Steel, Explosives, and Spellcasters

Shuangxi Town was part of Mont Blanc County, located on the East Bank of Anya River, facing Manyun Valley across the river.

It was a peaceful agricultural town with only twenty-two permanent resident families.

Tonight, this tranquility was doomed to be shattered by iron hooves.

A squad of cavalry approached the town quietly and launched a sudden attack after dark.

The sound of hooves thundered like a storm, scaring the mayor and his wife so much that they fell out of bed.

The mayor, ignoring his wife's attempts to stop him, rushed out the door to ring the bell.

Barefoot, he had just run onto the street when he heard a whizzing sound behind him.

He turned around in fright, only to see the glinting blade coming straight for him.

The old mayor collapsed in the dust.

"The army is quelling the chaos! It has nothing to do with you lot!" Andre said sternly, wiping the blood off his knife, and warned the townspeople behind the doors and windows, "Step out, and you die!"

The small town was almost crushed by the sound of hooves, and the townspeople had no idea how many cavalry had come.

If the intruders had broken into their homes, committing murder and looting, they might have been willing to fight to the death.

But as the intruders merely occupied the streets with a fearsome presence, they simply couldn't muster the courage to fight desperately.

Seeing that no one dared to come out onto the streets anymore, Andre finally sheathed his knife.

His right arm was somewhat unresponsive and took several attempts to aim properly.

A centurion rode up to him and saluted, reporting, "Sir, the garrison has surrendered."

Lieutenant Chelini coldly spat out a word, "Burn."

"The warehouses are empty."

"Burn whatever there is."

The centurion saluted again and rode off.

Andre had chosen to raid Shuangxi Town because it was the location where Mont Blanc County's army stored their supplies.

He had crossed the river much earlier than the enemy had.

The garrison of Mont Blanc County was still gathering its forces when Winters had already assembled his warhorses and all the men capable of riding and handed them over to Andre's command to cross the river by boat from upstream of Anya River.

As soon as it was confirmed that the army of Mont Blanc County had entered Iron Peak County, Andreya Chelini, the fierce war dog, was let off the leash.

However, the raid on Shuangxi Town yielded very limited results.

There was little of value in the warehouses, as the army supplies had already been taken by the Officer of Mont Blanc County, leaving only a ten-man squad to guard.

Upon the arrival of the cavalry, eight of the defenders promptly surrendered their weapons.

"Centurion!" another centurion came riding fast and called out from a dozen meters away, "We can't read what's written on these papers!"

"What are you yelling for?"

His old subordinate sheepishly closed his mouth and handed a scroll of paper to the centurion.

Andre took the scroll and tried to read it in the moonlight.

His right arm trembled slightly involuntarily, making it difficult for him to read the small print.

The dim moonlight tired his eyes further.

Andre, frustrated, threw the scroll back to his subordinate and angrily pressed down on his right arm, saying, "Read for what! Take with you any paper with writing on it!"

The centurion saluted and rode off.

Andre's left hand clutched his right arm, the grip so tight that his fingers turned white.

...

Winters had only two demands of Andre, the rest he could handle as he saw fit.

First, don't damage the property of common folk; burning down the houses of farmers and townspeople wouldn't harm the Baishan County garrison's headquarters.

Second, constantly collect the archives, land deeds, case files, and gazettes stored in each town of Baishan County.

Therefore, after seizing the supply warehouses, Andre's cavalry immediately broke down the doors of the town hall.

After that, however, they faced a problem as none of them knew how to read....

Fortunately, Lieutenant Chelini had a simple and crude solution.

Can't read? Then take any paper that has writing on it.

...

The cavalry arrived and departed like a nightmarish howl, like a brief but lucid nightmare.

They left behind a body in Shuangxi Town, along with the burning warehouses, town hall, and police station.

When the sound of hooves finally vanished, the townspeople emerged from their homes, their hearts racing with fear.

They gathered around the mayor's body, mourning for the old man who had always been so dutiful.

For Shuangxi Town, the disaster of the night had ended.

But for Mont Blanc County, the ravaging was far from over.

Winters had originally gathered a hundred cavalry, but Andre, without a second thought, weeded out more than half, leaving only forty-six, not even a full platoon.

Each of these forty-six was equipped with a warhorse and four remounts.

To facilitate water irrigation, settlements on both sides of the river were close to the stream and densely packed, which saved Lieutenant Chelini quite some trouble.

The cavalry led by Andrea Chelini swept through eleven large and small villages and towns on the East Bank of the Anya River in one night like a devastating gale.

...

That evening, Colonel Gaisa learned of the attack on Mont Blanc County.

The night sky ablaze on the other side of the river couldn't be hidden.

Yet Gaisa issued no orders, instead, the messenger who woke him was sternly reprimanded.

After scolding the messenger, the colonel turned back to bed.

The soldiers of Mont Blanc County continued to sleep soundly in the civilian houses and tents until dawn.

The next morning, as soon as reveille sounded, Captain Hudson brought a briefing to Colonel Gaisa.

Gaisa casually tossed the briefing onto the table and went behind the house to relieve himself.

"A damn small town, no place to take a bath," the colonel complained as he walked back, yawning, "I ache all over if I don't bathe."

Captain Hudson disagreed, "The Anya River is just beside us, you could just wash up there."

"A bath has to be with hot water!" Colonel Gaisa roared furiously, his scalp wrinkling, "Can you call it a bath with cold water?"

"Right, yes, you're right," Hudson replied perfunctorily, handing the briefing to his superior, "The rebels have made quite a stir."