Steel, Guns, and the Industrial Party in Another World

Chapter 159: Fortress Siege 4

TL: Etude

Duke Dodge watched the battle atop the fortress with a stern expression.

The situation was dire. The defending forces were clearly being overwhelmed by the rebels.

After careful consideration, he commanded, “Deploy the reserve troops to assist our soldiers in retreating to the inner wall.”

The bugler beside him immediately raised his horn and began to blow in a special rhythm.

The old Duke said to an officer behind him, “Bring out our secret weapon.”

The officer was shocked. “My lord, that’s our last resort! It shouldn’t be used unless absolutely necessary!”

Duke Dodge gave a bitter smile, “Can’t you see? The time of absolute necessity is now. Or rather, if we don’t reveal this trump card soon, we won’t survive to see that moment.”

With a bitter expression, the officer nodded and replied, “Yes, my lord,” before turning and sprinting away.

…

“Retreat to the inner wall!”

“Retreat to the inner wall!”

The officers, fighting alongside the soldiers on the fortress’s outer wall, passed down the command to their subordinates.josei

The defending soldiers quickly gathered around their respective commanders, covering each other as they moved towards the inner wall.

As a complete defensive stronghold, Thorn Fortress had two layers of walls. The distance between the outer and inner walls was about 15-20 meters, with the inner wall being taller, thicker, and more difficult to breach.

The rebel soldiers, having climbed the outer wall, pursued relentlessly. They couldn’t afford to rest now. Allowing the defenders to fall back to the inner wall would cause many problems. The merlons on the inner side of the outer wall were short and small, offering poor defense against arrows from the inner wall.

However, the inner wall’s gates suddenly opened, and a large number of soldiers, the reserve troops of the defending army, who had been conserving their strength, eagerly watching the battle on the outer wall, rushed out as soon as the Duke’s order was given.

The reserve troops immediately replaced their brethren who had been fighting earlier. The rebel soldiers, having fought hard for a long time, were already showing signs of fatigue and were unexpectedly suppressed by the fresh reserve troops on the outer wall.

But the reserve troops did not linger in battle. Given their numerical disadvantage, they quickly retreated back to the inner wall after covering their retreating brothers, then firmly closed the gate.

“Lord Samar! We’ve taken the outer wall!”

“Good!”

Samar was overjoyed, not expecting to take the outer wall of Thorn Fortress so quickly.

“Immediately send the second wave of troops to press forward!”

“Yes!”

The rebels, braving the arrow and bolt fire from the inner wall, opened the outer gate. A large number of rebels carrying scaling ladders and battering rams charged in, and the attack on the inner wall of the fortress commenced immediately.

Still leading the charge were those soldiers in enchanted leather armor, biting their swords and vigorously climbing the ladders to the inner wall. From the initial 500, about 300 remained capable of fighting after the earlier skirmish.

Another group of soldiers gathered at the city gate, vigorously battering the gate with a ram.

Oddly, the defenders only hindered the rebels as they climbed the ladders. Without the cover of siege engines, the rebels suffered heavy losses from stones and flaming oil attacks. However, once they reached the top of the wall, the defenders who had fiercely resisted suddenly dispersed to the sides, leaving a large area around the siege ladders empty.

“What are they up to?” the rebels wondered, momentarily stunned upon reaching the wall. Nonetheless, they raised their weapons, remaining vigilant, and covered their comrades as they continued to ascend.

More and more rebel soldiers climbed onto the inner wall.

“Attack!”

Once a significant number had gathered, disregarding their confusion, they roared in unison and charged at the defenders.

Suddenly, a voice from the defenders shouted, “Aim!”

Then, many soldiers wielding strange weapons emerged. The front of these weapons, resembling nozzles, pointed directly at the rebels.

“Fire!”

The strange ‘nozzles’ suddenly ejected long tongues of flame directly at the rebel soldiers.

In an instant, a fiery hell descended!

By the time the flames reached the rebels, they had turned into a massive fire column. Many soldiers were engulfed, instantly catching fire.

Screams of terror and pain erupted among the rebels.

A closer observation would reveal that the defenders’ strange weapons were actually spraying a burning liquid, splashing onto the rebels and fueling the flames, eventually igniting their clothing.

The burning soldiers frantically tried to pat out the flames on their bodies. Their comrades rushed to help extinguish the fire, and those severely engulfed rolled on the ground. But no matter how hard they tried, they couldn’t extinguish the flames and watched helplessly as the fire consumed them.

Even more terrifyingly, those attempting to put out the fire found their hands catching fire too. They shook their hands violently or rubbed them against the merlons to extinguish the flames.

No one dared to help the burning men anymore; they could only watch them be consumed by the fire.

Even the watching defenders, including the ‘flame-throwing’ soldiers, were stunned by the overwhelming power of their weapons. They hadn’t anticipated such a devastating effect.

