When the Saint comes, she does not collect food

Chapter 1017 Revisiting Suimi Town

Horn does not intend to popularize the breech-loading spring-loaded gun across all chapters, but rather only among a small number of elite troops.

Alternatively, the battle group could be divided into a defense regiment and a breakthrough regiment, with only the breakthrough regiment equipped with this weapon.

The breastplate is fine; replacing it with the new breastplate will allow us to replace the multi-national armor from the Thousand Rivers Valley War.

Currently, the armor coverage of a large number of soldiers in various battle groups is entirely due to contributions from the enemy, especially the strong support from the Leia people.

However, precisely because of this, the armor varied in shape and weight, making it extremely troublesome to maintain.

Not to mention the lack of transparency in the accounting records caused by this situation, which led to corruption.

Furthermore, the inconsistent weight of the armor greatly impacted the marching plans and logistical work of the staff monks.

By switching to a standardized breastplate, the chaos index can be reduced, thus decreasing the occurrence of random events.

As for obsolete armor and weapons, they can be given away or sold to people who need them.

For example, Horn felt that the Frontiers, Black Snake Bay, Bearhold Norn, and the Fathers of Leiabe were in great need.

Unlike breastplates, breech-loading spring-loaded guns are not universally applicable.

Although it's possible to fire ten shots per minute, Horn would at most set the manual to five or six shots per minute.

Even with the Alchemy Vessel and Clockwork Box, the highest-ranking soldiers can only fire twenty rounds.

It's certainly satisfying to finish in two minutes, but you should also consider your partner's feelings.

Two or three volleys are enough to break up a dense formation. If the magic power is sufficient, someone like Horn can fire for another three minutes to create suppression.

However, most soldiers did not have this magical power, so the best steel still had to be used where it was most needed.

What Horn valued was his ability to shoot from a kneeling or even prone position.

A muzzle-loading spring-loaded gun requires a large range of motion during loading, and the muzzle must be facing upwards.

If the soldier lies down or kneels with the muzzle close to the ground, the lead bullet cannot be poured in smoothly.

The later-loaded clockwork gun perfectly solved this problem.

The ability to shoot from a kneeling or prone position offers a significant advantage for sniping and guerrilla tactics, resulting in an epic boost.

Previously, we could only shoot while standing, as the target was too large.

Now, not only can you shoot while crouching, but you can even shoot while lying down, and the range of motion is minimal compared to the previous loading.

Combined with the high precision of the spiral gun, this will be quite a challenge for the great knights.

If Horn had had this thing back then, Prince Condé and Lavré would have been shot dead by stray bullets while on patrol sometime during the day.

You can't exactly patrol while fully armored, buffed, and charging at full speed, can you?

Of course, it's too early to think about this now, especially given that the production of mithril and steel is still relatively small.

Once the rate of fire is increased to ten rounds per minute, the mechanical palace can then slow down the pace of improvement in this area.

On the contrary, we need to find a way to increase the amount of mana we can carry.

It's worth noting that in another world, the standard ammunition load for a breech-loading smoothbore gun is fifty to sixty rounds.

Horn has at most twenty shots.

But considering that it took Earth more than three hundred years to go from matchlock guns to breech-loading smoothbore guns.

The fact that Saint Alliance only took eight years is already a result of him having cheated and knowing the design direction in advance.

Therefore, it is understandable to slow down the increase in ammunition load.

For example, Haimoting once proposed a disposable spring box.

The mainspring barrel and lead are sealed together, and the spring is pre-loaded with water power before the battle. During the battle, only the mainspring barrel and trigger need to be replaced.

However, the cost of this is too high, with sixty alchemical vessels and clockwork boxes per person, which is far too extravagant.

We can try it after industrialization is complete, but let's forget about it for now.

However, due to recent breakthroughs in ether resonance technology, Shilov's mechanical palace has proposed a new direction.

Since ether resonance can cause errors in orogen springs, is it possible to control these errors?
In other words, is it possible to control the direction of this error? For example, could we use ether resonance to wind the orthocon springs carried by soldiers from a distance?

