Munitions Empire

Hesha Fortress was the western gateway of the King City of the Kingdom of Gemalin; the troops stationed here to defend the Royal Palace usually numbered no less than 3,000.

Even when troops were marshaled to attack the Leite Kingdom, the garrison at Hesha Fortress remained untouched, and to be safe, the King of Gemalin had also dispatched a rather reliable Earl to guard the place.

Although due to the limited economic strength of the Kingdom of Gemalin and the insufficient production capacity of the Shireck Consortium, the most elite needle guns had not been issued to the troops stationed here, the fortress did indeed receive several pompous muzzle-loading cannons a few days ago.

In theory, no matter what, it should have been possible to hold out for a while, or at least resist for dozens of days, to buy time for the King City's defenses.

But now, the knight kneeling before the King of Gemalin, with tears in his voice, began to report what he had witnessed, truly shocking everyone present.

It was only now, at this moment, that the King of Gemalin realized that some of the rumors he had dismissed as unfounded were, in fact, true events.

It turned out to be true that troops from the Leite Kingdom appeared in the hinterlands of their own kingdoms! And previously, he had wrongly executed the knights who went out to gather information on account of cowardice.

"Your Majesty! The troops of the Leite Kingdom have indeed occupied Hesha Fortress! I saw it with my own eyes! And... I have intentionally brought back two witnesses from Hesha Fortress..." The knight who had witnessed the fall of Hesha Fortress lowered his head and reported to the King and all the Ministers.

This time, he was ordered to bring back witnesses and to investigate as clearly as possible, so he did his utmost to gather intelligence that was relatively more detailed.

As he spoke, he described the enemy's strength as best as he could, "The enemy doesn't have many troops, but their equipment is quite sophisticated. I didn't dare to get too close, but I can confirm that the flag of the Leite Kingdom now flies over Hesha Fortress..."

In fact, he had also seen the soldiers of the Northern Ridge Legion. Those peculiar soldiers wearing steel helmets, clad in long grey-green trench coats, equipped with special harnesses, and armed with new-model rifles were very recognizable.

They were neither dressed like the traditional forces of the Leite Kingdom nor did their distinct attire resemble that of other countries.

Hearing the knight's report, who had gone to scout for intelligence or rather to confirm the enemy's location, the nearby Ministers immediately grew flustered, "Your Majesty, the situation is more difficult than we imagined!"

"Could it be... that Earl Herx has betrayed us?" another corpulent nobleman exclaimed in panic, looking at his peers with uncertainty.

His first reaction was that the commander overseeing Hesha Fortress had surrendered; otherwise, how could more than 3,000 soldiers fail to hold out for even a day and lose the well-fortified Hesha Fortress?

However, his speculation was immediately refuted by someone nearby, "That should be impossible... Earl Herx is unlikely to betray us... He's Your Majesty's cousin, after all!"

This Earl had always been loyal and somewhat capable, not the type of fool who would defect at the moment of battle.

Listening to the Ministers' discussions, the King of Gemalin's expression was uncertain; he also didn't believe his cousin had turned traitor, but he couldn't come up with a reason as to how such a sturdy fortress had been so easily lost.

Just then, the knight who went to gather news spoke up with the information he had collected, "Your Majesty! I rushed back from Hesha Fortress, and there's a rumor among the fleeing soldiers... It's said that Lord Earl Herx has died for the country..."

"What?" As soon as this news was released, it shocked all the Ministers and some of the remaining generals in the Royal Palace.

They thought the loss of Hesha Fortress was accidental, and they would rather believe that Hesha Fortress had surrendered without a fight than accept it had fallen after resistance.

Because if Hesha Fortress could be taken by the enemy, the same fate would await the King City they were in.

So when they heard Hesha Fortress was indeed captured and the King's cousin had died for the country, everyone's expression changed, "This... this..."

Finally, the King could not hold back anymore and turned to a trusted Minister to demand, "Is there any news from Shireck? What about our reinforcements?"

The messengers sent for help had left ten days ago, and it was one of the methods the Kingdom of Gemalin had come up with to save itself.

With an embarrassed look, the favored Minister admitted, "The envoys have brought word that Shireck is trying to gather resources, but it will take time for these resources to be transported to our King City from the surrounding regions."

Before the King could respond, another Minister burst out dissatisfied and loudly, "What kind of joke is this? Where do we have the time?"

Immediately, other Ministers joined in agreement, most of whom were not aligned with the Shireck Consortium, "Exactly! By the time their reinforcements arrive, our Royal Palace might be breached!"

