Even though their number was less than during the last battle, but taking into account the surprise raid and the fact that the other side was traveling on ships, it would be impossible for the enemy to counterattack. This amount of firepower would be just barely enough to defeat them. Roland took the pen Nightingale offered and wrote a new set of instructions, he ordered the defense troops to immediately arm themselves and set off. Furthermore, after having reached the river fork they were instructed to merge into one large force under Iron Axe’s command.
Only half an hour later, the white-tailed kite would have delivered the letter into Scroll’s hands, who would then hand it over to Captain Brian.
…
The next morning, Roland himself arrived at the scheduled location.
Reaching the place where the clear and gleaming river divided itself in two, one stream flowing towards Longsong Stronghold, the other carrying on until Redwater City.
As the latter river branch was wider, the people used to regard it as the main channel of the Redwater River, while calling the stream leading to the stronghold Little Redwater.
After disembarking, they were immediately welcomed by the witches, who had been waiting at the riverside for a long time.
Looking around, Roland asked, “Wendy?.
“She is already on her way back, together with Little Town,” Leaves reported, “She said that there is another batch of cannons which has to be shipped.”
“I heard that you are going to deal with Timothy Wimbledon, the fake king who hunts for witches within the cities every day.” Lotus could no longer wait and asked, “What is it you want us to do?”
Although Iron Axe and the main force of the First Army had yet to arrive, as long as the witches were here, the preparatory work could still be carried out in advance.
“I need to build a line of defense on both sides of the main river,” Roland explained while squatting down and using a stone to draw on the ground. “This line represents the enemy’s route forward, so I will split my troops and place them on both sides of the river to launch a sudden pincer attack. However, in order to successfully surprise them, they will have to remain hidden until the attack has begun. So, it is important that you raise a soil house forming a large V-shape on both sides of the river. The houses should have a long form, the walls must be thick, the inside should be divided into eight individual compartments and there should only be small windows on the side of the Redwater River.
“Your Highness, I don’t get it…” Lotus was clearly puzzled, “If you put the soldiers hidden in the soil house you will be able to conceal their whereabouts, but this way they won’t be able to attack the ships on the river, ah. In case the Fake King’s fleet absolutely doesn’t stop nor pulls toward the shore, and instead directly pass by, what should be done then?”
“No, they are unable to make it through,” Roland laughed. “You’ll know why when the time comes.”
Then he turned to Leaves, “You are responsible for covering these fortifications, with weeds and vines so that everything appears more natural.”
“Yes,” Leaves answered.
As a result, when the artillery was pushed into the hidden fortifications, the two soil houses Lotus had thought to be useless were instantly transformed into an “unsinkable battleship”. When the time came around as long as they lifted the cover plate in front of the windows, each compartment could then let out a deadly flame. It was unlikely that the sixteen field cannons would lose aim because of jolts, in fact, shooting at such a close range, it should be possible to hit the ships sailing in the middle of the river even if their eyes were closed. Granted that the attacks were unable to sink the ships, it should still be sufficient to turn their decks into Asura’s realm.
The enemy’s fleet took longer to reach the fork in the Redwater River than expected, instead of late morning it was already afternoon of the fourth day when the ten sailing ships slowly appeared at the end of their field of view.
Receiving this news, Van’er forwarded it to the sixth compartment, turned to the artillery team he was responsible for and gave the order for them to prepare to shoot, then returned to his shooting position.
“Where is the enemy?” Rodney asked while opening the window’s cover plate to look around.
