Crusade against the Pope

Chapter 228 The Development of Artillery

The situation in Antioch stabilized, but only in Antioch.

Unlike previous acquisitions of new territories, this unification of Antioch was the only one that was achieved almost purely by force.

Even if we leave out Gillis, the various Norman princes in the Principality of Antioch are now just a group of scattered sand.

In Lance's view, everyone is ready to kill as many people as possible, just waiting for the auspicious time and the east wind to blow, so that they can make a concerted effort and kill as many people as possible.

This auspicious time, according to Reims' standards, requires Tukopo to complete the assembly and Gairis to leave Antioch.

Tukopo is the knife in Lance's hand, and Lance is the knife in Garys' hand.

In Lance's eyes, Gellis is the Saint of Jerusalem and an undoubted prophet.

The presence of such a person leads to a subtle consequence.

As a prophet, as long as he stood on the battlefield and performed a miracle, the enemy would tremble in fear.

As long as Garys announces his identity and displays his unrivaled power, who would dare to resist him?

As long as the other party kneels down and begs for mercy and expresses repentance before Garys takes action, will Garys kill the person or not?

Gailis is a saint. A saint must be compassionate and be able to endure what ordinary people cannot endure. If the other party kneels on the ground and begs for mercy, indicating that he has changed his ways, then does Gailis still have the nerve to kill people?

Since the other party has already surrendered, and is also a local tyrant, he knows this area very well.

So does the sect need to rely on the other party's power to integrate the resources of this land?

Later, when the other party proves to be very valuable, will the cult accept them as members?

"Is there anything wrong with this?" Standing on the city wall, Russell asked Lance. He had to ask Lance clearly about the problems here.

Because after Gellis leaves Antioch, it will be these people who will take the lead in Antioch.

After these days of meetings and discussions.

The Antioch region has already been determined to establish a governor's office, which will be responsible for collecting taxes in the Antioch region, training the Antioch army, suppressing local rebellions, and advancing the progress of reforms...

In short, he is almost solely responsible for all situations in the Antioch region, and will not consider abolishing the Governor's Office until the Order has a sufficient number of talented people.

In essence, the Governor of Antioch was almost equivalent to the former Prince of Antioch.

And such a high-ranking and powerful organization will be led by Lance in the next few years.

As for the original 2nd and 3rd companies of the regular army, they may have to be reorganized and expanded, from two companies to two battalions.

People like Jos and Russell will inevitably hold important positions in the Governor's Office.

As Lance's colleagues, they must understand the specific thoughts of their top leader and avoid discord within the Governor's Office.

“Indeed, it is a good thing for everyone to see sinners repent through the prophets.”

"But I don't believe it."

Upon hearing this, Russell was stunned. He did not expect that Senior Lance, who seemed quite amiable and not like a knight in the past, would say such a thing.

"Gailis is a prophet. He has his own principles. In his principles, everyone can be saved. It just depends on whether the person being saved is willing to repent and change his ways, because God is there."

"This truth, and some other similar truths, must be 'eternal' and cannot be changed. Without such a pillar, the cult will lose its bottom line and be blown to pieces in the tide of history."

"But I don't believe it."

Lance spat out another word of disbelief, which made Russell stunned again.

If the first unbelief refers to the fact that sinners will not truly repent, then the second unbelief is directly referring to the doctrines of the sect.

"Russell, you are still too young. You have been following Garys for the past two years."

"So, you don't know how bad people can be, and you don't know how hopeless people can be."

“Again I tell you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God!”

"Perhaps, there are some people who can really repent, but there are very few such people."

"Most of them just saw Garys and bowed down to the 'miracle'. But if things go on like this for a long time, sooner or later, they will relapse!"

"In short, they believe in miracles, not in 'the kingdom of heaven.'"

"Whether they are evil or sinners, I can kill them all when they are outside the cult, but what should I do when they infiltrate us one day?"

Russell is indeed a young man. After following Garys for two years, he has become the most senior member of the sect.

But no matter what, he is still too young and does not have the life experience like Lance.

The image of Gellis is completely different for the two.

In the eyes of "apostles" such as Lance, John, and Pulverk, even Garys is still a little young.

They certainly acknowledged Garys's status as a prophet and testified to his miracle of resurrection.

But they are Garys's predecessors after all. When they get along with Garys, they do not regard Garys as an absolutely infallible person.

Many times, they also have their own reservations.

Of course, if Gillis makes the decision, they will fully agree with it.

Now, Garys has delegated power to Lance, which is actually tacitly allowing him to do some "out of line" things.

