Steel, Explosives, and Spellcasters

During times of peace, Vineta had a total of just six thousand troops in its Standing Army, and to save money, they were dispersed to be stationed in various cities since supplies could be provided by the cities where they were based.

Therefore, Antonio and Layton could not afford to waste Vineta's elite soldiers at the gates of Tachi, but they also could not afford to leave an Alliance army poised to strike in their rear.

That was the reason Layton cursed the Tanyrians for stealing their own secrets. It was an era where "tactically, offense overwhelmingly beats defense, but strategically, defense overwhelmingly beats offense." When your own trump card for victory was used against you by others, it would frustrate anyone.

However, there was nothing to be done about it because humans learn everything else slowly but pick up the art of warfare exceptionally quickly.

The Barbarian tribes on the fringes of the Empire may not have been able to master poetry or literature, but when they saw ironware, catapults, gunpowder, and cannons, they could immediately assimilate and digest those technologies.

That's also why "barbarians" were able to conquer "civilizations" time and again—because, in this era, the military technology of the "barbarian tribes" was not inferior to that of "civilized nations," and their mobilization capabilities were even better.

But I digress, back to the siege of Tachi.

The officers pondered long and hard but could find no good solution.

Actually, the best solution was clear to all: don't attack, just surround the city. There were less than three thousand troops in the defending army of Tachi, and they were already scared witless; they would certainly not dare to sally forth to battle.

Thus, if either the Great Vineta Legion or the Saint Marco Legion left just one legion behind to lay siege, they could wait for the defending troops to run out of food and surrender on their own.

If the defenders didn't come out, then it would just be a waiting battle; after all, the Venetians had the whole of Red Sulfur Island as a resupply base and could wait out the Tanyrians until the end of the world.

If the defenders dared to make a sortie for a field battle, that would be even better. A full-strength legion of over five thousand men attacking their three thousand rabble would certainly smash Tanyrian's brains out.

The other legion could then be freed from the siege to continue attacking the other main islands of the Tanilia Archipelago.

Everyone was fully aware of this plan; it was sound, but the problem was... who would stay? Who would go?

Who would be willing to remain for the siege? Who knew how much food the Tanyrians inside had? Richard IV had besieged Guidao City for two years without being able to breach it. If they were unlucky, perhaps by the time the war ended, the legion left here would still be staring down the Tanyrians inside the city.

The soldiers might be very content with that prospect, but none of the officers seated here felt the same way.

Without war, an officer's chances for promotion depended solely on seniority. And the military system of the Senas Alliance meant that officers not only had to wait for seniority but also had to wait for a vacancy.

Any officer worthy of a seat in the military council, unless they came from a wealthy family or had a rich father-in-law, had battled their way through the ranks, starting as "begging sub-lieutenants, impoverished lieutenants, scrimping captains, until finally becoming majors."

Having finally gotten the chance to fight, which officer would be willing to waste time here? Who wouldn't want to advance further?

Outside the small but tough Tachi, the problem with Vineta's military command system became apparent.

If one were to speak from a standpoint of rationality, of course the reserve legions should lay siege here, while the elite Standing Army legions should leave Red Sulfur Island to continue conquering and plundering.

But the problem was that Serviati was a Major General, and so was Layton. Moreover, even if the former's rank could outstrip the latter's by a head, he still could not command the latter.

The military system of the Venetian Republic determined that each legion operated independently because they were directly subordinate to the Military Commission, with each legion commander answerable only to the Council of Thirteen. Even if a sub-lieutenant were appointed as the commander of the Saint Marco Legion, he could ignore Antonio's orders.

This structure prevented the military from becoming a power unto itself within, ensuring that the government commanded the army, rather than the army hijacking the government, thus avoiding the pitfalls that befell the Federated Provinces Republic.

