Having received the desired answer from Han Taek-gil, Yi Gil-son returned to the office to assess the situation.
“What are the casualties?”
To Yi Gil-son’s question, a subordinate shuffled through papers as he answered.
“Five dead, twenty injured. Among them, eight are severely wounded.”
“The slaves?”
“About 320 injured slaves have been brought in. We haven’t yet determined the number of deaths. We’ll immediately confirm this along with the number of remaining slaves. I apologize.”
Seeing his subordinate bow his head, Yi Gil-son waved his hand lightly.
“It’s too late to check now. More than half have probably escaped. Besides, the slave issue is the alliance’s responsibility, so don’t worry about it. What about the casualties among the locally hired workers?”
“Roughly 20 killed and about 70 injured.”
“The damage is unexpectedly light?”
“They were the first to flee when they saw the bandits. Still, they returned immediately after the attack ended to help manage the scene.”
“Provide sufficient compensation to the families of the deceased and to those injured, and also give rewards to those who participated in managing the scene.”
“Yes, sir.”
“What’s the current situation at the site?”
“Alliance forces that responded to the emergency are guarding the site. However, what comes next is the problem.”
At his subordinate’s observation, Yi Gil-son nodded.
“We’re short on troops. To be precise, the bandits are growing in number, but reinforcements aren’t arriving.”
***
After the Suez conquest, the alliance countries drastically reduced their forces stationed in Suez.
This wasn’t because they trusted the treaty, but because of war costs and political struggles.
The main actors in warfare during this period were mercenaries.
Most of those most familiar with not only traditional cold weapons but also the latest weapons like guns and cannons belonged to mercenary groups.
Therefore, stationing a large army in Suez wasn’t easy even for the renowned Medici family.
The best solution to this problem would have been to station a standing army, but the second reason was holding them back.
France and Portugal were still experiencing power struggles between nobility and monarchy.
***
Duke of Braganza, having purged Count of Barcelos Afonso and his faction, stepped down from the regency as soon as Afonso V came of age and served as the kingdom’s chancellor.
Interestingly, the Duke of Braganza, who controlled military and political power, focused on strengthening royal authority rather than his own power.
The problem was that the heir to this strengthened royal power would be João II, Afonso V’s son, rather than Afonso V himself.
This was the result of Afonso V’s choices.
When Count of Barcelos was still alive, Afonso V had tried to join hands with him to push out the Duke of Braganza.
However, the Count of Barcelos and the nobles were purged by the Duke of Braganza’s counterattack.
Having witnessed the Count of Barcelos and nobles dying before his eyes, Afonso V didn’t step forward even after the Duke of Braganza retreated to the position of kingdom chancellor.
Afonso V still entrusted power to the Duke of Braganza while spending his days indulging in alcohol and women.
“He’s finished.”
After assessing Afonso V’s situation, the Duke of Braganza focused on strengthening royal authority for his grandson João II, son of his daughter Isabella who was Afonso V’s queen consort.
France was in a similar situation.
The only difference was that Charles VII’s greatest political opponent was his son, Louis XI.
***
Due to these circumstances, the alliance countries couldn’t station many troops in Suez.
Consequently, the alliance countries operated with cavalry as their main force.
The cavalry operated by the alliance countries was very different from the existing European and Middle Eastern cavalry. Rather than knights’ orders formed by wealthy commoners or nobles at their own expense, they were state-managed cavalry similar to the Empire’s. Their armament also primarily consisted of long rifles, similar to the Empire.
Before long, the alliance forces stationed in Suez began calling this cavalry “Dragoons.”
It was the emergence of mounted infantry far ahead of its time.
Though they were a powerful force, their numbers were too small compared to the area they needed to protect.
Because of this, individuals who could be either bandits or Mamluk cavalry began causing trouble, resulting in this major incident.
***
While grumbling about the alliance forces’ critical weakness, Yi Gil-son ordered his subordinate.
“The Imperial forces are ready to move. Prepare the train immediately for Imperial forces to use.”
At Yi Gil-son’s order, his subordinate’s face brightened.
“Are they finally moving?”
“Yes.”
“I’ll prepare immediately!”
The subordinate, responding loudly, immediately ran outside.
“Woohoo!”
Soon after, loud cheers were heard from outside. Yi Gil-son smiled bitterly at the cheers from the Imperials.
“They just can’t stand being attacked…”
Yi Gil-son, who spoke these words, was also an Imperial. He stared at the map hanging on the wall and smiled sardonically.
“They’ve had their fun, so they’ll be excited to come again. That day will be their death anniversary.”
***
‘The Imperials are preparing for revenge!’
Having heard the rumor, the alliance military commanders and envoys immediately went outside and headed to the railway construction headquarters.
“Hmm…”
“Oho?”
Seeing the Imperials’ movements, the alliance military commanders’ eyes began to gleam.
Unlike before, two locomotives were coupled together, and large flatcars were additionally connected to the front of the locomotives, between the wagons, and at the very end.
After confirming they were properly connected, the Imperials mobilized locals and slaves to pile sandbags on the flatcars.
Once defensive facilities were prepared with sandbags, Imperial soldiers began loading Type C fire carts and launchers for flying thundercrash mines.
Seeing this, the expressions of the alliance military commanders changed from serious to grave.
“It could be called a moving fortress. I understand why they mobilized two locomotives.”
