"Head...I, what should we do now?!"
On the city wall, a soldier carrying a shield behind him and wearing a pair of silver-white steel plate breastplates and leggings was panting, and he asked in fear to the also panting little leader next to him.
These people are actually soldiers who belong to the elite team of Dendan warriors in Stad Town. They belong to a group of professional soldiers. They are loyal to the lord here and their status is not very high.
However, the situation here in Stad Town has now become like this: Their governor and lord, Lord Edarian, has been beaten to death by those women holding devil weapons in the distance! Then, the Lord's deputy was also killed! Even the noble knights under the lord who were usually high-minded were all dead, so dead that not even one was left!
At this moment, in Stad Town, apart from the government officials, the highest-ranking military officer seems to be this little centurion who is responsible for coordinating and commanding the two teams of Dandan warriors?
"What else can we do? We can only hold on!"
"The iron rods in their hands that make loud noises and emit fire and smoke must be some kind of devil's weapon! Therefore, we must not go out of the city to fight them head-on!"
The leader of the Dandan warriors who was the first one he led back just now breathed heavily for a while before finally calming down.
"Explain it immediately and calm down the brothers! They don't have as many people as we do, so they shouldn't be able to attack the city by force. As long as we hold on to the city wall and don't go out, they will definitely leave on their own in a few days!"
No matter what, he will never go out of the city to find death!
Then, after looking at the corpses of the knights scattered outside the city, he suddenly realized that now seemed to be a great opportunity for him to succeed?
The situation is already very bad now. The lord and his die-hard knights were all killed in the battle outside the city just now! And at this time, all the people left in the city are their useless family members? The people in Stad Town must have gritted their teeth against them for a long time, right?
And if he could successfully defend the city wall this time and rely on his two hundred elite Dandan warriors to slowly take over and win over the other defense soldiers, perhaps, when the enemy retreats, he might be able to Can you become the new lord of Stade Town?
The more he thought about it, the more he couldn't help but feel so excited that he almost wanted to laugh out loud! This is a direct transformation from a small centurion who is not considered a noble to a large lord of this large area of land, including tens of thousands of people in the surrounding area under his rule...
"Hurry! Send a few trustworthy brothers to guard the city gate immediately, and get more things to block it! As long as you guard the city gate, no matter how powerful their weapons are, they can't even try to break in!"
boom! ! !
The leader of the Dandan warriors had just finished speaking. Suddenly, he felt a sense of shock on the city wall, as if the ground was shaking. Then, what followed was a burst of explosions like thunder and lightning, which shocked him. When I hurriedly retreated, I fell directly from the three-meter-high city wall into the city...
"How is this going……"
When the Dengdan leader, who had just been dreaming of a lord, staggered up from the ground, all he saw was: the tough, large riveted iron-wood structure of the city gate in Stade Town, which was said to be able to withstand The solid door that could withstand the impact of the troll was directly penetrated by some kind of terrifying thing?
Moreover, when the city gate was smashed and collapsed by the huge force, there was only a small broken piece of wood left hanging in the city gate hole? What method did those enemies use to smash a city gate in such an instant?
Thinking about the loud noise just now, could it be that... they summoned thunder and lightning?
…
On this day, the offensive and defensive battle here in the town of Stad ended quickly!
When the city gate of Stade Town was blasted open by the enemy's large devil iron rod weapon, the soldiers who were originally frightened because the lord and the knight master were annihilated almost ran away in an instant. !
Some of them, after discarding their armor and weapons, ran back to their homes and pretended to be civilians; some, after taking away some of the belongings of the original lords, and others, walked through the city gate on the other side of the town. Direction, he ran away without a trace!
The remaining ones, because they had their own families and properties in the city, were unwilling to abandon them easily, so they chose to hang the white flag and surrender to the military equipment of the United Kingdom of Alicia outside the city.
"Alas...the era of personal bravery in Middle-earth is finally gone forever..."
Looking at the dilapidated city gate in the distance, after touching the huge cannon barrel in front of him that was still hot and emitting smoke, Groin sighed deeply while looking at the tower. On the wall of Dezhen, those soldiers who had almost fled and the pole kept waving the white flag expressing their willingness to surrender.
