Primogeniture

Chapter 23 - Glory (Ending)

     As the Rawlivian army did their preparations for war, barrels of gunpowder were delivered to the frontlines. New discoveries were made by Rawlivian scientist under the research programs that were started by Vice-President Hsia, this program was to stimulate the innovative minds of Rawlivian scientist who were skilled at force magic and had a knack for chemical synthesis. He had acknowledged that scholars like Emrick who were at the forefront of innovation that led to the creation of blackpowder and gunpowder tilted the scales in the favour of the mundane soldier. Guns were improving at an exponential rate that outgrows the potential of magic. He knew that one day magic and swords would become irrelevant in warfare. It was significantly faster to train gunmen than it was to train skilled mages and swordsmen. Guns were the future of warfare and rifling of the gun barrel and addition of length of the barrel of a pistol had increased the accuracy of the gun. Sharpening the bullet points for increase aerodynamics of the bullet also played a part in the effectiveness of the rifle. 

      Alongside the barrels of Rawlivian produced gunpowder, barrels of glycerol and nitric acid were transported to the camp. A few chemists were also sent to the frontline to help in the synthesis of a new substance that was created under Hsia's program. Emrick was also sent to the front as he was also part of the team which helped develop this new explosive. By fuming the nitric acid under certain conditions with the glycerol. A substance known as nitroglycerin could be produced to produce a more powerful explosive than gunpowder. This substance can be absorbed by materials such as powdered clay and stored in a protective casing that can be fused. Once lit, the fuse will burn and once it comes in contact with the nitroglycerin, an explosion will occur. This casing that contains the material is thrown at the enemy and it was made into throwable explosives. The explosives were named dynamite and first tests of the explosives created craters because the yield of the explosive was not controlled. Many explosives were also planted along the sides of the path up to the wall set up by the Rawlivian army. The Rawlivian army knew that the House of Blumenthal had brought guns to the Konway army and knew that only bigger firepower was the only option to have an edge over the enemy. 

     As more time pass, the army on the enemy's side will keep increasing. Thus, Caineth decided to take the initiative. As he saw the enemy army on the foot of the mountain range. He told his army to plant dynamite near the sides of the mountain facing the enemy. As the enemy turned in for the night, the explosions were set off and then giant boulders and debris rolled down the mountain and slam into the enemy camp and alarms were sounded.  The enemy scrambled to get the situation under control. These kinds of attacks that use the environment were a specialty of the grand marshal. He used such tactics during his time guarding the border. The mountain range had a high elevation and acted as a natural border that separated Rawlivic from Konway. The air on the mountain range was thin and there was very few vegetation for foraging. The people native to the mountain range were loyal to the federation and thus the natives were the guides for the Rawlivian army which offered them protection. The mountian natives were the ones that gave the defenders maps of the mountain range and through these maps, they were able to conjure up defenses out of thin air, choke points, traps and mine fields litter the path up to the mountain pass that led into the plains that were a straight path to Historia City and Lirus.

     The next day the barbarians began their climb of the mountain. They wore heavy armor that slowed them down as they climbed. Well placed explosives in the sides of the mountain walls caught many of the marching barbarians off guard and many were killed in explosion, and even more were killed by falling off cliffs. Ambushes were also prepared by the Rawlivian army. The barbarians had expected resistance but never knew that the people they were trying to invade were armed to the teeth with guns, magic and explosives. Many spells were casted to obstruct vision and explosives were thrown to make the enemy fall into disarray. The barbarians however brought along the first siege tank, a large siege machine that was powered by humans. They discovered that the magic that House of Blumenthal had could drive the large siege equipment that they would use hundreds of men just to push it around from within. The siege tank was a rectangular piece of metal that had protective metal plating slanted at an angle for things to bounce off of its surface. The tank had holes for guns to protrude out of for protected fire from within. However, these guns were the older model that the Blumenthal and Kang houses brought over to the Konway army. Furthermore, the people under Ralosan also contributed to the upgrade and perfection of the guns. Ralosan was still alive and well after fleeing Lirus. In the largest tank that the barbarians had, the Emperor of Konway, Archduke Blumenthal, an elder from house of Kang and Ralosan were in the space made to transport important people. The compartment which contained the important people had spacious places to sit and a servant was there to serve those in the space. This special tank was not made to fight and it all was for the comfortability of its passengers. The magician who was the one driving this tank was a skilled transporter from the House of Blumenthal.