Chapter 82

Chapter 82: The Victory Song.

The imperial army took a day to rest and secure their camp after the march.

After all the preparations were done.

“Advance, all troops!”

Clack, clack, clack!

The imperial army started to move forward in formation.

Many observers watched them with shining eyes.

Kim Kiwoo had invited various figures from the central continent for this war.

There were several reasons, but the biggest one was to show the empire’s military might.

The observers who participated in this way were placed where they could see the situation well.

Wise Flame was one of them.

He muttered softly as he watched the imperial army advance with dignity.

“I wonder how powerful those weapons are.”

“Don’t you think there’s a reason why the empire invited us?”

“I think so too.”

Wise Flame nodded.

If they didn’t have much confidence in the guns and cannons that were deployed in this operation, there would be no reason to invite so many people.

The empire had never done anything without a reason.

‘They must be showing an overwhelming sight this time.’

Wise Flame didn’t think for a moment that the imperial army would lose. 

He was just curious how they would sweep away the enemies.

While he was thinking about this and that.

The imperial army finally stopped advancing.

“Hmm? Why are they stopping at such a distance?”

Wise Flame asked the imperial army guide who was sitting next to him.

The guide smiled and replied.

“That’s because this is the right distance.”

“…Even though it’s so far from the wall?”

“Haha! You’ll see for yourself soon enough.”

He got a vague answer from the guide, but it wasn’t the atmosphere to ask more.

‘What are they up to?’

In the end, Wise Flame could only wait silently.

The various forces in the central continent had learned from the empire’s destruction of Aztec.

Until now, charging and rushing as a group like Aztec had worked, but this tactic had been pushed out of the mainstream as iron weapons became widespread and dense tactics emerged.

Also, the importance of defense was re-emphasized and sturdy castles increased.

This case was no different.

The enemies blocked the imperial army’s advance and focused on defense by closing the gate.

‘Hmm?’

Wise Flame brightened his eyes as he saw the imperial army moving busily.

They dragged the cannons that they had brought from the rear to the front of the imperial army’s formation and lined them up in a row.

‘Is that their answer to the defense?’

He wondered how powerful they were and raised his expectations.

Until everything was ready, the enemies didn’t budge from the wall.

It was far beyond the range of arrows, and they had no intention of opening the gate and interfering with the imperial army’s preparations.

Thanks to that, the imperial army’s cannon firing preparations were completed without any interference.

And then.

“Fire!”

Bang, bang, bang!

As soon as the voice echoed, red flags fluttered everywhere.

It was a signal to fire the cannons.

Immediately, the cannons that the imperial army boasted of began to fire one after another.

Boom! Boom!

“Ugh!”

“Ugh…!”

Many of the soldiers screamed at the sudden sound of the cannon.

Most of them had never seen a firearm before.

Of course, there were also some who were startled even though they had already heard the sound of bombs exploding.

The sound of the cannon was much louder than the sound of the bombs.

But this noise was just the beginning.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

The shells that hit the wall directly or went over the wall caused huge explosions.

Thanks to that, a large part of the wall collapsed too easily with just the first attack.

“How can this be!”

“The wall…”

“Are those huge chunks of iron all bombs!”

The soldiers were all shocked by the unreal sight.

They had expected the empire’s firearms to be powerful, but this was beyond their imagination.

While they were stunned, the shells continued to destroy the wall.

“Aaah!”

At first, they had tried to fight back against the empire from the high ground on top of the wall, but when the wall collapsed and many soldiers died from the metal fragments, they abandoned the wall and ran away.

After firing enough firepower.

“Cease fire!”

“Cease fire!”

They stopped firing the cannons when they decided that it was a waste to shoot any more shells.

And then they started to move forward.

“Hey, we can’t win against them!”

“This is crazy!”

“Hold your positions!”

As the empire slowly advanced, there was great chaos in the enemy camp that had suffered a lot from the cannons.

Many soldiers trembled with fear and ran away in all directions, and the commanders tried to stop them.

“I’ll cut down anyone who runs away even one step! Don’t break formation!”

And he kept his word.

Slash! Slash!

“Ugh…!”

“Aaah!”

He personally cut down some of the soldiers who tried to escape with his sword.

But despite their efforts, their morale was already at rock bottom and their formation was disorganized.

This had a fatal effect on the ensuing frontal battle.

“Reload!”

“Fire!”

Ratatatata!

“Aaah!”

“Sa-save me…!”

The bullets of the long line of riflemen pierced through the enemy’s leather armor and flesh.

And this gunfire continued.

