Chapter 25: Invasion of the Land Kingdom 4

"Hans Engineering Corps, we'll take this castle in three days!" Hans declared loudly. "Ohhh!"

Cheers erupted around them. The Hans Engineering Corps had grown to about 2,000 people, starting with a core of 100 technical experts and gathering additional workers with civil engineering and logging experience from various places. They all headed upstream of the Spey River.

"This spot is perfect," Peter said, pointing to an area where the river had flat banks with river terraces on both sides, and a forest nearby. "We're close to the forest, so we can get plenty of logs. The area around the river is flat, making work easy. It's ideal for building a dam."

"Alright, half of you will cut trees and make logs. The other half will make sandbags." "Ohhh, let's do this!" The workers, except for the core technical team, went out to cut trees and dig soil.

Dozens of pre-prepared stakes were driven into the riverbed, spaced apart at the width of logs. Stakes were also driven into the riverbanks up to the cliffs. Normally, these stakes would be reinforced with diagonal wooden supports downstream, but no such reinforcement was added.

Additionally, a drainage route is typically necessary for a dam to release excess water, but this was also omitted. "This way, the dam won't be too strong," Peter smiled mischievously. The sound of stakes being driven rang out, echoing around the area.

Soldiers chatted while working: "Will this really take down the castle?" "I don't know, but if we can avoid fighting, cutting wood is fine." "We've got it easy." "We just do what we're told and leave the complicated stuff to the higher-ups." "This wood is really hard." "Yeah, it's tough work."

Large quantities of logs were being prepared.

Another soldier filling sandbags wondered, "Will these sandbags really help in a castle siege?" "Are we really okay?" "Well, we've had almost no losses so far. They must have a plan. It'll probably work out." "Hope so." "Just do what we're ordered and make sandbags." An enormous number of sandbags were being created.

The felled trees, stripped of branches, were brought to the riverbank. Huge piles of sandbags were stacked up. "Okay, drop logs between the two stakes, then sink sandbags behind them," Peter ordered. "We'll start with just a few at first."

Initially, the river was shallow enough to walk and move logs and sandbags. Logs were dropped between the stakes, gradually creating a wall. Sandbags were dropped behind to reinforce it. "Normally, we'd need sandbags on the downstream side too, but that would make it too strong. We'll skip that this time," Peter noted.

As the wall was built, the water level gradually rose. Logs were brought from downstream, continuing the wall's construction. As the water rose, sandbags could no longer be carried on foot upstream and had to be transported by small boats.

Finally, the dam was complete. Logs and sandbags blocked the riverbanks and cliffs on both sides, and water began to accumulate. The water overflowed the river banks, creating something like a lake. "Alright, we've made a dam that will break. Everyone worked hard!" Hans declared, met with cheers from everyone.

"We'll leave some lookouts and retreat." "How long until it collapses?" "As planned, about a day and a half," Peter said confidently. "So, the morning after tomorrow." "Exactly."

The water continued to accumulate, gradually rising to an unimaginable level.

The morning of the second day: A loud CRACK echoed. Finally, the immense water pressure broke the stakes. As one stake broke, the pressure increased on the others, causing more stakes to snap. A chain reaction began, with stakes breaking one after another until the entire dam collapsed.

A massive flood of water burst forth, destroying everything in its path and rushing downstream like a raging torrent.

A mountain tsunami had occurred.