MTL - Medieval Empire Soldier-Chapter 95 Ninety-five · Dwarf catapults and ballistas (subscription required)

   Chapter 95 Ninety-five · Dwarf catapults and ballistas (please subscribe)

  In the hot dwarf workshop, the kingdom knight stood beside the long-bearded dwarf and discussed something with him.

   "Oh! Good dwarf brother, Lallen, do you want to form an army with dwarven muskets?"

The dwarf blacksmith stroked his beard and said solemnly: "The musket is a new thing. It has a history of no more than 700 years since its birth. The overall technology is still too young. I mean, it is not very durable, far from hand crossbow Reliable, the flames from the barrel of the black hole are more dangerous than the fire of the forge."

"This is a decision after deliberation, Mr. Langone, it is imperative to form a musket team, our enemies are getting stronger and stronger, and the long-range attacks that bows and crossbows can provide will have a great effect in the face of heavy armor. Discount." Lailun told his thoughts and asked, "Can a batch of muskets be produced in the current workshop?"

"Well, dwarves are of course willing to share technology with human friends, especially humans in the empire. The ancient sacred covenant has always been in effect. Although I am very reluctant to admit it, I still want to give you a disappointing answer. At present, it will be difficult to produce muskets, at least The dwarven artisans here lack the skills to forge muskets."

The process of   musket cannot be done overnight, and the same is true for guns.

The Holy Covenant between the Empire and the High King of the Dwarves, since the founding of Charlemagne, even after countless years, the effect of the covenant is still valid for the Empire and the dwarves to abide by, which includes gunpowder, which the dwarves selflessly shared with the Empire. The gift, the powerful gunpowder weapon, opened a new chapter in the history of warfare.

The long-bearded dwarf Rangni Stonehelm patted his belly, raised his head and folded his chest: "My clan has been forging iron for generations, if you ask about rune craftsmanship, I can also provide you with A little help, but forging muskets is a matter for engineers, they have complete blueprints and corresponding skills, as far as I know, there are no more than thirty dwarf engineers in the human empire."

   "Okay, I see." Laren's expression was slightly disappointed.

"However, the gadgets made by human engineers are barely usable. Decades ago, I took my brothers and sisters in the clan and wandered in the Wessen Territory in the southern province of the empire, and I saw a lot of excellent people there. Some standard muskets are even better than Torrent." The dwarf rune blacksmith raised his head: "You can try to buy a batch from them, and the price will be much higher accordingly, a musket is probably worth six or seven pieces. gold coins, they will gladly sell their goods to honest kingdom knights."

  Nicas Francis suddenly remembered this place famous in the old world, and he blurted out: "The Nunn Gun Factory in Wessenland?"

   "Well, it seems to be called this name." Langoni nodded.

  Nun Gun Factory, known as the jewel of the Empire, is a huge complex of workshops, anvils and furnaces.

There, experienced gunsmiths worked day and night to manufacture and maintain the powerful firearms equipped by the imperial army, and the generals of the various provinces continued to send those prospective reserve gunners to this large smoke-filled factory. Here, learn theoretical knowledge such as ballistics, and these gunners will be invaluable to the various regiments in the future.

It is no exaggeration to say that 70% of the muskets used by the entire Old World Empire are made by Nunn Guns and Guns Factory. Wessenland also relies on its detached geographical advantage, economic level and top military technology. It is an important place other than Rickland, and sometimes even more important than the former.

"Then. I'll let the merchant Atrull Ofran contact Wessenland in advance to find out their tone and intentions." Laylen agreed with the dwarf rune blacksmith's statement: "There's nothing left to talk about, There is one more thing, please Mr. Langone to renovate and repair the armor of the ranger knights in the territory, I will let them come over tomorrow, the cost will be deducted from the raw material expenses, and the affairs officer Pittman will make up for these gaps."

   "No problem, wrap it on me!"

Black powder weapons will not be able to be produced for a while. The Oak Town army has only one kind of long-range crossbow, and there is a serious lack of equipment with a longer range. In order to make up for this shortcoming, Lerenshe seeks distance and asks dwarf workshops to produce catapults and Ballista.

  As one of the oldest weapons of the dwarves, the ballista is still in service in various dwarven fortresses today. This has a lot to do with their traditional idea that their ancient designs are more reliable than new inventions. There are not many consumables required to manufacture them. An older dwarf blacksmith can make one. Although the range is not as good as that of a cannon, it can hit four hundred Mi Kaiwai's goal is more than enough.

