When the bell rang, the entire camp seemed to boil over.

Fanna rushed out of the tent, followed the crowd, and quickly ran to the top of the wall, entering his battle position. This process had been practiced countless times, and even without anyone directing them, everyone knew what they had to do next.

As in the previous Evil Moon, only a small number of patrol teams were arranged for each section of the city wall during the alert state. Two or three people could handle the scattered Evil Beasts. An alarm would only be sounded if the lookout post observed a large-scale attack by Evil Beast groups.

A dark shadow was approaching on the horizon. Fanna roughly estimated the number of enemies, about a thousand or so—a year ago, this would have been a difficult battle. As a pike-man responsible for buying time for the musketeers to reload, he had to alternate with the reserve members to last until the end.

But now, the town's strength had undergone earth-shattering changes.

Cat's Claw uncovered the cannon cover, shook off the accumulated snow, and Rodney checked the field gun barrels to make sure there were no foreign objects inside before starting to load ammunition. Although the city walls had been changed to earth mounds, their height and width had been increased, and a gun platform was set up every hundred meters, greatly increasing defensive firepower.

The width of the passage allowed four people to walk side by side. During battle, the first row was the musketeers, and the second row was the recruit loaders, who were responsible for filling the bullet nests and handing them to the formal soldiers in front.

"Don't they get tired of it," Rodney yawned, "Every year during the Devil's Moon they run over like crazy. Even if they break into the town, there's no benefit for them, right?"

"It's just right for us to practice," Nelson laughed, "It's more interesting to fight Evil Beasts than fixed wooden targets."

"Speaking of target practice, I recently heard an interesting rumor related to our artillery team," Yupi said mysteriously.

"What rumor?"

"I heard from other gun crews that those who shoot accurately will be assigned to an elite artillery team to take on a brand new mission," he paused, "Does anyone know more details?"

"Elite artillery team?"

"If even you, who claims to be knowledgeable, don't know, how could we know more."

"Maybe someone was bored and made it up."

Only Fanna remained silent among the gun crew. Hearing Yupi's words, he couldn't help frowning. Someone actually treated this matter as something to brag about?

Tie Axe had approached him a week ago and told him that His Highness the Prince planned to develop a new type of cannon, completely different from the field guns currently in use. It would not be delivered to the First Army, but would be installed on ships to make them warships with long-range attack capabilities. The operators of the new cannon would be the most outstanding members of the artillery team. If he wanted to join, he could apply to Tie Axe.

Fanna agreed without hesitation. This was clearly an opportunity to advance further in the army. According to Tie Axe, His Highness the Prince had high expectations for this new arm, and it might even break away from the First Army and become a completely new army. If one could make great contributions, newly manufactured warships would even be named after those with outstanding achievements.

What glory! If there was a warship called the Fanna, he would be satisfied for the rest of his life. Recalling that he was originally just a mining worker, but always considered himself extraordinary, he couldn't even protect his younger brother's life in the slum of the fortress. Now he no longer needed to boast—the army provided food and drink, and the uniforms were thick and warm; even when he returned to the community, the surrounding neighbors could call him by name.

All these were changes brought about by His Highness.

Looking back, his decision to join the militia for an egg was simply the wisest choice of his life.

In addition, Tie Axe also asked him if he had any suitable candidates to recommend, so they could apply together. In other words, these young lads might have the opportunity to make a name for themselves, but they were too impulsive, so it was better to wait until they were more steady. And if they made great contributions, would those warships have to be called Yupi, or Cat's Claw? It was simply too ugly... Rodney or Nelson were options to consider.

As for someone who couldn't help but reveal this news to his subordinates, he had to report it to Tie Axe. After all, it was clearly stated in the regulations that any news from the First Army, unless explicitly required by superiors, must not be spread without authorization.

"Stop yelling, now focus all your attention on the battlefield," Fanna coughed twice, interrupting the discussion of the gun crew, "Don't forget what Tie Axe repeatedly emphasized in class, any mistake can bring irreparable failure."

"Yes!" Everyone said in unison.

Since solid iron balls were not efficient enough in killing, when dealing with Evil Beast groups, they would wait for the enemy to get close before using shrapnel rounds. When the hideous-looking wolf species first crossed the hundred-meter line, the shelling began.

The heat wave stirred up the snow under the muzzle, and the huge roar shook Fanna's ears painfully. The black bloody mist suddenly rose in the distance, and a large group of Evil Beasts fell down. Whether they were wild boars or bear species, the fur on their bodies was not enough to withstand the close-range bombardment of iron balls.

"There's a big guy over there," Cat's Claw pointed to the front left, "A Redskin Wolf species!"

A group of people neatly moved the gun carriage, adjusted the muzzle to the target direction, and reloaded and fired again—theoretically, shrapnel rounds did not need to be aimed. As long as they fired forward, they could always sweep down a large number of enemies. Moreover, the newly built mud walls were higher than the stone walls, and the wolf species could not threaten the top of the wall. Prioritizing the attack on this kind of flexible Evil Beast was simply for the purpose of training and target practice.

Next, it was finally the turn of the long-awaited musketeers. To ensure accuracy, they always waited until about fifty meters away before firing.

The sound of the revolving rifles was not as uniform as that of flintlock guns, but dense and continuous. White smoke rose from the top of the city, and the choking smell of gunpowder came, making him unable to help but sneeze.

"These idiots, their power is obviously not good, but when they fight, the smoke is more than anyone else," Yupi complained.

"But the final battle is still determined by the artillery," Rodney agreed, "This is true for dealing with knights, and it should be true for dealing with Evil Beasts."

At this moment, an urgent bell rang from the direction of the lookout post, which was a warning that mixed-species Evil Beasts had been discovered.

Fanna squinted and looked forward. He saw two huge black shadows slowly moving forward in the smoke. Judging from their size, they should be siege beasts with heavy armor.

"What were you just saying?" He grinned, "Now it's our time to show off, switch to pointed solid rounds."

In order to deal with enemies with higher defense, the new type of shells developed by the arsenal could penetrate the opponent's armor at about two hundred meters. If attacking the wolf species just now was a warm-up, now was the formal shooting.

"Do a good job," Fanna clapped his hands, "Let the other gun crews see who are the most elite artillery soldiers."

.(。)