Chapter 1272 - 1194: The Dragon’s Head Speaks
Regardless of whether they were worried or excited, the high monks returned with minds full of novelty and plans.
As for Horn, he had nothing scheduled for the afternoon, so he simply stayed to watch the bayonet drill at the shooting range.
These bayonets were longer than those on Earth, reaching a terrifying 90 centimeters, and due to the addition of Mithril, they were even lighter.
The weight of a 90-centimeter bayonet could even be maintained around 1.5 pounds.
A rifle barrel of 1.6 meters paired with a 0.9-meter bayonet roughly totaled 2.5 meters, which bore resemblance to the proportions of Song Dynasty sabers.
Horn once assumed Mithril was aluminum, but it proved otherwise.
Mithril itself is not light; only its alloy or solution, or rather compound, becomes lighter.
Once the weight issue is resolved, the strength problem is naturally handled by the lightning furnace.
Advancing the socket bayonet wasn’t Horn blindly copying Earth’s socket bayonets, but rather following its own principles.
No matter the enemy faced, under current conditions, adopting a socket bayonet is necessary.
The synthesis of long spear soldiers and spring riflemen is a predetermined outcome.
To say nothing else, in terms of a five-hundred-man regiment, under past conditions, the wind force of Holy Guns was only for three hundred or two hundred soldiers.
In this state, retaining long spear soldiers is a must.
Firstly, to prevent cavalry charges, and secondly, because the wind force of spring rifles fell short, long spear soldiers were needed to finish and break through.
But with the development of rear-loaded spring rifles and other rifle miracles, the frequency and range of wind force are sufficient.
Sufficient to resist large-scale cavalry charges and capable of finishing off enemy infantry phalanxes.
Equivalent to previously having three hundred gunners plus two hundred long spearmen, now it’s five hundred gunners doubling as five hundred long spearmen.
Although individual soldier training has become more complex, both combat strength and battlefield protection have been greatly enhanced.
Not to mention the tactical convenience provided to Horn.
The battle group itself is a synthetic unit, each battle group can independently achieve a portion of tactical objectives.
Synthesis has always been a traditional practice within the Holy Alliance.
Back then, a single person could be synthesized into a company, now soldiers are synthesized into regiments and regiments into battle groups.
Aiming to create a synthesized grand battle group.
Even though it’s still far from the Napoleonic era’s three-line formation, due to the existence of extraordinary forces, three lines are still too thin.
Hence, Horn might adopt the Carl Twelve’s Carolinian infantry mode, using six rows of riflemen mixed with a small number of extraordinary melee units as a substitute.
Moreover, the socket bayonet itself isn’t Horn barking up the wrong tree, but rather it’s been altered considerably.
Despite the Royal Court’s strong military force, not everything has to be done by lesser vampires.
Furthermore, not all vampires possess the abilities of higher vampires, and many higher vampires are so well protected they appear inferior to lesser vampires.
For vampires of the sixth or seventh generation, their bodies are essentially like ordinary humans, perhaps even weaker.
These socket bayonets are all steel bayonets, and on the battlefield, they may need to be sprinkled with holy oil, even silver.
While silver doesn’t cause much harm to a vampire’s flesh, it significantly damages vital organs such as the heart.
With the introduction of riflemen, though melee capabilities have declined, the quantity has effectively increased by 50%.
Overall, it’s cost-effective, regardless of the opponent.
While Horn continued to contemplate, he heard quick breaths.
"Sire, Sire!"
He looked around bewilderedly but saw no one until he noticed a dwarf at his feet.
"Sire! Urgent matters to report!" The dwarf was bent over, panting, "It’s... the Dragon Skull in Jade Blossom City acting strange!"
Horn raised an eyebrow and looked at him, "What about the Dragon Skull? Didn’t Duvalon take it to intimidate that band of wild dwarves?"
Last month, the dwarf settlements in the western Dragon Sleep Mountains refused to cooperate with the Holy Alliance’s mine planning.
