Iron Powder and Spellcasters

  Chapter 19 Burning the City (Part 1)

The predecessor of    Guitucheng Arsenal (the first arsenal of the Union Army) was the Royal Arms Division of the Piedmont Province during the imperial rule. At the beginning of its establishment, the main consideration was transportation conditions, so the site was selected on the coast near the Guitucheng pier, and the ship could dock directly to the small pier of the Weapons Division.

   There were only four blacksmiths here at first, and it was nothing more than a large blacksmith shop. Responsible for the storage and maintenance of weapons and equipment allocated to the royal army stationed in Piedmont Province, and has no manufacturing capacity.

The    United Provincial Militia occupied the Royal Arms Department as soon as they captured the city of Guitu for the first time, and emptied the arsenal here.

   In Guitucheng, which changed hands for the second time, when the militia of the United Provinces found that the war would not end soon, they immediately transformed the old Royal Arms Department into the new Guitucheng Arsenal.

The functions given to it by    are no longer limited to maintenance and storage. The Guitucheng Arsenal began to have the ability to produce cold weapons.

  The sovereign war that has lasted for more than ten years has brought a strong demand for weapons, and the technology and production capacity of the Guitucheng Arsenal have also been greatly improved again and again.

   Originally, this arsenal could only forge weapons with ready-made iron materials. However, due to the trade blockade, the copper and iron purchased from outside are increasingly insufficient.

   Guitucheng Arsenal recruited blacksmiths and established a smelting bureau, which enabled the arsenal to have the ability to smelt ore and supply raw materials for itself.

   Later, as the war continued, soldiers using gunpowder weapons made up an increasing proportion of the militia units. As a result, the Guitucheng Arsenal has added a gun bureau and an artillery bureau, specializing in gun manufacturing technology.

   In the second half of the war, the Guitucheng Arsenal began to produce muskets and artillery continuously, arming a large number of unarmed citizens.

Marshal    Ned once praised this arsenal: "Without Guitucheng Arsenal, there will be no victory!" Since then, the nickname of Victory Arsenal has become an instant hit, and it has become the nickname of this arsenal in the Union Army.

   For more than 20 years, the Victory Arsenal has expanded again and again, like a gluttony that cannot satisfy its appetite, constantly swallowing the surrounding land and houses. From a corner on the edge of the wharf, it has evolved into a city within a city occupying half of the port area.

   But at this moment, there is no more victory arsenal, only a sea of ​​fire.

  Ten minutes ago, when the student brigade marched to the ruins of the old city wall, the whole street was filled with a faint smoke.

  Smoke got into every roadside alley and into every independent courtyard. Residents who live on the edge of the city have been awakened, either looking out of the window, or standing at the door, watching in amazement as the army of officers and students is heading in the direction of the smoke.

  The further he walked, the thicker and more pungent the smoke became. Winters was shedding tears, and the sound of coughing in the queue came one after another.

  The horses the instructors were riding began to become restless and refused to move forward no matter how hard they tried.

   In desperation, the caster instructors had to continue to use magic in turn, always maintaining two horizontal wind control spells in front of the column, blowing smoke into the residential areas on both sides of the road.

   Continue to move forward, and when you can see the fire, the situation is getting worse.

  The flames had already spread from the arsenal to the nearby houses, and many residents died of poisonous smoke before they woke up from their sleep. Some fleeing people cried and fled in the direction of the trainee brigade.

   "Judgment has come! Judgment has come!"

   "It's the devil! The devil is spreading in the streets!"

   "Run for your life! We can't do anything! Run!"

  The fleeing people ran screaming and screaming, clutching the belongings they took away when they escaped from their homes tightly on their chests. Their house has been engulfed in flames, and what is in their hands is now all their possessions.

   Cries pounded on Winters' chest, making him very uncomfortable. Facing the fleeing crowd, the student brigade moved forward in silence.

   Going further, it is a scene of hell.

   Here, the darkness is dispelled by fire, the streets are illuminated by furious flames, and the smoke is so thick that Wind Rider is powerless. The sound of beeping wood burning and rumbling houses collapsing kept coming.

   A woman knelt by the roadside and wailed hysterically, no one knew what happened to her, and no one paid her any attention.

   The people who escaped from the fire were frightened and ran out of the city with their hands and feet.

   And those inhabitants whose houses are only a few meters away from the line of fire have fallen into despair:

   Some of them have not given up yet, and are trying their best to carry the soft goods from home;

  Some people beat their chests and feet and cursed the devil loudly;

  Some people became crazy, grabbing their hair and hitting the ground with their heads desperately;

   Some people gave up their resistance and closed their eyes and prayed eloquently.

   But water and fire are ruthless, all efforts are in vain, they can only watch their house is swallowed by flames.

When    first discovered the sky vision, Winters had a very bad premonition. It can burn the sky to discoloration, and the scope of the fire field must not be small.

   But when he really saw the scale of the fire, he realized that his initial thinking was too optimistic.

The    cadet brigade could not even get close to the wall of the Victory Arsenal, where the heat and smoke blocked them a block away.

   "Your Majesty! Your Majesty!" A man in a short brown dress held his hat and ran to the head of the military academy's horse: "I'm the captain of the port fire defense team, it's great that you can come!"

   "How am I going to serve you? My Commander?" the Minister asked coldly.

   "The fire can't be put out anymore. We can only rip off the surrounding houses and build an isolation zone. Your students came just in time." The captain of the fire defense team didn't dare to sell his words, and hurriedly revealed his plan.

   "I'm here to save the property of the Army. Now that the arsenal is over, I won't use my precious officers in firefighting, that's your duty." The minister was about to leave.

   "Sir! Show your kindness!" The captain of the fire defense team held on to the reins of the minister's mount and pleaded.

   "Huh." The Minister snorted coldly.

   "Please! Look at the wind direction. The wind is blowing inland from the coastline. The wind is helping the fire. If the isolation zone is not established quickly, it will not take long for the entire port area to turn into a sea of ​​fire, and then the entire city."

   The minister still had a livid face and said nothing.

   "Sir, if the entire Guitu City is burning, can your school survive alone?" The captain of the fire defense team saw that the person with the highest status in the military academy was a little loose, and he was even more unwilling to give up the last straw.

   "The bigger the fire field, the faster the fire spreads. If you don't do anything, it will really be out of control! Show your kindness! My lord! Look at these ordinary people!" The fire defense team leader continued to plead.

   (end of this chapter)