Chapter 358 - 351 — The Guns Beyond the Quarry

Southwestern alliance frontline

The demons were retreating toward the quarry, crowding behind the surviving Warhounds as the machines backed away from the alliance defenses. Some dragged their wounded through the churned earth, while others threw away their weapons and ran between the ruined buildings.

Halven watched until the last machine disappeared behind a broken wall. The two Warhounds destroyed during the assault were still burning in the open ground, and the wind carried their smoke toward the tollhouse. By then, the enemy artillery had also fallen silent.

A few soldiers began rising for a better look, but Halven caught the nearest man by his belt and pulled him down.

"Keep your head behind the wall. They have withdrawn, but we still need to watch the approaches and for that artillery."

The soldier crouched beside his rifle again. Halven waited for the others to settle before leaving the parapet, loosening his aching fingers around his own weapon.

At the command post, two relief mages had finally reached Senn. One took over the entrance ward while the other knelt beside Orven and followed his instructions. Once the younger mage had control of the interference, Orven eased his hands away from his staff and leaned against the wall.

"Has their observer stopped trying?" Senn asked.

"The pressure has eased," Orven replied, rubbing his cramped fingers. "Keep someone watching for it. I would rather discover that he has returned before the shells begin landing."

Senn passed that instruction to the relief mage, then asked the soldier beside the communication crystal to send a brief message confirming that the assault had withdrawn. Headquarters would receive the full account once he had gathered the reports from the crews.

He brushed plaster from the table and spread a clean sheet over it. Through the damaged doorway, he could see soldiers clearing stones from the passage while a healer shouted for another stretcher. The line had held, but several firing shelters would need work before he could put their crews back inside them.

A runner arrived while he was writing the position’s name.

"Rikk’s shelter is partly blocked, Lieutenant. His men are trying to get a wounded ammunition carrier out."

"Send two more bearers to help them," Senn ordered. "Then find Halven and the instructors. I need the condition of every weapon and firing position, along with the casualty lists."

Senn began the report while the runner hurried away to carry out his orders.

Nesk found Rikk crouched beside Tebb in the damaged launcher shelter. He had to turn sideways to get through the entrance, and his injured shoulder struck a beam as he stepped over the rubble.

"That f****** beam is going to finish what the demons started," he muttered.

"Then stop trying to knock it down with your shoulder," Rikk replied without looking up.

Nesk was about to answer when he noticed the blood on Rikk’s hands. He stepped closer and bent beneath the low roof.

"Are you bleeding?"

"Tebb was hit while bringing us another round. We stopped most of it, but he needs a healer."

The ammunition carrier lay on a cloak with a sealing charm pressed against the bandages around his leg. His face tightened whenever he tried to move, although he still managed to turn his head toward Nesk.

"Did we destroy the second Warhound?"

"We destroyed it," Nesk assured him. "The others have gone back to the quarry."

Tebb let his head settle against the folded cloth beneath it, and some of the tension left his face.

The stretcher bearers arrived a moment later, but a fallen beam prevented them from bringing the stretcher through the entrance. Nesk examined the timber, then crouched beside one end.

"Take the other side, Rikk. We only need to lift it enough for them to pass."

They raised it together while a soldier pulled loose stones from underneath. Pain spread from Nesk’s shoulder down his arm, and he clenched his teeth as the wood shifted against his palms.

"Push the stretcher through now," he said. "I cannot hold this bloody thing all evening."

The bearers slid it beneath the beam, allowing them to lower the timber again. Nesk remained crouched for a few breaths before joining the others beside Tebb.

They moved the wounded goblin carefully, but his injured leg still shifted as they lifted him. He cried out and caught Rikk’s sleeve with both hands.

"We have you," Rikk told him, keeping his voice steady. "You are going straight to the healer."

Outside, soldiers had cleared a narrow route through the courtyard. Nesk reached for one of the stretcher handles, but a bearer glanced at the arm he was holding close to his side and stepped in front of him.

"I will carry him, Corporal. You can walk beside us."

Nesk reluctantly stepped aside and warned the man to mind Tebb’s leg.

Rikk followed the stretcher all the way to the aid post. Even after they lowered it, he remained bent over his wounded helper until the healer touched his wrist.

"You need to give me room to examine him."

Rikk looked down and realized that he had taken hold of Tebb’s coat during the journey. The wounded goblin opened his eyes as Rikk loosened his grip.

"You are pulling my coat off."

"Then keep complaining so I know you are awake."

The healer eased him aside and began examining the bandages. Rikk watched for another moment before following Nesk to deliver their reports to Senn.