Those standing near the ‘flame-throwers’ instinctively distanced themselves.

“What are you waiting for? Keep firing!” The officers, recovering from their shock, loudly urged their subordinates to launch a second wave of attack.

“Yes!”

The flame-throwing soldiers, snapping out of their daze, continued to unleash their ‘nozzles’, sending fierce dragon-like fire towards the rebels again.

The inner wall’s gate suddenly opened, and as the rebels gathered at the gate attempted to charge in, they were met with streams of fire…

Another tragic scene unfolded.

…

“What’s happening?”

On a makeshift wooden tower, Samar and Scott watched the scene on the inner wall in stunned silence.

From their vantage point, they only saw flashes of fire on the wall, followed by their soldiers catching fire, struggling powerlessly in the flames until they fell motionless.

The soldiers lucky enough not to be burned retreated from the wall, desperately climbing down the ladders. However, when the siege ladder became crowded with men, the defenders seized the opportunity to direct a stream of fire downwards, setting the entire ladder ablaze…

Angrily, Samar descended from the tower, ordering a knight, “Go and find out what happened!”

The knight had not yet departed when a large group of their own routed soldiers came pouring out of the fortress.

Following them were the cavalry of the fortress’s defenders, who mercilessly cut down the disorganized rebels, unable to mount an effective resistance, who were merely running towards their own lines.

Samar immediately ordered, “Form up!”

He still had a considerable number of soldiers who quickly formed a tight phalanx, their long spears slanted towards the fortress, aiming at both the enemy cavalry and their own fleeing troops.

A knight with a loud voice shouted to the retreating soldiers, “Those who dare break the formation will be shown no mercy!”

The routed soldiers knew this was no joke and dispersed to the sides.

The rebel cavalry also began to trot, covering their flanks.

The defenders’ cavalry, seeing that the remaining rebel forces were well-prepared, withdrew back into the fortress after a short pursuit.

Samar breathed a sigh of relief. He immediately ordered the regrouping of his troops and summoned one of the returning officers for a detailed inquiry.

The officer, with a striking burn on his arm and still in shock, said, “The enemy used some method to spray unextinguishable flames at us. Many… many of our brothers were burned to death.”

“Unextinguishable flames?”

“Yes, my lord! Unextinguishable!”

The officer’s face showed fear and disbelief.

“Between the outer and inner walls, there’s a small pond. Some brothers who were on fire jumped into it to extinguish the flames, but… but…”

“But what?” Samar demanded.

“But… the flames on them grew even bigger!”

“How is that possible?”

Even Scott, standing beside Samar, doubted his ears. Water extinguishes fire – this is common knowledge even to a three-year-old.

Flames that grew stronger in water, something not even the proudest of mages’ magic could achieve – how did these mortals manage it?

Samar, however, was unusually calm. He let the officer go to reorganize his troops and then, with a stern face, ordered, “Retreat!”

“Retreat? No, my lord!”

Scott was reluctant to withdraw like this; he had high hopes for this attack.

“It’s just some incendiary substance. There’s no such thing as fire that water can’t extinguish. Those fleeing soldiers must have made up excuses because they are scared to death.”

“Shut up! My soldiers are fighting to the death out there, and you dare to slander them like this?”

Samar suddenly yelled at him, his face and neck turning red with anger.

Scott was startled by his outburst and stood speechless.

“Sorry, Mage Sir, I was a bit impulsive just now.”

Samar calmed down.

“I know that officer. He is not a coward. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have been chosen to command the assault team. And… have you heard of ‘Greek fire’?”

Scott heard the term for the first time, his face showing confusion, “Greek fire?”

Samar nodded, “Greek fire, a terrible flammable liquid. A long time ago, possibly during the era of the ancient Gubera Empire, Greek fire was once widespread. It’s said to be made from a black viscous oil, mixed with certain proportions of sulfur, tar, resin, and other flammable substances. Not only is it highly flammable, but it also burns on water, and can’t be extinguished. But the specific formula, especially the black oil, was lost due to excessive secrecy.”

Scott’s eyes widened, “There’s such a miraculous substance?”

“This is a disaster that only God can save us from, the only way to escape when attacked with Greek fire is to kneel and pray for heavenly salvation — that’s how it was described in the legends.”

Samar sighed, “Alas! I never thought this long-lost weapon would reappear in the world and that I would encounter it.”

Scott, still unwilling to give up, asked, “Isn’t there any way to counter Greek fire?”

Samar shook his head, “Perhaps there is, but I don’t know it. For now, all we can do is retreat and keep watching the fortress. I can’t risk the Duke’s troops a second time. A single misstep could greatly trouble the Duke’s plan to unify the south.”

Scott looked back at Thorn Fortress with endless regret and said, “Alright! I’ll follow your arrangement.”

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