This Was an Accident

"Rumble..."

Dozens of magic crystal cannons opened fire at once. Brilliantly glowing magic crystal shells screamed into the crowd, killing and wounding Tuwu People soldiers in an instant.

"Idiots!"

"Spread out, now! Who told you to bunch up?"

"Fools, your thousand-man unit, attack the west side!"

Amid the chaos, the Tuwu People commanders hurriedly adjusted their formations.

The weaknesses of the tribal alliance were plain to see here.

The soldiers from different tribes were hopeless at coordinating with one another.

Fortunately, the enemy inside the pass was in much the same state.

The nobles' private armies gathered from across the province were waiting in a noisy, disorganized mass to be reorganized.

Aside from a small number of competent knights, most of the other soldiers were hastily conscripted serfs.

They had rushed to reinforce the front purely to fulfill their obligations.

"Boom..."

With a tremendous bang, a magic crystal cannon burst on the spot.

The violent blast sent dozens of nearby soldiers flying into the air.

"Lieutenant General Griffin, are these your cannons?"

Governor Steele, who was watching the battle from the gatehouse, demanded sternly.

They had been in use for less than an hour, and one magic crystal cannon had already burst. It was utterly ridiculous.

According to imperial operating regulations, these vital weapons of the state required dedicated personnel to maintain them.

Any problems had to be repaired immediately.

The minimum standard was to fire three hundred magic crystal shells in succession without an accident.

"Your Excellency, this should be an accident!"

Lieutenant General Griffin insisted.

Deep down, he cursed eighteen generations of the quartermaster's ancestors.

It was one thing to embezzle some supplies in peacetime, but he actually dared to pass off defective magic crystal cannons, such vital weapons of the state.

It was a long-standing problem he could not solve. The Holy Glory Empire was simply too old!

When people grew old, they were prone to illness.

When an empire grew old, it likewise accumulated all sorts of ailments.

"Boom..."

Another tremendous bang rang out, and even the walls shook.

Lieutenant General Griffin looked toward the explosion, and his body began to tremble.

Compared to the burst cannon just now, this explosion was far worse. Not only was the magic crystal cannon gone, but the magic crystal shells piled beside it had also detonated.

Sure enough, by the time one giant rat was discovered, the rats had already made a nest.

Since they could pass off substandard magic crystal cannons, they could lower the standards for the magic crystal shells they produced as well.

"Heh heh..."

"Was this an accident too?"

Governor Steele sneered sarcastically.

He knew corruption was rife in the empire, but he had never imagined these people were so greedy that they would even lay their hands on the border pass's defensive weapons.

The logistics department bore the main responsibility, but the frontline generals were hardly clean themselves.

Without these people turning a blind eye, the inferior magic crystal cannons could never have been installed on the walls.

"Perhaps!"

Lieutenant General Griffin answered apprehensively.

The cold sweat on his forehead betrayed his unease.

He had originally hoped to rely on their firepower advantage to gradually wear down the enemy's fighting spirit and buy time for the main force to arrive.

The battle had barely begun, and the weapon he had pinned such high hopes on had already laid a massive turd.

Now he could only hope that nothing went wrong with the remaining magic crystal cannons.

"There certainly are a lot of accidents!"

"If it happens a few more times, I reckon the enemy won't even need to attack. Your magic crystal cannons will send the walls sky-high first!"

Governor Steele mocked him irritably.

Dragon Spine Pass was nominally part of Dragon Spine Province and fell under his jurisdiction as governor, but important border strongholds like this one were independent in practice.

He had no say in either the appointment and removal of frontline generals or the deployment of the border defenses.

Neither side was subordinate to the other. Apart from a few sarcastic remarks, all he could do was report the problem truthfully to the state.

Given the situation at home, it would most likely come to nothing.

"Your Excellency, that was an acci-"

Before he could finish, another magic crystal cannon demonstrated the art of bursting on the spot.

The accidents kept coming one after another, frightening the soldiers operating the magic crystal cannons so badly that they stopped what they were doing.

Lieutenant General Griffin, who had insisted they were accidents, was left speechless.

No matter how thick-skinned he was, he could not call so many incidents accidents.

"Lieutenant General, I think you should be reassuring the troops now, not standing here in a daze!"

Governor Steele reminded him, struggling to hold back his anger.

He did not care whether there was corruption among the border troops, but Dragon Spine Pass could not be lost.

Once the pass fell, Dragon Spine Province would be exposed to the enemy's attack.

When the time came and blood flowed like rivers through the province, he could forget about having an easy time as governor.

The Dragonbone Mountains.

"Where is the enemy?"

Victor asked with concern.

They had marched quickly all the way to their destination without seeing a trace of the enemy.

If he had not found that the horses, cattle, and sheep left outside the mountains were still there, he would have thought the enemy had already fled.

"Legion Commander, the enemy is still on the march. I reckon it'll be a few more days before they get here.

If you're in a hurry, I can have the mountain squadron stop and let them through."

Howard answered with a smile.

He had exceeded expectations on this mission to lure the enemy in, so the greatest merit was bound to be his.

But just how much merit he earned would depend on the final results.

The mountain guerrilla warfare had not only battered the enemy's morale, but also depleted the rations they carried.

Drag things out for a few more days, and the enemy would starve into collapse without an attack.

"Oh, from the sound of it, the enemy's been put through the wringer?"

Victor asked in surprise.

He knew how effective mountain guerrilla warfare could be, but the enemy still had to cooperate for it to work.

If the Tuwu People had been more cautious and withdrawn as soon as they sensed something was wrong, there would have been no room to use their abilities, however great they were.

"Legion Commander, the enemy has already suffered over fifty percent casualties, and their morale is on the brink of collapse.

Last night, I added a little something to the mix, and they nearly went into mutiny."

Howard answered, full of confidence.

If Victor had not arrived so quickly, he had been prepared to launch an all-out attack in three days and finish off the enemy in one stroke.

"Well done. It seems you could have dealt with the enemy even without us."

"I'll take my men to bring those animals back. You keep carrying out the plan and bleeding the enemy."

"Remember to draft a detailed battle report afterward and write down everything that happened during the fighting."

Victor reached out and patted Howard on the shoulder as he spoke.

Since there was an easy mode, there was naturally no need to make the soldiers risk their lives.

Fighting behind enemy lines, every soldier lost was one fewer, and there was no way to get replacements.

Compared to a glorious battle record, preserving their own strength came first.

"Yes, sir!"

Howard answered, his face alight with excitement.

Continuing with the original plan meant that the task of beating a drowning dog had been handed to him.

Leading a rabble to wipe out an enemy force three times its size in a single battle would be an accomplishment that ranked among the best in the entire empire.

At that moment, Howard could almost see a noble title beckoning to him.