The Negative and the Positive

The power of artillery, a hot weapon from an entirely new era, left a profound impression on everyone. One after another, they marveled at how incredible such a weapon was.

After demonstrating a shot with an ordinary shell, Ying Rui had people fire Chain Shot and grapeshot once each. Although the linear killing range of those two rounds was not as long, their coverage was far broader.

The killing radius of Chain Shot and grapeshot in particular left several military bigwigs staring wide-eyed. One after another, they sighed inwardly, "Good heavens, if something this vicious were fired at a crowd or a cavalry formation, wouldn't it wipe out a huge swath in a single shot?"

Blood Butcher immediately became a die-hard artillery fan, pestering several instructors to explain the principles of artillery to him, along with the techniques for firing it.

The bigwigs finally believed Ying Rui as well. With this weapon, they really could crush the enemy.

Over the next few days, the more than one hundred instructors they had brought were assigned two to each cannon. Personnel were also drawn from the city's craftsmen and garrison soldiers to form temporary artillery crews. Intensive training and frequent test firings began. The enemy was drawing closer and closer, and Kaiyuan Commandery had fewer and fewer opportunities left.

Meanwhile, the many bigwigs of Kaiyuan Commandery gathered together to discuss the specific tactics.

They certainly had to defend themselves, but there were both active and passive ways to do so. Some suggested that with ample food and supplies in the city, plus a weapon like artillery, they should simply hold the city. Once they fired a few shots, they would definitely scare the enemy away.

That sounded reasonable enough. If they really did that, the enemy would certainly be frightened off.

But