Fair Warning

Madeline watched for nearly ten minutes as the column of troops slowly advanced. It was clear that the sight of the muffin hanging in the air had startled the General. He wasn't sure what it meant to see the blue and red vessel, so he slowed his troops in case it was a trap. However, once he saw the border fortress and its men on guard not in a panic about the object in the air, he decided to chance it and advanced his troops closer to the gate.

Shortly before the time declared by Madeline, King Gerard, Guy, Duke Harcourt, and Duke Taillefer arrived on the bridge of the Muffin to watch the battle. Down below on the ground, A division of Duke Harcourt's men formed up behind the gate ready for a siege attempt. Once all of the VIPs were given chairs and telescopes to view the battle, Guy turned to Madeline and nodded that it was time to demonstrate what the Muffin could do. Madeline turned to one of the crewmen and asked, "Have the gate defenders flagged us about the incoming army having hostile intentions?"

The crewmember spoke through a tube and then waited for a response, thirty seconds later, he reported back, "Message from the ground, approaching army has asked for the surrender of the border fortress. They have given fair warning. An act of war has been declared."

Madeline called out, "Fire control, starboard cannons fire one round of Cannister Shot, on my mark. Fire, fire, fire!"

"All cannons report Cannister Shot. Aye!" The crewman reported then the airship lurched violently and a sound of twenty steam cannons firing at once sounded out in a loud, 'Pssshhhhaup!' Through their telescopes the VIPs watched as the columns of men and horse suddenly exploded in a bloody mess. Trees on either side of the road shredded and fell over doing secondary damage to them. The force of four hundred thousand men was brutally decimated in the first volley from the cannons.

The King and his Dukes went pale at the sight of it. The King asked in a shaky voice, "This ship can do this much with one shot? How many shots like that can the ship do?"

Madeline answered, "You Majesty, currently the Muffin has ammunition for ten Cannister Shot barrages like you just witnessed and then ammunition for twenty single shot barrages."

Duke Harcourt said softly, "We are undefeatable."

A crewmember called out, "All tanks green, all cannons report ready!"

Another crewmember called out, "Remaining enemy forces have scattered, they are fleeing the battle. Starboard watch numbered enemy losses at approximately two hundred fifty thousand killed or wounded beyond the ability to fight."

The King looked at Madeline and asked, "How long before we could reach their capital?"

Madeline turned to her navigator, "Bearing and distance to the Gwałtowni Głupcy capital!"

A few seconds later the crewman called out, "One two zero for one hundred miles!"

Madeline looked at the King and said, "One hour."

King Gerard had a hard look on his face and asked, "How soon could we get those troops out there, Clovis?"

"My men are good, but it would take them six days at a forced march assuming we had the supplies for it. Then we'd need three weeks for the siege, if we were lucky, we could wrap up a sacking of their capital in three months?" Duke Harcourt rubbed his chin in thought.

King Gerard asked his son, "With this ship, how long would it take to sack their capital?"

"Using the troop gate and a couple of barrages from the steam cannons, we could make an entry on their capital and have troops in the city by nightfall. With at most a two day turnaround to be back here." Guy explained, then he went on, "That's, of course, assuming we didn't wish to occupy. If we want to take the entire country we would need enough troops to hold more territory. The ship is a weapon for winning a battle, not a war. Someone will still need to control the population and go house to house."

The Dukes shook their head and then Duke Taillefer uttered, "Incredible. I can't believe I have become so old and outdated. All of my experience of war and tactics is now useless in the face of just one 'Muffin'."

Duke Harcourt looked at Madeline and asked, "Lady d'Aumont, What is the top speed of this ship? How far can she go in a single day?"

Madeline looked at him and smiled, "The Muffin can reach a speed of one hundred fifty miles in an hour. In one day it is possible to visit the entire country of Pays Des Abrutis and have tea with each Ducal House."

Duke Harcourt paled and then looked at King Gerard who merely shrugged helplessly. Duke Harcourt cleared his throat and said, "I see, thank you."

Guy smiled and then said, "Our plan is to build a total of five of these ships. Along with ten smaller ships. Construction on the entire fleet at current production will be done by the end of the year. We'll station a fleet of three, one battleship and two cruisers in each territory and at the capital. Each great House will be responsible for maintaining one fleet."

Duke Harcourt and Duke Taillefer suddenly had new life in their faces. The thought of having their own ships like this turned their once complete misery into jubilation. Duke Taillefer asked, "Your Highness, may I ask what a ship like this would cost to maintain?"

"She has a crew of two hundred. The munitions are the greatest cost right now, and we used approximately four thousand gold worth of shot on that last barrage. That cost drops significantly though if you provide the raw resources. If you mine your own metals, the cost of that barrage would only be four hundred gold." Guy answered.

Duke Harcourt said out loud, "Expensive, but if we could use our own mines than it is considerably less expensive than a host of half a million men that would have been needed to fight such a large invasion force. What does the crew training cost?"

Guy looked at Madeline and then she answered in his place, "Crew training takes three months on top of the normal soldier training camp. Once you have a trained crew, you can begin training your own replacements using your existing crew."

Duke Harcourt nodded and said, "Incredible. So you are saying that a single ship and crew will cost me at most five thousand gold?."

Madeline nodded and said, "Yes your Grace, just for ammunition and crew."

King Gerard asked the other question on their minds, "What is the build cost for a battleship?"

"The Muffin cost two point six million, however the facilities, personnel, and training to create the ship cost around four hundred million. Future ships will cost around three million each. The problem is the resources needed for a ship this large are not easy to acquire in sufficient amounts. To be able to build the Muffin required us jointly cooperating with Wütendes Menschenreich who supplied the majority of the metals needed." Guy explained.

Duke Taillefer nodded and said, "It is the same for weapons and armor, we need to move south to the metal-rich areas in the untamed lands."

Duke Harcourt nodded and then said, "With a few ships like these, wouldn't it be possible to secure a foothold and push the savages back?"

King Gerard smiled at his son and then said, "We have an agreement with Wütendes Menschenreich to do just that, gentlemen. Once all five battleships are completed, we'll deploy a force to the untamed lands to conquer and expand the country. If we are able to open those mines, we'll be able to increase our fleet allowing us to decrease the infantry and fortress upkeep we are currently wasting money on and also move our labor force away from the costly military and put them to work on infrastructure. Roads, dams, farming, and mining."

Duke Harcourt whistled and then said, "We mustn't trust Wütendes Menschenreich too much, they have a history of biting their allies in the back."

King Gerard nodded and then said to Madeline, "Lady d'Aumont, please take us to the capital of Gwałtowni Głupcy. I wish to have their formal surrender by nightfall."