Sword of Dawnbreaker

Chapter 620 - 619: Iron and Fire

Standing next to the vast and imposing war machine, Holme couldn’t help but look up in awe at its iron-gray armor and the pipes and mechanical structures encapsulated within its barrier. Beside him, the former commander of the Fortress of Rock, now a Cecil Officer, Maryland Knight, murmured in admiration, "It’s a beautiful machine, isn’t it?"

Holme slightly turned his head and glanced at the knight, who had donned his armor anew and pledged his allegiance to the Duchy.

After undergoing a year-long labor reform and ideological reconstruction, followed by over half a year of educational training, and having passed rigorous examinations and oath-taking procedures, this former royal noble acquired the chance to pledge loyalty to the southern borders’ leader.

He was once assigned to the Second Legion’s engineering unit, participating in construction and production in various northern regions. Witnessing and experiencing the operational rules of the Cecil Order firsthand, this knight displayed a sincere and earnest attitude and excellent personal abilities throughout this process. As a result, he was transferred and promoted, eventually becoming part of the First Combat Corps and the commander of the "Iron Throne."

In Cecil, there were quite a few "reformers" like him. After all, talent was scarce in this era, and some intellectuals from the old nobility had to be selected for early-stage production and construction. This might leave some potential risks for the future, but it’s better than perishing in the mire during the early stages of development.

And Maryland Knight, inherently trustworthy, should be counted as one of the most reliable and promising among these "reformers."

Holme, who hailed from a serf background but had now become a Cecil official, laughed. "It’s indeed a beautiful machine; every part is beautiful."

He was somewhat speaking in double entendre, but he was genuinely praising the war machine on the rails beside him. This massive armored train was the most powerful mechanical device he had ever seen. Not only a means of transportation but also a weapon and fortress, it was an outstanding creation of Marquise Rebecca and Grand Artificer Nicholas, as well as a revered product manufactured by the diligent and intelligent Cecil workers.

Each end of the train featured two "arsenal sections," with a total of four large rail cannons and four of the largest super-heavy burners currently installed on the train chassis. Between the cannon and burner bases were armor-clad turrets capable of housing combat personnel, firing lightning, fireballs, and Scorching Rays to sweep enemies and protect the train guns according to battle conditions.

The middle section of the train was a large carriage known as the "tactical section," accommodating the train command center and equipped with a high-powered Magic Obelisk and communications devices, along with a sufficient number of self-defense weapons.

The remaining train carriages formed the "transport section," capable of housing hundreds to thousands of soldiers. The carriages could be exchanged for open chassis to transport various war vehicles. Almost all types of magic-guided vehicles produced by Cecil could be placed on that spacious and powerful transport chassis.

Currently, this formidable war machine had a total of four transport chassis with twelve "Warhammer-I" tanks affixed to them. These tanks were not just "passengers" on this train but were also a formidable armed force themselves. When secured on the chassis, they essentially became small train cannons, with turrets even more flexible than the main guns of the "Iron Throne" itself. At the command of the train captain, the twelve additional tank guns could loyally annihilate any intruder daring to approach the "Iron Throne."

Fully armed and commanding the land, the war machine was so powerful that upon seeing it in person, Holme finally understood why the train was named the "Iron Throne." The iron-gray paint and hard, straight mechanical lines made it worthy of the name "Throne," even carrying a captivating beauty. At that moment, he even felt a bit envious of Maryland Knight.

"This is just the first ’Iron Throne,’" Maryland Knight said proudly. "According to the plan, more Iron Throne-type armored trains will be deployed on the tracks to protect the lands covered by railways. Therefore, every Iron Throne actually has a detailed name—this particular train before you should be called ’Iron Throne-Zero’ in full."

"The very first Iron Throne..." Holme mused, nodding slightly before saying, "We’ve been laying down the northward-expanding railway these days. While the situation in the Duke of the East worsens, conversely, because local leaders have sealed off their lands and castles, large stretches of wilderness have become completely ungoverned areas, with almost no hindrance to our activities—even if a few local leaders try to interfere, in their disorganized state, they pose no significant threat."

Maryland inquired, "Where are those Crystal Cluster Infectors located at present?"

"They are still active in the region west of Sorinburg, with only a few dazed Wanderers having wandered into the Duke of the East. They do not yet pose a threat."

Maryland nodded lightly.

Clearly, the primary target of the Oblivion Association remained the royal capital of Anzu. They had dispatched almost the entire Crystal Cluster Army to the northwestern front, paying scant attention to the Duke of the East—an easy target laid bare on the dining table. This was not difficult to comprehend. On one side of the Duke of the East lay the Typhon Empire, and the other was the Eastern Region of the Spirit Plain that had already completely fallen. The main military forces and capable nobles within had mostly perished in the major contamination of the Spirit Plain, so for the advantage-holding Oblivion Association, this land was as good as consumed, with only digestion remaining.

But Maryland Knight knew that this situation would not last for long—the Oblivion Association had yet only temporarily not adjusted their focus, not "digested" their suddenly acquired massive army properly, nor fully stabilized their footing. But once they crushed the remaining Anzu Kingdom’s military resistance on the Spirit Plain and reached the gates of St. Soniel, they would begin "absorbing" power from the Duke of the East, transforming the local population into their Crystal Cluster Army to sweep through the remaining lands of Anzu.

His task was to block the paths leading to the Duke of the East before all that happened, in a manner unforeseen by the Oblivion Association, coordinating with Gawain Cecil’s "blockade" operations along the Gorgon River.