Moreover, if it were domestic operations, there would be no issue with each legion acting independently under the command of the Thirteen People's Council. However, the current problem was this: between the two legions and Sea Blue City lay a vast sea. To communicate with the Thirteen People's Council, ships would have to travel the great distance back to Sea Blue and then again to Red Sulfur Island.

Even with favorable winds, a round trip would take at least three weeks. If luck were to be slightly worse and they constantly faced headwinds, it wouldn't be impossible to receive news from Sea Blue City only after a month. In the unluckiest scenario where the communication ships all sank, the two legions might foolishly wait here for a reply while Sea Blue remained ignorant of the situation on Red Sulfur Island.

Moreover, even if everything went smoothly, it would still take three weeks to receive a message from the Thirteen People's Council, so it might be better to simply launch a strong attack, as taking Tachi could potentially be achieved within a week if the siege went well.

The senior officers in the military tent were all too aware of the current situation; however, decisions about whether to advance or attack, who should go and who should stay, were not theirs to make.

Decisions could only be made by the two legion commanders, and no one else had the right to participate — of course, theoretically, there was one more person with the right to be involved, and that was another member of the Thirteen People's Council sent from Sea Blue City.

This general, who came to Red Sulfur Island aboard the supply fleet, arrived at the request of Major General Antonio and Rear Admiral Nalesho to act as the third member of the temporary military committee for the Revenge Fleet.

However, as luck would have it, he was yet another navy rear admiral... With high rank in the navy, he had no say in the affairs of the army.

Antonio had previously suggested the establishment of a joint command in order to avoid this kind of internal consumption between the army and navy, but who would have expected that while the cooperation between the Third Legion and the navy went smoothly, the problem arose within the army itself.

So, in the end, it was still necessary for the two legion commanders to reach a consensus, and the officers were all waiting for the final decision of the two major generals.

Major General Layton obviously had no desire to stay behind and endure a siege. Having sat on the bench for many years and finally getting a chance to command troops again, he would surely want to make a decisive move, not waste time on the tiny Red Sulfur Island.

Even if Antonio agreed to stay and besiege Tachi, the officers of the Da Weineta Legion wouldn't accept it.

Winters made contact with the Da Weineta Legion through Kalman's smuggling channels, which meant that the credit for capturing Red Sulfur Harbor should have originally belonged to the Third Legion.

However, in order to ensure victory, Antonio decided the Third Legion should continue feint attacks on the northern coast to draw the enemy's main forces, while assigning the recently arrived Saint Marco Legion the task of attacking Red Sulfur Harbor.

In other words, this credit was a gift from Antonio to the Saint Marco Legion. The officers of Da Weineta were filled with resentment, suppressed only by Antonio's authority. Words like "tolerance for the country's sake" and "making compromises for the greater good" had little persuasive power to officers dreaming of earning commendations and promotions.

Moreover, they had already endured once, so why couldn't the Saint Marco Legion endure this time? The officer corps of Da Weineta firmly believed that it was both logical and fair that it should be the "reserve forces" that stayed behind; they would rather scale the city walls than be responsible for besieging Tachi.

"How about drawing lots? Or maybe each legion leaves half behind…" As a certain officer was lost in wild thoughts, Antonio abruptly declared the meeting adjourned.

At noon that day, Antonio, Layton, and Nalesho, along with Rear Admiral Compton, who had just arrived from Sea Blue, the four highest commanders of the army and navy, held a closed-door meeting.

No clerks were allowed into the tent, so no one knew what kind of conversation took place between the four.

That afternoon, Andre burst into Winters' tent, where Winters was taking his midday nap, and shook him vigorously awake.

Winters, who always had a severe case of morning anger, barely managed to restrain the urge to curse: "What is it?"

"We've got work!" Andre shouted excitedly, "The chief has ordered the two of us to follow the engineer officer in charge of the road construction! Finally, no more clerical work! Copy! Copy! Copy! I've been writing so much these past few days that I'm almost forgetting what the letters look like…"

"Ah!? Road construction?"