Sword of Dawnbreaker

Chapter 436 - 435: Fire Moon 57th—A Good Day to Bombard the Fortress

As they approached the rocky ridges Fortress, the battalion led by Sir Philip suffered several attacks—both nighttime raids and daylight disruptions. As Byron lamented, those aristocratic foes finally started learning how to fight a proper war, but alas, they learned too late.

The commanders at rocky ridges Fortress could only devise attack plans based on outdated military paradigms—they imagined the Cecil Combat Corps to be another aristocratic private army equipped with powerful magic weapons, thus extrapolating the discipline, marching style, camp setup, and command responsiveness of the Cecil Clan from this assumption, and then formulated various attack strategies. The outcome, of course, was unsurprising.

Sir Philip acknowledged that the commanders of rocky ridges Fortress were indeed actively engaging in combat, but unfortunately, they failed.

Fire Moon 57, on this hottest day of summer, the banner of the Cecil Combat Corps advanced into the southern plain area of rocky ridges Fortress, a day earlier than initially planned.

The enemy within rocky ridges Fortress seemed to have finally given up on proactive strikes. As the Cecil Clan drew closer, they began to withdraw entirely into the fortress, abandoning the various outposts and watchtowers around it. These were set ablaze before the Cecil Clan arrived, and when Sir Philip set foot on the plain, his camp was situated in a forest the enemy had burned away.

In the new main camp, Sir Philip left his quarters and rode on horseback, surveying the newly established camp. He looked northward, where he could clearly see the towering and majestic walls of rocky ridges Fortress amidst the continuous mountain ranges. Those walls were dark and somber, yet under the sunlight, a dreamlike magic shimmer danced across them. At the top of the fortress, several massive mage towers were in operation, with the giant runes hovering above them reflecting off the walls below—a sight rarely seen in the barren southern territories.

Sir Philip then turned his gaze to a hill behind the camp—the location of the artillery positions.

The tech soldiers were transporting the main components of the Giant Cannon to the hill and assembling them into fixed siege platforms there. With temporary magic effects like Weight-Reduction aiding, the heavy ”Justice-I” rail accelerator cannon was set to be swiftly installed, posing a deadly threat to the fortress’s first wall. Meanwhile, the remaining heavy and light acceleration cannons would be positioned on a second high ground in the northwest after the main artillery positions were established, forming a more comprehensive fire coverage.

Advancing positions with artillery coverage, moving forward one position at a time, as outlined in the leader’s ”Artillery Basics,” is the most basic and effective part of firepower application. Although this was Sir Philip’s first time putting it into practice, he knew it would be highly effective.

The rocky ridges Fortress was now within the Cecil Clan’s field of view. In other words, the Cecil Clan was also under the nose of rocky ridges Fortress.

The sides were a bit too close for comfort, at least in terms of the ”Justice-I” rail accelerator cannon’s range. Sir Philip was well aware of his cannons’ capabilities; under the right conditions, they could strike beyond visible range—it’s all about calculating the trajectory. Here, it meant he could attack the rocky ridges Fortress from the outskirts of the hills without stepping onto the plain.

But in this battle, there was no need to maintain such a long distance, nor could he afford to.

Returning to the tent, the young knight looked at the military map hanging in the main tent—a map personally drawn by the leader with astonishing accuracy. On it, he could clearly see the rocky ridges Fortress and his position, as well as the terrain around the fortress. He noted the Duoergong river flowing south from the Plains of the Holy Spirits, passing through a pass on the west side of the fortress, splitting into two. One branch, becoming the White River, flowed southwest, and the most suitable area for mooring battleships and setting attack points was an open region in the western part of the plain.