Antioch is far away from the southern front, so even if something really happened, Gailis would have a chance to remedy the situation.

"In Garys's eyes, people must be saved and can be saved, so he is a saint."

"In my eyes, most people in this world are nothing but despicable people, and the so-called nobles are nothing but beasts in human clothing... So I am a bad guy, and bad guys don't have to cherish their reputation."

Lance had a round figure and face, but the words he said sounded a bit bloody to Russell.

……

Lance said that he was waiting for two opportunities, but that’s actually not quite right, because there is a third opportunity that is happening.

It is actually quite difficult to simply clean out the old aristocratic group in Antioch without relying on Gellis.

Therefore, something has to be strengthened.

To put it bluntly, it is: artillery.

However, Lance was not clear about the current artillery supply situation of the entire war, so he did not give it priority.

But at this time, Isabella and Balian in Tyre City took advantage of the central position.

When Cyprus was captured by Gellis, Isabella and her companions accepted Gellis's suggestion on bronze cannons and dispatched more experienced blacksmiths with cannon-forging skills, such as Marwan, from the Transjordan region to Cyprus.

At the same time, he also asked Water's caravan whether it was possible to transfer another batch of artillery from Transjordan.

The number of the new batch of artillery pieces is actually not large, but there is nothing that can be done about it.

When Watt arrived in Tyre, he could feel that the atmosphere here was constantly changing.

During the spring harvest two or three months ago, the Second Kingdom of Jerusalem fulfilled its promise.

Near the city of Tyre, the three territories that originally belonged to the Kingdom of Jerusalem only collected 30% of the land tax and abolished the head tax during the taxation this spring.

Moreover, unlike in the past, this time the kingdom did not rely on the tax farmer system as in the past. After eliminating middle-man exploitation as much as possible, it also effectively improved the efficiency of tax collection in the kingdom.

In addition, a preliminary population survey was conducted in preparation for the parliamentary elections, which also uncovered a number of hidden households.

Therefore, the actual land tax received by the city of Tyre did not decrease much compared with previous years.

In addition, in order to meet the needs of food, clothing, housing and transportation for the soldiers in Tyre and to produce handicrafts, the Second Kingdom also opened some state-owned handicraft workshops.

State-owned workshops naturally created more jobs.

The Second Kingdom, by continuously spending lavishly, continued to stimulate the economic prosperity of Tyre and surrounding areas.

On the one hand, the burden on farmers has been reduced, and on the other hand, their income has been increased. Farmers with surplus funds can naturally buy more consumer goods.

Therefore, it also led to a boom in the commodity market in the city of Tyre, successfully absorbing the ironware and daily necessities produced by state-owned handicraft workshops.

Walking on the street, Watt could feel that this city did not seem to be affected by the war, but instead had a thriving atmosphere.

It was completely different from the chaos and war that Walter had felt along the way.

Even Waldo, who was standing by, was quite surprised when he arrived in Tyre.

In fact, Saladin is now a little anxious and angry.

In order to gather more troops in a shorter period of time, Saladin took the initiative to invite a large number of nomadic tribes to come to the Palestinian region.

By dividing the land into iqta systems, nomadic tribes were allowed to make their own living on the land of Palestine.

But as a great leader, Saladin naturally understood the negative effects of this behavior.

When he was in Egypt, he reformed the iqta system, deprived the Muslim lords of their power, transferred it to his own generals, and sent officials to govern and collect taxes in various places.

The reason why nomadic tribes were allowed to run rampant in the Levant was actually just a stopgap measure. And the negative effects of this stopgap measure were not unexpectedly reflected.

Simply put, the iqta system only gave Muslim military leaders the power to seize agricultural output from the land, but did not give them the power to govern the land from generation to generation.

Just collect taxes to support the army, no need to consider the farmers' livelihood...

When the Crusader lords collected taxes, they would set a specific amount, but when the Muslim warlords levied taxes... a saying was born: "A single word from the tax collector can bankrupt several families."

The Franks were bad enough these days, but the Muslim warlords were capable of being even more brutal and inhumane.

For the nomadic tribes among Muslims, obtaining an iqta fiefdom does not mean gaining any more fixed territory.

In fact, it is equivalent to having a fixed looting area, where looting farmers in the area will not be sanctioned.

In fact, in their eyes: taxation = robbery. Due to the relative wealth of the Levant, this temptation is very great.

After a large number of nomadic tribes gathered together, the trade routes between cities naturally became full of dangers and chaos.

