When the Saint comes, she does not collect food

Chapter 1016 I Need It Urgently
Horn's first stop after leaving the Holy Mechanism was not Jeanne d'Arc Castle, but the armory in Greyhearth.

As the leading town for arms and metal processing in the entire Holy Alliance, Gray Furnace Town is naturally different from the past.

The fact that the local town government raised funds from various local metal processing workshops and spent three years building a horse-drawn train track from Ashburn to Jenderburg is a glimpse into this phenomenon.

The rails were the same width as those of the Holy See, just wide enough to accommodate horses pulling five wooden wagons.

These horse-drawn trains came in two types: those for cargo and those for passengers. The cargo trains were often wooden wagons covered with a canvas.

The vehicles that carry people are made of four corner pillars, with a canopy on top, a railing around them, and several rows of benches inside.

As for the ticket price, it costs 5 philanthropic coins.

In contrast to Horn's paper money, these copper coins mined from the Hot Springs copper mine were quite popular among the common people.

Because the Phalan copper coins were of full value and were printed using water power, they had an exquisite appearance.

At the same time, the Holy Alliance does not mandate that the Phalanx be legal tender, nor does it enforce the exchange rate.

This led to the market in Fallon actually starting to price Fallon copper coins based on their actual value.

One copper coin was often worth seven or eight inferior copper coins.

With the added influence of the "favor market," a bizarre phenomenon emerged in the private sector: good money drove out bad.

People rushed to exchange their inferior currency for superior currency and store it, and the small private copper mints were devastated.

Because they discovered that if they were to print it, the total cost of a 1-farm copper coin would actually be higher than a 1-farm coin.

Have you Holy Alliance gone mad?

But only a few people know that the fundamental reason why Hot Springs could produce high-value halons at low cost was actually the advancement of lead type alloy technology in the Jeanne d'Or printing workshop.

The Jeanne d'Or printing house originally used a lead-tin alloy, which produced very blurry prints.

So the local printing house put up a bounty of 500 gold pounds, and the reformist dwarves came running.

After research, the dwarves developed a new alloy, but it was too expensive and had to be imported from the Furnace Plateau.

Too expensive for printing, but just right for printing Phalanx coins, allowing for clearer lettering.

Horn stroked the French copper coin in his hand, his ears filled with the clattering of gears and wheels sliding on the rails.

As the carriage moved forward, the two rows of Holy Union banners on the tower of the Greyhearth Church came into view.

Beside the Holy Alliance flag, dozens or even hundreds of columns of smoke slowly rose into the sky.

When the medicine vat is heated, it often emits large plumes of steam, not to mention the black smoke produced by burning peat and firewood.

On one side of the train, the small river that Enrico drowned himself in, which was only one meter deep, is now more than two meters deep.

As for the reason, just look at the upstream dam, the pools on both sides, and the creaking waterwheels, and you'll know.

Coal slag, rusty water, ground ore powder, and floating oil have turned the once clear river water into an iron-gray color.

The closer you get to the town, the sparser the surrounding woods become, and the hillsides are bare, covered with smoking brick kilns and peat workshops.

Before Horn even got close, his nostrils were already filled with the pungent smell of coal smoke, the scorching metallic smell, and the heavy smell of grease.

There was also a slight sour smell, which came from the etching agent.

The area surrounding the town of Grayfurnace, once a suburb, was filled with various metal processing workshops.

The densest and noisiest places were the foundry and forging workshops; you could hear the clanging and banging even before the train got close.

In the heavy armory forging workshop by the river, one can still hear booming sounds, the sound of water hammers being used.

The grinding workshop was the second noisiest after the forging and foundry workshops.

The large millstones spun endlessly, filling the air with a piercing, screeching sound.

Workers would press armor plates or swords onto the grinding wheel, and sparks would cascade down like a waterfall.

Relatively speaking, the quietest place is the manufacturing workshop, where craftsmen are carving gunstocks and workers of all ages are assembling and checking them.

If a part doesn't meet the standards, it has to be sent back for rework, which would be a huge problem for the craftsman or workshop that made it.

After getting off the horse-drawn train, Horn was greeted by narrow, winding, naturally formed alleyways paved with cobblestones and riddled with ruts and potholes.

The wagons carrying metal ingots and peat were packed together in the square in front of the gate.

Piles of peat, iron and copper ingots, and timber are commonly seen along the roadside, along with a large quantity of semi-finished products awaiting processing and transportation, such as unsharpened blades and armor plates.

Redbeard Broke still dominates Grayfurnace.

He arrived early at the town gate with a large group of local monks and workshop supervisors to greet them.

This old dwarf has remained unchanged for eight years, just as he did eight years ago.

Horn has grown taller.

"Long time no see, Master Brock."

Brock looked at Horn and forced a smile: "How are you?"

For someone with his dull emotional intelligence, this was already quite a fawning expression.

