“Boom!” “Rumble—!”
Dull and immense explosions began to erupt one after another within the city of Seville. The earth trembled, and the houses shook, as if the end of the world had arrived.
Under the desperate orders of General Sanjurjo, the last surviving Magic Crystal Cannon battery began firing indiscriminate blanket fire towards the areas in the northern part of the city where the enemy had appeared.
Since no precise targeting was required, the apprentice mages did not even participate in guiding the shots. The gunners simply roughly set a direction and angle based on the map and coordinates before launching the shells one by one.
This time, they were no longer using the fragmentation magic crystal shells designed primarily for personnel casualties, but the more powerful and devastating High-Efficacy Magic Crystal Shells.
The explosive power and shockwave of these shells far exceeded conventional artillery rounds.
Most of the buildings in Seville were ordinary brick and tile structures, and under the bombardment of the High-Efficacy Magic Crystal Shells, they were blown apart like paper, collapsing one after another and turning into ruins. If not for the fact that most civilians had already evacuated, this would certainly have caused massive casualties.
Thick smoke and dust billowed into the sky, obscuring it.
General Sanjurjo, observing the battle from the rear, finally revealed a savage sense of satisfaction as he looked at the rolling smoke rising from the city. “Blast them! Blast them relentlessly!” he muttered to himself, “Let’s see where you tortoises can hide now!”
He believed that under such devastating artillery fire, any solid defense would be destroyed, and any stubborn will would be crushed.
At least based on his previous experience in siege warfare, using artillery fire to collapse city defenses was a very common practice.
However, what he didn’t know was that this seemingly spectacular bombardment caused minimal actual casualties to the city’s defenders.
In the ‘Street Fighting Suggestions’ initially provided by Morin, a crucial principle was clearly stated: “Before the enemy infantry approaches, the main forces should remain as much as possible in the city’s depths or in sturdy basements to evade the enemy’s possible artillery preparations.”
Only a small number of bold and meticulous soldiers were sent to high vantage points, such as the church bell tower, to act as observation posts.
At this moment, in the highest church bell tower in Seville, two Saxon soldiers were nervously observing the movements outside the city with binoculars.
Violent explosions were constantly occurring in the surrounding urban areas, causing even the bell tower to shake slightly.
“Did you see it? The enemy’s artillery position!” one soldier whispered. “I saw it! At the 11 o’clock direction, behind that small copse of trees!” the other soldier replied, “Damn, they’re really well hidden!”
Their mission was to observe the enemy’s artillery attack. As soon as the enemy’s artillery ceased fire and the infantry began to advance, they had to immediately notify the troops to enter their positions.
Just as the two were anxiously and nervously observing amidst the roar of the cannons, the shelling from outside the city suddenly stopped.
“What’s going on? It stopped?” “Look! The enemy is advancing!”
Through the binoculars, they clearly saw the masses of black-clad Kingdom Army soldiers surging out from their positions outside the city like a tide, launching the second wave of attack on Seville.
“Quick! Notify the other units!” “Understood!”
One soldier immediately slid down the bell tower’s ladder, simultaneously biting the whistle around his neck.
“Whee—”
A sharp whistle quickly sounded, followed by whistle after whistle, radiating from the church to other areas like a relay.
The defenders in the previously silent city of Seville, upon hearing the whistles, quickly moved through the secret passages partially opened inside the buildings and swiftly entered the second line of intact building positions.
The Kingdom Army soldiers cautiously stepped through the ruins ravaged by artillery fire, and upon realizing they were no longer under attack, they were momentarily relieved.
“It looks like those Saxons and rebels have all been blown to death by the cannons!”
An officer said, feigning relaxation, then raised his saber diagonally forward, ordering the troops to advance deeper into the city.
Meanwhile, on a high ground outside Seville.
Colonel Braun, commander of the 52nd Cavalry Regiment, was holding his binoculars, observing Seville in the distance.
