Ryan and Lieutenant Bernard came in from the door. Bernard, who was born in the cavalry, was still dressed in uniform as before, but Lean next to him had completely changed, and Berthier almost didn't recognize him.
The standing officer of the Storm Troopers squadron painted the silver armor on his body black. The raised thimbles and beautiful feathers on the helmet were cut off and removed, leaving only the round tops of the helmets. There was a large gray cloth bag hanging on his chest, with something bulging inside. His sword was replaced with a very sharp shovel, and two short crossbows were hung on his belt.
To Berthier, the upright test lieutenant Bernard looked more like a cavalry officer, while Lean looked like an engineer digging a trench.
"I understand, you plan to dig trenches to attack the Clan Alliance's defense line, right?" Berthier asked, "Storm Squadron also needs to participate in the operation?"
Lean shook his head, dug into his breast pocket, and took out two black, round iron balls.
"This is a grenade, a new weapon that uses gunpowder to detonate. After a period of time after lighting the fuse, the explosion will shatter the shell and release shock waves, flashes, smoke and fragments. As long as there is a fire to ignite, it can theoretically be used on rainy days. "Use it," Bernard said. "These weapons are still being tested, their throwing distance is limited, and they can easily blow up their own people. After using them, Rean took the initiative to try out some equipment."
"Is this thing useful?" Berthier stared at the iron ball on the table, feeling that it looked a bit like a cannonball. "How is the effect?"
"If you're lucky, you can explode the flying fragments to achieve range-wide damage, and the fire and loud noise are also scary," Bernard said. "If you're not lucky, you can only get two pieces of iron, but the fire and sound are still scary."
Griffith took over the topic: "There is a high probability that the clan alliance troops near Pierrefond are not field elites. If they build forts to block them, then we must assault the trenches and earthen walls and fight them between the double walls.
"Our army is small in number and we will suffer heavy losses by storming walls and trenches in broad daylight. New equipment and tactics will give us a certain advantage."
The grenades used by the test squadron were different from those obtained in Homemon Watts' laboratory. The shape is rough and the dust crystals are not rubbed into it. What they have in common is that they have not been rigorously tested.
Griffith was not confident about the actual combat effectiveness and safety of this thing. He turned to Lean and said: "This is a dangerous mission deep into the enemy. I will be the vanguard. After the breakthrough, you and the rest of the squadron will follow. Use defensive grenades to kill and hold back enemy reinforcements to secure the bridgehead until the infantrymen of Urenas Group arrive."
Lean nodded, with no look of agreement or concern on his face.
Reinforcements set out at first light the next day. In order to save time, everyone did not have breakfast in the village. They just received a large piece of honey-smeared bread and a handful of nuts from the waiting village helpers when leaving the village, and ate them while walking.
They moved along the main road and arrived at a town at noon, where half of them got on the prepared carriage and the other half followed on foot, moving some distance before replacing them.
The carriages transporting them would stop at the next town and hand over the troops to a new convoy of officials and caravans. Sonia and some of the people left behind, with the help of the prince, issued instructions to hire and coordinate residents along the way to provide cooperation; Griffith led the people at the front and rushed to the next transfer station in advance to ensure that the locals were prepared on time .
This army did not have to worry about other things. They traveled by car or on foot every day. They arrived outside Pierrefonds at dusk on the fifth day.
When they came here, they were not blocked by the orc army, and were not even noticed by the scouts patrolling the sentry.
…
The sun was about to set, and Griffith led the officers quietly to a nearby hill to look at the situation in the town of Pierrefonds.
The signal from the Echo Crystal has been interrupted. On a battlefield where thousands of people are fighting, psychic signals will be mixed with a large amount of disturbing impurities, hindering the generation of magic. If the combatants have strong blood energy, sensitive spellcasters will hear inexplicable noises as soon as they get close, making it difficult to concentrate.
Thick black and white smoke enveloped the tawny landscape. The felled trees turned into trebuchets and ladders, like the tentacles of hell reaching out from the ground, burning into char-like traces outside the town. The town has built an earthen wall. A hundred meters away from the earthen wall are two walls tens of meters apart, one surrounding the town and the other facing outwards.
The fireball dragged a long trajectory across the sky under the setting sun, falling into the town amidst the firelight and the roar of the earth, igniting flames more than ten meters high. The gravel beneath my feet pulsed with every fall.
The bare land is dotted with black spots as big and small as sesame seeds, some of which are still squirming and forming long black lines on the ground.
In order to avoid the arrows, the attacking soldiers dug a communication trench on the ground that led directly to the Pierrefonds wall, and walked through it while ducking. From time to time, several fireballs flew out of the town and hit the open space outside the city.
If the fireball fell into the trench, the soldiers hiding in it would be rolled out of the barbecue on the street. Therefore, the trenches and earthen ramparts outside the town were built to be as winding as a spider web.
A bugle sounded, and several groups of soldiers jumped out of the trenches carrying ladders and appeared on the charred land. They raised their shields above their heads and advanced like many-legged centipedes. The insect-like team trembled violently as they approached the bottom of the city wall, dispersed into a ball, and erected ladders to mount the city wall.
At this time, another squirming worm will appear on the wall of the town, shaking off debris-like objects downwards. The attackers who came into contact with the debris stopped moving, while others climbed up the ladder. They were not halfway up when the ladder caught fire again and fell down with the climbers.
