them permission to go into battle, they opened the gates of the mountain fortress and charged towards the Saint Valenmen who were waiting in battle seven or eight hundred meters away.

Then Count Julian heard a rhythmic pattering sound mixed with the rain... Immediately afterward, the group of private soldiers who had charged haphazardly fell to the ground in neat rows, like wheat being harvested. Through the open gates of the mountain fortress, one could clearly see several orange-red pillars of fire fiercely shooting out from the Saint Valen army's formation, and an invisible scythe of death sweeping across the entire battlefield.

The knights, who managed to regroup amidst the chaos, also charged out. However, they advanced only slightly further than the previous wave of infantry. They lasted less than thirty breaths before collapsing, along with their warhorses, amidst the rhythmic clattering and jets of fire.

Thunder and rain mingled, and chaos erupted inside and outside the fortress. Wounded people and horses fell to the ground, and screams of agony echoed everywhere. Sharp whistles pierced the air overhead, followed by sudden explosions from behind. Buildings and walls trembled precariously, and civilians and miners, terrified, rushed out of the mines without a care in the world…

Count Julian felt his head buzzing, his swaying body barely supported by his attendants. Inside his exquisite full-body armor, sticky, cold sweat soaked through his entire body... He seemed to no longer hear what the old steward was shouting at him.

"My lord...we...we must retreat to the mine! Those...those Saint Valen soldiers are advancing towards us!" The count wasn't unprepared for the Saint Valen's formidable strength...he just hadn't expected that, without the guidance of a high-ranking wizard, these mere thousand or so ordinary soldiers could so easily breach his heavily fortified mountain stronghold...They were clearly just mortals, so how could they wield those powerful and bizarre magical weapons?

So this sudden battle came and went quickly... it was almost over in less than half an hour, leaving the count with no more thoughts of resistance.

He finally understood the true meaning of the veiled threat that the visiting messenger had conveyed to him through the steward during the day.

Please inform His Excellency the Earl that going against the United Kingdom and against His Majesty the Emperor... would be the most regrettable decision he has ever made, without exception.

Another bolt of lightning and fire blasted into the mountain fortress, jolting the Earl back from his chaotic thoughts.

"Quickly! Quickly! Open the gates of the fortress! Surrender to the Saint Valens! Everyone lay down your weapons, or stop resisting if you don't want to die!"

……

A young officer, barely over thirty, strode into the hall of the fortress.

Count Julian dared not sit at the head of the table any longer. Instead, he removed his accessories and armor, leaving only a noble knight's undergarment, and stood at the door with a complex and uneasy expression.

As he watched the group of Saint Valen soldiers strutting toward him, he was surprised to find that although they were wearing dark cotton uniforms, the cloak-like outer garments they casually took off seemed to have a waterproof function. Despite having just gone through a battle in the pouring rain, their inner uniforms were still dry and clean, with no trace of moisture except for their boots and trousers.

The young officer spoke first, his tone unusually calm: "If Your Excellency had cooperated with us from the beginning, we wouldn't have suffered such a devastating loss..."

Although there was no sarcasm in his words, the count felt ashamed and didn't know how to respond.

The old steward, whose face had been grazed by cannon fire, hurriedly stepped forward, clutching his newly bandaged wound, and said humbly, "Please forgive us... considering that we did not put up a stubborn resistance, Your Excellency, could you please give the defeated nobles the respect and treatment they deserve?"

The officer chuckled lightly and said calmly, "With the great enemy of the alien race at hand, we have no intention of fighting amongst ourselves or exterminating them... Back in Twin Cities, Colonel Horden made it very clear to the Earl that our purpose here is... to take away as many people as possible who will be affected by the war, whether they are urban civilians, free farmers, slaves or tenant farmers, they are all on the evacuation list."

He paused, glanced at the count, and continued, "Of course, nobles and church members are exceptions... You only need to cooperate in letting the people pass through. The army will not take any of your property or supplies. Whether you renounce your title and church membership to pledge allegiance to Saint Valentine is entirely up to you."

(End of this chapter)