As the defense force cheered, Lejoy and his men had begun marching towards the fort. Steadily they marched already in formation, their boots giving of a crunching rhythm. If Ceaser was honest, this sight tied a knot in his gut but he steeled himself because he knew that this battle was a defining moment that would determine how the world would treat them in the long run.
He watched quietly until they crossed the seven hundred meters mark. Immediately he gave the order and the cannons roared to life firing explosive shells into enemy lines .
The enemy on the other hand were oblivious to the kind of danger they were in , even when they heard the thundering sounds.
It was until the shells started raining down on them and exploding did they finally understand what was going on.
The first volley was surprisingly effective, something that was rare even for modern artillery which had margins of error. Even before the shells hit the enemy they artillery men had already started to clean the barrels and prepping the cannons for the next round. And after adjusting their aim the fired once more into the confused and stampeding crowd.
Limbs were being strewn about, blood sprayed everywhere as grown men soiled themselves screaming . Even Lejoy panicked as he saw the cannons decimating his troops, he even saw a man who broke free from the formation and tried to escape, an expensive shell landed few feet away from him and the shrapnel cleaved through him like hot knife through butter. But Lejoy was adamant, he needed this victory because losing would depreciate his value, losing would make him seem incompetent and his father would never make someone incompetent their.
"Move them forward." Kela screamed at the knights, " kill anyone who tries to escape."
Now under the threat of death, the infantry has no choice than to advance forward under cannon fire. They immediately had the idea to close the gap as quickly as possible, but as they reached the 400 meters mark, Ceaser has them switch to cannister shots and crowsbows. This was the nailed that sealed the coffin as the shot shredded anything in its path, added with the power of five hundred crossbows, the bulk of their forces were cut off. Immediately they dropped their weapons and surrendered to the defense force. Lejoy on the other hand had spurred his horse in an attempt to escape but maybe because of his flashy armor one of Ceasers men saw him as valuable target and shot his horse causing the horse to throw him off.
About one hundred and fifty men were captured including Lejoy , the others fled. Twenty horses were also captured to be added to the ones they possessed.
The prisoners were all stripped of their armor and weapons then they were placed in chains and sent to a premade prison. Lejoy was sent to the cell where his younger brother and the representative was currently in.
After that like clockwork the whole settlement erupted into celebration,alcohol and was distributed amongst the people as they celebrated. But Ceaser did not drink or rejoice with the others , today could have turned into a disaster. But as he was deep in thought Zack who was mostly calm and collected shouted in a loud voice gannering the attention of the crowd as he pointed drunkenly to Ceaser.
" Look there at Ceaser whose weapons of war and tactics gave us victory. We would haveall been dead if not for the thundering weapons he has provided for us.
Everyday you wake up, everyday you see the sun, everyday you breathe know that you owe it to the boy greater than a thousand men, the enlightened one, Augustus Caesar. To Ceaser!"
And then the entire crowd shouted houted in unison "to Ceaser !"
The next morning, the defense force went into the battle field to clean up, solid shells were taken to be repurposed. Dead enemy soldiers were stripped of their armor and then placed in a heap to be burned.
Ceaser had since sent word to the blacksmiths to produce more cannons mostly the twenty five pound cannons. The furnaces kept pumping out refined metals and even more furnaces were being built to increase production.
At the moment, Ceaser was with Sir Alfred, Butrus,Zack and Festus as he laid out new plans.
" Thank you all for coming so without wasting time, I propose that the prisoners of war should be put to work in the mines, they would work from sun up till sundown getting only two hour breaks and would be fed once a day in the morning . This would enable us to free up some of our men that could be used elsewhere. Do we all agree." Ceaser said and they all nodded in agreement.
" Secondly I would like a thousand men to be added to our forces , our victory would prompt them to increase their forces in the next attack, I have already asked the blacksmiths to start producing more cannons . We would select people who excelled exceptionally during training and place them in charge of ten recruits as a sergeant to be evaluated at the end of each month. Ten teams would report to a centurion whom I would appoint, ten centurions would then report to a battalion commander.
Also I would like to start minting our own currency with the copper and silver we have in our possession, it would enable us to facilitate both internal and external trade.
I would also like to restructure people into departments so that people would be able to work specific jobs and it is necessary for productivity.
Soon when we manage to defeat the next set of soldiers that would eventually be sent to us, word would spread. We should expect that there would be an influx of people coming to join our cause. Amongst those people, we should expect imperial spies.
So spread the word for everyone to be vigilant and report any suspicious individuals or activities. I'm sure nobody wants to have their freedom yanked away from them.
I hope we are all in agreement."
" It seems Ceaser has thought of everything carefully, I don't see anything wrong with your suggestions so I agree." Said Zack.
Simultaneously the others also agreed with him, as none of his ideas had ever resulted in failure.
" Thank you all for your support and I hope we gain victory through order." Ceaser said as he shook their hands.