At this distance, advancing to the drumbeat didn’t seem to have much meaning. As long as they aimed and fired, they should be able to solve the problem.
The soldiers, somewhat flustered, took the rifled muskets from their backs and retrieved pre-packaged paper cartridges from the pouches at their waists, loading the bullets.
Initially, rifled muskets were loaded like smoothbore muskets, with gunpowder added first, followed by the bullet.
However, forcing the bullet into the rifled barrel was extremely difficult, and soldiers often had to hammer it in.
When Alexei first tested firing a rifled musket with black powder, he used this method.
His assessment was that it was inferior to smoothbore muskets.
The loading process was so slow that it took over a minute to fire a single shot, and worse, the inability to load in unison severely impacted the efficiency of volley fire.
Rifled muskets were initially developed as an impractical weapon, but a new invention changed everything.
That was the Minié ball.
These were a type of separate-loading bullet, its front part resembled a traditional bullet, while the mid-rear section was hollow to hold gunpowder.
At the back of the bullet, there was also a soft wooden plug.
The expansion of the softwood plug ensured chamber sealing, reduced gunpowder residue, and eliminated the need for frequent barrel cleaning.
Since the bullet diameter was slightly smaller than the barrel, it could be easily loaded without hammering.
The old rifled muskets required 90 to 120 seconds per shot, but with Minié balls, reloading time was reduced to just 20 to 30 seconds.
The soldiers inserted the bullets into the barrels, pulled out the attached ramrods from beneath the muzzles, and pushed the bullets down to the bottom. Then they removed the ramrods, raised their guns, and took aim.
Alexei glanced at the distant murlocs and ordered loudly, "Fire!"
A volley of gunfire rang out, and two murlocs fell.
The murlocs panicked. They hadn’t figured out what had just happened. There were indeed a handful of humans in the distance, but at this range?
They saw no incoming arrows, nor did they spot any falling stones. Confused, they looked toward the humans, from where the sound had just come.
This distance was near the effective range limit of rifled muskets. The soldiers had only been training for a few days, so their aiming was still somewhat unsteady.
Some soldiers had failed to push the bullets all the way down, causing their guns to misfire.
One particularly nervous soldier had even forgotten to remove his ramrod before firing, when he pulled the trigger, the rod flew off to who knew where, forcing him to borrow a comrade’s ramrod.
Even so, Alexei couldn’t help but gasp.
They had made kills from six hundred meters away, a feat that was almost unimaginable on the battlefield.
In the distance, Hughes covered his face with his hand. Alexei had not ordered staggered shooting.
This was a simultaneous volley from eighty soldiers! Even at such an extreme range, the hit rate was still too low.
New recruits were indeed unreliable.
Alexei commanded loudly, and several squad leaders relayed his order to their teams.
The soldiers took out new cartridges and bullets, beginning another round of reloading.
If they were using regular muskets, they would have had to clean the barrels first.
However, with Minié balls, that wasn’t necessary. The improved seal meant less gunpowder residue, so all they had to do was load the next bullet.
Nearly a minute passed before the soldiers managed to complete their reloads. Meanwhile, the murlocs had just finished their initial confusion and were hesitating about whether to charge forward.
Another volley. This time, four murlocs fell instantly. Now, they finally realized they were under human attack. They raised their various weapons and charged forward, shouting.
"Don’t panic! Reload!"
The soldiers did not panic. Some even boldly hurled insults at the murlocs.
From six hundred meters away, the murlocs looked like nothing more than oversized bugs, and they felt no real threat.
The results of the first two volleys had boosted morale, and with Hughes and Alexei standing right beside them, their spirits were high.
This time, their movements were more practiced, aim, fire, reload. These steps were what they had drilled over the past few days, and now they were slowly regaining their rhythm.
Their accuracy had improved. The murlocs had barely covered a hundred meters before another six of them fell.
Another volley. Only ten murlocs remained. They were now over two hundred meters away, panting heavily.
Watching their comrades drop one after another, fear gradually overtook them.
Six murlocs shrieked and fled in all directions, leaving only four to continue the charge.
All the charging murlocs fell, yet they were still over a hundred meters away from the soldiers.
Alexei ordered another round of firing, but the results were much poorer this time.
The soldiers were clearly inexperienced at shooting moving targets. They managed to take down only half of the fleeing murlocs.
And just like that... they won?
With a blank expression, Alexei announced the retreat and began clearing the battlefield. This was the strangest battle he had ever fought.
From beginning to end, the murlocs had not posed the slightest threat.
The only wounded soldier was an unlucky one who had forgotten to clear his misfired bullet before loading another, causing his gun to explode.
The soldiers felt no real fear. To them, this battle was no different from their target practice the day before, just long-range aiming and shooting. Nothing had changed.
It wasn’t until they started clearing the battlefield and saw the enemy corpses that some of them felt uneasy. Many crouched down and vomited.
Alexei stood there, stunned and conflicted. Hughes walked up and patted him on the back.
"What are you thinking about?"
Alexei was at a loss for words. He had never witnessed such an absurd battle.
He even felt that his role as a commander was redundant, the soldiers could just aim and fire on their own to take out the enemy.
"This is what happens when there is a technological gap in weaponry. You need to get used to it, there will be many more battles in the future."
Hughes chuckled. This was just the beginning.
The overwhelming superiority brought by industry was all-encompassing. Right now, he had merely introduced rifled muskets.
He hadn’t even set up a proper production line for them. In his mind, cannons would be the primary force of the future land army.
"In the future, you’ll face even stronger enemies. But don’t worry, our technology will keep advancing at an ever-faster pace. Just keep up with the times."
"Understood, my Lord," Alexei replied, still looking conflicted. No wonder Hughes didn’t put much effort into training the soldiers. With weapons like these, little else mattered.
"Take a break. We’re going to support Ash next. Let’s see how these weapons perform against that arm-monster."