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William sneered. It seemed that the new controller of Yieta was not prepared to trust him at all. The shaking wine glass in his hand paused, and then William drank the scarlet liquid inside and said in a cold voice.
"Send more people to monitor their movements in the capital starting today, and find out what these wizards want to do! Also, I need to know everything they do in the manor, so in the name of negotiating profit sharing, send someone in to take a look!"
"I understand!" Cody replied with his head down.
"Lord William, do we need to make an appointment with the Cardinal first?" a sneaky-looking boatman asked suddenly.
"No, it's not the time yet!" William shook his head. He didn't have enough chips in his hand.
The compass that can locate the wizard's land has been taken back by Lin En, which means that they have now lost the ability to find the island in the ocean.
If there are not enough merits to offset the previous "mistakes", then after losing its usefulness, the final outcome will be obvious!
So they must now obtain more information, at least to confirm when the airship will stop in the manor, as there will definitely be a way to locate the wizarding land on it.
If we could take advantage of this time to make a break with these wizards, that would be great!
Chapter 240: The Musketeers and the Approaching War
Before they knew it, summer had arrived. The scorching sun was high in the sky, baking the three thousand soldiers standing on the training ground. Beads of sweat the size of beans kept flowing down from their foreheads and seeping into their collars. Their whole bodies were wet and uncomfortable, but no one dared to move.
Old York had been standing on the training ground for two full hours. Every part of his body was sore, but he still gritted his teeth and persevered. He only breathed a sigh of relief when the whistle for the break sounded at noon.
However, he had no time to rest, but hurriedly ran and lined up in a long queue to receive today's lunch - two pieces of white bread, a small bowl of vegetable soup, plus a palm-sized grilled fish, or an equal amount of camel meat.
For Old York, this was a happy luxury. Although the monthly salary for joining the Musketeers was twenty silver coins, they could not afford to eat such luxurious food on weekdays.
Only here are there three meals a day with meat available for every meal. They usually eat two meals or even one meal.
"Old York, you said that the city lord suddenly gathered so many people for training. Is he going to go to war?" During the break, a tall and strong man patted him on the shoulder and couldn't help but ask.
This is the rumor that has been circulating wildly throughout the Yieta Harbor recently. Almost everyone with a little bit of intelligence can see that a war is approaching.
After all, Yieta used to only have some security teams in charge of its management, but now they have suddenly recruited 3,000 people to form some kind of musket team. The meaning is already very clear.
"I guess so." Old York muttered while biting the white bread in his mouth, feeling a little uneasy.
They had not experienced the so-called war in the wizard land, but every Sunday, the boatmen who arrived in Yieta from the outside world would always squander copper coins in the tavern and complain to them about their misery in the outside world.
In the Sekas Empire, whether one is farming or working as a laborer, a portion of the meager remuneration earned must be handed over to the local church as a token of repentance for the mistakes one has made in the past year, and then taxes must be paid to the so-called nobles. In the end, only two or three tenths of the remuneration truly belongs to one.
This made the residents of Harbor Town even more convinced that the outside world was a barbaric hell. If they lost the war, their families would be brutally killed by the enemy, their land would be taken away, and their property would be looted.
Old York, who had just seen some hope in life, naturally did not want everything he had worked hard to get to be taken away, so he was particularly serious in his daily training.
But what confused him was that these training programs were so strange.
All they have to do every day is run around the city a few times, shout slogans, or stand in the sun for a few hours, or hold a mallet with a long knife embedded on the top and stab a dummy for more than an hour.
The strangest thing is that they are required to make their sleeping beds neatly, get up immediately when they hear the whistle, and gather at the training ground within the specified time. The queue cannot be disordered at all, otherwise the whole team will be punished.
These strange rules made Old York and others complain bitterly. In their opinion, these trainings were of no use at all and were just tormenting themselves.
I heard that after a while, those wizards are going to capture a few earth giants and let them deal with them in the form of eight-man teams to hone their courage and abilities.
"Isn't this making things difficult for me?" Old York took a bite of white bread and complained in his heart.
As a former hunter, he knew very well how difficult these monsters were to deal with. Even if an eight-man team was fully armed and holding crossbows, it would take at least half of their men to win, with the greater possibility of total annihilation.
After about an hour's rest, the shrill whistle sounded again. Old York immediately got up from the ground and found his position in the queue in less than half a minute.
Generally speaking, the afternoon is the time to practice stabbing, but this time it was different. Their city lord, Lin En, the actual controller of Yieta, also arrived at the training ground.
