Chapter 356: We Took It Back

"Charge!"

Through the broken ruins of the wall, the Brambleford army surged into Snake Pass like a tidal wave.

Lancelot, sword in hand, led the charge. After the explosion, many defenders on the wall had been killed or injured, and those behind the wall were in complete disarray.

Some reaver soldiers were frozen in shock. The slave troops dropped their weapons and knelt on the ground.

Climbing over the shattered wall, Lancelot spotted more reaver soldiers behind it. He shouted to the Brambleford soldiers following him:

"Fire!"

Thousands of soldiers who had made it over the wall raised their flintlock muskets and fired a volley at the reavers rushing toward them.

Screams echoed as the enemy fell, though some reavers still charged forward fearlessly.

Brambleford soldiers, standing on the broken wall, were quickly joined by more troops. They formed three ranks and used a rotating firing pattern to mow down wave after wave of enemies.

As more Brambleford troops climbed up, the firepower on the wall grew even fiercer. Reaver forces on that side of the wall grew thinner, while defenders from other parts of the fortress ran down to reinforce them.

Lancelot calmly watched as the enemy was cut down. Under the cover of musket fire, he led a squad to the main gate and slowly opened it.

"Charge!"

The moment the gate opened, Brambleford cavalry charged through. War wagons followed, pulled by horses, rolling into the city.

Some foot soldiers used the wagons as cover and launched a counterattack against the reaver cavalry inside.

Liam then directed the artillery to enter the city, turning their firepower on the enemy cavalry. The reaver horsemen suffered heavy casualties.

"Lancelot, these reavers are charging around like headless chickens. It looks like no one’s commanding them." Liam said as they regrouped.

Lancelot laughed. "You might be right. Maybe their leader’s already dead."

They didn’t know that Meryln, the commander, had been blinded by the lime bombs. He couldn’t give any orders, so the reaver troops were fighting purely on instinct.

From the hot air balloon, Benjamin also saw that the reavers had lost all coordination. He ordered Jayden to land the balloon, then headed into the city.

By now, the Brambleford army had secured the wall. The fiercest fighting was taking place in the center of the military town.

Seeing the battle clearly, Benjamin quickly ordered the scattered musket units to form three horizontal lines.

The musket troops reorganized immediately, forming neat rows. The drummers began to beat a steady rhythm.

"Advance!"

At Benjamin’s command, the three lines marched forward in perfect order.

Snake Pass wasn’t a large town. The lines of soldiers stretched from one wall to the other.

With drumbeats echoing, the musket troops marched forward. They stepped around buildings and stopped to shoot when encountering enemies.

Reaver troops, disorganized and in panic, fell one after another to the musket fire.

Meanwhile, catapults continued launching lime bombs into enemy ranks. Huge numbers of reaver soldiers were blinded by the quicklime and taken out of the fight. The artillery switched to grapeshot, turning each blast into a deadly spray of shrapnel.

With lime bombs and grapeshot working together, the musket troops advanced steadily from south to north, sweeping the city clean.

Faced with overwhelming firepower, more and more slave soldiers surrendered. The 60,000 reaver troops left in the city couldn’t match Brambleford’s firepower or organization.

From dawn till dusk, both sides fought fiercely. By sunset, the few remaining reavers finally fled Snake Pass, unwilling but defeated.

"We won! We won!"

A soldier shouted with joy as the last of the reavers disappeared through the northern gate.

Other soldiers raised their weapons and cheered. Some even cried with joy. The battle was over at last.

"Hahaha... Commander, Snake Pass is ours again! We took it back!" Lancelot laughed through tears.

After more than ten years, the strongest fortress in the empire was finally reclaimed from reaver hands.

Benjamin smiled. Like Lancelot, he had grieved when the pass was lost. Snake Pass wasn’t just a military fortress; it was a symbol of national pride.

"Let them cheer," Benjamin said hoarsely, eyes moist.

The officers and soldiers raised their voices in celebration. From Brambleford to Preston, and now to Snake Pass, three months of hard battles had finally paid off.

Snake Pass was back. West Ham Region was back.

As the cheering continued, Benjamin kept his composure. He quickly ordered the officers to sweep the city, close the gates, and station guards on the walls.

Liam rounded up some slave soldiers and had them haul cannons to the fortress walls to reinforce the defenses.

Snake Pass was easy to breach from the inside, but if the Order attacked from the outside, it would be a whole different story.

Now that it was fortified, even a massive reaver army couldn’t take it easily.

The Brambleford army worked all night clearing the city of remaining enemies. They also detained over 30,000 surrendered slave soldiers.

These slave soldiers were originally from West Ham. Once the reavers lost, they had no reason to keep fighting for them. Some even helped Brambleford troops during the battle.

That was why the reavers fell apart so quickly. Without slave soldiers to act as human shields, they had to face bullets themselves.

At dawn, after a quick breakfast, Benjamin began inspecting the fortress.

Now, 150 cannons were mounted along the wall. Some spots even had catapults. Soldiers patrolled the ramparts.

Looking down from the wall, Benjamin felt a surge of pride. Beyond Snake Pass was reaver territory.

As long as they kept this fortress garrisoned, it would become a thorn in the side of the Order. If the reavers wanted to invade the Eldorian Empire, they’d have to take this pass first.

And if they tried to go around, Brambleford’s troops could cut off their supply lines from here.

Lancelot and Liam joined him on the wall. Their usual joking manner was gone. Both looked serious, deeply moved by the moment.

"Commander, if His Highness finds out we’ve taken Snake Pass, he’ll be overjoyed," Lancelot said.

Benjamin laughed. "Of course he will. Don’t forget, His Majesty once promised His Highness that if he reclaimed West Ham, it would be his."