"I'll take Thundercrash 131 and Line 1303, as well as the garrison line stationed at Monknad Castle. We'll head to the frontlines now.
Wait a few days for Monknad's line to be equipped with the new rifles and undergo a short period of training before leading the rest over.
Remember to let Berklin's line carry all the mines made by Blackrock Firearms Workshop. The effectiveness of those weapons still needs to be tested on the battlefield, "Claude instructed Eiblont.
He then sent an eagle messenger to Birkin, telling him to hold out for seven days and that he would be able to reach the frontlines within ten.
Eiblont, on the other hand, had some objections to Claude's decision to bring the garrison line. He felt that it would be better to bring Thundercrash instead of the veterans.
Claude could only give him a hurried explanation that the garrison line stationed at Monknad Castle was made up of Monknad's veterans. He brought them to the frontlines mainly because they were good at defensive battles and were Birkin's old subordinates. Returning to the frontlines would be akin to returning to Monknad's old troops. He believed they would be more useful in defensive battles and would be more reliable than the new recruits.
After traveling day and night, it only took Claude nine days to reach the frontlines. There, he saw Birkin, who was in a terrible state.
There, he received two pieces of good news and bad news.
The bad news was that the first of the three defensive lines had been lost in just two days under the Shiksans' ferocious attack.
The good news was that after four days of intense fighting, they managed to stabilize the second defensive line. However, both sides suffered heavy casualties.
"Monknad lost close to a line, while the nikancha suffered close to twenty thousand casualties," Birkin said in frustration.
"We have been fooled," said General Beechlin, vexed. "The enemy's commander-in-chief, Admiral Norberton Pam Bellondi, is a wily old fox.
His main focus is on the eastern mountains and not the northern coastal mountains as we thought.
The ones attacking us are three standing legions, and they are using a rotating tactic, attacking wave after wave. At the start of the battle, there is no way we can defend against this kind of wave-like attack. "
"Did he send the two standing corps that just arrived?" Claude asked.
If the Shiksans' main force in the eastern mountains was the two standing corps that had just arrived, it was obvious that they wouldn't be able to maintain their offensive prowess without some time to rest. It would be a good chance to break the enemy's defenses.
"No." General Beechlin shook his head. "These three standing regiments are the first three standing regiments to arrive at the Cape Loducus Colony. They have been resting for three months.
We thought the Shiksans had two of their standing corps on the northern border of the mountainous region and one on the eastern border.
However, we didn't expect the Shiksans to secretly swap out the two standing corps that just arrived with the two corps and secretly deploy them to the eastern mountains. We were caught off guard as soon as the battle started.
"We thought the Shiksans' standing corps at the eastern border would be a feint to distract our defences, but we didn't think that the moment the Shiksans launched their attack, the eastern border corps would charge straight in. The nikancha camp at the front couldn't even withstand a single blow and were routed one after another.
"At that time, I thought the Shiksans only had one standing corps in the eastern mountains and that we would be able to hold them off even if they reached the defensive line.
I didn't think the staff officer who retreated would report that the enemy was three standing corps. That's when I realized I'd been tricked! "
"Then why did the nikancha camp at the front end collapse at the first blow? They couldn't even put up a decent defence once."
That was what Claude was most confused about. Even if the nikancha's fighting prowess was pathetic, the defensive lines set up at the front were perfect.
They occupied a strategic location that was easy to defend and hard to attack, but they couldn't even put up a single successful resistance against the Shiksans.
In the end, the three Shiksans' standing corps only took fifteen to sixteen days to reach the defensive line and took over the first line in two.
How did the enemy manage to do that?
Didn't the staff officers of the Monolith Army who were sent to the nikancha camp teach the nikancha how to shoot from the trenches?
That shouldn't have happened.
Birkin smiled bitterly. "Claude, you're the only one to blame for that. The main reason the front lines were lost was because the Shiksans were equipped with the grenades you invented.
They also modified the projectiles to be able to throw them at a distance of 130 to 140 metres.
That's beyond the range of our flintlocks, so we could only stay put and take the bombardment.
The nikancha weren't trained to deal with grenades, so they were thrown into disarray the moment they were hit. "
It was no wonder the Shiksans were so unstoppable. It was all thanks to the grenades.
Claude was starting to regret giving the production license to the military industries of the old noble houses of the kingdom.
The grenades they produced helped the second prince, Wedrick, defeat the first prince, Hansbach, and reclaim the royal capital.
At the same time, all the kingdoms on Freia began copying them, including Shiks.
"Are their grenades the same as the ones we have?" Claude asked.