All of a sudden, Old York and the others felt that their waists and legs were no longer sore, and they stood straighter than each other.
Their instructor Luo Wen did not give them those things that looked like hammers, but a strange long stick with exquisite workmanship and a shining bayonet hanging on the top.
Is this a spear?
Old York was confused. The wooden target in front of him was also covered with a layer of armor, probably to simulate fully armed enemies.
Soon the city lord told them that this thing was called a musket, a creation of the alchemy workshop, a second-generation product that had been improved, and he personally taught them how to use this new flintlock.
The hands of the Musketeer guards were shaking with excitement, but they still mastered the use of this thing within half an hour.
"The first three hundred people step out, place ammunition, aim at the target in front, pay attention to maintain your body balance, and pull the trigger!" Luo Wen shouted loudly.
Old York immediately took two steps forward and awkwardly stuffed the round lead bullet into the barrel of the gun. Then he aimed at the target about ten meters away and pulled the trigger as Rowan instructed.
Immediately afterwards, a sound like thunder rang in his ears. Old York, who was unprepared, only felt his ears buzzing, and then he fell to the ground with a thump under the strong recoil.
"Thunder blast...thunder blast!"
Along with a series of thunderous gunshots, the 300 people standing neatly in the front row on the training ground suddenly became scattered. About a quarter of them were knocked to the ground by the recoil because they were caught off guard. Several people were shocked by the sudden explosion and felt dizzy. They kept shouting "Thunder!"
Luo Wen's face looked very ugly, and he blew the whistle immediately. The originally chaotic team immediately quieted down as if by reflex. Old York and others even jumped up subconsciously and stood back in their original positions.
Only then did Old York notice that a piece of the target in front of them had been broken into pieces, and even the sturdy armor had been directly pierced through. The powerful force made everyone astonished.
Many people just remembered that Lin En had just told them that this thing was a creation of the alchemy workshop, which means that it may contain the magic of the wizards. For example, the power of thunder and fire was gathered in this musket, which is why it has such powerful power!
Chapter 241: Lynn’s Advantageous Pyrodynamics Theory!
On the training ground, bursts of shrill roars rang out one after another.
Clean the gun chamber, insert lead bullets, load gunpowder, aim at the target, pull the trigger...
The guards strictly followed the procedure and fired lead bullets one after another under Luo Wen's scolding, and soon smashed the target in front of them into pieces.
In the end, Luo Wen had to replace all the targets with steel ones, otherwise they would not be able to withstand the test.
This practice lasted for an entire afternoon. Although his palms and shoulders were a little sore from the recoil of the musket, the novelty brought by this thing made Old York completely ignore the physical discomfort and he wished he could practice shooting here all day long.
Even after hearing Luo Wen say that the shooting practice was over and they could rest, the recruits were somewhat reluctant to leave.
Old York took advantage of the break to take a look at the steel target stand. He couldn't help but gasp. The copper shield, which was two fingers thick, was full of pits and dents from lead bullets, and the surface was sunken inwards.
Obviously, even steel cannot completely resist the attack of muskets, and armor will be shattered in an instant. If it hits a person... Old York couldn't help but shudder. He didn't dare to imagine it.
After resting for a while, it was time for the usual jogging. Three thousand people carried new muskets and lined up in a long queue to jog around the entire city. The townspeople on the streets cast envious glances at them.
Everyone knows that the best treated troops in the entire Iyeta seaport are the Musketeers, who not only receive twenty silver coins a month, but also receive free food and lodging.
It’s a pity that the Musketeers are very strict when it comes to recruiting. Those who are too fat, too thin, too short, or too old are not accepted.
Old York enjoyed the envious and jealous looks of the crowd and held the flintlock in his hand tightly. If these people knew that the city lord had given each of them a powerful alchemical weapon that could penetrate steel armor, they would be so envious that they would go crazy.
"Lord Lin En, is it really useful to let them keep doing these basic drill training?" Looking at the figures of the recruits going away, Luo Wen asked in confusion.
He felt that instead of spending so much time studying how to arrange the formation meticulously and how to keep the formation neat while running, it would be better to spend time practicing shooting accuracy, which is more important on the battlefield.
"Of course! I have always believed that one of the most important criteria for a qualified army is to obey orders!" Lin En said firmly. "Especially the musketeers, they must maintain a strict formation to exert their greatest power!"
