Steel, Guns, and the Industrial Party in Another World
Chapter 71: Confidence Redoubled

TL: Etude

When the First Infantry Battalion arrived at the city gate, they found no resistance left; Angelo and his men had all fled, leaving the place deserted.

They quickly took control of the city gate area. The residents, already frightened, had hidden inside their homes, doors and windows tightly shut, leaving the small town eerily quiet. Bryce left a company to guard the gate and directed two more companies towards the lord’s mansion.

Paul arrived in the city of Butuya soon after, leading his staff and the musketeers. He had seen through his telescope that Angelo and his men didn’t even return to the city but instead fled around the city walls. Unfortunately, without a cavalry unit, he could do nothing to pursue them.

Bryce’s messengers reported no resistance from the west gate to the lord’s mansion. A company had already taken over the mansion, and another was spreading out from there to search the surrounding areas for any remaining enemy forces.

Upon reaching the lord’s mansion, they found it in disarray. After a thorough search by Alda’s troops, they couldn’t find Myles, the butler and conspirator, who had apparently slipped away.

His subordinates and confidants—servants and guards he had placed in the mansion—had also fled after hearing of the defeat outside the city, fearing retribution. They had stolen whatever valuables they could find and escaped.

The remaining few servants, who were found trembling in corners, were temporarily detained by the soldiers.

An hour later, the Second Battalion, having gathered prisoners and assessed the battlefield, entered Butuya. They joined the earlier troops in a meticulous search of the city and took control of the other three city gates.

The lord’s mansion had been somewhat tidied up by then, and Paul gathered the officers in the hall for dinner.

The recent victory had exhilarated the officers. Alda’s army had defeated an enemy force twice their size in the remote region of the Northwest Bay, a feat that could truly be called an ‘epic victory’.

They were so excited that they hardly ate, instead sharing their battle experiences with each other.

“I was at the very front of our line,” boasted David, the platoon leader, his right arm bandaged. “You should have seen it—a huge crowd of Baylding militia trying to break our formation. Luckily, they were armed only with sickles and shovels. We repelled them with our spears, the ones at the front got skewered. One of their shovels even took a big chunk out of my shoulder.”

The conversation turned to the battle’s beginning. David’s platoon had been on the right wing, the only unit to engage in hand-to-hand combat, as the enemy had charged them during the mortars’ reload intervals.

“It’s scary to think about it now. That shovel’s edge was pretty sharp. If it had hit my head…”

“To your bravery! And let’s hope that shovel wasn’t used for shoveling dung,” someone joked, eliciting laughter from the group.

They also praised the artillery’s performance in the battle. Without the artillery’s devastating volley that decimated the enemy’s cavalry, many of them might not have survived.

The artillery commander, Wend, received personal accolades from the other officers. If Paul hadn’t strictly forbidden drinking at that time, Wend might have been toasted into drunkenness.

Some, like Bryce, felt regrets about the battle.

“Alas, if only we had cavalry! Then those traitors wouldn’t have escaped,” he lamented.

The officers agreed, not just because they couldn’t pursue Angelo and others. Count Grayman was too cautious; he didn’t allow pursuit after the enemy’s retreat, fearing that their units, spread too thin, might be encircled by the numerically superior enemy. He was especially concerned about his prized artillery being exposed without infantry protection.

If they had a cavalry unit, its high mobility would have allowed them to swiftly deal with any enemies appearing on the flanks or rear, providing timely support to besieged allies. The battlefield wouldn’t have been so constrained.

Paul comforted everyone, saying, “Don’t worry, there will be bread, there will be milk, everything will be there.” Seeing everyone so spirited, he felt a surge of excitement within himself.

As night fell, considering the army had marched all day and just fought a fierce battle, Paul didn’t want to push them further. He believed the soldiers needed to rest as soon as possible.

He gave a few instructions: first, to maintain vigilance against any remaining enemy forces inside or outside Butuya; second, not to harass the residents, and if there weren’t enough barracks, to set up tents in the streets; and third, to manage the prisoners properly.

After everyone dispersed, Paul arranged for a messenger to ride back to Lakeheart Town overnight to report the victory and to have Malron Ganard depart for Butuya the next day.

A guard prepared a room for Paul to rest in. At 10 p.m., he lay in bed but found himself unable to sleep, still too exhilarated.

Previously, eradicating pirates had felt like a minor test of his capabilities, giving him little sense of accomplishment; they were just desperate outlaws.

But this campaign against Baylding was his first direct confrontation with the old power structures of this world. Even though only a tip of the iceberg of this system had been exposed, this victory gave him confidence to move the entire iceberg. Technological superiority placed him at a kind of pinnacle in this world, looking down upon all.

The firearms had shown immense power in this battle. As the officers described during dinner, it was thanks to the bold and straightforward nature of the people in the Northwest region. A group of hastily conscripted and barely trained militia, after enduring volleys from muskets and cannon fire, still managed to engage in close combat, mustering the courage to fight back. In other regions, especially the more affluent ones, a single volley would likely have sent them scattering.

Paul envisioned a future where firearms were further integrated into Alda’s army. Each soldier would carry a musket, firing volleys of lead bullets in unison on command. The enemy would fall before even reaching them, with supporting artillery hitting targets as directed. The very thought was exhilarating.

“Line firing is the true romance of men,” he thought. Sᴇaʀᴄh the NʘvᴇlFire.nᴇt website on Gøøglᴇ to access chapters of nøvels early and in the highest quality.

The officers had also mentioned the need for a cavalry unit. In an era without machine guns, cavalry was indispensable. Without cavalry, if the enemy had it, they would be at a tactical disadvantage.

Of course, this required money, money, and more money.

He resolved to expand the paper mill and porcelain factory. He decided not to wait for sea routes to open but to use land trade routes instead, extending the new products’ market not just to the Northwest but to the entire kingdom and continent.

Previously, he feared rapid development would attract the envy of surrounding powers. But now, Paul’s confidence was redoubled.

Victory had eliminated his hesitance.

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