Chapter 117 Self-Propelled Artillery Armored Vehicle
The straw sandals stepped on the fallen leaves, making a crackling sound as the leaf stems broke.

The long, silky grass leaves brushed against my calves, as if the earth was covered with green hair.

The road ahead was getting narrower and narrower. The tall trees on both sides blocked my view, and the rocks on the roadside were covered with moss.

The forest was silent, as quiet as night; even the calls of wild animals and birds were gone.

Based on Carrie's memories and the reconnaissance of the child soldiers, Horn and others slowly moved forward along the vague road.

Horn could feel the road getting steeper and steeper, and the stream that originally flowed horizontally was gradually flowing vertically.

This should be the entrance to the foothills, where the wild spider forest is located.

The trees in the Wild Spider Forest are mainly fir, ash, and tung maple, with occasional beech and pine trees.

The citizens of the Papal States, wearing black hats and black scarves, are on the last leg of their thrilling journey.

The forest was so quiet that Horn couldn't help feeling anxious.

The jumping spider from the day before seemed to have jumped in front of him again.

Although this stretch of road was more leisurely and quieter than before, he still felt a little creepy.

After thinking it over, Horn decided to move on, but in order to prevent attacks from those terrible giant spiders, he still adjusted his army.

The original method of distributing clockwork guns in a scattered manner was still too wasteful.

There are now a total of eleven clockwork muskets in the Papal States, ten of which have been distributed by Horn to ten armored vehicle brigades, with each brigade carrying one musket.

All the original clockwork gunners were transferred to the Holy Armored Division directly under the command of His Holiness the Pope.

The entire Holy Armored Division also underwent a temporary reorganization by drawing elites from the two legions and eliminating some personnel.

All the soldiers in the Holy Armored Division's Command Company are soldiers who will not faint after firing at least one round.

In this way, the clockwork gunners gathered together.

The Holy Armored Division is no longer a small organization of six companies per brigade, but a large organization of ten companies per brigade.

The entire Holy Armored Division consists of ten brigades, and each brigade shares one clockwork gun, which is usually kept by the brigade commander.

During battle, there are two gunners, one main and one secondary. After the main gunner fires, he will enter a stiff state after casting the spell, and the secondary gunner will be responsible for reloading ammunition.

When the main gunner has fired the scheduled two shots, the assistant gunner will step forward to fire, while the main gunner will be responsible for reloading.

The rest of the Imperial Companies will serve as guards to ensure the safety of the Holy Gunners.

When the main and deputy gunners have finished firing, the remaining gunners will take over and continue firing.

Then the configuration of an armored vehicle is that there are two gunners, the main and deputy, who are usually the brigade commander and the soldier with the second highest mana in the brigade. They are responsible for holding shields and daggers.

The two flailmen are responsible for attacking close-range units, the four spearmen are responsible for attacking medium-range units, and the two spearmen are responsible for throwing short spears to cover the long-range attacks after the gunners and holy gunners have finished their attacks.

As for the safety between the carriages and the carriages themselves, it is still the responsibility of the Black Hats and the Guards.

Since there was not much ammunition and gear for them to practice, most of the time they could only practice with wooden sticks pretending to be clockwork guns.

After a painful actual combat drill yesterday, the firing frequency of the two main and deputy gunners reached about once every 20 seconds, and the other ordinary soldiers could also do it once every 30 seconds.

The firepower of an armored fighting vehicle is about fourteen rounds in seven minutes, with a firing frequency of two rounds per minute.

Since Canidi is a shotgun type, its killing range is fan-shaped, which can barely cover one-third of the tank body.

It’s not that Horn didn’t want to make it a single-shot gun, firing one bullet at a time.

But the problem is that their craftsmanship is also not up to standard. When Jeanna is welding, she may accidentally weld the thin gun barrel shut.

Since you can't hit accurately, you can only put more stones and iron sand to cause area damage.

After another day of uneventful progress, Horn and his companions finally reached the campsite.

Standing on the roof of the carriage, Horn looked around. When he first arrived here, he could hardly believe his eyes.

This is a clearing in the mountains. Spring water flows down from the high mountain on the left. The ground is flat, and traces of roads and human deforestation can be clearly seen.

This is just a common scene in the Wild Spider Forest. What is not common is the monastery located on the hill, with a corner of it faintly visible in the woods.

Yes, in this dangerous wild boar forest, there is an abandoned monastery.

Who would come here to build a monastery?

Horn immediately called the scout boy and asked, "Have you seen the monastery over there?"

"No, it looks close, but it's actually quite far away." Du Valon shook his head.

René on the side said, "I would like to go over and take a look, but there is a fast-flowing river there and there is no bridge, so I have to give up."

