Chapter 171: The Capture of Valdren
The walls of the arrow towers were not as thick as the city walls, but breaking through them was still difficult unless several cannonballs happened to strike the same point.
The walls might be thick, but the firing windows were another matter.
The rows of openings were large enough that any cannonball striking them would tear straight through. The wooden shutters offered no protection at all.
If sixty shots were not enough, then they would fire one hundred and twenty.
If one hundred and twenty were not enough, then they would fire two hundred and forty.
Caelum had allocated enough ammunition for two thousand four hundred cannon shots. He was not worried about failing to destroy two arrow towers.
After ten exchanges of fire, both towers finally fell silent.
The Wardens had fired a full six hundred cannonballs.
They also suffered twenty casualties.
Even with the artillery crews spread out, repeated fire from the towers still took its toll.
The heavy crossbows were incredibly powerful. A direct hit could punch straight through a man.
The Wardens had achieved equally obvious results.
Even from the outside, both arrow towers were now riddled with holes. No wall, however sturdy, could withstand round after round of cannon fire.
Caelum gave the order.
"Musket units, advance. Artillery units, continue suppressing the defenders on the walls and in the arrow towers. Once the musket units enter the city, follow them in immediately."
"Understood, my lord."
The artillery captains accepted the command and continued bombarding the Valdren defenders, leaving them too afraid to raise their heads.
Under the cover of cannon fire, the musket units charged toward Valdren.
They rushed all the way to the moat, pulled out their bamboo bombs, and threw them at the points where the drawbridge chains were attached.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
After several explosions, the drawbridge crashed down.
The defenders on the wall heard the commotion below and risked their lives to look over the edge.
Their faces changed at once.
"The enemy has reached the gate!"
"Barricade it!"
Inside the gate, a group of defenders braced thick timbers against the doors.
The Wardens had no intention of using the old methods of breaking through a gate.
They lit the fuse on an explosive charge, threw it in front of the doors, and immediately dropped flat.
"Hold it! You must hold..."
Boom!
The explosion drowned out the defender’s roar.
A wave of heat and force tore through the gate, and the massive blast of black powder shattered the sturdy doors in an instant.
Wooden splinters stabbed into the defenders.
The deafening shock threw them through the air.
Those lucky enough to survive lay on the ground, unable to rise.
One soldier had been standing farther from the gate and escaped fatal injury, but his head spun as he stared around in confusion, unable to understand what had happened.
Bang!
A gunshot rang out.
A bullet pierced his skull, spraying blood as he collapsed.
He died without ever knowing what had killed him.
Through the white haze of gun smoke, rows of Wardens marched through the ruined gate in perfect formation.
They advanced in orderly steps while firing by rotation, like death itself emerging from the smoke.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
As smoke poured from the muzzles, volleys of bullets harvested the lives of Valdren’s defenders with ruthless efficiency.
The defenders massed behind the gate, hoping to block the Wardens with sheer numbers.
What met them instead were bamboo bombs with burning fuses.
The bombs landed among them and exploded, spraying shards of bamboo and steel pellets in every direction.
Defenders fell in groups.
Within moments, hundreds lay across the ground near the gate.
Those who were still alive had their throats cut by the Wardens, using sabers taken from Valdren’s own soldiers.
"First through third squads, follow me up the left wall!"
"Fourth through sixth squads, follow me up the right wall!"
"Take the walls first. Everyone else, hold the gate and cover the artillery units behind us!"
At the staircase leading to the wall, a Valdren soldier stood with blood streaming down his forehead from a fragment of shattered stone.
His eyes were red as he shouted through clenched teeth.
"Hold this position! Do not let them reach the wall!"
As he spoke, a bamboo bomb came flying up the stairs and landed at his feet.
"Hm?"
Boom!
After the explosion, a shout rose from below.
"Advance!"
The Wardens swept up the stairs with ease.
The defenders at the top were either dead or wounded, their bodies embedded with bamboo splinters and steel pellets.
Those who survived could barely think straight.
The Wardens drew their blades and finished them one by one, then advanced along the wall.
Whenever they encountered another group of defenders, they threw a bamboo bomb first.
Once the explosion left the enemy dazed and broken, they closed in to finish the job.
Nothing could stop their advance.
It was still the age of flintlock muskets and volley fire, yet the battle looked almost like a modern special operations assault.
The struggle for the walls progressed rapidly.
Once the Wardens entered the city, the artillery units followed.
At that point, Valdren’s defenders had no chance left.
Sixty cannons were deployed inside the city.
"Fire!"
Boom! Boom! Boom!
Every group of defenders within sight collapsed under the barrage.
No one could launch an effective attack against the Wardens while facing artillery fire.
Meanwhile, the Wardens continued advancing at terrifying speed.
In only half an hour, they reached the inner city gate.
Since the outer and inner walls were connected, the artillery units and the musket units on the wall could work together this time.
After three rounds of bombardment, the musket units stormed the arrow towers and captured them.
The inner gate soon fell, and the drawbridge was lowered.
The assault moved so quickly that many people in the inner city had no time to flee.
Carts loaded with jewels had barely been prepared before the Wardens came charging in.
No one in Valdren had imagined that a great city defended by several thousand soldiers could fall in less than an hour.
It sounded like an absurd tale.
Inside the palace, chaos reigned.
"Faster! Move!"
An elderly minister urged servants to load gold, silver, and jewels onto wagons.
The lord of Valdren sat inside a carriage, still unable to accept the brutal truth.
Only moments ago, he had ruled as the sovereign of a realm.
Now he was about to abandon his city and flee.
Grief overwhelmed him.
"I have failed the kings who ruled Valdren before me!"
He cried out in anguish.
Several hundred royal guards surrounded the lord’s convoy.
The commander of the guard looked toward the palace gate and saw the enemy breaking through.
His face changed.
"The enemy has entered the palace grounds! Your Majesty, leave at once!"
The lord’s lament stopped abruptly.
Panic seized him.
"Go! Move now!"
"Protect His Majesty!"
At the shout, Valdren’s loyal royal guards raised their bows toward the Wardens.
What answered them was merciless cannon fire.
Cannonballs tore into their ranks.
The thunder of explosions mingled with the sound of flesh being ripped apart.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
In a single exchange, the royal guard suffered devastating losses.
The Wardens advanced in formation and raised their flintlock muskets in rows.
At the command to fire, entire groups of royal guards fell.
They had no way to fight back.
The commander watched with bloodshot eyes and roared.
"Heaven itself seeks the destruction of Valdren!"
With that, he drew his saber and charged the Wardens alone on horseback, fearless in the face of death.
A single volley knocked him from the saddle.
He died on the spot.
