Steel, Explosives, and Spellcasters

"What does the signal flag on that ship say?" Winters asked Cage, pointing at the warship that was gradually moving away.

"'Wish,' 'good luck,' 'victory,' 'goodbye,'" Cage read the signal flags, squinting his eyes.

Six main warships left the fleet and scattered across the entire sea area.

"I can't understand why your navy would do something like dispersing its forces," Winters sighed.

Moving his joints, Cage answered, "The sizable Tanilia fleet has already been destroyed, there is no need for the fleet to stay clumped together anymore; spreading out will allow us to control this sea area... We should be close to Red Sulfur Island, right?"

Red Sulfur Island is the fifth largest island of the Taniria Islands, named for its red soil and the abundant sulfur produced on the mountains in the middle of the island.

The entire island is roughly an irregular oval shape, its area nearly 700 square kilometers, about one hundred and forty times smaller than the territory of Vineta, or about a quarter the size of a Vineta county.

If you calculate based on the speed of a field march, it would take about two days to go from the southern end of the island to the north, over fifty kilometers. From the west end to the east, it would take about a day, over twenty kilometers.

Later generations discovered that this island was actually a small part of a giant underwater volcano that surfaced, but people of this era did not know this. However, as long as there was sulfur to be mined, they didn't care about living on the edge of a volcano.

This island controls the southern gateway of the Taniria Islands, and Red Sulfur Harbor is the best deepwater natural harbor on the Sea Blue—Golden Harbor shipping route,

Unlike Sea Spring Port, which swayed indecisively between two major powers, Red Sulfur Island is one of the main islands of the Taniria Islands, a core territory of the Federation, with sugarcane plantations crowding the island, which spoke volumes.

Therefore, after the Consul of Debela declared war, this important sulfur-producing area quickly cut off its sulfur exports to Vineta.

In Nalesho's step-by-step battle plan, capturing Red Sulfur Harbor was a critical link. The docks of the large harbor could accommodate the entire fleet, the rich island could provide supplies for the Expeditionary Force, and they could also seize the sulfur mines on the island.

Using this island as a base and springboard, there would be a solid rear for the assault on the main island of Taniria.

Later that afternoon, atop The Glorious's castle, Winters could already see the southern cliffs of Red Sulfur Island; likewise, the observation post on the southern cliffs of Red Sulfur Island had noticed the Vineta Fleet.

The sentinel in the observation post gaped, stunned as he spotted sails on the sea surface thirty sea miles away.

One ship, two ships, then dozens; an imposing fleet was sailing towards Red Sulfur Island, with the flags of the Vineta Navy clearly visible at the top of their masts.

Even though the outcome of the battle at Lighthouse Port was already known, the efficiency and speed of the Vineta Fleet still left the sentinel dumbfounded.

"What are you staring at?!" The watch commander angrily kicked the sentinel: "Light the beacon!"

From the ship, Winters saw a plume of thick smoke rise from the southern coast of Red Sulfur Island, reaching hundreds of meters into the sky before dispersing. The beacon spread the news of the Venetians' arrival across the island, and the Venetians were aware of this too.

The fleet steered eastward, bypassing the southern tip of Red Sulfur Island, sailing beneath the basalt cliffs, and by evening, they had anchored at a sheltered spot from the wind. A small troop on the shore had been following the fleet closely, keeping a close watch on the Venetians' movements.

Since embarking on the campaign, the soldiers of the Vineta Army felt the tension of impending battle for the first time.

For dinner that night, the soldiers of the Third Legion didn't eat the usual dry biscuits, but fresh fish, salty meat soup, and freshly baked bread.

By special command of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, each infantry soldier also received a small cup of strong liquor. Find adventures on empire

Every spellcaster officer received two basic units of standard casting materials—something the army wouldn't normally be so generous with.

The soldiers retrieved their weapons—these had been collected and managed centrally upon boarding. Veterans in the centurion's unit were all issued with half-armors.

Musket soldiers began to inspect each lead bullet, polishing away the poor-quality ones that wouldn't fit into the barrels. The sound of weapons and armor being honed was incessant throughout the fleet.

The gun deck of The Glorious was temporarily transformed into the Legion's command tent, and all officers of the Third Legion, who attended the military council, packed the not-so-large gun deck.

"The Tanilia Federation is merely a loose political alliance with no standing army. Their main armed force consists of plantation owners' private troops and the militia guards from various towns, aside from the peace-keeping forces," explained the deputy legion commander, standing in front of the map: "Apart from Red Sulfur Harbor, there is a small town inland called Tachi. Red Sulfur Harbor has about ten thousand inhabitants, Tachi less than five thousand. Outside the cities, there are four villages, and numerous plantations."

A guard began distributing maps to the officers present. As the acting centurion of the first hundred-man unit, Winters also received a spread-out map of Red Sulfur Island.

The detail of the map astounded him—it was less than two handspans in size, but meticulously marked the roads, villages, water sources, and large plantations of Red Sulfur Island, and certainly not something that could be produced hastily.

The deputy legion commander briefly explained the topography of Red Sulfur Island with reference to the map, and then began assigning combat tasks.

Finally getting to the heart of the matter, all officers present perked up.