At the Portuguese military commander’s words, the alliance military commanders nodded. The Ottoman military commander, who had been nodding at the Portuguese commander’s assessment, stroked his beard and continued.
“Come to think of it… we’ve never seen how the Empire fights on land, have we?”
“That’s true…”
“We should provide troop support.”
***
To the alliance’s offer of troop support, the Imperial forces simply replied:
‘Not necessary. We will repay what we have received.’
“How arrogant.”
At the French military commander’s words, the Florentine military commander replied.
“They say it’s unnecessary because if there are too many troops, the bandits won’t attack.”
“They appear to be at most 200 to 300 strong, is that enough?”
In the end, the alliance military commanders disguised a few reliable subordinates as locals and sent them in.
***
Construction resumed as heavily armed trains supplied materials to the site.
However, contrary to expectations, attacks didn’t immediately follow, and Imperial soldiers began to grow bored.
“It’s so hot I’m dying here. If they’re coming, come quickly!”
Though they shaded themselves from the sun with tents set up on the flatcars, the heat remained intense. As a result, Imperial soldiers tired from the heat grew increasingly impatient waiting for the bandits.
After waiting like this for twenty-one days, the Imperial forces finally encountered the Mamluk cavalry.
***
A sand dune somewhat distant from the construction site.
Mahdi, who was observing the site through a telescope while hiding his body on the ridge, clicked his tongue lightly.
“Tsk! Indeed, defenses have been strengthened.”
“What should we do? Should we retreat?”
At his subordinate’s question who was observing with him, Mahdi turned his body to look down the hill.
His subordinates were waiting for his orders below the hill.
Looking at his subordinates with confident expressions, Mahdi turned his head again to observe the site.
“We have 2,000 now… they appear to be no more than 300, but the problem is the fire carts…”
Mahdi muttered while examining the fire carts attached to the train through his telescope.
Due to his bitter memory of being defeated by fire carts in the last war, Mahdi was most concerned about the existence of fire carts.
“They’re gone…”
Not finding fire carts with large bodies and six barrels, Mahdi firmed his resolve.
“There are no fire carts! Then, we attack!”
***
“Hot, it’s hot…”
While Imperial soldiers tired from the heat were grumbling, suddenly bell sounds and screams erupted.
Ding ding ding!
“Enemy! Enemy!”
At people’s shouts, the sprawled Imperial soldiers hurriedly rose to their feet.
“Where?”
“There! There!”
Looking in the direction pointed by people running to the train, the boredom disappeared from the Imperial soldiers’ eyes.
At the top of a distant sand dune, thousands of cavalry wrapped in black from head to toe were glaring at the Imperial forces.
“Evacuate the workers and slaves!”
“Combat ready! Combat ready!”
While railway construction staff evacuated the workers and slaves, Imperial soldiers removed the coverings over the fire cart cannons and prepared for battle.
The assistant gunner took ammunition belts from the ammunition box and inserted them into the fire cart’s feeding port, while the gunner vigorously turned the rotation axis attached to the body.
Click! Click!
“Ready!”
The Imperial forces, from fire carts to launchers to regular riflemen, reported their readiness in loud voices.
At that moment, the enemies on the hill began their charge.
“They’re coming!”
***
Boom boom boom boom!
As the hoofbeats shook the earth, Imperial commanders holding mounted rifles shouted to their soldiers.
“Hold! Hold! Wait a bit more!”
“Wait a bit more!”
At the commanders’ orders, the waiting soldiers swallowed dry saliva as they watched the approaching enemies.
‘Wait? They’re already right in front of us?’
‘If they get any closer, we’ll be having fistfights instead of shooting!’
Just as the rage-filled eyes of the charging enemies became visible, the commanders pulled their triggers.
Bang!
“Open fire!”
Ta-ta-ta-ta-ta-tang!
As soon as the commanders’ orders fell, the Type C fire cart gunners simultaneously pressed their triggers.
When the Type C fire carts began spewing fire simultaneously, hell opened.
The charging Mamluk cavalry and their horses began rolling on the ground, covered in blood simultaneously.
Fifty jang (about 150 meters) in front of the train.
This was the line that determined life and death for the Mamluk cavalry who had attacked the construction site.
Very few Mamluk cavalry crossed that line. But even they were caught by waiting riflemen and lost their lives or fell to the ground with severe injuries.
“Damn it! They had new fire carts!”
Seeing the scene of slaughter, Mahdi gnashed his teeth and lamented his mistake.
Only fire carts could demonstrate such firepower. But by Allah’s oath, the fire carts he knew didn’t exist there.
This meant that the infidels, who deserved Allah’s curse, had created new fire carts.
“Retreat! Retr—”
Boom boom boom!
Just as Mahdi decided to retreat, the waiting launchers simultaneously fired flying thundercrash mines.
With the deliberately shortened fuse time, the flying thundercrash mines exploded all at once above the heads of the Mamluk cavalry.
Hit by an unexpected rain of steel fragments, the Mamluk cavalry fell to the ground with their horses without even being able to scream.
Among them was Mahdi.
***
After about two hours, the battle ended.
The Mamluk cavalry who fled the scene of brutal slaughter numbered less than 30.
“Oh Allah…”
The locals who returned after the battle immediately called upon their deity upon seeing the hellscape unfolded before them.