Chapter 840 I Can Also Wind Up a Cannon
The spring breeze was damp and cold, and even though it was almost noon, it made people shiver.

Standing at the top of the slope, although they had already thought of the result, Laful and Omes did not look happy.

Glenspan, who was forcibly called back from the front, struggled, but he did not expect to encounter such a disastrous defeat.

The knights who should have quickly broken through the enemy’s defense line were not only entangled by spider silk, but also bitten by werewolves, and finally sniped by spiral gunners.

Of the approximately thirty men in the Fifth Imperial Order Company who were temporarily unable to return to the battlefield, nine were killed in battle.

These nine people are all Imperial Knights.

Those enameled iron flowers became the symbol of werewolf and spiral gunner snipers, and the death rate was very high.

They are the Imperial Command Company. It is hard to understand why they suffered such a disastrous defeat.

“It seems that attacking this position is much more difficult than we thought.” Laffer whispered, his sharp eyes sweeping over Glenspan’s team.

Those Knights of the Imperial Order who were still trying to reorganize were still bloodied and gasping for breath.

The Duke of Homais remained silent, his lips tightly sealed.

His eyes did not shift, still staring at the battlefield, he hesitated several times before finally speaking: “Grunspan’s attack was too hasty.”

Raffl did not immediately respond.

He himself once thought that perhaps a stronger, more violent and better prepared charge could break through the enemy’s line.

However, the siege of Xialu City proved that the breastwork tactics combined with this clockwork gun machine was a high wall that the knights could never overcome in their lifetime.

It is impossible to break through in a short period of time relying solely on the power of the Extraordinary Knight.

Either they had to dig trenches and advance slowly, or they had to use the weapons of the thousands of people in the valley.

“Your Excellency the Duke, we need to change our strategy.” Lavle finally spoke, his voice low but firm, “We can no longer rely on ordinary cavalry charges, nor can we engage in meaningless hand-to-hand combat.

This position has a solid structure and is cleverly laid out. If we want to attack quickly, the only thing we can do is to use long-range suppression to disrupt their formation.”

Knowing what Lavle was talking about, a complicated expression flashed across Duke Omes’s face: “The clockwork cannon… I really love and hate it.”

“Who isn’t?” Lavle turned to the attendant beside him, “Immediately move the clockwork cannon to the front of the formation and prepare to start bombardment.”

The Duke of Omes added: “Tell the Red Knights to prepare in advance. After the bombardment, we must quickly exert pressure to prevent them from reorganizing.”

If you want to send out the Red Knight, you must prepare at least one hour in advance. There have been cases in the past where the Red Knight captured the flag and killed the general but went in the wrong direction.

Amid the squeaking sound of wheels rolling over the ground, the clockwork cannon with its black muzzle shaking was transported to the front of the battle.

There were a total of three six-pound sand sculpture cannons and nine three-pound falcon cannons, lined up in front of the formation.

As for artillery tactics, the Kingdom of Leia also learned from the Holy Alliance of the Thousand River Valley. After all, they were the originators.

Among the artillerymen who originally belonged to the Holy Alliance, there were always those who were afraid of death, and there were also artillery officers who were originally mountain knight nobles.

Even though they were going to bombard their compatriots, they showed no mercy at this moment.

Knowing the importance of these artillery officers, Lavle offered them a salary twice that of the Holy League.

Aiming, installing the mainspring, adding lubricating oil, loading ammunition… their professionalism is no less than that of the artillery officers holding gun tables on the Holy Alliance side.

“Are you ready?” came Raffl’s voice, his eyes flickering.

The artillery captain stood straight and raised his head: “Twelve guns, ready!”

“emission!”

With a command, the clockwork cannon roared, the shells disappeared from sight, and rushed towards the breastwork in front.

The sound of explosions rose in the ears of the Holy Alliance soldiers, and the earth mounds piled in front of the breastwork seemed to explode from the inside, and the yellow soil fell down with a crash.

The first round of shooting, due to the long distance, all the bullets went astray, hitting the bushes a few hundred meters away or the pond nearby, raising a high column of water.

Another one hit the pigpen in the nearby village, scaring a group of large white pigs into rushing into the fields in panic.

Only one shell hit the position, and that only hit the mound of earth in front of the breastwork.

It didn’t take long before the second, third, and fourth rounds of artillery fire followed.

An iron cannonball hit the breastwork, immediately splashing out countless pieces of stone and cracks spreading like a spider web.

The upper edges of several sections of the wall were cracked, broken bricks and soil flew everywhere, hitting the surrounding soldiers so hard that their heads were covered in blood.

Some of them even fell into the parapet, smashing the limbs and torsos of several soldiers. An angry corps commander jumped onto the parapet, pointing at the opposite side and cursing.

“Traitor! Do you know what you are doing?!”

Despite the roar of artillery fire, the breastwork did not completely collapse.

Although the bombardment was effective, the Holy Alliance’s position remained tenacious.

Since the Holy Alliance’s clockwork cannon was difficult to wind up, the shells had to be used sparingly. In addition, Jeshka trusted the will of the soldiers and did not even give the order to counterattack.

After rounds of bombardment, by noon the Wild Wolf monks had gradually adapted to the situation.

The sun did not warm the wind, but they squatted behind the parapet and ate sausages with cold water and bread.

Looking at the Wild Wolf Army’s position shrouded in dust and fog, Laffer thought for a while.

“One more round.” Lavle said in a low voice, his eyes did not move away from the battlefield in front of him, “Then, the Red Knight can go up.”

Following Laffer’s instructions, the artillerymen quickly began preparations for the next round.

As for Lavr himself, he left the top of the hill and returned to the newly built camp in the rear.

Hundreds of devil horses stood there, and the same number of red knights stood blankly beside them.

Although he had seen this scene countless times, Laffer felt blasphemous and uncomfortable every time he saw it.

Taking out a box from his arms, and a severed finger from the box, Laffer slowly walked in front of the red knights.

Seeing the severed finger, the devil horses that were originally restless and snorting quickly quieted down, and the black-robed monks slowly approached.

“After the next round of firing, you will be on the field.”

The leading monk of pain whispered, “I heard that traces of the Franks were seen in the army of the Thousand River Valley Holy Alliance?”

“I know, so we must be careful this time and not let them catch us.” Laffer said calmly.

The suffering monk actually laughed twice: “On the one hand, you ask the red knight to charge at the risk of his life, and on the other hand, you ask him not to reveal his handle. You really want everything.”

“Well, pagan, it’s not your turn to teach a lesson to us noble believers of Messiah.” Laful looked down at him.

But when he turned around, the expression of this senior Leia noble changed slightly.

Recently, Lorenzo seems to have a group of spies investigating the existence of the Red Knight, and the pseudo-Pope Grandivar in the south is also paying close attention to this matter.

He had to withdraw most of the Red Knights, but this caused dissatisfaction from Jinigis.

Having to protect Leia’s crown while satisfying the king’s appetite, the job of the captain of the guard is more difficult than he imagined.

Around 1 p.m., the artillery fire gradually stopped, and Laffer finally gave the order.

“Red Knight, attack!”

(End of this chapter)