Chapter 68: Lined Up and Shot Dead

  Just as Elam's civil war was about to break out, Carthage also fell into a disadvantage in the war with Maro. As the war between Carthage and Maro dragged on, the Maro people, who had completed their military deployment, threw 230,000 soldiers into the front line, constantly attacking the Carthaginian defense line, forcing them to retreat continuously.

  As the Regent Princess, Altoria did not know how such a situation had come about. At first, she thought that the Marlo people were able to successfully launch a surprise attack because the Macedon fortress was not yet fully constructed and there was a lack of natural barriers in the north that allowed the Marlo people

  But now the front line has been in Carthage for thousands of years in the south, and the cities that are defended are mostly well-equipped with strong military strength. Moreover, there is a river that separates the north and south, and Caesar will have to pay a great price even if he can take down those cities, allowing the Maro people to gradually become exhausted.

  But reality was different from what Altolia thought, the heavily guarded defense line only delayed for a month, and the Maro people broke through, forcing many warriors to retreat to the second defense line. Carthage lost more land again, as well as some important cities.

  But the authorities are confused, and the onlookers are clear. What seems impossible to Altoria is normal in other countries on the continent. Compared to Marlo, the Carthaginian army is mostly composed of hired foreign barbarians. Not only do they have no discipline compared to Marlo's legions, but also once the battle situation becomes unfavorable, these mercenaries will retreat without regard for command.

  The warriors of Carthage were mostly from the merchant class, they were mostly weak and unable to work hard, and they hated labor and military service. Joining the army was a last resort for them, and they preferred to do business rather than fight.

  In the eyes of Carthaginians, a Mauritanian life was worth only twelve gold coins, while a Carthaginian life was worth at least twenty. Hiring a barbarian to replace a Carthaginian in battle cost only ten gold coins. The calculating Carthaginians thought this was a good bargain. No matter how they fought, the Moors would always be at a loss and could never defeat the Carthaginians in the long run.

  But the battles in reality are not something that can be calculated with numbers. The strength and discipline of the Malo people have been recognized by all countries in the Central Plains. In history, Malo has fought against invading enemies, even if it lost one-third of its male population, it did not surrender, and finally drove the enemy out of Malo.

  But the Moors of today, under Caesar's leadership, have not lost the qualities that their ancestors possessed. Most of the Moorish warriors, who were born into farming families, are extremely brave in battle. Even before the magical shields of the city had been breached, they dared to climb the walls of the city, wave after wave, carrying scrolls that dispelled magical traps, under a hail of Carthaginian crossbow bolts.

  "Our defense lines are gradually collapsing." In the command center of Luxembourg, Oberst pointed to a city on the sand table and said: "Another city was captured by the Malo people two days ago. Now if we don't hold back the Malo people at the mouth of the Kasar River and near the Bak Mountain, our two cities will be surrounded, and Luxembourg will also enter the range of the Malo people's attack."

  "There, I remember that there were 30,000 people defending, and I really want to know why it was so easy for the Marlo people to capture!" Altoria looked at the territory being gradually occupied by Marlo, her expressionless face was extremely cold, Carthage's continuous retreat made this princess's dissatisfaction reach its limit.

  "Cough... That's because Marlo's men were just too strong, they had nearly fifty catapults and attacked the city shield day and night." The Grand Duke Obas said with some embarrassment: "In the end, the city shield was overloaded, weakening the city's defenses."

  "But there are 30,000 people! It's 30,000 people! Not 30,000 pigs in there!" Altoria slammed her hand on the edge of the sandbox and shouted loudly: "Even if the city lost its shield, it shouldn't be captured by the Maro people on the day it lost its shield! Those hired overseas barbarians, are they really fighting seriously?!"

  "It's clear that we need to reconsider the credibility of those Blue Dragon mercenaries." Duke Obas said sternly: "If they really didn't put in any effort, we'll consider dissolving our contract with them and replacing them with more reliable Suri mercenaries, even if their price is a bit higher."

