Chapter 786 Steam Tank!?
Once Isabella's territory was captured, it became apparent that both marching and transporting supplies were proving difficult.
In many places, engineers had to repair the roads first before supplies could be delivered.
This is just general supplies; as for heavy weapons like Gatling guns, transporting them up is even more difficult.
Without heavy firepower, Tiss's combat strength was greatly reduced. After weighing the options, Isabella chose to slow down the offensive and wait until the logistical supply lines were open.
She was just about to go back to Blood Harbor, which would only take a day or two.
"You mean, the Vatican on the other side has brought in new weapons?"
"Yes, sir."
Isabella crossed her arms and squinted.
She knew the Vatican quite well; the Vatican might have many secret weapons hidden in the realm of the extraordinary, but almost none of them could be used on the battlefield.
Moreover, it could change the course of the war. If the Papacy had it, even if the royal family didn't know, they would still hear about it.
"Could it be something they just developed? No, impossible. Soldiers, describe their new weapon."
"Okay, okay." The man stood there somewhat timidly, his hands twisted together, a lingering fear in his eyes: "They launched the attack this morning."
The day after Isabella left, the Vatican launched its attack.
Initially, the commander of the new army of Tiss did not take it seriously. Tiss was always on the offensive, and the Papacy had no effective countermeasures. The volleys of musket fire made them sitting ducks in front of the rifled and bolt-action rifles. The Papacy's Holy Army barely maintained its front line with its unique heavy shields.
This heavy shield can stop bullets, but no one can push the shield wall to attack.
With Tiss playing on home turf and his soldiers having built makeshift fortifications, it was hard to imagine how he could possibly lose.
Therefore, the commander of the new army only arranged for the soldiers to take turns defending the area, while the rest continued to rest.
But their rest was soon shattered by a huge roar.
The explosion rang out directly in the military camp, and the soldiers were stunned. By the time the commander remembered to organize a resistance, a second shell exploded in the camp.
"Where are the soldiers? Didn't the soldiers at the front stop the Papacy's artillery?" Isabella asked, frowning.
"They say they're locked in a fierce battle, but I... I'm not entirely sure," the man said cautiously, swallowing hard. "Besides, those huge iron boxes aren't something the soldiers can withstand."
"A metal box?"
"Yes, it's said to be a huge iron box, or rather, a house—it's as big as a room, like a moving iron house."
"Is this the military camp it shelled?"
"Yes, that iron house will smoke, and after a while, there will be a loud bang, and then an explosion will occur in front of it."
Galahad looked at Isabella with unease: "Your Majesty, this sounds somewhat like..."
“Armored motorcycles, right?” Isabella’s face turned ashen.
“Yes.” Galahad gave a wry smile. He had once dueled with a locomotive with a sword, and unsurprisingly, was knocked away. Later, a statue of him was erected on the locomotive.
In other words, even if he were a superhuman, he wouldn't be able to dismantle the armored vehicle's front end with his bare hands.
If the Vatican has indeed deployed such a monster on the front lines, then the tide of war may turn.
Armored vehicles can only reach what they cannot reach, not defeat what they cannot defeat.
Castells' expeditionary force swept across the North with it.
"That thing belongs to the Vatican?"
"Yes, yes, they call it a steam tank. The priests consecrate it, then climb in and drive it over."
“Steam? Water tank? What a strange name.” Before Isabella could finish speaking, Galahad suddenly pointed ahead:
"Is this it?"
On the distant battlefield, a massive steel structure, nearly two stories high, was slowly moving.
Its lower part is square, but the upper part is much rounder, with a huge but short and thick cannon barrel standing on it, which looks somewhat comical.
But the next moment, it roared so loudly that no one could muster any desire to laugh at it.
The steam tank stood still for a while, and the covers on the lower half of the tank opened one by one, with white steam billowing out in all directions.
One can faintly hear the roar of the steam engine and the sound of boiling water in the boiler.
As the steam dissipated, the cannon barrel suddenly contracted, a huge flash of light appeared at the muzzle, and a cloud of thick smoke erupted on the battlefield ahead.
Behind the steam tank, the Papacy's soldiers cheered.
As the priests chanted praises to the candlelight, they went forward to paint sacred emblems on the steam tank, brush away the dust, and seal the pages of the Candlelight Vigil scriptures on the tank's exterior with sealing wax.
One bishop even nailed an entire open scripture directly to the armor plating of a tank.
"The sacred candlelight will endure forever, and the holy tank will crush the enemies of the church!" He stood atop the tank, waving his scepter and shouting to the believers below.
The believers responded in unison by chanting the name of the candlelight, and the bishop's face naturally revealed a kind smile.
The next moment, his benevolent smile shattered into pieces, his head was smashed like a watermelon, and juice splattered on the faces of the believers.
Galahad put down the Gatling gun in his hand expressionlessly, smoke still rising from the dark muzzle.
He was an extraordinary being; his near-perfect body control allowed him to use a heavy machine gun like a sniper rifle. This particular machine gun was specially tuned for accuracy, and one shot blew the bishop's head off.
The believers in the distance were stunned by this scene. They touched their faces with trembling hands and found them covered in red and white blood.
But a moment later, the believers once again showed fanatical expressions, even more so than before.
The bishop's death did not frighten them; on the contrary, many of them looked on with longing.
They marched forward in a neat row, singing hymns, alongside the steam tank.
Galahad's eyes widened in disbelief as he stared, then his expression gradually turned ferocious as he raised his heavy machine gun and began picking off the enemies one by one.
The sacred praise did not harden the believers' heads more than bullets; blood blossomed on the battlefield, splattering onto the steam tanks and staining the sacred texts nailed to them.
"Never mind that, I need to gather the troops and protect me!" Isabella said to Galahad after glancing at the steam tank.
She understood that the steam tanks were indeed very powerful, but their numbers were small. Tiss's new army was caught off guard and collapsed immediately.
As long as the troops are regrouped, even if they cannot confront these steam tanks head-on, they can retreat with ease.
and
Isabella's eyes flickered. The muddy road had her Gatling gun stuck in the mud. Could this steam tank get stuck too?
(End of this chapter)
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