"It's different. It's similar to the one we found on the Nasrian smuggler's ship. It looks like a pumpkin and is also lit by a match. It's not like the ones we have that rely on internal friction to ignite.
They can't use them on rainy days, but we can. However, it's been sunny for half a month now, "Birkin said," I'll get someone to bring you a Shiksan grenade. It's one we obtained just two days ago. "
Soon, four burly soldiers carried a catapult that was as tall as a man with great difficulty. Claude could tell at a glance that it was a simplified version of a catapult from ancient times. The only difference was that steel springs were used to replace the wooden trebuchet.
His sister Anna and Madame Sonia had experimented and could throw a projectile two hundred metres away.
However, Claude found it to be too cumbersome and immobile. Too many people would have to carry it and it would easily become a target for the cannons on the battlefield, so he gave up on the idea of throwing it.
Another soldier brought over a Shiksan grenade, but the Shiksans didn't call it a grenade. Instead, they called it an iron pumpkin because it had the word 'iron pumpkin' carved on it.
The iron pumpkins were three times heavier than the grenades used in the war zone, but due to the amount of gunpowder and steel, the explosive power was greater.
It seemed that the Shiksans had no choice but to use such a catapult. Claude's grenade, which could only be operated by two people, couldn't throw the iron pumpkins that far.
"A catapult-like grenade like this should be easy to deal with," Claude said.
Even if it exceeded the hundred meter firing range of the aubass mark 3 standard matchlock, with such a large group of men and horses operating this thrower, there was no need for artillery to focus fire. They could directly summon a company of soldiers to focus fire on the area they were at.
Even the Shiksan firearms of the nikancha had a range of 320 metres, let alone the 380-metre range of the aubass mark 3.
There was no need for precise aim when firing at the Shiksans. No matter how far the bullets drifted, they wouldn't be too far from the target.
With so many guns, there would always be a chance of a lucky shot. As long as a few of the people around them fell, the rest would either panic or get down to avoid the bullets.
Or, a few light infantry field cannons could aim and directly fire solid projectiles. For a target like this where a large group of people were gathered within two hundred meters, the cannoneers of the two corps' light infantry field cannons might not be able to hit eight or nine out of ten cannoneers, but they could basically hit five or six out of ten cannoneers.
As long as two or three light infantry field cannons fired at a single target, the Shiksans' grenade throwers would only meet a tragic end.
The other method was for the two corps' outstanding archers to take the initiative to attack. They would leap out of the trenches and crawl to within a hundred meter range of the aubass mark III standard matchlock. They would kill the enemy operating the thrower by name, and this would eliminate the threat of the enemy's thrower to the defensive position.
These were the anti-thrower methods that Thunderclap and Monolith had trained in. With the new rifles, with their accurate shooting range of two hundred meters, it was enough to suppress the threat that the enemy's throwers posed to attacking or defending troops.
Birkin smiled helplessly. "Do you think I haven't used those methods before?
Do you know how we lost our first line of defence?
All I can say is that these Shiksan veterans are crazy. They aren't afraid of death and are even willing to die.
It's a tragedy for us to have such enemies. They hate us so much that they'd rather die than become our captives again.
"Up until now, we haven't caught a single one of them who surrendered, but we did catch a few unconscious soldiers.
"But after we treated them, all they wanted was for us to give them a quick death. They don't want them to be forced labourers after they recover.
I don't know how much suffering they suffered when they were taken away by the upstart merchant nobles of the kingdom, but they blamed it all on us. We were the ones who captured them and transferred them to the upstart merchant nobles of the kingdom.
Before you left, you sent me a messenger hawk. According to what you said in the letter, I carried out the punishment of killing one out of every ten nikancha who retreated from the front line. In one breath, I executed nearly two thousand nikancha in front of everyone. At last, I managed to shock the nikancha armed forces that trained with our soldiers.
"I told them that they wouldn't be able to escape death. Even if they managed to return to their settlements, the Shiksan army would arrive soon. Their parents and children would be killed and their siblings would be enslaved.
"One of them, a nikancha called Dowu, made me sigh and felt that his death was a pity.
"Even though he also retreated from the mountains, he was brave enough to act as a rearguard and save the staff officer who was heavily injured by a Shiksan grenade.
"At the same time, he ambushed a small group of Shiksan scouts and engaged in close combat with a few veterans. He took two hits from a bayonet but managed to wipe out the group of veterans. The Shiksan epaulets are proof of that.
"However, they were also retreating from the front lines, so they had to accept the punishment.
