"Load faster!"

"Don't let your fingers tremble, embed each round into the loader!"

"The teammates in the front row need the ammunition you load. If you're too slow, the enemies will rush over and kill you!"

"Don't look anywhere else, just focus on your fingers!"

"As long as your teammates are still firing, you can't stop!"

In the First Army camp, Brian was loudly urging the recruits to practice loading. Dingzi was one of them.

He wasn't exactly a recruit. He was actually a veteran of the First Army. Since the militia, led by His Highness the Prince, defeated the demon beast invasion, he had joined the ranks at Tie Tou's strong request. According to Tie Tou, fighting the enemy with a musket to protect His Highness the Prince and Nana Wa xiaojie was much more promising than digging in a mine for the rest of his life.

Not long after Dingzi enlisted, the militia was reorganized into the First Army. In addition to fighting the demon beasts, he followed His Highness Roland and Tie Axe to defeat the great nobles they would never have dared to imagine before. They overthrew Duke Ryan's throne, and even the army of the new king, Tifieke, failed to set foot in Border Town. After these battles, he had become a squad leader in the musket team.

However, according to the First Army's custom, whenever a large number of recruits joined, some veterans would be assigned to the newly formed teams as instructors, accompanying them in practice and living with them. At first, Dingzi was reluctant when he was selected, which meant he couldn't be at the forefront with his familiar comrades. But then he remembered that when he joined the army, veteran militiamen had served as instructors for his team, so he accepted the task.

And the veteran who had served as his team's instructor at the time was Brian, who was now the commander of the First Battalion of the Musket Team.

Dingzi hoped that one day he too could wear the medal awarded by His Highness the Prince and stand in front of nearly a thousand people giving orders. Tie Tou was right, this job was much better than operating a steam engine in front of a mine.

"Sir, how long are we going to practice this?" A young man in the ranks he was in charge of muttered, "It's snowing."

"Until you can do this with your eyes closed in five breaths." Dingzi stopped in front of him. "Your name is Haimeng, right? Remember to shout 'Report' before you speak. That's the First Army's rule!"

"Report," the short guy next to Haimeng shouted, still loading ammunition, "Will there be eggs for dinner tonight?"

The sentence caused a chorus of swallowing sounds in the ranks.

Dingzi couldn't help but curl the corners of his mouth. What allowed these recruits from the kingdom's Northern and Southern borders to maintain good discipline even in the snowy weather, besides half a month of continuous training and stick education, was the sufficient food to eat until they were full - wheat porridge and salted jerky were essential, occasionally there would be small pieces of pickled fish, and even an egg. However, the latter only appeared on the menu after fighting the demon beast horde or outdoor training.

"That depends on whether the demon beasts will come looking for Border Town's trouble," he shrugged. "Your name?"

"Aikǔ, sir."

"The bullet in your hand has been stuck there for a long time. My neighbor's grandmother is more agile than you," Dingzi put away his smile and said sternly, "If you're still like this before the end of practice, don't even think about eggs, I'll even cancel your share of the meat porridge!"

Everyone immediately lowered their heads, apparently unwilling to be punished by missing dinner.

Just then, the lookout on the city wall suddenly sounded the urgent ringing of the bell.

Demon beasts were attacking.

"Cease practice!" Brian shouted, "Squad instructors lead your men into the wall area, prepare for battle!"

"Did you all hear that?" Dingzi urged. "Take your ammunition, don't leave any behind, and line up to the top of the wall as you do in training. Our position is on the fourth section of the wall, move it!"

I didn't expect we'd actually get to eat eggs, he thought to himself.

...

After arriving at their designated position, Dingzi saw that the musketeers were ready. Facing the dark tide that was faintly appearing in the distance, they calmly performed one last weapon check before resting their barrels on the crenellations.

Dingzi couldn't help but feel a little regretful. He could have been holding a revolving rifle and giving these beasts a good lesson.

Rounds were being embedded into loaders, then placed within easy reach of the front row. Behind each veteran were one or two people responsible for loading. When necessary, they could fire all five rounds in one go, making the firepower far more powerful than the flintlock rifles used before.

"Look, the witches are here!" Haimeng whispered.

"They're so...beautiful," Aikǔ murmured. "Before I came here, I listened to the church's descriptions and thought they were ugly and terrifying."

"Is that all you can think about?" The former snorted disdainfully. "Didn't you see the last battle? The woman carrying the giant sword struck down the hybrid demon beast with one blow. If only I had that kind of power."

"What if that's really the devil's power—"

"Bullshit!" Dingzi shouted, "Nana Wa xiaojie is also a witch, is she a devil?" Then he lowered his voice. "If you dare to mention such words in front of the First Army's veterans, I guarantee you'll be bruised and swollen the next day. She's the angel of the town, the power of God, understand? Now focus on loading, this is not practice!"

After lecturing these talkative guys, Dingzi took a moment to glance ahead. This time the demon beast horde wasn't much different from usual. It shouldn't take long to clean up the battlefield...wait, what was that?

There seemed to be a very large figure mixed in with the black tide. At first, he thought it was a tortoise-shell siege beast, but that figure seemed to be even larger and moving much faster.

As the opponent got closer, Dingzi couldn't help but widen his eyes. It was actually a huge demon beast that he had never seen before! The huge tusks were almost as thick as a person's body, lying across its face like scythes. The limbs, comparable to stone pillars, stirred up layers of snow mist as it ran. Almost every step made the earth tremble slightly. The four-meter-high wall was not even as high as its lower jaw. If it charged straight in, this mud wall would probably shatter immediately.

Artillery!

There was no doubt that muskets were of limited use against this giant monster. Only the artillery team's big toys could stop its advance! And the most powerful of them was undoubtedly the new long-barreled gun on the sixth section of the wall.

"Oh my god, look there," the recruits behind him cried out in alarm, "What is that monster!"

"God save us, is that a demon from hell?"

"Shut your mouths and keep doing what you're supposed to do!" Dingzi swallowed and looked towards the new cannon's position. The silver-gleaming barrel had already moved, and the flat muzzle was slowly turning, aiming at the direction the behemoth was charging.

A dazzling flash of fire passed by, followed by a deafening roar!