Steel, Explosives, and Spellcasters

The immense momentum of the cannonball directly toppled a large section of the side wall, and the long-suppressed defending army on the wall burst into a thunderous cheer.

However, their laughter quickly faded because the Venetians brought out more baskets filled with dirt and stones and rapidly repaired the demolished wall to its original state.

In frustration, William Kidd halted the cannonade; he couldn't afford to waste gunpowder on bombarding a dirt wall hundreds of meters away.

On the Venetian side, Major General Layton hearty laughed and patted Volbon's shoulder, "Gold will eventually shine. Given your capabilities, it's obvious a reservist corps' engineering major is beneath you. Do well, and if we take Tachi, I'll promote you to colonel!"

"The closer the tunnel gets to the wall, the more difficult the construction becomes," Colonel Volbon said with a wry smile, shaking his head. "I'm just a patcher, fixing whatever problem there is. I only hope that if one day we can't advance further, you won't send me to the martial court."

"Each meter your tunnel advances reduces many casualties in the subsequent combat," Antonio said gently. "We understand the difficulty of this plan; just do your best. After the battle, General Layton and I will jointly recommend you for recognition."

Engineer Lieutenant Otto Skorzenny hurriedly came running, saluted the three senior officers, and then anxiously reported, "Sir, it seems we've built the wall too high. I've observed that the lowest layer of baskets can no longer bear the weight of the stones above and is about to snap!"

Volbon, Antonio, and Layton immediately rushed to the spot where Lieutenant Otto had found the compromised wall. After a thorough examination, Colonel Volbon confirmed, "Indeed, it won't do. The weight on top is too much for the lower baskets to withstand."

Antonio asked, "Then, should we remove a few layers and have the soldiers move in a crouch?"

"The height of the wall is what I calculated," Colonel Volbon explained reluctantly. "If we lower the wall, the corner won't sufficiently shield the tunnel."

"So what do you suggest we do?" Layton asked impatiently.

Volbon pondered silently for a moment, then slowly said, "I see that the third layer from the bottom isn't cracked, which suggests removing two layers of baskets would ensure the stability of the wall structure. After removing two layers from the top of the wall, we can dig a shallow trench as deep as two layers of baskets between the walls. This effectively raises the wall's height. Moreover, the dirt and stones we dig up can be used to fortify the wall, saving us the time of transporting them from the rear – killing two birds with one stone."

Layton, hearing Volbon's solution, was overjoyed, his face quickly brightening from gloom to delight, and he playfully punched Colonel Volbon's shoulder, "You've got some quick wit there."

The slender-bodied Colonel Volbon gasped from the hefty punch of the burly Layton, saying bitterly, "Maybe don't rush to praise me just yet. If we dig trenches, any rain will cause them to fill with water. Digging trenches on rock is not only troublesome, but unlike in soil, it's hard for the water to seep away... These are desperate measures. I think we'd better just pray it doesn't rain."

Antonio and Layton were left speechless.

...

While officers at the Tachi frontline were busy with engineering works, in a village in the interior of Red Sulfur Island, Andre was furiously bellowing, "These damn troublemakers! Troublemakers! Troublemakers! I'll kill them today! Whoever doesn't go to repair the road, I'll slaughter them! I want to see who dares not go!"