Chapter 5
A soldier of the Grand Imperial Army listened to the whistle of a mortar falling. After taking the first layer of defenses, the coalition forces had begun bombarding the second layer with mortars and occasionally making small pushes to draw the defenders out.
He was lucky, his company had not been called out to defend. He watched men running across the courtyard, seemingly unconcerned about the massive iron balls which fell down on them. So far, the coalition forces had only been using solid shot, and the Imperials had only taken a handful of casualties.
Suddenly, a loud boom echoed throughout the courtyard as the mortar’s ball burst, and the soldier watched what looked like an iron hail rain down upon his comrades, rending flesh and cracking bone with hundreds of pieces of shrapnel.
After a few seconds the screaming started as men who lived lay on the stone floor, not quite dead but mangled in horrific ways.
What in Alaric’s name was that?
The soldier could hear quiet booms off in the distance and his stomach began to tighten with knots of anxiety. He watched men move to drag their friends to safety, then he looked up and saw more mortars raining down upon them.
They burst in the air, blanketing the courtyard with shards of iron. Men dropped like rocks and lay still on the ground, dozens killed and wounded in just a few minutes. He watched in horror as men lay on top of each other, screaming and crying out for help. This time, no one came to assist, as they could hear dull booms in the distance.
All they could do was watch as the wounded were finished off, and soon the courtyard was nearly silent. Blood pooled in low places and flowed freely across the rock and stone. A mess of flesh and bone torn to shreds by men without even a clear line of sight to the ones they killed.
However, despite this, the defenders continued to hold strong. The areas they really needed to defend were covered, enchanted gate houses and other defensive structures, completely impervious to artillery. The soldier took comfort in the roof over his head, knowing that he was mostly safe from the iron hail.
He shivered as he watched a man painfully drag himself across the stone floor to the gatehouse, his foot a mangled mess of blood and bone. Defending this citadel would be bloody work, but the race traitors needed to be held off. He took a deep breath to steady himself and walked away from the window, not wanting to see his comrades in such pain.
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October 25th, 1663. Grössenstadt, Größe Teilanderfluss.
Hans Volkner looked through a telescope at the opposing bank 100 yards across. The river was massive, and the defenders on the other side were dug in deep. Artillery platforms dotted the river, ready to rip into anyone attempting to cross.
A sultry voice came from his side, feminine, alluring, but full of authority.
“What is your plan to get across, Herr General?”
Hans spared a glance to the person next to him, Empress Samanta Reikspal. He sighed and set the telescope down next to him.
“Crossing it is going to be incredibly bloody work.”
“I am aware.”
Hans nodded.
“Of course, ma’am. Not to say it’s impossible.”
The Empress smiled and a shiver worked its way down Han’s spine.
“Good. Now, again, what is your plan to cross?”
Hans glanced at the river again before taking a deep breath, in through his nose, out through his mouth. A breathing technique taught to him by his race-traitor former friend, Ludwin Albrecht.
“I need enchanted boats, troop transports, something that won’t get destroyed by their artillery and is big enough to move at least a battalion at a time.”
The Empress raised an eyebrow.
“My, that is quite the expensive and time consuming venture, not to mention daring. Having a thousand men on a ship at once is quite an ask.”
Hans nodded.
“Yes ma’am, I’m aware that it’s unprecedented. But, I think it’s our best chance. Additionally, we will need more artillery, at least twice as much as we currently have. They will engage in counter-battery fire and bombardment to keep our men safe as they cross.”
The Empress nodded.
“Yes, that sounds like a good plan. Do you have anything else?”
Hans shook his head.
“No ma’am. Once we have our boats and we have bombarded their position for a while, we will cross and drive the defenders from their positions.”
“And do you have an idea of how you would like to utilize the Demigryph Knights?”
“Yes ma’am. I want them to charge the areas with the strongest resistance and wreak havoc. Their shriek affects our men as well, but if both sides are frozen with fear I figure it would even out. Also, our men have nowhere to run, while the defenders can always run back to Bickenstadt.”
The Empress smiled brightly.
“Excellent plan, Hans, I am glad to see your education is not going to waste.”
Hans gave a crisp salute.
“I aim to serve as best I can, ma’am!”
The Empress laughed, drawing the attention of everyone in the surrounding area. They stared at her, completely enchanted with her beauty.
“Good, I like an enthusiastic soldier! They do good work. I expect great things from you, Hans.”
Hans held his salute, face overflowing with pride.
“Thank you, ma’am! I will not disappoint you!”
The Empress nodded.
“Good. Getting those ships built and artillery created and brought over will take a few months, two to three, so until then, figure out how to keep the pressure up on them.”
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“Yes ma’am!”
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October 30th, 1663. Bickenstadt.
Wolfgang stood in front of a table with a map of Bickenstadt spread across it. Sitting in front of him were three people: Alana Albrecht, Jean le Mechanique, and their apprentice Erik.
“Jean, Frau Albrecht, how are you doing today?”
Alana spoke up immediately.
“I am not one for pleasantries, why have you called us here?”
Wolfgang stared at her for a moment, genuinely surprised.
“...of course. I would like for you two to assist with making the rest of Bickenstadt more defensible.”
He leaned over the table and pointed to the Größe Teilanderfluss.
“The Empress has pushed us from the Grössenstadt side, it’s only a matter of time before they begin attempting to cross. We need to prepare Bickenstadt for this inevitability.”
