Steel, Explosives, and Spellcasters

Chapter 805 805 74 Deadly Ground_3

?Chapter 805: Chapter 74: Deadly Ground_3 Chapter 805: Chapter 74: Deadly Ground_3 The “clamped wall” mentioned by the Herders is what is commonly referred to as “multiple layered city walls,” or the “Urn City.”

On the second defensive wall, Bard issued the first musket fire order, “Fire!”

The first row of Musketeers pulled their firing levers without hesitation, followed by the second and the third rows.

After three rounds of volley fire, Tie Chi had been beaten to a bloody pulp, with very few of the other Terdon Tribe members left alive in the Urn City.

The losses in men and horses did not surprise Nayen. On the contrary, it was the successive musket shots underneath the cavalry banners that shocked everyone.

The number of muskets was limited, so they were concentrated into use by Winters. This was Iron Peak County side’s first time deploying the musket squadron.

Tie Chi listened intently to the sounds of volley fire, then opened his eyes wide, “The two-legged ones’ Musketeers, they fire in well-disciplined volleys!”

Instead of a scattered popping noise, the air carried an evenly spaced, synchronized firing sound, like the beat of a drum.

Tie Chi strained to remember the last time he had heard such musket shots, where was it?

He remembered now, it was at a small fortress in the northwest part of Bianli. Last time too, the Terdon Tribe had bashed their heads bloody against trench and palisade.

“Is it that all two-legged people understand this firing method?” Tie Chi pondered, “Or have they run into an old adversary?”

“A two-legged one with a musket? Not an ordinary one, certainly a guard-like elite.” Another of the Green Plumed Feathers inquired, “Continue to fill the trenches? Tie Chi? Perhaps we should retreat first and then decide.”

Tie Chi’s face was stoic, “Wait a bit longer.”

The Green Plumed Feathers looked at each other, none knowing what Tie Chi was waiting for.

On the other side of the wall, it was Bard who was awaiting Winters.

“I made a mistake in judgement; we shouldn’t have deployed the musket squadron.” Bard said tiredly to Winters, “Once the muskets were fired, the Terdon Tribe was going to retreat, we should have waited.”

“It’s alright.” Winters took off his helmet, took a deep breath of fresh air, and signaled to other cavalry to remove their saddlebags, “Pick these up, let’s show them.”

The Green Plumed Feathers, the Red Plumed Feathers, and the ordinary Terdon Tribe were shocked to see poles with heads mounted on them being raised one after the other from behind the low wall,
Not just poles with heads, but also with bloody armor and cavalry banners.

Other Nayen looked back at Tie Chi, whose face was iron-blue, his hands gripping the reins tightly, his teeth grinding audibly.

The western riverbank of Iron Peak County stretched about 80 kilometers wide, with both the Dagger Wall and Shield Wall adding up to approximately 22 kilometers.

After the Terdon Tribe redirected their main offensive, Winters shortened the width he needed to defend.

But 22 kilometers was still too wide. In some respects, the defense line was full of holes everywhere.

The Terdon Tribe’s advantage lay in their mobility, while Iron Peak County’s was in the terrain.

Thus, Winters focused on defending several strategic chokepoints, while dealing with other areas with cavalry against cavalry.

The Terdon Tribe could send small elite forces over the mountains and through the valleys to flank, and Winters could deploy cavalry for counter-cleansing.

Once the surprise troops were destroyed, Tie Chi chose to retreat.

The other attacking and feinting Terdon forces also returned without achieving anything.

Winters ordered the militia to collect all the soil bags the Terdon had abandoned outside, for after all, sheepskin is valuable.

The battle during the day took place at the Shield Wall, while the battles at night were initiated by the Dagger Wall.

“Why doesn’t the enemy commander defend the riverbanks, and instead give up the riverbanks and establish defenses inland?” This question baffled Tie Chi.

He understood it that very night—at least he thought he did.

The terrain dictated that the Shield Wall and Dagger Wall were roughly in an L-shaped structure.

If the [L] was small enough, small enough to fit within the range of muskets and cannons, then the open ground between the two walls would have a term, “killing fields,” also known as “kill zones.”

Although the Dagger Wall and Shield Wall were measured in kilometers, their relative positioning still meant a pincer movement.

The wall was not only a shield to defend against enemies but also a launchpad for attacks—content from siege warfare tactics classes.

That night, upon hearing that a large force was striking out from the “Long Wall,” Tie Chi was not surprised; rather, he heartily exclaimed thrice, “Good.”

[Note: “Long Wall” and “Short Wall” are the Terdon Tribe’s terms for “Shield Wall” and “Dagger Wall.”]
He had calculated that the others were bound to attempt a night raid and that it would surely come from the Short Wall; the din of the Long Wall was merely a decoy.

In any case, once the opposition chose to leave their fortifications for open field battle, it gave the Terdon Tribe an opportunity.

As per Tie Chi’s arrangement, the scattered camps of various leaders gradually contracted, drawing in the two-legged ones deeper.

Tie Chi’s own elite troops stayed near the low wall, waiting to ambush the assault troops moving out from the low wall.

As expected, after the commotion from the Long Wall’s sortie, the low wall stirred as well.

Torches were lit in succession, with endless shouts of men and neighs of horses, and Tie Chi waited patiently.

Only when the thunderous sounds of horse hooves rang out from behind did Tie Chi realize something had gone wrong.

Winters was not launching an attack from the Dagger Wall or the Shield Wall.

He had set up a Floating Bridge at an upstream position where the Terdon Tribe’s vanguard had previously forded, leading a cavalry unit through the woods, striking at the barbarians from behind.

After a chaotic night of fighting, the Terdon Tribe withdrew to the south bank of the Panto River, with Tie Chi retaining only a small elite force on the north bank to control the fording field.

Iron Peak County side ultimately controlled the battlefield, from this point of view, the Terdon had lost.

But the Terdon’s loss was short-lived, at daybreak, they re-entered the north bank.

Meanwhile, Iron Peak County’s forces had already contracted back beyond the two walls.