There are no knights with brilliant armor, and there are no warriors who are not worthy of their talents. There are only small black shadows appearing and disappearing among the smoke and loess.
There is some comical mime in this scene, like ants escaping from the flood along the branches. Whenever escape is imminent, the branches are washed away by the flood. The helpless ants were not discouraged and climbed up from other directions with other branches.
Griffith's heart palpitated. This desperate attack had been part of his life, a recurring image in the far East. A year later, seeing this dark and familiar scene again, his mind began to tremble along with the hand holding the sword hilt.
He suddenly had an idea - whether it was his comfortable studies at Homemon Watts or leading the city defense army and militia in battle, the events and stories one after another were just the intermission of the gloomy play in front of him. He would still return after all. into past reality.
This indescribably familiar and strange feeling seemed to have happened before, making his heart beat violently.
He was a little embarrassed and ashamed. He lowered his head and calmed down, then looked at his companions around him, worried that everyone would notice his gaffe just now.
He found that Lien's face was pale and his eyes looking at the battlefield were almost out of focus.
"Holy light, is this hell?" Gil, who was lying on the side observing, sighed softly.
"No, young man," muttered the usually silent Lean, "this is life."
…
The attack was scheduled to begin in the early morning.
After the clan alliance's army surrounded Pierrefond, they built a large number of fortifications to attack and protect themselves. The entire battlefield is densely covered with walls, trenches and fences, and battles will break out between the fortifications. There are strong orcs in the army of the clan alliance, but half-orcs mixed with the blood of beasts are the main part of the army. They do not have the strong physique and firm will of the orc warriors, but they are very agile when bending bows and shooting arrows. The only way to deal with them is to use heavy armor, or quickly break through to the face to defeat them.
The officers and sergeants of the Storm Squadron all gave up the long spears and halberds that were difficult to use in the fortifications, and brought the newly developed grenades and axes, small shields, short crossbows and even shovels suitable for use in small spaces. They painted their silver armor black, Wait for Griffith to give the signal and then launch the assault.
Once this commando team completes the breakthrough, the infantry squadrons commanded by Berthier will follow up and spread out inside the clan alliance's defense line to defeat the remaining enemies.
…
After nightfall, the cobweb-like tunnels and earth barriers on the battlefield became quiet. Only the occasional attacks by trebuchets from both sides and the occasional wail of the wounded broke the silence.
The purple-black night sky was split by lightning, and thunder rumbled from time to time. Heavy rain poured down, splashing on the trenches and earthen ramparts filled with blood. The heavy rain washed away the bodies lying on the ground, the wind howled non-stop, and lightning flashed on the other side of the horizon.
Then the dogs began to bark, the wargs howled, and a tinkling sound was heard in the distance. The orc soldiers who were huddled tiredly by the earthen ramparts were awakened by the roar. Their whole bodies were stiff and their hairs stood on end. They hurriedly grabbed short spears and axes, put on their half-filled helmets, gripped the weapons with slippery hands, and stared with fear.
It is said that a scavenging monster will appear on the battlefield strewn with corpses, with a black outline and blood-red eyes. Soldiers who see its face will not survive the sunrise the next day. The monster is cruel and greedy. If its eating is disturbed, it will add fresh meat to the menu.
"Hush, hush, don't make a sound..." the orc veteran whispered, "Where is the warg?"
Their position was near the outer wall, at a high point on the wall. However, the dark night and heavy rain made it difficult for them to see what was nearby, and they could only be on tenterhooks amid the barking of wargs and dogs.
"Over there, Captain," whispered a Gnoll soldier, "I can't hear it?"
The other soldiers' eyes widened. The barking in the dark turned to whining, the wind was blowing hard, and the tinkling sound was approaching. Something was coming through the ditch, through the night, and coming this way.
They seemed to hear heavy breathing.
"Hoo, ho—"
The sound so close at hand was extremely depressing and frightening in the darkness. The orc soldiers looked around nervously, but found no one.
A bolt of lightning came from the thunderstorm, and a tall, ferocious figure appeared on the earth wall. This thing was illuminated by lightning, and disappeared as the light disappeared, like an indescribable nightmare.
Suddenly, the soldiers saw a straight bolt of lightning hovering in the darkness. The lightning was so unusual that people couldn't figure out why it stayed there. The electric light illuminated the black robe, heavy armor and gauntlets, and under the dark helmet was a sight like a blood moon. Scarlet light extended along the lightning.
This is clearly a sword!
The orc veteran wanted to warn, but found himself speechless.
"Hoo, ho—"
The dull voice seemed to echo in the hearts of the orc soldiers, and invisible hands gripped their throats. Suddenly, the black shadow flashed past, and the orc veteran found himself flying up, but his body was still half-kneeling on the ground.
The soldiers who were suddenly attacked resisted. They grabbed short guns and axes to fight back, but the weapons in their hands broke into two pieces in the blink of an eye.
The monsters in the shadows rolled over like mowing grass, and the soldiers who dared to block him were completely different in the blink of an eye. The short spear pierced his body, as if it had hit hard ice.
"Crossbow!" a soldier shouted. The companions around him reacted faster, grabbed the crossbow and fired.
The attacker grabbed a corpse and blocked it. The arrow made a "puff" sound and pierced into the flesh. He threw it casually, and the body flew out, knocking the orc's crossbowman to the ground.