"In the end, Dowu drew the lot and the nikancha in his group wept bitterly, saying that he didn't deserve such a punishment for his bravery and that he wasn't a deserter, but a warrior who killed the enemy.
"When word of his deed reached the nikancha's ears, almost all of them came to beg to die in his place.
"I sent people to investigate and found out that the nikancha was indeed different from his cowardly brethren. Also, he led a group of Shiksan scouts and was injured himself, so I was prepared to pardon him from the death penalty.
"However, I didn't think that Dowu would reject my pardon. He was willing to accept the punishment and die. Otherwise, it would be unfair for the nikancha who drew the lot to be pardoned.
"No matter how brave he was on his way back, he couldn't deny the fact that he was a deserter.
Because his position was originally in the mountainous area at the front, and not in the defensive line where he was now.
Every reputable nikancha who heard the news tried to persuade him, but he rejected all of them. All he wanted was to die.
"I found it strange, so I went to visit him and treated him to a drink.
Duo Wu begged me to execute him on the same day as the other nikancha who had drawn the death stick. That way, the nikancha would be shocked and understand that the nikancha were at the most critical juncture of life and death.
"I felt it was a pity that he was ignorant, but I could only do as he wished.
He was the first to be executed that day, so I offered him a big bowl of wine.
"Dowu said a few words after he was done drinking. He told the nikancha that the theatre would be there to help them fend off the Shiksans this time.
But if the descendants of the Kramer pirates of Fochs came to pillage, who could the nikancha rely on to protect them?
"The nikancha can only pull themselves together and learn all the advanced military knowledge from the theatre. Only by training their own forces will they be able to protect the nikancha nation in the future.
He hoped that his execution and that of the two thousand deserters would serve as a warning to the nikancha that they would rather die on the battlefield than become shameful deserters.
"You might be able to live, but the price you'll have to pay is the death of your kin and the destruction of your village.
"Since you've picked up a flintlock, you've become a glorious nikancha warrior. You have to protect your village and nikancha nation, even if it means giving up your life. After saying that, he walked towards the execution platform. He was the first to be hanged."
.....
Claude never expected that the punishment he gave Birkin to punish deserters would turn out to be so ridiculous. Just like that, Dowu became a national hero in the eyes of the nikancha.
After all, the nikancha were lazy and even confinement in the army was a rare benefit for them. Not executing the punishment wasn't enough to intimidate them.
Not punishing deserters meant that all nikancha could escape in the face of battle. That was why Dowu was willing to die.
"The execution of Dowu and the two thousand nikancha deserters was a huge shock to the nikancha forces.
That's why when the Shiksans appeared at the first line of defence two days later, almost all nikancha forces showed an unusually strong desire to fight.
They weren't afraid of the Shiksans' attacks at all. Under the command of Monolith, they resisted the Shiksans' attacks in an orderly manner. Even when the Shiksans launched wave after wave of night attacks, they were able to drive the enemy back with close combat. "
Birkin sighed. "But I didn't expect the Shiksans to be so crazy and reckless.
During the day, their grenade throwers were suppressed by us and suffered heavy casualties, so they chose to attack at night.
First, they used the infantry cannons to attack the front of the defence line to attract the cannons to retaliate. Then, a large number of soldiers swarmed forward and engaged them in close combat.
"Our defence line and nikancha forces put on their bayonets after emptying their muskets and fought them head-on.
"However, we didn't know that the Shiksans had already secretly pushed their grenade throwers to the front of the defence line and hurled the iron pumpkins at them.
"You have to know that the Shiksans were still engaged in close combat at the time. They even blew up their own people.
"We were all dumbfounded. None of us expected the Shiksans to be that crazy.
"Monolith's battalion and two thousand nikancha who had just gone to reinforce them were immediately blown to bits. The Shiksans' veterans continued their assault and with the grenade throwers, the first line of defence fell just like that."
Claude finally knew why the first line of defence fell.
"Two days ago, the Shiksans wanted to use the same trick again, but they didn't expect us to place our grenade throwers at the frontlines and bombard them.
I also sent a reinforced battalion equipped with the new guns to the front line to shoot the Shiksans' grenade throwers.
Because their iron pumpkins need to be lit before they can be thrown, the bright light at night has become their fatal weakness. They didn't even manage to throw a few iron pumpkins. Half of the hundred or so throwers were killed by our shooters in no time. The rest of them managed to escape. "
Birkin pointed at the catapult-like thrower on the ground with a smug expression. "This and the iron pumpkin beside it were obtained two nights ago. There were a total of 86 throwers and 376 iron pumpkins.
I've already placed them at the defence line and they've become our defensive weapons. "