Ch.123Stirring

“Greenskins?”

“Yes, Your Majesty. There are concerning movements from Fahrenheit’s direction. It seems they’ve found a rallying point.”

“Tsk. With Fahrenheit in that state… I suppose they couldn’t execute the decapitation operation.”

Greenskins.

A collective term for goblins, orcs, and trolls with green skin.

They are numerous and strong, but their weakness lies in poor leadership and much more predictable movements compared to humans. If they were to face an army head-on, the army could handle them under normal circumstances.

However, the problem is that “army” refers specifically to properly trained soldiers equipped with decent gear.

When facing poorly trained troops with rusting equipment, the green tide of Greenskins possesses enough power to easily overwhelm three or four cities.

One might argue that barriers make this irrelevant, and indeed, there exists a strategy of doing nothing but waiting behind barriers until the Greenskins tire themselves out and move elsewhere.

However, such tactics only work for tiny nations that don’t heavily rely on imports or exports. Larger countries like Amurtat or Fahrenheit, no matter how much they oppress their citizens, cannot suppress their habit of importing foreign goods and selling their own products, making blockades potentially fatal.

Considering that Fahrenheit’s current predicament stems from the Allied States cutting off food exports, a mere “siege” alone is more than enough to bring a nation to ruin.

“Has there been any word from Fahrenheit?”

“They’re mobilizing their forces as best they can, so we must hope they handle it well. This information came through the Adventurers’ Guild.”

“Hmm…”

Though weakened, there should be no reason for Fahrenheit with its population of 9 million to fall to a Greenskin offensive.

Marcus has gained clarity after learning bitter lessons, and the heretics who once clouded the vision of both ruler and masses have been eliminated.

“If this information comes from the Adventurers’ Guild, then the threat hasn’t fully materialized yet.”

“That’s correct. They say if not for an expedition party, it wouldn’t have been discovered…”

“This is why reconnaissance is so important… Anyway, Fahrenheit will form the first line of defense, so we needn’t worry too much. We have our own army, after all.”

Amurtat maintains a standing army of 200,000.

All well-trained and well-equipped, so even if the Greenskins are powerful, fighting them from behind barriers makes victory just a matter of time.

It must drive them mad to see humans setting up tents and eating meals right before their eyes, yet unable to reach them with their blades. But what can they do? If they’re upset about it, they should have been born human.

“Hmm… perhaps it’s time we developed cannons?”

“Pardon?”

“Cannons. You know, the ones that fire gunpowder… Don’t you know them?”

“Ah… you mean those large tubes loaded with gunpowder and stone projectiles? I’ve seen merchants demonstrate them a few times.”

“Well, that makes things easier. Gunpowder is expensive, but with the Alchemists’ Guild, mass production shouldn’t be an issue.”

Cannons.

Magical devices that let you fire away from behind walls while everyone else fights in formation, essentially saying, “If you’re jealous, bring your own cannons, haha!”

The tech tree actually places them before muskets, with the progression being cannon-hand cannon-musket.

Of course, one can advance through the tech tree with money.

“I should instruct the merchants to purchase as many cannons and muskets as they can.”

“What’s a musket?”

“…”

Of course, it would also be important to give the soldiers some basic knowledge about gunpowder weapons first.

*

Several months later, April of the 31st year of the Amurtat calendar.

“Here are the cannons and muskets you requested. Since you didn’t specify exact types, I’ve brought varieties of each.”

“Well done.”

*Tap*

I replied while caressing a musket.

The muskets of this world had no powder pans, making them look like genuinely elongated clubs.

One might wonder how the ammunition is fired, but inside there’s pyrite and flint, with a lever just below the sight that, when cocked, prepares it for firing.

“It has rifling. A sign of quality.”

“What’s rifling?”

“Ah… it gives the bullet spin. You know how arrows have feathers? The barrel does the same job. It makes the trajectory much more stable.”

“I see… but looking at this, it seems quite difficult to manufacture.”

Naturally, fitting the barrel, rifling, firing mechanism using pyrite and flint, trigger, and other mechanical components into a 5kg device requires advanced technology.

“Still, we must make them. Engineers need projects to work on.”

I tossed the musket aside and looked at the row of cannons behind it.

The cannons came in various calibers, but three models stood out—the same ones I favored in games.

One was an old cannon firing 6-pound projectiles, another was a 12-pound field cannon for direct fire, and the last was a 24-pound howitzer for indirect fire.

Unlike guns, cannons had no rifling, as the tremendous pressure and velocity needed to fire projectiles weighing tens of kilograms made rifling impractical.

“I’ll take that small old cannon, that medium-sized one, and that howitzer.”

“Excellent choices, Your Majesty. As for quantities…?”

“Hmm… about 10,000 of these muskets I’m holding. And 20 pieces each of the three cannon types I pointed out.”

As I placed my order without hesitation, the military merchant’s eyes lit up.

I looked at my aide, who nodded reluctantly with a slightly displeased expression.

“Get the budget from my aide. And are these display models actually functional?”

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

“Then could you transfer them to us? We need something immediately for training purposes.”

“My goodness, after such a large order, that level of service is the least I can provide!”

For military merchants, rulers as generous as me are rare.

Purchasing so many items at full price without haggling means throwing in a few extras is nothing.

With that, the merchant departed, and my aide and I returned to the office.

*

“Was it necessary to purchase in such large quantities?”

“Gunpowder weapons aren’t cost-effective unless operated en masse. I explained this to you.”

“Hmm… but it still seems wasteful. I understand they’re powerful, but surely arrows and catapults are still sufficient…”

“Trust me. They are ‘absolutely’ not sufficient.”

My aide tends to think of war primarily in terms of conflicts against monsters or demons rather than humans.

I can’t blame him. The holy war against monsters and demons is eternal.

However, as Fahrenheit’s collapse demonstrated, when humans set their minds to destroying other humans, they devise all manner of creative methods. Nations that lose the arms race have no future.

While only humans can breach barriers, the concept of barriers is quite ambiguous, allowing many things to pass through.

For example, cannonballs.

Being human-made, and setting aside propulsion, cannonballs are merely lumps of lead, stone, or iron.

Thus, they can pass through barriers and damage structures within.

Of course, most settlements are built at the center of their barriers, as far as possible from the edge, making them unreachable by cannonballs. But for places like Amurtat or Fahrenheit, where urban areas continuously expand to the very edge of the barrier, the situation becomes more problematic.

“Saltpeter, sulfur, and charcoal…”

“Ingredients for gunpowder?”

“Yes. Saltpeter is the most crucial. Sulfur is optional.”

“Then I’ll look for sources of saltpeter.”

“Good. If we can’t find any, I have methods.”

The reason gunpowder weapons aren’t mainstream in this world, despite advancements like Minié balls and rifling, is simple.

Gunpowder is prohibitively expensive.

While armies might allocate funds for gunpowder, adventurers and mercenaries find it both scarce and costly, so they continue using bows, arrows, or primitive projectile weapons like slings even when gunpowder weapons are available.

But Amurtat has three sources of funding:

The Steelyard, the Boneyard, and the Brickyard…

These three yards will introduce Amurtat’s army to the addictive power of gunpowder.