When he saw the dense, ant-like enemy forces surrounding the city, his eyes instantly sharpened.
The enemy had launched another attack, and this time they even used Magic Crystal Cannons. If their cavalry couldn’t find a way to take out the remaining Magic Crystal Cannon battery, the pressure on the defenders would become even greater.
“Colonel! Found it!”
An excited shout came from beside him. The cavalry colonel lowered his binoculars, a smile appearing on his face.
Good. The enemy’s artillery position had been exposed because of the recent shelling.
“Messenger!” Colonel Braun roared.
“Here!”
“Report the coordinates to the Horse Artillery Battalion, and tell them to proceed to the pre-established position according to the coordinates! They must complete the deployment within fifteen minutes!”
“Order the First and Second Cavalry Squadrons to prepare for a charge! As soon as the Horse Artillery Battalion finishes shelling, charge with me immediately!”
“Yes, Colonel!”
The messenger spurred his horse with a kick of his heel, and the order was quickly relayed.
The Horse Artillery Battalion, attached to the Cavalry Regiment, was equipped with 12 seventy-seven millimeter field guns.
Although these cannons were not large in caliber, they excelled in mobility. Each gun was pulled by six sturdy draft horses and could move quickly over rugged terrain.
The gunners were experienced veterans. Upon arriving at the position, they skillfully unhitched the draft horses and the limbers, converting the cannons from towing to combat readiness, adjusting the muzzle angle, and loading the shells… The entire process was smooth and seamless.
In less than fifteen minutes, the 12 seventy-seven millimeter field guns had raised their muzzles, aimed at the Magic Crystal Cannon position that had just been raging.
As No. 1 gun position quickly completed two rounds of ranging shots, the other 11 field gun crews also expertly adjusted their firing data.
“Fire!”
At the order of the Horse Artillery Battalion commander, a continuous roar of cannons erupted across the field.
The 12 field guns fired simultaneously, the shells tearing through the sky with a shriek, most of them landing within the Magic Crystal Cannon position.
Explosions followed one after another.
The critical weakness of the Magic Crystal Cannon—its extreme lack of mobility—was utterly exposed at this moment.
Despite having already been ranged, when the Saxon salvo landed, those clumsy Magic Crystal Cannons, not yet retracted, had no time to move.
The gunners were thrown in all directions, screaming and crying.
The entire position instantly plunged into a sea of fire and chaos.
“Charge!”
Colonel Braun was the first to raise his lance, pointing it forward.
“For the Emperor and the Empire!”
“Woo—”
The clear bugle call for a charge sounded.
The first rank of the two prepared Cavalry Squadrons leveled their lances and charged towards the position engulfed in artillery fire like a bursting flood.
The cold, gleaming lances, like a forest, quickly and completely ended the threat posed by this enemy artillery force that had caused them great trouble.
The defenders of the Magic Crystal Cannon position, having already suffered the shelling, were completely unable to offer any effective resistance when faced with the wall-like charge of the cavalry.
However, just as the cavalry were mopping up the die-hard enemies at the position, a sudden turn of events occurred.
Three figures radiating powerful magical fluctuations suddenly flew in from the distant sky at extreme speed.
The one leading them was the High-Level Mage Eldridge.
When he saw the nearly destroyed Magic Crystal Cannon position, his face was terrifyingly grim.
Colonel Braun, on his charging horse, also spotted the three figures flying toward them quickly.
A sense of foreboding surged in his heart.
“It’s mages! Be careful!” he shouted a warning.
But it was already too late.
Eldridge simply lifted his hand slightly and uttered a few syllables. The next second, the hundreds of cavalrymen in the leading charge, men and horses alike, suddenly floated uncontrollably into the air, as if seized by an invisible giant hand.
They screamed in terror, struggling, but to no avail.
Colonel Braun’s last conscious thought was seeing himself and his comrades smashed violently into the ground by that invisible giant hand.
Flesh flew, and bones shattered.
The entire world plunged into darkness.
(End of this Chapter)