Of course, the old dwarf himself had been prepared for this before. He could probably imagine how cold weapons would behave when facing muskets?
However, looking at the tragic battlefield ahead, he was still filled with emotion... The hundreds of human Dengdan knights with superb riding skills and heavy armor didn't even touch the side of the Musketeers. They were easily killed here by a group of women who had barely touched weapons before...
It seems that this little girl witch has used the hands of their dwarves to create something amazing! The rules of war in the future, under the ravages of muskets and cannons, will probably undergo major changes, right?
Groin, who had seen the actual combat effects of the new weapons, felt that if he could arm himself with thousands of musketeers and some cannons, and with sufficient logistical supplies, he might be able to lead an army of several thousand people. Push all the way and fight all the way to Mordor? !
"Your Excellency Anne, I seem to have discovered some shortcomings of the musket..."
"The range of this first model of the 'Wrath of the Goddess' musket is far enough, and the penetration power seems to be okay! However, I think its caliber is still a little small, if it is to deal with very large targets. , seems to be slightly less powerful?”
Groin, who had been exposed to the entire process of musket manufacturing, was no stranger to the technology and process of producing this kind of weapon. He had fully understood the structural principles of this kind of weapon, and he quickly thought of some better improvement plans.
That is: increase the caliber! He Groyin needs a bigger and thicker barrel, as well as a bigger and heavier cone-shaped projectile!
After thinking for a while, he discovered that the 18mm caliber seemed to him to be a little too small? If it were used by the dwarves themselves, the caliber could definitely be directly enlarged, at least to about 30 millimeters? Anyway, they are dwarfs with strong bodies, great strength, low center of gravity, and even larger calibers, so they don’t have to worry about being overturned by the powerful recoil?
The more he thought about it, the more feasible it became for Groin. He secretly decided at that moment that after he returned to Bray Town, he would privately tailor-make thirty-millimeter rifled rifles for the more than two hundred dwarves under his command. Let's see if the power can meet his own expected standards!
"To deal with large targets? Increase the caliber? Do you want to fight the dragon? Are there any dragons here in Middle-earth?!"
Little Annie was also a little curious about this dwarf's thoughts.
She had read the literature in Rivendell. Wasn't the last dragon that haunted Middle-earth killed decades ago? Then why does he want to increase the caliber?
Could it be that there are big, fun, large creatures like dragons in Middle-earth?
Anyway, in Anne's own opinion, the front-loaded rifled flintlock Minie rifle that she is using now has a long range, high accuracy, and super armor-breaking ability. It is already very good. She has directly surpassed the smoothbore rifle. The matchlock gun is such an epoch-making super elite weapon!
If it is increased to 30 mm, it will be a handheld artillery, right? The humans in this Middle-earth world must not be able to stand that kind of powerful recoil!
Moreover, the battle just now is enough to illustrate: the 'Wrath of the Goddess' muskets can easily penetrate and tear into pieces the enemy's knight's plate armor at a distance of more than a hundred meters. Such power is not small. Already?
If it was necessary just now, they would have fired directly to suppress the opponent's city wall from a distance of three hundred meters, and carried out long-distance volley fire. They could have hit the opponent until they could no longer stand, or even until the opponent's morale collapsed. ?
"Giant, giant dragon?!"
"No, no, no! Lady Witch Anne! I don't want to fight any more dragons! Besides, I haven't seen any dragons except the dead Smaug for decades!"
As soon as he mentioned the dragon, Groin hurriedly shook his head with messy beard and hair. He is not stupid himself, how could he still go to trouble the giant dragon for no reason?
The psychological shadow caused by Smaug during the Battle of the Lonely Mountain decades ago has not been completely eliminated until now!
That kind of terrifying existence that is invulnerable to water and fire and cannot be destroyed even by pouring molten gold. That kind of mythical monster that flies in the sky and can breathe out flames at a height of hundreds of meters. Where are they? What mortals can easily fight against?
