chsdbacks #540 - Battle of the Rape River (Part 2)
#540 - Battle of the Rape River (Part 2)
This sonic grenade called "Banshee's Wail" was newly researched by Silof during this period, proposed by an alchemist priest from the Armory.
The Shattered Dragon Bone Flute was initially researched by the Church for the purpose of pacifying giant spiders and luring children.
Its most convenient aspect is that, like fluorite, it possesses alchemical properties that can be triggered with low mana.
As long as the catalyst is in place, even mortals or natural winds can achieve the effect of bewilderment.
Not to mention in the hands of those with high mana, it could even cause irreversible damage to the recipient's nerves.
Early on, Horn had the idea of turning it into a weapon. Shattered Dragon Bone, as a fairly common mineral in the Dragon's Rest Mountains, was sufficient for large-scale production.
However, he had two problems that he had not been able to solve.
First, how to avoid accidentally hurting his own people? Second, how to enhance its lethality?
Silof, who received this research and development task, quickly solved the first problem with a sonic grenade made of wind snail shells.
The so-called wind snail has an internal structure somewhat similar to a rotary holy engine water pump.
Except the latter pumps water, while the former is smaller and pumps air.
This principle is similar to a diabolo. When the clockwork gear is released in an instant, it drives the internal sounding wheel, similar to a diabolo, to rotate.
Dense air enters the Shattered Dragon Bone sound window, and its vibration is enough to exhaust the alchemical properties of that piece of Shattered Dragon Bone in an instant, thereby achieving the effect just now.
But the second problem has not been solved.
The Shattered Dragon Bone is too weak when blown by natural wind, and anyone with a larger physique or some breathing technique will not be affected.
So this project has been shelved, until the arrival of Scholar Kerben of the Dragon Language Scholars Association.
The Dragon Language Scholars Association, as the name suggests, mainly studies dragons.
They study almost everything related to dragons, and Shattered Dragon Bone is also dragon-related!
Scholar Kerben himself even tried to revive the dragon soul with Shattered Dragon Bone. This alchemical ritual was of course a failure, but it greatly enhanced the alchemical properties of Shattered Dragon Bone.
When the clockwork gear bursts and rotates, the Shattered Dragon Bone will exhaust its alchemical properties in an instant, and then turn into ashes and dissipate.
According to the tests of knight death row inmates, most warhorses and those below the third stage of breathing techniques cannot resist the sonic waves and mental impact of Shattered Dragon Bone.
If it were ordinary people, it might even lead to nerve damage and turn them into vegetables.
The first project of the Holy Axis Alchemical Development Bureau became this steaming weapon scientifically named "Clockwork Bomb".
The name was chosen not only to prevent information leakage, but also because the internal delay gear emits a countdown-like "tick-tock" sound before the sonic boom.
Horn also added a dial to it with a touch of mischievousness, on the one hand to help soldiers determine the throwing time, and on the other hand to let the enemy see their death countdown.
Warm sunshine and cold wind blew on his face at the same time, and Lyner's face was hot and his heart was cold.
Standing on the hillside, he thought he occupied a favorable terrain, so he first sent out a wave of knights to feign an attack to see the opponent's quality.
But he didn't expect that even before they touched their side, more than half of them had already fallen.
What frustrated Lyner the most was that he couldn't even understand how these knights fell. Those flying iron balls didn't even graze any of the knights.
He didn't even see clearly, and the knights had all fallen.
"Damn witchcraft!" The veins on Lyner's hand holding the long sword bulged. This was the only explanation.
The fallen knights struggled to climb up from the mud, their originally snow-bright armor smeared with mud and grass.
According to the normal procedure, if they fell from their horses, they would first gather with friendly forces, and then choose to defend in a circular formation or fight on foot in a wedge formation depending on the situation.
But none of them had experienced this situation where they fell before they even approached the enemy.
It wasn't that no one tried to regain control of their warhorses, but those warhorses seemed to have gone crazy and didn't listen to their original masters at all.
In the biting cold wind, the knights stood blankly in a circle, awkwardly stuck in the middle of the battlefield.
But it doesn't matter, the considerate little cotton-padded jacket, Lana, has arrived with the Holy Musket cavalry, specially to relieve their embarrassment.
Page hammers, iron hooves, and lead bullets swept over the bodies of the walking knights in turn, and blood and brains flowed out from the gaps in the knights' iron cans.
Dead, no more embarrassment.
These knights in iron armor couldn't outrun warhorses, couldn't hit the Holy Musket cavalry, and if they faced them head-on, they would be shot in the head with a musket.
