The spring wind was damp and cold; even though it was close to noon, it sent chills down one's spine.
Standing on the hilltop, despite having anticipated the outco, both Raffel and Duke Os did not look pleased.
Struggling after being forcibly recalled from the frontline, Glenspan never expected to face such a crushing defeat.
The knights who were supposed to break through the enemy lines swiftly not only got entangled in spider webs but were also bitten by werewolves and finally sniped by the helical gunners.
Thirty from the Fifth Imperial Decree Company were temporarily unable to return to the battlefield, and nine were killed in action.
All nine were Imperial Knights.
The enal iron emblems beca targets for werewolf and helical gunner sniping, resulting in a high death rate.
They were the Imperial Decree Company, it was truly incomprehensible to suffer such a defeat.
"It seems attacking this position is much harder than we imagined," Raffel said in a low voice, his gaze sharply sweeping over Glenspan's troops.
The Imperial Knights who were still trying to regroup remained blood-stained and breathless.
Duke Os was silent, his lips tightly sealed.
His gaze never wavered, remaining fixated on the battlefield; he hesitated several tis before finally speaking, "Glenspan's round of attack was too hasty."
Raffel did not respond imdiately.
He himself had once thought that perhaps a stronger, more vigorous, and better-prepared charge might break through the enemy lines.
However, the siege of Xia Lvcheng proved that the chest wall tactics, paired with spring-loaded guns, were virtually insurmountable walls for the knights for eternity.
With the strength of the Extraordinary Knights alone, breaking through in a short period was impossible.
Either dig trenches slowly to advance or rely on the weapons of the Thousand River Valley People.
"Your Grace, we need to change our strategy." Raffel finally spoke, his voice deep yet firm. "We can no longer rely on ordinary cavalry charges, nor can we continue with pointless lee.
The structure of this position is solid, cleverly laid out; if we want to launch a swift attack, the only thing we can do is use long-range suppression to disrupt their formation."
Knowing what Raffel ant, Duke Os's face showed a hint of complexity: "The Spring Cannon... I have such a love-hate relationship with it."
"Who doesn't?" Raffel turned to the Attendant Officer beside him, "Imdiately deploy the Spring Cannon to the front line and prepare to comnce bombardnt."
Duke Os added, "Have the Red Knights prepared in advance; after the bombardnt, we must swiftly apply pressure to prevent them from reorganizing."
To deploy the Red Knights required at least one hour of preparation, previously there had been incidents of the Red Knights mistakenly charging in the wrong direction in flag capture missions.
As the wheels screeched over the ground, the dark-mouthed Spring Cannon was transported to the front line.
In total, three six-pound sand eagle cannons and nine three-pound falcon cannons were arrayed in front of the line.
In artillery tactics, Leia Kingdom had similarly learned from the Thousand River Valley Holy Alliance, after all, they were the originators.
The artilleryn originally from the Holy Alliance were always cowards fearing death, except for those artillery officers who were originally Mountain Knight Nobility.
Even though they were to bombard their compatriots, they showed no rcy at this mont.
Knowing the importance of these artillery officers, Raffel offered double the salary of the Holy Alliance.
Aiming, installing the spring warehouse, applying lubricant, loading... their professionalism was no less than the artillery officers from the Holy Alliance using handheld artillery markers.
"Ready?" Raffel's voice ca through, his eyes shimring.
The head of the artillery crew stood straight, lifting his head: "All twelve cannons, ready!"
"Fire!"
With the command, the Spring Cannons roared, the cannonballs vanished from sight, rushing toward the chest wall ahead.
The explosion rang in the ears of the Holy Alliance Soldiers, the earth piled before the chest wall seed to explode from within, yellow earth cascading down.
The first round of shooting, due to the distance, veered off-target.
Either striking a clump of trees hundreds of ters away or hitting a nearby pond, sending a high water column soaring.
One shell even struck a pigpen in a nearby village, causing a herd of large white pigs to frantically scatter into the fields.
Only one cannonball hit the position, rely striking the earth mound before the chest wall.
It wasn't long before the second, third, and fourth rounds of bombardnt followed in quick succession.
An iron shot smashed against the chest wall, instantly scattering countless fragnts, cracks sprawling like spider webs.
The top of several wall sections cracked, shattered bricks and dirt flying, leaving surrounding soldiers with heads covered in blood.
More cannonballs landed within the chest wall, fragnting several soldiers' limbs and torsos, infuriating one Corps Commander to climb onto the chest wall, angrily cursing the opposite.
"Traitors! Do you know what you are doing?!"
Despite the artillery barrage, the chest wall did not completely collapse.
While the bombardnt was effective, the Holy Alliance's position remained stubborn.
Due to the inconvenience of winding the Holy Alliance's Spring Cannons, ammunition had to be used sparingly, plus Jeska trusted in the soldiers' resolve, not even issuing a counterattack order.
Amid the rounds of cannon fire, as ti reached noon, the Wild Wolf Cultivators surprisingly began to get accustod.
The sunlight didn't warm the breeze, yet they squatted behind the chest wall, eating sausages with cold water and bread.
Gazing at the dust-laden Wild Wolf Army position, Raffel pondered for a while.
"Another round," Raffel said in a deep tone, his gaze still fixated on the battlefield ahead, "and then we can deploy the Red Knights."
With Raffel's directive, the artilleryn quickly engaged in preparations for the next round.
As for Raffel himself, he left the hilltop and returned to the newly built camp at the rear.
Hundreds of Devil Horses stood tall, and beside them an equal number of Red Knights stood dazed.
Despite having witnessed this scene countless tis, each ti Raffel saw it, he felt desecration and discomfort.
Taking a box from his pocket, from which he took a severed finger, Raffel slowly approached the Red Knights.
Upon seeing the severed finger, the previously agitated, snorting Devil Horses imdiately cald, while the black-clad monks walked forward slowly.
"After the next round of firing, it's your turn to take the field."
The leading Suffering Monk spoke in a low voice: "I've heard rumors of Falan individuals within the Thousand River Valley Holy Alliance's army?"
"I know, which is why we must be cautious this ti, we can't let them catch any clues," Raffel said calmly.
The Suffering Monk actually chuckled twice, "You want the Red Knights to charge to their deaths on one hand, and on the other hand, you demand nothing gets exposed. You really want it all."
"Enough, heretic, our noble Miseria believers aren't for you to lecture," Raffel said, looking down at him.
But as he turned, the expression of this high-ranking noble from Leia changed slightly.
Lorenzo seed to have a group of spies investigating the existence of the Red Knights recently, while down south, the Pseudo-Pope Grandiva was closely monitoring the situation.
He had no choice but to withdraw most of the Red Knights, which displeased Ginijis.
On one hand, he had to maintain Leia's crown, on the other, satisfy the King's appetite, proving the position of Captain of the Guard was more challenging than he'd imagined.
Around one in the afternoon, as the cannon fire gradually subsided, Raffel finally issued the order.
"Red Knights, charge!"
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