Munitions Empire

Recent times had been anything but peaceful, with rumors of civil unrest everywhere, leaving the townspeople anxious and in the dark about the unfolding events.

Just this morning, there seemed to be frequent troop movements within King City. The military units near the Royal Palace appeared to be changing guards, with many Ministers coming and going, leaving ordinary folk unable to grasp the situation.

Now, they made way for a young man on a warhorse. Before they had time to complain, they saw several Cavalry approaching from a distance, carrying intimidating muskets.

Everyone quickly moved aside once more, watching as the fearsome Cavalry charged past them.

"What\'s going on..." a man mumbled in dissatisfaction, fanning the dust before him, and grumbled impatiently.

"Who knows!" another bystander squinted his eyes, grimaced disdainfully, and commented sarcastically as he watched the Cavalry disappear into the distance.

The young man being pursued was the first to round the street corner, only to be met by a formidable procession of Soldiers. He paused for a moment, then a smile spread across his face.

Consequently, he pulled on the reins, dismounted under the watchful guns of the alert Soldiers, and led his horse over to the mounted military officer facing him, "You really are impulsive! To think you\'d lead your Troops out of the barracks like this."

"I was somewhat apprehensive earlier, uncertain if what I was doing was right... But seeing you convinces me I made the right choice," said the officer on horseback, looking down at his young companion leading the horse, and smiled.

"Sumer has surrounded the Royal Palace with his men, and both sides are on edge, ready to clash at any moment," the young man leading the horse relayed a critical piece of news, looking up, "Did you know about this beforehand?"

"Not at all! I only received a warning, then there was an assassination attempt, so I brought my men to settle the score with the bastard who wants me dead," the young officer replied with a laugh.

"It seems I might as well have gone directly to the Royal Palace," the one leading the warhorse said with self-deprecating humor.

"So, my appearance here has taken Sumer by surprise, hasn\'t it?" the young officer brandished a dandelion ring on his finger, "Seems like you\'ve brought me a gift?"

As he spoke, he noticed the approaching Cavalry who had begun to slow down and prepare to open fire.

"Stop them! Prepare for battle!" the young officer on the horse commanded coldly.

His Troops immediately unslung their rifles from their shoulders, worked the bolts, and a cascade of clattering sounds followed.

Without hesitation, the Soldiers raised their weapon muzzles at the onrushing Cavalry. Hundreds of rifles stood imposingly, their presence alone deterring the Cavalry charging towards them.

"We are under orders to capture a traitor!" The leading Cavalryman, not daring to face the array of rifles, angrily shouted after reining in his warhorse to a halt.

"Ordered by whom?" the young officer holding the reins asked with a sneer.

"It, it\'s Minister Sumer!" replied the Knight, clearly nervous and flustered, yet he responded.

"Oh, it\'s him..." The young officer reacted as if everything suddenly made sense, his tone allowing the pursuing Knights to breathe a sigh of relief.

Then, just as they relaxed, the young officer\'s demeanor did a complete one-eighty, and he commanded coldly, "Take them all!"

Before the Knights could react, a group of Infantry charged forward, encircling them with the chilly points of their bayonets and the dark muzzles of their guns, which promptly quelled any thoughts of resistance.

They obediently surrendered their weapons and raised their hands high. The lead Knight, however, mustered some courage and shouted defiantly as he was being detained, "Minister Sumer won\'t let you off! You\'re all doomed! Doomed!"

"Should we now head to the Royal Palace, or should we first visit Sumer\'s residence and take down his stronghold?" the young man leading the warhorse said as he mounted up.

The officer leading the Troops waved his hand and declared, "Making Sumer\'s family suffer is your business, I am an officer of the Dorne Kingdom. How can I justify not supporting the King at a time like this to His Majesty?"

"If you\'re late even by a moment, you won\'t have to justify anything," the luxuriously dressed young man retorted with a laugh as he took the reins and turned his horse, then spurred his mount and rode off.

"Onward to King City!" the young officer bellowed his order, swinging his arm forward, and his great army resumed its advance.

...

"If we don\'t attack now, it will be dangerous!" Sumer, the military Minister and liaison for Shireck, paced back and forth like an ant on a hot pan and muttered impatiently.

The man from Shireck Consortium soothed him with a smile, "Calm down, Minister Sumer! We have a thousand men! The Kingdom has only about three hundred guards inside. What\'s there to fear?"

