Besides increasing the firepower of the heavy machine gun, Roland also planned to develop a bolt-action rifle as a supplement for precise shooting at medium and long distances. He didn't need to produce too many, about a hundred would suffice. (The caliber is the same as the heavy machine gun, and with a scope, it's a simple sniper rifle.)

This way, the production lines for revolver guns and black gunpowder bullets can continue to be maintained, without causing too much waste.

In combat, field artillery would be responsible for suppressing enemies from a thousand to a hundred meters away. From a hundred to five hundred meters would be the best range for heavy machine guns to reap, enemies entering five hundred meters would be dealt with by snipers, and the final two hundred meters would be cleared by revolver guns, theoretically ensuring no gaps in attack.

Of course, completely implementing this configuration might take three to four months, possibly not in time for the spring offensive. Therefore, he needed another piece of equipment to make up for the lack of offensive firepower—an inland river gunboat equipped with a 152mm long-barreled gun. As long as there was one, it could create great psychological pressure on the enemy during a proactive attack.

Thinking that the city-building ceremony would be held after the Evil Moon, unifying the entire Western Territory, plus having to overthrow Tifieco from the throne, and accepting the newly influx of population, Roland felt that the task on his shoulders was getting heavier and heavier. He even wished time would pass slower, and that the Evil Moon wouldn't end so quickly.

*******************

After entering the borders of the Western Territory, the surrounding scenery changed.

Otto. Rossi lifted the wooden board of the window and looked out. All he saw was a vast expanse of white, with the sky filled with dense snowflakes, drifting and swirling in the biting cold wind, eventually merging into this white landscape.

The heavy snow seemed to have no end in sight. In the two days of sailing, he had not seen any other scenery. Everything here was covered in snow, whether it was soil, rocks, or forests—if the ship hadn't been constantly rocking, he would have even thought he wasn't moving at all.

"Put down the window," the captain said unhappily, "If you really want to see, you can go to the deck, no one's stopping you.()"

"Is it always like this here?" He closed the wooden board nonchalantly.

"Of course, you think I'm bluffing you?" The other party took a sip from his wine pot, "Every year when the Devil's Month arrives, the Western Territory is sealed off by heavy snow. Apart from the Scarletwater River, there's no other way to reach it. And those who are willing to brave this damn weather and still have a ship in hand, the entire royal capital won't have more than ten," he hiccuped, "Therefore, five gold dragons is a very reasonable price, understand?"

"It's a bit expensive, but I didn't bargain when I paid," Otto said with a smile.

"That's more like it," the captain tossed the wine pot over, "It's warm, take a couple of sips, it can ward off the cold." He wiped his mouth and said, "There have been merchants like that before, wanting to get to the Western Territory earlier than anyone else to buy goods, but they were unwilling to pay the extra shipping fee, so they hired those rats from Black Street to deliver them. And what happened? They were strangled halfway, the two or three mercenaries they brought were useless, all fed to the fish."

"That's... really unfortunate." Otto took the wine pot but didn't pull out the stopper to gulp it down, instead, he took off his gloves and held it in his hands—he really wasn't used to sharing the same vessel with others.

"You get what you pay for, the same principle applies everywhere, there are always people who think they can get a bargain. He should have thought, if the rats could offer such a low price and still deliver it safely, wouldn't our shipping company have to close down?" The captain curled his lips. "Speaking of which, what kind of business do you want to do in the Western Territory? Don't blame me for not reminding you, this damn place used to produce some jewelry and furs, but now you can't buy anything."

"Oh?" Otto pretended to be curious, "As far as I know, isn't that how they make a living? Are the people in the Western Territory all turning into bandits now?"

"That's all old news," the captain put his pipe next to the charcoal brazier to light it, took a strong puff, "Ever since the Fourth Prince took over Border Town, the Western Territory has become strange. You know, whether it's fur or jewelry, it all comes from that small town. No one knows what he's up to in his territory,"

"The entire industry is almost only going in and not coming out. Longsong Stronghold still has jewelry for sale, but the nobles all have their own fixed channels, you can't get in."

"Only going in and not coming out?" He said in surprise.

"Yeah, although you can't buy specialties, the business of merchants who take goods there to sell is still pretty good, whether it's grain, clothes, fabrics, or groceries, they can basically sell everything clean. I don't know where the Fourth Prince scraped so many gold dragons from." The captain exhaled a smoke ring. "So you're very likely to return empty-handed this time."

Otto put on a look of anxiety, and didn't reply—in fact, he didn't care whether he would return empty-handed or not. The real purpose of this trip was only one, to meet the lord of Border Town. Because of Roland. Wimbledon's identity as a rebel prince, he couldn't go there openly as an envoy, so he had to disguise himself as a merchant and rush to the border lightly.

Before setting off, he had inquired about the destination in detail.

Just like its name, it was an insignificant border town in a neighboring country, initially built to monitor the invasion of evil beasts, and later changed to a permanent settlement. Logically speaking, princes who are enfeoffed to such places are those who are extremely disliked by the king, left to fend for themselves, which seems to fit the Fourth Prince's reputation.

But the problem is, he not only gained a foothold in the Western Territory, but also posed a great threat to the new king—this is what Otto found most incomprehensible. If the Fourth Prince really had such abilities, how could he have left such unflattering comments and been kicked to a remote place by the king?

According to the information he had obtained, Roland. Wimbledon's rise was simply incredible.

A year ago, he was enfeoffed to Border Town, in fact, it was more like an exile. No ministers accompanied him, no guards of his own, even the knights around him were sent by the king. Such a weak team would have difficulty even subduing the local nobles, let alone implementing his own policies. This enfeoffment was also discussed by most people as a joke.

However, only six months later, the Fourth Prince defeated Duke Lionheart's invasion and attacked and captured Longsong Stronghold, becoming the true ruler of the Western Territory. There were various rumors circulating among the people about this battle. Some said that the Duke died from internal rebellion, while others said that he died because his mount lost its footing, which led to the knights losing to a group of miners.

After that, Roland firmly sat in the position of Guardian of the Western Territory. The war triggered by the King's Order intensified, the First Prince Goron, the Third Princess Garcia died one after another, the Fifth Princess Tilly's whereabouts were unknown, and the cities in the Southern and Eastern Territories were destroyed in continuous warfare, only the Western Territory was safe and sound.

This was definitely not because Tifieco was merciful, but because the punitive expeditions repeatedly sent out by the new king had all disappeared without a trace. Otto was very curious about what Roland had done to cultivate such a fierce group of warriors.

"Boss, Border Town is ahead," the sailor pushed open the cabin door and said, "We're almost there."

"Oh, finally!" The captain knocked on his pipe, "Lower the sails, raise the flag, tell the dock we're here! After landing, I need to find a tavern to have a good drink." He looked at Otto, "Hey, don't forget to bring your luggage, we'll see you again in two days. If you're not there on time, I won't wait for you."

Otto shrugged, indicating that he had no objections.

Among the various news about the Fourth Prince, there was another rumor that caught his attention, that Roland had turned to the devils and was secretly recruiting witches. This was the real reason why he was able to quickly defeat the Duke and occupy the entire Western Territory. The destruction of the stronghold's church, the killing of the high priest, and the expulsion of the believers from the territory were all evidence.

In fact, this rumor was also what made him determined to come here.

He didn't care whether the other party had a deal with devils or not, nor did he care whether he was recruiting witches, he only wanted the other party to have a feud with the church.

In this regard, Roland was more to the liking of the Kingdom of Dawn than Tifieco.

With a sudden jolt of the cabin, the sailboat docked.

.(。)