Steel, Explosives, and Spellcasters

The Duckbill Battery earned its name because it was situated on Duckbill Cape at Haidong Bay. The shape of the cape closely resembled a duck's bill and acted as a natural breakwater, like an arm extending from the land sheltering Haidong Bay.

By establishing a battery on Duckbill Cape, offensively, it controlled the narrow entrance and exit of Haidong Bay; defensively, every ship in the port fell within the range of its guns. If necessary, a chain could be stretched from Duckbill Cape to the opposite shore to block any maritime enemies.

It was precisely because of Haidong Bay's unique geographical advantages that the Vineta Navy constructed a dedicated dock here, making Haidong Port the home base of the entire Vineta Navy.

But now, the port had fallen. Heavy cannons atop Duckbill Battery were being rotated to bombard the naval ships moored within the port.

And the army officers had received orders, "Take back this place."

In the cover of night, a troop of cavalry galloped wildly. Over a hundred officers had received the news, assembled at the eastern encampment, where Admiral Zio had dispatched them all in one breath, led by a colonel racing toward Haidong Port.

Winters lay close to his horse's body, tightly following Lieutenant Colonel Field in front of him. The imposing momentum of hundreds of warhorses charging together was astonishing, their hoofbeats thundering like war drums.

But Winters was not affected by the fervor. At that moment, the moon was veiled by clouds, and the road was pitch black, making it nearly impossible to see anything. Galloping on this night road was extremely risky—a small misfortune could cause a horse to stumble.

From time to time, someone fell off their horse and was carried to the side of the road to wait for rescue from those following.

After what felt like an eternity, the distant sounds of gunfire began to faintly reach them, indicating that Haidong Port lay ahead. Just then, Winters saw someone ahead waving torches, so he slowed down his horse and stopped.

In a clearing by the road, officers who had arrived earlier were resting.

Although the cavalry troop numbered just over a hundred, they had extended to a kilometer long when running at full speed. Several leading lieutenant colonels decided to set this location, from where the sound of gunfire could be heard, as the attack point, dispatching three officers to reconnoiter ahead while waiting for the rest of the group to assemble.

From the assembly point, the sounds of gunfire directly ahead could be heard clearly. Boom, boom, boom—the air carried heavy, dull sounds, roars that only heavy artillery could produce.

Lieutenant Colonel Field handed a water-skin to Winters, "Take a drink, follow me later, and don't stray off."

Winters pulled out the stopper, was about to drink, but noticed a pungent smell, "Is this alcohol?"

"Of course, it's alcohol."

Winters nodded, resealed the stopper, and decided not to drink. He didn't think numbing his nerves with strong liquor would be any good in battle.

The wait before the fight was long and agonizing. The officers neither knew who the enemy was nor the number of the enemy forces. Yet, at the command, they would have to fight these unknown enemies—a fact that made everyone uneasy.

Field and a few other officers huddled into a small circle, smoking their pipes and chatting in low voices, occasionally erupting in laughter. Winters didn't smoke and couldn't join in, so he just found a rock to sit on, silently fiddling with two throwing spikes in his hand. He had initially planned to spend the evening at the club, so he had only brought three throwing spikes as a backup.

Moritz, however, slept on a felt blanket he'd pulled from his saddlebag, not bothered by others. The major wouldn't miss any chance for a nap.

A man approached with a torch, passing on orders one by one, "The scouts have returned, Colonel Kara wants everyone at the meeting."

Over a hundred people gathered in a large circle; conveying commands to this many people simultaneously was no easy task. Colonel Kara, not being a spellcaster, had to stand on a large rock amidst the crowd and shout at the top of his lungs:

"Duckbill Battery has been confirmed lost, and now the attackers are using the cannons to strike at the navy's ships. The fiercest fighting is happening at the dock, with the remaining navy personnel desperately combating the attackers at the dockside." Colonel Kara laughed coldly, "But this has nothing to do with us. Our orders are to retake Duckbill Battery. Now that the navy has drawn the enemy's attention, it's our perfect chance. Silently advance straight to the battery—everyone keep close to your commanding officers, dismissed!"

The officers scattered to look for their horses. They had never trained together, and not all of them were cavalry, making it difficult to form any complex formations.

Therefore, Colonel Kara's tactic was to take advantage of the enemy's distraction and charge headlong on fast horses, engaging in close combat once inside the battery. For this group of military academy graduates, who also included several spellcasters, melee fighting was an area where they could leverage their advantage over firearms.

The officers loosely formed two columns, with Winters in the middle section, Major Moritz in front of him, and further ahead, Lieutenant Colonel Field. At the very front was Colonel Kara, who had to lead the charge in order to command this purely officer-made cavalry troop.