  "It's no use considering it, those Blue Dragon mercenaries didn't even put their heart into the battle." Altoria sat back down in her throne and said: "Have Srei's mercenary army immediately head to the Kasa River mouth to block it off, also dispatch the Crow Army Corps and Unicorn Army Corps, who are currently resting, to defend Bak Mountain."

  "Obeying your command." Obas said with a bow towards Altolia.

  Altoria seemed to have a headache, sitting in the chair and waving her hand at Obas to retreat. The long-term lack of rest had given her dark circles under her eyes, although she had applied some makeup to cover it up, but the grayish-black eye bags were still visible. The consecutive victories of the Marlo people put great pressure on her, and recently, she even had symptoms of a headache.

  …………………………

  Just as Altoria was worrying about the Maro people, a rumbling sound echoed from the outskirts of Thunder Cliff. A group of gray dwarves were holding a thick pipe-like object, and in front of them, several stone slabs had shattered into pieces. The rumbling sounds were coming from the pipe-like objects held by the gray dwarves.

  The dwarves, after replacing the stone slab with a new one, began to take out paper packages, biting open one end and pouring black powder from them into a tubular object. They then inserted an iron bullet and used a long iron rod to repeatedly... Standing upright, they aimed the tubular object at a stone slab 150 meters away.

  Boom! Boom! Boom! After the gray dwarves pulled the trigger of a tubular object, waves of flames spewed out from the opening of the tube, emitting a deafening roar. Rolling white smoke rose among the neatly lined up gray dwarves. Some stone slabs in the distance were hit by the shot projectiles and turned into fragments.

  "The shooting accuracy is okay." Looking at the mostly shattered stone slabs on the high slope, Mo Yan nodded and said: "Although the current technology can't make rifling, and due to the power of black gunpowder, we thickened the barrel and some parts of the Su Huo gun. However, judging from the current results, it's still pretty good. Of course, if the cost could be lower, that would be even better."

  Yes, the weapon in the hands of the Grey Dwarf is indeed a flintlock gun, a firearm from the era of queue shooting. After learning that the Grey Dwarf had black powder, Mo Yan began designing firearms. Currently, technology obviously wants to make modern weapons, which is completely impossible, but flintlocks can still be made with difficulty.

  These weapons will be issued to the grey dwarves who wish to join the army, as a special type of soldier in the legion. Rows of grey dwarves using crossbows will deliver lethal blows to enemies during their charge, and currently nothing can withstand the bullets of the crossbow except for thick iron shields.

  The standard configuration of the Elan and Zhongyuan nations' legions, mostly used wooden shields to defend against crossbow arrows, making it impossible for their warriors to block the shooting of the Dwarves. The musket's accuracy is highest within 150 meters, which can allow the Dwarves to shoot at least twice, and if using three-stage shooting, the firing speed will be even faster.

  "This is a great weapon on the battlefield, but it's not suitable for assassination." Regal, who accompanied Mo Yan out, said to the gray dwarf who was checking his new weapon not far away: "The sound is too loud and the white eyes that pop up will expose the assassin. The accuracy is also inferior to the crossbow arrow."

  "This was originally a battlefield weapon." Mo Yan smiled and said, "Letting these grey dwarves engage in close combat would be a waste. So it's better to have them provide supporting fire from a distance or high ground. If possible, we can get them some suitable mounts later to make up for their height disadvantage."

  "Are you prepared to give these dwarves some real power?" Regal asked cautiously. "Though it's a bit of an overstep, I think it would make things more complicated for Thunderhead and harder to control."

  "Yes." Mo Yan nodded and said, "But at the same time, it's also true for our enemies. A structure that's too simple is easy to manage, but not necessarily safe. Having some complexity would be beneficial for Thundercliff. Moreover, ignoring the grievances of the gray dwarves for a long time will not be conducive to the stability of Thundercliff."

  "I understand what you mean." Regal nodded after hearing Mo Yan's words and stood aside without speaking.

  "Let those gray dwarves come again." Mo Yan turned his head to No. 1 beside him and said, "This time, let's use the earth spirit as a target and see how much damage it can take."

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