Chapter 87: Artillery
Bradford proposed a sinister plan.
Pretend to agree to Norris’s terms of surrender, then go back on it and kill him.
Lambert was somewhat tempted by this plan, but ultimately decided against it.
Indeed, as Bradford said, doing so would save a lot of effort and at least avoid a battle. If they attacked head-on, there were several thousand people to deal with. Even if they were just ordinary workers armed with light weapons, they were still holed up in a fortified factory. Overcoming them would require significant effort and could result in considerable casualties.
However, Lambert still decided to proceed with the attack.
The main reason was that he didn’t want Gu Hang to be labeled as untrustworthy.
Privately, any means could be used, but publicly, as a ruler, credibility was extremely important. In a certain sense, it represented public trust and whether policies would be believed by the people.
In this situation, they had to maintain an appearance of integrity.
Using cunning here might indeed save a lot of effort in dealing with Norris, but the cost of taking shortcuts now could be doubled elsewhere.
After making this decision, Lambert took the opportunity to mock Bradford, saying that he would only ever be a merchant and could never understand the vision of a politician engaged in great endeavors.
Bradford had no response.
Lambert’s actions also received additional support.
He mobilized two infantry battalions that had entered the city with the Governor and also brought out a dozen heavy cannons from the seized military equipment, preparing for a strong assault.
Norris sent an envoy to negotiate terms of surrender, but Lambert sternly refused.
Lambert demanded that everyone resisting in the factory unconditionally surrender, lay down their arms, and await the Governor’s judgment.
This was the final ultimatum, and Lambert would give them only one hour.
The message was taken back to the factory by the envoy, and the people inside fell silent.
An hour later, no one came out to surrender, and Lambert ordered the attack to begin.
He called on Pobov, who had come to help, to order his 2nd Battalion to start handling the newly acquired heavy artillery.
They had five 155mm howitzers; the 6th Battalion, which had also been brought along, had five captured cannons as battalion-level firepower.
Ten heavy cannons fired in unison, sending shell after shell into the factory.
After one round of volley fire, thick black smoke rose from the factory.
The Governor’s soldiers didn’t rush in immediately.
With the enemy completely surrounded and heavy artillery at their disposal, it would be foolish to risk soldiers’ lives unnecessarily. Since they had plenty of shells in stock, they would let the ten cannons fire off a dozen or so rounds, and after a few hundred heavy shells had been expended, they would consider sending in the infantry for a cleanup operation.
During this process, Lambert received additional assistance.
Sister Superior Gretel arrived with six nuns.
…
This wasn’t the first time Lambert had seen the Sisters of the Holy Lily.
To be honest, compared to the always grim and unapproachable Phoenix Battalion members, he preferred these Battle Nuns who always wore gentle smiles.
Although, when it came to fighting, these nuns were just as ruthless.
However, seeing them was one thing, but interacting with them was another. This was his first time engaging with them, and Lambert appeared somewhat reserved.
“Very pleased to meet you, Sister Superior. Thank you very much for coming to our aid.”
Gretel replied, “No need to thank me. We are all fighting for the Empire. Mr. Lambert, I have heard about the misfortunes that have befallen your family. I am sorry that such things happened to you.”
“Thank you. But I recall that you and your subordinates were supposed to be investigating heretical cult activity within the city? How do you have time to join the battle here at the factory?”
Gretel responded, “There is hidden evil within this factory. Moreover, the activities of the cultists might be related to the calamity that befell your Hodgson family.”
Lambert immediately took this seriously.
“Can you tell me more?”
“Certainly.”
Then, the Sister Superior detailed her findings to Lambert, the descendant of the victims.
She had investigated the scene of old Hodgson’s death and found traces of heretical presence at the Hodgson family estate.
Thus, she believed that there was heretical involvement in the assassination of old Hodgson.
Other sisters were investigating different leads, and she had come here with six others.
The mastermind behind the assassination of Hodgson was Mondok, but he was already dead; the remaining two participants were here, and she had come to gather information.
Upon learning this, Lambert immediately dragged Bradford out.
This guy had not mentioned anything about heretics in his previous disclosures about old Hodgson’s death.
And Bradford, upon hearing the Sister Superior’s inquiries, was utterly bewildered.
He didn’t know!
He hadn’t lied. At this point, he was desperately trying to stay alive, seeking any possible reductions in his sentence. If he knew anything about the heretical cult, why would he hide it? He would be more than happy to expose those deranged individuals completely.
But he genuinely didn’t know about this matter. The assassination was masterminded by Mondok; Bradford only participated in the aftermath and the division of spoils. He wasn’t involved in the actual assassination.
In his view, for Mondok, who controlled the Alliance’s military power, accomplishing this task wasn’t difficult.
And indeed, one night, the Hodgson family simply disappeared from their estate.
After confirming that Bradford was indeed not lying and finding no traces of heretical presence on him, the Sister Superior let him go.
She then turned her attention to the factory area still being bombarded by artillery.
There, the last participant in the Hodgson assassination plot, old Norris, was located.
Within that factory, she could sense the presence of Storm Magic.
That was the heretical dark arts energy—any extraordinary power gained through prayers to entities other than the God Emperor was considered heretical by the state religion.
In fact, some extremists believed that even naturally occurring Psykers were heretical and that no legal Psykers should exist in the world.
These extremists were often accused of heresy by the Imperial Mechanicus, leading to frequent verbal battles and even mutual physical destruction.
The Sisters of the Holy Lily were not such extremists; otherwise, their first adversary would have been the Governor himself.
However, any extraordinary energy obtained through faith in other supernatural beings or through heretical rituals was universally detested by all factions of the state religion.