Chapter 172: A Vast Stockpile of Gunpowder
In less than an hour, Valdren fell into Caelum’s hands.
Only half of the two thousand four hundred artillery rounds had been used. The eight hundred Wardens still had plenty of ammunition left, and they had barely touched the white sugar they carried.
After Valdren was captured, the Wardens took complete control of the city.
More than one thousand Valdren defenders died in the battle. All five hundred royal guards were killed, with not a single survivor.
The surviving defenders knew that continued resistance would only lead to death, so they cast down their weapons and surrendered.
More than three thousand became prisoners of the Wardens.
Valdren had the resources to support a larger army, but there had never been any need.
A few thousand defenders were enough to deal with any trouble short of a full invasion by the Grand Concord Dynasty or Thalric.
If either power truly sent an army, there would be little reason for Valdren to resist to the bitter end.
Because of that, maintaining only a few thousand defenders had always been sufficient.
Caelum’s Wardens were an exception.
Without muskets and artillery, eight hundred men could never have captured a great city by force.
The only possible exception would be if those eight hundred were members of Valdren’s royal guard and launched their attack from inside the city.
No matter how one looked at it, the fact that eight hundred Wardens had taken Valdren by force would soon spread across the realm.
How the Grand Concord Dynasty and Thalric would react remained unknown.
Given Valdren’s unique location, even the slightest disturbance would make both powers uneasy.
More importantly, neither side yet knew where Caelum stood.
Valdren had to remain neutral.
If Caelum openly sided with or submitted to either faction, war would become unavoidable.
Of course, Caelum fully intended to remain neutral.
Otherwise, there would have been no point in taking Valdren.
His goal was to use the balance between the two powers to secure a period of stable development.
Inside Valdren’s palace, traces of the city’s former glory were everywhere.
This place had once served as the capital of the old dynasty, so the palace was vast and magnificent.
It stood at the center of the inner city and occupied roughly one fifth of its total area.
Caelum climbed the steps at an unhurried pace and entered the splendid main hall.
Carved beams and painted rafters stretched above him.
Golden pillars were wrapped in lifelike five clawed dragons.
At the highest point stood a dragon throne.
It had once symbolized the greatest authority beneath heaven.
The captain of the first Warden squad arrived outside the hall.
He lowered his head respectfully as he faced Caelum’s back, not daring to look directly at him.
"My lord, Valdren is now fully under the Wardens’ control. Every gate has been closed. The city lord attempted to flee, but we intercepted and captured him at the gate."
Caelum asked, "What are the Wardens’ losses?"
"Forty were killed and thirty were seriously wounded. Most were struck by heavy crossbow bolts during the assault on the arrow towers. The wounded have been placed in a clinic for treatment."
"The imperial medical office contains many court physicians. Send them to help. Take whatever medicine is needed from the medical office."
"Understood, my lord."
After the Warden finished reporting, one of Caelum’s personal guards arrived.
"My lord, as ordered, we led several squads of Wardens and secured every granary and storehouse in Valdren."
"Very good."
Caelum continued, "Search all the storehouses and gather every bit of saltpeter, sulfur, and charcoal. Also send men to inspect the merchant caravans in the city. If their cargo contains saltpeter, seize all of it."
Among the ingredients of black powder, saltpeter made up more than sixty percent.
Unfortunately, it was also the rarest component.
Charcoal, the most common ingredient, made up the smallest share.
This battle had consumed a great deal of ammunition.
Caelum’s first priority was to replenish those supplies.
As long as the ammunition remained plentiful, everything else could be dealt with.
Valdren had no shortage of weapons or iron.
The iron could be used to make bullets and cannonballs.
The only question was how many iron ingots remained in the storehouses.
If the reserves were large enough, Caelum could also produce more artillery and strengthen Valdren’s firepower and defenses.
Before long, a group of prisoners was escorted into the hall.
The man in front wore luxurious robes, but his hair hung loose around his face.
Grief and despair had hollowed out his expression.
"You villain!"
"We are the highest ministers of a sovereign state. How dare you treat us this way?"
The men behind him shouted furiously, their voices filled with anguish.
One of the personal guards reported, "My lord, the man in front is the city lord. The others are Valdren’s ministers. You gave no orders regarding them, so I did not know how they should be handled."
"Execute them all."
Caelum had no interest in these people.
They were members of Valdren’s royal house and ruling class.
Leaving them alive would only create future trouble.
One day, they might return under the banner of restoring the old throne.
That would become yet another problem.
It was simpler to kill them all.
Showing mercy now would only plant danger for the future.
That would be no different from inviting his own death.
Mercy toward an enemy was cruelty toward oneself.
"Understood."
The personal guard accepted the order.
The city lord and all the ministers were dragged outside and beheaded.
The city lord’s eyes remained empty from beginning to end.
He said nothing, not even as he was executed.
Half a day later, the personal guards and Wardens searched the palace storehouses and found nearly twenty thousand pounds of saltpeter.
They found another twenty thousand pounds among the merchant caravans inside the city.
Together, that came to roughly forty thousand pounds of saltpeter.
Sulfur and charcoal were even more abundant.
As a major center of trade between the Grand Concord Dynasty and Thalric, Valdren had access to almost anything.
Its wealth was astonishing.
In Caelum’s eyes, however, all the gold, silver, and jewels in the city were worth less than saltpeter.
With forty thousand pounds of it, he could produce nearly sixty thousand pounds of black powder.
That enormous stockpile would last a very long time, even if Caelum used it without restraint.
If all of it were turned into flintlock musket ammunition, it would amount to one million five hundred thousand shots.
The number was staggering.
With such reserves behind him, Caelum could begin expanding the army on a massive scale.
That was not all.
Valdren’s iron stock was so abundant that Caelum did not even need to dismantle the weapons in the armory.
The iron ingots stored in the warehouses were enough to produce vast quantities of bullets and cannonballs.
The Wardens’ ammunition was not only replenished.
Caelum also produced another two hundred and forty light cannons and fifty heavy cannons for emergencies.
With this kind of firepower, Caelum would not fear even if the armies of the Grand Concord Dynasty and Thalric appeared outside the walls at that very moment.
Once the ammunition problem was solved, Caelum began reorganizing Valdren.
Fewer than eight hundred Wardens could not manage the entire city by themselves.
After the original officials were restored to their posts, the city quickly began functioning again.
All three thousand captured defenders were released and assigned to maintain order.
The Wardens supervised them.
At the same time, Caelum ordered a major expansion of the Wardens.
Veterans were placed in charge of new recruits, and able bodied men throughout Valdren were enlisted.
Within only ten days, the Wardens had grown to three thousand soldiers.
One day later, the drawbridges outside Valdren’s walls slowly lowered.
The gates opened wide.
Merchant caravans poured out of the city as though fleeing for their lives, scattering along every road.
That same day, Caelum issued a decree.
"From this day onward, Valdren no longer exists. The city shall be renamed Newhaven."
