Three days passed quickly, and the defense line was basically completed.

Roland stood on the high platform behind the position, like when Xie Yue fought against the evil beasts, inspiring all the soldiers of the First Army with a battlefront presence.

Nightingale, burdened with a special mission, had already taken Echo and infiltrated the battlefield. The witch who took over the responsibility of protecting Roland was Anna.

Roland himself also wore coated armor, with two revolving handguns tucked into his waist. Unless the defense line completely collapsed, it would be difficult for any stray fish who managed to break through to pose a threat to him.

"The enemy is about ten kilometers away from here, goo!" A huge pigeon descended from the sky and landed on his shoulder.

"Good job, keep monitoring," Roland took a piece of jerky from his pocket and handed it to Maisie's mouth. She pecked it open and swallowed it in a few bites, then spread her wings and flew east.

With Lightning and Maisie taking turns scouting, he had a clear understanding of the enemy's movements, so he could calmly deploy the battlefield.

It was not prudent to arrange a slender battle line to deal with the berserk warriors who had taken kèyào, especially because the hundreds of short spears carried by them, as described in Lightning's report, caught his attention. If he wasn't mistaken, it was likely the enemy's weapon for a preemptive strike.

Generally, the range of throwing weapons does not exceed fifty meters, but that is for ordinary people. Roland wasn't sure how far the militiamen could throw the short spears after taking the pills, but if it exceeded one hundred meters, it would pose a threat to the musketeers. So he simply chose to put down a batch of bunkers, implement urbanization tactics, use buildings to block entrances, muskets to seal roads, and artillery fire to suppress the enemy, constructing an insurmountable defense line.

With sufficient cement, building bunkers quickly was easier than building city walls. Although the single-layer brick bunkers appeared structurally fragile, they were already indestructible fortifications for a militia team without heavy siege equipment.

Ten bunkers were arranged in a diamond shape on both sides of the road, forming crossfire. Each bunker was equipped with twenty-four soldiers, half new and half veterans. Skilled veterans were responsible for shooting, and new recruits were responsible for loading ammunition. Soroya also painted "Optical Camouflage" for the bunkers. Standing at a distance, the bunkers and the surrounding environment were almost integrated, making it difficult to distinguish the two.

Behind the battle line was the artillery unit. Twenty cannons were lined up in a row. The firing sequence was still the same as last time, adjusting the cannon elevation angle and loading the corresponding ammunition according to Lightning's signal instructions.

Around the artillery positions stood an emergency force of about a hundred men, equipped with flintlock guns, to protect the artillery and His Royal Highness Prince Roland in the rear.

Looking at the energetic and high-spirited soldiers in the defense line, Roland felt a little emotional. The initially weak and scrawny commoners who enlisted in the army for an egg had now been baptized by the Demon Month and the town defense war, and were now able to shoulder the responsibility of defending their homes.

"Your Highness, the enemy is only two kilometers away from us," the little girl Lightning reported this time.

"Very good, leave the surveillance mission to Maisie. You can enter the air above the forest to send artillery fire signals." Roland nodded, then turned to the chief knight and said, "Pass down my order, all members of the First Army, enter combat positions and prepare to meet the enemy!"

"Yes!" Carter saluted.

*******************

Leiman felt his hand getting heavier and heavier.

Two days ago, it was still burning hot, but now he had almost lost sensation. The armor could no longer be put on the swollen and blue arm. A red-black mark was left on the part hit by the hammer, and the skin looked like a layer of oil, somewhat transparent and shiny.

The bone must be broken, he thought. If he didn't get treatment, this arm would be lost. The painkillers he found in the church could relieve the pain, but they couldn't regenerate broken bones. He decided to return to the royal capital immediately after this battle. There were the best apothecaries and alchemists in Graycastle, and they should be able to cure this damn internal injury.

"Sir Leiman, your hand... are you okay?" Lewen asked worriedly.

"It just looks scary," he pretended to be nonchalant, "Besides, we don't need to do anything to attack Border Town. We just need to watch from the sidelines."

"I hope the pain in your arm hasn't made you lose your mind, Sir," Dorn sneered, "Have you figured out how to attack the town?"

The other party's tone made Leiman frown, but now was not the time to worry about such trivial matters, "According to the information I got from the Wolves and Elk nobles, they mainly rely on a long-range attack weapon to curb the knight's charge. This weapon can attack before the knight accelerates, accompanied by flames and loud noises, similar to a large ballista, but the projectiles it launches are much faster than crossbow bolts."

"In other words, although it is powerful, it cannot fire continuously, right?" Lewen quickly grasped the key point.

"That's right, the faster we approach the opponent's defense line, the less attacks we will receive," Leiman nodded, "In addition, numbers are also very important. As far as I know, Duke Ryan's knight order and the knights of the recruited nobles totaled only two hundred people, and they were only one step away from breaking through the defense line, but we have a full one thousand five hundred people. These fools run no slower than horses after taking the pills, so the result will be completely different from last time."

"Or none of this will happen," Dorn said dismissively, "Roland Wimbledon may still be waiting in the castle for the messenger group to visit. We just need to walk into the castle generously and chop off his head."

"No, he must have noticed us," Leiman said decisively, "Didn't you notice that we haven't encountered any caravans in the past three days? It's not surprising that merchants departing from Longsong Stronghold choose to stay or return after seeing the tail of the large army, but it's unusual not to see any caravans departing from the town. This can only mean that the prince has sealed off the border."

"Now you understand why His Majesty chose Sir Leiman as the captain, and not you?" Lewen mocked.

"Okay, it seems your head is fine for the time being," Dorn shrugged, "That's good, because killing those lowly people who dare to resist Tiffeco is obviously more interesting than just killing the prince alone."

"Sir Leiman, Border Town's troops have been spotted ahead," the knight responsible for scouting reported.

"Let's go, let's take a look," Leiman urged his mount forward. At this time, the outline of the town castle was faintly visible. There seemed to be figures moving at the end of the road. He took out his telescope and carefully observed the opponent's defenses, "Those things with wheels should be the long-range attack weapons mentioned in the intelligence, but the number seems to be much larger."

"Should we just let everyone rush up?" Lewen asked.

"This road is a bit narrow, I'm afraid it won't accommodate all the militia," he looked at the woods on the right, "You can separate some people and go around from the woods. It doesn't matter if they are slower. If they can form a flanking attack from the side, this defense line won't last long."

Just as Leiman was about to order the adjustment of the team, the corner of his eye suddenly caught a glimpse of a white figure.

He was stunned. Was this... a hallucination caused by the broken arm? Turning his head, it was actually a woman. She wore a hood and was shrouded in a white robe. Before she could open her mouth, a ball of fire suddenly appeared in her hand.

Leiman only felt as if his head had been hit hard by a hammer, and the world spun into darkness. (。)