Chapter 787 Battle Fortress
"Your Majesty, you should retreat first, I will lead the troops to retreat!" Galahad said loudly, and immediately spurred his horse forward.
"No, raise the flag and we'll regroup our troops immediately!"
Galahad was alarmed upon hearing this: "Your Majesty, even if we are defeated this time, we won't be seriously injured. Count Hughes will provide support. There's no need to take the risk!"
Isabella shook her head, pointing her riding crop at the steam tank: "Look over there. Every time that steam tank fires, the priest has to come forward to pray. Plus, its operation is so chaotic. I suspect these Candlelight Cult members don't really know how to use it."
"But we don't have much heavy firepower, so we can't penetrate its armor at all!"
“We don’t need to penetrate it, we just need to immobilize it.” Isabella looked at the ground beneath her feet. “This is all gravel. Once we get out of this battlefield, a little to the north is a lake. It’s been raining and the water has risen recently, so it must be very muddy there. It’ll be the graveyard for these tanks.”
Galahad remained silent for a moment, a hint of interest flickering in his eyes.
He also learned a lot about mechanics in Bloodharbor. Steam engines have always been synonymous with bulkiness. Castells had even tried to build a steam four-wheeled vehicle, but its size was so outrageous that it was basically impractical.
The enormous steam tank before us was likely made possible by the necessity of increasing its size to accommodate the steam engine.
Therefore, it cannot be light, and if it gets stuck in the muddy ground, it will be almost impossible to pull it out by manpower alone.
This was Isabella's plan.
"If everything goes smoothly, we can not only turn the tide and win, but we might even capture this tank!"
Isabella licked her lips; she felt the risk was worth it.
"What do you think, Galahad Galahad?"
The knight behind her didn't respond. Isabella turned around, puzzled, only to see Galahad standing still, staring blankly behind her.
Isabella slowly turned her head and then saw an unbelievable scene.
If a steam tank is as big as a house, then what appears before us is a complete fortress.
Its shape is somewhat similar to the bastions designed by Castells, but the chamfered corners are more ferocious, and the overall style is very much like the architectural style of the Papacy.
Its sharp, slender spines extend upwards, making it somewhat resemble a hedgehog.
If Hughes were here, he would probably think it looks like Gothic architecture on Earth.
This fortress may not seem like much at first glance; Castel built much larger bastions, and even the Castel Cathedral was an unimaginably massive permanent fortification.
But it is moving.
The towering fortress was slowly moving forward, and beneath it, countless black "legs" were rhythmically wriggling, like a centipede coiled up in a circle.
The short, stubby cannons that were just on the steam tanks now number in the countless on this mobile fortress, menacingly pointing in all directions.
Isabella stared at it, completely stunned.
"You mean, Isabella's new army has been defeated?"
Hughes took the letter with some surprise, then found it somewhat amusing: "She was just here watching my failure, and now it's her turn? What's the reason? Did the supply delay take too long? Or did she run into the Pope?"
Isabella's weaponry was supplied by Castel, and Hughes knew all too well how far more advanced it was than that of the Papacy.
In terms of equipment alone, Tiss's new army is already close to the level of World War I armies. Even if it lacks heavy firepower, it is still not something that the Candlelight Society's outdated weapons can withstand.
The only possibility he could think of for losing was that his supply lines would be cut off and he would be surrounded and defeated.
Even if Jules were to personally bring his creation from scratch, he might not necessarily gain the upper hand.
Standing before Hughes's desk was Erwin, his expression unusually serious: "No, my lord, Isabella's new army has encountered the Papacy's new weapons."
"New weapons?" Hughes raised an eyebrow. "The Papacy?"
It's quite rare to see these two words together.
However, Jules used a steam rifle in the battle at Rhine, so perhaps the Vatican has unearthed some antique from the Mechanical Temple?
However, as Isabella had said, the Mechanical Sanctuary didn't have many usable weapons, which reassured Hughes.
He pulled out the intelligence report and carefully examined it, his expression quickly freezing on his face.
Hughes flipped to the last page of the intelligence report, which contained two diagrams.
The illustrations on it are simply drawn of steam tanks and mobile fortresses, and the dimensions are thoughtfully included.
This size
"The steam tank was over ten meters long, more than four meters wide, and as tall as a two-story building."
Hughes's eye twitched. Even though it was just a visual estimate, this size was far too exaggerated!
Heavy tanks on Earth are all smaller than this; this thing must weigh over a hundred tons.
Damn, how does it move on the ground without getting stuck?
Putting everything else aside, with its size and armor, let alone light weapons, even small-caliber artillery wouldn't be able to penetrate its armor, right?
If this thing actually appeared on the battlefield, it would be very troublesome for the Christian Guard to deal with.
And this was just a steam tank, a battle fortress.
"Since there are no survivors among those who approached, all dimensions are only approximate estimates. Approximately 50 meters long and wide, and 30 meters high."
This size is a bit too exaggerated.
There isn't even anything on Earth that can describe it; if you had to put it into words, it would probably be like a small church that came to the battlefield.
And he walked up there on his own.
Hughes looked up at Erwin: "Is the intelligence accurate?"
"Most of the soldiers on site saw both weapons. The exact size may vary, but they were definitely there and they were fired."
"How powerful is it?"
"It's a bit inferior to the Dragon Breath Cannon, but its range is much longer. It seems to be able to hit at least 800 meters. Its parameters are comparable to our newly developed grenade launcher."
Hughes remained silent for a long time before finally speaking: "How many of these two weapons have appeared?"
"Two steam tanks appeared, and it was they that routed Tiss's new army. The battle fortress didn't fire; it just appeared on the battlefield, and the enemy completely gave up resistance and retreated. Even Isabella abandoned the idea of regrouping and retreated over a hundred kilometers before starting to gather the routed troops."
"What's the situation on Tiss's side right now?"
"People are panicking, and the battle lines have almost retreated to where they were at the beginning. Isabella has voluntarily given up large tracts of land as a buffer zone and is now asking us for help."
Hughes's expression was grave: "What is Isabella's opinion on these two weapons?"
(End of this chapter)
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