Steel, Explosives, and Spellcasters

With just a glance, Colonel Ludwick realized the urgency of the situation.

"Captain Weck!" Ludwick decisively named his best Centurion, "Take your men and submerge from the north! Protect the barricade!"

The named Junior Officer briskly saluted, without a word began to remove his breastplate, then clothes, trousers, and boots, leaving only a helmet. His subordinates did the same.

The nearly naked Centurion led the nearly naked Hundred-Men Squad, sprinting down the riverbank, biting swords, climbing the stakes, flipping over the barricade, straight towards the rebels' small boats.

A brutal battle erupted in the water.

The Iron Peak County soldiers beside the barricade could no longer afford to hack at chains, while onshore, the United Province Musketeers fired at them, and the United Provinces Soldiers surrounded them in the water.

Some engineers hurriedly retreated to the big boats, while several boats rowed hard towards the caltrops, attempting to join their comrades.

But more engineers couldn't retreat in time and could only fight to the death.

The naked Senas people were like newborn babies, awkwardly wielding arms in the water, hacking, stabbing, crying, shouting.

Blood dyed the river, only to appear pitch black in the night.

A United Provinces Soldier swam to the stern of a small boat, grabbed the dangling cable, trying to cut the thick rope with a dagger.

From the big boat, the helmsman immediately dropped the helm, picked up an oar, and fiercely struck the enemy in the water, crushing the opponent's skull with one blow.

As if instantly breaking all bones in the body, the United Provinces Soldier's body turned limp, unable to keep balance, pushed horizontal by the current.

But for some reason, his left hand clutched the cable tightly, like a tuft of horse hair hanging from the cable, half his body above water, half below.

The soldier on the big boat bit his teeth, striking the United Provinces Soldier's hand one, two, three times, sure he'd crushed the bones, yet the corpse remained on the cable.

Before he could strike a fourth time, another United Provinces Soldier jumped out from beneath his feet, grabbing his leg, dragging him into the river.

The same scene played out around every big boat, the Iron Peak County Soldiers aboard stabbed with spears, struck with oars, desperately attacking the United Provincials in the water.

In the water, the United Provinces Soldiers also tried to drag the rebels on the small boats into the water to kill them.

A United Provinces Soldier had just placed his hand on the gunwale when four fingers were severed by a sharp shovel.

An Iron Peak County Soldier had just pierced an enemy's trachea, only to be dragged into the river by the dying enemy and stabbed to death by a swarm.

Both sides exhibited far more determination than anticipated, inevitably leading to the most brutal war of attrition.

Meanwhile, on the riverbank, musketeers from both sides fiercely fired to cover their fighters.

The United Province Musketeers aimed at the boats, Iron Peak Musketeers aimed at the water, yet the fight was so chaotic, unknowingly hitting friend or foe.

In the water, Captain Weck saw the rebels on the boats resisting fiercely, thus ordered some subordinates to swim further into the river, away from the boats, to where oars and spears couldn't reach to cut ropes.

Yet further from the big boats, the cables hung higher above the river.

United Provinces Soldiers floundered in the water, fingertips almost brushing the cables several times, missing the distance.

On a big boat, a soldier heard a splash from afar, peered closely, saw the United Provincials awkwardly hanging on a rope while cutting the rope with daggers.

"Turn around!" the soldier shouted at the top of his lungs, "Quickly turn around!"

But no one could execute his order, as most boats Iron Peak County Regiment had were small fishing boats and dinghies, easily overturned by the United Provincials.

Only a few big boats remained, tangled by the United Provincials, with soldiers aboard fighting for their lives, unable to steer.

Seeing this, the soldier tied a rope to the spear's tail, stepped on the other end, held the spear backward, took a deep breath, bent like a bow, and with a loud shout, hurled the spear at the distant United Provincials.

The throw seemed divinely aided.

The targeted United Provinces Soldier saw the movements aboard but in the water had no leverage, unable to dodge, stricken watching the spear pierce his chest.

The United Provinces Soldier was smashed into the water, the severe pain instinctively made him grasp the spear shaft at his chest, but his strength and life quickly drained, swept downriver.

Elsewhere, a soldier aboard tried to retrieve the spear, nearly pulled into the water, luckily released in time.

But inevitably lost his only weapon.

The United Provincials noticed this too, quickly surrounding.

The soldier cursed loudly, attempting to pry a plank off the boat, but the boat was built solid, motionless despite his effort.

As the situation turned desperate, distant shouts rang out, causing the United Provincials to uniformly turn away from attacking the big boat.

It was Tamas and Mason across the river noticing United Provincials' actions, urgently dispatching a company of reinforcements.

Without boats, only swimming, nearly half the soldiers straggled or scattered by currents, yet half a company managed to swim to the East Bank, aiding their embattled comrades.

With reinforcements joining, the main battlefield shifted from around small boats and stakes to the river surface.

Colonel Ludwick's best Hundred-Men Squad clashed with Iron Peak Regiment's half-main force company in the water.

Hesitant to fire into the water as they could no longer distinguish friend from foe.

Thus, musketeers from both sides aimed at the opposite bank's musketeers.

Fire on the New Army positions on the West Bank intensified tenfold.

Lead bullets struck the dike and breastwall, kicking up waves of dirt.

The brightly lit Floating Bridge, due to rush work, became a targeted focus.

Bridge builders occasionally hit by stray bullets, lucky ones survived not hit vital parts, swiftly carried back behind the dike for treatment;

Unlucky ones emitted a faint groan, fell into the river, disappearing under the waves.

The United Province Musketeers quickly realized aimless shooting couldn't suppress the opposing musketeers.

More United Province Musketeers aimed at rebels' engineers exposing themselves beyond cover.

Gessa Adonis observed with growing urgency.

"Still not using your treasure?" Gessa restrained his emotion, asked as gently as possible without pressuring the Major.

Watching engineers he personally trained work in the hail of bullets, Mason felt pained more than Gessa.

Yet firmly shook his head, "Not the time yet."

On Magit Island, Colonel Ludwick organized a second wave of assault troops.

His best Hundred-Men Squad halted rebels' sabotage of the water barricade and disrupted rebels' use of small boats and dinghies to transport more troops.

Now, Colonel Ludwick decided to deploy his second-best Hundred-Men Squad into the battle.

In a silence he took pride in, the fully equipped United Province Sword and Shield Bearers rushed down the riverbank toward rebel landing zones.

Mason sharply sensed the enemy commander's movements, intuitively found it a target worthy of exposing "the treasure."

"Fire!" Mason ordered sternly.

The gunners removed the cannon covers.

The New Army Heavy Artillery, better understanding the value of silence than the Permanent Army, roared deafeningly.