Duke Vlamar saw it all with his own eyes.

All defensive positions built near the shore were destroyed. The dense explosions were simply breathless. The trembling earth seemed to be infested by some kind of monster, twisting in pain, and all the attachments covering the surface of its body shook off, either collapsing in the violent earthquake or being torn to pieces by the great force.

A 200-millimeter shell accurately hit the shore guard tower, shattering the building from the middle, and the entire upper part lost its support and slowly snapped.

Although he had made sufficient preparations and set up a defensive line in advance in the face of the northern river, he could not imagine that there was such a powerful weapon in the world. The deer at the front of the position were turned into toys, and the people who fled in the screams were like swarms of ants.

The musketeers who had already crossed the river were completely dispersed. Although Turner and Hodges sounded the alarm in the last moments of their lives, no one connected "ruin" to reality. Everyone's understanding of artillery, from officers to soldiers, was limited to the parts seen with the naked eye———— thick steel barrels, firing swarthy solid iron balls.

If it weren't for the quick reaction of the guards around him, grabbing the reins and dragging the duke's mount forward, Flamar would have been blown up alive and turned into a pile of flesh and mud mixed with the other dead.

The formation of the troops that had already crossed the river and was assembling on the west bank was completely disrupted.

There is no better target than a dense crowd. With the destruction of the artillery positions on the west side of the riverbank, the giant battleship began to descend the river and fire at close range. It was a kind of ship that Vlamal had never seen before, and they swept away any target that seemed worthy with heavy artillery fire. A shell falls into the crowd, and instead of the conceptually familiar solid beating (harmony) shell, it harvests life with a scattered explosion.

A human skull rolled next to Flamal and was caught by his foot, which it tilted twice and finally stopped. One of the deceased's eyes was gone, and the right half of his face was blown away, and he couldn't see his true face at all.

"This ...... What kind of weapon is this? ”

"Didn't you say that giants are savage creatures? Why do they have this? ”

"The weapons of giants...... Is it really a cannon? ”

No one answered Flamal's question, and no one knew the answer.

All sorts of terrible thoughts grew in the Duke's mind, and he was almost breathless.

Some time ago, the battle went smoothly, and all the intelligence showed that the giant did not have a formed army nearby, and Vlamal gave the order for the whole army to cross the river.

As of yesterday night, more than 700,000 Viking soldiers had crossed the Pantuo River.

This morning is the last batch, about 50,000 people. They were halfway through when they encountered the sudden appearance of the Giant Fleet, followed by an overwhelming bombardment. Both the intensity of the explosion and the frequency of firing completely subverted Flamal's understanding and basic concept of "artillery attack".

Everything was premeditated.

The Viking Duke's brain has never been clearer. He finds himself falling into a terrible, bottomless trap.

No, it's not just me, all the armies in the south of the continent will suffer this fate next.

Who said that the giants of the north were barbaric and ignorant?

They are tactically savvy and dare to make trade-offs. Vlamar was willing to bet with his head ————that the previous large-scale attack of the Giant cavalry on the other side of the canyon on the east bank of the Pantuo River must have been part of their war plan. On the battlefield, if you want to confuse your opponent and make your enemy let down their guard, the best way is to deliberately send fat meat under the nose of the opponent and let them win one victory after another.

The honor of a soldier needs to be set off by victory, and only those who win will gradually lose their cool and become proud. They will despise their opponents, believing that a repeatedly defeated enemy is simply not worth paying attention to. Just like the winner at the gambling table, looking at the opponent who has lost almost all the gambling books on the other side, clutching the last bit of chips in his hand, and his eyes are red, there will always be infinite pride and satisfaction in his heart. Whenever this happens, the winner will not rush at all, but leisurely ask for a glass of champagne, or light a cigar, look at the opponent with a playful eye, and treat the complex emotions on the opponent's face as the most gorgeous show, until finally open the hole cards and win the final game.

If it weren't for the fierce charge of nearly 10,000 cavalrymen, Flamar would not have chosen to cross the Pantuo River at this time.

He knows the importance of intelligence!

