Steel, Guns, and the Industrial Party in Another World

TL: Etude

“Kill!”

On the vast wilderness of Furel in the southern part of the Kingdom of Ordo, two armies were fiercely slaughtering each other, their shouts reverberating through the sky.

Princess Catherine led the royal army into the final showdown with the rebel forces headed by Duke Jars.

Atop a high slope, Catherine, the highest commander of the royal army front lines, sat fully armored on a white horse. She bit her lower lip, eyes fixed on the battlefield.

Beside her stood high-ranking officers of the royal army such as Ofina, Leicester, and Walker. However, two senior generals—Duke Dodge and Sir Klein—were conspicuously absent from her side, as they were commanding the left and right flanks respectively.

From dawn until now, both sides had suffered casualties; the battle seemed evenly matched.

Next to Catherine, Duke Walker glanced at the princess, hesitated, and then spoke up.

His own troops, brought from his territory, were on their second rotation in combat, and the casualties were substantial. Many of his family’s young members had sustained severe injuries during the command of operations, which greatly pained the duke.

“Your Highness!” the duke finally decided, suggesting to Catherine, “Should we use ‘that’? One swift strike…”

The so-called “that” referred to the the Kingdom’s secret weapon—or rather, the royal family’s secret weapon: Greek Fire.

In Duke Walker’s opinion, the name Greek Fire was very well-fitting. The flame that could not be extinguished with water surely must have come from hell itself.

However, even someone of Duke Walker’s status had only learned of the existence of this fearsome weapon this year. Having raised his troops to quell the rebellion at Crystal Shine Fortress and again responding to the princess’s call to amass an army to suppress the rebellion, Duke Walker’s loyalty won him the royal family’s recognition. He was thus inducted into the core circle of power within the royal army and learned of this closely guarded royal secret.

“Now is not the time!” Catherine firmly rejected the duke’s suggestion.

Duke Walker nodded slightly and said no more. He understood the princess’s concern. While Greek Fire was powerful, it was scarce because the royal family could not manufacture it themselves—its origins were somehow linked to those mysterious pointy-eared beings.

It was clear that the princess did not want to play her trump card just yet.

The Kingdom’s Greek Fire stockpile had barely arrived before the battle and almost did not make it to the decisive fight.

“Your Highness! The Undead Army has moved out!”

The generals stirred, pointing at the battlefield ahead.

In the rebel rear, a regiment, clearly different in equipment from other rebel forces, moved steadily toward the front line.

Catherine watched the ‘Undead Army’, and called out: “Leicester!”

“Yes!” Leicester responded and quickly left the slope on horseback.

…

About an hour later, the two armies—each carrying their side’s hopes of victory—confronted each other in the middle of the battlefield. One was a mysterious Kingdom unit wielding strange equipment, and the other was the always six-thousand-strong rebel ‘Undead Army’.

“Is that the trick Catherine was rumored to have for countering the Undead Army?” Duke Jars, among other rebel leaders, showed evident surprise. The enemy facing the Undead Army looked to be merely a light infantry unit that wasn’t armored like the rest of the Kingdom soldiers. They only had basic protection.

After observing for a while, Samar suddenly exclaimed beside Jars, “No good!”

He remembered the terrifying experience from the first attack on Thorn Fortress.

“Duke Jars, it’s Greek Fire! I guess that’s the same Greek Fire we’ve encountered before!”

Jars was shocked. He had heard from Samar about this terrifying weapon that seemed like magic, a fire that could not be extinguished by water.

However, this weapon had appeared only once. In subsequent battles, their ‘Restoration Army’ had never encountered it again. Thus, he concluded that the royal army had very little Greek Fire stored up, and during the stalemate in Furel, he was convinced the royal army didn’t possess Greek Fire anymore. After the prolonged standoff between the two armies, with such a huge drain on national power, Catherine, a decisive woman, would never have left such a powerful weapon unused. ŖᴀŊΟʙЕȿ

Unexpectedly, it had appeared in this decisive battle…

After the initial panic, Jars quickly calmed down, and with a fierce grin, said to his officers, “Samar, let’s make a bet…”

Samar looked puzzled, “What do you mean, Your Grace?”

“Let us bet on how much Greek Fire Catherine possesses!”

Duke Jars’s eyes now glinted like those of a gambler.

Samar was shocked, “You… you’re not planning to retreat the troops? Even though they are only…”

Jars waved his hand, interrupting Samar’s words, and said coldly, “War is a gamble! And they have always been intended for sacrifice.”

Thus, both armies drew closer, finally reaching a point where they were only about 10 meters apart.

“Ready!” Upon Leicestert’s loud command, the Kingdom troops stood their ground in unison!

Meanwhile, the opposite ‘Undead Army’ slowed their pace and prepared their spears for an assault.

“Fire!” Leicester ordered again, and a stunning sight unfolded on the battlefield—Kingdom soldiers unleashed streams of fire from their strange equipment toward the Undead Army.

Instantly, the soldiers in the Undead Army’s ranks ignited uncontrollably, emitting agonizing screams as they burnt fiercely!

The soldiers behind the Undead Army immediately disordered their formation in the face of the terrifying attack, frantically trying to avoid the fiery onslaught.

Only the first row of Undead Army soldiers, with appalling screams filled with pain, charged forward despite the flames that engulfed them, looking like demons from hell.

“Fire! Second row, keep firing!”

Leicester seemed surprised that anyone could charge through such a devastating attack.

