The Precise Guided Bomb
The Precise Guided Bomb
Including Sylvie, all the witches who were selected to the recon force had obtained a revolver.
After two days of familiarizing and mastering the posture of holding guns, the training became serious and they entered the live-firing exercise. It included a 10-meter aimed shot and a five-meter rapid shot so that the trainees would be able to cope with an approaching attack and an ambush.
The live-firing practice gave the witches away, who had seemed quite decent in the previous holding guns practice.
Especially when a deafening bang broke out, most of them started to cover their ears instead of shooting, which made Nightingale quirk an eyebrow.
All of them except Anna.
She kept her posture of holding the gun, pulling the trigger continuously, completely disregarding the sound of gunfire and the smoke of gunpowder. If Roland ignored the accuracy, her action seemed neat and clean.
"Is Anna also talented in other aspects besides learning?" Roland was astonished inwardly. "The recoil of a revolver remains strong even if it's filled with a black-powder bullet. How could she manage to keep her arms absolutely still while continuously shooting?"
Curiously, he walked towards her back and saw two balls of Blackfire clinging to the handle of the gun, fixing it firmly in the air, while Anna just stood there pretending to shoot without even touching the gun. He patted her shoulder and she pulled out the Blackfire that plugged her ears, her face craving for praise. "What do you think? I hit all the targets without a miss!"
Roland, who did not know whether to laugh or cry, just declared loudly, "Magic power is forbidden in practicing."
"Oh, why?"
"You'll be greatly flustered when encountering the enemy who wears a God's Stone of Retaliation." Roland sighed and reached out to cover Anna's ears. "Now you shouldn't be afraid anymore."
"Yeah," she said, her bright eyes were filled with laughter. She reloaded the gun and took aim.
"Maggie, come and help me to cover my ears," Lightning shouted jealously.
"Coo?" Maggie pointed at her own gun in her hand.
"Anyway, you can't use a gun after shapeshifting into a bird." The little girl made a wink. "You cover my ears first, and later I'll do the same for you."
"Coo!"
The incessant gunfire had attracted other witches in the castle to gather in the parvise, most of whom were eager to have a try. At last, almost everyone came forward and experienced how to use the thermal weapon.
Roland's heart was flooding with complex feelings, seeing a group of sprightly and colorful women happily playing with the weapons in their hands.
He could still remember what they looked like the first time he met them.
Anna had been weak and skinny like a bamboo pole, her eyes full of deadness and her face numbed with the same expression.
Nightingale, who always had a hint of a dark cloud lingering between her brows, wore a smiling face that had nothing to do with her feelings, or perhaps she took on a joking face as a disguise to hide her true feelings.
Wendy, who could not hide the tiredness behind her soft whisper; the resigned and bewildered Leaf, who took a gamble on her future life; and Lily, who was as cautious and alert as a cat,
As well as Lightning, Mystery Moon, Hummingbird, Scroll, and so on...
For them, after being oppressed, framed, and hunted, staying alive was lucky enough, they simply did not have the time to cogitate the future path they would take. But now, they had completely changed.
Their bodies overflowing with unique charms, and their eyes sparkling with smart light, they would never be perplexed about the future. Apart from surviving, they were able to pursue other things, things that were as wonderful as life.
Roland's mind was brimming with strength every time he saw the gratitude and trust in the witches' eyes.
…
After lunch, it came time for the part of the aloft hurling practice, which Roland had specially designed for the "Autumn Offensive". Only three witches, Anna, Wendy, and Lightning, were left to continue the training while the others took early leave.
Three were the least number they need to accomplish the air attack.
After careful consideration, Roland set the attack time for the beginning of the second month of autumn on purpose. If he made it too early, it would be too rushed to make comprehensive preparations, while if it was made too late, the attack would lose the function of deterring Timothy from dispatching troops—the air attack would not be able to achieve the desired effect if Timothy decided to feed the compulsory civilians on pills and launch a large-scale attack on the Western Region.
That was why he had to start the Autumn Offensive before Timothy was able to complete the recruitment.
To keep his "promise", Roland planned to drop a 250 kg bomb right above the palace of Graycastle. The bomb, weighing fivefold Nightingale, would be dropped from 2,000 meters in the air, hit through the dome, and detonated within the palace.
Slowly, the huge basket carrying the solid simulated bomb was flying up into the sky. Since Roland came with them this time, the solid bomb was made a little smaller with a weight of fourfold Nightingale, and yet the shape was exactly the same as the real aircraft bomb that would be put into use in the future. The bomb was equipped with a stable tail and a parachute to make sure it kept vertical throughout falling and maintained the maximum falling speed.
The basket was specially modified to accommodate the bomb dropping. The iron mounting bracket set at the center of the basket was to hold the bomb still vertically, and half of the bomb body was left poking out of the bottom of the basket. Pulling up on the valve would trigger the talon to loosen the clench and release the bomb that would drop right down.
As they ascended, Border Town shrank to the size of a nail for a short time while Redwater River turned into lace glittering with silverlight.
"This is the first time I'm standing in such a high place," Wendy looked out through the window and said, "I feel like the whole Western Region is narrowing."
"That's because the Western Region is indeed very small," said Roland, with a light laugh, "Look at Barbarian Land in the north. That's where we should go in the future."
"Would you like to keep ascending? I'm almost losing the target," Lightning shouted loudly outside of the basket.
"That'll do." He nodded to Anna and then gestured to the little girl to keep ready.
Roland could not estimate the accurate height, yet he was sure it was over 1,000 meters—a height that would not only be absolutely safe to launch an attack but also prevent the enemy from spotting the hot air balloon.
However, he must depend on luck to hit the target when dropping the bomb from over 1,000 meters, unless the bomb was equipped with a guidance system to control a precise strike.
The little girl, Lightning, would be responsible for aiming.
"Release," Roland ordered.
As Wendy pulled the valve to release the bomb, a strong current gushed into the basket, and Anna immediately sealed the hole with the prepared cover and tightened the mounting brackets. Their coordination became smooth and tacit after the repeated practice on the ground.
"Did she hit the target?" Wendy asked, lying by the window.
"We'll know when we land." Roland shrugged.
Lightning, who was falling with the bomb at the same speed, would adjust its orbit by imposing the horizontal thrust so that it resembled a guided bomb. As soon as it was approaching the target, Lightning would pull the tail mechanism to separate the parachute. In this way, the bomb would gain sufficient kinetic energy over the last few hundred meters till it hit right through the dome of the palace.
In this case, having it fall from a sufficient height would ensure that the landing could be more precisely controlled.
After that, all they need to do was to practice the procedure constantly.