Lord: I Grind EXP with Warband Panel

"Magic Crystal Cannons! It’s the Magic Crystal Cannons!"

Soon, one of the Bear Race answered the crowd’s confused cries.

But even with the mystery solved, the Bear Race Warriors felt no sense of relief.

"Magic Crystal Cannons!"

The silence had been better. The moment the words were spoken, the entire position erupted into chaos.

Magic Crystal Cannons? The name was familiar to everyone, but how could they possibly be here?

They didn’t have time to ponder the question, because the second volley from the Magic Crystal Cannons was already falling from the sky.

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

This time, the shells didn’t explode in front of the lines. They landed directly in the middle of the Bear Race’s military formation, blooming from the center like a flower. A massive blue Energy Ball launched several Bearman Infantrymen into the air.

The Energy Balls themselves were incredibly hot. Upon hitting the ground, they dissipated into waves of energy, acting like a solvent that instantly cleared out three patches of open ground within the Bearman formation.

"AH! My leg! My leg!"

The entire formation fell deathly silent. Only when a young Bearman cried out in pain did the others snap out of their daze as if waking from a dream.

"Magic Crystal Cannons! It’s really the Magic Crystal Cannons!"

"Retreat! Orderly retreat!"

Watching his army on the brink of chaos, Sol hastily gave the command.

The Northern Bear Race had stood strong for many years, after all. On the steppes, they had dominated their territory relying on their infantry phalanxes. They certainly had a few tricks up their sleeve.

The Centaurs had been the same, but they had already been routed by the humans once before, and they’d had the misfortune of being stuck with a Commander-in-Chief like Daimon.

Unfortunately, while the Bear Race formation was able to remain intact and march in an orderly fashion, maintaining their formation was the worst thing they could be doing right now.

Another three cannon blasts rang out, followed by the same familiar screams.

The explosions jolted Sol to his senses once more.

He was now caught between a rock and a hard place. If they stayed clustered together, the enemy’s Magic Crystal Cannons would just pick them off. What army could withstand such a bombardment? After a few more volleys, the entire Bear Race force would break.

But if they scattered, there were still enemy Cavalry behind them. Without their formation, what good was the Bear Race’s thick skin and tough hide?

As he was thinking, another volley of cannon fire echoed.

"Retreat! Scatter! Break formation!"

Sol had no other choice. He could only hope that Marin had already rallied his troops by now.

.....

"Ding! Your Tier 3 Novice Magic Crystal Cannon Team has successfully killed 23 Bear Race Recruits, 13 Bear Race Warriors..."

"Ding! Your..."

Listening to the system notifications, Robson nodded in satisfaction.

"Not bad. Nearly all of them hit. Good work."

Although they had only fired four volleys, the results were gratifying. All three Magic Crystal Cannon Teams had leveled up directly to Tier 4 Adept Magic Crystal Cannon Teams.

This proved that using Magic Crystal Cannons in field battles was a practical reality. The only drawback was that it required an Extraordinary individual who understood the principles of the cannons to act as an observer.

’I wonder if the optics in this world are different from my previous life?’ Robson thought. ’If not, and I could equip ordinary people with telescopes, then fielding Magic Crystal Cannons could become widespread. That would be a total game-changer.’

Sos stared at the cannon emplacement before him, then looked dazedly at Robson, a look of partial understanding on his face.

In the past, he had always thought that using Magic Crystal Cannons in a field battle was extremely difficult. After all, if the gunners couldn’t see the enemy, how could they fire?

But Robson had just demonstrated to them: the gunners only needed to operate the cannons. The task of calling out coordinates was left to the observer.

’So, Magic Crystal Cannons can be used like this?’

"Two short blasts. Red and blue flags down simultaneously."

Seeing that the Bearman Race’s infantry formation had already scattered, Robson chose not to waste any more Magic Crystals.

Magic Crystals were a finite resource, but the experience his Soldiers needed to reach Tier 5 was immense. There were still fortress defense battles to come, with an endless stream of enemies lining up to die. There was no need to waste Magic Crystals now.

