Muskets and cannons

As he now held the position of Protector of the Valley, he decided to start firearms production, after taking a shower, Artys came up with designs for muskets and flintlock pistols and 12-pounder cannons. He didn't have the time or resources to produce rifled muskets at the moment or percussion locks. These things required advanced machinery and a chemical stockpile of mercury fulminate, which he was far from achieving in the early stages of his development. He didn't even have a single alchemist in Runestone he could teach the science of chemistry at. As such, there was no one to make such a valuable chemical.

Once his designs were completed, he rushed the designs to Axel and informed him to start production as soon as possible. Axel was delighted with the designs and had to ask.

"These designs are centuries ahead of any weapon I've ever seen, if it really works as described, House Royce will have the most formidable army in the known world."

Artys smiled, his plans already encompassed much more than House Royce, but he had no reason to alarm the man now.

"Make sure only people under nondisclosure agreements are working on production; I don't want details about these weapons leaking."

To Axel, this was a logical request, and as such, he agreed to the young Lord's request.

"I'm going to divert some resources from the irrigation assembly line to producing these weapons you designed. The workers probably won't even know what they're doing, so don't worry."

That's right, because of the many parts of the irrigation system, Artys had implemented a rudimentary assembly line system to streamline productivity. So, as long as no one had knowledge of the finished product, except those they could trust with confidential information, then they could assemble the weapons in secret and arm their soldiers with them. Training in basic line tactics and the operation of simple but effective weapons can be achieved much more quickly than training a swordsman or spearman for war.

Artys squeezed Axel's shoulder and thanked him for his service.

"Alright, I'll head back to the castle; let me know when the first batch is made."

Axel bowed to Artys as he left.

"Of course, my lord."

***

After some time of production, the first batch of weapons had already been produced. Artys left the castle and went to the barracks where his army was being trained to use firearms and cannons. Although there were not enough muskets and 12-pounder cannons, he had already begun his training.

Each musket was given its own socket bayonet, a technology that eliminated the need for pikemen and swordsmen. The era of pike and shoot never had a chance to materialize.

The 12-pounder cannon that Artys had designed was based on the 19th-century smooth-barreled 12-pound busier Canon or more commonly known in English-speaking circles as the 1857 12-pounder Napoleon, named after Napoleon III, who commissioned it in 19th century. This cannon was light enough to be towed by horses and used as a field weapon, but fired a round heavy enough to be used effectively in sieges during the era for which it was designed. It was capable of firing projectiles, shots or solid balls. Judging by the lack of chemical industry, it currently used only ball and bowl shots.

The main differences between this artillery piece and the one used extensively during the American Civil War were that it was made of pure steel, making it sturdier than its bronze counterpart, and that it did not use the more advanced friction primer to activate the weapon. firing sequence. As was pointed out earlier, Artys had no chemical manufacturing process at the time and therefore the complex chemical sequence required to manufacture friction primers was not available.

Instead, the cannon used the older vent primer and linstock to fire the cannon. It was a slower and less reliable process, but it was still used for centuries before the invention of the friction primer, and it was the best option Artys currently had.

When the cannons roared and simultaneously fired cannon fire at the straw targets, which were placed about 400 meters away from the guns, the men watching from afar almost went mad. Hundreds of straw dolls were torn apart by the bullet provided by the three cannons. As soldiers, they had never witnessed such a destructive weapon before and could hardly believe their eyes.

Artys watched the men form lines and fire the muskets in their possession effectively. He couldn't wait until his army was fully equipped.

After directing the battalion's training during the day, Artys returned to the castle, where he intended to spend the rest of his waking hours drawing up plans for his future textile industry.