In fact, ballistas are not only less expensive to build and maintain than their progenitors, but their direct hit capability and simple mechanics also make them more suitable for deployment in underground battlefields without the fear of filling tunnels and mines. It's gunpowder smoke.

Engineers today are still making improvements to ballistas in terms of accuracy, reload speed, and range, and these ancient war machines have proven in practice that if you aim at the key, you can bring down a troll or wyvern. It's just a few ballista salvos.

   The Dwarf's Catapult, also known as the Catapult of Hate, is quite different from the Catapults that were left behind in the Kingdom of Knights.

  Langoni Stonehelm made some explanations. As the ancestor of the dwarven machinery, the trebuchet has protected the dwarven fortress from foreign enemies for thousands of years. At first these war machines were simply stone throwers, until the vengeful dwarves during the Battle of Longbeard engraved the betrayal of the elves on boulders and threw them at the armies and cities of the elves, the name "hate catapult" just spread.

To assemble a catapult of hatred, it takes about two trailers to load the parts. Through the structure of a series of levers, gears and twisting arms, the huge straight arm of the catapult is slowly pulled down by the gear-linked device. Enter the firing position and limit the straight arm from hitting the ground with a fixed maximum throwing barrier.

   Loading ammunition is very simple. Large stones, broken construction waste, sickly dead livestock, or a bundled goblin goblin have a longer range than a ballista, with an effective shooting range of about 500 meters, which is more powerful.

"Arrows are useless against castles - you can only win with heavy siege gear, which is why dwarves are the best performing race in siege warfare. If you're a siege, you can't hit anything worthwhile Stuff. If you're in a castle, you might think an arrow shot from a tower would be effective; but would you rather be hit by a pointed stick or a 30-pound rock?" - Benndt Moltenspear Dwarven Engineer

The huge stones thrown by the hatred catapult can instantly destroy the simple city and the enemies inside, and even the nightmare of many green-skinned creatures and beastmen who act in groups. Its disadvantages are also more obvious. The moving speed is still slow, the shooting process is cumbersome, and it is inconvenient to disassemble.

The shortcomings and disadvantages of    are made up by the effects and power of these war machines, and Laylen still decided to make them.

A ballista costs 120 imperial gold coins to make, and a hatred catapult costs 170 imperial gold coins. These are only a single cost, not including maintenance costs. It will take three months. The accuracy of war machinery is linked to the workmanship requirements, and the work is slow and meticulous.

The kingdom knight waved his hand and paid 700 imperial gold coins to let the dwarf workshop first make four hatred catapults, which is a basic formation size. As for the ballista, the direct firepower can be completely replaced by the cannon, which is an outdated weapon. .

   After negotiating some matters, Lallen and the others left the dwarf workshop.

  Nikas Francis received the promise of the dwarf rune blacksmith that the rune sword he was thinking of would be completed in more than a month, for which the kingdom knight paid three hundred gold coins.

   Time flies, and in a blink of an eye, it is the beginning of August.

The army currently available in Oak Collar is about four hundred people, including a large number of trained militiamen, rangers, ranger knights and more than one hundred sergeants. The training instructor of the barracks, Gavin Clinton, has been recruited. The militiamen were trained to have a certain combat effectiveness.

  Appropriate training methods, coupled with sufficient food supply, made the physique of the conscripted militia much stronger than usual. The strength of these rural farmers was also used in agricultural work, and the effect was also very obvious.

For a period of time, the kingdom knight Nikas Francis, with the rangers and thirteen ranger knights in the territory, has been patrolling the various roads in the oak collar, clearing up the scattered small beastmen, and clearing up some small robber dens. They are training soldiers, and the other is "subsidizing households". The furthest one is even close to the north bank of the Rick River.

Thanks to the outposts, watchtowers and knight patrols, the hidden dangers of trade routes have been greatly reduced. On the roads extending in all directions in Oak Town, there are endless caravans coming and going, and the markets and trading posts in Oak Town have also received sufficient goods and food. , minerals, wood, leather, wine and more.

   Half of the dwarf workshop produces weapons and armor, and the other half is used for daily necessities. The high-quality tools of dwarves are synonymous with reliability and durability. Everyone likes them, everyone loves them, and large orders follow.

   In the hall of the lord's longhouse, the grinning bear head hangs on the wall, and the shield and the long sword are intertwined.

