Roland naturally knew what the Pearl of the Northlands referred to.
The development of God's Punishment bullets encountered many technical difficulties, such as the caliber of the warhead, the matching firearms, and so on. Since the hardness of the Godstone was related to its size, it should be enlarged as much as possible. However, a larger Godstone would also produce a larger area of magic prohibition, and the sharp increase in the weight of large-caliber firearms would inevitably bring non-negligible negative effects to concealment, transportation, and use.
During this week, Anna, Agatha, Lucia, and Andrea worked together and conducted nearly a hundred tests, finally determining several data indicators.
To ensure even stress during launch, the God's Punishment Stone was processed into a cylinder thirty millimeters wide, with a copper jacket wrapped around the outside to form a sharp armor-piercing warhead. Therefore, the caliber of the bullets specially made for the Demon Slayers reached an astonishing thirty-five millimeters, like a heavy little cannonball in the hand.
Only at this size was the strength of the inner core stable enough to avoid being shattered by the impact of gunpowder.
The "lightless black hole" produced by the Godstone also approached about one and a half meters, which meant that the distance from the muzzle to the gun body had to exceed two meters. Counting the barrel, it was definitely unique, and it could not be normally loaded into the Magic Ark at all, so a detachable design was necessary.
At the same time, the increase in caliber brought huge recoil, making it impossible to use a manual support like before, and it had to be installed on a special stand to fire.
For the above reasons, the final product looked extremely deformed, and the shooter could not even reach the bolt, nor could he load the chamber with his own strength. The weight of the entire gun in combat was almost equivalent to two adults, which indirectly weakened the number of special operations teams. In addition, even with muzzle braking and gun mount buffering, the recoil could still injure the shooter.
Fortunately, this new weapon itself was only intended to be used once, so it was not an unacceptable drawback.
The advantages of a large caliber were also not lacking.
The most significant was that the range of the weapon was greatly improved—the range of a firearm generally refers to the effective range. The bullet still has lethality beyond this limit, but because the trajectory is too erratic, it is impossible to determine the landing point, so it has no practical value. But for Andrea, the maximum range of the firearm was the effective range. As long as the coin existed, she would definitely hit the target, which made the theoretical attack distance of the new weapon exceed ten kilometers.
Roland also increasingly understood why Edith chose the jungle area.
Compared with the anti-devil heavy machine gun that Ashes could set up and fire, this weapon, which could be completely called a cannon, had to be spliced and assembled before it could be used, which greatly prolonged the preparation time. If it was not chosen in a hidden area, the risk of the plan would be greatly increased.
"Finally, the retreat route," Edith pointed to the map and said, "After the shelling of Taqila officially starts, the First Army will send a unit to advance about five to six kilometers on the left flank to meet the special operations team's retreat. As for when the ambush will begin, it depends on the enemy's resistance. This is the general content of the plan."
This plan, which had been discussed for nearly a week, was quickly approved by everyone. After some screening, the personnel of the two teams were also determined.
The sniper team consisted of five people: Sylvie, Andrea, Camilla, Maggie, and Ashes. The first four can be said to be necessary candidates for the ambush, and only Ashes's abilities are the most balanced for the last protector position. The accompanying reconnaissance assistant was Lightning—compared to Maisie, her biggest advantage was that she could transport God's Punishment bullets. As long as they were suspended by a rope, the effect of the Godstone would not affect her.
Otherwise, the entire group would have to walk to the enemy's rear.
The Seagull team consisted of ten people, with Maisie as the scout. In addition to Tilly and Wendy, the remaining ten people were God's Punishment witches, led by Zoe. The number of people in this team was less than expected because the large-caliber silenced guns, anti-devil grenades, and armor took up too much load, even with Hummingbird halving the weight.
As for the main battlefield, there was nothing to say—just fight steadily and advance step by step.
The entire plan maximized all the resources that could be used and also made Roland feel the lack of transportation capacity. Once there was no support from inland rivers and railways, the First Army could only deploy extremely limited troops. If he had an armored unit, why would he need to be so troublesome? He could detour thousands of miles, cut off the enemy's supply first, and then attack the main force from both sides. That way, even if the Demon Slayers wanted to escape, they would be trapped in the grassland due to insufficient red mist.
At the end of the meeting, Edith stood up again, she looked at Roland, seeming a little hesitant.
"Is there anything else?" Roland raised his eyebrows and asked.
"After the decisive battle begins, I hope you can temporarily enter the Third Border City, and so does the City Hall." She paused, "Of course, and the witches in the Castle District."
"What do you mean by that?" Barov, who had not been able to interject, finally found an entry point, "Are you trying to instruct His Majesty!"
Anna was slightly moved and said, "Do you think the demons might attack Neverwinter City?"
"It's unlikely, but it's not ruled out." Edith became much calmer after she started, "The bloodline means the limit, but it can't be roughly equated with the opponent's strength—for example, a red mist can that supports three thousand demons can also allow one thousand demons to travel a longer distance. Since they have been here once, it is natural that they may come a second time. If this time the other party is no longer for threats or warnings, but goes straight to the Castle District... if it is not an ordinary Mad Demon, but a high-level demon..."
There was a brief silence in the room.
"Even if we abandon Taqila?" Agatha frowned.
"If the fall is inevitable, it's not about giving up, but about recovering the losses as much as possible."
"I see," Roland smiled easily, "Let's follow your suggestion. Barov, you are in charge of the City Hall, you know what to do, right?"
"Yes, yes! Your Majesty."
Even if the other party didn't say it, he was planning to stay in the main hall to watch the "live broadcast"—although he could only see a corner of Taqila, it was still a rare opportunity.
"Everyone, I know what you're thinking." Roland stood up. Undoubtedly, after this meeting, those with missions would rush to the front line and devote themselves to the decisive battle for the land of survival... He knew that the moment of final remarks had arrived. "That's right, victory is now only one step away from us. Although only a few people know about this war, and even fewer know its significance, one day it will be remembered by all mankind! Before the War of Divine Will has even begun, Graycastle has blocked the demons outside the Fertile Plains in a proactive manner. Regardless of whether the opponent is being held back by the Heaven's Boundary, the weight of the victory will not be reduced in the slightest! The only regret is... that I cannot go with you."
The hall was silent, but in everyone's eyes, there was a dazzling light.
"Defeat the demons and take Taqila—I look forward to your hard work!" He looked around and said word by word.
"As you wish!" Everyone said in unison.