Chapter 675: A catapult with a two-mile range?
"1,000 of you were beaten to the point of panic by 500, and then you tell me that you tried your best?" Ursion looked at the knights in front of him coldly.
"It's not that we don't work hard, it's just that the enemy has meteors." The knights quickly defended, "Before we got close, there was a bang-boom-boom. When we saw their helmets clearly, there was a bang-boom sound, and then we were Poof, there’s blood.”
"How powerful is the devil's wind?"
"Yeah." The leading knight hurriedly explained, "They can shoot an arrow without a shaft, which will break even the plate armor."
"In that case, why are you three not injured at all?" Ursion stood up and stared at these knights fiercely, "No matter what, there should be gains, right? As long as there is a head, I can accept it. .”
"Yes, yes." A knight's eyes lit up and he said quickly, "I will ask someone to bring it to you right now."
"You still want to hide it from me? When you cut off the heads of the prisoners of war in Black Snake Bay to make up for the charges, didn't I know?"
Seeing the groaning looks of the three knights, Ursion waved his hand in disgust: "All three of you will be stripped of your military positions. Go up to the city wall and perform meritorious service. Get out."
The three knights looked at each other and exited the narrow wooden room with sad faces.
Picking up the black tea on the table, Ursion was upset when he saw the battle report on the table. He tilted his head and walked to the window with the tea cup in hand and stood there.
From yesterday morning to this morning, defeated soldiers and serpent servants poured into the Temple of Avis from all directions except for the Morne River port in the west.
Reports of the defeat flew into Ursion's study like snowflakes.
After receiving the news that the Salvation Army had settled in Green Blood Town, in just two days, first the outlying outposts were removed one after another, and then all the strongholds, large and small, were breached.
It was really unimaginable to Ursion. Although the walls of those strongholds were fragile and poorly defended, they wouldn't be broken three or four in a day, right?
In just two days, almost all the small military strongholds on the north and east sides of the Avis Temple were wiped out.
Once these village communities were occupied, even drinking water would be a problem if it weren't for the fact that there was a lot of beer stored in the city.
Before the carrier pigeon from the Western County Church arrived, Ursion was thinking about how to transport the treasures and supplies from the temple.
But he didn't expect that in just three to five days, he was surrounded by the Thousand River Valley Salvation Army's troops before he could escape.
This war was originally launched to ensure the monopoly of the Lilac Corridor. This was on the opposite side of the royal family. Naturally, Ursion could not use the banner of the French royal family to threaten Horn.
For this reason, he decided to test the quality of these Qianhe Valley troops first, and sent 700 armored sergeants and 300 infantry knights to attack a lost fort in the north.
But this group of good-for-nothing knights were defeated by 500 people and failed to collect much information at all.
Although there was not much information, Ursion was able to extract the most critical part: these soldiers should all be the pseudo-pope's pro-army troops that defeated the Imperial Company.
Then there is no need to go out of the city to fight in the field.
He is quite confident in his self-assessment ability, and he is 100% unable to defeat these powerful infantry in the field.
But who said you have to fight in the field to be considered a victory?
Ursion received a personal letter of assurance from the church and Duke Portosa early on. As long as he defended the city for two weeks, Duke Portosa would be able to break through Sora Castle to support him.
The current supplies and defensive equipment in the city can last at least a month, but we need to be more careful and don't let these Salvation Army secretly open the city gate with magic.
"Dong——"
Ursion, who was still drinking tea elegantly, was shaken at his feet, and the dust on the beams fell.
Embarrassingly wiping the black tea stains on the corner of his mouth with a handkerchief, Ursion walked quickly to the door with a straight face: "Here comes someone!"
Soon, amidst the second roar, a French armored sergeant staggered over, holding his helmet.
"What was that just now? Was it an earthquake?"
"No, Your Excellency, the Qianhe River Valley army has begun to attack the city. It was their catapults that entered the city."
"Catapult?"
Following the armored sergeant, Ursion, wearing a large black feather brocade robe, stepped on the slippery steps and rushed all the way to the gate tower of the eastern section of the city wall. Through the gap between the crenellations, the earl from Lilac Corridor poked half of his head out and saw the sun gear flags flying more than two miles outside the city.