Soldiers who had already sprayed fire were immediately replaced by the second row, who took up their positions and shot fire.

Again the fire dragons flew, and the rebel line grew increasingly chaotic. Those who maintained their positions were set ablaze, frantically slapping at themselves or rolling on the ground in a futile attempt to extinguish the horrifying flames.

The Undead Army’s first row of soldiers, upon reaching the front of the Kingdom forces, fell to the physiological demands of their bodies and collapsed, writhing as the flames consumed them, causing only minor casualties to the enemy.

The Kingdom soldiers continued firing until the Undead Army soldiers were either extinguished or fled in a frenzy.

“The Undead Army is defeated!”

“Long live Ordo!”

“Long live Catherine!”

Witnessing this scene, other units engaged in fierce combat saw the hitherto invincible Undead Army crumble quickly.

The morale of the Kingdom army surged, fighting more fiercely, while the morale of the rebels they faced plummeted.

The battle seemed to have reached a turning point…

Upon the high slope, Catherine and her officers finally allowed smiles to cross their faces, as the scales of victory tilted in their direction.

“Your Highness! This is our chance!” Ofina suggested, “Seize this moment to deploy the reserves. With one powerful push, crush their central forces and isolate the wings for annihilation!”

“Good!” Catherine approved the suggestion and was about to give the order.

“What’s that unit?” Duke Walker suddenly exclaimed.

Everyone’s gaze followed his pointing hand, to see a unit changing their gear behind the rebel lines.

“No… not the Undead Army!”

When it finally became clear, everyone was stunned! This new unit, dressed exactly like the Undead Army that had just been wiped out, seemed to have a headcount exceeding ten thousand.

“How is this possible? Weren’t they just destroyed?” someone uttered in disbelief.

“We’ve made a huge mistake!”

Catherine whipped her horse in frustration and gritted her teeth, “Who said the Undead Army had only six thousand men? That was just an impression Jars has been crafting the whole time.”

Suddenly, she recalled the reaction of the ‘Undead Army’ under the Greek Fire attack; only the soldiers at the front launched a death charge, while the others fled in terror.

Perhaps… the front ‘Undead Army’ was just a bait? With only a few genuine soldiers.

Catherine ordered swiftly, “Send a message to Duke Dodge and Klein to tighten the flanks and move closer to the central forces.”

“Yes!” Two riders darted off, one to the east and one to the west.

…

Atop a high platform amongst the rebel forces, a man in a grey robe stared toward the Kingdom army, his eyes shimmering with an odd light, his pupils seemingly out of focus to others.

“Heh heh!” he let out a cryptic chuckle, then closed his eyes.

Moments later, the grey-robed man opened his eyes again and shouted down to Jars and others below, “Your Grace, most of that flame-throwing unit has switched to ordinary weapons! There are only a few hundred left holding that equipment!”

Jars had gambled correctly. He punched the air triumphantly, and his surrounding officers also exhaled in relief.

“Catherine, you didn’t expect the first Undead Army to be fake, nor did you anticipate that the Undead Army had expanded to over ten thousand before the decisive battle, did you? I lost a lot to make you show your hand first. And while your card exceeded my expectations, hahahaha!”

Jars laughed heartily. Although the appearance of Greek Fire had altered his plans, things had largely stayed the course.

Turning to Scott standing by, he said, “Thank you for the timely support from the Arcane Society!”

Scott gave a slight nod, “Allow me to preemptively congratulate you on your victory.”

“Duke Jars, the impostor king’s army is regrouping towards the middle!”

Duke Greedy Wolf immediately ceased laughing; it wasn’t time to laugh just yet. While they managed to evade the unexpected crisis caused by Greek Fire, his central forces had indeed lost over six thousand men, creating a significant gap.

“Regroup our troops! Hold off the impostor king’s army until the Undead Army has changed clothes, then rush forward to deliver the fatal blow!”

It didn’t matter that the counterfeit Undead Army had been routed and morale had plummeted. Once the real Undead Army charged, the tide would immediately turn.

While the Kingdom army was unsettled over the newfound appearance of the Undead Army, the rebels withdrew from contact and began to form a large square formation.

But something unexpected happened to Jars.

“Your Grace, the Viburen forces have charged at the enemy without orders!”

“What? Get them back now!”

“Your Grace, it’s too late, the Viburen forces have been defeated!”

“In such a short time?”

The Viburen forces, which had charged impulsively, fled back in a dire state, with Kingdom cavalry hot on their tail, mercilessly cutting them down.

The fleeing soldiers instinctively headed towards their own reorganizing allies, hoping for protection.

“Do not let them break our formation! Issue the order, spare no fleeing soldiers that dare to assault our ranks!”

Jars’s beard was quivering with anger!

However, it was too late! If it had been enemy forces, his troops might have been able to organize a defense, but a large group of chaotic allies retreating could do nothing but part ways for them. As a result, the reorganizing rebel line fell into further disarray, and the morale of the rebels, already shaken by the Greek Fire, plummeted once more.

“Long live Ordo!”

With the routed Viburen forces ‘clearing the path’ ahead, Leicester, leading the chasing cavalry, bellowed, lifted his lance high, and charged into the midst of the rebels, followed immediately by an army of heavily armed knights.

“Viburen! I swear to decapitate you myself!”

Watching his formation collapse into chaos, Jars bellowed furiously.

In the distance, the fully regrouped Kingdom army advanced to encircle the enemy.

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