"I\'m worried about the insubordinate bastards in the 1st Legion!" Sumer couldn\'t help but feel enraged when he thought about the troops that refused to follow his commands.

He was the Minister of Military Affairs, after all, and all matters concerning the troops should have been under his control. Yet, many officers were reluctant to follow his orders.

It was at this time he truly accepted the conditions offered by Shireck and prepared to carry out a military remonstrance to take complete control of Dorne\'s political power.

The person in charge at Shireck looked at Sumer and asked, "Haven\'t you already sent someone to deal with them?"

"But that is ultimately an unreliable method." Sumer immediately replied—although he had dispatched assassins with the intent of throwing the disobedient troops into chaos by assassinating their commander, this was never a surefire strategy.

If the assassination were to fail, the other party would certainly become infuriated, and what might happen then was anyone\'s guess, he thought.

Seeing the full lack of confidence on Sumer\'s face, the man from the Shireck Consortium stroked his chin and compromised, "Then we move to attack! Not waiting for His Majesty the King to concede."

"Good, good..." Sumer was startled at first, but then he burst into elation and rubbed his hands together, eagerly agreeing.

"Order the attack!" the Shireck official ordered looking at his subordinate.

The subordinate nodded slightly and then shouted towards the soldiers surrounding the Royal Palace in the distance: "Attack!"

"Bang!" Raising the weapons in their hands, these soldiers pulled the triggers against the soldiers prepared to fire back at the gates of King City, resulting in a cacophony of gunfire.

Immediately, soldiers guarding the Royal Palace fell, and the remaining palace guards began to return fire—the sound of gunfire escalated instantly, causing the civilians who were watching the commotion to scatter like birds and beasts in just a blink.

"They\'re fighting!" A civilian, who had been peeking at the gun battle from behind a corner, ran away at full speed while loudly shouting.

Behind him, hundreds of soldiers armed with bayonets had already charged towards the gate of the Royal Palace.

The gates were quickly overrun, but the battle inside the Royal Palace raged on, filled with shouting and relentless gunfire.

Just then, a military force suddenly emerged on the streets, and upon reaching the square in front of the Royal Palace, they swiftly deployed into formation.

From behind a carriage, the soldiers pushed forward a Maxim machine gun, and the gunner hid behind the shield, expertly making ready to shoot.

When he saw this force, Sumer went deathly pale; he looked at the Shireck official beside him in desperation, unsure of what to say.

The man from Shireck Consortium was also somewhat panicked; although he had assembled thousands for the day\'s operation, most of them were positioned outside of the city.

"Didn\'t you say your men were the best killers?" The agitated person in charge at Shireck Consortium retorted, losing his composure.

By then, he didn\'t even mention the fact that his force had 1000 men. Among those, at least 700 had already breached the Royal Palace, engaging in close-quarters battle with the guards inside.

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"Make way! We have come to protect the Royal Palace! If you continue to stay here, you will be dealt with as rebels!" A soldier yelled at the insurgent forces led by Sumer in the square.

His answer was the gunfire of the rebels.

"They\'re firing on us!" Seeing his own soldiers fall, an officer drew his sword and slashed forward fiercely, "Return fire! For His Majesty the King!"

"Tat-tat-tat-tat!" This time, the command was answered by an imported G1 machine gun. The Maxim gun went crazy, spitting flames, and bullets flew across the square, sweeping into the ranks of the insurgents.

The screams of agony suddenly became incessant, and the unprepared insurgents were thrown into utter chaos within moments.

They had heard of the formidable reputation of the G1 machine gun, but they had never seen its performance in real combat before.

Today, the soldiers of these forces witnessed the G1 machine gun and its terrifyingly effective suppressive power.

The insurgent troops on the other side of the square were cut down by bullets, many falling off their horses. Some soldiers didn\'t even get the chance to fire another shot before being pierced through by bullets flying straight at them.

As row after row of soldiers were struck down by bullets, the rebel commanders, who hadn\'t yet realized what was happening, had no choice but to turn their gaze to Sumer, who until then had seemed confident of victory.

They waited, or rather, they hoped for Sumer to issue a new order that would allow them to escape from what had appeared to be an undoubtedly successful coup.

But in an instant, his soldiers suffered heavy losses, and even their formations were disrupted by the machine gun fire. The insurgents left in the square routed in complete disarray, and many were gunned down from behind as they looked back.

The insurgents who had already stormed the Royal Palace were unaware that their escape route seemed to have been cut off by their enemies.