If that Smaug had not underestimated his enemy, and Bard, the man from the valley town, used a special magic-breaking black arrow to shoot directly into a defective unprotected scale layer on the opponent's left chest, thus killing the opponent by chance, what would he have done now? I'm afraid all the dwarves in River Valley Town and their original expedition to Lonely Mountain have long been dead, right? There would also be no current Dwarf Kingdom of Turin in the Lonely Mountain and Iron Hills!
"Oh! By the way, Your Excellency Anne! I also discovered a very important problem!"
"That's what I think. What if in the future, our enemies... I mean the Orcs of Mordor or their allies! What if they also imitate this terrible gunpowder weapon? What should we do?"
In Groin's view, even if they don't use those precision machine tools and steam boiler power for standardized industrial production, if the dwarves themselves were to make it purely by hand, they would still be capable of mass production and imitation and a large number of troops, right?
In his own opinion, this is really not too difficult. It is nothing more than a uniform iron pipe and gunpowder? And the only thing that's a bit difficult here is at most the rifling and the correct formula of gunpowder, right?
He had secretly experimented before: if a hand-made rifled smoothbore gun fired spherical lead bullets, although the range and accuracy were not ideal, at close range, within a hundred yards At that time, its power was actually no worse than the rifled Minie rifle?
And this distance of one hundred yards alone is enough to suppress most of the archers in Middle-earth and almost all cold weapon armies!
The only trouble is that the caliber of hand-made muskets may have large errors due to the skills of each craftsman? Then, would it also make the projectile have to be specially manufactured according to the caliber of each gun?
Or, simply give out small crucibles and lead blocks, and let the soldiers smelt the lead blocks according to the caliber of their own muskets and then roll them out themselves? It's easier to melt the lead anyway, right?
As for the formula of gunpowder, it is actually even simpler!
If a being like the white-robed wizard Saruman or the demon king Sauron is captured by the other party and compared and studied, Groin believes that they will be able to imitate the correct formula very quickly! After all, this kind of black gunpowder is nothing more than a few very common materials. It is much simpler than the flash fire that the dwarfs used to make when thrown into it.
"The enemy wants to imitate?"
After hearing this, Annie blinked, then tilted her head and thought for a while.
"I'm not afraid of them imitating it! If they dare to imitate it, we will make something even more powerful!"
Regarding this, Anne is really not too worried.
Because not only does she have drawings from various eras, but Queen Orfina under her has also begun to train the core Royal Guards, and plans to train some loyal subordinates to specially garrison the war workshop. As long as the steam turbine is preserved Just the secrets of those industrial machine tools, like muskets and cannons, there is definitely no way to keep them secret for a long time!
So, in Annie's opinion, the best those bad guys can do is imitate muzzle-loading muskets? By then, at worst, they will create a more advanced breech-loading Mini striker rifle. No matter in terms of range and reloading speed, they will definitely be able to completely destroy those stupid enemies!
And when the time comes, if they still dare to shamelessly continue to copycat, then she will leap into the age of internal combustion engines and electricity, equip semi-automatic rifles and automatic machine guns with metal bullet cases, and then suddenly kill the enemies when they line up?
If things like this can still be counterfeited, then it must be the gods who cheated! Then she herself will be shameless. When the time comes, she will directly use those electromagnetic rifles, siege tanks and space battleships, and then throw the big Ivan to death. They will imitate them if they can!
"A more powerful musket? How powerful can it be?"
When Ge Luoyin heard this, he was a little stunned.
He thinks that the current rifled rifles and cannons are enough! If the power is insufficient, the caliber and barrel length can be expanded at any time to increase the power and range? Other than that, he really couldn't think of any improvements that would be more advanced.
"Hmm...probably the kind that can shoot out thousands of rounds of bullets per minute?"
After thinking about the chugging Vulcan cannons she had come into contact with in the first New York world she traveled through, Annie said with some uncertainty.
If she remembered correctly, it was a machine gun similar to a revolving Vulcan cannon. It seemed to have several thousand rounds of ammunition per minute, right?
"Thousands of rounds per minute? This is absolutely impossible!!!"
Groyin screamed on the spot. He really couldn't imagine how it was possible to have such a high-speed gun? No matter how hard you try, you can't reload the ammunition that fast, right? With today’s rifles, it’s already amazing how many rounds can be fired per minute!
