Steel, Explosives, and Spellcasters

"Wolfton," someone said with a toothy grin.

"No." Old Priskin shook his head, "I think there's more to it. What's his name again?"

"Surname's Montaigne, don't know the first name," another replied.

Old Priskin furrowed his brow, "Montaigne... That's certainly not a Paratu surname."

"Perhaps he's from out of province?" Shaoyi ventured a guess.

"Go find out, but be very careful," Old Priskin cautioned, "Do not exhibit any malice, we're just curious about the origins of the nickname 'Blood Wolf.' Do you all understand what I mean?"

All the city council members nodded in agreement.

After thinking for a moment, Old Priskin asked again, "You didn't see him at the city hall, so where is he now? Does anyone know?"

"I do," Shaoyi answered eagerly, "My brother-in-law told me that the captain called 'Blood Wolf' only stayed in town for a short while. He left the city again before noon had even passed."

"He left the city?" Old Priskin's pupils dilated, "Which way did he go out?"

"The north gate!"

...

Winters was unaware that someone was investigating him.

He had been in town for less than an hour when he left again with Andre and Senior Mason, leading a squad of cavalry.

The cavalry, with their secret weapon, hastened to Hammer Fort to meet up with Juan by the river and Moritz.

Juan and Moritz were laying siege to Hammer Fort.

Hammer Fort and Hammer Fort Town were not one and the same; Hammer Fort specifically referred to the wooden fort at the town's center.

"Hammer Fort has surrendered," was actually a bluff by Winters, just like "Protector of the Sixteen Towns."

He was currently only the Protector of the Seven Towns; Forging Village had not struck a deal with him.

Since Forging Village was right beside Revodan, Winters's reach wasn't that far.

Despite numerous difficulties, Captain Apel had managed to occupy Hammer Fort first— because Tang Juan had no clue that there was such an unremarkable small fortress to the north of Revodan.

To conceal his movements, Apel took the route through St. George River near King's Bridge Town.

Though small and wooden, and suffering from neglect over the years,

Hammer Fort was indeed a fortress, and a direct assault would be costly and futile.

So at this moment, the man approaching Hammer Fort with a large door plank, the very Winters "Blood Wolf" Montaigne whom Old Priskin was talking about,

"Senior Apel!" Winters called out, "You might as well come out and surrender!"

There was no response from the fort.

"The bandit leader Ronald has already surrendered! It's just you left!" Winters waved two flags from behind the door plank, "Here are his battle flags, look!"

At the sound of "ding," an arrow pierced the door plank.

Captain Apel stuck his head out, yelling furiously, "I'd rather die than surrender!"

"Don't worry! I won't kill you! Surrender for immunity!" Winters replied, poking his head out too.

"Go to hell!" Captain Apel shot another arrow.

"If you don't surrender," Winters continued his attempt to reason, "then I'll have to start bombarding you! Once the cannon fires, you all will be turned to ash! Think it over!"

"Bullshit!" Captain Apel cursed, "Revodan doesn't even have cannons! Where did you get your cannons!"

"Alright, you just wait!"

Having said that, Winters, carrying a door panel, walked away abruptly.

His attitude somewhat unnerved Apel.

Even more anxious were Apel's subordinates, who peered nervously outside through the gaps in the wooden walls.

"Senior." Winters returned to Mason's side. "Senior Apel wants you to bombard him."

"Why the hell talk to him?" Tang Juan was always exceptionally irritable on the battlefield. "Just blow him up, and it's done, right?"

"If we can persuade him, we still have to try." Moritz sighed.

Senior Mason was quite cautious. "My cannon can only fire shrapnel, and its destructive effect on wooden walls isn't really that great."

"You... " Tang Juan suddenly realized Mason was his senior and struggled hard to hold back the curse words. "You, you don't even need to load the cannonballs. Just fire two blanks, and those green recruits inside will be scared pissless. The key is for the sound to be loud and the caliber to be big!"

"That's right." Winters laughed as well. "My words weren't meant for Senior Apel, but for the soldiers inside Hammer Fort."

"Then let's give it a try." Mason said with a smile. "After all, we've gone through all the trouble to bring it here; it wouldn't be right not to fire a few rounds."

He called out to Andre, "Come on! Bring the cannons over!"

Upon hearing this, Andre lifted the tarp.

He and the other Cavalry spurred their Warhorses and slowly moved four big, black cannons toward Hammer Fort.

From afar, the calibers of the four cannons looked terrifyingly enormous, and their size was equally astonishing.

But a closer look would give them away, for they were made of wood.

This was the secret weapon that Winters, Mason, and Andre had brought from Revodan.

Because they were made of wood, they could keep up with the speed of the Cavalry. They were transported here, bouncing up and down in the wagons all the way.

To deceive the enemy, Winters even had someone paint the four wooden cannons black.

Together with the hastily assembled gun carriages and the method of "two draft horses struggling to drag the cannons," they really looked quite convincing.

Seeing the cannons draw near, Apel stood frozen on the spot, never having expected Winters to actually possess cannons.

However, the more he looked, the more he felt there was something off about the adversary's cannons.

"Damn it!" He cursed loudly. "Don't be afraid! Those are freaking wooden!"

But the roaring of the cannons drowned out his curses.

The four wooden cannons bellowed one after the other, with only one of them loaded with cannonballs—weights, scrap iron, and other pieces of junk iron.

The wooden cannon barrels, reinforced with iron hoops, cracked from the vibrations, but still withstood the internal pressure.

The gunpowder gas propelled the contents within the barrels out, sending them flying towards Hammer Fort.

The "cannonballs" caused the outer wall of Hammer Fort to resound with a pinging noise and sent wood chips flying.

Behind the smoke, a voice thundered, "Surrender now or be blown to smithereens!"

The green recruits inside Hammer Fort panicked, prying open the wood-planked door, tumbling out as they ran, "We surrender! Please have mercy, sir!"

In despair, Apel drew his sword, intending to commit suicide.

But the blade stopped at his neck, as he couldn't bring himself to do it. The more he hesitated, the less he could bear to go through with it.

He discarded the sword and sat in the corner, crying out of frustration.