After drawing the intelligence on the enemy's defenses obtained from reconnaissance onto his personal map, Randall, along with Aldnan and Kellogg, carefully retreated back to their own camp.

And so, one scout team after another relayed the intelligence they gathered to headquarters.

Seven days later, with the help of his adjutants, Cumberland had pieced together a relatively complete map of the enemy's front-line defenses.

Looking at the dense red dots and flags marked on the sand table, Cumberland's brows furrowed into a deep frown, his knuckles unconsciously tapping the table, and he remained silent.

"My lord, you see, these markings represent small enemy outposts, each garrisoned by no more than a hundred men, equipped with horses and muskets but no artillery, and generally serving as early warning and surveillance posts; these represent medium-sized enemy strongholds, garrisoned by between three and eight hundred men, equipped with tunnels, trenches, bunkers and other defensive facilities, and generally built in strategic locations such as hills, ridges, canyon mouths, and plains, allowing them to observe and snipe any troops that want to pass through, making them easy to defend and difficult to attack."

"And these represent large enemy camps, used to garrison troops and store supplies. There are more than two thousand troops stationed there, and they are fully equipped with defensive facilities. They are located between several strongholds and can be supported at any time."

"Our scouts have now advanced the reconnaissance line about ten kilometers into the depths of the forest, marking seventeen small outposts, eight medium-sized strongholds, and two large camps. The enemy forces we have so far detected are approximately eleven thousand men. Based on our estimates, there should be other enemy fortifications deep in the forest, and the number of enemy troops should be far greater than this."

After listening to the adjutant's introduction, Cumberland nodded and said with a sigh, "Bromer Hesmond, I had hoped that the old man, who had one foot in the grave, was too senile to fight. Now it seems I made a mistake."

Just as Cumberland finished speaking, a craftsman came in carrying a musket about 140 centimeters long and said, "Sir, we are all ready."

Cumberland nodded and strode outside.

An area has been cleared out in the open space behind the expeditionary force camp and will be used for experiments later.

The Knights of Twilight, the Crusaders, and the Valkyries gathered around the flat ground, quietly awaiting the start of the experiment.

Looking at the model bunker made of earth and stone in the center of the testing ground, and the group of dummies placed next to it, Barbara asked in confusion, "What does Lord Cumberland want to do?"

Aldenan, the werewolf, crossed his arms and said in a low voice, "I suspect he wants to assess the effectiveness of the enemy's weapons and fortifications."

As soon as he finished speaking, Cumberland led a group of craftsmen into the testing ground under the watchful eyes of the crowd.

A craftsman, holding the heavy musket, said to Cumberland, “My lord, our scouts have stolen three muskets from the enemy. This one is the most common Imperial Roguy Type 5 rifle.”

As Cumberland walked, he examined the musket: "This thing is a little different from the Southern weapons I've seen before."

"That's right. We believe this musket is a relatively new version of the military musket from the Southern Empire. Compared to the previous design, it has a longer barrel, a serpentine spring and flintlock ignition, and some improvements have also been made to the sights and magazine."

"What surprises us most is that the Southern Empire has reached a new level in parts design and standardization. Look, here's the sear, and here's the movement..."

"Stop talking nonsense! What are the firing parameters?"

"A skilled soldier can fire three shots per minute, while an average soldier can fire two shots per minute."

"What about the range?"

"The lethal range is about 300 meters, but the accuracy range is only about 80 meters."

Cumberland stroked his beard and pondered for a moment, then pointed to the dummy in the field and said, "Let's begin the shooting experiment and see how powerful this musket is."

Soon, under the watchful eyes of everyone present, the craftsmen quickly erected the shooting stand and calibrated the angle.

They brought out an iron breastplate commonly used in the army, put it on the dummy, and after obtaining Cumberland's approval, the craftsman pulled the trigger of the musket.

The massive explosion, the thick smoke, and the blinding flashes of light caused some soldiers who had never seen a musket fired before to scream in fright.

As the smoke of battle slowly dissipated, the craftsmen removed the breastplates from the dummy and showed them to Cumberland.

A round hole the size of a bronze star stood out starkly in the left breast area of ​​the armor.

Cumberland looked through the round hole and saw that the other end of the breastplate had not been penetrated, but rather had been dented into a large crater.

The craftsman shook his head as he examined the armor: "The average thickness of this breastplate is 7.5 millimeters, which is standard armor used by heavy infantry. The musket bullets first penetrated the surface of the armor, then penetrated the wearer's body, and when they hit the other side of the armor, they bounced back, causing secondary damage to the body."

Cumberland beckoned to Ackerman, who was watching from the side, and asked, "What do you think?"

Ackerman said solemnly, "This breastplate is the standard armor used by most soldiers in the Crusader. If the firearms are this powerful, then even the strong orcs with regenerative abilities in the Crusader army probably wouldn't be able to withstand such an attack..."

Cumberland said to Ackerman, "Just like we agreed beforehand, bring that up."

Ackerman nodded and directed two dwarves to bring over a Tyrant Dragonbone Parasite and put it on the dummy.

This chapter is not finished, please click the next page to continue reading!