And if there really is such a terrifying weapon with thousands of rounds per minute, he feels that he only needs to be alone and bring enough ammunition to push Mordor flatly and blow up Sauron's one. Baradoto? !
"Hmph! You ignorant guy! I have more powerful ones than that, and there are more!"
After glancing at the shouting old bearded dwarf beside her, little Annie patted the pony under her and led the dozens of musketeers who were still stranded here and the team pushing the artillery. The gunners began to walk down the hillside towards the city.
Now, Lenas has already entered the city, and quickly completed the control of the city's city head area and surrendered the soldiers of the original Stade Town! Now, it's time for them to go in and see the new city she conquered.
————
"Hey! Pippin, are we going to stay here forever? I don't like this big and dark cave at all!"
"Not only is the air turbid, there is also a strong rancid smell..."
In the mines of Moria, the little hobbits Merry and Pippin gathered together again. From time to time they looked at Gandalf, who was sitting alone above him, smoking a pipe and muttering softly.
Although hobbits are also cave-dwelling creatures and like to dig holes or build comfortable houses like cave dwellings, they absolutely do not like to stay in such deep, dark caves without sunlight for a long time. It will make them feel very depressed and uneasy!
After all, Hobbits are a normal race who like to enjoy life and activities in the sun.
"Shh..."
"Keep your voice down, Merry. Let me tell you: Gandalf above, he must be lost! Moreover, we will probably be trapped here forever and never be able to get out!"
Previously, at the top of the Red Horn Pass, when they discovered the large group of black crows used by the white-robed wizard Saruman to monitor the pass area, they knew that their whereabouts and others had been exposed, so they had to follow Gandalf's advice was to try to pass through Cala Horas, intending to forcibly cross the bitterly cold and icy world, and climb over the towering peak of the Misty Mountains that reaches into the clouds and is covered with white snow all year round!
Then, the white-robed wizard Saruman, who was thousands of miles away, used a long-range lightning bolt that penetrated the soul to teach them a cruel fact! That is: never try to climb a dangerous snow-covered peak under the nose of a wizard!
Therefore, after the final spell cast failed, Gandalf was helpless. After being buried by an avalanche once, and seeing that the hobbits could not adapt to the cold climate and were almost frozen to death, he had to lead the team again. Returning the way we came, we planned to follow what the dwarf Gimli said before and go to the Moria mines of his cousin Balin!
However, it is a pity that after Gandalf finally cracked the dwarf's door and successfully escaped from the dwarves with Frodo's reminder, the one in the lake outside the door had lived for who knows how many years. It was obviously a saltwater creature from the ocean. After finding a giant octopus that could survive in freshwater lakes, they discovered an extremely surprising thing: in the mines of Moria, there was no Gimli's cousin, let alone the large cup of ale they had promised. , soup or chunks of barbecue?
Here, all we have are the corpses of the dwarves and the orcs from the Misty Mountains! As well as the opponent's rotten and tattered armor, rusty weapons and arrows! The current mine of Moria is a silent tomb in the middle of the mountain! It seems that these original dwarves have been dead for countless years?
Later, when they had to go deep into the mine and planned to venture through the misty mountains from the mine, they discovered an even more terrible fact, that is: they were now lost in this huge mine!
Now, they have climbed the mountain and returned the same way. More than twenty days have passed since they left Rivendell...
"I think so. Gandalf must be lost! He is probably thinking about it now!"
"Yes, you may also know that old men like them are particularly prone to forgetting some things!"
"..."
"We may really not be able to get out...unless we go back along the same path?"
"No... I don't think any of us can defeat the octopus monster outside the gate. I never thought that it has so many tentacles? And it grows so big!"
"Then what do you think we should do? There doesn't seem to be anything to eat or drink here! Besides, we don't have much in our luggage!"
The two hobbits, Pippin and Merry, were still discussing quietly.
Although their voices were very low, their voices could still be heard clearly by everyone in the empty and silent mines of Moria...
But now, those other people who have the same worries and have their own concerns are not in the mood to care about them for the time being?
