Ulanda is the leader of the Fasen Town Knights, but unfortunately, she has not yet had the opportunity to perform before her home was robbed.
It’s not really the fault of the Fasen Town Knights, after all, no one expected the Graywhite Territory to attack, and their opponents are the fifty elite knights led by Lena, leaving no chance for resistance.
However, Jefferson usually does not treat the knights poorly; these knights are all long-time residents of Fasen Town, so they are quite loyal. But just as Ulanda was prepared to fight to the death, news came that Jefferson had already surrendered.
At this moment, Ulanda was standing on a valley, letting the gentle breeze sway her brown ponytail, watching the artillerymen set up cannons with the laborers brought out from Fasen Town.
This is a place that even an outsider can see is very suitable for an ambush, but according to scout reports, the coalition forces are still approaching directly.
After all, the hypothetical enemy of the coalition forces is Lena and those fifty Lars cavalry. Even if fifty professionals charged down the slope, so what? Once caught in the crowd, they would be like fish on a chopping block, at the mercy of the attackers.
Ulanda scanned the camp in the valley; it was efficient, capable, and highly disciplined, completely different from the battlefield environment she was familiar with.
A real battlefield camp should not be filled with army ruffians and scoundrels; everyone should be joking and laughing to ease tension without caring about military orders, waiting until an order comes down to pick up weapons and charge before pretending to die, right?
But to be honest, Ulanda preferred the current atmosphere; this camp felt more like a knights’ camp.
“Lord Lauri, is this really enough?”
The Fasen Town knights had been assigned extremely simple tasks, mostly responsible for transporting and loading cannonballs, and could manage with just basic training. Since the cannons were equipped with rifled barrels from the start, there was no need to clean them after each shot like old-style cannons.
Aiming and firing were left to the Graywhite Territory artillerymen who had not been assigned weapons.
This made Ulanda very uneasy; the battlefield should not be like this.
“Don’t be nervous. We just need to wait for the signal and then fire the cannons; it’s very simple, right?”
Lauri had a blade of grass in his mouth, observing the nearby terrain.
This valley was not the real ambush point; the ambush point should be in the forest not far past the valley. The enemy’s formation was too long; if they intercepted in the valley, they might be countered, and the rear would all run away.
Lauri was actually quite nervous about this battle, but he was also very confident. He personally had fired every cannon here, and he was well aware of their power, so shooting at the enemy’s troop density meant he could close his eyes and fire.
If he had to say it, being able to fight such a thrilling battle made Lauri feel that even dying would be worth it.
Moreover, as an old hand on the battlefield, Lauri knew that sometimes the greatest damage on the battlefield did not come from the enemy’s powerful magic but from ones’ own panicking comrades in the chaos.
The battlefield of this era was still not to the point of not being able to see each other; it still required real swords and real guns to fight, and uncooperative and undisciplined allies could sometimes be even more terrifying than the enemy not yet in front of them.
“If you’re scared, it’s fine to run back now; after all, the enemy has fifty thousand people.”
Lauri looked at the trembling knights of Fasen Town, reminding him of the days in the Lars Border Army. The comrades who had once been talkative and cheerful had gradually been replaced by these new recruits who trembled even before reaching the battlefield.
“No, since we have already received the lord’s command and accepted your kindness, we will naturally fight together until the end.”
Saying this, Ulanda knocked on the set of armor distributed by the Graywhite Territory on her body.
This was much better than what Jefferson had issued; the knights’ corps had grown complacent for too long. Forget about armor; their weapons had almost turned into pitchforks, but now it felt like a significant upgrade for Ulanda.
Especially the flow of magical power from the gaps in the armor showed that this set was genuinely enchanted armor; even if it was only the lowest level of enchantment, it was already quite luxurious for a rural knight like Ulanda.
Not to mention that most of the people in the knights’ corps were not professionals, just ordinary people with some bravery, and after putting on this armor, they found it hard to take it off.
Of course, what Ulanda envied the most was Lauri’s ray gun.
In fact, when Lauri demonstrated it to Ulanda for the first time, she didn’t feel much special about it. It was just a magical device capable of using tier 1 magic, which was quite normal for someone responsible for the military.
But Ulanda soon realized that although there were no artillery positions, the main soldiers of the Graywhite Territory and those masked strange sisters all had one.
Lauri would sometimes pretend nonchalantly to show off in front of Ulanda, cleaning and test-firing it.
The most painful part was not that he had something she didn’t, but rather that everyone had one except for her, particularly with Lauri wearing a constant expression of “Come ask me.”
Out of curiosity and courtesy, Ulanda could only ask Lauri when he took out his ray gun to clean it again, “Is this also given to you by your lord?”
Hearing this question, Lauri’s face revealed unprecedented satisfaction, and he began enthusiastically introducing the ray gun in his hand to Ulanda.
At this moment, the secretary also arrived at the valley with a new batch of cannonballs.
Lauri discussed with the secretary about leaving some laborers to assist the artillery in loading the cannons, after all, the knights of Fasen Town still needed to be responsible for vigilance, and the manpower for artillery firing was somewhat tight; helping to load the cannons was simply basic work that clever laborers could handle.
After discussing with the laborers, the secretary left a few of the more capable-looking ones to assist the artillery.
But Ulanda felt somewhat uneasy looking at the two fair-skinned laborers among them. Normally, these laborers should all be from Fasen Town, but as the captain of the Fasen Town knights, Ulanda found those two laborers quite unfamiliar.
If the laborers appeared fair-skinned, it could be explained by impoverished gentry seeking refuge in Fasen Town, but one of the laborers’ demeanor was too remarkable. Having spent time near the noble model Jefferson, Ulanda keenly sensed that this laborer might have also been a noble before, and one from a great noble family.
Ulanda even felt she should have seen him before; he must have been a very famous noble, but she just couldn’t remember who he was.
“That’s right, just like that, young man, I have high hopes for you.”
Lauri was particularly satisfied with these laborers, especially the fair-skinned young man. Although he appeared somewhat awkward while loading the cannon for the first time, he learned quickly, and Lauri felt a desire to pull him into his team.
Watching the somewhat awkward yet smiling youth praised by Lauri, Ulanda shook her head. Perhaps she was mistaken; how could a true noble be satisfied just because of a soldier’s praise?
