Chapter 500 (2/2)
“Because if I never met a witch, I wouldn’t have the confidence to do what I’m doing now.”
If not for Anna, he would not have decided to save these witches, and if there was not magic power in this world, he would still be cautiously living his primitive life in a run-down Border Town.
“You’re… telling the truth.” Nightingale looked up at him.
“Of course I am,” said Roland with a smile.
Suddenly, a golden figure descended from the sky and landed next to them. “Your Highness, four sloops with paddles on both sides are approaching us from 20 kilometers away, and they look like the hawk-headed ships described in the report.” said Lightning, “but I didn’t see any hawk statues on the ships.”
“The hawk head probably refers to the embolon under water.” Roland patted her head. “Good job, keep up the good work.”
“So… can I do less practice questions as punishment?” The little girl stared at the prince with begging eyes.
He could not help but laugh. “Alright. If you promise to keep still in the future, you only have to do one set of questions.”
“Yes, Sir!” Lightning’s eyes lit up, and she immediately leapt up and flew towards the East in a flash.
“You shouldn’t have let her off so easy.” Nightingale complained.
“She’ll learn her lesson if she’s rewarded.” Roland dismissed her criticism with a wave and turned to walk towards the stairs. “Let’s go back to the command room. We have work to do.”
…
The small, square command room contained nothing but a wooden table and four benches. The commander of the First Army Iron Axe, the leader of the Gun Battalion Brian, the leader of the Artillery Battalion Van’er, and the captain of the Victory Cacusim stood by the table to draft the battle plan for their first battle in the river.
“According to Theo’s report, Timothy’s four battle ships are inland galleys. They’re about as fast as our concrete boats, but they’re agiler.” Roland said, pointing to the chart on the table. “Usually, these ships will approach enemy ships, so their crews can jump onto them and fight. They can also be filled with flammables such as gunpowder or sulfur and crash into their target, destroying both ships. However, since our enemies’ goal is to block the river and plunder our boats, they probably won’t use the second method. “This is our first time to fight on a river, so please feel free to share any ideas you have.”
“Your Highness, it’ll be hard to hit a moving target with a moving cannon, so I suggest we fire when we’re closer to their ships,” suggested Van’er. “As long as we’re about 50 meters away, I promise every cannonball will sink an enemy ship!”
“But I hear that firing shells not only wastes a lot of gunpowder, but also requires Miss Anna to make the shells,” said Brian, shaking his head. “I think it’s better to wait for the enemy to board our ships and then riddle them with the bullets from our heavy machine guns.”
Roland turned to Cacusim and said, “What do you think?” He summoned this old man into the command room because he was the only person in the City of Neverwinter who had fought on boats before. According to him, he ran into pirates many times when he was a merchant, and even being plundered still counted as a kind of experience.
“Um, Your Highness…” Cacusim hesitated for a while. “In my opinion, we should just charge towards them.”
“What?” the other two men all asked, staring in shock.
“Your ship is large, fast, and made of steel, so their wooden ships will probably collapse upon contact. Even if you don’t destroy them, any leaks will prevent them from moving further.” He glanced at everyone. “Of course, this, this is just my personal opinion.”
This tactic reminded Roland of a poem that said, “With the sun shining and waves high, a D flag hangs from the mast.”
“Alright, let’s follow this plan.” He finally decided. “Even though we don’t have a D flag, a flag with a tower and four stars will have the same effect.” “I order the Roland to raise the flag of City of Neverwinter, sound its horn, and proceed at full speed ahead!”