Steel, Explosives, and Spellcasters

The sky was filled with the glow of sunset, and the battle flags fluttered.

Major Sunder, stationed in Vernge County, rubbed his eyes vigorously.

The garrison forces from various counties either used white flags with red stripes or blue flags with quartered designs. Only the Iron Peak County rebels exclusively used deep blue flags with no other branches.

The door was violently kicked open.

Sunder leaped towards the saber hanging on the coat rack.

But the person who burst into the bedroom didn't shout "Surrender and you won't be killed," but instead reported tearfully, "It's bad! Major! The rebels are here! They've taken the walls!"

Upon hearing this, Sunder threw aside the saber, grabbed his pants in reverse, and stepped into them.

"I saw it!" The Major responded gravely, then sternly admonished the visitor: "Composure! Lieutenant Majiya!"

The named lieutenant shivered, quickly stood at attention, and saluted in a clumsy manner.

In the previous campaign against Iron Peak County, the entire garrison forces of Vernge County were wiped out, and the original officer corps was completely obliterated.

Thanks to the rebels, when the New Reclamation Legion Headquarters rebuilt the Vernge County garrison, they had to hire a large number of civilian officials to fill the command structure—incidentally raising funds.

It was during this military expansion that Majiya Pal "fortunately" made it into the officer ranks, being appointed directly as a lieutenant due to his substantial donations.

Sunder was not very familiar with this subordinate's background.

But he was fully aware of Lieutenant Majiya's capabilities.

Therefore, Major Sunder didn't want to waste his breath on someone who bought his position, and directly asked: "Where is Captain Qiu Ke?"

Majiya shook his head desperately: "I…I don't know."

Sunder's temper flared. Qiu Ke was the only other formal officer in the city apart from himself and was the Major's deputy. Failing to contact Captain Qiu Ke meant that half of the command system was paralyzed.

"Who's on night watch tonight?" the Major asked again.

Majiya was stunned, swallowed some saliva, and replied quietly: "I…I don't know."

An irritated low growl emanated from Sunder's throat. He meticulously fastened the last few buttons, tightened his belt hard, and picked up the saber from the bed.

"Let's go!" The Major waved a hand, not giving the lieutenant a glance, and strode out of the bedroom.

Outside, the garrison camp was already in chaos.

The alarm bells rang like life-threatening urges, each whistle shriller than the last.

Soldiers, poorly dressed, stumbled out of the barracks, flooding chaotically into the parade ground.

Though daylight had broken, some still clamored for fire. The ordnance sergeant wanted to distribute ammunition but didn't know where the arsenal key was.

In the distance, the sound of war drums rolled like thunder.

Outside the gate, routed soldiers returning from the walls cried and pounded on the camp gate.

The roaring clamor and apocalyptic scenes bombarded Major Sunder as he stepped out of the barracks.

Major Sunder immediately experienced a violent headache: "How could the rebels be at Artemis? Weren't they attacking Maple Fort? What were the sentries doing?! What was Skul doing?!"

"Don't know, Major." A weak voice floated over from behind. Majiya mistook the Major's words for questioning him, and with tears in his eyes, he tremblingly replied: "I don't know."

Seeing the lieutenant in such a pitiful state, Sunder felt a bit remorseful too.

"Composure." He said coldly: "Lieutenant."

Majiya quickly wiped away his tears.

Major Sunder took the lieutenant and hurriedly climbed the camp wall.

Looking at the Sea Blue flag raised on the city head, then at the sun, the Major suddenly realized.

"Damn it." The Major, who kept emphasizing composure, couldn't help but curse: "Damn rebels, they came from Revodan!"

...

Major Sunder's judgment wasn't wrong, just incomplete.

Because not all "rebels" appearing outside Artemis City came from Revodan; at least the ones on horseback didn't.

When soldiers departing from Revodan used baskets filled with earth and stones to level the trenches and pushed siege ladders onto the walls, a large number of cavalry rushing in from Maplestone City were eagerly waiting outside.

And on a small hill less than a mile behind the Tiefeng County cavalry, Winters Montagne was also waiting.

The war had an immediate impact on the Newly Reclaimed Lands.

In the past, only a small number of old colonies, older than the Newly Reclaimed Lands Province itself, retained walls built to guard against Herders' raids.

Now, facing the imminent threat of war, almost every town had frantically rushed to strengthen its defenses in panic.

Even settlements with only a dozen households were surrounded by wooden walls.

"Artemis" was a typical example.

She was born in a new era, grew up in peace, and had never experienced warfare; naturally, she wasn't prepared for the disaster of arms.

Therefore, Artemis had no clear boundaries, with stone and wood buildings extending from the city's starting point outward, naturally transitioning to suburban farms.

But now, a high wall abruptly divided Artemis into inner and outer city parts.

The city wall, about four meters high and two meters thick, was built by filling straw and clay between two layers of wooden walls and tamping them down. Wooden scaffolding was erected on the inside to widen the city head.

The nearby farmhouses and barns were ruthlessly demolished to prevent them from being used by attackers.

The builders also cleverly raised the Anya River water into the elevated city trench, upgrading the dry moat to a moat.

The original barracks located inside the city were also renovated and fortified, making them defensive and forming an "inner and outer city" structure with the city wall.