"All stand up, His Royal Highness the Fourth Prince has come down," said Iron Axe, who had not rested for a quarter of an hour, clapping his hands.

Vanna quickly returned to his position, his previous special training had given him a conditioned reflex to obey orders, and almost subconsciously, he had already picked up the wooden pole and made the prep for the previous stab.

The prince and his party walked up the wall and past the back of the procession, and Vanna noticed that His Highness slowed down as he passed his position.

Roland sighed in his heart, saying that getting up late ruined the morning, and getting up early ruined the day, which was indeed the truth. Having just dealt with the aftermath of the night attack on the castle, it was time to review the results of the militia's recent training. I pity myself for not sleeping all night, and now I am sleepy. But he can't help but come, now that the team has entered the stage of combat training, as the supreme commander, a long-term absence will lead to a decrease in his sense of existence, and people's hearts will become unstable.

Well...... What should I say during the general review? Roland thought about it, comrades, comrades have worked hard? If no one answers the second half, it will be very embarrassing to shout this slogan, or just ask someone to talk about family life, show that he is a good corporal, and brush up his prestige.

He thought so, and patted a young man who looked fairly stocky.

"After hard training, do you feel tired?

According to the experience gained from watching the news in the past, the other party's reaction should be to answer excitedly and loudly, "Not tired, very good!" As a result, he was excited, turned around and knelt down directly on one knee, which scared Roland.

Vanna felt that he was favored by the heavens, and His Royal Highness the Prince actually cared for him in a kind tone whether he was tired from training! Usually not to mention the royal family, even ordinary nobles were reluctant to say a word to them. He subconsciously imitated the knight to salute His Royal Highness the Prince, and regardless of whether this set of etiquette was suitable for him, there was only one voice in his heart: When he returned to Lao Cai in the future, he could be regarded as the number one person.

When asked to stand up, Vanna's mind was still in confusion, and he couldn't remember how he could answer.

Finally, when His Highness asked if he had any opinion or opinion on the training, he suddenly came to his senses - this is a good opportunity! If His Highness could not afford to guard the city walls by the militia alone, would he not have to worry all day about running or staying?

He carefully pondered the words in his mind, "Honorable...... Your Highness, the militia is too small at the moment. According to the current training method, when the evil beast attacks, everyone can only defend less than one-third of the city wall at most. You see......"

Even if the prince recruits a few more batches, I'm afraid it won't be too late for training, Fanner thought. In addition, the weapons used by these people were also a big expense, and it was difficult for the border towns to scrape together three hundred spears in two months, and even a hundred were very barely - so they still trained with wooden poles.

If His Royal Highness could be aware of this, he might have recruited a group of mercenaries from other towns to serve as the main defensive force. At least they don't need training to go directly to the battlefield, and at the same time they bring their own weapons and armor, but the price is relatively high.

Roland thought for a moment, nodded and said, "You're right, it's really unrealistic to have a militia team to guard the entire city wall. ”

Vanna was overjoyed in his heart, His Highness meant ...... Agree with yourself?

But the fourth prince didn't say what he expected to hear, but called the iron axe to his side, "Evil beasts are just variants of beasts in a sense, they don't have the ability to think, right?"

"Yes, Your Highness, ordinary beasts are still no different from wild beasts, and even their habits are basically the same...... But mixed species, I don't see much, and I'm not sure. ”

"That's fine, although it is nearly 1,800 feet (600 meters) long from the Chishui River to the foot of the northern slope, we can induce them to attack a specific area. ”

"You mean the trap?" Iron Axe asked.

"It's a trap, but not like hunters are used to. Ordinary traps capture their prey by hiding themselves, but I'm going to do the other way around, setting up pocket barricades away from the walls, such as fences, dirt slopes, and ditches, to force these brainless beasts to go around on their own. A constant stream of obstacles will lead the prey to its designated location, eventually concentrating on the defensive area we have prepared," Roland said, looking at the Iron Axe, "As for how to lure these monsters, I don't think anyone is better at it than you." ”

Iron Axe thought for a moment, "It's no problem to guide them, the wolf species doesn't like to touch water, the wild boar species are afraid of light, and other evil beasts also have their own habits." But Your Highness, isn't it too dangerous to cause all the evil beasts to be concentrated within these six hundred feet?"

"If you just rely on spears and bows, it is. Roland said confidently, "But now we have a new weapon. ”

When it was time to leave, the prince came up behind Vanna again and patted him on the shoulder, "Good observation, what's your name?"

"Van ...... Vanna, Your Highness. ”

"I'll propose to my chief knight that you be the Spear Captain, Mr. Vanner, do a good job. ”

Roland built a new bungalow in the backyard of the burnt house to make snow powder, or gunpowder.

This 300-square-meter room has only one entrance and exit, and the strictest security system is enforced. There are two knights guarding the doorway, and anyone entering is to be registered and searched to prevent the introduction of ignitions. No fire sources are allowed indoors, so work is only done during the day. In order to prevent the nightingale from sneaking in, a gauze curtain was hung on the door frame.

"Is this the new weapon you're talking about?" Carter, who was summoned, picked up a bit of black powder with his fingers, put it in front of his nose and sniffed it, "Isn't this snow powder?"

The Iron Axe may not be clear, but Carter often attends royal ceremonies, so he naturally knows that this is what the barrel contains. The recipe of the Alchemy Workshop is a secret to outsiders, but if the prince wants it, he will definitely get it.

"It's snow powder, but not exactly," said Roland, "the latest refinement of the Alchemy Workshop, which I call gunpowder." ”

Gunpowder can be said to be a must-have farming artifact for any traverser. The material comes from a wide range of sources, as long as you know the optimal ratio of charcoal, sulfur and saltpeter 1:1:7.5, you can make it, and there is no technical threshold at all.

Snow powder in this era was an inferior product with 60% charcoal content, 20% sulfur and saltpeter, and 20% other exotic materials (such as mercury, butter, honey, etc.). But Roland knew that the alchemists were also experimenting with other formulations, and at most thirty years, snow powder that was closer to the standard black powder recipe would appear.

In history, it took a long time after gunpowder was invented to completely eliminate cold weapons, because of the formula and the corresponding weapon manufacturing process.

However, many people overlook that gunpowder itself is an extremely formidable weapon, even without relying on guns.