Steel, Explosives, and Spellcasters

"So," Mason pointed at Maple Fort, with bright eyes, and asked, "Look at this strong fortress, then look at the surrounding terrain and environment, what can you learn from its location?"

...

Although the form of combat centered around city fortresses is not particularly emphasized in the Kingdom of Galloping Horses.

However, in the Alliance's military system, siege tactics are undoubtedly a profound discipline, one of the most important subjects, even.

Just talking about siege, from the selection of the main camp's location to the determination of the main attack direction, from the means to blockade enemy strongholds to the timing of using psychological tactics, every matter is full of significance.

In the past, this kind of military knowledge—not just including siege tactics—was only passed down within the noble class, through serving high-ranking nobles, young nobles would learn how to command an army by observation.

So when one day, they truly took over the command flag of an army, they naturally knew what to do.

Through this method, the ruling class monopolized military knowledge, successfully extinguishing most uprisings while still in the spark stage.

But the shortcomings of this method are also obvious: with only one or two generations of peace or a devastating defeat, the noble class could lose all the knowledge necessary to organize a large army and would have to start accumulating from scratch through small skirmishes.

It might even stagnate at the level of small skirmishes due to a lack of external threats.

However, the Alliance's military system established by Marshal Ned Smith does not have this flaw.

Through monastery-style military education, a batch of Alliance officers like Winters and Mason no longer have to summarize experiences bit by bit through practice but can learn the lessons paid for in blood and tears from books.

But when it comes to the new Iron Peak County army, the situation has reversed once again.

Except for the upper echelons, the middle and lower-ranking officers of the new Iron Peak County army are all selected through real combat.

They are brave, loyal, have keen intuition, and at the same time, are incredibly lucky. Compared to the fresh students entering military academies, still confused, they already possess all the qualities to become competent military commanders.

All they lack is knowledge.

Winters and Mason have to seize every opportunity to infuse knowledge into their minds.

...

...

The day after the siege camp was set up, the company that Monkey was in received orders to dig trenches.

Digging trenches is something that some new recruits are not quite accustomed to, but the "veterans" who have experienced the Battle of Blood and Mud are already quite proficient.

The logistical corps sent a whole cart of shovels, axes, and pickaxes. After receiving the tools and having a full meal, the sergeants led their men out of the camp and started digging.

When digging, you shouldn't dig straight, you should dig at an angle.

First, dig twenty paces out, then widen.

Then dig vertically another twenty paces, then widen again.

Finally, let the trench overall present a zigzag appearance in the shape of a W.

Even though the Maple Fort in front of them no longer had effective countermeasures, the Iron Peak County Military still dug the trenches methodically.

Not only were the defensive pits at the trench corners reinforced with wood, but they also gathered branches and straw everywhere to cover the top of the trenches, shielding it from the view of the wall tops.

While the front was busy digging, the rear was absorbed in weaving baskets, as if they were not laying siege to a fortress with only a few hundred old, weak, sickly, and disabled defenders but assaulting a well-guarded stronghold.

Compared to the grand formation of the Iron Peak County Military, the response of the defenders seemed utterly powerless.

Initially, upon discovering the Iron Peak County Military was advancing by trench, the Maple Fort's wall tops fired a few rounds of cannonballs. Yet seeing that the rebel's one-pound wall cannon shots went ignored, the defenders stopped wasting gunpowder.

The defenders inside Maple Fort just stared helplessly, letting the Iron Peak County Military "do whatever they pleased."

Probably knowing that Monkey was about to be promoted, the sergeant assigned him an easy task: cutting trees.

Upon hearing the sergeant's words, Monkey silently put down the pickaxe, received a hatchet and a cart, and headed toward the woods outside.

The double-horse carriage rode along the suburban road, with newly harvested wheat fields on both sides.

Oxen and draft horses paced in the harvested wheat fields; these large beasts were clever, they'd consume the fallen ears of wheat before deigning to taste the stalks.

"Isn't it nice? Next time we're rewarded, we should get some land too, right?"

"We should, just not sure where they'll assign us."

The one speaking was Monkey's tentmate, and with Monkey's potential promotion, they would rise together, no longer having to dig soil under the burning sun.

Monkey focused on driving the cart, staying silent.

Originally, there were six in Monkey's tent. After the battle at River Valley Village, only three remained fully able-bodied, with another still lying in the infirmary.

Monkey didn't speak, so the other two comrades chatted back and forth.

The relationship between tentmates is extraordinary. The two comrades knew Monkey was grieving Pako's death, but unlike others who saw him sullen and thus dared not speak, for Monkey, their "normal behavior" was the greatest comfort.

"Ah, we've clearly reached the edge of Maplestone City, yet they won't let us in. I wonder what the adults are thinking!" One soldier grumbled while laboriously chewing on tough, dried horse meat, "I've never seen a big city like Maplestone City! Can't I just have a look inside?"

"Who doesn't know what you're thinking?" another soldier leaned against the cart's edge, laughing and scolding, "You just want to visit the brothel, right?"