85_85536 After returning to his room, William did not rest. Or rather, he simply didn't have time to rest. Since you have said that you want to protect Xia Lumi, you have to put it into action. After bringing the body back and confirming that it was a Slavic corpse, as William had claimed, it was. The general mobilization of the Chersk Countdom began.

It's just that the situation is not satisfactory.

Although the economic situation of the Chersk county has recovered well during these ten years, the military situation of the territory is very bad.

William once went into the arsenal of his family's Hereford Castle. It was stocked with waxed and well-maintained spears, halberds and swords, covered in patent leather with the herriford family coat of arms and the shield of the Slanting Moon Cross.

Other exotic weapons, such as battle axes, chains, and hammers, are also in small reserves. There were also fifty pairs of war bows, two hundred hanging bowstrings, twenty pairs of crossbows, and enough arrows and arrows to accompany them, a large amount of black powder, fuses, fire oil, and other military supplies -- these flammable and explosive dangerous goods were well stored in special dry, unventilated warehouses.

William pushed himself and others, only thinking that all nobles would treat armaments so strictly. But that's not the case at all. Putting aside other people's homes for the time being, just looking at Xia Lumi's place, it is much worse than his own.

In the arsenal of the entire Chersk Countdom, there were only about a hundred spears in total. And the maintenance is quite poor, the gun head is rusty, and the wooden rod of the gun body is also rotten.

The same is true for other weapons and equipment, with leather and wooden poles showing signs of moth-eaten rat bites. The bow and crossbow are loose and loose, either stiff or directly soft. There was no oil at all. The books said there were 200 kilograms of gunpowder. William walked around the storeroom several times, but couldn't find it.

Then he looked at the steward who was in charge of the storehouse with red eyes, "Where's the gunpowder?"

Then, with the finger of the trembling steward, William saw a garbage heap in a corner of the storeroom mixed with a pile of debris, dust, grease and so on...... William had always thought it was a garbage heap.

The amount of gunpowder was not two hundred kilograms, and even with other garbage, the total was not two hundred kilograms. Whether it was used to make fireworks or eaten by rats or something, this is unknown.

And more importantly, the gunpowder has come together. Together with the garbage, it formed a big hard lump.

Of course, such gunpowder cannot be used.

"Otherwise, you can dig it up with an axe or a shovel or something?"

Seeing William getting more and more angry, getting more and more angry, he felt that if he continued like this, he would probably have to finish the warehouse steward, so he cautiously put forward such an opinion.

William almost couldn't hold back a slap to death - he was going to die, don't drag himself along, bastard.

Soon, however, William adjusted his feelings. He looked at the man in charge with a smirk. Then he said:

"So, to make meritorious service to the guilt, since it is you who proposed this proposal, it is up to you to do this work, and if it is done, I will spare your life, how about it?"

Of course, the steward of the treasury had no experience in doing heavy labor. But he didn't hesitate to agree.

After that, William told the guards to carefully get up with the bricks that had been glued together with the large black powder block, and then transport the large block out of the castle. Arrived in the open space outside the castle.

After being transported two or three miles away, William felt that it was almost there. Then he led the person away, nodded to the steward in an "encouraging" tone, and said, "In twenty minutes, you can begin." With that, he returned to the castle.

At this moment, the person in charge also felt a little that things were not as simple as he imagined. It's like a pit. And what is even more tragic is that this pit was dug by himself...... However, even if it were, it was too late for him to regret it.

At the same time, Charlumie, who was a little inexplicable about this matter, stood on this side of the city wall according to William's previous instructions. When William returned, he asked:

"What the hell are you doing, what the hell are you going to do?"

"Speaking of which, we've talked about black powder weapons before, right?" said William to Charlumie.

"Well, yes, what's wrong?" asked Charlumie.

"Then that's easy to say. Look over there, there's a fireworks show in a while. ”

"Fireworks Display—"

Charlumi still felt strange, and was about to ask, "Where did the fireworks show come from?" when she heard a loud "boom!" The whole block of gunpowder exploded, and the person in charge flew dozens of meters high......

