War (5)
It wasn't hard to figure out why the cannon had exploded. Amid the shattered fragments of the broken cannon lay pieces of the incendiary shell. Clearly, the shell had detonated inside the barrel, causing all this chaos.
Was it the thickness of the shell?
The real cause would have to wait until they got back to the lab. Was the shell too thick? Had they packed in more gunpowder than necessary? Or was that particular shell defective?
One thing was certain: from now on, they'd need to pay a little more attention to safety during weapons tests.
If we'd done it like usual...
Just that fleeting thought was enough to send chills racing down Brown's spine.
"Hmm. Pushing forward as quickly as before won't be feasible."
The officer muttered as he stared at the map. The kingdom's army was putting up fierce resistance, slowing their advance to a crawl. Especially since the fortresses had bolstered their defenses, they hadn't made any progress for days.
"The pace so far has been abnormal anyway."
"Yeah. High command's saying there's no need to push so hard anymore."
Even so, the mood was relaxed. The Imperial Army had already seized the advantage. They could press on if they wanted, but there was no point taking extra casualties in a war they were winning.
"It's a shame about the cannons' firepower. If they could just smash the fortresses, we could've advanced much farther."
"If we'd hit them hard before they could come up with countermeasures..."
"The speed we've kept up is plenty fast. Speeding up more from here would just..."
"Hmm. Even dragging this out works in our favor. The kingdom's got to be tearing their hair out."
As time passed, the Imperial forces entrenched on kingdom soil only grew stronger. The kingdom army threw everything they had at driving them out, but it all came to nothing.
"This is maddening! Still no way to push the Imperial Army off our land?"
"We're sorry, Your Majesty. We're trying, but..."
"Trying? Trying! Cut the crap! How long are you going to keep 'trying'?"
"But right now, we're at least holding back their advance..."
"We're just giving them time to regroup and wait for an opening! Find a way to push them back, no matter what!"
The king of the Heyrn Kingdom could hardly stand the situation.
"We've prepared all these years to face the Empire, and now we're pushed back this far in just a month? You incompetent fools! Get out there and do something!"
At the king's roar, the officers fled the meeting room. Left alone, the king slumped into his chair, swallowing his rage.
"Damn it all..."
The outlook was hopeless. Requests for aid to other kingdoms and the Fairn Empire went unanswered.
Melee combat was no contest either. Against the Imperial Army, it was nothing but a one-sided war of attrition.
Why couldn't they hold their own? Was it the power of the cannons and rifles?
But not every Imperial soldier wielded those weapons. So why were the kingdom's forces getting steamrolled like this?
Was it the gap in knights' skill? Or the mages'?
"Useless lot..."
The fortune spent raising them—what a waste. They'd poured gold into their training, but gotten no return on the investment.
The longer this dragged on, the stronger the Imperials would grow. The kingdom army would struggle more to push them back. Eventually, the Imperials would come surging forward again. As the king sighed, a single word floated into his mind.
Surrender.
He couldn't do it. He wouldn't repeat the humiliation of before. Even if it meant the entire kingdom burning to the ground.
Brown drafted several designs for the incendiary shells and soon received prototypes.
"Will it work this time?"
"Hmm. We'll see."
He answered his junior's question and began the tests.
First, shell power.
"Number one fails... Number three fails too... And..."
Too little internal gunpowder, perhaps. Or the shell walls too thick. He disqualified several underpowered shells.
Next...
Bang! Boom!
Bang! Thud!
Whump!
Some cannons exploded, others fired fine. Of the seven prototypes, two passed. Brown marked the one with the strongest effect.
"Good. Incendiary shell."
There was still room for improvement. But this would hold up fine even on the front lines right away.
"Phew, that's a relief. So next..."
"Now it's just production and distribution."
"Straight to the front?"
"Who knows. We've done all we can for now."
His final report went to high command.
"Hmm. If it's as described, this'll be damn useful in sieges."
"Not just that. Looks good for melee too."
"Tricky at close range, though."
"We're already winning at range. Close quarters are minor."
"True. Send some to the front, then."
High command decided quickly. Soon, howitzer mounts to replace standard cannon carriages and incendiary shells began shipping to the front.
"Exploding shells, huh."
An officer muttered, eyeing the new incendiary shells.
"Came with howitzer mounts too. Says it'll extend range over the old setup."
Another checked the accompanying papers.
"Great for disrupting inside the fortress."
"Hmm. We've got a fortress assault coming up."
They gazed at the distant stronghold.
Will it really work?
If the shells performed as advertised, it'd create plenty of openings for the mages to blast the walls.
"Let's draw up a plan."
"Hmm..."
The Imperial officers huddled to plan the fortress assault. Meanwhile, the artillerymen trained on howitzer range and aiming. Two days passed.
"Advance on the fortress!"
At the commander's order, the Imperial Army marched forward.
"Think it'll do the trick?"
One eyed the howitzers pulled by horses.
"Who knows. We'll see soon enough."
"Heard the new shells explode."
"What if they blow up before firing?"
"Don't jinx it."
As they neared the fortress, chatter died down. Tense for the coming clash, they pressed on.
"Magic incoming!"
Had they entered range? Spells arced from the fortress toward the Imperials. Their mages cast barriers in the sky, blocking them.
Whoomph! Fizzle!
"Whew. Fuck."
"Never gets less freaky."
If the mages slipped up, it'd be a massacre. The soldiers could only hope they held the line.
"Halt!"
The commander's order rang out. Soldiers stopped; then, following the next commands, they bustled into action. Gunners readied the howitzers and awaited orders.
"Fire!"
The howitzers belched smoke. Shells arced high, then plummeted in parabolic trajectories. Some fell short of the walls, but others sailed over. By then, the fuses ignited the internals.
Kaboom!
Explosions ripped through—aloft or on impact. Shrapnel sprayed everywhere. Nearby soldiers crumpled. The lucky ones, avoiding vitals, clutched wounds and groaned.
The kingdom troops couldn't make sense of it. Shells had flown over the walls—unlike before—and detonated. Men dropped around the blasts, like a mage's spell. They had to stop more from coming over.
"Block those shells somehow!"
"Mages!"
They scrambled for a way, but nothing stopped shells clearing the walls.
As they panicked, another salvo thundered. Tiny dots hurtled in fast.
Some mages tried intercepting with spells.
Boom! Kaboom!
A few hits detonated shells midair. But not all. Too many, too fast to swat one by one.
More shells crested the walls.
Crash! Boom!
Then exploded. Fragments pelted the mages.
"Take cover!"
"Aaaagh! My arm...!"
Chaos reigned. Each blast felled soldiers—or mages. No defense came to mind.
Some fled the walls for buildings. Others stared blankly as shells rained.
Officers tried restoring order, but it was futile.
"Hold your positions! Hold..."
Then Imperial mages' spells streaked toward the fortress. They prayed their own would block them, but the mages had no time for that now.
Despair set in. Morale shattered inside; walls crumbled. Finally, a white flag rose from one remaining wall section.
The fortresses blocking the Imperial advance began falling once more.