How to Survive in the Roanoke Colony-Chapter 250: Excavator’s Edge (5)

Days had already passed since the battle began.

"...Those born in America, raise your hands and speak."

"..."

"..."

"..."

"Does anyone know what that monster is?"

"Um, over here."

"Speak."

"In my view, that monster seems to be some kind of machine. It doesn’t appear to be alive..."

"Who doesn’t know that!"

Bang!

"Would Indian barbarians have made such a thing? Or was it those English pirates? No! We need to know who made it, how they made it, and what its weakness is!"

Spanish Army Commander Juan del Águila y Arellano still couldn’t forget the form of that monster.

Something covered in spikes all over its body like a deep-sea fish.

Something bigger than a person, made of metal.

That something ran faster than a horse. No matter how they tried to catch ’it,’ they couldn’t.

Clearly heavy enough to make the ground sink where it passed, yet bizarrely agile at the same time.

Because of this, thousands of troops had been toyed with by that monster for days now. Juan del Águila barely contained his boiling anger as he glared at the distant San Marcos fortress.

It’s so simple. Just bringing down that one fortress would practically end everything.

He even mocked the people of the Viceroyalty of Nueva España for failing to accomplish such an easy task.

And as he gradually realized that this Florida might become his final battlefield, he also pondered how to honorably conclude this campaign.

It was a foolish concern.

Instead of indulging in such luxury, he should have thought more intensely. He should have considered why Nueva España struggled so much to suppress a mere slave rebellion.

...Of course, even this realization comes too late. Juan del Águila shook his head and said to those around him.

"Fine. If no one knows, then let’s just hurry as we decided before."

He shouldn’t have been greedy to quickly occupy the fortress in the first place. He should have endured until ’that’ was ready before engaging in battle.

The Spanish commander quickly regained his reason.

Good.

If the enemies have peculiar weapons and bizarre monsters accompanying them...

We have iron and bronze.

We’ll crush that miserable fortress.

==

"Yaaaaawn."

After a long time, a truly long time, the guard standing next to Alonso yawned.

Considering the fierce battles that had been ongoing, there shouldn’t have been time to yawn leisurely like that.

That’s how it had been for the past few days.

But lately, it was different.

"Can you tell what they’re preparing?"

"...I don’t know."

The Spaniards were digging, piling earth on hills near the shore, and making all sorts of commotion, but they couldn’t even guess the reason.

It was because the Spanish troops’ defensive formation surrounding that suspicious construction site was so dense.

For the past few days, the enemy had focused more on gaining psychological advantage and intimidation rather than direct attacks on the fortress.

Occasionally, part of their forces would circle around the walls, blowing trumpets and demonstrating... then return to their original defensive formation when it was time.

With them taking such an extremely defensive attitude in front of the fortress, the defenders had no opportunity to do anything.

"What is it? What are they trying to do?"

Especially from Kin Issei’s perspective, it was even more so.

For him, diving into such a defensive formation would be suicidal. If he were to pour the excavator’s impact into such a dense formation, the vehicle would eventually stop in the middle of enemy lines.

That’s why he had only surprised their rear in situations where the Spanish soldiers were appropriately scattered and focused on attacking the fortress.

If the enemies responded properly even once, Kin Issei would instantly become their prisoner. Then it would be over.

Anyway, although he had an ominous feeling about what might be completed, Kin Issei could only bite his thumbnail without being able to do anything.

The feeling of just watching without being able to do anything, regardless of what it was, wasn’t very pleasant.

Kin Issei tried to poke around the defensive formation several times, and drove away detached units that separated from the formation to threaten the fortress, but the Spanish army remained unshaken.

Indeed, it seemed that some important work was continuing inside. But since he himself couldn’t know what it was, he could only feel frustrated.

Then one day.

"...Huh?"

Now something was clearly noticeable.

The defensive formation was moving.

They were surrounding a huge cart pulled by dozens of people at its center.

It was impossible to know what was in that cart. It was because it was wrapped in black cloth.

Kin Issei urgently unfolded a telescope and even took photos to enlarge them, but he couldn’t confirm anything from that vague silhouette.

However, two things were certain.

Unless they had given up on the war, that is a weapon. One that helps the former.

Also, whatever weapon it is, it’s very heavy.

These two pieces of information floated around in everyone’s minds for a moment...

And combined.

A very heavy weapon needed for siege warfare.

Swoooosh!

Cannon.

As the black cloth slid down, a massive metal body appeared, reflecting sunlight.

Cannons of a size that would have been threatening even if there was just one were quickly positioned in pairs, aiming at the fortress.

These siege cannons, ordered by the Viceroy of Nueva España, Juan de Mendoza y Luna, partly as a display of wealth—no one could have imagined they would be used like this.

Juan del Águila stroked the elegant barrel, large enough for even a child to enter, with a sigh of relief.

The twin giant cannons ’San Pedro’ and ’San Lorenzo,’ with barrels measuring 4 meters in length.

Cast in Chapultepec, Mexico City, under the orders of Juan de Mendoza y Luna, Viceroy of Nueva España and Marquis of Montesclaros, these powerful bronze cannons were truly monsters.

Their overwhelming size, requiring more than a dozen horses to move, made one question whether these cannons were really made for actual combat.

Even Juan del Águila pondered for a long time whether it was right to load these enormous white elephants onto ships.

But.

"Load!"

"Loading!"

Now he would know if the result of that contemplation was correct.

The Spanish commander, a seasoned general who had gone through numerous battlefields including France, the Netherlands, Milan, Sicily, Malta, and more, smiled.

He had a very pleasant premonition.

Soon, a world-shaking roar spread.

And amid several soldiers falling in surprise or covering their ears and complaining of pain.

He could barely see through the smoke.

"...Finally!"

Both that cursed transparent barrier and that terrible wall were half-demolished.

Spanish soldiers charged with cheers.

And the soldiers of the Florida ’rebels’ scattered and were crushed while bleeding profusely.

It was a moment when the distinction between people and chunks of meat became ambiguous.

At the same time, the distinction between walls and piles of stones became blurred.

"Gr-grab weapons! Grab weapons!"

They shouted in despair.

And they fired at the countless Spaniards who were swarming with ladders.

This time, no one was safe.

A bloody battle ensued.

==

"...What is that."

Like a sand castle collapsing under a wave, hopelessly, one-third of the wall on one side of the San Marcos fortress crumbled.

As some terrified soldiers tried to flee, others grabbed them by the collar and kept them in their original positions, and soldiers who barely maintained their formation frantically fired guns while standing on the corpses of their comrades.

While some Spanish soldiers unluckily fell to those blind bullets, there were still many Spaniards.

They numbered over 6,000.

They had barely managed to push back with Lexan shields and flintlocks the hand-to-hand combat that had broken out on the fortress walls.

By kicking away a few ladders and then falling one after another amid the pouring crossfire, people were barely, just barely, managing to block the Spanish advance with difficulty.

And.

"..."

Watching that scene through a telescope, I momentarily lost my words.

With such weapons in the enemy’s hands, there was no way to win. Even if they held out now, despair would grow from where those siege cannons spewed fire again.

Little by little, as weaknesses were exposed and walls were chipped away, there would be a significant limit to how much repairs with palisades and urgent soil could help.

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