BOOM!

When the fire blasted out of the 152 s.h.i.+pboard artillery, Iron Axe felt the steel s.h.i.+p he stood on wobble slightly.

A few seconds later, a cloud of smoke and dust exploded on the foreign city wall, and then the roar quieted down for a while. After all the smoke and dust dispersed, he looked through the telescope and found that there was a now big crack in the lower portion of the stone wall.

Different from King's City, Fallen Dragon Ridge seldom encountered attacks from external enemies, being located in the central south of the kingdom. Thus, its city wall was quite low, not even half as high as that of Longsong Stronghold. The narrow wall at the top allowed only one person to pa.s.s, and they could not set up large defense equipment like mangonels. Therefore, the Artillery Squad had expanded field artilleries to the open s.p.a.ce 500 meters away from the wall.

To make sure that the several hundred soldiers of the Vanguard Battalion could enter the city efficiently, Iron Axe decided to make three openings in the city wall before action. Any enemies trying to fill in and defend the open spots would be bombarded mercilessly by the twelve pounds cannons. Now that the gate and the north wall had been chiseled through, he would make a final command to attack once they seized the last entrance.

[If only the witches could've come with the army,] Iron Axe thought rather regretfully. It was a waste to use these precious sh.e.l.ls on the stones.

If Lady Nightingale were here, they would only need three packs of explosives to destroy the whole city wall. After all, their defense was much weaker than King City's.

He was amused to realize the change in his belief. Half a year ago, he had insisted that the army should complete His Majesty's task independently. However, after conquering King's City with the help of the Witch Union, it suddenly occurred to him that the perfect way to fight was to use witches as their eyes or commandos.

"Sir!" a soldier on the observatory shouted. "Attention to the gate! They seem to be gathering horses!"

Iron Axe looked at the ruined gate through his telescope. With limited vision, he could only vaguely see the dust behind the wall.

"Do I need to adjust the naval artillery and fire in that direction?" Van'er asked.

"Not necessary. It'll waste at least two or three more sh.e.l.ls." He shook his head and said, "Since they're horses, I think their plan is to gather knights and try to open the blockade line of field artillery through a.s.sault. There is nothing to worry about. While for you..." Iron Axe turned back to see Countess Spear. "After this a.s.sault, I'm afraid there will not be many knights left in your domain."

"They decided to stand on my brother's side. These people are no longer my knights." She answered quietly. "That's the price they have to pay for their betrayal."

"I see." Iron Axe paused for a moment and said, "Have you decided what to do with Redwyne Pa.s.si?"

Yesterday, he received a secret letter from the City Hall, which demanded all the n.o.ble except Spear's relatives to be escorted to City of Neverwinter. Anyone who resisted would be executed on the spot, and their domain would be blocked by the First Army. The officers from the City Hall would arrive and seize their properties.

Based on that letter, the n.o.bles would probably be sentenced to the mines with heavy labor. Currently several mines in Stronghold Area lacked sufficient labor forces. There should be hundreds of people, including family members, cronies and servants. It appeared there would be more iron ores in City of Neverwinter this year.

As for the culprit, Redwyne Pa.s.si, the letter instructed that he should be handed over to the countess herself.

The hesitation on Spear's face showed that she had not made a decision yet.

Iron Axe sighed in silence. If he were her, he would chop off his head without hesitation. Nothing was more unforgivable than betrayal.

"They're coming!" the observer shouted suddenly.

Putting aside these trifles, he continued to look at the battlefield through the telescope.

As he had expected, a group of knights rushed out from the gate heading directly to the edge of the artillery field.

The sound of gunshots suddenly echoed in the wilderness and forest. Puffs of smoke floated in the air in front of the battlefield. More than 20 knights and their squires fell down to the muddy ground in succession after rus.h.i.+ng out less than 100 meters.

If Duke Ryan had led his troops to attack Border Town, the knightage might have still been able to cause a small threat to the First Army by acting in unison. However, now these iron turtles were almost living targets with no ability to strike back.

Revolving rifles and two HMGs (heavy machine gun）alone could firmly block the enemies on their way to attack. The field artillery did not even need to reload with grapeshots.

After another round of shots from the naval artillery, the thin wall finally collapsed. Iron Axe commanded to blow the whistle and attack immediately.

Soldiers in the Vanguard Battalion poured out from the alignment and separated into three groups targeting to the three openings.

The battle for recovering Fallen Dragon Ridge had officially been launched.

Two hours later, the First Army took the castles and churches.

The enemies had been too frightened of the booming weapons for any resistance. The last batch of knights who were destroyed immediately when they left the gate were all the soldiers Redwyne could gather.

The church people did not show up at all, and all the goods and materials were cleared. Priest Rosad was also missing.

There was no secret tunnel or hidden side door in Fallen Dragon Ridge and there was no way to escape in a city of this kind, which was backed up by the mountains. Soldiers searched for the usurper and blocked him at the top level of the castle.

Iron Axe commanded to take away the ministers who were on their knees begging for mercy and ordered the soldiers to leave Countess Spear and her brother alone in the chamber. Of course, Redwyne was tied to the chair tightly, so he could not do any harm to the countess.

"I don't understand..." Spear said after a long silence. "What can you gain by being the lord? Our little brother and you know nothing about administration or trading. Even if you sit in this position, you just hand over your power to other feudatories. You think I'm less important to you than those strangers, don't you?"

"You're a witch, a demon's underling!" Redwyne craned his neck, crying. "Father was wrong about you. You cheated him!"

"But I'm still your sister!"

"You aren't!" He gritted his teeth and said, "You're just the b.a.s.t.a.r.d adopted by father!"

"Wh-what?" Spear was stunned.

"I heard with my own ears when he was drunk. You were the mistake he made when he was young. And you aren't a Pa.s.si!" Redwyne shouted with anger. "Why is it that you should inherit the family instead of me? I'm just taking back what was supposed to belong to me. You're the real stranger!"

Spear covered her head but she could not remember anything about her childhood. "The mistake he made?"

"If not, why do you look so different from mother? Can't you remember how you came to Fallen Dragon Ridge?"

"So... you are not my brother either."

"Exactly, I'm the true heir of my family, the Earl of Fallen Dragon Ridge! Release me immediately. I demand to be treated as a n.o.bleman!"

Spear stumbled out the chamber. Iron Axe held her promptly and said, "Are you OK?"

"I'm fine." She took a deep breath. "Send my, no, send Redwyne Pa.s.si to City of Neverwinter. He has lost his mind. The mine is where he should be."

"As your wish." Iron Axe answered and nodded with agreement.