These dwarves also belong to the Dragon Worship Sect, but they didn’t descent the mountain with the first group.
Horn sent Duvalon with the Dragon Skull on a trip.
After all, in dwarf eyes, dragons are the mountain’s sovereigns, and the Dragon Skull holds more deterrent power than ten spring cannons.
During the spring machine incident, Duvalon used this tactic to compel numerous master dwarf artisans to bow down.
According to plan, Duvalon should be returning to Long Embankment City with the Dragon Skull by now.
"It’s not our dwarven brothers!" The reformist dwarf hurriedly waved his hands, swallowing hard to steady his voice, "It’s the Dragon Skull itself...
Duke Duvalon had several youths from the Sorrido Clan help maneuver the Dragon Skull’s flight using necromancy passed down from the Royal Court.
A vampire, idly curious, employed corpse dialogue on the Dragon Skull, and it...it truly activated!"
"Corpse dialogue?" Horn furrowed his brows.
Corpse dialogue is a skill of the Sorrido Clan, hoping to glean paths to the world of the Eternal Lord from Lilith’s remains.
But truth proved that the remains only brought chaotic babble, yielding nothing.
The Dragon Skull had been venerated for a thousand years—how could it still trigger a spell?
At this moment, a young vampire catching his breath, echoing "higher vampires too sheltered appear inferior to lesser vampires," arrived.
He paused to catch his breath before continuing, "We were using necromancy to drive the Dragon Skull, intending just to have it open its mouth to menace the dwarves.
When the spell touched the Dragon Skull’s scales, a force abruptly responded, like something was answering us from within.
Instinctively, we used corpse dialogue, and unbelievably, we heard...we heard a voice!"
"What voice?" Horn took a step forward.
The young vampire closed his eyes, as if recalling the eerie scene: "Very faint, like howling wind wrapped around runic whispers...
We only discerned a few words: ’Elves’, ’Witch’, ’True Gods’...
And two repeated dragon phrases, roughly translating to ’They stole the flame’ and ’Here lies the furnace’."
"Elves? Dragons?" Horn knitted his brows tighter.
The vampire drew closer cautiously, adding: "We are certain, the soul within the Dragon Skull hasn’t completely vanished!
Typically, corpse dialogue can only retrieve a deceased person’s memories from their last few hours, but the memories within this Dragon Skull seem to be sealed within, not dispersing even after a millennium."
Horn fell silent for a moment, pondering, "An experiencer from a bygone era?"
According to historians’ speculative analysis, this dragon was probably beheaded during Lilith’s time.
Perhaps by Lilith or Mycela, it’s uncertain.
If these precious memories could be read?
"Corpse dialogue alone can’t extract complete information." Horn raised his head, scanning the vampires present, "Do any of you have a method?"
A Sorrido Clan elder observing piped up immediately: "Sire, folks from the Dreamless Hermitage excel at dream divination. They can delve into the residual soul’s fragmented consciousness, potentially stitching together complete information!"
Horn considered for a moment, then turned toward the shooting range entrance and called out: "Edwin!"
Edwin ran over from the nearby shade, holding a notebook: "Sire, your command."
"Immediately go to the Dreamless Hermitage, get them to send three monks most adept at dream divination over as quickly as possible." Horn’s pace was quick, "No delaying on the way."
"Understood!" Edwin didn’t dare dally, promptly closing his notebook, mounting a horse, the sound of hooves quickly vanishing along the avenue outside the range.
He paused, then looked to the young vampire: "You several follow along too, assist the hermitage people, relay all the details to them without omitting a single word."
"By your command!" The young vampires responded hastily, their fear gradually replaced by excitement.
Participating in deciphering the ancient dragon’s residual soul is to them—scholarly vampires—a rarer opportunity than advancement.
Watching the vampires leave, Horn didn’t know what to think in his heart.
Only, he suddenly felt the Holy Tree seed at his chest heating up and pulsating.