Chapter 330: Accidents and New Equipment

Fat Shi hurriedly entered Lorlist's study with a folder. Pen @ fun @ pavilion wWw. ｂｉｑUｇE。 ｉｎｆｏ

"What's wrong?" Lorist asked, looking up.

Shi Fatzi smiled bitterly and shook his head: "The Rock Legion had an accident when they were on and off the boat during the drill, and a flat-bottomed boat overturned, and twenty-five family soldiers fell into the water, and only seven people were rescued......"

The Rock Legion, the main force in the attack on the West Degrad Province of the Principality of Madras, has moved to the Blade's Edge Mountains, which is the White Rock Beach in the middle of the secret passage where the four families of Kitano Town used to smuggle, and set up a temporary camp there. From there, it takes only five or six hours to get on a boat to reach the silver beach in the province of West Dgrad. Now there are two months left before the battle time set by Lorlist, and the Rock Corps is using the Sea Corps to assist several of their sea ships in carrying out landing exercises, but they did not expect such an accident to happen.

"What happened?"

The knight of Bodfinger reported that the punt used for landing was originally a lifeboat on a sea ship, used by sailors and crews to escape. However, it is difficult for the soldiers of the Rock Legion family to grasp the balance of this small boat, and it is easy to capsize if the wind and waves are a little stronger. In addition, the soldiers are all fully armed, and the weight is very heavy, and once they fall into the water, they will sink straight to the bottom, even if they are made of driftwood lifeboards, it is useless. Now the Rock Corps has submitted a request for improvements to landing punts and marine life-saving equipment......"

Shi Fatzi opened the folder in his hand, took out a piece of brown paper and handed it to Lorliste.

Lorist stood up, his face heavy. It was their own negligence that they planned the landing operation but did not make good preparations for the landing operation, like the life-saving boats on the sea boats, which have flat bottoms and extremely poor resistance to wind and waves, and will overturn when the waves are large. If it's a sailor and a crew, it doesn't matter, everyone can swim, and the sailor camp also has this lifeboat project during training, and nothing has ever happened, because even if the boat capsizes, it can be turned over again.

But now it's a landing operation, and most of the family soldiers of the Rock Legion don't know how to water, and they are wearing standard equipment, plus weapons or something, and the ship is like a big iron block when it capsizes. The eighteen family soldiers are gone, and it will be very regretful to think of Lorist. And the driftwood lifeboard, which is a balsa wood that floats on the water, like a pillow. Generally, someone fell into the water and threw it at him, holding him and floating on the surface of the water waiting for rescue. But this will make the family soldiers sink straight to the bottom of the sea, and it will be too late to throw the driftwood lifeboard and catch it!

Lorist picked up a quill and drew a picture of a life jacket and lifebuoy on a blank piece of paper: "This drawing was sent to the Ironforge production base, and the head of the Camorra ordered someone to rush out. The life jacket is stuffed with small pieces of driftwood in the vest, and this lifebuoy is made of driftwood into a circle and put around the person's waist so that it will not sink. ”

With life jackets and lifebuoys, you don't have to worry about falling into the water for the time being. But what about this landing vessel? If a wing is inserted into the sea under the bottom of the boat, it can indeed make it difficult for the boat to capsize. But landing became a problem, and the punt could rush onto the beach in one go, and if there was an extra wing under the boat, it would not be able to get close to the beach. The landing time was set for the end of December, and at that time it was almost fatal to have the family soldiers wade ashore, and no one could stand the temperature of the sea, which had to freeze.

By the way, you can't add wings under the bottom of the ship, you can add flat plates on both sides of the boat, and increasing the force area of the ship on the sea surface can also make the ship not easy to capsize. Lorist had a flash of inspiration in his head, and there he was. First I drew a flat-bottomed landing ship on paper, and then I drew a stick across the boat, the two ends of the stick were two large plates pressed against the sea, and a small boat had three sticks with large plates at each end, and the gap between them did not affect the paddle on the boat.

"Okay, so be it, these three balance bars are movable and do not affect the transportation of the landing ship. Put the boat in the sea first, and then load the soldiers after installing these three balance bars, so that it is not easy to capsize. You send someone to send this drawing to the Oxhorn Bay shipyard, build a few and send it to Bodfinger for him to test, and also send a few craftsmen to the site, and if there is a need for improvement, you can change it. Lorist handed the drawings to Shi Fatzi and said.

Shi Fatzi nodded, and took out another document from the folder: "My lord, this is the report of the Chasseur Legion." At present, the Chosk and Yuri knights have selected more than 28,000 soldiers who are good at riding horses in various regiments and garrisons, and have formed the 1st Chasseur Regiment of 15,000 men, divided into five battalions, each battalion of 3,000 men, divided into four combat brigades, a chariot steel crossbow brigade and a logistics baggage brigade, 5,000 war horses, 100 steel crossbow chariots, and 100 four-wheeled freight carts. The 2nd Chasseur Regiment is in the process of being formed, and is currently recruiting soldiers in the family domain. ”

"Well?" said Loristech, "Why do the Chasseur regiments need to be equipped with chariot steel crossbows? They are responsible for flexible and fast mobile guerrillas, and not being equipped with chariot steel crossbows slows down the speed?"

