Steel, Explosives, and Spellcasters

The proverb says, "To get rich, build a road first."

But the Venetians' purpose in building a road on Red Sulfur Island would certainly not be to stimulate local economic growth.

"Build a road?" Winters, just awake, was still a bit groggy, "What road?"

"A standard Guzhi Road, from Red Sulfur Harbor to Tachi," Andre said cheerfully, "A joint order from the two major generals, no mistake. Hey, no matter what road we're building, at least we're not stuck being clerks!"

"Hmm." Winters rubbed his eyes, trying hard to think about the true purpose of the road construction. Suddenly, he sighed and said, "I think I've figured out what's going on... It looks like the higher-ups have made up their minds to besiege the city."

Red Sulfur Island is a typical volcanic island; the island itself is a huge volcano. Thus, from the coast of Red Sulfur Island, the elevation increases as one goes inland.

Located in the center of the island, Tachi is backed by the volcano on the volcanic island, thus occupying a naturally formidable terrain.

The environment where Tachi is situated was not originally suitable for forming a natural settlement; however, the place is replete with rich volcanic sulfur mines.

The former Duke of Red Sulfur Island, in order to keep the sulfur mines in his grip, did not set up his administration in Red Sulfur Harbor but rather established New Town here.

The sulfur mining industry and political reasons eventually led to the creation of Tachi, which is also named for the high tower castle built there by the former Duke of Red Sulfur Island.

There is no direct road between Tachi and Red Sulfur Island, not even a decent one.

The neglected dirt road leading out of Red Sulfur Island winds through several villages and plantations before it finally reaches Tachi.

Thinking of all this, Winters sees the reason why Antonio and Layton would prioritize road construction over besieging the city as rather obvious.

Winters had also observed Tachi's defense structures from a distance; though they were of the outdated old-fashioned kind of city walls, they were still quite daunting.

In the old days, towering walls were considered impregnable and insurmountable, symbolizing wealth and military might.

However, no one builds those kinds of walls anymore for a simple reason: they cannot effectively withstand artillery bombardment.

Funds are limited, and if walls are built high, they inevitably become thin. In the past, this wasn't an issue, as wooden scaffolding could be constructed behind the walls to temporarily increase their width so that more defenders could stand on them.

After the maturation of artillery technology, however, the advantages of high walls became their disadvantages:

The taller the wall, the larger its front silhouette and the easier it is to be hit by cannonballs;

And if the wall is not thick enough, it can't accommodate artillery, as the defenders of Constantinople discovered during its siege: the recoil from heavy guns mounted atop the walls caused more damage to the high walls than did the attackers' siege artillery;

The towers on the original walls became a problem too, as the towers on old-fashioned walls were much higher than the walls themselves. This design allowed defending troops to continue holding the towers even if the enemy scaled the walls;

However, the presence of high towers on the wall made it difficult for defenders to rapidly move artillery along them...

The various disadvantages are numerous. In short, when faced with such high walls, bombard them with artillery, and that's the end of it.

In the Venetian military structure, the artillery unit is an independent force separate from the regular legions, so the legions have only infantry and cavalry.

But now, Antonio and Layton have ready-made cannons:

The thirty-two-pound cannons pulled from the ruins of the Red Sulfur Bay bastion are basking in the sun on the docks; if these aren't enough, there are also four-pound and eight-pound guns from the bastion in Red Sulfur Harbor; if those aren't sufficient, the cannons from the warships can be disembarked.

What about the lack of gunners? That's even easier to manage, because artillerymen and engineers are two of a kind.

The graduates from the Artillery branch of the Army Officer School, those who do well join the artillery, those who do less well end up in the engineering corps.

Although Antonio and Layton don't have artillerymen, they do have engineers, and officers who are now doing clerical work after graduating from the Artillery are plentiful.

It's unlikely they've forgotten all their book knowledge so quickly, so Layton slapped his forehead and said, "What clerical engineers? Get them all back to being artillerymen."

Additionally, the gunners from the naval warships can be temporarily deployed to assist with the siege.

The enemy has gifted them with a batch of heavy cannons, and the military isn't short of gunners; the biggest problem is actually how to move the big guns from Red Sulfur Harbor to Tachi.

The roads on Red Sulfur Island are too poor and circuitous, and the Venetians lack heavy draft horses and oxen needed for hauling, plus transporting the artillery from Red Sulfur Harbor to Tachi involves an uphill journey due to the terrain, making it a challenging task.

If they were to rely on the island's original poor roads, moving these dozen cannons to the front lines would be harder than simply waiting for the defenders to run out of food and surrender, which would save some energy.

So—they need to build a road.

When Winters first heard this order to build a road, his first thought was: it must be yet another one of Major General Layton's spur-of-the-moment ideas.

However, after setting aside his biases and thinking rationally, Winters found that it might indeed be a good method.

As the saying goes, "Lathering up doesn't delay the shave."

The Da Weineta Legion, as a Standing Army, is very proficient in civil engineering and has ready-made techniques. There are plenty of farmers and slaves on Red Sulfur Island, providing ready labor. In addition, there are quarries on the island, supplying ready materials.

Building a Guzhi Road connecting Red Sulfur Harbor and Tachi would not only make it easier to transport cannons but would also greatly benefit the logistical support of the besieging army.

It would also allow Venetian troops to quickly maneuver between Red Sulfur Harbor and Tachi, enabling them to rapidly support Red Sulfur Harbor in the event of a change in battle conditions or retreat to their ships.