Chapter 503: The Battle of King’s City (Part 1)


    Trantor: TransN Editor: TransN


    "Your Highness, there’s a toon guarding the pier area," Lightning, who was responsible for monitoring the enemy’s situation, reported. "There are about 100 of them, and judging from their uniforms, they seem to be militia."


    "Only 100?" Rnd was slightly surprised. It was predictable that Timothy would deploy troops to the pier of the outlying district—the massive fleet was certain to be noticed when it passed through Redwater City and Silver City. Though steamships were much faster than sailing ships, and could in five days cover a distance which thetter would require seven days for, they were still not as fast as messengers who continuously changed horses and traveled round the clock. Not to mention pigeons—if the new king’s spies used pigeons to deliver their report, Timothy would have received the news two or three days in advance.


    But it was unexpected that Timothy would deploy only 100 men to defend the pier. Rnd had imagined that the first battle would take ce in its vicinity. He anticipated that crossbowmen, musketeers, and even mangonels would be stationed along both banks of the river in order to prevent his troops fromnding on shore sessfully. This was why he wanted to build ind river gunboats in time for the spring offensive. The efficiency of transportation by water was much higher than that of bynd, but its disadvantage was that the troops had to alight at a dock and thus could be easily ambushed. If his army had the capability to attack across the shore, it would be able to handle any ambush easily and create a securending point.


    It seemed as though Timothy had already given up on the "massive advantage" he would have while Rnd’s troops werending. From Rnd’s perspective, although this was the right decision, it was unjustifiable—it was impossible that Timothy knew about the range and power of his 152 mm naval artillery.


    As Rnd thought about this, he beckoned Sylvie over. "Are the militiamen carrying any Berserk Pills?"


    Sylvie summoned her Eye of Magic and took some time to observe the scene. "I don’t see anything that looks like a pill. Some of them don’t even have any weapons on them. But... there’s something strange about the ground."


    "The ground?"


    "They have buried a few things in the ground... there’re also some on the pier." Sylvie strained her brows to observe even more carefully. "Crocks and barrels... they’re filled with dark gray powder."


    "Gunpowder?" Nightingale eximed uncontrobly.


    "Well, that makes sense," Rnd said, acting as calm as he could. "The militia is just a bait to draw our attention. By presenting us with a false opportunity to scramble ashore and capture the pier, Timothy will then ignite the gunpowder and blow all of us up."


    In his heart, he was not as calm as he appeared. This strategy was simr to thendmine warfare of the past and was indeed a good n. Though he saw through it early, his troops would still need tond on shore—having made the choice to travel by water, the pier was a necessary crossing, and it seemed that Timothy was aware of this inevitability. He probably hoped to catch Rnd by surprise by setting up an ambush instead of fighting straight up. If Sylvie was not around, there was a chance that Rnd would have walked right into the trap.


    The solution to this was fairly aplishable. As Timothy did not have wireless methods to ignite the gunpowder, he would have to deploy people near the barrels to do the ignition. All that Rnd had to do was to eliminate these people. In any case, it was important to preserve the pier, or else he would not be able to transport his cannons and ammunition on shore.


    Through Sylvie’s careful observation, Rnd was able to pinpoint two ces where the ignition was likely to be carried out. One was situated in a shack on the edge of the pier, as evident from a long iron pipe that connected it to the nearest barrel. The other was situated in the pier’s warehouse. The two ces had a simr feature - a shifting ck hole formed by a God’s Stone of Retaliation.


    After some discussion with Iron Axe, Rnd quickly decided the battle n.


    First, Nightingale would sneak into the warehouse, silently dispose of the ignition crew, and guard the gate against substitutes running in and igniting the gunpowder. Then, Rnd would use the naval artillery to destroy the shack. There was no problem even if it caused the gunpowder to ignite—so long as the pier remained in good condition.


    *******************


    Leaning against a battlement on the west side of King’s City, the Steelheart Knight, Weimar, raised his telescope and observed the movement on the river.


    The long and thin canal was like a strip of glittering gold ribbon which cut through the brown and white ins, of which much of the umted snow had already melted to reveal a vivid green that came from the sprouting of grass. This was proof that earthly things wereing back to life. Such a view was always pleasurable regardless of the asion. The only things that did not fit the scene were the billows of ck smoke that drifted through the air directly above the canal.


    It’s the fleet of the rebel king, Rnd Wimbledon.


    I never thought that he’d really dare to attack King’s City.


    Although Weimar felt that it wasughable, he also developed a hint of admiration for Rnd.


    Ever since this capital city was built more than 200 years ago, it had never been attacked. Once an enemy saw the towering and magnificent bluestone walls of the city, the courage to attack would naturally fizzle away. Not everyone possessed the audacity to fight when it was clear that the enemy held an absolute advantage.


    At least, Timothy Wimbledon surely doesn’t possess this courage.


    While the person who does possess it is our enemy, unfortunately.


    The knight wasmitted to his honor. As the Guardian Knight of King’s City, he was entrusted with the responsibility of defending it, and would have to fulfil his duty until the very end.


    "Sir, the rebel king’s fleet is here!" A squire ran up to the battlements and yelled.


    "Hush, I saw it long ago." Weimar ced his telescope down and spat out some saliva. "Convey my order that the 1st and 2nd Cavalry shall mount their horses and await mymand behind the city gate, while the mercenaries shall follow closely behind the cavalries. Tell them not to piss their pants when the gunpowder explodes. The oil boilers will also be set on fire, even though I doubt that the enemy will be able to touch this side of the city wall."


    The knights nearby burst intoughter at once.


    ording to the n, after allowing the rebel king’s toon to upy the pier, gs would be raised along the city wall. At this time, the snow powder buried near the pier would be ignited, which would be certain to disarray and damage the enemy substantially. Then, the city gates would be opened for the cavalries tounch their attack, ultimately delivering afortable victory.


    "Those country bumpkins from the Western Region probably believe that King’s City isparable to their grandest city, Longsong Stronghold. Just climb adder and the city can be seized." The Ironfeather Knight, Scar, chimed in. "I think that you can save the firewood and bring them home to burn."


    "Just for precaution." "What a fool," Weimar silently thought, "even if things like the boiling oil or the rolling stones aren’t effective in battle, they must still be disyed for His Highness’ sake. Trying to be cheap just because the enemy’s too weak to break in—with this kind of mentality, he’ll surely be kicked out of the city’s knightage by Timothy sooner orter."


    He raised up the telescope once again, only to see the front most sailless ship detach from the rest of the fleet and head towards the pier on its own. The top of the ship billowed ck smoke which could be seen from miles away, while there were no paddles on either side of the ship. It was unclear to him how the ship operated. But these were unimportant details. No matter how weird a ship was, it could note on shore and fight.


    The sailless ship gradually reduced its speed and unhurriedly docked at the pier on the opposite shore.


    "What’re they trying to do?" Scar raised his eyebrows. "Do they intend to alight on the opposite shore? Don’t tell me that 100 militiamen scare the rebel king?"


    Weimar also felt surprised. Usually, when an enemy saw that the pier’s defense was paper-thin, it would try to capture the pier quickly. He opened his mouth to say something, but just then, a ze of fire lit up in front of the strange-looking ship.


    The orange-red mes seemed to create a new dawn.