Crusader Kings: Prisoners of War.

Chapter 328 Cavalry
Orville would leave the rest of the matter to Cleopatra, and he would turn his attention back to military affairs.

The ironworks built near Alexandria has now been basically completed and is ready for use. Horse-drawn carriages or transport ships will bring iron ore from all over the place, which will then be smelted centrally. The resulting pig iron will be used to cast farm tools or refined again. Currently, production capacity is slowly increasing.

Statistics on ancient iron production fluctuate greatly, but a few facts are certain - giant iron smelting furnaces can smelt more than one ton of iron at a time, and the Han Dynasty metallurgical workshops discovered in the real world may have dozens of iron smelting furnaces. If these furnaces are operated at full capacity, they can produce dozens of tons of pig iron every day. In a year, this iron smelting plant alone can produce nearly 10,000 tons of pig iron.

Obviously this is impossible, and that's not how it's calculated, because these iron smelting furnaces can't always be running at full capacity, and they may not even be running most of the time. It would be an exaggeration for a giant iron smelting workshop to produce thousands of tons of iron a year, and Orville is also working towards this direction.

The biggest problem is to solve the source of iron ore and ensure a stable supply of iron ore through the transportation network. The second problem is to solve the fuel problem. Egypt does not have much firewood resources and has to import charcoal, firewood and other resources from outside.

He nationalized several nearby iron mines and forced the offenders to do hard labor to mine. Orville used this method combined with purchases to increase the supply of iron ore. With the guarantee of powerful military force, he was able to achieve a stable output of resources. The same method was used for firewood and charcoal. With the Mediterranean trade network running stably, it was not very difficult to buy what he needed.

There is also the issue of the transportation network. In fact, river transportation can meet the demand to a large extent. Orville also asked the idle legions to build provincial roads, which basically solved the problem at this stage. The current supply of materials is enough for the entire ironworks to produce several tons or even more pig iron every day. Orville is quite satisfied with this output.

Pig iron or refined iron will be transported to nearby arsenals or farm tool factories for further processing into usable tools. At present, Orville basically does not need to ask for support from the governor of Syria next door for the equipment maintenance of his three legions. He can even use the extra equipment to arm the new Egyptian army. Orville's goal is not to be an arms dealer, but to be self-sufficient.
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After inspecting the arsenal, Orville took a boat to a small island.

The island is not big, and the overall terrain is relatively flat. There are some rough-looking but quite solid buildings on it. Someone is waiting for Orville at the small temporary port, and when he gets off the boat, he immediately comes to greet him eagerly.

Orville raised his eyes slightly and glanced at him: "Is everything ready?"

"It's all ready, please go and see!"

Orville and the other party walked into the interior of the island. Those low buildings were actually stables and craftsmen's workshops. This was an experimental site set aside by Orville, specifically for testing horse-related technologies and equipment.

The craftsman who had been hired at a great expense ran out excitedly and couldn't help but exclaimed: "Great! It's really great! Your Highness, your wonderful ideas will probably redefine war!!"

Behind him stood several horses quietly, wearing harnesses, which were different from the crude harnesses of this era. These horses had equipment that looked decent - high-bridge saddles, stirrups, horseshoes, and basically everything they should have. They were crude but did not affect their use. These were the weapons that Orville had been holding back until this moment. The cavalry would be given a stronger impact force by these tools. The real impact cavalry would appear on the historical stage and even completely change the mode of war.

In a sense, the traditional legion infantry was eliminated by these cavalry. The national finances could not support a large number of highly professional infantry while supporting a strong cavalry. Of course, this was also related to other issues, such as the decline in the quality of soldiers, but Orville did think that cavalry would be the masters of future wars.

Egypt was a relatively decent place, capable of training a considerable number of cavalry. After he had a basically stable grasp of Egypt, Orville began to think about cavalry training and expansion.

With some thoughts flashing through his mind, Orville calmly instructed the craftsman: "You all understand the importance of this matter. The reality of the Roman cavalry's weakness will be completely changed, and we will lead a wave.

Therefore, this matter must be kept strictly confidential. Once this new technology spreads, the Franks or Parthians may easily plagiarize our achievements, and then the technological advantage we have established will once again disappear.

So before I prepare a strong enough force, I hope you will be patient. The restriction on your freedom will not last long. When everything is over, I promise you will gain honor and wealth. "

Cleopatra provided a lot of support for his plan, but it was still carried out in secret. Orville did not intend to reveal his trump card too early. This decisive force was used to fight a decisive battle. The imaginary enemy could be the Parthians, the Germans or even the Senate. In short, the first appearance of the new cavalry must yield some results, so as to wake up some opponents at once.

Before the killer weapon is unveiled, confidentiality must be maintained, so Orville cannot let these people out for the time being. The production of saddles is actually more of a problem of ideas. It is not particularly difficult technically. It is easy for other nations to imitate it, so others cannot know about it.

The craftsman nodded in understanding, "No problem, Your Highness. We all understand your concerns and can accept your arrangement. We just hope you can provide us with enough materials. We are all very enthusiastic right now, and we are running out of materials for making saddles."

These craftsmen have been with Orville for some years, and Orville has never treated them unfairly. Even now, except for the restrictions on their freedom, the supplies of materials in all aspects are very generous, so they naturally will not be suspicious and worry that Orville will abandon them. On the contrary, they are quite willing to work hard for the interests of the country and Orville.

Orville had just finished inspecting the camp and had not yet had time to take a boat back to the Governor's Palace when another small boat came ashore and landed on the island. The person who got off was the secretary Agricola, who said he had something important to inform Orville: Domitia had come to Egypt from Athens and was now staying at the port.

(End of this chapter)