I Became a Witch and Started an Industrial Revolution

Xinwapa

Before intervening in the battlefield, the Alliance had assisted Ernesto by carrying out a large-scale bombardment on the Coalition Forces’ main logistics warehouse base, which could be considered the last short-term support given to Ernesto.

However, although this bombardment had inflicted heavy losses on the Coalition Forces, it did not shake their determination to attack.

Because winter was approaching, and the rivers would soon freeze solid. At that time, the two military fortresses in Xinwapa State, which relied on the riverbanks, would lose their natural defenses and become completely exposed. Logically and strategically, they were unwilling to miss such an opportunity.

Of course, such an operation had to be swift. Once the river surface was completely frozen, the speed of transporting supplies from their rear would also be greatly reduced.

The Coalition Forces were highly confident. Five hundred thousand troops against three hundred thousand—their numbers nearly doubled the enemy. With better equipment and sufficient logistical support, how could they possibly lose?

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“Yes, they will occupy our cities, our homeland, and we will fall into famine.”

“Yes, they are powerful, and their numbers are twice ours—but we can still resist anywhere!”

“I will stand with you. We will never surrender!!!”

Broadcasts echoed throughout Como City in Xinwapa State. In the transmissions, the voice of the battle’s commanding officer, Legion Commander Cassius, resounded in the ears of the Red Army soldiers constructing defensive fortifications across the city.

Everyone worked with intense enthusiasm, carrying cement, sandbags, and stones, building bunkers, hidden fortifications, and street defensive positions. Whenever the speech reached an emotional peak, some would stop their work and shout loudly:

“Ura!!!”

Hundreds of thousands of soldiers and civilians laid anti-tank mines across the city, dug crisscrossing trenches of all sizes, and established numerous obstacles and defensive structures around factories.

Each of the two heavily fortified cities had 150,000 soldiers. These troops were elites of the Red Army. Yadov had given Cassius maximum support—weaponry, food supplies, and even the composition of the army had all been carefully selected.

These soldiers shared one common trait: they were the sons of freed serfs.

With Ernesto’s help, their families had escaped slavery and obtained permanent land of their own.

Ernesto had once promised them that agricultural taxes would fully adopt the progressive system of the Seris Federation, ensuring they would not be burdened with heavy taxation.

In other words, Yadov sought to achieve equalized production.

However, this was unrealistic. The Alliance had succeeded only because foreign trade filled the gaps, allowing the progressive system to be fully implemented—and that was under conditions of a relatively small population.

Ernesto was different. With a large population and vast territory, it still needed tradable goods to exchange with friendly nations like the Alliance. And for a country as impoverished as Ernesto, agricultural products were its only valuable export.

Mitia, however, allocated supplies that were originally intended as unconditional aid under the guise of supplementary assistance, helping him partially achieve this goal.

Regardless, these tangible benefits secured Yadov the support of the former serfs, and naturally, their children became the finest soldiers.

Because no child wished for their parents—or themselves—to return to that dark past. For this goal, they took up arms to defend their nation and their homes.

Standing atop a tower, Cassius looked down at the city, his eyes filled with complexity. Due to its convenient river access and proximity to the capital, this state had absorbed about 40% of the industrial aid provided by the Alliance.

In other words, this place was equivalent to half of Ernesto’s lifeline. Once it fell, Ernesto’s industrial capacity would be cut in half, and the capital would be directly exposed to the Coalition Forces’ advance.

That was precisely why the Coalition Forces were determined to attack here. It was worth any cost.

If they succeeded, the Ernesto front would essentially be decided. They could then redeploy troops to support the Dmitria Church and concentrate their forces against the Alliance’s counteroffensive.

It could be said that the battle for Xinwapa State would determine Ernesto’s national fate, as well as influence the subsequent war between the Coalition Forces and the Alliance.

This battle—Ernesto could not afford to lose.

Cassius sent his final telegram to Yadov in the capital:

“Marshal, please spare no effort to support us. We will hold every position, every inch of land, until the last drop of blood is shed.”

Over a hundred heavy tanks of the Coalition Forces broke through the final defensive line at the front and charged across the flat grasslands before Como City. Hundreds of aircraft roared overhead, diving into the city, dropping magic bombs of various sizes and strafing the ground relentlessly.

The Ernesto military and civilians, caught off guard while constructing fortifications, suffered heavy casualties. Several fuel depots were hit and exploded.

When the Coalition Forces’ vanguard reached the opposite bank of the river outside Como City at night, flames soared into the sky. Under the glow of fire and smoke, the city stood as the prize they sought to conquer.

The Coalition army pierced into Como City as easily as a needle through paper. It was not that there were no defenses—but that those defenses simply could not stop them.

Under the overwhelming bombardment of tank fire, the anti-tank artillery and rocket launchers in the outer defensive positions were flattened before they could fire many shots.

But the closer the Coalition soldiers advanced into Como City, the more they realized—they seemed to be fighting everyone.

For example, at an artillery position reduced to a crater, later inspections revealed that the artillery operators who had fired upon them were women.

In this war, every person in Ernesto had been mobilized.

The state had requisitioned most of the farmers’ grain.

Yet this time, they did not feel despair. In fact, most of it had been willingly given—because their children, even their grandchildren, were serving in the army.

In the sister city behind Como City, approximately 80,000 civilians had joined the self-defense counterattack forces and undergone military training. Among them, around 7,000 were youth corps members aged 9 to 16.

After pushing deeper into Como City, the Coalition Forces discovered they could no longer advance.

They encountered extremely stubborn resistance from the Red Army.

The infantry-tank coordination tactics employed by the Coalition Forces were ineffective in the half-ruined city. Tanks weighing dozens of tons could not pass through many narrow areas, and the trenches across the streets made them even more difficult to maneuver.

Even the Mechanical-body Mages advanced cautiously, unsure whether anti-tank mines were hidden beneath the rubble under their heavy steps.

These mines were designed to destroy tanks—if triggered by a Mechanical-body Mage, they could easily blow apart the lower half of the mechanical body, leaving the operator with no chance of survival.

Inside a bunker, the map before Cassius was precise down to the meter. Every street, every building was a position to be defended.

From the very beginning, he had never intended to confront the Coalition Forces head-on. Five hundred thousand troops were too overwhelming.

He could only use the flesh and blood of everyone in this city to slow the enemy’s advance.