In the past few months, the White Sand Mining Company, under the pretext of "building more roads to facilitate mineral transport," had constructed a substantial number of railways in the intermingling areas between White Sand and Gran. The sluggish response of the local leaders, combined with the financial strategies of the White Sand Mining Company on rural knights, tax collectors, and administrative officers, had brought the tracks practically to Silas Loland’s doorstep. Now, with the growing chaos on the Duke of the East, White Sand Mining’s railway deployment had become open and unrestrained.

...

On the eastern bank of the Gorgon River, north of the Fertile Woods, the steel-forged legion began its advance.

In the center of the river, led by the "Pioneer," three magic warships unfurled their Magic Energy Wingboards, with brilliant magic symbols shining above the waves of the Gorgon River. Enormous energy gathered, compressed, and infused, and the heavy "Truth-I" Magic Crystal Railgun slightly adjusted its angle with the help of mechanical devices. Accompanied by the deafening roar of shells piercing the air, the obelisk-like magic crystal shell shot out of the rails, soaring straight into the sky—

In a sharp whistle, the falling shell descended upon the earth like Skyfire Falling, ground shattering and mountains crumbling. Countless Crystal Cluster Giants, wandering aimlessly in the wasteland and wilderness, turned to ashes before they could react. This strike surpassed their visual limits and even exceeded the sensory limits of their strongest members. Amidst the continuous Skyfire Falling, mutated limbs and crystal clusters turned to ashes, causing the massive Crystal Cluster Army to fragment and then fight individually in chaos, searching for the enemy hidden somewhere.

On the high ground by the riverside, Steel Cavalry Scouts Warriors in black armor climbed onto the combat vehicle’s observation platform, opened their Tactical Scopes, and kept an eye on the Crystal Cluster Monsters surging from the plains. They continuously sent signals back to the riverborne warships, guiding round after round of artillery bombardment.

After several rounds of naval artillery bombardment, the combat vehicles began to advance, paving the way with tank cannons and long-range howitzers from the rear. The wheels and treads crushed the warming ground, advancing step by step toward the areas stained by the Crystal Cluster Giants.

Amidst this destructive torrent, the "Steel Envoy" raised fortified barriers, thrusting forward in the queue. Inside each Steel Ambassador Combat Vehicle, the sharpest soldiers watched the images reflected in the observation windows—those windows bore the spell effect of "Detection Distortion."

In the observation view, tinted red by the spell effect, the entire land was enveloped in surging magic power, and the arcane glow on the Crystal Cluster Giants, swaying in smoke and dust, was as prominent as candlelight in the night.

Some individuals among them had particularly striking candlelights.

The scouts immediately relayed the target to the howitzer gunners while signaling the rear troops: "Targeting command entities, begin guiding fire."

The Steel Envoys, serving as observation vehicles, paused briefly, stabilizing their vehicles before activating their onboard howitzers—this little "main gun" lacked significant lethality. Sometimes it could even be intercepted by particularly powerful Crystal Cluster Giants with barriers, but as the long-range shells whistled through the air towards the distant ground, hundreds of "Warhammer-I" main battle tanks in the rear would focus their fire on the marked direction—this level of attack couldn’t be blocked, no matter how powerful the spellcasting units were.

After a brief but devastating bombardment, a significant portion of the enemy would inevitably descend into chaos.

The surging Crystal Cluster Giants charged towards the enemies that entered their sight; their commanders had perished before the charge began, and the charging giants... during this process, they would gradually devolve into uncontrollable beasts.

It would take them about an hour to completely weaken, but most wouldn’t survive beyond an hour.

Because they charged wildly, without any organization or strategy, into the deadly fireline interwoven by artillery and burners, not dodging or avoiding, until they turned to ashes.

Due to the innate aggressiveness of Crystal Cluster Giants after losing control, the legion didn’t even need to deliberately seek out those hiding in visual blind spots or distant enemies—as long as the artillery roared, almost every monster within a hundred-mile radius would voluntarily rush to the raging purifying flames.

On the high ground in the rear, Gawain stood under a sunshade, quietly watching the scene on the distant plain. The battlefield filled with continuous artillery fire and flashes from the direction of the Gorgon River (occasionally, impressive beams of rainbow light would sweep across the riverbank) came into his view. Nearby, a mobile Magic Web relay vehicle broadcasted the dense communications from the Pioneer and ground forces. Several Magic Web Terminals projected different images, and signalmen and operators busied themselves between equipment and tactical maps, with commands and reports continuously coming from all directions.

In a trance, he felt a slight sense of temporal and spatial dislocation.

Elsewhere, the young Sir Philip stood not far away at a map table with a group of officers, watching the changes on the battlefield. Byron’s holographic projection appeared beside Sir Philip—as if Byron, far away on the Pioneer, was present at the army command center through the Magic Web Terminal.

The water-land push strategy was proposed by Gawain. In this plan, he requested the Inland River Fleet to support the ground forces with heavy artillery. After initially breaching the Crystal Cluster Giants’ formation, the land tank units would advance, using long-range howitzers and other means for a second sweep. Then, before the Crystal Cluster Giants could react, the land units would quickly occupy advantageous positions and rely on heavy burners, flamethrower infantry, White Knight Squadron, and other forces to completely purify the battlefield.

On this basis, Sir Philip developed a more detailed operational plan for the land forces—using Steel Envoys as reconnaissance vehicles, leveraging mobility and range advantages, coupled with reliable barrier devices. These combat vehicles would quickly lock onto command nodes within the Crystal Cluster Legion at the front and remotely guide artillery fire to destroy those nodes.

After that, the loyal Cecil Legion would rely on equally loyal incendiary weapons to eliminate the out-of-control enemies.

These plans were remarkably effective.