Steel, Guns, and the Industrial Party in Another World-Chapter 740: Pursuing the Victory

TL: Rui88

The Crusader Army carried out Webster’s order, retreating from the battlefield of Hestia.

Because it was a hasty retreat born of defeat, the already chaotic withdrawal quickly devolved into a disaster.

The soldiers, fleeing in a hurry, first rushed into the baggage train camp in the rear and looted it indiscriminately. Those who arrived late fought with those who had arrived earlier. These men, who normally claimed to fight for the gods, completely disregarded the teachings in the holy scriptures, shamelessly fighting each other over a few valuables, even drawing their swords.

Those who chose to save their own skins instead picked the smaller paths to flee, leading to such crowding that they were unable to move.

The New Protestant Army naturally would not give up this excellent opportunity. Under Andrew’s command, they let loose and pursued the Crusader Army relentlessly.

Even the routed troops of the Horn Bay Alliance reorganized themselves and, shouting and screaming, chased after the Crusader officers and soldiers who had been so arrogant just a short while ago.

At the Battle of Hestia, the New Protestant Alliance achieved a complete victory.

According to the statistics after cleaning up the battlefield, the New Protestant Army had killed more than eight thousand and captured more than fifteen thousand. In total, the Crusader Army had lost more than twenty-three thousand men, a loss that could only be described as devastating.

On the New Protestant side, they had lost less than three thousand men, and this number included the losses from the useless Horn Bay Alliance army.

Having witnessed the entire battle firsthand, the Redflame Witch Mariana once again raised her evaluation of her eldest son’s army.

Without a doubt, the Alda Army was the core of this battle.

When the Horn Bay Alliance army on the right wing routed, it was the mercenaries belonging to the Alda Army who completed a stunning grand wheel in the face of the enemy, re-consolidating the right wing of the entire formation. The quality they displayed during this change of formation was truly astonishing. The time heaven had left them, between the rout of their allies and the rebuilding of the right wing, was so short. If it had been any other army, perhaps before they could even re-form, the Crusader Army sweeping in from the right would have struck them like a battering ram.

And when the Crusader Army approached with their oblique tactic, it was also the Alda Army’s infantry lines that decisively advanced forward. With the cooperation of the artillery, they shattered the central part of the Crusader Army’s trapezoidal formation, instantly cutting the enemy army in two at the waist. The coordination between the Aldan infantry and artillery was seamless. When the artillery was clearing obstacles for the advancing infantry, not once did a cannonball land among their own allies.

While Mariana was full of praise, she also felt a little regretful. Her son’s army had performed too well, so much so that she had not had a chance to use her trump card and let magic become the decisive force that turned the tide for a second time.

According to her original plan, this battle was supposed to replicate the miracle in Eton. Just as the New Protestant Army was on the verge of defeat, she would gather the power of the spellcasters, take out Webster with a great fireball, and turn defeat into victory for the New Protestant Army. 𝐟𝚛𝕖𝚎𝕨𝗲𝐛𝚗𝐨𝐯𝐞𝕝.𝐜𝗼𝗺

In this way, the status of spellcasters in people’s minds would rise once again.

Well, this was pretty good too! After the regret, a sense of pride swelled in Mariana’s heart, this time for Paul Grayman.

News of the Battle of Hestia, as if on wings, quickly spread throughout the entire Horn Bay region, and then continued to spread to various places on the continent.

The coastal cities of Horn Bay fell into a state of revelry. The people of the New Protestant Alliance could not have imagined that the situation, which had been so precarious just a short time ago, would take such a dramatic turn.

The inland countries that supported the Horn Bay Church, on the other hand, generally fell into a state of depression. The rulers attempted to block the news or claim that the Battle of Hestia was just a minor setback.

Unwilling to accept defeat, Webster re-gathered his forces and wrote to the Holy See requesting greater support.

But the reply from the Holy City made his heart sink to the bottom. The Holy See had refused his request this time, stating that it was impossible to endlessly pour resources into the bottomless pit of Horn Bay, especially after the merchant fleet of Ordo refused to provide services to the Holy See.

The high-ranking officials of the Holy See instructed Webster to try his best to achieve victory with the resources he had on hand.

“Go forth! The Heavenly Father will forever protect His beloved children!”

Webster gritted his teeth as he finished reading the last sentence and, in front of the messenger, tore the letter to shreds with hands that trembled with rage.

As Webster was struggling with the second rebuilding of his army, the arrival of a relief force from afar rekindled his fighting spirit.

Jars’s army had arrived.

They had set out from the southern border of Ordo, originally intending to attack the city-states in the north of Horn Bay that had sided with the New Protestant Alliance. But the Horn Bay Church repeatedly sent messengers requesting that they continue south to join Webster, even threatening to withhold their payment.

Jars made a small compromise. After drastically increasing his price, his army entered the interior of Horn Bay, heading further south through Church-controlled territory.

But before they could arrive, Webster, feeling that he had regained the upper hand, had already led his army to advance westward. When they arrived in Collins, what they saw was Webster retreating with his defeated remnants.

The general of Jars’s army was a viscount named Fernando Peyton. He accused Webster of not waiting for their arrival before launching the attack. If the “Undead Army” had been on the battlefield of Hestia, he claimed, those northwestern country bumpkins who only knew how to use clever tricks to frighten people would have surely suffered.

Webster, who was in dire need of reinforcements, showed a rare humility. He “admitted” his mistake and hoped that this new ally would help him regain victory.

Thus, another great battle took place within the territory of Collins. Peyton led three thousand “Undead Army” soldiers and three thousand auxiliary infantry as a fresh force for the Crusader side into the battlefield.

The spellcasters recruited by Jars had proven their worth, allowing their employer to continue to possess the secret medicine that maintained the powerful combat effectiveness of the “Undead Army.” Although its effect was slightly weaker than the original medicine provided by the Arcane Society, it was completely in Jars’s own hands, free from any constraints.

That was why the greedy Grand Duke had been confident enough to dispatch so many Undead Army soldiers to Horn Bay at once.

For this battle, Peyton learned from the lesson of Dirk Doyle’s night raid on Lion’s Port.

According to that wizard’s recollection, his soldiers had been taken down one by one by a kind of metal projectile. And after he discussed the course of the Battle of Hestia with Webster, he was even more certain of the Alda Army’s attack methods.

The failure to defend against the northerners’ fire weapons must have been because their armor was not thick enough. Peyton decided to further strengthen the protection of the soldiers under his command.

When the New Protestant Army broke into the territory of Collins, they encountered Peyton and Webster waiting for them at a vital pass. The battle began!