"Are there still no giant spiders around here?"

The two leaders of the Child Army looked at each other and shook their heads at the same time.

"Let alone giant spiders, we could see some wild animals like rabbits and voles at the beginning, but now we can hardly see even a wild bird."

Horn frowned, and the uneasiness in his heart became more and more intense.

Otherwise, should we travel overnight? He looked up at the gray sky. There was no sun today, and there would probably be no moonlight at night.

The road ahead is uncertain, so it might be better to travel at night than now.

Looking down and straight ahead, the entire camp has basically been set up. Since there is a steep mountain wall on the left, the ten carts are just lined up in an arc on the right.

Spiked stakes were lowered between the carts, and leather-covered oak boards were pulled up on one side of the carts.

When a person stands in the truck bed, the leather board just covers the lower edge of the person's chest.

Although the cliff on the left was bare and the giant spider was unlikely to attack from this side, Horn was still careful and put down chevaux de frise on the right.

After arranging everything properly and doubling the number of night watch guards and sentries, Horn finally felt a little relieved.

The sky was stained black like ink, and the gray light gradually disappeared behind the mountains.

Bonfires were lit in the camp.

The villagers in front of the bonfire picked up rice cracker paste dotted with chili slices, ate salted fish, and talked and laughed about jokes about the Vatican.

“The condemned prisoners in the Inquisition asked the newcomer what the punishment was. The newcomer said burning at the stake. The condemned prisoners asked if he was a wizard.
He said no, I am innocent, and the condemned prisoners immediately shouted: Stop lying, innocent mortals will only be sentenced to death by hanging. "

"Ha ha ha ha."

"Have you heard that joke..."

The rough laughter lingered in the mountain path, and coupled with the warm campfire, it actually made the originally quiet night sky a lot more lively.

After evening prayers, according to the Canon of Sleeping Laterally and the Military Law of the Papal States, they should go to bed and rest.

Amid the shouts of the elders and the whistles of the officers, the soldiers and residents split up, one group walked towards the camp near the carriages, and the other group returned to the canvas tents on the spot.

The campfires went out one after another, and the entire camp fell into darkness and silence again.

But Horn lay in the tent, tossing and turning, unable to sleep until midnight.

He simply put on his cloak, picked up the fluorescent lamp, and went outside.

The night watch guards were still patrolling diligently, and when they saw Horn appear, they immediately nodded and beat their chests in greeting.

Putting his finger on his lips to signal them to keep quiet, Horn walked around the entire camp again before walking towards his tent with a heavy heart.

"Brother, you can't sleep either?"

Horn was startled and turned around, only to see it was Jeanne.

She was leaning on her battle flag, with her hair simply tied into a ponytail behind her head, and looking at him with a smile.

Horn also smiled: "Yes, I'm just walking around. It's been a very peaceful journey..."

Halfway through his words, Horn saw the bushes shaking out of the corner of his eye.

Jumping spider?!
"Jeanne!" Horn yelled.

Although it was only one word, after so many battles, Jeanna was already very familiar with the meaning of the different tones when Horn called her.

She turned sideways lightly, as if turning around and punching, and a dazzling electric light flashed and hit the spider's shell heavily.

The lightning pierced through the jumping spider's shell, and it fell heavily to the ground, its eight legs rubbing against its shell, making a creepy squeaking sound.

Jeanna immediately fired another bolt of lightning.

The rich aroma of muscle slowly wafted up, and the jumping spider gradually stopped moving.

Only after she used the battle flag to give the jumping spider a second blow did Ranna breathe a sigh of relief.

"Luckily there's only this one, brother, are you okay?"

Horn didn't answer, just frowned.

The night wind blew through the mountains and forests, and in the original silence, Horn heard a strange rustling sound.

It was not the leaves that were shaking in the night breeze, but the green fluff of the earth that was rubbing against something moving at high speed.

"No, no." Holding the fluorite lamp high in his hand, Horn sprinkled a handful of lime powder on the fluorite lamp and threw it into the woods.

The fluorescent lamp immediately shone brightly, shining behind the bushes and in the woods, and countless densely packed red eyes gradually lit up.

From left to right, all I could see were red spider eyes, and all I could hear was the sound of shells rubbing against each other.

When found by the light, they would occasionally step back a step or two, or shake their bodies restlessly.

How many are there? Hundreds, or thousands?
The fangs opened and closed continuously, leaking pale green venom.

At this moment, Horn's blood almost froze.

"Blow the trumpet, quick, blow the trumpet!"

　p.s. There is still one chapter left. I was so engrossed in looking up information that I finished it a little late.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)