In the era when flintlock rifles were popular, the most famous tactic was the linear infantry tactic, which was jokingly called "shooting in a line."
The accuracy and range of early muskets were limited, and only by lining up in formation and firing together could the ammunition be guaranteed to have sufficient accuracy at long distances.
Of course, Lynn didn't intend to do this, because his opponent was not equipped with muskets and cannons. Instead, he planned to use the famous three-stage shooting method to make up for the poor firing rate of the flintlock!
The so-called three-stage shooting is to divide the firearms troops into three rows, front and back, and fire in turn. After the first row finishes shooting, they retreat to the third row to reload ammunition, and the second row of musketeers who are ready can start shooting, and so on, letting the rain of bullets continuously attack the enemy.
Discipline is very important at this time, otherwise you will only lose your composure during the battle!
Lin En explained the musketeers' combat methods to Rowan, and then asked curiously.
"What is your impression of war? What are the factors that determine the outcome of a war?"
Rowan also came from the Beyond the Mist. It was said that he had served as a knight in an earldom for a period of time and had led several small-scale wars. Later, he was reported and exposed for teaching himself witchcraft, so he fled all the way to the land of wizards.
It was precisely because of his experience in leading troops that Lin En let him lead the musketeers.
While thinking about the so-called three-stage shooting method, Luo Wen spoke. "Normally, the army is divided into two types. One is the temporary conscripted serfs, holding pitchforks, hoes and other farm tools. They are numerous but have very limited combat capabilities. The other is the elite guards who are well-equipped with armor and trained, and are usually used as the finale.
When a war begins, they usually line up their troops, shoot a few rounds of arrows, and then everyone picks up their swords and attacks each other. Whichever side is defeated first loses.
Normally, the factors that determine victory or defeat are the number of troops, the percentage of armor worn, the number of bows and crossbows, and the number of knights. "
Luo Wen talked incessantly.
Of course, this is a civil war among nobles for land, and generally the Holy See will not interfere. Otherwise, if the priest or even the bishop intervenes, it will be a different situation.
Is it so primitive? Lin En paused for a moment, then remembered that if we put aside divine arts and magic, this was a medieval empire, and the battles between nobles usually involved only a few thousand people. What new tactics could they come up with?
After introducing the war situation among the nobles, Rowan talked about his own use and understanding of firearms.
For example, when there are a small number of enemies in front of you, you can surround them in a circular formation, cross-shoot, and form a firepower network to improve your shooting accuracy.
Compared to the bow and crossbow, the strength of the flintlock rifle lies in its armor-piercing ability and the speed of personnel training. Its disadvantages are its slow reloading speed and weak close combat ability.
After all, bayonets are not as useful as greatswords or spears, so it may be necessary to train a team of about a thousand sword and shield soldiers to assist the musketeers in close combat.
"There's no need for that. Bayonet fighting will only be used in the worst of situations. Since we're at a disadvantage in close combat, wouldn't it be fine if we just prevent the enemy from getting close?" Lin En interrupted.
"Lord Lin, war is no joke. The number of any punitive army of the empire is probably more than ten times ours. It is impossible to defeat them with just a few rounds of musket fire." Rowan frowned. He felt that Lin's confidence in the musket was a little too great.
"No, it's precisely because our army is too small that we can't afford to waste it in close combat, which would mean a significant loss of manpower!" Lin En shook his head. "This is how we should fight when we have superior firepower!"
"Use the field of vision provided by the airship, and when the enemy is three kilometers to three hundred meters away from us, use artillery to attack! Magical bombardment between three hundred and seventy meters, and within seventy to ten meters, use muskets to fire in turns, and try to eliminate the enemy out of sight!"
"As for the area within ten meters, depending on the enemy's resistance, I will decide whether to use [Flame Torrent] to baptize them or use Earth Wall to assist in their retreat..."
Chapter 242 Our goal is to end every war with zero casualties!
Lin En's battle plan was very simple, which was to use superior firepower to defeat or cripple the enemy as much as possible before the two sides officially came into contact!
Never give the other party a chance to get close to you...
"My goal for you is to end every battle with zero casualties!" Lin En said firmly.
Zero casualties?
Luo Wen was completely dumbfounded. No one who had experienced war would say such a stupid thing.
But after carefully thinking about Lynn's tactics, Rowan suddenly realized that it didn't seem impossible.
He had seen that thing called a cannon in the Alchemy Research Institute. Although its power was not as strong as the magic crystal cannon, its range was much longer, and most importantly, it could be mass-produced quickly.