Previously, when the Shireck Consortium maneuvered to declare war on the Leite Kingdom, all of them were the opposition; none of them were optimistic about it.

But in the end, the King was blinded by the benefits and sided with the Shireck Consortium. He received the "assistance" of military arms from Shireck Consortium and was full of ambition to conquer the Endless Sea.

Now that their military defeat was imminent, their dreams of swallowing up the Leite Kingdom and becoming a world-class power also came crashing down...

In the midst of the commotion, the King heard the exasperated roar of a Minister, "It was they who urged us to go to war! How can they bail on us now that things have turned out like this?"

Then, in a daze, he heard another minister fervently defending the Shireck Consortium, "It's not that we're abandoning hope, they just hope we can hold out for one or two months. But now it seems we can't last that long!"

It wasn't that the ministers influenced by Shireck were completely blinded by gain; it was just that they could now only cling to the aid of the Shireck Consortium as a lifeline.

At present, the most sensible and easiest method to save the kingdom was none other than waiting for Shireck's additional material reinforcements.

As long as they could hold out for a while, the Kingdom of Gemalin could still arm a few tens of thousands of troops.

By then, equipped with the Shireck Consortium's advanced weapons, this force might truly be able to repel the military of the Leite Kingdom, just as the Leite Kingdom had crushed theirs.

But before they could finish speaking, a dissenting minister immediately retorted, "Forget a month, we might not even last three days!"

This statement awakened everyone who had been dreaming.

Therefore, without further questioning why Shireck's reinforcements were so slow, the King of Gemalin immediately turned to a general at his side and asked, "How many troops are left in the city?"

"Not many! The best 3,000 have already been sent to the offensive units, and the rest are just a few hundred, along with some recently conscripted recruits..." the general replied hesitantly.

The King was aware there was deception and sternly chastised, "Exactly how many? Speak! What use is all your prevaricating?"

"Roughly around 3,000, I suppose!" the general replied, his head bowed, feeling the number somewhat embarrassing.

The King's body swayed, and he almost lost his balance, "Three thousand? Only three thousand?"

He knew that the capable troops had already been sent to the front and were likely all annihilated by now.

The remaining troops defending the city were actually not very strong. Most soldiers were equipped with Shireck Flintlock Guns, and there were pitifully few needle guns.

The number of contraband Great Tang Group's Left-Wheel Handguns and K2 lever-action rifles was negligible, and there were no decent cannons available for use.

Or rather, they dared not use cannons for fear that a real exchange of artillery fire would destroy the centuries-old King City in an instant...

"This is a joke! With 3,000 men defending such a long stretch of the city walls, it would be good if we could station 800 men on one side!" a minister questioned angrily at the same time.

The general corrected him, "You haven't counted the forces guarding the Royal Palace; we can't move all the Royal Palace Guards to the walls, can we?"

"If we lose the walls, can the Royal Palace still be held? At this moment, we should first think of ways to defend the King City..." the minister retorted with an air of 'don't assume I don't understand.'

But the general, unwilling to concede, scoffed derisively, "What do you understand? If something happens to the Royal Palace, how can we ensure His Majesty's safety? What if someone takes the opportunity to cause trouble..."

"Who would cause trouble at a time like this?" the anxious minister spread his hands and asked in return.

"What if there is trouble! If something goes wrong, even dying a hundred times won't be enough to atone!" the general stood his ground.

The minister became furious with embarrassment, "You!"

"You what you!" the general retorted in kind.

"Enough!" Finally, the King of Gemalin could no longer bear it and reprimanded them with a shout, quieting the hall immediately.

In desperation, he turned to another minister on the other side, seeking a last-ditch solution, "What about the peace negotiations? Any progress?"

Naturally, the peace they sought was with the Leite Kingdom. Since they had thought of asking Shireck for reinforcements and supplies, they had certainly considered negotiating with the Leite Kingdom.

Moreover, the upper echelons of the Kingdom of Gemalin had already prepared for a series of concessions such as ceding territory and indemnities.

The minister lowered his head and replied dejectedly to the King's question, "Our envoys who went to the Leite Kingdom to negotiate peace haven't sent any message back, and it seems that the peace negotiations with the Leite Kingdom are unlikely to proceed smoothly."

"That's a complete joke! If you were them, would you negotiate with us under these circumstances?" the Gemalin Prime Minister shook his head and said regretfully, already knowing the negotiations were unlikely.

At this point, the King was out of ideas and lamented, "What to do, what to do!"