The charge began at a walking pace until they opened up a two or three-meter gap between each cavalryman. That's when Colonel Kara issued the command to trot.

Winters didn't know which direction he was going, and he didn't need to. Although a column charge has weak impact, it is agile and can quickly adjust direction. As long as each cavalryman follows the one in front of them, they can maintain formation.

The trotting cavalry troop left the road and entered the forest, where branches lashed against them like whips. After several minutes of navigating through the trees, shafts of light began to pierce through the gaps.

It meant they were about to leave the woods. Winters took a deep breath, used his knees to hold the sheath and drew his sabre.

After passing through the deliberately cleared line of trees, the view suddenly opened up. Less than a kilometer straight ahead was the Duckbill Bastion, where the navy and attackers were engaged in fierce combat on the dock to the left.

Major Moritz in front of Winters suddenly accelerated, charging at the bastion like an arrow released from its bow. Winters, following behind, spurred his mighty horse for the first time, initiating the charge.

This charge was silent, without shouts or bugles. The officers silently drove their warhorses. Winters witnessed his strong horse fully demonstrating its running prowess for the first time, overtaking Major Moritz's horse, and eventually running neck and neck with Field's black steed.

The distance of one kilometer was covered in the blink of an eye. A dozen attackers heading from the bastion to support the dock hadn't realized what was happening when they were abruptly struck down by the whistling cavalry.

The officers in front didn't leave any chance for those behind to swing their sabres. Winters only saw a body with its head chopped off.

Killing these dozen or so enemies was just incidental; the entire cavalry didn't slow down and continued their straight line toward the bastion.

The Duckbill Bastion was not a star fort; it was constructed to defend against enemies on the water, not on land. It was just a square bastion made of stone and mortar, clumsy yet sturdy. Half-moon outposts were later added at the four corners, but the overall structure hadn't changed, still with a single gate for ingress and egress, and no moats.

This was actually a gamble. If the attackers had closed the gate, then these one hundred cavalrymen, being a temporary light cavalry unit without any siege tools, would have been helpless against the eight-meter-high stone walls of the bastion, able only to swarm and climb like ants.

Colonel Kara was betting that the attackers wouldn't expect a quick reinforcement, nor would they predict that the relief troops wouldn't head to the port but straight to the Duckbill Bastion instead.

From the moment Haidong Bay was attacked, Admiral Zio received the message and gathered the troops to provide support, all in under three hours. In three hours, before the attackers could even finish off the Haidong Bay garrison, this cavalry formed purely of officers had already reached the site.

The gate of the Duckbill Bastion was closed.

But not barred!

The dozen or so who had left earlier had only closed the gate without securing it, and the attackers simply didn't have enough manpower to defend the Duckbill Bastion.

The people at the front pried open the gap and pushed the gate open with great effort. The following cavalrymen streamed in, pouring into the open space within the bastion.

And at that moment, the attackers inside the bastion were still completely unaware, preoccupied with operating the cannons.

Colonel Kara dismounted, shouted, "Take a few alive," then kicked open the wooden door from which the sound of cannon fire was emanating, and charged in holding his sabre high.

Winters hadn't anticipated such a lax defense from the attackers. It was a blind spot in their thinking; they only considered how they would attack others, never imagining they might be attacked themselves. With the element of surprise on their side, they had already won half the battle.

Leading the way, Colonel Kara and about a dozen officers, without hesitation, also charged in with their sabres. From inside the door came screams and the dull thumps of metal striking bone wrapped in flesh.

But Winters remained still, as did Moritz, both waiting for Lieutenant Colonel Field's orders.

"No need to follow them; it seems there aren't many enemies here," Lieutenant Colonel Field made a calm assessment, "Let's head to the powder magazine. I'm worried these guys might be desperate enough to risk everything and blow us all up."

As he spoke, Lieutenant Colonel Field intercepted two officers in lieutenant uniforms: "You two, guard the gate. Once our men are in, bolt it shut. Don't open it for anyone without an order from an officer of at least colonel rank."

The two lieutenants had originally wanted to join Colonel Kara in getting some real action and letting off steam, but they were stopped mid-way by Lieutenant Colonel Field. Rank has its privileges, after all.

Lieutenant Colonel Field, leading Moritz and Winters, didn't follow the main troop but went in a different direction.

"You still remember where the powder magazine is located here?" Winters couldn't contain his curiosity.

Lieutenant Colonel Field grunted, "The location of a bastion's powder magazine is always the same — the farthest spot from the cannons."