It was difficult to shoot accurately from the tree while maintaining balance, and the precision was much worse.
After firing a few shots, the recoil might even cause him to fall headfirst from the tree.
The effective range of the Winchester Rifle barely reached this distance, making the hit rate concerning.
Moreover, Henry would at most finish a round of 15 bullets before the opponent reacted, charging on horseback to the roadside near him, turning it into close-quarters combat. He would become a living target hanging in the tree, making such a reckless move unprofitable.
If the guards in the watchtower weren't all dead, finding the right direction and unleashing a burst of Gatling Machine Gun bullets could easily put Henry in a tight spot.
Henry pulled out his Patek Philippe gold pocket watch and checked the time—16:25:38 PM.
It was still early, so he quietly continued to observe from the tree.
More than an hour passed, and only three riders came up from the mountain. They appeared to be messengers or people returning from errands.
No one left the manor.
Henry also saw Shawn—a gaunt middle-aged man of about fifty, with surprisingly thick red hair.
He walked out of the house, admired the flowers for a while, and then went back inside.
Henry noticed there were no children in the manor, nor did he see the mistress.
Later, more than a dozen guards walked out of the house.
It seemed there were about 70 guards in this house.
Henry climbed down the tree and walked back the way he came. When he was about three hundred meters near the three sentries, the dog started barking again.
Henry continued to approach, and the dog barked more and more fiercely.
The three sentries held their Winchester Rifles level with both hands, facing the direction of the barking as if confronting a formidable enemy.
"Who's there?" one sentry asked sharply.
There was no movement, only the German Shepherd barking frantically.
Suddenly, the German Shepherd rushed into the woods.
"Bang!" The German Shepherd stumbled, whimpered, and fell to the ground.
"Bang, bang, bang!" The three guards were instantly shot in the forehead or throat and fell to the ground.
With the enemy hidden and themselves exposed, the few of them had no chance against Henry's sniping.
Henry walked past the German Shepherd and put it away—dog meat was still good.
He walked out of the woods and searched the three fallen men, collecting three money bags, three Colt Double Action Revolvers 1878, three Winchester 1873 rifles, and three daggers.
Then he walked to a horse tied to a tree trunk, untied the reins, and mounted the horse, galloping towards the manor.
By this time, the guards at the manor knew something was wrong. The gatekeepers and sentries on duty kept a close eye on the only road leading up the mountain.
Another thirty or so guards rushed to the stable, quickly saddling their horses.
In just over a minute, Henry reached the bend of the last nearly 400-meter straight section of the manor road.
This final 400-meter straight section was a plaza—about 20 meters wide and 400 meters long.
To the left of the straight section was rock, and to the right was a cliff.
Henry pulled the reins tight to stop the horse, dismounted, and patted the horse to send it away.
The slope was not steep, about 30 degrees.
Henry took out a mask and put it on.
Now he could only be reckless. He looked at his empty release bead shell, which could withstand over 50 Gatling Machine Gun bullets, so it should be fine.
The Gatling Machine Gun's rate of fire at this time was about 200 rounds per minute. The military version theoretically fired 1000 rounds per minute.
However, the hand-cranked rotating Gatling could not achieve its maximum rotation effect, with a rate of fire of only about 300 rounds per minute, at most 400 rounds.
400 rounds per minute meant 7 rounds per second. Henry could last for over 7 seconds, but Gatling Machine Gun bullets couldn't be that precise, relying mainly on a large volume of fire, so he should be able to last over ten seconds under two Gatlings without a problem.
If it was the civilian version with 200 rounds per minute, he might be able to last half a minute.
Henry switched to a "one-in-a-thousand" Winchester Rifle, flashed out, and began shooting at the guards on the watchtowers.
"Bang, bang, bang, bang." After four shots, taking about 3 seconds, 4 sentries fell from the two watchtowers.
A sharp pain in his forehead!
Henry immediately hid behind the corner, out of the gatekeepers' and Gatling Machine Gun's line of fire.
The four gatekeepers also fired four shots, but the distance of about 400 meters was beyond their Winchester Rifle's effective range, and their accuracy was mostly guesswork, all missing.
"Dada-da" the roar of the Gatling Machine Gun came.
Dense Gatling Machine Gun bullets struck the corner of the road, kicking up clouds of dust.
The muzzle velocity of Gatling Machine Gun bullets at this time was about 400 meters per second, taking about 1 second for the bullets to arrive.
This time might not be enough for others to do anything, but for Henry now, with the double talent of +20% agility and 5 times increased reaction speed, it was enough for him to dodge several meters away after sensing danger.
Henry initially judged that these Gatlings were likely civilian versions—with a rate of fire of 200 rounds per minute.
After more than a minute, the Gatling Machine Gun sound finally stopped.
Someone on the watchtower shouted loudly, "Only one enemy, no horse!"
Henry waited for more than two minutes before quickly stepping out from the corner, firing two shots to kill two gatekeepers, then quickly hiding back behind the corner.
"Dada-da" the Gatling Machine Gun roared again, but to no avail.
This time, Henry didn't shoot the sentries on the watchtower because they were all hiding behind stone walls, and the Gatling Machine Gun operator had been doing this all along, which was why he hadn't shot the Gatling Machine Gun operator before.
The cavalry commander in the manor watched helplessly as 6 of his comrades died, enraged, he roared, "Cavalry, quickly mount and form ranks, charge! Only one enemy, kill him!"
This time, Henry jumped out as soon as the Gatling Machine Gun sound stopped, fired two shots, and then quickly hid back.
These two shots failed to hit, as the two remaining gatekeepers hid behind the stone sculptures on either side of the main gate.
Henry put away his Winchester Rifle this time and ran wildly down the road behind him.
It had been almost 7 minutes since he attacked the three guards below, so if the enemy were to send cavalry to charge, the time was about right.
In less than a minute, Henry ran to another corner about three hundred meters below.
He stopped, turned around, took out a solid piece of granite as tall as his chest from his spatial storage, then, while steadying his breathing, stood behind the rock and waited, simultaneously reloading the Winchester Rifle that had fired 8 shots.
Soon, the sound of dense hooves striking the ground came from the manor.
Soon, two parallel riders appeared at the corner above. Upon seeing Henry, both immediately raised their Winchester Rifles and fired at him.
Henry did not rush to shoot, standing still and holding his Winchester Rifle level, letting the bullets fly past him at high speed.
After more than 2 seconds, allowing the two leading riders to run down over 50 meters, Henry began to shoot.
"Bang, bang, bang" a tight and rhythmic sound of shooting rang out.
The two leading riders were instantly headshotted, followed by their two horses, then the 2 riders behind them and their horses, and then the 7 riders behind them.
The four horses that fell first almost blocked the road, and the cavalry closely following behind began to fall over, with both men and horses tumbling. The cavalry further back started firing at Henry.
Henry stood unmoving, steadily shooting in place.
Gunfire roared! Like an invitation from the Grim Reaper!
--+--
T/N: While I am an inexperienced Translator, I have a Patreon! While it may seem empty as of now, webnovel will get 2 Chapters Every Day, and advanced chapters will be uploaded on Patreon.
It may not seem worth it now, but maybe in the future. Who knows!
patreon.com/TripleCrown07
If you guys wanna check it out.