As nomadic tribes act recklessly, the number of refugees in various places has increased significantly. If nothing unexpected happens, the total amount of land tax in the Levant region will decline in the next few years.

Saladin actually anticipated all these things, but there was one thing he didn't expect.

This spring, the Franks changed their temper and only conquered 30% of the troops!
This cruel tactic, which Saladin had never thought of, was suddenly used by Gairis and his gang.

When he first heard the news, Saladin's face couldn't help but twist.

This second kingdom is much more difficult to deal with than the previous one. Once the 30% tax was imposed, the Muslim villages bordering the other side began to change their minds one by one.

If this trend continues, won’t all the villages want to stop paying taxes?
Logically speaking, just like the Nizari Ismailis, after raising the banner of heaven for tax resistance and rent reduction, they were immediately violently attacked by warlords in the surrounding areas.

Since the Second Kingdom dared to propose a 30% tax rate, Saladin should have dealt with it with the harshest attitude.

But unfortunately, he couldn't attack Tyre directly at the moment. After all, Tyre was strong in both military and military power. Not only was it defended by city walls, but it could also receive supplies of food and unknown weapons shipped by sea from Cyprus.

In addition, the main force of the army under his command are nomadic light cavalry, so it is really difficult to deal with them.

The only way is to launch an attack on Outer Jordan and gradually erode the enemy's power.

Of course, that's all for later.

……

Walter, Waldo and others did not stay in Tyre for too long. After loading the supplies onto the ship, they headed north.

However, they did not go directly to the port of Latakia in Antioch, but instead made a detour to Cyprus.

In Cyprus, Walter is going to meet an old friend.

Compared to the hot summer in August in Transjordan, August in Cyprus seems much more livable.

At this time in 1188, the proportion of forest on the island of Cyprus was much higher than it will be in the 21st century.

But when Walter followed the guide into a valley, the lush forests were obviously reduced and large amounts of smoke rose into the air.

Since coal mining technology was not yet popular at that time, the metal smelting industry on the island of Cyprus still relied on charcoal for a long time.

Not long after entering the valley, Watt saw Marwan.

A few months ago, he sent Marwan to the port of Tyre and they separated immediately.

When we met again today, this young man covered in coal black had already started his own business in Cyprus.

When they were in Skar Village, it was Walter who taught Marwan how to forge iron. He was his mentor.

When Marwan saw Walter, he was also very happy. He had a simple smile on his face and touched the back of his head, not knowing what to say.

Watt went up and punched Marwan on the sturdy chest, then greeted him warmly.

"Good boy! You've gotten stronger. You're having a good time here!"

Marwan just smiled. Ever since he started following the cult, he felt that his life had been very fulfilling.

He eats, sleeps, and works as a blacksmith every day, and eats and drinks with his brothers every now and then, although the sect does not strictly require any prayers every day.

But Marwan is still very grateful, thanks Garys for changing his life, and prays every day that everything goes well for Garys.

After seeing that Marwan was doing well, Walter's original worries were relieved a lot. He also noticed that Marwan now wore a slightly exquisite cross pendant.

It seems that this young man is living a good life here on the island of Cyprus.

"How is it going? Is everything going well? I mean the copper cannon."

This time Marwan responded: “Everything is going well.”

He made a gesture and took Walter to visit the workshop gathering place.

Although, the artillery casting technology needs to be kept confidential, so we can't just hire anyone.

However, as an island country, Cyprus already has a large number of metal craftsmen, so it naturally has advantages in this regard.

After Marwan arrived here, he didn't spend too much time to build a basic framework.

Under Marwan's guidance, Watt saw that under the sheds beside him, there were a large number of smelting furnaces burning.

Several craftsmen gathered around one of the furnaces, their faces covered in sweat. They used long-handled bellows to add fuel to the fire while watching the molten metal in the furnace.

Next to the smelting furnace, a mold had been placed, which was carefully made from moist sand and clay.

This mold is divided into two parts. The inner mold is used to form the inner cavity of the gun barrel, and the outer mold is used to form the shape of the gun body. It will be erected later, and the liquid alloy will be poured into it through a simple pulley set and lifting rope.

In the early days of firearms development, artillery could be roughly divided into two types based on the way they were built.

One is spliced ​​together, while the other is cast. The former is generally made of wrought iron, while the latter is mainly made of copper alloy.

A little bit of knowledge is that bronze, which is an alloy of copper and tin, is not bronze in color when it leaves the factory. It will only form green copper rust over time.

Brass is not pure copper, but an alloy of copper and zinc.

The spliced ​​wrought iron cannon, also known as the barrel cannon, is the main output of the Transjordan region. It is relatively easy to make and has a relatively low cost.

