Randall, who had done all this by probing the enemy's defense information and drawing it on his own map, carefully retreated to his own camp with Aldnan and Kellogg.

In this way, with the scout team one by one, the information detected was fed back to the headquarters of the headquarters.

Seven days later, Cumberland, with the assistance of his lieutenants, had pieced together a relatively complete map of the enemy's front defense.

Looking at the dense red dots and flags marked on the sand table, Cumberland's brows were twisted into a Sichuan shape, and his knuckles unconsciously hit the table, without saying a word.

"Your Excellency, these marks represent the enemy's small sentry posts, a single sentry garrison of no more than 100 people, with horses and muskets, no artillery, generally play the role of early warning and surveillance; these represent the enemy's medium-sized strongholds, garrisons between 300 and 800 men, with tunnels, trenches, bunkers and other defensive facilities, generally built in hills, ridges, canyon mouths, plains and other strategic areas, can look out and snipe the army that wants to pass, easy to defend and difficult to attack. ”

"And these, they represent large enemy camps, used to garrison troops and supplies, garrisons of more than 2,000 men, fully equipped with defenses, located between several strongholds, ready to support. ”

"Our scouts have now advanced the reconnaissance line to about ten kilometers deep into the forest, and there are seventeen small sentry posts, eight medium-sized strongholds, and two large camps. The number of enemy troops that have been detected so far is about 11,000, and according to our estimates, there should be other enemy fortifications in the depths of the forest, and the number of enemy troops should be much more than that. ”

After listening to the adjutant's introduction, Cumberland nodded and said with a sigh: "Bromo Hesmond, I was expecting that old guy with one foot in the coffin was so confused that he didn't know how to fight. Now it seems that I made a mistake. ”

As soon as Cumberland had finished speaking, a craftsman came in with a musket about 140 centimeters long and said, "My lord, we are all ready. ”

Cumberland nodded, and took a step out.

In the open space behind the camp of the expeditionary force, an area was cleared and will be used for experiments later.

The Knights of the Twilight, the Holy Cult, and the Valkyries gathered around the flat grounds, quietly waiting for the experiment to begin.

Looking at the model of the bunker made of earth and stone in the center of the proving ground, and the group of dummies placed next to it, Barbara asked suspiciously, "What does Lord Cumberland want to do?"

The werewolf Aldenan clasped his arms over his chest and whispered, "I guess he wants to assess the might of the enemy's weapons and fortifications. ”

As soon as he finished speaking, Cumberland led a group of craftsmen into the testing ground under the gaze of everyone.

One of the craftsmen held the heavy musket in his hand and said to Cumberland, "My lord, our scouts have stolen three muskets from the enemy, and this one is the most common Imperial Rogui rifle type. ”

Cumberland looked at the musket as he walked, "This thing is a little different from the southern weapons I've seen. ”

"That's right, this musket is a relatively new version of the Southern Empire's military musket, with a longer barrel, more serpentine springs and flintlock ignition than previous designs, and some improvements in the front sight and medicine compartment. ”

"What amazes us the most is that the Southern Empire has reached a new level in component design and standardization. You see, here's the stopper, here's the movement......"

"Less nonsense! What about the shooting parameters?"

"A skilled hand can do three rounds a minute, and an average soldier can do two shots a minute. ”

"What about range?"

"The lethal range is about 300 meters, but the accuracy range is only about 80 meters. ”

Cumberland stroked his beard and groaned for a moment, then pointed to the dummy in the field and said, "Let's start shooting experiments, let's see how powerful this musket is." ”

Soon, under the watchful eyes of everyone in the field, the craftsmen quickly set up the shooting stand and calibrated the angle.

He brought an iron cuirass, which was commonly used in the army, and put it on the dummy, and after obtaining Cumberland's approval, the craftsman pulled the trigger of the musket.

The huge explosion, the thick smoke of gunpowder, and the blinding firelight, some soldiers, who had never seen a musket shot, couldn't help but scream in fright.

As the smoke cleared, the craftsmen took off their breastplates from the dummy and showed them to Cumberland.

On the left chest of the armor, a circular hole the size of a bronze star stands out.

Cumberland looked through the hole, and the other end of the breastplate had not been pierced, but had been recessed into a large pit.

The craftsman shook his head while looking at it: "The thickness of this cuirass is seven and a half millimeters on average, which is the standard armor used by heavy infantry. The bullet from the musket pierced through the armor, then through the wearer's body, and when it hit the other side of the armor, it bounced back and inflicted a second injury. ”

Cumberland beckoned, called Ackerman, who was standing by the sidelines, and asked, "What do you think?"

Ackerman said with a serious expression: "This cuirass is the standard armor used by most soldiers in the Holy Cult Army, if the musket is so powerful, then even those orcs in the Holy Cult Army who are strong and have the ability to regenerate will probably not be able to withstand this kind of attack......"

Cumberland said to Ackerman, "Just like we said beforehand, bring that one." ”

Ackerman nodded, and commanded the two dwarves to bring a pair of tyrant keel parasites and put them on the dummy.

Cumberland motioned to the craftsmen, "Fight again." ”

A craftsman set up the musket, aimed it at the target, and pulled the trigger.

With the huge flash of fire from the chamber, there was a crisp sound from the keel parasite.

Before the smoke cleared, Ackerman hurried up to the dummy and took off the keel from it.

Cumberland took a closer look, and a small crater appeared on the insect armor in front of the keel parasite, and the bullet was stuck in the armor, but did not damage the soft part of the body.

Ackerman breathed a sigh of relief: "Although the musket breaks the outer armor of the keel, the tyrant keel can increase its defense by transforming and stacking multiple layers of insect armor at the moment of attack. In this way, the keel can withstand the attack of muskets. ”

Cumberland asked, "How many sets of keels are there?"

"Less than a thousand. There are 600 sets for the Knights of the Twilight West, and the remaining 400 sets for the Holy Command commanders......"

Ackerman's voice grew quieter, and he understood what Cumberland meant.

The keel grows slowly, reproduction is difficult, and there is simply no way to do large-scale equipment.

Cumberland touched the musket as he said, "This is just the attack of one musket, if dozens of muskets attack one keel at the same time, and in addition to this, the enemy also has a shotgun, which has a wider range and more power." ”

Seeing Ackerman's solemn face, Cumberland sighed: "Let's discuss these issues later, let's continue the weapon experiment." Tell the way, the craftsmen prepare the bunkers, the soldiers empty the crowd, and now we're going to try to see how we can blow up these turtle shells!"

As soon as he finished speaking, a hawk figure with a swaying body flapping its wings vigorously stumbled from the sky and fell to Ackerman's feet, shouting in a hurry: "Commander! Commander! Oh no! Something happened!"

Ackerman said unhappily: "What are you doing in a panic? No matter how big the matter is, you have to keep calm, could it be that the enemy is coming?"

"No, it's not! There are several shamans and commanders in the orc tribe, and because they are not satisfied with the long march and attack, they secretly break into the forest with their respective people, saying that they want to prove their strength and faith with a great victory!"

"What did you say?!"

Cumberland's eyes widened, his body trembled unconsciously, and the musket in his hand fell to the ground.

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