Gandalf himself, who was being muttered, was currently busy with his own thoughts and memories. He wanted to find a way out as soon as possible, but he was also in no mood to deal with the two little hobbits.
"?!"
Suddenly, Frodo, who was in a daze, suddenly discovered that there seemed to be a small and vigorous figure crawling on the wall of the mine below? The other party's big and bright eyes are staring at me, and they seem to have evil intentions?
But because the distance was too far and the light was dim, he couldn't see clearly what it was.
"Gandalf, there seems to be something down there!"
When he discovered the situation, he immediately ran to Gandalf's side and reported his findings in a low voice.
"That's Gulu..."
Gandalf answered a little casually, still trying to recall the path inside Moria.
Those damn greedy dwarves, they dug the mines of Moria too hard! Many things that had not been dug out before were completely changed by the other party. Not only did they add many more paths, but there were even countless more doorways and cabins. It was like a maze, and it was really difficult for him to recall. Get up, where is the way out that he was familiar with many years ago?
"Gulu?"
Frodo was a little confused. Looking at Gandalf, he seemed to have known about this for a long time? Moreover, he didn't seem to want to pay attention to that thing that was following them from a distance?
"Actually, he has been following us for three full days...ever since we walked down the snow-capped mountains and prepared to enter the mines of Moria..."
In fact, Gandalf and others had already discovered Gollum, who had been following them, not wanting to leave, and refused to leave, either alive or dead, but they didn't want to pay attention to it.
After all, that pitiful existence that was distorted by the Lord of the Rings actually didn't pose much of a threat to people like them. Except for the Hobbits, if it dared to get close, anyone here could easily do it. To subdue the opponent.
"Gulu? Hasn't it been caught a long time ago? Could it be that... it escaped again?"
Frodo was quite curious about this matter.
Because, when he was in the Shire and at Broken Cave, he remembered very clearly that Gandalf had told him that Gollum, who knew the whereabouts of the Lord of the Rings, had been given to him by the minions of Mordor at that time. Caught!
"Escape? No..."
"It's very likely that it was released on purpose! The Lord of the Rings brought it here again, and it can never get rid of its desire for the Lord of the Rings... Does it love and hate the Lord of the Rings just like it does itself?"
Gandalf muttered as he smoked his pipe.
"Smeagol's life is actually a tragedy! It has been ruined by the Lord of the Rings..."
"Before the Lord of the Rings found it and before he was crazy about the Lord of the Rings, he was actually...forget it, I'll stop talking about this..."
Having said this, after looking at Frodo who was now holding the Lord of the Rings, Gandalf didn't know what he thought of and stopped quickly.
Then, Gandalf did not continue to talk to Frodo, but sighed softly to himself.
Gandalf actually not only knows Gollum’s past, but also knows why Gollum was released at this time! Sauron or Saruman, they just want to use it to monitor the exact location of the Supreme Lord of the Rings? In this world of Middle-earth, there is probably nothing more useful than a humanoid self-propelled radar like Gollum...
"What a pity Bilbo didn't kill it then!"
Frodo suddenly said such an evil word, which made Gandalf quickly stop recalling and turn his head again.
"What a pity? Didn't you kill it?"
"Frodo... you have to know that it was his pity for life that prevented Bilbo from killing him in the first place..."
"Some people who are still alive in this world should have died long ago! And some people whose lives should not be cut off, have passed away early..."
"Can you bring them back to life? Frodo..."
The last thing Gandalf wanted to see happened.
It seems that the Lord of the Rings is having some very bad effects on Frodo? How could this originally innocent hobbit say such murderous words? From this point of view, Frodo does not seem to have a strong enough willpower like his Uncle Bilbo?
You know, Bilbo Baggins held the Lord of the Rings for so long, for decades, and it was only in his later years that he was gradually affected by the Lord of the Rings? But he was still able to control himself and took the initiative to keep the Ring!
However, Frodo now is...
"Frodo, you have to remember: don't judge other people's life and death so easily! Even the wisest people can't see through this... My intuition tells me that even this Gollum is still It has its own mission..."
"Whether it is justice or evil... what Bilbo did may have affected the fate of many people..."
