Gnolls were ugly, intelligent creatures with human-like bodies and hyena-like heads. They weren't very intelligent, but they were cruel and tenacious. They lived in groups and had a strict social hierarchy.
Unlike the Goblins and Kobolds, the Jackalans were intelligent, predatory creatures that did not produce anything. They only relied on plundering to survive.
Plundering and hunting were the only ways for these creatures to survive.
When rangers reached level 3, they could master a level 1 nature spell called "Blend with Nature." This spell could add a layer of natural camouflage to the ranger, allowing them to blend in with the complex natural environment, making it difficult for others to recognize them. This spell could also hide the ranger's smell and sound.
When rangers used this spell with stealth, the effect was better than a rogue's Shadow Stealth in a natural environment.
Feng Chou's arrow had knocked the Gnoll ranger out of stealth, breaking his camouflage.
Just a moment after the Gnoll left stealth and camouflage, five sharp arrows accurately passed through the gaps between the carriages and hit a few unprepared workers and mercenaries. The magical arrows pierced through the mercenaries' steel armor and caused heavy damage.
One of the arrows was aimed at Feng Chou. Fortunately, his agility was high enough and his reaction was fast enough to dodge to the side.
After the arrows were shot, another five Gnoll hunters with longbows appeared near the hunter who had been knocked out of stealth by Feng Chou's arrow.
"Prepare for battle!" Seeing this scene, mercenary leader Walter shouted.
Along with his shout, there was a sharp howl unique to Gnolls in the distance.
Following this howl, the six Gnoll hunters retreated instead of advancing.
Hunters weren't good at attacking. Since the sneak attack had failed, there was no need to send these hunters to their deaths.
As the hunters retreated, more than thirty Gnolls scuttled out from behind the bushes in the distance.
Seeing so many Gnolls, even the experienced Walter's expression changed. He took a deep breath and shouted, "All shield warriors, follow me to stop the enemy. Dave, organize the musketeers and archers to support us."
With that said, Walter turned around and grabbed his shield and weapon. He was the first to crawl out of the defensive circle formed by the carriage from under the horse's neck.
Dave was the leader of this caravan. After Walter left, he signaled for his two guards to follow him out to fight. He shouted loudly for the coachman and workers to get on the carriage and defend.
These coachmen and workers appeared to be very experienced. They climbed onto the carriages and skillfully found their positions. The coachmen took down the muskets hanging on the front of the carriages and threw them to the workers on the carriages. A few of the workers with higher professions took out their quiver of bows and arrows from under the carriages and skillfully and quickly strung their bows. They tied the quiver to their waists and climbed onto the carriages.
There were three Rogues among the mercenaries. One of them was a level 6 Rogue named Duke, who was one of his vice-captains. After Walter left, he waved to the other two Rogues and led them to the back of the camp.
Rogues were not very useful in a frontal battle. Their role was often behind the enemy.
Simon caught up with Duke and told him that he was a Level 6 Warrior and a Level 3 Rogue.
Hearing Simon's words, Duke was quite surprised. He waved his hand and asked Simon to follow.
There were four Archers among the mercenaries. One of them was an advanced Level 5 Marksman.
These four Archers did not climb onto the carriages like the workers. They simply moved some obstacles from the camp and used them as cover in front of them. They knelt on one knee, obviously intending to provide support to their companions outside through the gaps of the carriages and under the carriages.
In the blink of an eye, Feng Chou was the only one left in the camp.
He looked around and dragged a few injured mercenaries and workers behind the barrier. Then, when he was hesitating whether or not he should leave the defensive circle of the carriage and fight, a lame old coachman threw him a gun and a small leather bag filled with bullets. "Hey, my young master, do something. If the Gnolls come in, they won't care about your pretty face," said the lame old coachman, throwing him a gun and a small leather bag filled with bullets.
Feng Chou took the musket. It was heavy, probably more than twenty pounds. It was difficult for ordinary people to hold it, and the caliber was even scarier.
He tied the bag of bullets to his waist and followed the example of the workers and coachmen. He opened the bag of bullets. The bag was made of leather and was shaped into a rectangle. The bullets were neatly inserted inside.
He took out a bullet. It was a bullet made of a small bamboo tube. One end was closed and the other end was open. At the open end, there was a round paper bag tied with a thin cotton thread. He squeezed the paper bag with his hand. It should be a lead bullet.
He followed the example of the coachmen. He used his teeth to bite open the cotton thread and bit the paper bag with the lead bullet in his mouth.
When the paper bag was bitten away, the thing in the bamboo tube was revealed. It was a kind of yellow granule.
Feng Chou thought that this should be gunpowder. He did not expect that it was not black gunpowder.
With this thought in mind, he poured the gunpowder from the bamboo tube into the gun barrel, threw away the bamboo tube, and stuffed the bullet wrapped in paper into the gun barrel along with the paper. Then, he used the rod under the gun barrel to compress the bullet and gunpowder.
If it was a flintlock gun on Earth, it would need to be filled with gunpowder at the fire gate. However, this gun obviously did not need to. Its firing rate was much faster than a flintlock gun.
By the time Feng Chou finished loading the gun, the battle outside was already in full swing.
The loudest sound on the battlefield was the roar of the musket.
The power of the musket disappointed Feng Chou. It could not even penetrate the wooden shields in the hands of ordinary Gnolls.
However, once the bullets hit the Gnolls, the effect was quite impressive. They instantly fell to the ground and howled in pain, losing their ability to fight.
These Gnolls were not as poorly equipped as Feng Chou thought. Most of them were wearing leather armor. The outside of the leather armor was inlaid with copper nails. This kind of armor looked ugly, but its defense was not bad. If the arrows shot by a level three archer did not hit the gaps in the armor, they would not be able to penetrate this kind of armor. However, the bullets from the musket could instantly make the Gnolls lose their ability to fight.
What surprised Feng Chou even more was that some of the strong Gnolls at the front were wearing well-made medium-sized armor.
What surprised Feng Chou was that the helmets on these Gnolls' heads seemed to be tailor-made for the Gnolls' hyena head!
Did the Gnolls already have such good forging skills?
These Gnolls wearing medium-sized armor were all powerful Gnolls with warrior or barbarian profession levels.
Gnolls were born with a level three creature level, and these creatures had both strength and agility. Regardless of whether they chose to be warriors or rangers, they only needed to gain three or four profession levels to have the combat power of a mid-grade profession.
Captain Walter only had less than ten swordsmen and shield bearers. Even if the two guards and a few workers of the caravan were included, their numbers were less than half of the Gnolls'.
As soon as the two sides came into contact, Walter and his men could not help but retreat.