Steel, Guns, and the Industrial Party in Another World-Chapter 742: The Capture of Collins
TL: Rui88
The City of Collins plunged into a state of disaster, just like Fort Ness a few months earlier. The fear, despair, and chaos that the people of Fort Ness had endured were now completely replicated in this inland city.
Prices soared to unreasonable levels, and many goods became unobtainable no matter how much money one had. The collapse of the market bred violence. After the loss of orderly control, fists became more effective than money at obtaining what one wanted.
The armed forces that had originally maintained order were either gathered on the city walls for defense or clustered around various powerful figures for their own safety, allowing the chaos among the populace to continue to spread.
Among the ruling class, some hoped to negotiate with the New Protestant Alliance in exchange for a more dignified end to the war.
But as the seat of the Horn Bay Church, the City of Collins had no shortage of religious fanatics, especially Archbishop Elvis. He stubbornly hated the new sect that he himself had pushed into existence, insisting that he was defending the Lord of Light’s majesty in the mortal world and that he absolutely could not live under the same sky as those heretics bewitched by wizards.
“Either the heretics die, or we are martyred!”
“We must use the blood of the heretics to wash away the sins they have committed!”
In the church, Elvis ceaselessly preached to the fervent believers gathered there. His throat, worn out from days and nights of roaring, had made his voice extremely hoarse, but to others, it still sounded full of power.
The Archbishop had not closed his eyes for several days. What drove his body now was purely spiritual strength, not his muscles, bones, or the nutrients within him.
Even though Collins had fallen into a state of constant anxiety, the Horn Bay Church still had a large number of followers in the city. After all, it had operated here for over a hundred years and its roots ran deep. When Elvis learned that some among the ruling class were secretly plotting for peace, he immediately gathered his followers to surround their homes, dragging out the ringleaders to be burned at the stake.
This provoked resistance from the nobles, and a major internal conflict nearly erupted within the City of Collins. At the critical moment, the Holy See’s General Webster and King Garrett III of Collins joined forces to suppress it, preventing the city from destroying itself before the enemy attacked.
Regarding resistance against the New Protestant Army, Garrett III was both firm and not entirely firm. In truth, he had long sent people to secretly contact the New Protestant Alliance. He first proposed that both armies withdraw to their own countries and restore the pre-war situation, but was rejected. Then he proposed that Collins could pay a certain amount in reparations, and was rejected again.
The demands of the New Protestant Alliance were very firm: Garrett III had to abdicate, and Collins had to be ruled by someone trusted by the New Protestant Alliance.
But for a king, taking away his power was more unbearable than taking his life. These coastal people were delusional—this was Garrett III’s resolute side.
But he was also nursing a plan: to rely on the strong defenses of Collins to inflict a heavy price on the New Protestant Alliance’s attack, thereby forcing them to accept his terms, at least allowing him to keep his position as king—this was his irresolute side.
The New Protestant Army’s siege of the city finally began.
Dozens of cannons were lined up outside the city walls. As the order to fire was given, the dark muzzles spewed furious flames and a deafening roar, smashing heavy cannonballs against the towering walls.
The soldiers on the walls tried their best to huddle behind the merlons, feeling the tremors beneath their feet with trepidation. The walls of Collins, which they usually considered indestructible, now trembled like a person gripped by fear under this immense force.
The Alda artillery employed concentrated fire, fiercely bombarding a fixed point until the barrels grew hot, then cooling them, and then continuing to fire, repeating the cycle.
Under the bombardment of the artillery, the walls of Collins were blasted, sending stone chips flying. Bricks were constantly shattered and then peeled off from the wall. The breach, inconspicuous at first, grew larger and larger until it was visible from a distance.
The artillery also kept a number of smaller cannons on standby. If the defenders tried to repair the wall during a lull in the bombardment, they were met with deadly force. Compared to cumbersome traditional siege weapons like trebuchets and ballistae, the well-trained Alda artillery was more than a level higher in flexibility, accuracy, and even power. Any attempt to repair the wall was ruthlessly thwarted.
The defenders tried repeatedly and failed repeatedly. In the end, no one dared to risk their lives to repair the ever-widening breach, and could only watch as it continued to fester like an infected wound.
Finally, after several days of repeated bombardment, as the first rays of dawn on a certain day fell upon Collins, with a great crashing sound, the section of the city wall that had been the focus of the bombardment completely collapsed. A large number of broken bricks lost the last of their support and slid down to the base of the wall like dumped rubbish.
“Wooo—!”
The horn for the general assault was sounded!
The soldiers of the New Protestant Army, long poised for action, let out a unified cry, waving all sorts of weapons as they bravely charged towards the gap. They had been promised that those who entered the city first would receive great rewards. For many of them, who came from common or even humble backgrounds, this reward was enough to change the course of their lives, and everyone fought with all their might.
Collins’s defenders appeared in the breach in the city wall, attempting to block the invaders, but they were quickly submerged in a sea of flashing blades. The soldiers of the New Protestant Army charged bravely over the rubble, the flow of people like a flood bursting through a broken dike, pouring through the gap.
The Alda army did not participate in the contest for this honor. Under Andrew’s command, they marched in formation, entering the city through the gate captured by their allies.
The will of the defenders to resist was lost the moment the city was breached, and they surrendered one after another. But the Horn Bay Church still refused to admit defeat. The Church’s knights led fanatical believers pouring out from the streets and alleys, attempting to perish together with the attackers.
But in the end, they had been mere civilians not long ago and were simply unable to resist the battle-hardened New Protestant Army.
The street resistance initiated by the Church was ruthlessly crushed. The various armies of the New Protestant forces advanced to the city center via different routes, to the location of the Horn Bay Church’s great cathedral.
Just as they were about to launch their final attack, a raging fire quickly engulfed the magnificent building. The speed at which the fire spread made it clear that someone had deliberately set it.
“The Heavenly Father will punish you!”
The figure of Archbishop Elvis appeared on the bell tower. After shouting this sentence with his last ounce of strength, he was swallowed by the flames.
The Horn Bay War was over.