Shi Fatzi looked at the document: "My lord, the Chosk knight said that this is to protect the logistics of the hunting cavalry regiment, and to avoid being attacked by the enemy when attacking the enemy's grain, grass and horses." People can still find a way to make do with what they don't eat, but if there are so many horses and no horse feed, the chaser regiment will be completely finished. ”

Lorist thought for a while and nodded: "Okay, since Josk and Yuri are in charge of forming the Chasseur Corps, then I trust their judgment, and these steel crossbow chariots they need can be ordered to be allocated to them by the Chief of Camorra." ”

"One more thing, Josk and Yuri jointly submitted a request, which was handed in yesterday, asking us to determine the long-range weapons and standard equipment used by the Chasseur Regiment, so that the 1st Chasseur Regiment can be trained as soon as possible to form combat effectiveness. They believe that the current standard armament of the family soldiers is not suitable for the use of chasseurs, and hopes that the family can provide lighter, stronger and more durable standard armor. ”

"I know about this, I don't need them to destroy it, Master Sid and Master Falin will be here with samples this afternoon. You can come and see it in the afternoon, and I've ordered El's guards to send a message to Joe and Yuri, so that they can come too. Lorist said, "Is there anything else?"

Shi Fatzi picked up another document: "My lord, this is the official report submitted by Chief Speer. In the past two years, our family has spent money like water. Last year, 20 guard battalions were reorganized, and nearly 3 million gold fords were spent, as well as the relocation of emancipated slaves to Northland and the development of Taichuanyuan in western Northland, with a budget of nearly 1 million. Add in some extra spending, and last year alone our family overspent nearly five million Kingford.

Although the arms deal with the Fisabrun family is estimated to earn 5 million this year, you have allocated 1 million research and development funds to Master Sid and the gunpowder laboratory, as well as 2 million gold fords for the purchase of warships by the Sea Legion, and some gifts of daily necessities, armament purchases, pensions and rewards have also reached almost 1 million, almost all the profits from the arms trade with the Fisabrun family have been spent.

Now we are going to form a new cavalry army, which is estimated to cost no less than three million, and the budget for the war you are going to launch against the Duchy of Madras will not be less than one million, plus the cost of helping the Kenmax family and the Shahin family to replace their territories, which is also the cost of one million goldfords. In addition, there are some messy expenditures such as supporting the opening of Dawn Academy in Northland, and it is expected that this year it will overspend by more than 6 million.

So Director Speer sent this official letter to remind us not to be extravagant. Even if we destroy the Kingdom of Haneyabada and seize this slave kingdom, the savings of decades are as high as 27 million gold merits, but if you spend money like this, my lord, in two or three years, the family will have no money......"

Lorist laughed disapprovingly: "That's what Speer is like, I wish the vault was full of gold coins." In fact, you also know that it is impossible to produce small gold coins in the vault, and there is a high possibility of depreciation, maybe a cow can be bought for five gold fords now, and it will cost seven or eight in a few years. Only by letting the gold coins enter the market circulation can you earn more gold coins in the future. Just because I'm spending more now doesn't mean I'm spending money indiscriminately, it's all about investing and laying the foundation for the future of my family. ”

Shi Fatzi smiled bitterly and said: "My lord, this is 27 million gold fords, what you said makes sense, but even if it is an investment, I suspect that your grandson's grandson's generation will not be able to recover this money from the family territory." If we don't form a new legion for new development and don't start a war, in fact, our family's income and expenditure situation in the past two years is very good, and if you save a little, you may still have a net income of more than 100,000 yuan.

Another point, my lord, the family implements the policy of hiding the blessings of the people, and the four places that have been developed so far, namely Phuilewon, Hung Yen Won, Honghewon, and Beihai City, only collect 40 percent of the tax families, 30 percent from the families of local garrison members, and 20 percent from the families of soldiers and administrative officials who have served. The knights of the family charge ten percent. Although these taxes offset the cost of administrative expenses and have some surplus, they do little to help the huge military expenses of the family's armed forces.

At present, the expenditure of the family's armed military expenses is mainly based on the purchase and sale of various workshops and workshops run by the family, thanks to the dumping of the Fisabrun family territory and the Iberian kingdom by the Snow Salt Chamber of Commerce from our family in large quantities of snow salt and daily necessities. But as you said, once the Fisabrun family opens a trade route to the four central principalities, it will obviously reduce its dependence on the procurement and supply of materials from the Snow Salt Chamber of Commerce, and at that time, I am afraid that the huge military expenditure of the family's armed forces will become a burden......

