Chapter 374 Calculated Thunder

Southwestern Army Headquarters, Avarran Frontline

Inside the calculation tent, the air grew instantly taut. The two artillerymen bent over their slates, chalk clicking in a rhythmic, hurried rhythm against stone as they cross-referenced the fresh grid coordinates with the thick firing tables.

Battery Sergeant Vane stepped inside, four gun chiefs trailing behind him like iron-clad hounds eager for a command.

“Two guns positioned in an abandoned farmyard near the quarry approach,” Hadrik told them calmly, tapping the map. “They’re currently shelling Senn’s supply line. Range is three thousand paces over the ridge.”

The oldest gun chief, a scarred veteran named Garek, peered at the slate. “Blind arc over the rise,sir. will we hit anything?”

“We will,” Hadrik said. “We’re relying entirely on Terev’s grid and the math. Guns one through four: prepare for a battery salvo.”

“You heard the Captain!” Vane bellowed, stepping into the open yard. “To your pieces! Check your elevations, verify your charges, and for the love of the High Forge, don’t let Karrek’s loose bolts prove him right!”

Across the battery line, the gun crews sprang into action. Handwheels whirred as the barrels swung smoothly upward, their brass scales glinting under the overcast sky. Gunner scribes called out coordinates while load teams heaved heavy high-explosive shells onto the loading trays.

Hadrik walked back into the small stone shelter, leaning over Terev’s shoulder.

On the observation tablet, the demon artillery crew was loading their second gun. An overseer snapped a heavy whip over the back of a demonloader who was struggling to seat the massive shell.

“They have no idea we’re here,” Terev murmured, his fingers steady on the tablet’s perimeter. “They think they own this ridge.”

“Let them enjoy the thought for another thirty seconds,” Hadrik replied. He turned back to the tent opening. “Calculations complete?”

The seated scribe held up his slate, showing it to the checking officer next to him. The officer glanced across the figures, gave a sharp nod, and yelled, “Coordinates verified! Fire plan locked!We are ready captain”

The message was relayed down the line in seconds. The gun chiefs raised their arms,ropes pulled taut in the hands of the crewmen.

Hadrik stepped out into the center of the battery yard, raised his hand, and brought it down sharply.

“Battery… FIRE!”

BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM!

Four thunderous cracks merged into a singular earth-shaking roar that slammed through the depression. A cloud of acrid sulfur smoke rolled over the dirt, kicking up gravel against the wooden supply crates. The four heavy barrels slid violently back within their recoil mountings before smoothly riding back into battery.

Inside the shelter, Hadrik kept his gaze glued to Terev’s screen.

For three agonisingly long seconds, the farmyard on the tablet remained quiet—just the unsuspecting demon crew preparing their next shot.

Then the sky fell.

The four high-explosive shells arrived almost simultaneously. The entire left side of the ruined farmhouse vanished in a massive flame explosion. Timber beams, stone masonry, and shattered wagon wheels rained down in a violent geyser of dirt and smoke.

The first demon cannon was thrown entirely off its mount, its iron barrel cracked down the center. The second gun was instantly swallowed in the secondary detonation of its own ammunition wagon, igniting a blinding orange fireball that scorched the tablet’s aerial view.

When the dust began to clear, the farmyard was reduced to a smoking, blackened crater.

The surviving demon overseer scrambled out of the wreckage on three limbs, coughing thick black smoke, before frantically fleeing into the surrounding tree line—leaving his boots, his whip, and his artillery behind.

Silence fell over the stone shelter.

Terev let out a breath he seemed to have been holding since the transfer platform. “Direct hit!Direct hit across the entire footprint. Target rendered completely ineffective.”

Hadrik leaned in closer, inspecting the ruin. “Ineffective is a mild word for it, Terev. You can tell Lieutenant Senn that the roof he was complaining about no longer exists.”

A loud cheer erupted from the crews outside as word passed down from the shelter. Sergeant Vane walked over, wiping sweat from his forehead with a dirty sleeve, a rare, wicked grin stretching across his face.

“First trial under fire, Captain,” Vane reported, clapping a hand against the warm iron of Gun One. “Not a single bracket slipped, and the sight held its zero through the blast.”

Hadrik picked up the communication crystal from the signal desk. Senn’s voice came crackling through almost immediately, breathless and loud.

“Captain Hadrik! Was that your battery? “

“That was us, Lieutenant,” Hadrik replied evenly. “The enemy guns harassing your supply line have been neutralized. The quarry approach is clear.”

There was a brief pause on the line before Senn chuckled. “Well… remind me never to owe your math scribes any money. Tell your men they’ve bought every pint of ale in the quartermaster’s store tonight.”

“I’ll hold you to that, Senn,” Hadrik said. “Though you might want to spend the afternoon clearing your road first.”

Hadrik handed the crystal back to the clerk and stepped out into the open yard, watching his men routinely clean the barrels and pack away their gear with the confidence after proving their worth.

He pulled a fresh sheet of paper from his leather dispatch case, laid it over an ammunition crate, and uncapped his pen.

To: High Lord Karrek / Forge-Master Daren

From: Captain Hadrik, Southwestern Frontline

The first four leFH units have completed their initial combat deployment behind Senn’s Tollhouse.

Target: Two heavy enemy pieces fortified behind solid cover at 3,000 paces (blind fire).

Result: Target destroyed on the first battery salvo using calculated grid coordinates and observation scrying.

Notes:

1. The optics and recoil assemblies functioned flawlessly under combat load.

2. Tell Daren the math works—and the artillerymen would like to formally apologize for doubting the scribes.

3. Send the next batch as quickly as the forge can build them.

Hadrik folded the note, sealed it with red wax, and handed it to a waiting runner.

“Take this straight to the dispatch office for immediate transfer to the High Forge.” Hadrik looked back toward the smoking rise, a small smile touching his lips. “I believe General Ordan said he wanted an account worth reading.”