Release that Witch

Graycastle, Neverwinter.

Roland couldn’t help squeezing his hand into a fist when he finished flipping through the reports sent from the frontline.

“What’s the matter, Your Majesty?” Beside him, Nightingale noticed his strange behavior.

“No… Nothing.” He leaned back in his seat and released a long sigh. “I’m just happy. Everybody’s performances are exceeding my expectations.”

“Really?” Nightingale was surprised and then chuckled. “Looks like they are all working hard.”

“Indeed.” Roland stood up, poured two cups of Chaos Drink and held one out to Nightingale. “They have really worked hard.”

This was not an offhand remark but something he believed from the bottom of his heart. If he had not come all this way himself, he would have found it incredibly hard to believe that the First Army and the spear-wielding border troops from the past were one and the same.

After eight days of intense battling, they could still perform an organized strategic retreat. The amazing cover cooperation of the open ground operations, as well as their willingness to actively seek out the key to victory on the battlefield, all testified to the startling growth of the army. In addition, the Kingdom of Dawn’s cooperation and the refugees voluntarily staying behind to support the rear services of the army allowed him to see the transformation of humans as a whole.

But what made Roland the most surprised was Edith.

Even if several of her actions in the past had long shown her to be unlike the normal person, the pleasant surprise he felt this time was more than everything from before added together.

Taking advantage of the powerful carrying capacity of the steam-powered truck, the mobile operation was carried out on the territory of the Kingdom of Wolfheart, allowing the long range and immense power of the Longsong Cannon to be fully displayed. This bore some resemblance to Blitzkrieg.

Furthermore, there was the strategy of first voluntarily evacuating from the cities, causing the enemy to stretch their defensive lines and expose numerous weaknesses. The second part of the strategy involved using highly mobile troops to exploit these weaknesses.

The Chief of the Staff was without doubt most commendable for the First Army’s feat of destroying large amounts of the demons’ power with few losses and the stopping of their advance three hundred kilometers outside the Red Mist region.

Although Roland and the Pearl of the Northern Region had discussed about their opinions on how the battle would progress, as well as the evolution of war in terms of mechanical equipment, he didn’t touch on a specific type of equipment—the ‘armored vehicles’ he had high hopes for were currently still in the factory in the form of tractors. For Edith to be able to connect this to transporting trucks, her view could be described as a leap forward in time.

It was the combination of individual and collective strength that lead to this hard-won victory.

The movements of the demons were now firmly restricted, and the new recruits and resources for the First Army were unceasingly being moved to the front line through the main road. The forces on both sides had become a state of ebb and flow.

The real counterattack would begin when their accumulation of resources were at their zenith.

Roland and Nightingale lightly clinked their glasses.

At this moment the power of humans seemed to sparkle.

…

After finishing his drink, he returned to his desk.

According to the reporting routine of the First Army, good news was followed by all kinds of exposed problems.

And usually, these were problems that only he could solve.

For example, with high-intensity maneuvering, there were painful losses.

The report placed this at the top of its list—because of the uncertainty on the battlefield, the longer the vehicle members stayed around a faulty vehicle, the greater the risk. In the absence of tools and a good environment for repairs, the most two people could do was deal with a flat tyre, leakages, and other simple failures. They were virtually helpless when it came to suspension and transmission systems in which problems occur relatively easily. So only the Magic Cubes could be unloaded in the majority of broken-down steam-powered trucks, the truck would then be abandoned on the battlefield.

Over fifteen trucks had already been lost since the demons’ launch of their full-on attack. Had it not been for the maintenance of the road that connected the north and the south, Roland suspected that Edith would have moved all of the vehicles to Wolfheart.

To improve this situation, the First Army not only needed a dedicated support force, they also needed to establish repair and maintenance sites, just like the Aerial Knights. Field repair vehicles and tow trucks were unquestionably an essential part of the production schedule.

He once again acutely felt that if he wanted to place these huge machines into the battlefield, it would not be as simple as constructing them; the resources and money that they would consume were not something that a single Kingdom could withstand.

In addition to requesting more steam-powered trucks, the military’s top brass had also expressed a strong desire for 75-millimeter cannons and general-purpose machine guns. Several accounts proved that their inclusion improved the firing skills and power of the First Army significantly, making them almost a perfect weapon if not for the heavy consumption of ammunition.

Roland was extremely moved by the conclusion of “an appearance of flattery but actually just a demand for money.” Then he approved of the army’s request.

When he reached the end of the reports, he saw a letter personally written by Tilly.

He guessed that the contents were similar to those of the military, either pressing for her own plane, or producing more ‘Fire of Heaven’ planes.

“Brother, long time no see.”

“You have not forgotten your promise, have you?”

“Now that the demon’s offensive has gradually weakened, we’ll basically be able to peacefully live through the Months of Demons this year. I will make time to visit Neverwinter, I hope to see it’s real appearance then.

As expected. Roland could not help but place his hand to his forehead. He knew it would turn into this.

Fortunately, the overall structure of her personal plane was now clear, and he really did need Tilly to come and verify if the new plane could be used.

But what Tilly wrote next was outside of his predictions.

Tilly took up great amounts of space to illustrate the insufficiencies of the ‘Fire of Heaven’ in real battle, even suggesting to temporarily suspend the production of ‘Fire of Heaven’ planes until improvements were made. The biggest problem among them was the two-seater.

After summarizing all the Aerial Knight conclusions and battle results, she discovered that only one of sixty-five Devilbeasts which were taken down was done by the backseat shooter.

The reason was obvious: in close combat, the enemy did not need to initiate dogfights for long periods of time like biplanes. The Mad Demons’ spear throws were equivalent to a crossbow with an elevation angle of -90 to 90 degrees, covering a span of 270 degrees in front of the crossbow. As long as there was enough distance, it could attack from the roof and belly of a ‘Fire of Heaven.’ In reality they often did go into these blind spots, causing the backseat shooters to be helpless.

Even if the enemy was within the range of the machine gun, it was difficult for the shooter to determine the relative distance of the target in the air without reference, coupled with the inability to predict the flight path of the aircraft, the hit rate from 100 meters away was pitifully low, and often they would return after firing all their bullets, without hitting even one enemy.

In the same way, when the ‘Fire of Heaven’ strafed ground targets, the backseat shooter could only have a brief opportunity to shoot when the plane pulled up.

But the weight of the crew, the weapons, the ammunition and protection of the cockpit could not be ignored. In order to adapt to the flight, the front and rear people had to complete a full set of pilot training, which made the backseat machine gun become a decorative item with a very low price–performance ratio. Tilly very bluntly suggested in her letter that it was more like a design error. If they eliminated the rear cockpit, not only would the number of Aerial Knight instantly double, but the weight saved could also be applied elsewhere.

Like more oil fuel.

Like a miniature bomb.

In short, even if there was no way to immediately produce an improved ‘Fire of Heaven’, at least the backseat should be sealed with skins.

After Roland closed the letter, he involuntarily revealed a bitter smile. He could imagine the appearance of Tilly complaining logically and plausibly. Although he was a little exasperated towards the huge amount of criticism being thrown at his design, Tilly’s summary from actual combat summary was more worthy of being given priority in comparison to the reference materials in the Dream World.

Just as he was about to pull out the old ‘Fire of Heaven’ blueprints for revision, the phone with the Administrative Office label rang.

Roland picked up the receiver and very quickly heard the excited voice of Barov.

“Your Majesty, your iron tower project is done.”