Waiting, another small figure ran along the trench.

"Captain, you're early," he panted, taking off the cloth bag slung across his body and placing it at Danny's feet. "All the ammunition I collected is here."

"If it were hunting in the mountains, I would have returned with the prey by now," Danny said dismissively. "How much is for me?"

"Thirty rounds."

"That's quite a few less..." he muttered, "Damn jiqiang shooters."

The smallest soldier in the team was named Maiya, only sixteen this year, and served as his protector.

Every marksman is assigned a protector who can quickly suppress targets when enemies approach, buying time to move or fix bayonets.

Danny didn't need protection, especially from an underage child. The reason he chose Maiya as his protector was only because he couldn't resist Carl Van Bert's request. He and the Minister of Construction were neighbors for many years, having lived in the New District streets before, so he naturally knew that the other party regarded all the children who graduated from the academy as his own children.

Since the marksman's position is usually relatively far back, the protector is actually safer for those assigned to the front line. Danny knew that His Majesty Roland hated favoritism or mutual protection, and this was one of the few things he could do.

Watching Maiya squat on the ground picking out bullets, he couldn't help asking, "Have you ever thought about changing jobs?"

"Leave the First Army?" Maiya said without looking up, "No, I quite like it here."

"This is not a game," Danny raised an eyebrow, "We could die on the battlefield at any time, you don't need to risk it at all. People who can graduate from Carl Academy can work in the city hall, where the salary is no lower than the First Army, and it is also very decent."

"But I don't like running errands for those officials all day - I want to take up a spear to defend His Majesty," the little guy stacked the cleared millimeter bullets in front of the trench, "And..." He suddenly paused, his face turning slightly red.

"Because of Nana Wa xiaojie?"

Maiya didn't answer, but his cheeks turned redder.

Danny couldn't help but laugh. "At least half of the First Army admires the angel xiaojie. Even if you line up, it won't be your turn. What's more, her father is a baron, even without a fief, he is still out of your reach."

"I, I didn't think that way," Maiya retorted, "I'm content as long as I can see her every day."

Danny shook his head and stopped persuading him. He knew how strong - or rather, obsessed - people could become after investing feelings, because he was the same.

Whenever he had free time, as long as he closed his eyes, the figure of the green-haired woman would appear in his mind.

If she hadn't rescued him, he would have died in the forest long ago.

And at that time, she was still the devil's claw, the incarnation of xieè. Danny buried all this deeply in his heart, not daring to tell anyone. Unexpectedly, when they met again, the witch had been cleared of her injustice and became innocent, and she also lived in the Witch Building in the castle district, and had also opened up various experimental fields in the Misty Forest.

He couldn't enter the castle district at will, so on his days off, he would always pick up his hunting bow and go to the Misty Forest for a hunt. Danny had even thought about it, if he no longer served as a soldier one day, he would apply to the city hall for a job as a ranger and treat the Misty Forest as his new home.

"Woo ———— Woo ————!"

At this moment, the horn sounded long.

This was the signal that the enemy was approaching.

Danny suppressed his thoughts and re-steady the gun butt.

In any case, he was still a warrior, fighting to protect His Majesty and overthrow the Church that hunted witches.

...

As the sun gradually rose to the top of their heads, a group of people in shiny armor appeared at the foot of the mountain.

In order to surround this only mountain road, the defense line was less than a kilometer away from the Hermes Mountains, and from the moment they went down the mountain, they had entered the range of the artillery.

Danny knew that Iron Axe would not miss any opportunity to strike the enemy.

As if confirming his guess, a dull roar suddenly sounded from behind - like thunder from a distance in the sky, he could even see a series of blurry black shadows passing overhead and flying towards the enemy.

The battle began without warning.

Because of the distance, Danny could clearly capture the landing point of the shells. The dust kicked up upon impact was like clusters of blooming wildflowers, and the long line marching like ants was immediately thrown into chaos. It was normal to feel panicked when facing strikes that could not even be seen. If it were ordinary mercenaries or militia, a few rounds of bombardment would be enough to completely collapse their morale.

But the Church's army did not retreat, and they began to accelerate their advance, and the formation also became loose.

When Danny could see the other side's clothing and weapons more clearly, this group of people had eaten at least three rounds of shelling - the position composed of fifty field guns was enough to make the bombardment continuous, which was definitely a painful experience for the enemy. They had no warhorses and could only rely on their feet to walk this road to hell.

It was rumored that the extraordinarily strong God's Punishment Army erected giant shields, stood at the front of the team, and formed a gray iron wall about five or six hundred meters away from the first trench.

But it didn't make much sense for shells. As long as it could hit the giant shield, the shield would shatter and knock the enemies behind it to the ground.

"This won't work," Danny shook his head. "I'm afraid they will be completely defeated before they reach the first trench." He was very clear about the firepower arrangement of the position. First, use artillery fire to greet the enemies between one thousand and five hundred meters. When the opponent gathered in front of the barbed wire, the jiqiang firepower would clean up the battlefield. The revolver buqiang was only used for close combat after the opponent charged, and would not fire within two hundred meters.

"Isn't it good to be defeated?" Maiya stood on tiptoes and peered out over the edge of the trench.

"Of course, then I won't have any gains." Danny swept the prepared bullets into his waist bag, picked up his gun and prepared to leave.

"Where are you going?" The little guy hurriedly grabbed him.

"A more forward trench," he shook off the latter's hand, "You just stay here."

"I'll go with you!"

"Don't follow, that's the captain's order!"

Danny dropped these words, aimed at the waist and groped towards the longitudinal ditch.

The sound of shells landing became heavier and heavier, and even every dull impact caused some soil to slide down from both sides of the tunnel and pour into his collar.

He knew that he was gradually approaching the front of the battlefield.

Traversing three cross ditches in a row, ignoring the strange gazes cast by other team members, Danny took the opportunity of a new round of shells landing and poked his head out to look out - the giant shields of the God's Punishment Army were clearly distinguishable, and he could even hear the enemies' hoarse shouts and yells.

The distance was about four hundred meters.

It was close enough.

Danny took a deep breath, set up buqiang, aimed the sights slightly above the upper edge of the shield, and pulled the trigger.

Along with a crisp sound, a string of blue blood rose from behind the shield - only to see the giant shield and the shield holder crash to the ground together, revealing the helpless Judgement Warrior behind.

He pulled back the bolt, ejected the hot cartridge case, and then pushed it back into place with a click.

The sound of the gun being loaded made his blood boil.

The first one, Danny thought.