On the green moist grass, this group of soldiers wore uniforms with uniforms of black and gray jackets, brimmed hats or boat-shaped helmets. In front of them was a temporary mound.
There was a huge, long, straight, black iron pillar placed on the mound, diagonally placed on the ground, with one end facing the city wall on its side.
Before Ursion could ask what it was, the expression of an old knight beside him changed drastically. He yelled and rushed towards Ursion.
Under the great force, Ursion fell on his back and grimaced in pain, but as soon as he opened his eyes, he felt some shadow blocking the sunlight.
That's... a rough iron ball that's all pitch black?
The iron ball disappeared in front of Ursion's eyes like an illusion, and the next second, he heard the dull "dong."
Pushing away the knight on his body, Ursion rushed to the city wall. From the two wooden houses behind the wall, billowing dust and smoke rose, iron nails and sawdust were shot randomly, and thatch was flying all over the sky.
In the dark gaps in the wall, cries and moans followed one after another.
The catapults designed by the empire's top military engineers should have a range of within one mile.
A catapult that could throw iron bombs into the city from two miles away. Why did he have such a dream?
While Urthion was dazed, the gryphon cannon slowly turned in Mormont's furious words at Black Serpent Cove.
The fourth cannon left the range of the city gate tower and leapt into the city towards the corner on the left. The fifth cannon finally hit the root of the city wall.
Check out the 16-9 book bar and see the correct version!
Eight minutes later, the sixth cannon, adjusted by Mormont himself, drew a perfect irregular arc and hit the section of the stone-covered city wall.
The vibration under their feet made everyone on the walls of Avis Temple change their expressions drastically.
This kind of city wall that is almost vertical to the ground without any inclination is really suitable for the 12-pound Griffin Cannon.
Wiping the lubricant that had accidentally stuck on his hands on his pants, Mormont left the gun position in the respectful eyes of the surrounding gunners: "Okay, let's fight like this. Your Majesty has an order, don't stop before dark." .”
The gryphon cannon in front was firing, the carriage carrying the clockwork warehouse in the rear was driving quickly on the dirt road, and the hydraulic winding machine at the end of the dirt road was slowly turning.
The water flow forced by the low dam and cage stone hits the fan blades. The main shaft locked by rivets and iron hoops makes a harsh squeaking sound. The humid air is filled with the clicking sound of the gear set meshing.
The bathtub-sized orichalcum clockwork gradually shrunk as it rotated rapidly, and was compressed into a golden cylinder only the size of a washbasin.
The operators skillfully and carefully installed the spring clamp and locking wedge, opened the cover of the spring chamber, inserted the spring into the main power shaft, and then used the latch to fasten the locking wedge.
As the lid closes, there is a "click" sound, and winding is completed.
Standing next to this winding machine, Horn smiled at Leonardo with satisfaction and said: "Your mechanical talent shocked me once again."
"You have given me the award..."
"What about me?" Novia jumped out of nowhere.
"Then you're great too."
The witch of the Mechanical Soul Cult left with satisfaction.
Turning his head, Horn pointed to the hydraulic winding machine and asked: "The sand cannons and 60 new spring barrels from the rear will be shipped tomorrow. Is this winding machine enough?"
"It's barely enough. We'd better build a new one." Leonardo looked at the foam and water splashing between the water wheels. "Fortunately, the Temple of Avis is located on the high ground by the river, otherwise we wouldn't have this one yet." Convenient hydraulic conditions ”
Horn nodded silently. The biggest problem with this kind of winding machine was that it had to rely on water power, followed by the problem of the barrel.
Although the clockwork clip itself can be made of carbon steel and forged iron, the core pins and locking wedges must be made of high-quality steel with extremely high tensile strength or even mithril alloy.
Although the cannon-casting workshop in Mayo Town was operating at full capacity, only 60 clockwork barrels were built in three months, and the mithril and fine gold reserves were even used up.
Mithril and fine gold are currently very rare in nature. Most of the mineral deposits are stored in the volcanic areas of the Furnace Plateau and are firmly controlled by the dwarves.
But Thousand River Valley and the dwarves are still separated by gravel fields, roaring corridors and the entire Bear Hammer Territory. At least so far, the Sacred Axis can only rely on imports.
(End of chapter)