"I'm glad you came here to help me, Mr. Arteman."

In the engineering camp outside Pegonde, Byron held Ateman's hand with great enthusiasm. And the well-dressed old engineer also felt flattered, so he couldn't help but feel a little emotional.

"You've won the prize, Lord Baron. The siege of the castle two years ago not only bankrupted me, but also left me without a business. I thought I would only be a stonemason before I retired, but I didn't expect you to be willing to pay me such a high salary, and I would be happy to serve you, my lord. ”

Arteman is also one of the original heroes in the game, and the oldest and most experienced of the heroes. He was originally the leading engineer in the Ten Continents, but once he took over a job to build a castle, and the owner of the castle made a blank slip, and the project money was temporarily paid by Artiman. As a result, the castle suddenly collapsed during the construction of the castle, and the owner of the castle happened to be right down there.

His son refused to admit the debt and warned him to conceal it or he would be arrested for murder. The accident had nothing to do with whether the castle owner's son had anything to do with it, but it was a fact that Artiman had become famous since then. Those noble lords were not worried about letting an engineer who had such an accident in his hands take charge of his own project, and the last time he built the castle he had exhausted his savings, the engineer had to work as a foreman to make a living.

Byron offered a high salary of 200 dinars a month and said that he could give a commission according to the quality of the work, which made the engineer in an embarrassing period ecstatic, and immediately packed his bags and rushed over.

And Byron also attaches great importance to this master engineer in the game, a talent who is over half a hundred years old but very versatile, and specially holds a small banquet to wash the dust for him. And Artiman did not live up to Byron's expectations, except for the fact that he never showed a smile when he met Byron after his arrival, and devoted all his attention to the repair of the walls of Viruga and the construction of engineering equipment required by Byron.

He brought with him many of the most advanced mathematical measuring instruments of his time, spent a whole day measuring every corner of the city walls, and made a serious assessment: "The walls of the city, though they appear to be in good condition, are the work of haste, and cannot withstand a long siege. He drew up a plan for the maintenance of the city walls and drew up sketches, but he didn't need them yet.

Byron now needed his siege skills so that he could build siege equipment and plot those fortified castles of Rhodok, especially the fort of Agolon in the north, where Byron would not have to worry about the enemy in the north, and would be able to gain an important stronghold and a large area of land around it.

However, this task was not easy, after Byron captured Viruga and captured Pegand, a large number of Rhodok's defeated army fled to this castle, and the castle was already strong and tall, and it was very difficult to capture this castle, so Byron would look for Artiman to help him build siege weapons.

And the pressure at home was just as obvious, and King Harlaus had sent his heirs here, which showed the importance he attached to the region, and it could also be seen that Byron's rapid development had made him start to worry. Byron must be doubly careful, or the slightest carelessness will become the target of public criticism, and the king will not be able to protect him even if he wants to.

Although Arteman and Byron's current team lineup is not compatible, and according to the game's settings, he and Byron's current team members will have conflicts, but his skills are indeed very comprehensive and can help Byron a lot.

[Arteman: [Engineering 5], [Transaction 3], [Tactics 2], [Riding 2], [Domination 1]; [Iron Bone 1], [Strike 1], [Master of Engineering]; 】

Artiman is not only an engineering expert, but because he has been busy for half his life and has been in contact with many big names, he has trading and tactical skills, and his ability to assist in command is no less than that of Aryn Fatis.

Byron and Artiman chatted for a moment, then turned the conversation to the siege engines. It was evident that Artiman was extremely interested in the topic, and excitedly showed him a dozen drawings, and took him to see the actual objects that had been built.

The assembled towing catapult, with wheels underneath, was not too large to fit the size of Byron's existing troops. This catapult requires the combined force of six people to throw rocks and break down a wall of stones that are simply piled up to 150 meters away, but it is not possible to break down the walls of Viruja in a short period of time. Byron saw that there were already four catapults in the camp, and that he could build more.

Sadly, Artiman told Byron that although the catapults had wheels, they were only for easy repositioning during the siege and for short distances. During long marches, these catapults must be dismantled and placed on horse-drawn carts, otherwise the speed of the march will be seriously affected.

There were also a number of disassembled siege engines and battering rams in the camp, which had to be disassembled and assembled before the battle. If there was enough wood in the area, there would not be much of a problem with makeshift manufacturing, so Artiman taught the engineers how to assemble and build these weapons, and not many of them were built.

But what amazed and admired Byron the most was the three-story gravity stone thrower in the middle of the camp, the most terrifying existence in medieval siege weapons! According to Byron's knowledge, the only people on the continent of Calradia who have completely mastered the construction method of this extremely destructive siege weapon, the work of their engineers, the most important military force of the Salander Sultanate outside of the Mamluks. The rest of the countries of Calradia can only make crude imitations of this, which are easy to break and not powerful enough.

Byron had passed through Shariz when Salander was hiring mercenaries, and from a distance, he could easily see the behemoths behind the walls, the trebuchets nearly twice as tall as the one made by Artiman, which was said to be able to throw a sturdy bull from one side of the city to the other. Although the range is exaggerated, its power is unquestionable.

And the stone throwing machine in front of him was made by Artiman who spent two years studying and studying from the master engineer of Salander, plus the high-quality wood near Pegand, this thing can even compare to the stone thrower in King Harauth's army, if it weren't for Artiman's reputation after the nobles of all countries were unwilling to deal with him, Svadia might have hit Djerkhara now.

But the lost opportunity can't be picked up, so it can only be so cheap for Byron, the little Swadian baron. Although it was time-consuming and laborious to build, even Artiman himself admitted that it was now more important to Byron's defense than to attack, because the logistics of his troops were too laborious to transport it, and the most suitable way was to build it during the siege, and Byron's troops were not enough to besiege any of the large castles of Rhodoc head-on.

But Byron at least got the chance, and took the opportunity to take the castle head-on.

He also showed Artiman his most powerful epoch-making weapon, the powerful black powder, which Artiman was very interested in, and Byron also hoped to be able to research the cannon as soon as possible with his help, but judging from his expertise and the development of gunpowder weapons, even if he started researching it now, it would be a long time before the cannon could be really used in the war, so long that Byron himself could not predict it.

While Byron was discussing weapons and scholarship with the engineering expert, one of his messengers hurried to the camp and handed him a letter with the royal coat of arms in clay.