132 – Conflict (4)
Quaaa!!
“Tsk, the first bullet is really hard.”
The monumental first actual artillery bombardment failed. The target wall did not collapse.
Because of some problem, either the angle was too high, or the amount of gunpowder was too much, or both, the shells fell over the wall and into the private house behind it.
There is no need to receive a report from an observer. Even without frowning and concentrating, you can clearly see the fragments of wood that were formed when the building of the private house was destroyed by the shells were scattered over the castle wall.
Ah, of course, not only fragments of wood, but also a lot of other things are flying around. Whether it was a piece of stone or a person.
“What about the next bombardment?”
“Looks like it’ll be in an hour!”
“Enough.”
It takes a long time to clean the gunpowder residue inside the gun barrel because the caliber is large enough for an adult male to enter. In addition, the huge stone cannonballs that fit the caliber are also very heavy, so it takes time to reload them with great care.
As a result, it took a very long time, an hour, to reload once, but no one here has any concerns about that.
Chii Ik-
As the wet cloth is inserted into the gun barrel, the sound of water splashing on the hot iron begins.
As usual, the technicians clean the inside of the gun barrel by swinging the skewer back and forth with a familiar expression. Fall out
“Well… We’re doing it now, but you guys will have to do it later. I’ll tell you how to operate it from beginning to end, but there’s nothing better than actual combat, so take a look.”
And the chief technologist sees the commander’s bewildered expression and says that with a triumphant expression, but the target he wants to talk to is not just the commander. He is deliberately raising his voice so that the soldiers around him can hear him.
The soldiers don’t even know what just happened.
A loud noise enough to make your ears fall off is enough to make even a strong man sit down, but Rotaring’s strict rules forcibly control even such unconscious behavior. The soldiers’ legs are severely shaking, but thanks to the discipline that has been ingrained in their bodies, they can barely stand on their own two legs.
In this scene, as if a group had inhaled sleeping gas, only the technicians were busily moving.
Carefully transporting bundles of gunpowder wrapped in oil-soaked cloth and stone cannonballs carved by masons day and night, diligently wiping gunpowder dregs from gun barrels, measuring the angle of the shelling that had just been fired, and this time adjusting the angle to match the wall. Control, and so on.
…………
“aaa!!”
“Somebody’s been crushed here!! Help!!”
“Damn it…”
From nob le mtl dot com
My friend, the Rotaring Army, was also in a frenzy, but the enemy, the Caroling Army, couldn’t have been worse than that.
Civilians who were preparing to evacuate to a safe city center because of the appearance of the enemy are greatly damaged by a stone that fell from the sky and become in a state of panic.
“Is it a catapult?”
“There’s no way they installed the catapult so quickly!!”
That’s right.
Generally, catapults are made by hand using materials on the battlefield.
The weight and size are formidable as you have to throw heavy stones, and even if you put wheels on such an object, you can only move on well-trimmed roads, so it is useless on the battlefield where you have to go on all kinds of rough roads. Being slow is a bonus.
In order to use the catapult, all except for the critical parts must be procured locally, then the ground is compacted, poles are driven into the ground, and they must be built locally over dozens of days. Rotaring’s army has just arrived in Lutesia. . There is absolutely no time to build a catapult.
“Whoa…!”
Of course, those who were on top of the castle wall, including the King of Rotaring, knew the truth of the incident.
The giant bronze sandstone cannon, which was bigger than a man, had a very strong presence, so those on the wall had been keeping an eye on the cannon since long ago, and thanks to that, they could clearly see the process from firing the cannon to landing.
Even though everyone is watching that a huge boulder is flying here, they blankly stare at the parabolic motion of the cannon ball, like an ordinary person who has witnessed a natural disaster, no, a miracle. After that, I finally came back to my senses.
“What is that!? A mobile instant catapult?”
Those on the wall who have come back to their senses are quickly guessing the identity of that object and thinking of countermeasures in their heads.
Of course, no matter how much I think about it, I can’t accurately guess its true identity.
This is because weapons that use gunpowder are only occasionally used in the Eastern Empire, and have not been introduced to faraway places.
