I Pioneered Scientific Magic

Chapter 265: Darren: My cannon is eager!

"Hey? What are they doing?"

The first person to jump down from the airship was Lydia, who was surprised to see thousands of people kneeling and bowing to her. She was momentarily stunned by the scene.

Upon hearing the shouts of the crowd, Lydia's expression turned peculiar. She had no idea she was the messenger of the gods. How could she not know?

Behind her, soldiers dressed in fine leather armor and wielding rifles also disembarked from the airship.

After months of training and battling against monsters, these individuals no longer resembled raw recruits; each exuded an air of grim determination.

Though Raydell wasn't as easily startled as the miners, thinking it was a divine gift, the sight of dozens of airships appearing in the valley, disgorging thousands of people, was still profoundly impressive.

Lynn, valuing the debut of the rifle corps immensely, had mobilized nearly all the airships made in the workshop. This included the batch promised to the council, totaling seventy airships, all to relocate the entire rifle corps and artillery from Iyeta Harbor to here in one go.

Thanks to the alchemists' enchantments on these airships, such as 'Wind Speech' and 'Lightness,' their transportation capacity had significantly increased.

This was why it took just a day to travel from Iyeta to the Kingdom of Hadralata, but Lynn had delayed Raydell for ten days, waiting for these airships to finish their modifications.

Besides, those responsible for the airship production, including Phillip and others, were present not specifically to assist but to inspect the weapon performance. Only in a real battlefield could they assess the strengths and weaknesses of these new-style weapons.

Darren, accompanied by a group of halflings, had transported the new artillery and impatiently inquired, "Where are our enemies? Where?"

His cannon was already eager!

The direction from which the airships arrived was opposite to that of the imperial army; they hadn't collided directly.

"There's a cavalry unit stationed outside the valley, about a mile or two from here... As for the Duke leading the large army, there's no sign of them yet," explained Raydell.

"No, they're already on their way. They should arrive in about half an hour!" Phillip said earnestly, placing a cylindrical object in his hand down. It was a telescope crafted using convex-concave lens principles and enhanced with an eagle-eye spell on the outermost lens, enabling far-reaching vision.

It was far superior to the alchemical monocle invented by the Alchemy Association.

Hearing that Director Lynn planned to make an even larger one capable of clearly observing distant galaxies through astronomical telescopes.

"Where?" This time it was Raydell and others who were puzzled.

Phillip smiled and handed over the telescope.

Raydell took it and, after understanding its usage, placed the cylindrical object to his eyes. In an instant, his field of vision seemed to span millions of meters, even discerning the intricate patterns on a tree trunk.

This was the wonder of combining magic and technology, yielding an effect greater than the sum of its parts.

Raydell sighed inwardly; having experienced numerous wars in the dream world, he understood how crucial the ability to observe distant enemy movements at any time was.

After adjusting his mood, Raydell began scanning and quickly found his target.

Far away, flags bearing various emblems fluttered in the sky. Over ten thousand soldiers marched in formation, their swords and crossbows glinting in the sunlight.

When ten thousand people cover the land, especially armed elites, no noble in the Kingdom of Hadralata could possibly command such a large number of armored soldiers. This expedition had gathered the private soldiers of more than twenty nobles, numbering several hundred to a thousand each, hastily amassing this mighty army.

Observing from afar, Raydell felt a chill in his heart. Though they also had tens of thousands, their formation was sparse, weapons held irregularly. The contrast in their might was incomparable. A mere glance might cause their side to scatter.

Their reliance was solely on this sudden appearance of reinforcements. Raydell eyed the rifle corps before him, especially the peculiar long sticks they held, contemplating if these could be more effective than their shovels?

Moreover, their numbers were only thirty-five hundred, whether they could contend with the kingdom's regular army remained unknown. Compared to this, Raydell was more concerned about the seventy massive airships in the valley; perhaps, that was the wizard's ace in the hole.

"At this range, can the cannon hit them?" Phillip inquired.

"It's a bit too far. It's better within a kilometer for higher precision," Darren pondered in response. Although Director Lynn had requested cannons capable of hitting two or three kilometers, that concept remained solely on the drawing board.

"In that case, let's wait for them to initiate the attack; it's better not to be hasty," Phillip nodded, then instructed the wizard apprentices to adjust the cannons.

Others also sprang into action: Lydia and her companions returned to the airship, activating the polarizing magic and ascending into the sky. Meanwhile, the rifle corps swiftly loaded lead bullets to ensure immediate firing during combat.

On the other side, Duke Rickman led his army to the outskirts of the valley. After receiving reports from the cavalry, he chuckled and shook his head.

These people had hidden themselves in the valley, although it provided defensive advantages, it also sealed off their escape route.

It was a sure path to self-destruction.

Just as Rickman prepared to charge into the valley and unleash a massacre, he was surprised to see Raydell leading people out of the valley. Miners, shabbily dressed, held long knives, broad axes, shovels, and mining tools, forming a somewhat awkward queue.

Witnessing this scene, the nobles present burst into laughter, and Joyce's face turned unsightly. He felt the mocking gazes of the crowd and wished he could vanish into a hole. He couldn't believe that their army had been routed by such a force.

"We'd better be cautious. In such a disadvantageous situation, if the enemy dares to come out, they probably have some reliance!" Archbishop Norde suddenly warned.

Before embarking on this military campaign, the venerable Archbishop had cautioned him that the rebellion of these southern miners was exceedingly suspicious; it might be related to the wizards...

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