But its reliability and power are very insufficient.

I can only say that it is really fun to use it to bully enemies who have no cannons.

But considering the possibility of technology circulation and the fact that artillery technology is not complicated, Gellis did not expect the secret of artillery to be maintained for a particularly long time.

Therefore, instead of expecting the enemy to be stupid and never figure out the knowledge points about artillery, it is better to prepare in advance.

Use artillery with better effects, more advanced technology and greater numbers to deal with potential firearms possessed by the enemy.

It can be said that after Gellis came to Cyprus, the casting of bronze cannons became a natural outcome.

Compared with wrought iron barrel cannons, bronze cast cannons mean better airtightness, better chamber pressure resistance, and the ability to load more gunpowder, making the fired shells more powerful, but it also means higher process requirements.

Casting technology itself is not something new. It can be said that humans began to use casting techniques to create metal tools six thousand years ago.

After all, the melting point of iron is 1538 degrees Celsius, while the melting point of copper is only 1083.4 degrees Celsius.

The difficulty of casting between the two can be said to be a world of difference. Using copper for casting can significantly reduce the difficulty of metal casting.

Due to the demand for church bronze bells, the large-scale bronze casting technology in the Mediterranean region had become very mature by the 12th century.

Since it is possible to cast a bronze bell, then by simply reducing the opening and thickening the bell wall, one can naturally obtain a short and thick gun barrel. By then extending the gun barrel, one can obtain a bronze cannon with a longer diameter.

In fact, for the early artillery craftsmen, casting church bronze bells in peacetime and melting the bronze bells into bronze cannons in wartime was a living skill in itself.

Cyprus, the island of copper, will surely become the island of copper cannons in the future, and will continue to shine because of copper's electrical conductivity.

"Although the price of copper cannon is a bit high, it has many advantages over iron."

"Copper has a low melting point and good fluidity, making it easy to cast gun barrels with complex shapes, as you know."

"Copper is also tougher and less likely to explode. Even if it does, the copper cannon fragments are less likely to fly around, which means the barrel can be thinner, reducing the overall weight and making it easier for soldiers to carry."

"At the same time, copper is not easy to rust, has strong corrosion resistance, long service life and low maintenance cost..."

Walking around the construction site, Marwan started talking nonstop whenever he mentioned technology.

In other words, Watt himself knows how to forge iron, but if someone else came to inspect the situation, they would probably have fainted under Marwan's endless technical descriptions.

After completing the journey, Walter saw a real object made by Marwan, which might be the world's first bronze cannon.

This bronze cannon has a strong experimental flavor. According to the chamber pressure-diameter theory provided by Gellis, this bronze cannon was cast as slender as possible.

The caliber of this cannon is roughly the same as the index finger of an adult male. Including the wall tube, the diameter is about the size of a household, but its overall length is almost the same as the height of an adult male!

"Uh……"

When he first saw this thing, Walter found it hard to imagine that it was a cannon. At least in his impression, cannons should be relatively short and thick.

"30 times the diameter! We succeeded!"

Marwan's excitement is easy to express!
"What the prophet said is true! Sound really does have a speed! And the speed of the cannonball fired by this cannon is faster than sound!"

"For a gun this long, even though the wall tube has to be made very thick and the barrel is very heavy, it is also very difficult to load."

"But I want to tell you, this gun has a faster muzzle velocity! It has a longer range! And the shells are more powerful!"

When he heard this, Walter noticed a huge rock not far away. The rock already had obvious signs of being cracked.

"Powerful? How powerful?"

"So big that it can destroy the city walls!"

　As for the title of the book, it’s not my intention to change it, and the reason is not suitable to be mentioned here…

　　Since I didn't want to change, then everyone should know the reason, ε=(ο｀*)))

　　Then, let me emphasize again that I am a staunch materialist. I submit applications to join the Party every year and am also the secretary of the Communist Youth League of my university.

　　I study religion only because I am interested in religion as an ideology. I conduct research based on critical thinking and think about its significance in the historical process. I do not believe in any religion, and this book does not attempt to engage in any missionary activities.

　　By the way, a lot of the interpretations of religious doctrines in this book are purely the author's own nonsense. The doctrines of the protagonist's sect, many prayers that appear in the text, and some quoted "scriptures", a considerable part of which are all made up by me and have nothing to do with real religion.

　　There is no need for any explanation under this post. Thank you very much for your support.

　　If you can join the group, please try to do so. Writing this book is really difficult... maybe we will really lose contact.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)