“Fire!”
The catapults flung large boulders, which were closely followed up with cannon fire. The walls of the castle crumbled more with every shot that landed.
“Dammit! Be careful!”
“Watch out for falling debris!”
It was a large castle, but it was powerless against the continued bombardment. It was crumbling quickly, meaning two different things to the soldiers from each side.
“They have cannons too…”
“It’s just old cannons that they fixed up.”
“Lieutenant Hollin! Where is our artillery?”
“Our cannons were hit, sir.”
The cannon emplacements were the first to go down from the Dentrion Kingdom’s catapults and cannon fire. There was no other way to strike back. And with large parts of the walls destroyed, it was hard to counterattack with machine guns too.
“Aaargh! My leg!”
“Get that rock off him!”
“Sergeant Krick! Medic!”
“Move him to the side!”
“The North Wall is almost gone!”
“The West Wall has a hole!”
With large portions of the walls destroyed, the Dentrion soldiers began to advance into the castle.
“They are coming in!”
“Fight back! We are Empire soldiers! Protect the castle!”
Arrows and bullets flew through the air. Heavy machine guns were fired and many died.
“Forward! Go! We are the soldiers of Dentrion!”
“Kill those demons of the Empire!”
“Kill those who sent our brothers and sisters into hell through the Gate!”
The soldiers from Dentrion shouted something incredible and Empire’s soldiers frowned.
“What?!”
“They’re crazy! Do they seriously believe that bullshit?!”
“Ugh… so that’s why…”
The Empire soldiers kept fighting back with heavy machine guns but it was no use. The Dentrion frontlines soldiers were equipped with large steel shields. They were very thick and heavy, such that bullets couldn’t penetrate.
“They are well prepared for this.”
“We must fall back!”
“Ugh… fall back!”
The soldiers of the Empire began to retreat simultaneously from all sides of the fortress. Gunfire lessened until it stopped as the Empire soldiers quickly retreated. As the gunfire stopped, Dentrion soldiers ran in while shouting.
“They are falling back! Go after them! Kill them!”
No more Empire soldiers stopped them within the fortress. The only resistance was a faint explosion and a terrible smell combined with thick smoke that obscured their way.
“Ugh, are those smoke bombs?”
“Yes, sir. How can they use such weapons on the battlefield?! Cowards…”
“Where are they?”
“They ran like chickens, sir.”
“Find them! Look for any sign of them!”
The Dentrion soldiers combed through the forest, searching for any Khalodian soldiers in hiding. But all they found were dead bodies. There were no remaining soldiers, injured or otherwise.
“Didn’t we corner them here?”
“I think they had tunnels dug in multiple places.”
“Tunnels?! Dammit! Are you tracking them?”
“Don’t worry, sir. We are tracking them down.”
“Hmph.”
“Oh, and there is something good left.”
“What is it?”
Baron Neron glanced around and then whispered to Count Gloman.
“It is an armory, full of machine guns and other weapons…”
Gloman stopped him and asked, “What are you saying?”
“Don’t you need weapons for your own forces first? The war will end sooner or later, and I just want to be on your side when it ends.”
Gloman glanced at Neron for a second before smiling.
“So, you don’t want anything for yourself, but just want my protection?”
“It’s better to keep it all together to put to good use. The war will wage on for a while, so maybe I’ll get another chance later.”
“Hmph. I see. I will take it then.”
At the beginning of the war, the Dentrion Kingdom attacked the Khalodian Empire’s border fortresses and took over a total of seventy-nine fortresses. The news spread through the continent very quickly and encourage the other kingdoms to declare war against the Khalodian Empire.
It gave rise to a huge war. However, unlike Dentrion, which had thoroughly prepared for a long time and attacked only when Khalodian wasn’t expecting, the others weren’t successful. Out of three hundred and eighty-one border fortresses, the only ones that fell were the seventy-nine fortresses that fell to Dentrion.
The other fortresses were safe as the Khalodian Empire quickly sent supplies and troops through railroads that had been set down like spiderwebs throughout the entire Empire.
-Defend our fortresses and wait. We will show them afterwards.
Jackson passed down that order to all the generals and commanders. The speed of the war slowed down as Khalodian did not actively go after their enemies.
End of Chapter