Compared to the high cost of the Hemostatin solution, this cost is lower, but it is still impractical.

Before even inventing electrical wires, they started working on long-distance, airborne transmission. Isn't that a bit much?

But Horn still allocated some funds, as it was indeed a reasonable research direction. What if they actually made some progress?

Carrying a batch of new weapons and breastplates, Horn bid farewell to Greyhearth and sailed west from Jeanne d'Arc Castle.

They only stopped briefly in Rapids City for supplies before continuing their journey.

As the surrounding terrain gradually flattened and the distant mountains receded further and further from the boats and rivers, the people on board knew that Xia Lucheng was getting closer.

However, their destination was not Xia Lucheng, but rather to inspect the newly built glass workshop in Suimi Town outside Xia Lucheng.

"Suimi Town, my hometown."

Looking at the increasingly familiar scenery on both sides of the river, Michel, a newly promoted member of the Royal Guard who accompanied Horn, couldn't help but sigh.

Michelle Neue is from Sumire.

He had witnessed it firsthand when Laurent led the Black Crown Legion to land in Suimi Town.

The following winter, Jeshka led his troops to continue supporting Xia Lucheng, landing again at Suimi Town, where Michel joined the army.

The defense of Redwayne Manor also took place on the outskirts of Shattered Rice. Michelle, who was with the Faithful Chapter at the time, was supposed to provide support, but she was unable to do so.

However, due to the changing war situation, their family had already moved to J.J. D'Arcy long before this.

After the war, Michel was very busy and passed through Suimi several times but did not have a chance to properly visit his hometown. Today he finally had the opportunity.

"Oh, you're from Suimi Town?" Horn smiled as he looked at the unfamiliar, newly recruited Holy Armor Guard.

“I’ve been away from home for too long, and in a moment of emotional turmoil, I violated military law. I will accept my punishment when I return,” Michel said nervously, bowing his head.

Normally, the Imperial Guards responsible for guarding the area are not allowed to make loud noises.

Horn laughed and said, "It's nothing. I was just asking you a question. Are you from Suimi Town?"

"Yes, my grandparents' home is in Suimi Town. Later, my father went to Xialucheng to do business, and left me in Suimi Town."

Horn waved to him: "Alright, then you can be my tour guide for today."

I've visited Xia Lucheng several times, but I've only ever passed through Sui Mi Town briefly and haven't had a chance to explore it properly.

Amidst the envious, jealous, and resentful looks of the many Imperial Guards, Michelle suppressed her excitement, took a step forward, and stood half a step behind Horn.

"Have we entered Suimi Town yet?"

"Your Majesty, please look ahead. There's a fishing port a little further ahead, and then... wait, where's my fishing port?"

Michelle's first words ruined everything.

The area that was once a fishing port has been completely cleared of trees, leaving only a flat piece of land.

As for why they were cut down, it's naturally because the local area is planted with beech trees.

High-quality glassmaking requires beech wood ash.

Therefore, on the edge of the forest, there are many charcoal kilns emitting white or blue smoke, used for smoldering beech wood ash.

Large and small sheds are also interspersed among them, and you can see loggers and kiln workers moving back and forth.

Beside the irrigation canal drawn from the river, women can be seen washing clothes, and a communal canteen is cooking river shrimp and purple egg sour soup.

Michelle stared blankly at the windmills turning on the riverbank and the giant crushing mills grinding quartz sand, speechless for a moment.

What about that small fishing port where my grandfather whipped my calves until they were swollen from fishing and swimming with my friends during my childhood?
Horn, standing next to him, clapped like a mischievous child, seemingly pleased with himself for having tricked Michelle.

In fact, there was a reason why Horn settled glassmaking-related industries in Shattered Rice.

The rivers near Suimi Town contain a large amount of high-quality quartz sand. After surveying, scholars have found veins rich in pure white quartzite.

"This is your hometown, but don't be surprised, your hometown is very different from what it used to be, my friend."

(End of this chapter)