Since the Bearman Infantry had already begun to rout, Robson directly ordered his Cavalry to continue the charge. Of course, the two short blasts signified a limited offensive.

No matter how thick-skinned and tough these Bearmen were, infantry who had broken formation were just meat on the chopping block for cavalry—nothing more than lambs to the slaughter.

....

"The enemy is routing! Should we still attack?" Emil asked, his heart itching with anticipation as he watched the scattered Bearman Infantry.

This was a cavalryman’s paradise! A horde of enemies just turning their backs to them. It would be an insult to the honor of a Knight Lord not to go and run a few of them through.

"A short blast! Two short blasts! The Viscount wants us to resume the attack!" Claude exclaimed, his face flush with excitement.

The horn for retreat might be hazy, but the horn for attack was as clear as thunder.

"It’s an *orderly* attack, sir," Emil said with a nod, reminding him.

"Form up! Formation one! Form up!" Viscount Leo roared at the Knights behind him. At this moment, Viscount Leo was beginning to understand why Robson had implemented his system.

Though he called for Formation One, in reality, the entire Cavalry Team only knew one formation: the wedge charge.

There was no helping it. Robson’s army had only been established for a short time, and these formations required coordination between Extraordinary Cavalry and regular Cavalry. They simply hadn’t had enough time to practice.

"Do you have something to say?" Viscount Leo raised an eyebrow, looking at the hesitant Claude.

Stared at directly, Claude flinched. He had just been quietly complaining about Viscount Leo’s decision and hadn’t expected to be overheard.

"My Lord, we can actually just charge straight in. Our Knights will be at the very front, and a rough formation will take shape as we ride. Plus, it will greatly increase our kill zone," Claude said.

With the enemy scattered everywhere, Claude felt they could just charge directly. Bothering with a so-called formation at this point was just a waste of time and would only narrow the scope of their slaughter.

"Well said. Let’s do that, then. Charge straight in." Viscount Leo nodded. He saw no need to argue with a junior.

Claude looked up, a surprised and pleased expression on his face. Viscount Leo usually seemed like a cold-faced tiger, difficult to get along with, but he was surprisingly open to advice.

"Yes, My Lord."

...

"Marin! The enemy has Magic Crystal Cannons! Why wasn’t this in the intelligence reports!"

Sol was like a raging lion. Being assigned to the front line this time had resulted in catastrophic losses for his tribe, on top of the troops he had already lost at Qimo Fortress.

There was absolutely no way they would gain anything from this southern campaign.

Spoils were divided based on strength.

Marin’s brain had also short-circuited. Why did the enemy have Magic Crystal Cannons? Just why?

How was he supposed to know why?

When the sound of the Magic Crystal Cannons had echoed in his mind, Marin had been completely stunned.

The Bearman Infantry, meant to hold back the enemy, had been completely dismantled by just a few Magic Crystals?

"My losses! My tribe’s Warriors! This is all because your intelligence was slow! Where are the Thunderhawks? What about the scouts?"

Marin listened, his brow furrowing in anger.

’Thunderhawks? The kings of the sky are dragons, followed by griffins. How are the Beastmen’s Thunderhawks supposed to contend with the enemy’s griffins?’

’And scouts? He hadn’t even known the enemy would attack during the day. Besides, the enemy’s Cavalry outclassed theirs, and this was Human Race territory.’

’How was he supposed to scout under these conditions?’

"Stand down for now. I will take responsibility for what happened to you," Marin said, his expression dark.

In any case, the troops under his command had now finished forming up.

This force consisted of a thousand elite Kobolds, along with several dozen Extraordinary Kobolds.

Although Extraordinary Kobolds couldn’t compare to their human counterparts, if the enemy dared to charge his formation, he would risk it all and aim for a mutually destructive outcome.

As long as he could cripple this enemy cavalry force, the Human Race would lose the initiative in the future and have no choice but to hole up in their fortress.