Steel, Guns, and the Industrial Party in Another World

Chapter 294:

Chapter 294:

After further discussion, everyone unanimously agreed that issuing war bonds was a good idea, so Paul entrusted the task to Old Ford and Hansel.

As the meeting was about to conclude, a young officer hurried in, delivering the latest frontline combat report to Paul.

“Oh…” Paul shook his head as he read the report, “We’ve encountered a tough battle.”

With a look of sorrow, he passed one of the reports around for everyone to read. Written by Schroeder, the report detailed a battle that occurred at the border of the Duke’s domain. Alda’s army had won the battle, killing and capturing over a thousand enemies, but they suffered nearly three hundred casualties themselves. Schroeder estimated that the number of troops lost due to death or severe injury would ultimately exceed one hundred.

This was the first time Paul had encountered such heavy losses in his army from a single battle.

“Such things… are inevitable,” he solemnly declared.

“The enemy won’t hand over victory on a silver platter.”

“Count, rather than focusing on the casualties, you should pay attention to the significance of this victory.”

“As a lord, you will eventually become accustomed to these things.”

Seeing the expression on Paul’s face, everyone thought he was shocked by the number of casualties and started to comfort him, considering his young age.

Paul took a deep breath and said seriously, “I hope the army handles the bereavement support well. We must not let the families of the fallen soldiers feel neglected.”

Ron and Kelly, senior officers stationed in Lakeheart Town, quickly noted down the lord’s instructions.

The report also mentioned that due to the heavy losses, Schroeder had to pause the offensive temporarily, allowing his troops to rest and recuperate in the current border area. They also planned to recruit more locals to replenish their strength. Of course, if the Duke’s army launched another attack, they would not back down.

Paul had no objections to this. He was not a person who rushed for victory. Information from Fort Bidou indicated that Jace had now put everything on the line, attacking the castle regardless of casualties. Clearly, the pressure from Emden and the upper reaches of the Weiss River was making him desperate.

Ha, the son of the Duke could never have imagined that the lord of Fort Bidou, Blake Shaun, had revealed a family secret to avoid being held accountable by the Kent family after their victory – the existence of a secret tunnel in the castle, with an exit hidden in a secluded stream to the west.

The reason Blake Shaun didn’t escape quietly during the last battle was first, he couldn’t bear to abandon the wealth accumulated by his family over generations – escaping quietly would mean traveling light.

Second, the exit was located to the west of the castle, and Fort Bidou was like a nail between Portry and Adra, both important members of the Anti-Kent Alliance. If Shaun had decided to flee, he would be entering enemy territory whether he went north, west, or south. The nearest route to safety was to sneak past Fort Bidou to the east, but the allied forces were stationed heavily to the east of the castle to block the Duke’s army from rescuing Fort Bidou, making it even more dangerous to escape that way. Thus, escaping from there was not a good strategy. To prevent being discovered by the allied patrols, Shaun had even blocked a long section of the tunnel near the exit.

Third, at that time, Marltz Kent had ordered him to hold this strategic location at all costs, even hinting that failure should be met with seppuku. In such a situation, if Shaun had fled, he would have faced severe consequences.

To hell with Marltz, to hell with the Northwestern Duke. After Jace’s first failed attempt to break the siege, Shaun didn’t hesitate to send a messenger to the allied forces to negotiate a dignified surrender.

When Jace led his troops for the second time to besiege Fort Bidou, Blake Shaun decisively revealed the underground tunnel to avoid being held accountable by the Duke after the surrender. The allied forces then cleared the tunnel, turning the narrow passage into a lifeline for the garrison inside the castle. Weapons, equipment, medicine, reinforcements, and even gunpowder, artillery shells, and grenades sent from Lakeheart Town were continuously transported into the fort.

Paul was very pleased. Fort Bidou was a meat grinder, slowly wearing down Jace. Alda would gradually build up strength in the upper reaches of the Weiss River, aiming to strike directly at the heart of the Northwestern Duke’s domain – the capital, Center City.

If the fortress were to fall… Of course, that would be a terrible development. If Jace put in a bit more effort and reached the west coast, he could divide the entire alliance into northern and southern parts. However, according to the staff’s analysis, the pressure from Emden and the upper reaches of the Weiss River was enough to stop the Duke’s army in its tracks. Jace’s rush to attack Fort Bidou was less about wanting to capture it as a forward base for further attacks, and more about using it as a western barrier to prevent enemy counterattacks, thus freeing up troops to deal with Alda’s forces on other fronts.

If the fortress indeed fell and Jace proved to be more reckless than expected, Alda’s southern passage would be cut off. Then, whether for transporting goods or aiding allies isolated in the south, they would have to rely on the nascent maritime fleet.

Losing a major transportation hub wouldn’t immediately collapse the alliance. The lords and generals stationed at Fort Bidou wouldn’t die with the castle but would escape through the tunnel back to their domains to continue organizing their armies for battle.

What happens next… who can say for sure? War is, after all, a gamble. Perhaps the two sides would end up in a stalemate and come to a peaceful resolution.

But as long as the worst scenario – the alliance’s complete defeat and subjugation – didn’t occur, Alda would secure a position in the Northwestern Bay, becoming an important force. Grayman would also shake off its previous image as an obscure exiled family, attaining a status befitting its noble title of Earl.

“Thinking about it is quite exciting!”

Paul blurted out something that seemed inexplicable to everyone else.

Then, the Count received another piece of unexpected news – the survey team in Emden had invented a method for quickly measuring distances for artillery, based on the principles of trigonometry he taught at school.

Mixed feelings surged in his heart…

One was the joy of being a lord and teacher: My goodness, has my long-term investment in education finally borne fruit? He had only mentioned the application of trigonometric functions in surveying, never imagining it would be applied to military affairs.

The other was a sense of inexplicable loss: Damn, why didn’t I think of that? I missed a great opportunity to show off in front of my soldiers.

Of course, the primary emotion was the former. This was, after all, a positive sign. Progress in science and industrialization couldn’t rely solely on his knowledge; more people needed to conjecture, think, prove, and apply. Paul believed that there would be more such instances in the future.

Not long after, the meeting ended. Everyone dispersed, and Paul stood at his office window for a long time. Finally, unable to suppress a certain impulse, he sat down at his desk.

Muttering, “The aura of a prophet is still quite necessary at this stage…”

He began to write, “Regarding several ideas for using lens equipment for long-distance measurement…”

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