AWDC Chapter 71

Chapter 71: Battle on the Shores of Lake Milona

The narrowest point between the Mulan River and Lake Milona was no more than 500 meters. I had prepared three contraptions there.

One was a fence with a unit of archers behind it. The bows were steel crossbows.

I taught Ladapole the principles, showed him the general drawings of the crossbows, and had him make them. We had test-fired these repeatedly in the desert.

With ordinary bows held by the enemy soldiers, the force would dissipate after 100 meters, making it impossible to pierce a person, and it was doubtful whether it would even reach that far. But it was completely different with crossbows.

By using the principle of leverage to draw the steel bow, a strong force could be imparted to the arrow. Furthermore, the resilient repulsive force, unthinkable with wooden bows, was transmitted to the arrow. Even enemies far away could be accurately hit.

When tested at the desert training ground, archers accustomed to the bow accurately pierced targets 100 meters away.

“This is an amazing weapon,” exclaimed a soldier from the Royal Army who test-fired it, with surprise. Unfortunately, despite the blacksmith’s best efforts, we only managed to prepare 100.

For an army of over 20,000, a hundred weapons was a drop in the bucket, but if they were accurately shot from over 100 meters away, the enemy would surely be daunted.

If we could launch long-range attacks, they wouldn’t easily attack us, or so I thought.

If we could buy even a little time to daunt the enemy, we could use the next contraption.

That was the explosive buried underground. A type of dynamite made by soaking diatomaceous earth with nitroglycerin and using electric sparks for ignition. Unfortunately, the quality of the nitroglycerin that could be made in the village was poor, and there were even misfires. More than anything, the diatomaceous earth reduced the explosive power, a technology that had already been lost in my world, where it had been replaced with plastic gel. However, there was no material other than diatomaceous earth that could guarantee safety, so we had no choice but to use it. The electric spark was a primitive storage battery used to create a short circuit. This had been used many times in the development of the Datar Desert, and workers accustomed to using it handled the explosives.

It was buried 100 meters from where we were positioned. We intended to detonate the dynamite to thwart the enemy’s advance when they tried to attack with momentum. We planned to detonate it when the enemy was densely packed and trying to attack.

And finally, there was the mortar. Compared to the ones in my world, this mortar was like a toy. I had never been in the military, nor had I ever handled weapons. The only weapon I could think of was a mortar-like device. It was a device that filled the shell with propellant and dropped it to the bottom of the barrel to ignite it, propelling it far away. In modern weapons, wings are attached to the shell to stabilize its flight posture. But here, we didn’t even consider aiming accuracy; we just made it with the idea that it would fly far, explode, and that would be good enough.

The barrel was also a simple structure, a metal cylinder with one end closed, or something reminiscent of a very deep pot. This was stuck into the ground and tilted slightly towards the enemy. When a shell was dropped into the bottom of this, the gunpowder at the tail of the shell would explode, and the shell would fly out of the cylinder. Frankly speaking, it was impossible to set a target to aim at. It was like an inexperienced golfer suddenly standing on the green and hitting the ball. It was safe to say that where it would go was completely unpredictable. Anyway, it would be good enough if the shells reached the area between the Mulan River and Lake Milona. It was a contraption that I thought could inflict damage anywhere, as the 20,000 enemy soldiers were densely packed.

The leader of the Bawa Roma teachings was a brave warrior with combat experience in the Royal Army. He estimated the forces of the Southern Lords’ army in front of him to be 3,000. His ability to discern the enemy’s strength at a glance was accurate.

“We have an army of 22,000. That’s eight times as many. No matter how inferior our martial skills may be, this difference in numbers is significant.”

(They are not hiding their forces and are openly deploying their army on this plain.)

(This is a little incomprehensible. If leading a small unit, you shouldn’t choose a place with good visibility as the battlefield.)

(Hide the cavalry on the road near the forest and aim to disrupt our flanks and rear.)

Isn’t that the most likely approach? The enemy general looked at our army’s formation and harbored doubts.

What the enemy general was thinking was what is now called guerrilla warfare. It is a fighting method used by the weak in battles with a difference in strength. However, this would involve the residents in the battle.

It is no exaggeration to say that the residents would be forced to endure the most miserable circumstances. I didn’t intend to fight such a battle.

In particular, there was nothing more heinous than the type of battle called terrorism in my world. That targets the weakest residents. They hide from the strong enemy and only target the weak residents; what a despicable method. In my previous life, I watched the news of the victims who died in terrorist attacks with anger.

Absolutely, fight head-on and defeat the enemy. I couldn’t think of anything else.

However, if the enemy noticed my contraptions, turned back, and attacked by making a large detour around Lake Milona, there would be no way to deal with it.

On the opposite side of the lake, a vast swamp stretched out, and if we were dispersed there, the side with fewer troops would be overwhelmingly disadvantaged.

I hoped that the enemy would not notice and would step into the crossbows’ range and the dynamite’s placement, and I watched with bated breath, wondering when it would happen.

The enemy general was slowly advancing his troops.

He too had noticed something was wrong. There must be some kind of trap, such as a pitfall. Therefore, he sent a small unit ahead and dispersed the troops across the narrow area, so that if there was a trap, it would be limited to a small number of casualties. He was that wary of the enemy’s traps.

However, there was no sign of a trap. The enemy’s forces were now no more than 150 meters away. Although the arrows would not accurately reach yet, it was a situation where we could shoot from our side.

Coming here, he regretted not being able to gather a cavalry unit.

If he had at least 100 cavalry, he could break through the enemy lines in front of him, but there were only a few who could ride horses in the Bawa Roma army. The attack speed of the cavalry was the greatest weapon in this situation, and there was frustration there.

(Anyway, after advancing a little further, fire the longbows and rush at the enemy army at once.)

(Even with the longbows, they won’t reach the enemy properly, but that should be enough to daunt them.)

“Alright, now! Attack!”

At that moment, arrows flew from the other side with a “pshew, pshew” sound, and they all pierced our allies.

Several of the soldiers who had been scattered in front fell, and there was confusion among the troops.

(Can the enemy accurately shoot arrows from this far away?)

The enemy general realized that he had underestimated the opponent a little.

(But the enemy is already right in front of us. It seems there are few archers as well. Even if there are some losses, we can rush to the enemy lines.)

He gave the signal to charge. The trumpets were blown, and the Bawa Roma teachings army moved all at once.

That was when it happened.

Suddenly, an explosion occurred that shook the ground.

Sounds that deafened the ears occurred simultaneously in several places, and clods of earth accompanied by plumes of smoke struck the surrounding soldiers.

(What, what happened?)

The horse the enemy general was riding was startled by the explosions and began to rampage.

While desperately grabbing the reins to avoid being thrown off, the second explosion occurred.

The enemy general and his horse disappeared into the explosion.