Steel, Explosives, and Spellcasters

At the same time, the two battalions inside the triangular fortress were frantically raising its height, continuing to stack a high wall on top of the triangular fortress with sacks of sheepskin and burlap filled with earth.

The logistics chiefs of both the Da Vineta Legion and the Saint Marco Legion were bleeding inwardly – for some of the less affluent civilians, sheepskin and burlap could be used as clothing, yet now they were being used generously for wall construction.

With time pressing, cost was no longer within the scope of consideration for Antonio and Layton.

Meanwhile, as the work was ardently proceeding at the front, Winters hesitated in the field camp of the two legions, wondering whether or not to knock on the door.

"Smack!" The crisp sound of a slap was so clear that even Winters, outside the door, could hear it distinctly.

An angry roar emanated from the command center in the middle of the field camp, Major General Layton bellowed, "Dammit! Why chop down the drawbridge?! Who gave you the audacity to take matters into your own hands?!"

"Smack!" Another slap, even louder, followed immediately.

"Yes, sir!" Ensign Tang Juan, reeling from the blow, answered with a tone full of defiance, "At the time, a troop of armored soldiers was about to cross the drawbridge! If we hadn't destroyed it in time..."

"Smack!" Juan had not finished speaking when he was struck down with another forceful slap.

"Did I allow you to speak?! Did I permit you to speak?!" Layton's rage escalated, "What were the orders I gave you before the sortie?! Tell me! What orders were given to you?!"

Tang Juan struggled to quickly stand upright again and loudly responded, "Yes, sir! The primary objective, to drive the enemy out of the triangular fortress! Secondarily, if conditions allowed, to control the drawbridge, sweep the ramparts, and control the gates!"

"Which order allowed you to chop down the drawbridge? Who allowed you to issue orders on your own!" Layton cursed violently, "F**k! You've botched the whole operation!"

"But..." Despite having been slapped three times, Juan was still full of resentment.

"Enough! You're not brought here to make excuses!" Antonio interrupted Ensign Juan sharply.

In Antonio's view, this young ensign actually hadn't done anything wrong – the battlefield situation changed in the blink of an eye, how could they know the urgency from the rear. But since Juan was Layton's subordinate, Antonio couldn't undermine Layton's authority in front of everyone.

He frowned at Juan, saying, "No matter what you saw, you have no right to make such a decision. Your battalion commander was on the front line, it's his responsibility to decide whether to chop down the drawbridge, not yours! Understand? Like to argue, do you? Roll back and submit a self-defense report... General Layton and I have a meeting soon, off with you!"

Hearing the words of Colonel Serviati, Juan glanced back at Layton.

"Get out!" Layton, his anger not yet subsided and his chest heaving violently, spat out a word impatiently.

Ensign Juan snapped his boot heels together, paid a military salute, and left the colonel's office.

But as he exited the headquarters, he came face to face with Winters, who had been waiting outside.

Seeing his senior Juan's cheeks swollen high, Winters hurriedly saluted, while Tang Juan merely nodded, nonchalantly wiping the blood from his nose with his sleeve and striding away with his head held high.

When Winters delivered the Road Construction Department report to the legion commander's office, the two colonels were still discussing Juan's case.

"...This little bastard, stubborn mule, still won't concede! Just a f**king insubordinate!" Layton cursed vehemently.

"Come on. Weren't you just like that when you were twenty?" With only the two of them in the office, Antonio bluntly brought up his colleague's past indiscretions.

Layton snorted coldly but said no more.

A knock on the door sounded, and Winters brought the report inside.

The two high-ranking officials of the legion were very concerned about the progress of Guzhi Road and demanded daily updates.
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In the known world, there might be armies more valiant in battle than the Standing Army of the Republic, but none more adept at engineering works.

The Road Construction Department's plan for the road was ingenious, neither starting from scratch nor drawing a straight line between Red Sulfur Harbor and Tachi on the map.

The engineers were losing their hair by the day, yet the project plan was excellent: they made the most of the island's existing compacted earth roads while avoiding hills and streams to minimize construction effort.

The thirty-three kilometers of Guzhi Road were designed with a base of large stones and clay, a second layer of broken stone and mortar, a third layer of sand, lime, and clay, and finally, a top layer of paved stone for a hard road surface.

However, this road did not use the better-quality volcanic ash concrete, nor even waited for the mortar to fully set before it was put to use.

As the road was still under construction, cannons were already being transported over the sections completed. As the road extended forward, the cannons were pushed ahead.

According to the engineers, there might be concerns about the lifespan of the road, yet they assured with a slap on their chest that there would be no issues using it temporarily for a few years.

While Colonel Volbon and the defenders of Tachi matched each other move for move, the road between the two points was progressing rapidly.

Yet up to the day they assaulted the triangular fortress, the construction front was still four kilometers away from Vineta Camp. But the celestial timing waits for no one; after these few days when the moonlight was dimmest, waiting would mean another month.

Therefore, Antonio and Layton made a decisive call, not to wait for the heavy artillery to arrive, but to transport light cannons to the front line using animals in an emergency, resulting in four mortars suppressing the eastern demi-lune – the western demi-lune was equipped with four two-pounders, but attacking the wall-mounted cannons from below was ineffective; it was the cumbersome mortars that proved successful.