The chief knight was also full of interest in the novelty of this weapon, and he didn’t want to put them down.
After several rounds of simulation, Roland set up two targets to let them see the power of the guns. The first target had wooden armor in front of its chest. The wooden armor was held up by two knights standing at a distance of about thirty feet away.
The Prince led Carter and Iron Axe through the shooting technique. Then, they aimed and pulled the trigger.
When they heard the loud sound of fire, every person present jumped up out of shock. Iron Axe was no exception, but soon only surprise was left on everyone’s face.
Looking at the targets’ wooden armor, they could see a small hole. The lead ball had cleanly shot through the chest armor’s thickest part.
Before shooting, Iron Axe had carefully observed this armor. It was clearly not a handicraft workshop’s inferior product built from bad materials. The marks of the hammer and anvil on the neckline proved that this was a product of Graycastle’s blacksmith standard. The thickest part was half a finger thick and was strong enough that it could ward off a direct hit from a crossbow, fired at the closest distance. To deal with this kind of armor, a heavy crossbow or a warhammer would be a wise choice.
So comparing it with a crossbow, the difficulty to use the weapon was the same, but the power of a gun was far better than that of a crossbow. In addition, the gun’s loading speed and the loading speed of a crossbow were nearly equivalent, so… looking at the target which was thirty feet away, Iron Axe couldn’t see a problem.
“Your Highness, how many weapons do we have of this kind?” asked Carter.
“Currently, only these two and until the Months of the Demons, we can only produce two more at most.”
Iron Axe could see that hearing this, Carter was clearly relieved. He was able to guess Carter’s thoughts. If this weapon was easy to manufacture, then with only a few days of training, everyone would be able to train a large number of ‘express warriors’ who were bringing guns to battle. Then people at any age, with any strength and even any sex — even a fragile woman, could be a significant threat to the knights.
Although the shock he got from this weapon was smaller than that of the curse of fire, it still was a powerful weapon. Iron Axe thought, with this great power they could easily kill a large number of rugged-flesh demonic beasts from high up on the wall. Even if they would face a mixed species, with these firearms, maybe the outcome would be not so embarrassing.
But the real significance of such a weapon was clear to Roland.
He personally opened the door to the time of wars with hot weapons.
Chapter 39 The Winter is coming
Roland was standing on the city wall, facing the north. This past month, he repeatedly checked the castle, the mine, and the city walls in a kind of three-point loop. He checked them for every possible detail so that he wouldn’t miss anything.
The militia became very adept at handling their weapons. Due to Carter’s repetitive drills, they were able to stabilize the pike until the Militia Captain loudly gave the command to slash with their pikes.
Standing behind the Militia was the Hunter squad. Every hunter who remained in Border Town and was good with either the bow or the crossbow was incorporated into this squad. These seasoned hunters were the backbone for killing the demonic beasts. Standing only twelve feet away from demonic beasts on the city wall, it was nearly impossible for them to miss their target.
The last line of defense were Iron Axe, Carter, and two hunters from the elite team who were under Iron Axe. The parts manufactured by the blacksmiths were enough to let Anna weld four flintlocks. They would only shoot the flintlocks when a mixed species attacked or the hunters with crossbows were unable to penetrate the skin of the demonic beasts. Their location on the wall wasn’t set, so the four of them had to patrol the whole 200 yard long defense line. If there was a need for them anywhere, they would appear.
As for the explosives, they were kept under heavy protection next to the wall in the warehouse. To keep everyone safe, the gunpowder was stored in its three components, and it would only be put together on the city wall when needed — after all, if the powder detonated at the wrong time, the self-inflicted damage would be even greater than the damage from the demonic beasts. The teeth of the demonic beasts may be able to crush the cement, but if the explosives went off, the whole wall would be destroyed.
So far, Roland had organized two test runs, both including the use of the explosives. Thanks to these two exercises, the militia was used to the loud roars of the explosions and were no longer so scared that they threw their weapons away. The other advantage was that when the defenders discovered that the prince held such incredible weapons in his hands, the team morale suddenly began to skyrocket.
“Your Highness,” Barov tightened his collar, “We have already spent most of the ore income in the last half month, so if the Months of the Demons actually goes on as long as the astrologers have predicted, I fear that the food won’t last till the end of winter.”
“Then I want you to fill up the entire vault,” Roland said without hesitation, “Make another deal with Willow Town and don’t make it the only one. The first steam engine has already been transported to the mine, and the gravel from the collapse has already been completely cleaned up. During the entire winter, we can still get a little yield from the mines. Rough stones are especially in demand. Do not emphasize on price. Instead, sell them as soon as possible so that our wheat and meat storages are always as full as possible.”
Barov nodded, “I’ll give out the orders immediately, Your Highness. Just…”
Seeing the hesitant look on his assistant minister’s face, Roland certainly understood what he wanted to say. “Do not worry, I have already arranged a boat. If the line of defense is broken, I will leave the town immediately.”
“That’s excellent to hear.” said Barov, relieved.
Roland smiled at him and said, “You can go. After all, you have enough to do. I have to look for someone else.”
After Barov left, the Prince slowly stepped onto a watchtower. This place was at the center of the city walls and was their highest point. From here, he could overlook the whole front line, parts of the jungle, and the nearby hills. At such a eight, the wind was blowing quite strongly but Roland didn’t care. Only on this high and open platform could he somewhat calm down and forget the coming war.
“You lied to him,” someone next to him suddenly said, “You don’t intend to leave this town.”
“Life is already so difficult, keeping a few secrets sometimes is good for everyone.”
“You’re talking nonsense and don’t understand the situation. If you already consider the identity of a prince as a difficulty, what would you see us as?” Nightingale emerged out of the fog. “Even if you will not be the king, you still have to live through the five-year-long struggle for the throne because you’re one of the main parties. Compared to worrying about such unimportant matters, you should better accompany Anna. I’m afraid… she doesn’t have much time left. “
For a moment Roland remained silent, “I don’t think that she will die during the Months of the Demons.”
“Why?”
“She said that she will not lose to the devil’s bite,” he paused for a second, “And I believe her.”
“You actually believe what a witch says,” Nightingale shook her head, “but we are cursed by the devil.”
“Are you? Well, I also believe you.”
“……”
Brian was wearing his civilian clothes and was standing in front of Greyhound’s tombstone.
He gently stroked the surface of the new stone, it was a pure white stone and on its surface were engraved the words: “In memory of one of the silent heroes of Border Town.”