I glanced down at Gollum, who was climbing on a mining noose, and then at Frodo in front of me. The two of them were actually very similar! Aren't Frodo and Gollum both people whose destinies were affected by Bilbo Baggins?
"But... when I was in Rivendell, Lady Witch Anne told me... to deal with bad guys, they should be burned... isn't it?"
After slowly sitting next to Gandalf, Frodo asked doubtfully.
During the time when Rivendell was recuperating from his injuries, he had lots of dealings with that little girl. He even took the initiative to give her the Supreme Lord of the Rings hanging around his neck several times! Then, Frodo was surprised to discover: that little girl, she was the only one he had ever seen who would not be affected by the Ring! This alone can make him admire him very much.
When Frodo thought about it, that little girl Anne must be a very powerful wizard, even more powerful than Gandalf, right? Therefore, sometimes, he would secretly keep it in his mind for the little girl's outlandish remarks that appeared from time to time.
For example: The best enemy is a dead enemy? What belongs to me is mine, and everything I like should also be mine? And then there’s this: Bad guys should be burned with fire! Whoever dares to mess with me will be beaten by me? And so on, there are many, many more...
Anyway, Frodo felt that some of his words made sense!
"Is it Annie?!"
"Okay... Frodo! Let me warn you: If you want to have a good relationship with that little girl, I will never object! However, please remember one thing: Never imitate that little girl casually, let alone Don’t just believe what she says! Especially if you are not as powerful a wizard as she is!”
While he was secretly relieved, knowing that it was not actually the Lord of the Rings that affected Frodo's thoughts, Gandalf quickly corrected him.
He didn't want Frodo, the simple hobbit, to be led astray by that nasty little girl! Look at what kind of bad things she has fed into Frodo. Those thoughts are wrong and undesirable!
"Okay, I know……"
"But actually, Gandalf, I really hope that the Ring has never been in my hands, and I hope that none of this has ever happened..."
Imagine the thrilling things along the way. Since he obtained the Lord of the Rings, he was not only hunted by the Nazgul, but also almost stabbed to death with a sword at the abandoned tower on the top of Fengyun Hill? Then, when they started their expedition, they experienced being watched by crows, being struck by wizards' lightning, and causing an avalanche and almost being buried alive?
And now, when I walked into this mine, not only was I caught by a big octopus at the door and almost eaten, but I even got lost? !
So, when so many things came to his mind, when Frodo saw that in this period of time, there were far more exciting things than he had ever seen in his fifty years of life put together, and moreover, After wandering on the edge of life and death almost every time, he Liu really felt a little discouraged and didn't want to go on like this anymore...
"Well, in fact, everyone who encounters difficulties will think like you! But, Frodo, please don't be defeated by the difficulties in front of you! Sometimes, none of us can avoid our destiny , but we can at least choose how to overcome it!”
Seeing that Frodo, the ring bearer, looked a little discouraged, Gandalf quickly spoke out to encourage him.
"Frodo, you have to believe: in this world, in addition to those evil forces, there are some more magical beings! For example: Bilbo, he is destined to get the Lord of the Rings, and you... are also destined to experience What you are going through now! Do you understand? You have to face it instead of running away from it!"
Looking at Frodo in silence, he could only sigh secretly. There are some things that Gandalf really can't say too much or reveal too much. He can only click here.
"Aha! I think I finally know which way we should take, and it must be this one!"
After comforting Frodo, Gandalf suddenly stood up with a cheer. She finally figured out which direction to take! Therefore, he once again used the gem on the head of the wand to emit a soft white light, and then called to everyone to follow him quickly.
They have been delayed long enough in this dangerous mine of Moria. They must leave here cleanly before they really come into contact with some dangerous existence.
"Did you remember the way out? Gandalf?"
Pippin, who was following behind, quickly asked. He really wanted to leave this oppressive dark world as soon as possible. He didn't want to stay in a place where he couldn't see the sun and didn't know the time!
"No! I didn't!"
"It's just that the air on this road doesn't seem to be as bad as in other directions! My friend told me one thing: sometimes, it's always right to follow your nose..."
