"Order the cannons to aim at those small orc formations. Take them out with solid shot!" Daelin ordered the human soldiers.
At the same time, Alleria issued orders to the elf mages. As soon as the orcs came within spell range, the elf mages were to cast Gust of Wind to disperse their fog of war. They absolutely could not allow it to cover the attack range of the elf rangers and offensive arcane spellcasters again.
Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!
Cannons thundered as the human gunners fought back furiously.
The orc catapults were not particularly accurate, but neither were the humans' muzzle-loading cannons. The orcs' iron-shield formations consisted of small squads, making them tiny targets. They were also cunning. Once they spotted the human gunners, they stopped advancing in straight lines and began zigzagging, making it difficult for the gunners to lock onto them.
The humans' muzzle-loading cannons certainly sounded frightening, but they actually used only three kinds of ammunition.
The first was canister shot, also called grapeshot-a bag of iron balls that scattered when fired. Its range was short, only slightly greater than that of bows and arrows, and it was mainly used against large groups of charging enemies. At medium to long range, however, although it could still penetrate plate armor, it could not pierce shields.
The second was solid shot, essentially a large iron ball like a shot put. It had a long range and was mainly used to destroy sturdy fortifications and ships.
The last was chain shot, a long iron chain most often used against warships' sails, leaving sailing vessels without propulsion and helpless under attack. In a siege defense like this, however, chain shot was not particularly effective.
Both sides were now engaged in a fierce long-range artillery duel. The human cannons fired on