A thick black-gray smoke suddenly rose from both ends of the city, and two loud noises made the floor of the watchtower tremble slightly. After the roar, there was a burst of cheers from below the city wall. Obviously, taking action before the enemy was a big boost to morale.
But Willian knew in his heart that the first-round shot was nothing more than that.
Sure enough, after counting the breaths, two balls of mud rose up in the field, not only did not hit the enemy with a single shot, but also deviates quite a bit from the preset landing point during the previous drill. The cannonball bounced off the ground and rolled forward for a short distance, ploughing a shallow trench 30 feet long in the muddy battlefield.
It wasn't a windless day today, which meant the boulders needed more test shots to hit their targets.
He knew very well that the cannon that Jinsui City spent a lot of money built was far from the long-barreled cannon used by Roland, even bigger than the gap between the muskets.
The most obvious point is that the boulder cannon cannot move freely.
In order to prevent the gun body from exploding, the craftsmen melted almost all the bronze utensils in the city, not even the ancient bell on the clock tower. After many experiments, the finished product is enough to crush any carriage. The wall of the chamber is about an arm thick. It can only be erected on a specially built gun tower. The pitch angle and orientation are controlled by the noose. It takes at least a quarter of an hour to load each shot. .
In addition, the spherical shells it fired were made of granite, so it couldn't produce a violent explosion like when Roland bombarded the capital. Willian has also tried hollow shells that can wrap snow powder, but it is extremely unstable to use, and the output is also very low due to the iron shell. He has always wondered where Roland got so many raw materials. of.
Therefore, from the beginning, the Duke's defensive strategy was to limit the opponent's artillery as much as possible.
As long as the enemy is forced to approach the city to fight, his boulder cannon will always hit the opponent at the moment.
After a round of shooting, Roland's army unexpectedly halted its advance, seemingly shocked by the unexpected attack, and began to retreat, only to stop when it was nearly a hundred paces away from where the shells landed.
"What are they doing?" Glenna asked suspiciously.
Willian raised the observation glass and noticed that the hundreds of people had taken off the equipment they were carrying, and dug up the soil on the spot. At first glance, it seemed that they were planning to clear a flat area in the field.
"I'm probably afraid, I want to adjust the team and fight a protracted battle," a viscount who was also watching the battle from the watchtower said, "I heard that Roland Wimbledon has completely abandoned the knights, and the army is full of a group of unscrupulous people. How much knowledgeable villagers in the countryside, relying on high-quality firearms to win all the way before, basically did not encounter any setbacks. Now I need to stand against our attack to seize the city wall, and I am quite hesitant in my heart. This trick turns soil into mud and works really well Beautiful, my lord."
"But our income and squires are also much less," another frowned. "This year, Xie Yue has escaped many subjects, half of the workshops have been abandoned. If possible, it would be better to negotiate with Roland Wimbledon. "
"Without equal conditions, there is no basis for peace talks. No matter what, we have to win the next match."
"Shut up for me," Willian said displeased, "I will never surrender to the Kingslayer. If you would rather give up your noble status and betray His Majesty Timothy, I will put you in the cellar first, Be with those rioters."
The scene suddenly lost its voice.
In order to prepare for this defensive battle, Jinsuicheng did pay a great price. Not only did it turn from a commercial center into a fortress, but he also made some helpless actions that he was initially unwilling to do. But in the eyes of the Duke, it was all worth it. If the fourth prince had drawn the nobles to control Greycastle from the very beginning, then he should have failed long ago, but the other party chose a path of rebelliousness, which was to overthrow the entire noble system and take power into his arms.
As long as he can thwart Roland's attack here, the others will change their previous mentality and support him in continuing to take charge of the Eastern Territory, and more opponents will emerge in Greycastle. It can be said that he is fighting against His Majesty Tifek Roland also fought to maintain the traditional aristocratic system.
"My lord, the boulder cannon is loaded!" a squire reported.
"Do you want to keep shooting?" Glenna asked.
"No, wait... Unless we add snow powder, it will be very difficult for us to hit that position." Willian shook his head, he regretted ordering the shooting so quickly, and thought that if he fired earlier, the calibration could be completed earlier. , but did not expect the opponent to stop advancing because of a shot. Now watching the group of people busy in the mud, there was a faint uneasiness in his heart.
The flat ground that was shoveled out was only for two people to stand. It didn't seem like they were preparing for camp. More than a hundred people were divided into more than ten groups. After cleaning the ground, they fiddled with those green long tubes.
Under the observation glass, their movements can be seen at a glance. The long barrel seems to be just a part. There is a tripod under it, and a sunken iron plate is also placed at the end. In addition, the barrel is also plugged in. Several strange sticks. These things were previously carried by everyone, and it took less than a quarter of an hour to put them together temporarily, which shows the subtlety of the design.
However, the next moment, the Duke could hardly believe his eyes!
I saw that the other party stuffed a spindle-shaped can into the cylinder, and then a white smoke quickly spewed from the top of the cylinder.
Just when the nobles were still wondering what this thing was, more than ten groups of dark red fireballs suddenly burst out inside and outside the city wall, followed by a series of thunderous explosions!
Since the houses near the inner side of the city wall have been demolished, only various traps and obstacles remain, so not many people were injured, but the shock to Willian is indescribable!
At that moment, there was only one voice left in his head.
Is that a cannon
But how could it be a cannon!
Although the Duke had never seen Roland's artillery troops, he had heard many times that they were divided into two types according to the length of the barrels. Whatever it is, it is not something that can be carried by human beings.
It took two years to cast all the craftsmen and raw materials in Jinsui City to cast such two barely usable cannons. This is a lack of skill and experience, and in principle, it is not fundamentally different from Roland's firearms. He believed that the craftsmen would be able to make similar weapons in a few years.
But the scene in front of him completely subverted his thoughts.
How does such a thin tube support the huge pressure generated when the snow powder explodes
This is totally unreasonable!
"Take out the stone bullets, and add half a bag of snow powder!" The Duke turned around and shouted at the attendant, "Fill it immediately after loading it up. As long as you hit one person, I will reward him with ten golden dragons!"
The latter showed hesitation, "Half a bag? Sir, that might damage the gun body."
"If you let them attack the city wall like this, it's useless to keep the boulder gun!" Willian grabbed his collar and said, "Do as I say! Now!"
And just as the order was given, white smoke floated again in front of the position.
The interval between before and after is less than ten breaths!
This time, Willian heard a slight buzzing, like a bird chirping, and like the whistle of an arrow breaking through the air.
"call out"
The next moment, several dazzling fireballs rose from the top of the city wall, and the scorching air waves overturned the bonfire and the oil basin. In the blink of an eye, the top of the wall turned into a sea of fire.