Release That Witch

"Timothy's troops are expected to arrive at the fork of Redwater River in four days, so the First Army will set off this afternoon," said Roland bluntly, "the troops stationed in Border Town will rendezvous with you in the inception place, and I'll catch up to you as soon as possible."     

"Doesn't Border Town need to be fortified?"     

"Lightning and Maggie have kept a close watch on the enemy's movements, so we don't have to divide the forces for defense. What we should do is to defeat them head-on," the prince paused and said, "100 people should be left in Longsong Stronghold to guard those nobles."     

"Leave them... here?" Iron Axe was a little surprised.     

Roland briefly introduced the decree conferred to the five families. "Gathering them together makes it convenient for us to guard them. It's uncertain what designs they would have if they knew the information that Timothy attacked the Western Region. The outmoded weapons and lack of combat experience make the Second Army come under scrutiny in case of emergencies and the troops couldn't react in time. However, it would be impossible for those nobles to make trouble if 10- platoon soldiers of the First Army provided assistance. I don't expect something uncontrolled to happen at the battle in the fork of Redwater River."     

"Yes, Your Highness," Iron Axe answered.     

"You'll also go to the front?" asked Nightingale, who showed up from behind the seat of honor after Iron Axe took his leave.     

"Of course. If I don't go, who'll make the utmost use of Lotus' capability other than me? Perhaps I'm not skilled in commanding troops, but my expertise is to set bunkers and drive tankers," said Roland.     

"I understand bunkers, but what's a tanker?" Nightingale asked with a look of confusion.     

"Oh... It's a kind of wagon carrying cannon," the prince said with some coughs. "But we don't have enough horses, so the Littletown will be used to transport cannon. To some extent, it can't be called a tanker," he added.     

"So you chose Honey?" she blinked her eyes and said, "as far as I'm concerned, she can tame tigers and leopards to be as docile as a horse. Can the cannon carried by beasts be called a tanker?"     

"Of course, it can even be divided into tiger or leopard tankers." Roland could not help tilting his lips and smiling.     

At that moment, Carter came in with an Elanus in his arms. "Your Highness, here's the information from Border Town," he said.     

Roland clapped his hands, the Elanus appeared to understand what this action meant, ridding itself of the knight's arms and flying up. It stably landed on Roland's shoulder after gliding a distance. Roland took out a slice of dried meat from his pocket to feed the bird. The bird also lifted one of its claws to let Roland take the strip of cloth with the information.     

The Elanus wasn't magically changed by Maggie, but was one of the messengers trained by Honey, which could remember the appearance of five to six people and fly hundreds of routes. It could establish the connection with home if it were taken to a strange place.     

Roland unfolded the letter wrapped by the strip of cloth and glanced through it quickly.     

The letter was from Wendy, who had taken Lotus, Sylvie, Leaf, Hummingbird, and Nana, heading to the fork of Redwater River as he had required. They set off with some of the soldiers of the Artillery Squad and eight cannons were loaded on the boat. It was the largest capacity that the Littletown deck could accommodate after this lightweight load.     

The prince calculated the speed of Wendy and her followers in his heart. It would take one day to arrive at the destination by concrete boat. Although Sylvie could work as the navigator, and the boat could also sail at night, the magic power of Wendy was not as abundant as Anna, and she could not constantly cast her power. However, if they rested at night and chose to sail during the day, they could only complete two round trips within four days and, at most, 16 field artilleries could be transported to the fork of the river.     

Although the number of weapons was less than that of the last war, it was just sufficient enough in consideration of some unexpected strike and the enemy's failure to mount a counterattack on the boat. Roland wrote a new order using the pen and paper passed by Nightingale, saying to gather troops and set off right away with weapons and ammunition to converge with the main force in the command of Iron Axe in the fork of the river.     

An hour later, the Elanus delivered the letter to Scroll, who would then transfer it to Captain Brian.     

...     

It was noon of the next day when Roland headed to the preset position.     

The glittering river served as the boundary line between Longsong Stronghold and Redwater City.     

Due to the width of Redwater River, it was commonly considered as the main channel, while the part that flowed to Longsong Stronghold was called Small Redwater.     

After disembarking from the vessel, the witches, who had waited for a long time, came to meet the prince.     

"Where's Wendy?" Roland looked around and asked.     

"She has gone back by the Littletown," said Leaf, "and she said there was the last batch of cannons to deliver."     

"I've heard that you plan to deal with Timothy Wimbledon, the fake king who catches the witches in the city daily. What could we do for you?" Lotus asked eagerly.     

Although Iron Axe and the main force of the First Army had not arrived, it was practical to make preparations as long as witches joined in.     

"I need to build defense lines on both sides of the main channel," he said and crouched to draw up a sketch map with a stone, "this line represents the path that the enemies are marching on, and our troops are hiding on both shores of the river to mount a surprise attack on them. Therefore, you need to lift up two earth houses forming a V-shaped angle. The house'll be in a rectangular shape, with its walls thick and solid enough. There'll be eight compartments inside, with a small window to the left on the wall that faces Redwater River."     

"Your Highness, I'm not clear... " Lotus said with confusion, "you hide the soldiers in the earth house to conceal their whereabouts, but they can't attack the vessels on the river. What should we do if Timothy's troops would neither stop nor hug the shores?"     

"No, they won't pass by. You'll know at that moment," Roland smiled and said.     

He then looked at Leaf and said, "You're responsible for camouflaging these fortifications. Both weeds and vines will work. Just make them look natural."     

"Yes!" Leaf answered.     

When cannons were pushed into the disguised fortification, the two earth houses that seemed to be useless in Lotus's eyes instantly changed into "the ship of the Line" that would be unsinkable. Each compartment would spew out the fatal fire only after opening the baffle on the window. The 16 field artilleries would not lose their target because of jolting. In fact, they could hit a sailing ship in the central channel even with their eyes closed. Even if the sailing boats would not sink, their decks would become inevitably useless.     

And from the beginning of the war, the enemy was in a disadvantaged state. Roland thought proudly, [My troops certainly hold all the trumps.]