Jean and Alana nodded, and Erik simply observed from a small distance.
“Jean, do you have any expertise to offer? It is my understanding that your nation has been at war for some time, I imagine you have had to throw off various different invasions and incursions.”
Jean looked up at the ceiling absentmindedly as he thought.
“Well…I grew up in a fortified village. When I was just a boy they built up the defenses and stationed a garrison there.”
Wolfgang rubbed his chin and nodded.
“Interesting…so instead of building new outposts and fortresses, Napoleon simply fortified already existing structures.”
“Oui, ‘owever it does ‘as a drawback.”
“And that is?”
“Well, it means that it guarantees that places with civilians will be attacked. If the soldiers can’t hold out, then the civilians will be in trouble.”
“As callous as this sounds, that is not a problem. The Empress would have targeted Bickenstadt villages anyways. She wants to make rebellion as painful as possible for us. That sounds like a good plan, we will go with that.”
Jean looked surprised.
“Really? That fast?”
Wolfgang nodded.
“Yes, my father trusts you, and so I trust you.”
Jean raised an eyebrow.
“Is that a wise policy to ‘ave?”
Wolfgang chuckled and shook his head.
“No, no it is not.”
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Alana Albrecht pointed to a wall with one hand and consulted a document with the other.
“This mound isn’t steep enough, it needs to be made at least four inches higher. Wait, no, dig the ditch four inches deeper instead! The shock from jumping down will hurt their knees.”
A soldier saluted her and ran off to tell the men her orders. She turned to Jean and Erik a few yards away and walked over.
They were in the town of Kopfhafen, population five thousand civilians, and now five companies of line infantry. They were currently fixing up the walls and constructing new fortifications. If the Grand Imperial Army crosses the river, it would be attacked, and possibly razed. It was just twenty miles from Bickenstadt city, and with the newly added garrison it would become a priority target, as any force besieging a city doesn’t want anyone coming behind their backs.
“How are things over here, darlings?”
Jean smiled brightly.
“They’re going well! I like that idea to sink wooden palisades in the ground, it splinters instead of crumbles, I’ve seen it. Much ‘arder to climb over than stone.”
“Thank you, Jean, but your star fortress is much more impressive.”
Jean bashfully rubbed the back of his neck.
“Oh, please, I didn’t come up with it. I just know about it.”
“It’s impressive nonetheless, not to mention useful-HEY! Dump that dirt in the right pile! We’re using it!”
The worker apologized and started to shovel the dirt where it was supposed to go.
“By the gods, if I leave them alone for even a second they begin goofing off! Our soldiers need to be much more disciplined.”
Jean smiled.
“Oh please, let them ‘ave their fun.”
Alana frowned slightly.
“They can have fun when the ditches are dug-Stack those beams properly! If the pile is messy it could crush someone! I want no work accidents at my worksite!”
Jean stared at Alana as she shouted at the workers, mostly soldiers annoyed they had been placed away from the fight, with a slight smile on his face. She looked at him and tilted her head.
“Is there something wrong?”
Jean smiled brightly and shook his head.
“No, it’s nothing.”
She nodded.
“Good. Then get back to work.”
Jean chuckled and saluted her.
“Yes ma’am!”
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November 14th, 1663. Waffenstadt.
Ingo von Waffenstadt grinned widely as he watched the testing of a new, experimental weapon system: Magically enhanced howitzer.
He watched the howitzer, which looked like a smaller, stubby cannon with a wide bore, fire in a great arc. The projectile was a blinding white, easy to follow through the air. When it got close to the wooden targets clustered in a field it burst, sending massive spikes of ice into the targets before the iron ball smashed down into the group.
Ingo laughed and slapped the back of a mage looking through a telescope.
“Good work Deitrich!”
Dietrich smiled.
“Thank you, sir. It’s hard to get the timing down correctly, but I think I’m starting to get it.”
“That’s great, fantastic even. So, tell me exactly how it works. I would like to know how practical this is, and how easily it could be implemented.”
Dietrich nodded.
“Of course, sir. Firstly, you need an ice mage, a howitzer, a telescope, and a lot of time for practice. For me, it took about two weeks of practice to get it down consistently. If you have people training specifically for it, putting in the proper hours, you could get it down to as little as a week.”
Ingo nodded.
“Just a week? That’s not too bad.”
Dietrich nodded again.
“No sir, it is not, at least in my opinion.”
Ingo smiled.
“Which I value greatly.”
“Thank you, sir, then, after you’ve acquired the materials needed, you have the ice mage cover the projectile with layers of ice. Then, you fire the projectile. You lose some ice, but not enough for it to be a problem. Then, the mage watches the projectile, and when it’s in a good position the mage detonates the ice. Shards of ice will pierce anything in a circle below the projectile before it falls into the men below it as well.”
Ingo nodded his head and ran his hand through his beard in thought.
“So, it’s essentially an airburst mortar with less math required to use it.”
“Yes sir, exactly. And it has an extra projectile, as the projectile the ice travels on doesn’t get destroyed as with traditional airburst rounds.”
“I like it. The Empire has a wealth of ice mages…in the north. I’m sure we can find some, though. This could be extremely useful, we could send it north towards the river. I’m sure it would be useful against anyone trying to cross in boats. Give them a bit of a scare.”
Ingo chuckled.
“This little technique ought to put ‘em on their asses, or force them on their ass through impalement.”
Deitrich nodded.
“Yes sir, I’m sure it will!”