Steel, Explosives, and Spellcasters

"In fact, moving a stone from the ground onto the city wall requires no less effort than throwing stones to kill enemies.

"But when you throw stones to kill enemies, you use the strength within your body, and your strength is limited.

"Moving stones onto the city wall is equivalent to storing strength in the stones in advance.

"The more stones you move onto the city wall, the more reserve strength you have, and the more strength you can unleash in battle."

"This is the core of defense warfare, gentlemen, moving stones to a higher ground beforehand, which is—" Cornelius paused, "building momentum."

The commissioned officers were baffled, with many only understanding one word, "stones."

"Stone is just a metaphor, gentlemen," Cornelius patted the battlements beside him, "preparing stones is building momentum, collecting gunpowder is building momentum, storing grain is building momentum, constructing fortifications, and digging trenches are also building momentum."

He spoke with a voice like a great bell:

"It takes years of training for a soldier to accurately throw a stone on the battlefield.

"Standing on the city wall, even a stone thrown by a child is deadly.

"On an open plain without shelter, only the bravest spearmen can face the charge of the Iron Cavalry.

"Guarding in a bastion, even a recruit going into battle for the first time can easily shoot down battle-hardened veterans.

"Recruits and children can kill the enemy, not because they are stronger than the enemy, but because long before the battle, they have already 'moved the stones onto the walls.'

"This is why we people from the Mountain Front Territory always say, [the more earth you dig before battle, the less blood you shed during war.]

"Gentlemen, now you understand why we must hastily construct these fortifications?" Cornelius raised his hand pointing to the trenches, fortresses, and another trench below the city, "These are all 'stones moved onto the walls in advance,' all potential energy we stored in advance, waiting to be released.

"If the Rebels want to attack New Town, they must step into the battlefield we've set up in advance. Every shovel of earth we dig, they must fill with a pool of blood.

"As long as we make every grain of gunpowder, every bullet, every trench, and every fortress play its due role, the Rebels will bleed dry under the walls of Kingsfort, and victory will surely belong to us."

The commissioned officers once again burst into enthusiastic applause.

"Gentlemen," Jansen Cornelius flashed a kind smile, "now, I've imparted to you the highest essence of the United Provinces Army's military doctrine. Please do not disappoint me."

The smile of the commander was infectious, and the commissioned officers followed suit and began to smile.

However, that timid voice once again broke the harmonious atmosphere.

"Your honor," Misha from the back of the crowd asked again, pointing courageously at the enemy fortifications outside the city, "may I ask, are the Rebels... also 'building momentum'?"

The smiles on the faces of the commissioned officers instantly froze.

...

After Jansen Cornelius received reports of the Winged Lion Flag appearing, for three consecutive days, the "Rebels" were engaged in large-scale construction under the walls of Kingsfort.

In just one day, the Rebels built a series of small fortresses around New Town, enclosing the city walls seamlessly.

The guards on the city walls did not know the formal name that the "Rebels" had given to these equidistant, continuous earthworks, but when early the next morning, a local militia on a new shift exclaimed, "When did all these fence posts appear outside?" the name "fence posts," a vividly descriptive nickname, quickly eliminated all other names, becoming the sole term used by the defenders for the "Rebels'" projects.

Moreover, everyone who heard this nickname quickly grasped its true brilliance, because it not only described the current situation but also foreshadowed the future:

If the posts are set, how far could the fence be?

Sure enough, the Rebels' enthusiasm for carving the earth did not wane with the full completion of the fortress group but rather intensified.

At the same time the "fence posts" were taking shape, the Rebels eagerly commenced digging communication trenches between the fortresses.

According to the local militia: A hungry weasel digging at the chicken coop walls for three days and nights couldn't match the fervor of the "Newly Reclaimed Land folks" digging outside Kingsfort.

More bewildered than the local militia were the United Provinces officers of the southern army.

Since the founding of the United Provinces Army, they have been renowned for their earthworking skills, always rolling in the mud, leading to mockery as "mudmen."

Now, seeing the Rebels frenziedly digging trenches outside the city, the southern army officers were perplexed, unable to discern which side within or outside the city truly embodied the identity of the United Provincials.

Moreover, with the "fence posts" serving as supporting points on the front line, the Rebels began boldly involving non-military personnel in the project.

During the construction of the dirt barriers, only small blue figures could be seen at the Rebels' construction site.

When it came to digging communication trenches, a host of grayish figures suddenly appeared within the defenders' field of vision.

The southern army had almost figured out that the Rebels chose blue as the main color of their uniforms.

Even though the blue observed on the Rebel soldiers was a rainbow of "blues," it was evident that the Rebels were attempting to standardize their uniforms.

And those clad in uncolored coarse clothing—or simply not wearing any upper garments—appearing gray from a distance were clearly farmers recruited from nearby.