My lord, Speer has made a proposal to raise all taxes in the family domain by 10 percent, to increase the 30 percent stake in the privately run workshops and shops to 50 percent, and to increase the tax to 30 percent to those small private shops such as snack bars and small grocery stores, which originally charged only 10 percent. Compared with the sixty or seventy percent tax of the nobles in other territories, even if we increase it, we are still very kind to Sensitivity. And in this way, we will earn more than 300,000 gold fords every year, which is almost half of the military expenditure of the family's armed forces. ”

Lorist shook his head: "Raising the tax rate is the stupidest idea, and there is a way to get the gold out of the pockets of civilians." Put this report from Director Speer here, and I'll write him a reply at the time. I am grateful for his advice on the family's expenses, but I cannot take his advice, as it would lose the trust and loyalty of the commoners in our family domain. ”

"Alright then, I'll go out and let someone do what the adults have to do. See you in the afternoon. Fat Shi turned around and went out.

......

At noon, she had lunch with the big-bellied Diliana, she was six months pregnant, her belly was very big, and the pharmacist who came to check said that it was likely to be twins, and she needed to supplement more nutrition, so now the young aunt of the Dina family has become extremely plump as if she was blowing, almost twice as big as before, in addition to the change in figure, she is also very sleepy, and she yawns and goes to take a nap just after lunch.

As for Miss Diner, because of her successful promotion to the silver rank, she happily took her sister Miss Diner II to visit her younger brother at Nicol's Academy, and prepared to hold a ceremony there to make herself the female knight and acting head of the Diner family, and then transfer the power of the head of the family when her younger brother was eighteen years old and an adult. It will probably be a while before we return to Rock Castle.

Lorist also went to take a nap, got up and went to the study, and after more than an hour Schward came in to report that Master Sid and Master Farin's carriage had arrived, and that Knight Joske and Knight Yuri had been waiting in the reception room downstairs for a long time.

"Let them go to the conference room on the third floor, which has a large square next to the back hill. If Master Sid and Master Falin bring long-range crossbow weapons, they can just practice there and see if Josk and Yuriman are not satisfied. Also, you call Knight Schrader over to check it out. Lorist said.

"Yes, sir. ”

Soon everyone gathered in the reception room on the third floor of the central castle, this time Master Sid and Master Falin brought three large chests, the first large box contained a set of wire chain mail, which was completely different from the standard armor style that the Norton family was equipped with now, this set of wire chain mail helmet was a hat-style, like a round pointed shield.

Master Sid explained, "My lord, you said that the equipment that the Chasers need is light and strong, and I asked many family soldiers who had been Scout Light Cavalry, and I took their suggestions to design this set of Chaser standard equipment. Since the newly formed Chasseur of our family is based on the Ranger of the Fisabrun family as an imaginary enemy, and the standard equipment of the Ranger is also produced by our family, the standard equipment of this set of Chasers is also improved according to the characteristics of the Ranger, which is lighter, more flexible, stronger and more defensive than the standard equipment of the 103 Cavalry sold to the Fisabrun family.

The main means of attack of the Chasseurs and Rangers is medium and long-range attacks, the Rangers often dismount at a distance of 100 meters from the enemy, launch three consecutive shots with a longbow, and then mount their horses and go away, which is the main means of harassment, and the medium range is a stone crossbow with an effective range of 50 meters, and the closer point is the use of throwing spears and throwing axes. Therefore, as a chasper, it is mainly the ranged attacks of the rangers, rather than the dash of our family lancers.

The strongest defense against ranged attacks is chain mail, and we used steel wire to make this sample, which is stronger against ranged attacks than plate armor, especially this hat helmet, as long as you put down your head then the longbow projectile is useless, and even can be used as a shield for self-defense in hand-to-hand combat. As for this set of wire chain mail, there is also a set of black magic cowhide armor on the outside, which not only increases the defensive power, but also keeps warm and windproof, and plays a role in shelter.

In addition, we also designed a steel wire vest with a front inlay for the war horse, which provided necessary protection for the vital points on the front of the mount. The weight of the entire set of equipment plus the horse armor is one-fifth lighter than the standard equipment of the 103 cavalry of the Fisabrun family, ensuring that the weight and durability of the mount can be maximized. In addition, we have standardized the saddle stirrups and other accessories on the horses, which are more durable, lightweight, and durable than the old-fashioned saddle stirrups you use today......"

"Good. Lorist nodded in approval, "Thank you for your efforts, Master Sid, Master Falin. I'm very happy with this set of chaser equipment. You're very thoughtful, but can you keep up with the production capacity?"

Master Sid was very happy to receive Lorlist's praise: "Of course, my lord, now this kind of steel wire is drawn using water conservancy machinery, and I have redesigned and made a set of mechanical equipment, which can easily break this steel wire and buckle it into a ring. Except for the need for manpower in weaving, nothing else is troublesome. I estimate that 1,000 people can produce 1,000 sets a day. ”

"Okay, then the Chasers will use this standard equipment, and I will instruct the Chief of the Camorra to arrange for the manpower to complete the needs of the legion as soon as possible. But Master Sid, what did you design the Chasseur's ranged weapon with? I hope the Chaser has a ranged weapon that can beat the Rangers, so that I can increase my certainty against the Rangers. Lorist asked.

"Hehe, my lord, please come and admire the masterpiece that Master Falin and I have worked so hard to design. Master Sid opened the second large chest, and Master Falin pulled out a strangely shaped crossbow.

"My lord, this is the Cross Crossbow, the new long-range weapon!"

...... (To be continued.) )