The Preparation for Engaging the Enemy
The Preparation for Engaging the Enemy
"What? More than 1,000 of them?" Roland was startled. [Didn't you say 50 emissary delegations?]
"Um, coo!" Maggie added, "However there're only six of them riding on horses."
"In that case, what're the clothes and weapons... of those who're walking?"
"Just normal, most of them don't even have armor on, and they're wearing ordinary linen clothes," Lightning said, "weapons are various, however, there're hundreds of them carrying a short spear behind them."
[Such poor level of equipment, could they be the forced-recruited civilians or serfs?] Roland wondered. [There's no special training provided for the militia in this era. They're the logistics who're responsible for transporting the provisions and gears supply of the knights, and they're sometimes used as the 'cannon fodder' to exhaust the enemy's arrows.]
He would need to understand the situation of the war between Longsong Stronghold and Border Town if Timothy wanted to kill Roland by force. Over 200 knights of the Coalition of Duke Ryan had not even stepped into the town, not to mention the militia who were walking and running on their feet. They must be confident to break through the intensive gunning-line since they were still approaching the town after knowing the result and the process of the war.
Roland could not help but think of the pills from the church.
He was previously guessing if the church was supporting both himself and Garcia, they would probably support Timothy as well. The situation would be different if these people had possessed the pills.
They could enhance the running speed of a human to the speed of a horse in a short time and they would be fearless to pain, which also meant that the gunning-line would have to face the attack of over 1,000 "knights". It would bring casualties to the First Army, even if only one of them was running into the line.
Luckily, the First Army was no longer the army of two months ago.
Although there were only around 100 revolving rifles modified, the firepower transmission density had been far more than the flintlock army, especially with the shooters equipped with the specialized loader—the enemies within a 300-meter range would be continuously attacked. The Artillery Squad had been expanded after the stronghold war from four teams to 20 teams currently. Every team was equipped with a 12-pound modified field artillery which increased the caliber that increased the effective range to over 1,000 meters.
However, another question came to Roland's mind.
"Did you see any God's Stone of Retaliation on those who were walking?"
"I didn't get too close to them," Lightning pointed at Maggie and said, "but she can see much better after transforming into an eagle."
The latter shook her head and said, "I didn't see any, or perhaps it was hidden in their clothes, coo!"
"In that case..." Roland pondered and said, "You bring Nightingale with you this time. You could probably fly around 10 meters high with only one person behind you. You just fly along Redwater River. Maggie is responsible for the front line alert while Nightingale goes forward in the Mist state in case there're any passing ships." He looked at Nightingale and said, "You'll need to observe if most of the army is wearing the God's Stone of Retaliation after approaching the enemy. Make sure not to attack."
"Yes," Nightingale and Lightning said in unison.
Just when the three were about to depart, Roland stopped them and said, "Remember, safety first. Protect yourselves."
"No problem." Nightingale blinked her eyes and smiled.
Roland was feeling a little uneasy after the witches left. [Was my last sentence similar to setting up the flag?]
And he noticed that he made a major mistake in his work, which was that he had very weak control over the information of Longsong Stronghold—if it was not for the carrier pigeon Petrov sent, he would probably only notice the condition when the enemy was attacking at the door. It would be hard for the First Army to redeem the situation once they were caught in the street battle.
[I'm too young and too naive,] Roland thought, "it must be made up after the war, not only on the intelligence but also placing the manpower for Petrov.]
Prince Roland was restlessly sitting in front of the table, he even lost his appetite for lunch and he was only relieved when Lightning flew into the room with Nightingale on her back.
Maggie patted her wings and stopped on Nightingale's shoulder and said loudly, "No, coo! No, coo!"
"No God's Stone of Retaliation?"
"Mostly no." Nightingale took off her hood and her blonde hair fell out. "I had been observing from the front of the army to the back. Other than 10 people who lead, there were only three or four parts with a black empty hole within the militia."
"Very well." A preliminary battle plan was quickly formed in Roland's mind. "Are you hungry? Go to the dining room and ask the chef to cook whatever you like."
"Honey barbeque meat, coo!" Maggie extended her wings and raised her head.
*******************
The east side, outside of the town.
Van'er glanced at the busy stonemasons and workers on both sides of the street. "What're they actually building?"
A few hundred of them were first digging a few huge pits on the ground and started to build a brick wall along the side of the pits. He first thought that both ends of the wall would be joined to block the road but the wall was unexpectedly surrounding the pits.
"Who knows? I only know that there're enemies to be beaten up again," Jop fixed the carriage and excitedly said.
"Indeed," Van'er thought. Since they defeated the Coalition of Duke Ryan, Prince Roland, His Highness, personally issued a bronze emblem to every member of the mortar team... No, it was a medal. The front side of the medal was the pattern of the Longsong Stronghold's high wall and the back was engraved with the reign title and military exploits. It was exquisitely made, making the Flintlock Squad badly envious.
Other than the honor, everyone was promoted a level and Van'er was currently a captain of the cannon teams, managing 10 cannon teams. And the Rodney brothers, Cat's Claw, and Jop were promoted to be the team leader, and three of them were transferred to a newly-formed team to teach the new recruits how to operate a cannon.
The most exciting thing was that Prince Roland, His Highness, had fulfilled his promise and divided a piece of land at the bottom of the Impassable Mountain Range located at the east side of the town. Although it was still a forest currently, there was already a monument erected on the ground which signified that the land had belonged to him.
Therefore, the First Army was suddenly worked up, knowing that there was an enemy invading the town. Everyone was eager to fight, hoping to contribute to this war.
In the evening, Van'er wiped off the sweat on his forehead after completing the training of the day. He leaned against the carriage to take a rest. He was checking on the new recruits' compliance and confirming if they were launching the cannon in accordance with the rules the entire evening. His throat was almost fuming due to all the screaming.
"Drink some water." Jop passed him a leather sack.
"Thank you." Van'er twisted open the cover and took a huge gulp of it.
"I think I know what they're building," the former smirked and happily said.
"Do you?" Van'er returned the sack to Jop. The brick wall was built as high as half a human, and the pits were roughly surrounded by a hexagonal wall. However, each wall was 30cm to 40cm away from the ground, leaving a long and narrow gap. It looked a little like a window, but it was a little narrow. "Would it be a house?"
"It's also correct to say it's a house. I've asked one of the stonemasons." Jop nodded. "He told me that it was an idea of His Highness, who wanted to build the underground house for the Flintlock Squad to hide inside when firing as a protection shelter. However, it has a unique name. His Highness named it a bunker."