If he was at war with some other white nation in the southern part of the continent, Flamal would have become very cautious. Without an accurate and detailed report from the scouts, he preferred to stand still.

However, this time is different.

"Six" captured the Lock Dragon Pass, and the monster with a powerful devouring ability killed all the giants inside the pass. Millions of pairs of eyes witnessed the moment by the soldiers and officers of the Kingdom Alliance, and the Viking Kingdom also enjoyed the dividends of the war that it deserved. It was then that Flamal was truly convinced of the phrase "the northern giants are savage and ignorant". The reason is simple———— so many giants, including officers and commanders, that no one even thought of "fire attack" when the situation was at its most dangerous.

Why not try using rockets, or pouring boiling hot oil down the wall, then throwing torches and igniting a raging fire outside the wall?

Isn't that the most basic way to fight?

The reason why human beings are called "the spirits of all things" is because we learn and know how to be flexible.

Hehe, it turns out that the northern giants don't understand this truth.

When there was no longer half of the defenders on the Suolong Pass, and the Kingdom Alliance occupied this empty thousand-year-old Xiongguan, they found that there were enough supplies for 300,000 people to consume a whole year. From this, it can be imagined how much the northern giants attach importance to the Lock Dragon Pass, and how large the defenders here are!

None of them even thought of using fire!

Duke Flamal was convinced that stupidity was a contagious disease.

So many cavalry, they were all strong warriors. Knowing that the front position was well defended, with dense infantry platoons of guns and artillery cooperating with each other, and that there were dense traps and deer barricades at the front of the position, they still rushed forward desperately like moths to fire.

Vlamar didn't know Hugang's name, but he was impressed by the young man's performance on the battlefield. In addition to barbarism and ignorance, the greatest advantage of the northern giants is that they are not afraid of death. Especially those giants who did not show any flaws after being captured, and once made Flamal think that "the transformation was successful".

A low-level race that has an absolute advantage in physical fitness, but is not civilized at all, and it is impossible to have advanced technology.

This is how Flamal defines white Northerners.

The harsh reality before him told him that he was very wrong, and that the god of fate looked at him like an idiot who was self-righteous but actually didn't understand anything.

Vlamal had never seen an exploding shell. His conceptual understanding of artillery is very simple———— solid iron ball, which flies out of the barrel by igniting the gunpowder to destroy the target.

The principle of the musket is the same.

Flamal has always believed that the most direct way to increase the power of guns is to increase the caliber. Just like a bow and arrow, the amount of damage to the target is determined by the arrow.

The kingdoms are working on new weapons, both overtly and covertly, but neither the progress nor the results are satisfactory. There has been no better way than to increase the caliber and barrel length. The technicians of the Military Research Institute have not come up with a better and refreshing proposal.

The shelling gave Flamal an idea that he had never had before. He felt a sudden light in front of him, and the "explosion" infected every thought cell in his mind like a virus this time.

It's not that hard to make an explosive shell. It is entirely possible to do this with the current military-industrial capabilities of the Viking Kingdom. Of course, the actual power is far less than that of the giant artillery, but as long as the experienced craftsmen and technicians of the Institute of Military Research are told their ideas and ideas, they can at least concoct "a hollow iron ball with an internal charge, plus a fuse that ignites at the same time when the cannon is fired."

Joy passed through the Viking's mind, and he was choked by deep fear.

This means that the Giants of the North have more advanced technology than we do.

That's impossible!

If so, why didn't the Northern Giant use it before, but sit back and watch "Six" kill all the barbarian warriors outside the Lock Dragon Pass?

If so, why did they give up the pass, and the "Six", which had devoured flesh and blood and multiplied in large numbers, was chased all the way from the Lock Dragon Pass to here?

If so, why did the Giant Cavalry never use it in previous battles?

Duke Vlamar's body began to tremble, his face was covered in smoke and blood. He gritted his teeth and didn't let his inner thoughts appear on his face in the form of expressions.

Conspiracy, everything is a conspiracy.

