As soon as Andrea reached a corner of the city wall, she was shocked by what she saw.
She saw a row of soldiers dressed as militia standing on the wall, holding a strange weapon in their hands, which was probably the flintlock Ashes mentioned. As the demonic beasts approached, the flintlock spewed flames and smoke, and the sound of continuous explosions echoed in her ears.
It should be a weapon similar to a crossbow, but she could not see the bolts they shot at all, probably because of the smoke and dust. The demonic beasts at the forefront seemed to be hit by something, and their bodies trembled and fell to the ground one after another.
But the soldiers neither observed the results of the battle nor loaded the bolts, but continued to shoot at the enemy, and their speed was several times faster than if they were to draw the bow themselves.
"Is this the terrible weapon you mentioned?" Andrea felt her lips were a little dry. "The shooting speed is indeed fast, but the hit rate seems to be..."
"These people were miners, farmers, and hunters before they were recruited into the First Army," Ashes interrupted. "They used this weapon for less than half a year."
It took five years to train a well-trained soldier, and even longer for an archer. Even the shortest training time for a crossbow was about half a year, so that the farmers would not panic and release the bolts. As for actual combat? Only God knew what they could hit. Most of the time, they just carried them around to boost their momentum.
Andrea could not help but swallow. She was no stranger to this kind of training. Her family had also trained an outstanding Knight, so she naturally understood what it meant to be able to put them into actual combat in about half a year. As long as there was an adequate supply of weapons and food, Roland would be able to assemble a large army in a short period of time. Furthermore, this army would not have to worry about being defeated in close combat. Even elite knights would have a hard time getting close to them if they attacked continuously.
This had nothing to do with the courage and willpower of the militia, it was the weapons that gave them great strength.
"Do you know anything else about flintlocks?" Tilly pondered for a moment and asked Sylvie.
The latter nodded. "I've carefully observed it many times, and it is indeed a weapon similar to a crossbow. The arrowhead is very short, and it has no shaft or tail feathers. The difference is that the arrowhead doesn't rely on the elasticity of the string, but on the impact of the explosion of the black powder, which can instantly raise the arrowhead to an extremely high speed. "
"Black powder?" Ashes asked, "What is that?"
"It's probably some kind of alchemy product." She shook her head. "I don't know the specific ingredients."
"It must be very expensive," Andrea said. "Alchemists never make anything cheap."
Ashes pursed her lips. "Is that so? But judging from the way they're shooting, it doesn't seem like they're using anything expensive."
"Wait, something's coming." Sylvie, who was observing the battlefield, was slightly startled. "Oh my god, is this also a demonic beast? It was almost as tall as the city wall! It looks like a giant turtle with a huge shell on its back. "
Andrea immediately perked up. "Carapace? The effectiveness of these guns would probably be limited. As long as I could get within ten steps of them, even the city walls wouldn't be able to block my magic arrows. Ashes, you cover me. "
"Phew, okay." Ashes reluctantly took the big sword from her back. "But first, don't lose Lady Tilly's face."
"Don't go," Sylvie stopped them. "They still have …"
Andrea didn't hear the second half of the other party's words. She only heard a deafening roar, like thunder exploding in her ears. She turned around and saw that the metal tubes on the city wall were spewing flames at the same time. This time, she could vaguely see the trajectory of the arrowheads. They were like shadows, flying towards the monster that had just appeared in the distance at the speed of lightning.
After a few breaths, several snow pillars rose around the monster. After the flying snowflakes fell, the ugly giant demonic beast still moved at a fixed speed. Obviously, this attack didn't hit the opponent.
But even so, it was enough to surprise Andrea … This distance was far beyond the range of longbows and crossbows. "This is …"
"His Royal Highness calls it a field artillery, in simple terms, it's an enlarged flintlock," Sylvie said as she loosened her hands from covering her ears. "Its power is much greater than a flintlock, and its range is also much longer. He used this to easily defeat Timothy's Militia Fleet at the Redwater River's fork."
The demonic beast's luck did not continue. Two of the second round of bombardment accurately hit its carapace. Andrea could see it very clearly. The uneven carapace gave off a thin layer of mist with a dull thud. The side of the carapace near its head was directly blasted open. Black blood and internal organs spurted out from the holes, splattering everywhere.
The battle didn't take long to end. In front of the city wall, there were many corpses of demonic beasts. The flowing blood made a white mist float above the snow. The soldiers began to clean up the aftermath, but she still couldn't find an opportunity to attack.
"It seems that I was wrong." Tilly smiled helplessly. "He doesn't need the help of a combat witch."
"The last time I came to Border Town, this kind of weapon wasn't popular yet. Only the Chief Knight could have it. Now he has actually made so many …" Ashes sighed. "Perhaps this is the reason why His Highness dared to insist on publicizing the existence of witches under the heavy pressure of the Church."
Andrea didn't answer. If it was in normal times, she would have ridiculed Ashes. But now she only felt extremely depressed and didn't even have the strength to argue.
Back in the castle, His Highness Roland still prepared a sumptuous lunch for the witches.
Seeing the colorful dishes on the table, Andrea felt even more suffocated.
The upper nobles of the Kingdom of Dawn paid attention to the beauty of nature when it came to food. They were willing to spend a lot of Golden Dragon and energy to buy some rare and precious ingredients, and then cook them in the most authentic way. In her eyes, food like Graycastle, which was sprinkled with all kinds of spices and sauces, was a very vulgar way to eat. Seasonings were only used to cover up the food's own defects. The more seasonings were added, the worse the taste.
But … every dish on the table was terrifyingly delicious.
For example, charcoal grilled mushrooms. Where did His Highness find such plump and juicy mushrooms? With a little bite, the overflowing juice could almost fill her mouth.
And this vegetable soup, which looked very ordinary and clear, had a strong fragrance when she drank it, as if it was cooked with whole chicken, ribs, and kelp.
The most special dessert was ice cream bread. The milky flavor of ice cream was sandwiched between two pieces of bread. After taking a bite, the cold and soft feeling made her so addicted that she couldn't extricate herself. Even though it was "winter", it didn't prevent her from eating one piece after another.
Damn it, he had completely lost on this point.
Looking at Ashes, who was smiling provocatively at her, Andrea didn't make any response for the first time.
(To be continued.)
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