Halven reached Borr’s position while the dwarf was wiping dust from the ammunition box beside his gunner. Their machine gun remained behind the old side wall, and the instructor had already checked that it was ready to fire again.

"Before you ask, the gun still works," Borr told him. "I would appreciate knowing whether the kitchens still work as well."

"They are preparing broth."

"Do they intend to put food in it this time?"

Halven glanced at the piece of bread resting on Borr’s pack. A layer of grey grit covered one side.

"I can ask whether they have fresh bread."

"Ask whether they have beer while you are there and preferably i would like one thing today that does not taste of this wall."

Halven found himself smiling despite his exhaustion. Borr brushed off the bread and tucked it away as Merrit arrived with several replenishment soldiers carrying ammunition. The corporal directed them beneath the surviving stonework, making certain they left enough space for the stretcher bearers.

"Did everyone get out of the old shelter?" Halven asked.

"We checked it after moving the gun. Nobody is still under the roof."

Halven noted the damage to the wall protecting the crew before moving to the next position, where an instructor was helping a rifleman clear grit from his weapon.

When Halven returned to the tollhouse, Nesk was sitting on a bench with a healer examining his shoulder. He looked considerably less pleased about this than he had about lifting the fallen beam.

"I can still use the launcher," he insisted.

"Then you should let me treat the arm you intend to use your weapon with," the healer replied.

Senn left them to settle the matter and turned to Halven.

"Are the machine guns still working?"

"All six are working. The crews need their shelters repaired, and Borr’s men are still using the old side wall. The instructors are checking the rifles now."

Rikk had already confirmed that both launchers were usable. He had also explained how the two crews had concentrated their shots on the same Warhound after their separate attacks failed to stop the machines quickly enough. Senn added that account to the instructors’ observations before accepting the ammunition return from Merrit.

The condition of the shelters worried him more than the weapons. He requested earth mages to restore the damaged walls and passages, additional relief for the ward teams, and replenishment soldiers for the wounded crews. Those requests went beside the casualty lists, where the officers would see what they were needed.

Orven waited until Senn finished writing before drawing his attention back to the artillery.

"What are you telling them about the guns beyond the quarry?"

"I have recorded where the firing seemed to come from and what happened to the shelters," Senn answered. "I need your account of the observation spell before I send it."

Orven set down the cup he had been holding.

"I felt someone examining our defenses through magic. When I obstructed his view, he tried to force his way through the interference. He was probably watching where the shells landed and passing corrections to the gun crews."

Halven rested a hand on the table.

"That would explain why the shots kept coming closer. They were landing beside the walls and around the firing openings before you interfered."

"The Skullbreakers we have faced could already fire over those slopes," Senn said. "How certain are we that the demons have brought in something different?"

Halven considered the question before answering.

"Their old guns scattered their shots more widely. These kept landing close together as they moved toward us. Whatever they used, they were aiming more accurately than before and accuracy was something demons artillery never worked upon."

Senn wrote down the distinction. The artillery officers at headquarters would already understand firing over a hill; what they needed to know was how closely these weapons could place their shots.

"Did anyone see the weapons themselves?" he asked.

"Nope," Halven replied.

Since Orven had not seen them either, Senn recorded the weapon as unidentified and included the mage’s assessment of how its fire had been directed.

Halven glanced toward the damaged doorway.

"Some shells still landed close after you blocked their observer. I thought losing his view would make them miss by more."

"He had already seen our positions," Orven explained. "And probably the gun crews could continue using the aim they had found. Without his view, they would have difficulty knowing where their next shots landed and what needed changing, but they could still fire at last known location."

Senn looked toward the elf who had held the entrance ward. She was sitting against the wall while a healer worked warmth into her cramped hands.

"The close misses were enough to cause trouble," he said. "They broke stone, damaged the passages and forced our mages to protect several places at once. Put that beside the damage figures and we have a whole lot of new headache coming."

Once the accounts were assembled, Senn read the report aloud so that the men could correct it. Halven clarified which passage had been blocked, and Rikk confirmed that his launcher shelter was damaged but still standing. Orven checked the explanation of his spell before Senn signed the completed sheet.

The soldier at the communication crystal called southwestern command, and Senn began reading the report to the officer who answered. He paused when asked to repeat the mage’s observations, then waited while the receiving officer checked the requests for relief and repairs.

"Have the demons begun gathering for another attack?" the officer asked.

"Our lookouts have not seen another advance forming," Senn replied. "We are evacuating the wounded and restoring the firing positions."

