Steel, Guns, and the Industrial Party in Another World-Chapter 730: Camp Riot
TL: Rui88
After the first joint attack with Jars on Lion’s Port failed, King Garrett III of Collins did not give up on this big piece of fat meat before him.
While the Holy See’s commander, General Cook, was busy directing the offensive against Fort Ness, Garrett III went around making connections, uniting with various forces within the Crusader Army who also coveted the wealth in Lion’s Port. They gradually formed a small clique, plotting how to take the small Aldan port.
On a morning like any other, General Cook was conducting his routine inspection before the assault. To his surprise, he found that a large number of troops had not deployed in their designated areas.
The old general was furious. Upon investigation, he found that it was several city-states, led by Collins, that were not in position.
He had to suppress his anger and did not erupt on the spot. He only ordered a temporary halt to the attack. After all, in the composition of the Crusader Army, Collins was the main force, second only to the Holy See’s expeditionary army.
Just as he was about to send someone to inquire, a subordinate hurried to report that he had seen the Collins army marching in the direction of Lion’s Port.
The horsewhip fell from his hand to the ground. The shocked Cook instantly recalled Garrett III’s strange behavior at yesterday’s meeting. When discussing the new offensive plan, he had been rather absent-minded, his words extremely perfunctory.
“Damn it! I should have been wary of this long ago!” Cook regretted it deeply. “A bunch of bastards who only know how to cause me trouble.”
“Quick! Send someone on the fastest horse to stop those idiots!”
Following his orders, several messengers galloped towards Lion’s Port, raising long trails of dust.
As they drew near, they first heard a rumbling sound, and then saw an astonishing sight.
The Aldan city walls were not high, which was why the Collins army had not brought large siege engines—they had only carried light ladders.
However, that short wall had become an impenetrable barrier. A strange type of firearm was deployed on it, spitting tongues of fire at any invaders who dared to approach, accompanied by a roar like muffled thunder.
Each time that weapon spat, the besiegers were like a group of people slapped by a large invisible hand, falling in droves. Some were killed outright, others lay on the ground wailing incessantly. It was a truly miserable sight.
The terrified messengers quickly spurred their horses back to report the situation. As for the Collins men, as long as they were not stupid, they would probably not continue to charge head-on into this small city shrouded in the power of the devil.
Cook waited furiously in his tent until Garrett III and his accomplices returned dejectedly with a group of defeated soldiers.
On the eve of victory—after all, only one tottering city remained of the once-powerful Horn Bay Alliance—a fierce conflict broke out among the high command of the Crusader Army.
“You actually defied unified command to provoke the Aldans on your own, and you wasted a good opportunity to attack Fort Ness. If you weren’t the King of Collins, your head would be hanging from a flagpole right now.”
Cook furiously reprimanded Garrett III.
According to etiquette, this was actually improper. After all, no matter how small Collins was, Garrett III was the king of this city-state, wearing a crown on his head. But Cook could no longer be bothered with such things.
“To hell with your unified command!” Garrett III retorted, waving his thick arms. “If your command was so brilliant, why aren’t we holding a victory parade on the streets of Fort Ness right now!”
“Regardless, you should not have provoked the Aldans!”
“I need money! I’ll say it again, I need money! I need a lot of money! The money promised by the Holy See is long overdue, so I have to find a way myself!”
Cook looked in disbelief at a king, who was originally of noble temperament, shouting like a ruffian.
“You! The esteemed King of Collins, for the sake of money, you have lost your honor, lost your faith! Actually, I’ve wanted to say this for a long time. You have plundered so much wealth along the way, bringing shame upon the Holy See. Are you still not satisfied?” He switched to condemning Garrett III on moral grounds.
“What, just because a man has eaten breakfast, does that mean he doesn’t need to eat lunch and dinner?” The king threw up his arms and roared, “To hell with honor, to hell with faith! General Cook, please come back to reality. What do you think we are fighting for? For faith? Let me tell you, it’s for money! And how do you think we turned defeat into victory and reversed the tide of the war? Let me tell you, it’s because I distributed all the wealth in the treasury to everyone who could go to the battlefield. That’s what motivated them to fight hard, and that’s how we gained the advantage on the battlefield and pushed all the way back here! It was money, not you—the great General Cook—that brought us victory.”
General Cook was furious. He looked at the crazed King of Collins. This was complete blasphemy. He was implicitly denying that the Crusader Army’s victory was a manifestation of the Heavenly Father’s power, and instead trying to explain it with vulgar money.
At the end of his patience, he drew his sword.
“What do you think you’re doing?”
The King of Collins was greatly alarmed and also drew his own sword to face him.
This immediately caused chaos. The subordinates of both sides drew their swords, and it looked like a fight was about to break out.
At the critical moment, the local Horn Bay Church stepped forward and, with much persuasion, managed to calm both sides down.
“Gentlemen, I have just received good news. Our army in the north has won another victory and will soon be closing in on the Duchy of Eton, that evil kingdom of wizards!”
“The final victory is at hand. The current difficulties are but a brief darkness before the dawn!”
After the representative of the Horn Bay Church gave a passionate speech in the name of the Heavenly Father, everyone expressed their determination to overcome the current difficulties and achieve final victory. As long as there was victory, all problems would be solved.
But unfortunately, the divine protection seemed to have ended there. The siege of Fort Ness by the Crusader Army seemed to be the peak of their great holy war. After that, they helplessly went into decline.
The conflict among the high command was temporarily mediated. After nightfall, the entire camp fell silent. The soldiers entered their dreams, storing up energy for the next day’s battle.
But just after midnight, at the darkest hour of the night, a small commotion broke out somewhere in the camp.
Perhaps a few drunken officers had started a brawl, or perhaps a soldier who had gotten up in the night had accidentally knocked over a brazier. Normally, such minor incidents would be quickly resolved by the night patrol.
But the long and unsuccessful siege of Fort Ness had built up a sense of anxiety and restlessness throughout the Crusader Army. Especially for the rank-and-file soldiers, they were ordered to charge and risk their lives during the assault, only to face severe punishment upon retreat. The terrible casualties, the exhausted bodies and minds, weighed on their spirits like a great mountain.
And the recent conflict among the high command had led to rumors spreading, causing unease. The terrible weapons the Collins men had encountered at Lion’s Port were also being exaggerated and spread.
This small commotion in the night was not immediately suppressed. Instead, it spread throughout the entire camp like a chemical reaction.
The Crusader Army’s camp erupted in a riot!
