In the afternoon, under the escort of the guards, William took Richard to the Royal Arsenal of Evreux, in the Duchy of Normandy, northwest of Paris.

Sixteen years old, the 1036 Arsenal was originally located in the city of Alençon in the Kingdom of Evrebebe, but William moved it to the banks of the Seine, where he built several huge water wheels to power the factory's hydraulic machinery.

It can be said that the Royal Military Factory was the first factory to use water power for industrial production, and before that, the manufacture of weapons in Western Europe was still in the stage of private workshops and blacksmiths, and it did not form a scale advantage at all, nor was it able to develop new equipment and improve production efficiency.

The Royal Arsenal, which gathers skilled craftsmen, manpower and material resources throughout Normandy, England and France, does not have these worries, and can not only invest huge sums of money to improve production efficiency, but also invest a lot of resources in research and development of new equipment.

When it comes to the Royal Arsenal, the first thing that probably comes to everyone's mind is the indestructible types of plate armor produced here.

In past wars, the glossy full-body plate armor worn by the Norman knights had a very strong impact on their enemies, so everyone attributed the Norman victory to the sharp protection of the plate armor, and ignored the Norman courage and good fighting.

Therefore, all kinds of plate armor produced by the Royal Arsenal were not only equipped with the entire Norman army, but also were purchased by princes and merchants from all over the world, and were extremely popular.

Richard, who followed William to the arsenal, was full of curiosity about everything, especially the assembled shiny full-body plate armor that firmly attracted his attention.

Looking at the various plates displayed here, Richard's gaze remained motionless, and the corners of his mouth almost drooped.

"Richard, come with me, I'm going to show you something more interesting than plate armor." William patted him on the shoulder and smiled.

In addition to the armor and all kinds of weapons in the age of cold weapons, the romance of men is all kinds of artillery and firearms, and what William wants to show Richard is the prototype of these guns.

"Father, what is this?" Richard asked curiously, pointing to the ten bronze poured breech guns that had already been assembled.

William took Richard's hand, came to a cannon, stroked the thin barrel at the front and thick at the back, looked at Richard and asked with a smile: "Richard, what do you think of this, a reminder that it is a weapon that can destroy the enemy on the battlefield." ”

“emm... This is a hand-pushed spear handle, and if a spearhead is inserted into this opening, and the soldier pushes and charges, it will definitely be very powerful. Richard thought for a moment and came to this conclusion.

"Spear, ahahahaha." Richard's answer made William twitch with laughter, and it took a long time to ease up and say: "The name of this weapon is artillery, it is a weapon that uses the black powder in the bronze barrel to propel lead bullets or stone bullets, and its huge power can not only break through the heavy city walls, but also penetrate the ranks of the enemy army, causing heavy casualties, and it is the absolute protagonist in future wars." ”

William's words stunned Richard, and it took him a long time to react and ask: "Father, how can I not see that it has the power you say, and it costs so much precious copper to cast the cannon, in my opinion, it is not worth it." ”

This never-before-seen weapon was clearly beyond Richard's knowledge, and he remembered that the most powerful of the Norman army were the hordes of Norman knights, followed by the towering counterweight trebuchets, then the rock-solid infantry phalanxes and the stormy Norman longbowmen, and he could not imagine the effect of this weapon, called artillery.

"Then let's go to the shooting range and test it, Richard, and let you see what it really is." William said with a smile.

"Take us to the shooting range." William turned his head and ordered the steward of the artillery factory.

"Yes, Your Majesty." The man knelt and sang.

Before the artillery test firing range, four horses pulled the guns slowly in.

"Deploy the artillery, take position!" An officer-like gunner called the shots.

The gunner then loosened the latch at the tail of the gun, sharpened it and the towed horse, and then turned it to completion with the gunner's push.

Behind the horse was a cart of elixir, which was loaded with a base fifteen rounds of lead bullets and the corresponding gunpowder.

"All gunners in position, load!"

The order was given, and then a gunner took a packet of gunpowder from the pill cart and wrapped it in oiled paper, tore it open, filled it into the chamber, and filled it up.

The other gunner carried a heavy six-pound buckshot from the muzzle and refilled it, with the gunner spreading primer at the ignition at the end of the barrel.

After loading, several gunners worked together to adjust the angle of the cannon with the wooden block at the end of the gun and aimed it at a brick and wood house five hundred yards ahead.

"Ignition Shot!"

The gunner's sword was swung down, and one of the gunners, holding a spear wrapped around the arquebus, ignited the primer at the end of the cannon with a slow-burning arquebus.

Tong...

Suddenly, with a loud bang, fire and white smoke rose from the muzzle of the gun, and a projectile flew quickly to the brick and wood house five hundred yards away at a speed visible to the naked eye.

With a bang, the six-pound buckshot pierced through the brick and wood house and directly collapsed the front and rear walls.

Houses that had lost their support quickly collapsed, sending up high clouds of smoke and dust.

William then ordered them to fire five more shots, each time destroying the target they were aiming at, and nothing was spared.

"Father, it's amazing that such a small cannon can have the power of a counterweight trebuchet." Richard said in surprise.

"As you say, the weight of the cannon is much lighter than that of a counterweight trebuchet, which makes it easy to carry and transport, but its power is not much different.

Therefore, artillery could not only be used to break through the walls, but also to accompany the infantry to break through the enemy's strong lines.

Richard, think about it, if dozens of artillery pieces are aimed at the enemy array for a while, and after the enemy's line is shattered by artillery, our knights quickly and suddenly defeat the enemy army, and then the infantry follows to chase and destroy the remnants of the enemy, divide and surround it, how enjoyable it is. William touched the hot barrel and said proudly.

"Father, I really can't wait to see the artillery in full swing on the battlefield." Richard said with an expectant expression.

"You'll see, Richard, when you grow up, you'll be able to lead a legion armed with dozens of artillery pieces to conquer all your enemies." William said as he touched Richard's little head.

When William said this, Richard's eyes were full of anticipation, and he imagined that he would grow up in the future and lead the legion to conquer the city, so he didn't look forward to it.

"See Your Majesty!"

Hearing this, William turned his head and saw Claude, the master craftsman and chief manager of the Royal Arsenal, kneeling on the ground, nodding slightly and saying, "Claude, thank you for your hard work." ”