The hundreds of fallen knights were divided and impacted by Lana back and forth. In less than ten minutes, the number of remaining walking knights had dropped to single digits.
"Damn it, let the knights with horses come back first." Lyner gritted his teeth, but forcibly suppressed his anger, "Except for my personal guards, send out the remaining two hundred knights to meet them, but don't get close."
The horn sounded, and the infantrymen looked sideways. From the side of the formation, a wave of swallowtail flags poured down from the hillside, rushing towards the center of the battlefield.
The silver-bright armor flashed with light reflected from the accumulated snow. In the sticky sound of horses' hooves, the knights, draped in the light of walking on flat ground, charged towards Lana.
When Lana discovered this, she naturally gave up continuing to attack the walking knights and turned her head towards
"Holy Father, grant me lightning!"
After a delicate shout, Lana, flashing with lightning, raised her flag spear and lay on her warhorse. The warhorse, Carrot, bristled and, with a neigh, carried a streak of lightning and crashed into the wave like a shooting star.
Standing in front of the river beach, the black-clothed soldiers' eyes burst with flashes of light, and the crackling sound of lightning crawling over the human body echoed in their ears.
"Ah—"
"Eh!"
Any war monks who understood couldn't help but shudder.
In the sounds of electricity and bodies falling to the ground, the two cavalry troops passed each other.
Seven or eight knight corpses emitting black smoke fell from the galloping warhorses, and a short spear was also inserted into the gaps in Lana's shoulder armor.
Although these knights' hard power might not be as good as Lana's, they did have a lot of tricks.
However, it was impossible for Lana to use lightning magic without restraint. After dispelling the opponent's arrogance, she returned to the formation.
The Holy Musket cavalry also returned to the military formation to restore their holy power and reload their holy muskets.
They left the battlefield to those Kush light cavalry. This was what the Kush knights themselves requested. They needed to prove their loyalty.
In front of the river beach, under the hillside, the two sides fell into a strange stalemate.
Church knights and Kush light cavalry began to constantly charge and entangle each other, and waves of arrows jumped back and forth between the two cavalry teams.
Neither the Salvation Army nor the Church Army launched infantry attacks, but just watched silently.
So this battle actually turned into the infantry standing on both sides, watching the knight lords in the middle fight repeatedly.
This watching lasted from morning until about 3 p.m.
During this period, the two cavalry forces rested and fought each other from time to time, each using their ingenuity but failing to break into the main formation.
But what the two sides agreed on was that their main forces and infantry had not yet moved.
Lyner was present throughout the entire process, not leaving a single step.
He didn't drink a drop of water all day, but frowned and watched the situation on the battlefield, until a servant's cautious voice sounded from his side.
"Your Excellency, shall we retreat?"
"Retreat? Why?" Hearing the servant's question, Lyner subconsciously asked back, and then belatedly slapped his forehead.
He turned his horse's head and looked at the infantrymen who had been standing for most of the day. They were no longer what they had been when they first arrived.
Many people even sat down on the spot and began to eat, drink, and even pick lice for each other. Their morale and mental state visibly declined.
These infantrymen were simply unable to concentrate and stand for a long time. He thought the soldiers on the opposite side were still, and thought that not much time had passed.
Only those few hundred homeland serfs and a dozen double-pay greatsword soldiers still maintained a good state, but their faces also showed impatience.
Lyner knew he couldn't wait any longer.
If he waited any longer, they would collapse themselves without the Salvation Army coming up.
"Distribute the frenzy potions and burning heart potions, two bottles per person. After drinking them, start charging."
The servant blinked and repeatedly confirmed: "Drink both bottles? Everyone drinks two bottles?"
"Are you deaf?" Lyner couldn't care about so much anymore. Dying in battle without drinking and dying suddenly after drinking were both death. Since they were going to die, wouldn't it be better to sacrifice themselves for the Church?
"Let the armored soldiers and knights watch. Anyone who dares to talk nonsense can be killed directly. Be sure to complete the preparation of the potions within half an hour."
Half an hour later, the drowsy Delavan was awakened by the sudden sound of a horn. He quickly stepped forward and stood on the edge of the hill, looking out.
Dense figures finally appeared on the hillside. Chainmail and armed clothing rubbed against each other, and warhorses snorted, spraying out puffs of white vapor.
"Here they come, here they come." Delavan shouted, "The Church's army is here!"
After 7 hours of watching, the two thousand five hundred infantrymen of this formation and the five hundred cavalry led by Lyner himself finally appeared on the battlefield.