"Grey Furnace Town is really changing every day..." Horn joked, looking at the somewhat dilapidated environment.

Brock clearly didn't understand, but simply turned around and said, "Come with me, what you want is inside." Following Brock, Horn stepped inside, and the shops on both sides came into view.

There are only three types of shops: tool shops, taverns, and general stores, and men dressed as blacksmiths and laborers walk the streets.

Their clothes are often covered in oil and dust, and their hands are mostly covered in burns and scars.

Coachmen scrambled through the streets in wagons loaded with raw materials or finished weapons, the axles creaking.

Some helpers even carried the raw materials on their shoulders and in their hands to their own workshops.

As for the few who were relatively well-dressed, they were quartermasters or merchants from various war groups.

They will be led into the church to discuss large orders with the workshop owners.

Just like Horn is now.

Brok picked up a breastplate and began to explain.

"This is the latest mithril steel armor developed by the Armory. Its protective capabilities are roughly equivalent to 22 pounds of armor, but the weight has been reduced to 12 pounds."

On a wooden stand, Brock removed a breastplate and handed it to Horn.

This breastplate is made of mithril alloy and consists of two parts: the front breastplate and the back armor.

This breastplate weighs around 12 pounds, which is lighter than any breastplate in Earth's history.

This breastplate is quite well designed and is made of high-quality steel produced by the Holy See.

The breastplate is thicker and has a distinct central ridge that extends upwards from the midline of the sternum, serving to enhance structural strength and facilitate deflection attacks.

The carapace is relatively thin and is connected to the breastplate with leather shoulder straps from Northshire.

All edges are rolled inwards for added strength and smoothness, while rivets bulge the inner leather padding.

"We have tested it and found that it can effectively defend against most cold weapon attacks at the time, and at a distance of 50 to 100 meters, it can effectively defend against crossbow bolts and low-level knight arrows."

However, the defensive effect will be significantly reduced if we face attacks from high-ranking knights at close range or if we face our own clockwork gun.

Especially on the carapace and in areas with thin edges, particularly at non-perpendicular angles.

"This level is sufficient; there aren't many high-ranking knights." Horn happily weighed the breastplate in his hand.

Although he is now moving towards line infantry tactics, armor is still essential.

Currently, armor can effectively reduce the mortality rate of knights' desperate charges.

Moreover, for soldiers who had mastered breathing techniques, wearing a 12-pound suit was like wearing a thick coat; they could handle it.

"Then this is the Canned 1453 model we developed based on the design drawings sent by Haimoting, with the total weight reduced to 10 pounds."

Horn picked up a new Canned 1453 and stroked it with delight.

Its length is about 1.4 meters, which is much shorter than the previous long gun because it uses a mithril firing lever inside.

As for the caliber, it is generally between 18 and 20 millimeters. It is not necessary for ordinary people to be so high, but after all, the main force of the enemy is the extraordinary knights.

As for the mainspring barrel, it has been replaced with a more robust alloy anti-reverse pawl, which allows it to stay wound longer after being wound.

The biggest difference is that it has a locking gate cover on the side.

Lifting the gate allows you to fill it with lead, while lowering the gate creates a natural pressure relief hole.

“This way you can shoot while kneeling or even prone.” Horn stroked it lovingly, his eyes gleaming with a strange light.

Although the structure was still similar to a flintlock musket, due to the difference in the spring mechanism, a breech-loading musket was developed in just four years.

"We've tested it, and we can fire about 10 rounds per minute. Once we get the hang of it, we estimate we can fire 12 rounds per minute."

Currently, the maximum rate of fire of the Canned Dewy guns in Horn's army is about 4 rounds per minute.

This represents a dramatic increase in firepower density, which could be devastating to traditional dense formations.

If we can master the technology for mass-producing bayonets, then line infantry tactics can officially enter the historical stage.

However, considering only the breastplate and rear-mounted Cannibal armor, plus the fact that it doesn't need to carry too many weapons and supplies, the overall weight is reduced by more than 30 pounds.
With the added speed boost, they can travel about 40 to 50 li per day, which is basically the same as the infantry marching speed during the Napoleonic era.

If it's a forced march, traveling 80 li a day isn't too difficult.

Of course, this is on the premise that the monks plan the marching route in advance; otherwise, even with the strength to march, they will still squeeze each other or even cause traffic jams and collisions.

Thinking back to the Gulag era, when they marched less than 20 miles a day, it didn't seem strange at the time, but now Horn feels ashamed just thinking about it.

"How long will it take to get it into service?" Horn couldn't help but ask excitedly.

"All the warbands? Hmm, that's hard to say, it could take three or four years..."

"In three months, can you equip half a battle group?"

"That's possible, but..."

"That's good then." Horn patted Brock on the shoulder. "Hurry up, I need it urgently."

　P.S. There will be another chapter later.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)