Chapter 621: Sleepless Night
Translator: TransN Editor: TransN
"This is simply... God's Punishment." Iron Axe sighed. "They can only be passively attacked as they can't even see the shadow of their opponents. There's no way for the ordinary enemies to complete the mountain path with the gunfire on their heads."
Witnessing the power of howitzer, the chief commander of the First Army naturally knew the amazing effect when it fell within a densely gathered marching platoon. The first shell landed as far as five kilometers away in front of the battlefield. The enemy was running madly throughout the way, or consuming all their energy before the war, or moving forward fearlessly with the incomplete platoon to the battlefield. Of course, the most likely scenario was dispersing in an uproar and turning into escape instead of marching in.
"Unfortunately all the enemy we have to face is not normal," Roland smiled and said, "and not to mention that there's only a limited amount of shells, otherwise, we can easily wipe out the enemy with the two Longsong Cannons."
As Longsong Cannon was firing with the complete ammunition, the firing speed was as high as eight shots per minute. The firing efficiency could definitely be considered as an absolute insanity in this era. Since the alchemist from King's City moved into Neverwinter with a large batch of apprentices, the production of double base propellant had been rising steadily, and the number of shells had become the biggest limitation—the fuze trigger could only be manually produced by Anna currently, and its extremely precise mechanical structure had restricted the production of howitzer.
"Your Majesty, all the 20 cannons have been completely fired," Van'er, the battalion commander reported after several repeating fires. "A total of six valid target data was obtained, and most of them were roughly distributed in the second half of the mountain road."
"That's good. That's all for today." Roland nodded.
Afterall, the test shells required customized production. Although it was utilizing the solid bullet, the shape and counterweight were exactly like the grenade with the fuze installed—only Anna could handle such an exquisite task, so she would make time to produce a certain amount of test bullets every day for the Artillery Battalion test shooting purposes.
"Do you need to go anywhere else to have a look?" Iron Axe asked.
"No, I'll go back to the camp first, and you continue to arrange the training for the soldiers," Roland contemplated for a moment before he shook his head and said.
"Yes, Your Majesty," he bowed and said.
Returning to the campsite, Roland sighed extensively while leaning back against the couch. He realized that there was nothing much left for him to do, or perhaps, he had done what he could and the rest could only depend on the fate.
The church finally responded five days ago. According to Maggie's report, the city door of Holy City was opened, and countless men and horses gushed out from the city, heading towards Coldwind Ridge in an orderly line. Looking down from the sky, the shining silver armors of the warriors looked like a river of striking waving light flowing through the Impassable Mountain Range.
At the same time, the spy placed around the area of the old Holy City and Hermes highlands had sent a secret letter, stating that the scale of action of the church was unprecedented, even the crowd in the city activities was dramatically decreased.
Obviously, the enemy was swarming over.
After receiving the news, Roland immediately rushed to the front line. And his arrival had boosted the morale of the First Army to the maximum, the war that decided the future of both parties was approaching.
There were more than 4,000 elite soldiers: one team of reserved knights offered by Duke of the Northern Region, the preliminary investigation group organized by Lightning and Maggie, Sylvie's fire guide that never missed, and the combat witch who scattered around the campsite. It should be a complete preparation. Even the movement of the church was totally in accordance with the battle plan formulated by the Adviser Department, and the residents in Coldwind Ridge were evacuated. Thus, even if the enemy intended to use Berserk Pills, they would only consume the believers in Holy City or the forced residents in the other kingdom.
The opening was considered pretty perfect.
However, Roland was a little worried.
He was worried about the pure witches.
It was still unknown for the form they would appear to be and in what capacity would they intervene in this battle.
In order to prevent the casualties caused by the enemy's sneak attack, the witches in the front line had to be very cautious these few days. They were all gathered in a hall. Sylvie and Nightingale were divided into two groups to take a turn on night watch. The entire camp would be awakened by Echo's siren once the magic reaction was encountered.
As a result, the church had not taken any further action other than sending soldiers to take over Coldwind Ridge. Roland did not even see any pure witch.
He was not sure whether the enemy was planning an earth-shattering conspiracy, or simply disdained to disturb, and planning to crushed him into pieces on the official battlefield.
Anyway, all he could do now was to continue to wait.
...
Roland was lying on the bed early after dinner. However, he could not fall asleep until the bright moonlight was shining through the window slit onto his bedside. He put on his clothes and walked out of the bedroom. Nightingale who was staying outside the house immediately flashed over to him.
"Is there anything wrong, unable to fall asleep?"
"Slightly, it's probably due to too much straw below the bed." Roland rubbed his neck and pulled out a wheat leave from his clothes. "It feels like something is poking my back when I lie on it."
"I feel the same." Andrea who was on the same early midnight team agreed. "Not to mention moving a big comfortable bed over but at least it should be layered with two extra silk pads. Duke of the Northern Region is too stingy."
"Ladies and gentlemen, we're at war, not on an outing," Ashes angrily said, "It's considered good to have a shelter, don't be so demanding."
"Of course, it makes no difference for someone who has thick and rough skin."
"It's better than being weak and fragile."
"I think we'll need to have another duel to see who the weak and fragile one is."
"You'll understand after we finish with the church."
"Hold on... Can I place a bet?" Shavi put her hand up and said.
Nightingale pulled Roland aside and said, "Don't bother about them, it's a nightly routine."
Roland shook his head while smiling. "I would not put them together if I knew it earlier." Due to the fact that Nightingale's scope of investigation was far smaller than that of Sylvie, the combat mission of the early midnight team was handed over to the three poker players group. They would be the strongest offensive group with Nightingale. While those who were arranged for the late midnight team were mainly defensive-based. The members were Agatha, Breeze and Iffy, no one could manage and block the enemy better. "What about the others? Can they adapt?" Roland asked.
"Sisters from Witch Cooperation Association aren't as picky as you are," Nightingale blinked and said, "and they had experienced the days without shelter and food during their escape, so they could simply close their eyes and fall sleep in this situation."
"Well, looks like I'm the most impatient one..." Roland sat on the step and kept quiet for quite a while, looking up at the stars and finally said, "What will we do when all these come to an end?"
Nightingale sat beside him and said, "You're getting nervous, aren't you?"
Roland touched his nose in guilt and said, "I'm just being a little emotional. If we can't defeat the church..." He then thought, " Will Neverwinter continue to run under the current order? Will the kingdom be completely devoured by the church, or will it return to the previous path of the noble ownership? And what about Anna and the rest of the witches... Can they really safely flee to Sleeping Islands?"
He had devoted to forging the land and developed a strong feeling towards the people unconsciously.
"Don't worry," Nightingale held onto his hand and softly said. "As I mentioned before... You won't be hurt as long as I'm still alive," she paused and said, "not to mention that our story has just started."