“Quickly switch!”

“Shoot as soon as you reload!”

When the front row finished shooting, the riflemen who were reloading behind them came forward and fired.

Thanks to that, the bullets did not stop and inflicted great damage on the enemy.

This lasted until the black powder’s characteristic smoke completely covered all sides.

How long did they shoot?

When it no longer mattered, the commander-in-chief ordered them to stop.

The gunfire finally stopped, and the smoke cleared away by the wind, revealing the horrific scene of the enemy camp.

“…”

They say that one is speechless when too shocked.

That was why the observers were silent.

The battlefield was that dreadful.

There was no one standing properly in sight.

The wall was destroyed, but the enemies who tried to resist until the end were mostly dead or severely wounded, lying on the cold ground.

‘Is this the true power of the Empire?’

Wise Flame had no more strength to be surprised.

This was not a war.

It was a massacre.

That was why there was no worry or concern on the face of the Empire’s guide.

‘Never go against the Empire.’

After the short but intense battle ended.

This thought was engraved in Wise Flame’s mind like a brand.

***

In fact, the expedition was over with that.

After that, there was not a single place that resisted with weapons.

It was because the result was the same whether they resisted or not.

All the gates were wide open, and white flags were hung on the walls.

It was a sign that they would not resist anymore.

“Do not move hastily. It is a fight we have already won. We must think of the precious lives of the Empire’s soldiers as our first priority.”

“Yes!”

At this command of the commander-in-chief, the Empire’s warriors slowly disarmed and captured the enemies.

And they arrested the instigators of this incident.

The commander-in-chief gathered them together and coldly recited.

“How dare you touch the missionaries of the Empire who live according to the will of the great spirits?”

“…”

Even though his sharp words were translated by the foreign ministry interpreter, they kept their heads down and remained silent.

They wanted to kill themselves before being captured, but they thought that would cause more casualties, so they obediently surrendered as prisoners.

Now that it came to this, their lives were doomed no matter what they said.

They decided to keep silent, thinking that if they cursed in anger, it would have a bad influence on the rest of the captured residents.

The commander-in-chief looked at them with a fierce aura.

“You will never meet a peaceful death. You will die in a pain much greater than what the missionaries suffered. I promise you that.”

At his words, fear rose on their faces.

But the commander-in-chief’s words did not end there.

“Also, not only you, but all the residents of this region will pay a fitting price. So regret and reflect on your actions even after you die.”

“Please, please spare our people! They are innocent! It was all planned and orchestrated by us! Please show mercy!”

“If you cared about your people, you should not have done this in the first place! How disgusting it is to say that you are doing this for your people now! Look! Take them all away!”

“Yes!”

As soon as the commander-in-chief gave his order, the warriors quickly dragged them outside.

***

The news of victory reached the capital soon after.

“Hahaha! Of course we won again!”

“Well, that’s obvious. Why are you so surprised?”

“That’s true!”

The Empire’s people did not think of defeat at all, but they were very happy when they heard the news of victory.

Kim Kiwoo was no exception.

The imperial army had suffered a lot. 

Especially the military chief who prepared for this expedition. 

He had done a great job.

“You are too kind. Without the excellent weapons made by the industrial department, how could we have achieved such a result?”

“Haha. In the end, it is the warriors who handle the weapons properly.”

“Then let’s say we both worked hard. Hahaha!”

The military chief and the industrial chief smiled and complimented each other’s faces.

Thanks to the victory report, the atmosphere in the conference room was very warm. 

For a while, there were many stories about the outstanding prowess of the imperial army.

After these stories ended.

The military chief spoke.

“Your Majesty, shall we bring the prisoners we captured this time to the mainland as planned?”

“Let it be so.”

This was a matter that had been agreed upon to some extent before the war.

One could say that many of the residents who were captured as prisoners were not involved in this incident.

From their point of view, it was like a red bean in the middle of the night.

It was a very unfair thing, but Kim Ki-woo made a decision.

He decided to bring them to the mainland and make them pay for this incident.

‘There are too few workers in dangerous or poor environments…’

As the quality of life of the imperial citizens improved, the tendency to avoid these occupations became stronger.

But without people doing these things, the empire would not function properly.

Therefore, they exploited criminals as much as possible, but this also had its limits.

In this situation, the huge human resources captured as prisoners this time could alleviate some of the empire’s dilemma.

Of course, in the absence of slavery, they would have to be released after serving their sentences.

But this was only for the residents.

What awaited those who were deeply involved in this incident were terrible torture, immense pain, and death.