"Your full report will be sent to headquarters."

Senn waited until the officer had read back the important details before ending the exchange. Outside, Merrit was directing another ammunition load through the cleared passage, while the bearers carried a stretcher toward the rear.

Halven gathered the remaining papers from the table.

"Where do you want the first repair team?"

"Send them to the flank passage," Senn answered. "The wounded and ammunition carriers are using the same narrow gap. We need that opened properly before we rebuild the firing shelters."

Alliance headquarters

The report passed through southwestern command before an aide brought the completed copy to Karrek. He read the damage lists alongside the crews’ accounts, then had Captain Darran, one of the alliance’s artillery officers, summoned to examine them.

By the time the captain arrived, Karrek had spread a map of the quarry approaches across his desk.

"Senn needs relief mages and help rebuilding his position," he told the aide. "Have reserve ward teams and earth mages sent there. The passages must be cleared before another assault."

The aide began writing while Darran read the account of the bombardment. He returned to Orven’s statement before setting the papers beside the map.

"What do you think was firing at them?" Karrek asked.

"It might be an improved Skullbreaker, but there is a good chance they have adapted the cannons they already put in Warhounds."

Karrek looked toward the two wrecks marked near the tollhouse.

"We know those machines were firing during the advance."

"I mean additional guns behind the quarry, my lord. Chances are, the mage was watching their shots and telling the crews where they were landing."

"Could they have kept more Warhounds behind the slope?"

"That remains possible. We should not declare a new weapon until someone sees it. But they could also mount a Warhound cannon on a separate carriage, after all an artillery and a tank has only one difference one fires in range of sight other fires beyond it."

Darran rested his hand beside the report and nodded. The demons already made Warhound cannons and their ammunition. Adapting an existing weapon seemed a reasonable possibility, although he would need more evidence before ruling out a different design.

"If that is what they have done, they probably began with the cannon and built a separate frame to support it," he continued. "They would need a mounting that allowed the crew to raise the barrel over the intervening ground. Their smiths could work on those changes without building another armored machine around each gun."

"And what would they gain?"

"They would save the work of making the armored hull, engine and tracks. Beasts could haul the gun and its ammunition into position. It would have little protection if our troops reached it, but the terrain would hide it from soldiers looking out of the tollhouse."

Karrek considered the suggestion. A cannon that could be built without an entire Warhound around it might become a much more common problem.

"How far away could they have placed these guns?"

Darran examined the map’s scale, then ran a finger across the ground beyond the quarry.

"If they were behind this ridge, they were probably somewhere between four and six kilometres from the tollhouse conservatively and if we stretch it a bit more maybe upto 8 kilometres. That gives us an area to investigate, provided we have read their direction correctly."

"You are estimating from the terrain."

"I am, my lord. The report tells us the direction, but nobody saw a muzzle flash or the guns themselves. They could have used another concealed position. We also cannot treat the distance of this attack as their maximum range."

Karrek studied the strip of ground beneath the captain’s hand. Sending soldiers to search it would mean crossing the quarry approaches and entering territory where the demons had just withdrawn. He wanted a clearer location before committing anyone to that.

"What would help you identify the weapon?"

"Shell fragments would be useful. We can compare them with ammunition recovered from Warhounds. A match would support the idea that they adapted the same cannon, though we would still need someone to see its mounting."

"Have Senn collect fragments when his men can spare the time. Their wounded come first."

Darran nodded and drew Orven’s account closer.

"The mage’s work gives us something we can act on immediately. The enemy’s corrections became less effective when he blocked the observation spell. Chances are, its crews then had to rely on the positions the observer had already given them."

"Which means rebuilding every shelter in the same place gives them familiar targets."

"It does. Senn should examine whether any gun positions can be shifted while still covering the approaches. His crews need cover, but the demons should not be able to aim at every gun by remembering where it fired today."

Karrek looked toward his aide.

"Send him that advice. Let him and his instructors choose the positions; they know where the gaps in the wall are. Have the mages keep watch for observation spells while the work is being done."

The aide added the instruction beneath the relief orders.

"Should the other fronts receive the same warning?"

"They should receive the report," Karrek said. "Ask whether they have faced similar fire, and whether anyone has actually seen the guns producing it."

Darran gathered his copy to take to the other artillery officers. Karrek remained beside the map, considering the captain’s explanation. The demons might have brought forward a small experiment, but if their existing forges could produce the weapon, more gun crews might soon be facing what Senn’s men had endured.

He handed the original report back to his aide.

"I want to know whether this is one battery or the first of many."