The giants of the north are deliberately retreating, and they have been showing weakness. In order to paralyze himself carelessly and lead the team forward, the northern giant would rather give up the lock dragon pass, giving up as many as tens of thousands, or even hundreds of thousands of lives, just for the sake of this moment.

There were too many Viking soldiers crossing the Pantuo River, more than seventy and nearly eight hundred thousand. Flamar was not wrong with his caution, and he allowed some of his baggage to cross the river at the same time, minimizing the danger of the supply line being cut off. However, the most worrying thing happened———— the pontoon bridge was destroyed and the supply was interrupted.

The giants of the north have been abandoning, deliberately creating various appearances of ignorance, backwardness, and even irrationality. It's ridiculous that we've always thought this was the truth.

Flamal couldn't think of any way to take out the giant fleet that was shelling the river. It was too powerful, both the hull and the power of the artillery, which completely subverted his logic.

The food that the soldiers carried with them did not last long. The northern giants had frequently brought all kinds of bait to their mouths before...... Yes, both the Suolong Pass and the previous Hugang cavalry team were bait in Flamal's opinion. What the giants wanted was for the main force of the Viking Kingdom to cross the Pantuo River, and they cut off the back route with their fleets, and then waved their knives and forks towards this piece of fat meat that numbered hundreds of thousands of people.

Even if you stick to it, how long can you hold on?

Can the Saxons, the Rhine, the Plantagenet, the Kingdom of the Lord, and the Holy Army of the Holy See, who claim to be the most powerful in combat, really defeat the giants of the north, rebuild the pontoon bridge over the river, and rescue us who also worship the Lord and share the same faith?

Grief and disappointment slowly rose in Duke Flamal's eyes, and he felt his heart tremble with the explosion of a cannonball.

"We're done...... This time it's really over. ”

His eyes were full of desolation.

……

The heavy shelling continued unabated, from more than 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. The detachments took turns to go into battle, and the rear transport ships were replenished with a round of shells, and by dusk, the banks of the Pantuo River were in shambles, and the air was filled with a thick smoke that was enough to suffocate people. As far as the eye can see, there are flesh and blood corpses everywhere, not a single living person in sight, and no military targets of attack value.

Zhenchao was very satisfied with the results of the shelling. According to the plan, leaving three detachments and supply fleets to patrol back and forth in the vicinity, he led the main force of the river fleet to Gangweicheng, where he temporarily stayed and then replenished supplies.

The next task was given to the Army.

……

Flamar did not dare to delay for a second, and desperately moved to the west with his army. Anyone with a modicum of brains knows that they must stay away from the riverbank, or they will become a live target for the giants' fleet. God knows where they got their hands on such powerful weapons, and the best way to be safe is to stay as far away from them as possible.

No one cared about the corpses everywhere, and the wounded moaning in pain were, in Flamal's view, all "scraps that had to be discarded." With these people, you can't go far, and it's impossible to increase your speed. It was indeed cruel to make such a choice, but he could only harden his heart and issue orders.

I am the commander-in-chief, and I am responsible for all the soldiers who are alive.

By night, the main Viking forces had retreated to safety far from the riverbank. Despite their exhaustion, the soldiers pitched their tents. The intensity of the shelling destroyed most of the baggage, and there was not enough fuel, so people could only nibble on cold, hard bread, fall silent in loneliness and sleep.

Large snowflakes slowly fell from the sky, and Framar reached out to catch the cold shards. That means the snow won't last long, but it will still be difficult to walk through such heavy snow tomorrow morning.

What now?

This was the biggest question mark in Flamar's mind.

The correct answer is "go east". That's where you came from, and it's the way to the Viking Kingdom, where all the soldiers go home.

In the darkness, a wry smile crossed Framar's face.

There are no bridges, there are not enough building materials, what to take to cross the bridge?

What's more, even if there really was such a bridge under the blessing of the Holy Lord, the Giant Fleet would destroy it at the first opportunity.

There was also a serious problem looming———— the shelling caused heavy losses to the Viking army, especially the various military supplies that could not be moved under the fire. There is not enough food, what do the soldiers eat?

Rather than the best hope of "going home safely", how to solve the immediate hunger is the key.