Steel, Explosives, and Spellcasters

Don't mention it, the first use of this tactic indeed caught the Venetians off guard.

The working Venetian soldiers could only see objects wrapped in blue flames whistling towards them. Once these blue fires hit the ground, they splattered, capable of burning through flesh and skin upon contact. The ensuing smoke made it unbearable to breathe.

Like demons crawling out of hell, the smell of sulfur was everywhere, and it sent Venetians fleeing in panic.

It was Colonel Volbon who urgently addressed the crisis. After taking samples on the spot, he quickly figured out what this "blue fire" was—simply sulfur.

The defenders in the city first broke sulfur ore into fragments, ignited them, and then packed them into clay jars before launching them into the tunnels with counterweight trebuchets.

The gas produced by the burning sulfur was particularly choking and denser than air. So when a "blue fire" struck a tunnel, the resulting smoke would settle and linger, making it impossible to breathe.

When a blue fire hit, a whole section of the tunnel became uninhabitable.

Even Antonio and Layton, both of whom had many years of military experience, had never seen such a bizarre chemical weapon.

Seeing its effectiveness, the Tachi defenders immediately started throwing more blue fire into the tunnels to disrupt the Venetians' progress.

However, the blue fire quickly lost its effectiveness. William Kidd, if he thought he could stop the Vineta Army with such tactics, was underestimating the Venetians who had once defeated the Emperor's Guards.

Lieutenant Colonel Volbon swiftly found a solution to the problem. He drew inspiration from the section "Effects and Countermeasures Against Toxic Smoke" in the "Army Tactical Manual," applying tactics previously used by the Republic militia in the Sovereignty Wars against "Mad Richard's" court mages, to Tachi.

Colonel Volbon's response was simple and effective:

First, he improved tunnel ventilation by leaving a vent every meter at the bottom to ensure the smoke could naturally dissipate;

Second, the militia had previously discovered that the court mage's toxic smoke dissolved easily in water, so Volbon similarly flooded the interior of the tunnels, maintaining about five centimeters of standing water in the shallow ditches and sprinkling quicklime into it. This way, the toxic smoke that settled to the bottom would be quickly absorbed by the water, and the poison's potency neutralized by the quicklime;

Finally, Volbon distributed a large quantity of damp bedding to the engineers. As soon as a tunnel was hit by the blue fire, they immediately covered it with the bedding to prevent the smoke from forming. And if anyone was unlucky enough to be ignited by blue fire, they could be quickly wrapped in the damp bedding to extinguish the flames.

The more Layton observed Volbon's brilliant work in the siege, the more he appreciated him. This subordinate had earned him a great deal of prestige, allowing Layton to speak with a much louder voice in front of Antonio.

Other officers believed that after Tachi was captured, it was all but certain that Lieutenant Colonel Volbon would become Colonel Volbon.

However, at the military conference, Volbon reported with concern to the two Major Generals, "But even with all these countermeasures, the 'blue fire' still poses significant trouble for the Venetians, slowing down the progress of the works."

Volbon even admitted somewhat fearfully, "Fortunately, the geological conditions of Tachi don't allow for the digging of underground tunnels, as this weapon, capable of instantly turning air into poison gas when used in tunnel warfare... I dread to think how many would die..."

But no matter what, each day the tunnels crept closer to the city walls.

Soon enough, the defenders realized that the blue fire was losing its effect and the Venetians were gradually mastering how to counter it. When blue fire flew into the tunnels, the Venetians no longer fled but instead rapidly extinguished it using some method.

By then, the tunnels had generally been repaired along the centerline.

In other words, the distance from which Tachi's defenders could attack the tunnel was now shorter than the distance the Venetians needed to cover to reinforce it.

The fight reverted back to hand-to-hand combat as William Kidd frequently sent small elite squads to attack the Venetian engineers and laborers working on the tunnels. Meanwhile, Antonio also laid numerous ambushes to counter any Federation soldiers emerging from the city.

After several clashes, Antonio confirmed that the defending army's morale was still high; otherwise, the soldiers William Kidd sent out from the city would have already mutinied.

Both sides continued to adapt to each other's moves, engaging in a battle of wits on the open ground before Tachi's walls, but a full-scale siege had not yet broken out.

The Venetians had never attempted to attack the walls, but the Tanilians were also firmly trapped within Tachi.

William Kidd might have thought his efforts had given the Venetians a significant headache. Some Venetian officers thought the same, such as Lieutenant Sara from the Third Legion's Fifth Battalion.

But it wasn't long before Lieutenant Sara understood why their commander claimed "time was not on their side."

The Venetian artillery had arrived at the front lines of Tachi.