“Where did they get so many firearms from?”
The commander of An Zhu anxiously observed the battlefield situation. The dense fire net formed by semi-automatic firearms and machine guns completely extinguished any thoughts of attempting a charge from An Zhu’s side.
Something was off, far too off. Although the principle of firearms was simple, creating firearms that met standards and improving them was not an easy task.
Not to mention the many complex procedures, just the crucial gunpowder required constant trial and error.
An Zhu also had their own modified An Zhu firearms based on captured weapons, but the opponent’s firearms were clearly on a considerable level ahead of An Zhu’s. Not to mention, compared to the original firearms, they were essentially trading a bird gun for a cannon.
Whether it was Fang Ge or the Royal Capital, even An Zhu, which had not had firearms for long, already had its own production line. Among them, An Zhu started the latest but progressed the fastest. Alberto had even confirmed the direction for improving firearms, just waiting for large-scale production.
Moreover, An Zhu had the strongest control within their own country, and the concept of a production line already existed domestically.
However, some key components still required the alchemists and old craftsmen to make by hand, and the efficiency was far from reaching assembly line standards; it was still a semi-assembly line mixed with traditional methods.
Even so, An Zhu’s production efficiency was already far ahead of Cape’s Royal Capital.
That was why An Zhu’s commander found it unbelievable that the entire Cape side could be equipped with new firearms overnight.
Whether from the information transmitted by scouts or the commander’s own observations on the battlefield, it was evident that the opposing forces were not their main force, at most a flanking division.
In other words, the main force’s equipment would only be better.
Though it was still unclear, An Zhu’s commander had already sensed the gap in productivity.
There was a force, with productivity far exceeding that of both An Zhu and Cape’s Royal Capital, directly transforming the previously pressured Southwest Coalition into a level parallel to An Zhu’s.
“Don’t worry, in terms of range, we have the advantage.”
An Zhu’s commander didn’t know whether he was reassuring himself or calming the staff officers and knights beside him.
While it was true, the mages on this side couldn’t open the opponent’s turtle shell relying solely on long-range magic.
Currently, the Cape army only needed to defend because Cape’s mission was neither to achieve a great victory nor to annihilate An Zhu’s forces; it was sufficient to hold back An Zhu and even just not lose too badly for the Cape army’s objective to be achieved.
“But Commander, the opponent’s reinforcements might arrive before ours.”
The staff officer carefully tugged at the commander’s sleeve, reminding him, “Commander, this isn’t a siege. In a field battle, the opponent’s reinforcements will be faster than ours.”
An Zhu’s professional mage corps were indeed unparalleled, having previously crushed Cape’s Southwest Coalition in field battles and skirmishes with overwhelming force.
However, the total number of professional mages wouldn’t change; those who specialized in a single magic couldn’t be counted as true professionals but as special units instead.
Therefore, the professional mage corps responsible for a specific area were generally more dispersed, and their speed of reinforcement was definitely not comparable to the opponent’s model of bringing several professionals with a single squad. It was just that previously, Cape did not have an army that could hold out long enough in the field for reinforcements to arrive.
In reality, as long as An Zhu figured out the opponent’s firepower limit, prying open the turtle shell would just be a matter of time.
Even if the opponent’s main force arrived, An Zhu could attempt to fight, and because the opponent came with their main force, An Zhu could actually use more trump cards. The professional mage corps were not just limited to hunting monsters.
Yet, An Zhu’s commander remained calm. The events of today were too strange, and An Zhu needed to go back and digest the information obtained.
“Prepare to retreat.”
An Zhu sounded the retreat horn, and despite soldiers and subordinates not understanding, the commander chose to withdraw.
Besides needing to process the new intelligence, An Zhu’s commander was mainly afraid of becoming a target for the oiling tactic. After all, this was just a skirmish, and An Zhu’s forces lacked solid camps and advantageous terrain, most importantly, they had not arranged prior cooperation plans with other legions.
The costs of the two armies were completely different; professionals weren’t monsters, and they could die—each loss meant one less. If it turned into a war of attrition, winning would still be a loss.
Although this was not a great defeat, and even at one point, An Zhu’s army had felt the momentum might break the opponent with arrows, the fact remained that An Zhu had taken the initiative to attack and then retreated.
Even if An Zhu’s casualty ratio looked worse, even if An Zhu gained intelligence on the opponent’s new weapons, from both Cape and An Zhu’s perspectives, this was a loss for An Zhu.
Alberto did not reprimand this commander in the letter; instead, he comforted him: “You did well, withdrawing was a wise choice. However, the initial attack was indeed too hasty. Take a breather first, and we’ll reassess in some time.”
This was their first loss against the Cape army, and this punishment was actually a protective measure for the commander.
After sending the letter, Alberto carefully reviewed the intelligence collected from the front lines and bards while also examining the newly captured firearm on the table.
Not only did the retreating commander encounter Cape’s equipped new firearms, but two other legions also had clashes with the Cape army, and the results weren’t pretty; to say they didn’t lose would be an understatement. The situation that should have been a crushing victory had turned into a sweaty affair.
“This is the firearm developed by Graywhite Territory.”
Seeing that Alberto was quite interested in the firearm, Cassius began to introduce: “For a long time, it has been Graywhite Territory providing firearms to the Royal Capital, which the Royal Capital then distributed to the Southwest Coalition.”
“Based on the intelligence we just received, Graywhite Territory not only started selling weapons to the Royal Capital but also directly engaged in arms trading with the Southwest Borders. That’s the reason the Southwest Coalition could fully replace their firearms overnight.”
Alberto said nothing and directly picked up the firearm, opened the window, and fired a burst outside.
“It’s simply a work of art.”
As Alberto blew out the smoke from the muzzle, he gently caressed the firearm.
Cassius continued to explain: “I acquired some information about Cape’s Northern Border through some special means. Apart from selling firearms to the Royal Capital and the Southwest Borders, that governor from Graywhite Territory has even sold firearms and cannons to his enemy—the other governor in the Northern Border, which is Fang Ge•Lars.”
“Did Fang Ge also receive this type of firearm?”
“No, it’s of inferior quality. However, Fang Ge’s side was the first to confront firearms and began to understand firearms early on. The firearms they produced themselves might be a bit more advanced than ours; it’s just that they can’t integrate alchemists and craftsmen for large-scale production like we can, so they have to purchase weapons from their enemies.”
Hearing this, Alberto couldn’t help but chuckle, saying, “What daring buyers and sellers!”
“Because Graywhite Territory has even more advanced firearms.”
Cassius seemed not to catch the joke and earnestly continued explaining.
“Try to buy firearms from Graywhite Territory; even if they aren’t the most advanced, it’s fine. If there’s really no way, then just buy the firearms produced by Fang Ge’s side. Don’t worry about the funding; I’ll set this as the top priority.”
Cassius nodded and then retreated back into the shadows.
“What a man with no sense of humor.”
Alberto put down the firearm and lightly stroked a letter on the table.
To be honest, Alberto regretted it a bit now. Although he didn’t know how much his sarcasm towards Graywhite Territory directly impacted the arms trade with the Southwest Coalition, based on the response he received from the governor, his sarcasm had clearly gone too far.
The response in the governor’s letter to Alberto was simply a blunt statement: “You’ve reached too far.”
