Napoleon of Another World!

Chapter 43 - Over the Limit

"Where has Septimus gone? He knew about this meeting."

"He's still calculating his losses." replied Richard "So far his division is the one that has paid the highest price."

"Okay, then we'll start without him. What's the situation?"

"So far we have had nearly two hundred dead, and more than double that number injured." said Jack "Unfortunately, as we feared, the artillery is not proving to be of much help, while on the other hand the enemies have immediately learned to use the defensive systems of the fort."

"How ironic." Adrian said. "We worked so hard to make Grote Muren impregnable and now it backfires on us."

"We clearly underestimated the resolve of the enemy."

"This mess could cost us several men." Oldrick said. "If we starve them, sooner or later they will have to give in."

"We don't know how many supplies Lefde and Victor left in there. For all we know they could hold out for weeks. I'm sorry to say it, but at this point a day gained is worth much more than a few hundred casualties."

At that moment Septimus finally made his appearance.

"Finally. We've been waiting for you."

"Sorry I'm late Daemon, but the situation was more serious than I thought."

The bandage around his head made it clear that all the warnings for him to avoid putting himself in excessive danger had gone unheeded, but Daemon now seemed to have resigned himself to the matter and said nothing.

"How many casualties did you have in the end?"

"One hundred and two. And we couldn't even get a soldier to the top of the walls or the battering ram near the gates. What's the news about those new weapons you told us about?"

"They should arrive this evening, or tomorrow morning at the latest."

"At this point maybe it's best to wait until they're here." said Richard. "If what you told us is true they should be able to close the matter."

"Actually I wouldn't have wanted to use them. As I mentioned, they are very dangerous and destructive weapons. Their use could damage our image, which must be as immaculate as possible if we want the population of Eirinn not to be hostile to us."

"But if we lose too many men we might still be forced to use them later."

"I agree with Adrian." said Richard "Sometimes you have to force your hand to get a result. I'm not saying we should sweep them away, but maybe making them understand that we're not afraid to use strong methods could be enough to finally make them give up."

Daemon paced back and forth for a while, looking one now at the map, now at his advisors.

"Okay, we'll do it this way. If the convoy arrives tonight, tomorrow we will use the new weapons to clear our way until we conquer the outer wall, then we will cease the attack. If they're smart, they'll give up at that point rather than stay locked in there and get massacred."

A sudden explosion, the likes of which had never been heard, interrupted the meeting, and its shock wave was so powerful that it made the tent sway. Once outside, Daemon and the others saw a tall column of flames and smoke rising in the distance, in a separate area of the camp.

"Daemon!"

"Scalia! What happened?"

"One of the gunpowder magazines exploded. We are trying to contain the fire."

"How bad is it?"

"There are at least three dead and dozens injured. We also lost some guns."

Everyone agreed that it couldn't have been an accident, considering that everyone knew how dangerous gunpowder was and how it was absolutely forbidden to keep lit fires near the deposits.