Steel, Explosives, and Spellcasters

Blood flowed like a river both inside and outside the city ditch, as if it were a flesh and blood mill.

Winters, who was watching the battle from two hundred meters away, could not help but feel his mouth go dry and his heart pound chaotically as he witnessed everything unfold before him.

By Winters' side was none other than Colonel Sebastian Volbon, who seemed indifferent to the brutal combat beneath the city walls, muttering to himself in confusion, "Why is this so strange...."

Volbon and Winters were at the most forward artillery position, where one of the eight "Head Wolf" heavy cannons was located.

The reason Winters was here was simple, Antonio had sent him.

"Sebastian Volbon is an expert in siege tactics, you will benefit from learning a thing or two from him," Antonio had said, so Winters came with twenty soldiers to guard the big gun. Explore more at empire

"Uh...." Winters, utterly perplexed, asked, "Colonel, what do you find strange?"

The roar of the big gun interrupted him, another volley fired.

After the cannon fire, the artillery crew quickly covered the cannon with wooden fences, preventing the garrison on the walls from threatening these weapons.

The other gunners were busily reloading the ammunition.

First, the gunners used a long-handled scraper to remove any unburnt powder from the cannon bore, then they stuffed a water-soaked mop in through the muzzle to clean the bore.

The barrel of a cannon, hot after firing, caused any remaining moisture inside the bore to evaporate quickly, not affecting the next shot.

If craftsmanship was poor, using water to clean the bore could lead to increased internal cracking, and consequently, a burst barrel. Inferior cannons could only be cooled with oil, but that was very cumbersome.

After the temperature of the cannon had dropped, the gunners began to reload the gunpowder, packed it in tightly with a tamper, inserted a wooden sabot, and finally the cannonball itself.

Once the cannonball was loaded, the gunners stuffed the gaps between it and the cannon bore with strips of cloth.

Volbon called a halt to the firing and personally adjusted the cannon's firing angle.

A thunderous blast later, the cannonball hit a lower point than previous shots.

After carefully observing the falling point of the cannonball, Volbon had an epiphany and excitedly said to Winters, "I know what's going on...."

"Uh... What are you talking about exactly?"

"I've figured out the trick Tanilia's people played," Volbon slapped his thigh, "They've piled up earth behind the walls!"

"Pile up earth? You mean..." Winters said uncertainly, "you mean they piled up earth behind the walls to absorb the impact of the cannonballs? But isn't that..."

"That's right! The effect on the wall from the cannon's fire isn't as powerful as it should be from these heavy guns," Volbon analyzed, staring intensively towards the direction of the walls, "I've conducted several more test shots, and the conclusion became clearer with each. The Tanilia people inside must have used piling up earth as a way to increase the thickness of the wall."

"But if they're piling earth behind the walls..." Winters mused, recalling his siege tactics course, "won't the piled earth collapse too once the wall falls? And if it pours out forming a slope, won't that make it easier for us to mount an attack?"

"Indeed, that's true," Volbon rubbed his nose, patted the cannon beside him, and said, "I don't know if William Kidd doesn't understand this, or if he's desperately resorting to any remedy in his illness, or if he has other plans. But in any case, it looks like he is indeed determined to hold out to the very end...."

...

...

After hours of fierce fighting, both sides were already too exhausted to continue the struggle.

The walls still stood, yet the large chunks gouged out and the cracks indicated its destined destruction in the future.

Nearly the entire Montani counterattacking force perished save for those who hadn't struck in time and a few who managed to make it to the edge of the walls to be pulled up by the garrison with ropes.

Three ditches were nearly filled in and were no longer significant barriers to attack.

But the Venetians also paid a heavy price.

In just one day of fighting, nearly four hundred were killed or injured, which was more than the combined total of Venetian casualties on Red Sulfur Island up to that point.

And the majority of the wounded would die in their beds in the following days.

The day's bloody combat made the previous sieges seem almost leisurely by comparison.

And Major General Antonio Serviati's only order was: "Tomorrow, continue."