As I said before, entertainment in this era is very scarce. In addition to the above-mentioned horseback riding, hunting, fencing, and chess. Theater troupes, operas, ballets, concerts, etc., are only available in particularly developed, large cities. As for the more advanced things, like zoos, circuses, public gardens, movies, etc. None of these things......

So Charlumi hadn't seen fireworks or anything at all...... Of course, I haven't seen a trapeze. At this moment, William pulled him to watch it, and this one unexpectedly found it very interesting.

"Look, that guy flies so high!" said Charlotine, taking William's arm and pointing to the man in charge in mid-air, jumping up and down excitedly. It was so cute. Cute Nao wants to kiss her.

“...... What's the matter, what are you looking at?" Charlumi's senses were as sharp as ever. After William was stunned, he turned to look at him, and then smiled triumphantly and eagerly.

"Didn't see anything. So William blushed a little and turned his head.

That's it, tragicomedy full of black humor...... This is a microcosm of William's armament policy in the Chersk Countdom. After this, William felt that everything he did was not going well.

Without enough armaments in the arsenal, it was impossible to arm all the mobilized peasants. And even if you exhaustively study the blacksmith shops and blacksmith workshops in various towns and farms. Nor could they come up with enough equipment to arm two thousand or several hundred peasant soldiers.

As a last resort, William had no choice but to give the three hundred sets of spears and shields he could get his hands on to the nearest farmsteads to Chersk Castle, as well as to the castle towns attached to Chersk Castle.

All the troops in these farms and towns are not actually there to defend their territory. Instead, when something really happens, enter the castle and assist in the defense.

In other words, William's tactic was to abandon all peripheral positions as soon as this was not possible. Alone hold on to the fortified stronghold of the Chersk Castle.

However, this is not to say that the farmsteads on the outskirts of Chersk Castle and the small town have no defense of their own. Iron-clad farming tools, iron, and copper farm tools, as well as kitchen knives, straw knives, and other household items can also arm a rabble. I really can't do it, I went to the forest and folded a stick to use it, so I can make do with it.

At the same time, in some of the more affluent towns, there were also merchants and gentry with guards. Due to the weather and season, some caravans and mercenaries stranded in the town also have a certain amount of armament. According to the written law of the Ostrogothic Empire, once the local lord requested it. Then these people must also hand over their arms to help.

In this way, these mobilized rabble, not to mention how much of a role they can play, can also scare some bandits of the same level as them......

In addition to these armaments, William also forcibly collected a few barrels of gunpowder from several merchants. After inspecting the bronze cannons on the castle and finding that the quality was completely fine, the Count of Chersk had one of the best tools for defending the city.

"This simple and primitive breech-loading bronze cannon...... It's really ......" With the help of his psychic reading ability, William saw through the casting process and casting method similar to that of small artillery. I couldn't help but want to complain in my heart - these cannons are definitely not produced by regular manufacturers, and are made by professional cannon casting masters - looking at this flare-shaped cannon body, William feels that this thing is more like an elongated bell than artillery.

However, there is no way to do it, and it can even be taken for granted.

In the early stages of the popularity of artillery. There simply aren't that many professional gunsmiths who provide enough artillery. And large metal castings such as artillery are not something that ordinary blacksmiths can make.

At that time, the craftsmen who mastered the manufacturing process of large metal castings were more likely to be craftsmen who cast bells for various churches. It is not inconceivable that the cannon forged from these two knives will develop in the direction of the bell.

"This kind of thing, most of the other places have been eliminated. William thought to himself: "I don't want the breech-mounted steel tube to be withdrawn, but I have to have a bronze Napoleonic cannon to use for me, when will I be able to use such a good thing?"

Of course, William could only think about it so far. In a few years, he would never be able to use that kind of thing.

In this way, the artillery is available, although it is not too satisfying, but it can be used reluctantly. Of course, with gunpowder, it is useless without shells. And like all the reserves of the Chersk Countate. Whether it's a solid large buckshot, a polished round stone projectile, a cast iron projectile, a flowering projectile, a grape bullet, a shotgun...... None of these things