The Mechanical Era

Danial and his army had managed to march another 60 miles (97 km) deeper into enemy territory. By this point, they have managed to capture and plunder many cities and villages of their resources to keep his fast paste onward, while maintaining minimal casualties. They had faced some hard battles, forming them to use a lot more of their magic, but they did manage to refill up on their mana reserves rather quickly with the use of crystals.

From his point, there were only slightly less than 540 miles (870 km) left till he manages to reach Villina, en route to Bakersvill. At this rate, he should be able to reach the city in about a month and a half time. His soldiers, who had been walking for 4 hours at this point, appeared to desire a rest badly, along with their horses and mules. One brave soul decided to step up for the whole group, asking Danial whether they could rest.

"Your highness, may we stop here for a moment? For all our feet feels if they are about to fall apart," he said. Thanks to the fruits of this man's effort, Danial chose to reward them with what they desired.

"Halt!" he said. The entire army stopped marching immediately hearing his orders.

"We shall rest here for now!" Everyone who wasn't on top of a horse breathed a huge sigh of relief. They stopped and sat down on the ground, allowing their legs to get a good rest. Danial turned to his scouts and gave them the map.

"I want you all to scout the area, and see if there are any enemies nearby," he instructed. The knights nodded and rode across the landscape as a quad of 4. 25 minutes later, they all safely returned, gathering all the information they could.

"ENEMY SPOTTED! THEY ARE ON THE HILL! 2 MILES (3.2 km) TO THE SOUTH!" the knight shouted for Danial's ears to pick up. He turned around and asked the knights a bunch of other questions regarding them.

"Did they see you all?"

"Negative sire," The knight responded confidently.

"Are there any defenses? Fortifications? Anything?" Danial continued to question.

"They seem to be nearly finished setting it up, your highness. We saw a wooden structure, along with a moat surrounding it. There were also these large metal barrels laying down on the side as well. They appear to be well, fortified."

"What about their size? How many of them did you all see?"

"We saw about a couple thousand strange soldiers in blue, your highness." The answer sparked curiosity within the king.

"Blue?" he asked, wanting the knight to elaborate.

"Yes, your highness. I remember them wearing a blue long-sleeved tunic, along with beige pants and a metal helmet on their heads."

"I see. Must be a uniform then. What did they hold? What were their weapons?"

"Some of them had these long pikes, while others were holding a much shorter stick with no spear end. There were also some unlit torches as well."

"That is it? Do they not have spears? Swords? Shields?"

"As far as we could have seen, no your highness." Danial became a little confused at their answer. Could it be a trap? What was Rose planning? There was a moment of silence as he tried to come up with another question.

"Are there any others enemy units lingering around?"

"No your highness. It is just them."

Danial processed the information given to him to make a decision. Although he didn't fully understand why their peasant infantry didn't have the proper equipment such as spears, swords, bows, and shields. Regardless, he smelt an opportunity to take advantage of.

"Men! Drink up your potions! We are going to enter another glorious battle!"

...

A few hours earlier...

It was a bright morning today. Carson's regiment (brigade), had marched on for a day and a half now, marching 44 miles north to catch up with the enemy. If their calculations are correct, they should be en route to Bakersvill behind them, where the enemy would want to resupply. Commander Leroy, after spotting the hill, decided to station his troops there, and build a small fortification.

The move placed the brigade in an advantageous position. They would have better visibility while being able to defend themselves, firing down on the enemy with their guns and cannons and forcing them back to the north.

The only slight complication is bringing the caravans up the hill. With the mules and horses tied or walking for hours on end, the soldiers had to help with bringing the caravans on top with no potions. It wasn't all bad news though, as the knights, who would have rather sat back, were ordered to help them out. With reluctance, they agreed.

With all their strength, they managed to help bring the caravans and their heavy metal cannons up the small hill. The soldiers were then instructed to build a small set of fortifications around the perimeter for the upcoming battle. Carson and Herrold, along with a few others, were both given a shovel to use and ordered to dig a trench around the area.

Though they felt as if their hands, legs, and whole body give up, with their undeterred persistence and discipline, they managed to pull it off. Once it was finished, a knight took the opportunity to fill the shallow 3-foot-deep trench around in the water.

They were then called on to help build up fortifications around the area. They put up pikes, barricades, and such to prevent the enemy from coming close to the place easily. In total, it about three hours to set up the wooden fort.

With the fort built, some soldiers were given their guns to clean and like, others given pikes to train and standby, with a few given tools to do specific jobs, while the others had other tasks more mundane things handed to them; Carrying around barrels of food or gunpowder, clean and load the cannons, and such.

Carson walked over to a wooden bench, sat down, and started to clean and admire his gun. The weapon, which one could consider a matchlock musket, had a long 57-inch barrel, with a .64 caliber on it. Though it is said to be lethal at 175 yards (160m), they were supposed to fire them in volleys, considering that its accuracy is lacking due to the smoothbore rifle.

Once Carson was done cleaning his weapon, he started to load it up. Using a paper cartridge, which contained an adequate amount of propellant and the metal projectile inside. He bites the end of his mouth and pours in the gunpowder and the metal ball inside the barrel. Using a stick, he makes sure it is in place.

"Ain't she a beauty?" Carson asked Herrold, who was sitting right next to him.

"Very much so, my friend. Man, never in a million years I thought I would have been here of all places," Herrold replied. Carson sat straighter on the bench, and turn to meet his friend in the eyes.

"I know. Aren't you a little scared though?" he asks.

"Scared? Yes, I guess. But also excited. Like, I never... felt something like this before..." Herrold describes as Carson nods along.

"Yea... Yea... Same here. We'd be the first in our families to join a battle, won't we? Imagine the glory..."

"We would. Though I do hope I could make it out alive, and in one piece. You know, to live and stuff."

"Well yea, of course. I don't think either of us wants to reach the heavens just yet..." Before Carson could finish his sentence, their conversation was disturbed by the screams of a soldier, shouting

"ENEMY SPOTTED! A LARGE ARMY IS APPROACHING US!" he said.

"Oh, shit..." Carson and Herrold both commented. Their training immediately kicks in, and the two run off to take their position as if it was an instinct. The pikemen, the ones who held the long spears, took a quick sip of a strength potion before getting into position. The musketeers move the hammer into half-cock position and point it down at the approaching army.

From the distance, he can see blocks of infantry marching on with the cavalry on the sides. A shot of adrenaline pumps through their veins as the enemy marched closer and closer, preparing them for the battle that is to come.

Carson took a deep breath in, and let it out. He focused his eyes on his sight, which was the thing at the top end of the barrel.

"Here we go, Carson. Here we go..."