Even though they know the concept and knowledge of gunpowder weapons, they have never seen them in real life, so the Carolingians cannot think of a connection between the gunpowder weapons in their knowledge and the cannons they have seen.
“We have to go out and fight right now!!”
“If you stay still, you will be neither one nor the other!! Your Majesty, make a decision!!”
Some instinctively judge that if the stone-shooting object continues to shoot stones, the war is already over, and insist on giving up Mercury and going out to fight.
If it is a typical medieval siege warfare, the castle gate is locked and the castle is entered, and the enemy is continuously checked to prevent such siege actions, such as digging the ground under the castle wall or installing a catapult.
Above all, the supply power of the Middle Ages was limited, so the attackers could not hold a siege for that long. The basic strategy in siege warfare is to take advantage of the supply imbalance and take advantage of the supply imbalance for as long as possible so that the besiegers are exhausted.
However, if there is an object like that, namely a cannon, the story is different.
From nob le mtl dot com
Mangonel catapults and trebuchet catapults take a lot of time to install, so you can keep them in check, but cannons are already finished, so that’s impossible. Even the projectile ship is even bigger.
Considering that if they remain silent, Lutesia will be completely destroyed by that stone, several knights and nobles ask King Caroling to go out.
“…Damn it.”
However, launching is impossible.
The Carolingian army, the army of the Carolingian royal family gathered in the Duchy of Lutesia is literally an army that was barely prepared by squeezing it as much as possible. Even with normal siege warfare, the Rotaring army is weakened enough to be barely able to stop it, and there is no way that you can lead such an army and fight against the Rotaring in the field.
Even if you burn everything and miraculously drive out the Rotaring army, it’s a problem after that. It’s not just the Rotarings who are enemies, aren’t there other rebels as well?
“Do you have any contact from Rotaring…?”
“I don’t think there’s anything for now. It’s like they’re preparing to use that thing again.”
King Karoling, heartbroken, pokes at the possibility of ending things well, but the possibility is scattered in the air.
“Kuh…! We have to stop using that thing again, send out the light cavalry!!”
“Yes!!”
…………
The Carolingian light cavalry were knocked over and intercepted by a simple barrier made from dismantled pikemen and carts. Some personnel managed to get close to the cannon, but there was no way for them to break the full-length cannon, which was made entirely of bronze and had a very simple structure. It is said that he was killed.
After that, Rotaring’s army ignored all of Caroling’s attempts to negotiate and continued to bombard, and in the end, it is said that the walls of Lutesia were there, but only one mana. If you look at the collapsed part, it looked like an ancient castle ruins.
Anyway, the collapsed wall was large enough for numerous soldiers to pass through without hindrance, and the field commander judged that the time was ripe, and Rotaring’s forces poured into it like a flood.
However, it is said that there were not many battles like battles.
The continuous bombardment followed by a thunderous sound was enough to demoralize the Carolingian army, and the veteran soldiers had died in numerous wars before, so the Carolingian soldiers, who had become similar to the militia, screamed each other. Did they scream and flee or lay down their weapons and surrender, and as a result, the Carolingian army collapsed in an instant?
Of course, not all of the soldiers were mortified, and some still fought to protect the king, but the difference in numbers was so overwhelming that they all died shortly thereafter.
“And the pretender… Begged for his life…”
“Yes, Your Majesty. That bastard begged to be spared because he would give both Caroling and the throne to him. A proud soldier of Lotharing, who was worse than that, ended his life with honor.”
It’s a lie.
In the report received in advance in the morning, it was recorded that the king of Caroling was resigned to the Lotharing army approaching his nose and silently bowed his head to receive the soldier’s blade. Because it is my position, I couldn’t announce it as it is.
As a result, the commander made an official report to me using a fabricated report. The manipulation of the image seems to have been successful, as everyone in the audience room laughed at King Carolingian’s atrocity, mocking his face or sticking out his tongue as he heard King Carolling’s death.
“This is dedicated to the rightful rulers of Lotharing and Carolingian.”
Anyway, the crown, scepter, and seal, which symbolize Carolingian sovereignty, came into my hands intact.
Now all that remains is… What to do with the claimants.