Knights' charges don't reach maximum speed right from the start; horses have limited stamina and can only maintain high speeds for a short period. Typically, they would have the horses trot for a thousand to a hundred meters, gradually accelerating at five hundred meters, and finally sprinting in the last two hundred meters.

The theoretical effective range of a twelve-pound Napoleon cannon firing solid shot is up to thirteen hundred meters. Perhaps due to the short barrel length, the cannons Roland built were too inaccurate beyond a thousand meters, so he stipulated in training that they should only fire within a hundred meters. At this distance, the accuracy of the cannons was guaranteed, and the cannonballs would still bounce forward after landing, causing line damage, making it more likely to hit multiple targets.

Duke Ryan, in order to have the mercenaries go first, ordered the knights to wait in the acceleration zone—usually a completely safe area, where bows and crossbows could not threaten the knights, and the latter had ample distance to increase their speed. The mercenaries' poor gathering efficiency caused the knights who were already in position to pull their mounts to a stop, waiting in place. For the artillery crew, they became almost stationary targets.

The Duke didn't know that when his troops stepped onto this land, they had already fallen into the battlefield Roland had prepared. The road in the middle was flat and wide, while the sides were filled with plants catalyzed by leaves, looking like ordinary grassland, but the knee-deep weeds concealed thick vines, like rows of tripwires. If the cavalry wanted to outflank the flanks of the line of defense, they could only advance at a very low speed. The distance within a thousand meters had been marked by Soroya, and although it might not be clear on the ground, in the eyes of Lightning, who had an overall view from the air, the battlefield was precisely divided into several sections, with different colored markers representing different distances—the enemy was advancing on a ruler, and the artillery crew no longer needed to calculate the angle of fire, only to implement the steps predetermined in the exercise.

Vanna's twelve-pound cannon was the first to roar.

The large amount of gas generated by the explosion of gunpowder pushed the projectile outward, accelerating to more than four hundred meters per second when it left the muzzle. In almost two breaths, the cannonball slammed into the ground with a whistle, passing between two knights and landing in the grass beside the road. The splashing dirt and gravel startled the horses, and one of them fell off his horse, unable to react in time.

The other two cannonballs that followed also missed, kicking up a series of dust clouds.

Of the first round of firing from the four cannons, only the last group was lucky—there was no one in front of this iron ball, and a knight happened to pass in front of it while controlling his frightened mount. The armor was useless in the face of the huge kinetic energy, and the iron ball pierced through the thin iron skin along with flesh and blood, and after a small bounce on the ground, it broke another knight's calf. The horse under him was also gutted, and its internal organs flowed all over the ground.

If the knights were in the normal acceleration phase, the next round of shelling should have adjusted the firing angle first, but the sudden blow obviously shocked the Duke's coalition forces. They didn't even know where the blow came from, or what method was used—the speed of the cannonballs exceeded the ability of the naked eye to recognize. The knights had not received an attack order and were still hovering in place, trying to calm their restless mounts.

Vanna's group completed the reloading process at the fastest speed, and the second round of shelling began.

The flesh exposed its fragility and softness under the heat weapons. Once the iron ball brushed past it, it would be an irreparable serious injury. The knights who were directly hit had limbs broken into several sections, as well as clumps of blood mist splashing around. Only the secondary ejection formed after the cannonball landed could people vaguely see a blurred black ghost, wantonly plundering the lives of their companions in the crowd.

After two rounds of shelling, the Duke finally associated the flames, roars, and inexplicable blows in the enemy's camp. The other party seemed to possess an incredible weapon whose range far exceeded that of bows and crossbows, almost equivalent to the siege engine of a fortress. Thinking of this, the Duke ordered his men to sound the horn of attack—as long as they closed the distance, this long-range strike weapon would basically lose its effect.

However, the knights showed a completely different reaction. Some people began to accelerate towards the town after hearing the horn, some people were still struggling with their mounts, and some people had already retreated to the rear. Coupled with the mercenaries who rushed up, the whole scene was chaotic.

The attacking knights returned to the main road, and the artillery crew suddenly became busy. In addition to cleaning the barrels and loading ammunition, they also needed to move the gun carriages again. At this time, Lightning returned to the sky above the defense line again, and the ribbon in her hand was changed to red.

The red signal meant that the other party had approached to five hundred meters, and within this distance, the hit rate of flat-fire artillery could reach 70% or more.

Vanna shouted, "Adjust the elevation to flat! Quick, fire, fire!"

After the deafening roar passed, he didn't even bother to observe the results and directly turned to the ammunition delivery personnel and roared, "Xiandan, send Xiandan up!"

In artillery training, His Royal Highness had repeatedly emphasized that if a red signal was seen, the cannonball already loaded in the barrel should be fired immediately and Xiandan should be loaded. If it had not been loaded, it should be changed to Xiandan and wait for the other party to enter the range of three hundred meters before firing.

Xiandan looked like a cylindrical tin can on the outside, filled with iron balls the size of fingers and sawdust. The diameter of the can was smaller than the bore of the cannon, so after loading the propellant bag, an extra thin wooden board had to be inserted before filling in the Xiandan.

When Lightning gave a purple signal, the four cannons fired almost simultaneously.

This was also the first time Vanna had used Xiandan for live ammunition shooting—according to His Highness, Xiandan was not easy to recycle after being fired, so he only practiced the procedure without firing. Today he witnessed for the first time the amazing damage that this special cannonball could cause.

The tin bucket ruptured due to the huge pressure difference after flying out of the muzzle, and the iron balls inside scattered like raindrops towards the enemy. The knights within three hundred meters were suddenly covered by a barrage of metal rain. Blood spattered on people and horses, and a large area fell down instantly like wheat being cut. Some iron balls still had a low kinetic energy after penetrating the human body, and targets that overlapped could not escape this disaster.

The knights who were fortunate enough not to be covered by the barrage finally approached the sprint distance, and they had only one thought in their minds—that was to break through this thin line of defense and kill those cowards who could only cower behind the line of defense and operate evil weapons. Crossing the last one hundred and fifty meters would only take twenty breaths, and the remaining knights lowered their bodies and raised their horse speed to the highest.

However, this one hundred and fifty meters seemed to be close at hand, but it was an unreachable distance. The last round of Xiandan close-range firing completely collapsed the knights' fighting will. Within a hundred meters, the iron balls that were not easily deformed could penetrate two or three people, and the conical area in front of the muzzle became the realm of death. Almost none of the twenty or so knights charging in the front were spared, the only difference was how many bullets they took.

The team collapsed.

There was no way to save a team that collapsed due to fear. The knights behind turned their horses and wanted to flee the battlefield.

Seeing the Knights fleeing in all directions, the mercenaries naturally did not want to take another step forward. They had always worked for money, and they would never do a losing business like risking their lives. Now it was time to retreat, and the mercenaries ran much faster than when they came.

The tide of rout engulfed Duke Ryan's coalition, and the situation quickly became uncontrollable. Everyone crowded back, and those who were knocked down were trampled to death. No one had time to take care of others, only hating themselves for not growing two more legs.

The tune of the Guerrilla Song resounded throughout the field at this time, and the infantry lined up in battle formation took neat steps and began to clear the battlefield.