In the scorching summer, the heat from the sun made the whole body uncomfortable. The sorceress Rosa Mina also reduced the number of going out and stayed in her tower all day, trying to prepare new magic potions. Half of the reserves were robbed and robbed by her. Fortunately, there was a lot of ice stored in the cellar of the lord's longhouse of the Kingdom Knights, which was enough to survive the summer. Ice buckets were placed on the long tables and corners of the hall, and the coolness was relieved. dryness.

The clerk Pittman's expression was very melancholy. Since Laren asked him to take out 700 gold coins from the warehouse, the decree lines on the loyal clerk's face deepened a bit: "My lord, there are some territorial accounts. We are short of money, and we have no more than 200 gold coins that can be used at the moment.”

   "It turns out that there are still 200 pieces left, I always thought I ran out." Lailen smiled disapprovingly.

"My lord!" Pittman sighed, and he said again, looking sullen: "We can't make ends meet with a variety of large expenses. The dam project cost more than 600 pieces, plus four catapults. , spent more than 1,300 pieces before and after, and the spoils you got from the bandits are running out!"

"Don't worry, my enthusiastic service officer, haven't the trading posts and taverns been making money? The lumber mills and dwarves' workshops have increased their income by more than 300 gold coins in half a year, right?" Lailun comforted, and he put the account of the territory into one. Every stroke is clear.

"Yes, the trading station can earn 110 gold coins per month, and the wood elves are also very popular. The order for the special drinks in the Guiyue Forest tavern has never been broken, and several newly opened taverns have also levied corresponding taxes appropriately. The monthly income and expenditure is between 70 and 90 gold coins." Seeing the casual look of his lord, the affairs officer quickly emphasized: "After paying the war tax, there is really not much left in the territory."

"Then. Pittman, tax and expenses, etc., I will give you the details of how to arrange it." Lailen said to his affairs officer: "Remember, the autumn harvest is approaching, free up enough manpower, and ensure that every piece of farmland is guaranteed. It can be harvested in time, and the grain reserves in the grain field are the most worthy of concern.”

   "In addition, use the remaining 200 gold coins and reserves to buy grain and fill the barn.",

   "Why is that? My lord?" Pittman asked suspiciously.

  Lauren lay on the seat and closed his eyes. "Just do as I said. There is nothing to do, so let's go down first."

"Okay, my lord, oh! Here's a letter for you." The Oaktown clerk took out the letter from the booklet and handed it to him. The seal at the seal was intact: "It's from Bray Town. From the Church of Sigmar, the writer is Luther Huss."

"I see."

  Secretary Pittman bowed deeply and slowly backed away.

   There was only one knight of the kingdom left in the hall. He opened his eyes and took out a piece of information from the flying pigeons that Earl Delavan sent in the morning. No matter how hot the summer temperature is, the content of the report is very chilling.

"The Third Beastman War failed, the provincial army was ambushed by tens of thousands of Beastmen in the swamp, and the enemy was attacked on both sides. Boris Todbringer, the Elector of Midden, was seriously injured, and the right eye was killed by the Beastmaster Kazzak. Gouged out, has been escorted to Kron Fort to recuperate, the left side of the army was wiped out, 30,000 troops went to battle, only 18,000 people remained, and it is estimated that 4,000 were killed and 7,000 were missing."

   three days later.

  The tragic news quickly spread to the entire empire through carrier pigeons, magic transmission, etc. The residents of Midden, Hawke, and Westerland did not dare to face Dracowald Forest for a while.

A week later, just as the human army was retreating, the monsters lurking in the dark forest quickly counterattacked, looting and destroying the land they had captured, regaining control of the outer forest, but they did not repeat the usual massacres, the outer forest instead. disappeared cleanly.

  According to rumors, the Beastman Beastmaster Kazzak gathered his strength and rushed to the northern Lauren Loren Forest, and there has been no news since then.

   Facts have proved that Laylen’s pre-purchase of food was correct. The price of food in Midden has soared, and the tide has risen. Villages and towns outside the forest are in a state of anxiety all day long, and everything is spreading to tragedy.

  Cholera is always in groups, and a message from the empire’s stronghold on the north shore of the Sea of ​​Sharp Claws made the north of the empire tense again, and countless pairs of eyes stared at the coastline vigilantly.

   The Norsca are coming!

   Ask for tickets and subscriptions!

   There is one more midnight post.

   (end of this chapter)