Ch.125Military Reinforcement

No matter how much money you have, if what you want isn’t available in the market, money is nothing more than a heavy piece of metal.

The reason why gunpowder weapons weren’t widespread in countries outside the Central was because gunpowder was difficult to make and handle.

Even modern smokeless powder and brass-cased ammunition from 21st century Earth often misfired if handled improperly. Not to mention the black powder of this era, which made charging forward a more efficient choice than reloading after firing once.

It would absorb moisture and transform into a bomb through some automatic alchemy, and if transported over long distances and subjected to vibration, its components would spontaneously break down. Beyond gunpowder itself, when you add bullets, shells, maintenance parts, heavy oil, pyrite, flint, and various other requirements, it would drive anyone to cursing.

Nevertheless, I had three main reasons for introducing gunpowder weapons.

One, they look incredibly cool and impressive. Two, training is very quick. And three, they cause tremendous psychological impact on enemies.

Let me explain in detail.

First, they look incredibly cool and impressive.

This might sound absurd, but for the common people of this world, whose average education level doesn’t even reach fifth grade, what they see is everything.

Even on Earth during the modern era, military uniforms were flashy because they aimed for the visual effect of “Wow! If I join the army, I can wear those impressive clothes, carry that magnificent sword, and shoot that cool gun!”

Besides, as the saying goes, “If given a choice, choose the red skirt.” If asked to choose between something stylish and something shabby, wouldn’t anyone choose the former?

Second, training is very quick.

Honestly, I think this is an advantage anyone could anticipate.

Swordsmanship requires a lifetime of mastery, and archery needs years of training to become proficient. These were the biggest obstacles to forming modern standing armies and developing universal conscription systems.

If you teach swordsmanship to an ordinary farmer for a month, he’d still be cut down when facing a mercenary, so there was no merit in conscription. And since training was difficult and expensive, even standing armies were overwhelmed by the breakthrough capabilities of knights or the performance of mercenary bands.

However, with the same month of training on a musket, anyone with intelligence above the borderline could manage loading, aiming, and firing without much difficulty.

While a month wasn’t nearly enough for collective combat, considering that other weapons couldn’t even make someone half-competent in that time, this was an enormous advantage.

It meant that anyone who could follow simple procedures could possess the power to kill a knight.

And finally, the third reason: psychological impact.

History proves that gunpowder weapons deliver a shock to the enemy that cold weapons could never imitate.

When the front ranks turn into bloody messes with thunderous sounds from distances where enemy faces aren’t even visible, extreme fear inevitably dominates the soldiers’ minds as the battle continues.

Arrows might be blocked somehow, but bullets tear through shields and armor equally, imprinting the idea that “getting hit means death,” causing enemies to flee instantly.

Forcing the enemy into a dilemma—stay in formation and die by bullets, or flee and die by artillery—meant that the paradigm of the battlefield would change in an instant.

*

“Aim!”

Click!

Following the commander’s order, dozens of infantry soldiers formed a horizontal line and aimed their muskets.

“Fire!”

Ratatata!

With the crisp sound of musket volleys, targets about 100 meters away instantly turned to rags.

These soldiers originally belonged to the archery unit but had always ranked at the bottom due to their lack of talent in archery.

Yet they successfully hit targets at 100 meters without difficulty, immediately brightening the faces of both the soldiers and their commander.

“Reload!”

“Reload!”

This time, the commander ordered them to aim at targets beyond 100 meters, at 200 meters. After 10 seconds of reloading, another volley followed, and once again, the targets were mercilessly torn apart.

Pabapak!

By the time the soldiers returned from clearing the shredded targets and setting up new ones at 300 meters, the shooters had already finished reloading.

“Aim!”

Click!

“Fire!”

Ratatata!

This time, fewer hits were made compared to the 100 and 200-meter targets, but the targets were still torn apart, and the soldiers cheered upon seeing this!

“We hit it from 300 meters away!”

“With arrows, even 100 meters was difficult…!”

For soldiers who had been rejected for their lack of talent in archery, hitting targets beyond 300 meters was like earning a medal.

If these soldiers could do this, then archers who had trained all day in proper stance would have much better accuracy with muskets.

After all, whether bow or gun, the concept of projecting something to hit a desired target is shared.

“My goodness! I thought I’d go deaf!”

“Can we also shoot such weapons… what an advancement in weaponry!”

The soldiers observing the shooting couldn’t hide their admiration.

The tremendous boom of gunpowder weapons and the invisible speed of bullets instantly raised the standards of soldiers whose fastest experience had been their mother’s hand striking their father’s back.

From now on, they would be obligated to form battle lines with these weapons and shatter enemy formations—this could be considered a preview of what was to come.

*

“How are the soldiers responding?”

“Very well. They’re clamoring to try the muskets themselves.”

“Good. I anticipated that and already ordered additional muskets. 20,000 pieces will arrive, so prepare in advance.”

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

I was in my office, hearing about the army’s mood from the standard-bearer, Ignatz von Jäger.

Usually, morale improves when new weapons are deployed, but if these new weapons completely push out existing ones, some soldiers might strongly resist.

Fortunately, cannons and muskets were very popular among regular soldiers, except for knights.

The most enthusiastic response came from the fact that they could unilaterally attack enemies from distances where they themselves couldn’t be hit. Considering that’s why Central humans use gunpowder weapons, it seems people think similarly no matter where they are.

“So… what about the knights?”

“Well… not so good. There’s even one drinking during duty hours, saying the era of knights is over. Of course, we disciplined him strictly according to military law, but it seems the knights’ demoralization is inevitable with the introduction of gunpowder weapons.”

“I see…”

This was unavoidable.

It’s a historical fact that gunpowder weapons drove out the knight class.

However, in this world, knights were those who could handle aura, making them far more powerful than Earth’s knights.

Wouldn’t such beings refuse to yield to ‘mere’ guns and cannons?

“Don’t worry, even the humans of the Central have used gunpowder weapons for thousands of years, but knights haven’t fallen.”

“Really?”

Ignatz’s eyes widened.

“Yes. Instead of the current thin full-body armor, I’ve already ordered expensive armor with thick steel reinforcement only at vital points, with 24 layers of bulletproof and cut-resistant clothing underneath. I’ve also ordered heavy horse armor that can block shell fragments, and improved war horses.”

Needless to say, all my saved money disappeared instantly.

The emptiness I felt when four years of savings evaporated in an instant!

For the first time, I understood why my aide had been so insistent on saving money.

“Then our knights can still go to the battlefield!”

“Yes. Your era isn’t over yet.”

“Thank you, Your Majesty! I’ll deliver this joyful news to the knights under my command!”

“Good. You may go now.”

An aura-imbued sword can cut through castle walls, but shells can only create cracks.

Just as sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic…

In this world, the human body and mind trained to the extreme remains one of the decisive factors that can turn the tide of battle, even on a battlefield raining with bullets and shells.