Translator: Exodus Tales Editor: Exodus Tales Laurist did not know that the second prince had made up his mind to attack the Norton family. He had even thought that the second prince's last letter was because the second prince had gone crazy. How dare he set such harsh conditions for the Norton family? What did he think he was? Was he trying to scare him? Being sick in the head was not enough to describe the second prince's madness.
If not for the fact that the family's energy was focused on the development of the Black Clay Swamp, Laurist really wanted to lead the family's armed forces to teach the second prince a lesson. However, seeing that the second prince did not continue, Laurist did not care. He thought that the big "*" in his reply was a slap to the second prince's face, enough to wake him up.
At this moment, Laurist was standing on a huge wooden tank. That's right, this was what Laurist called the latest steel crossbow tank. In order to satisfy Laurist's request, Master Fallin had spent a lot of effort to create a huge super crossbow. It was about three times the size of the standard crossbow used in war chariots. Just the 3.6-meter-long armor-piercing arrowhead alone was more than twice the weight of the lances used by the Telman Knights.
In order to store this huge super crossbow, Master Fallin had gathered skilled carpenters to build a huge flatbed cart to make it easier to move and transport. When Laurist realized that there were one, two, three, four, and five pairs of wooden wheels under the flatbed cart, he insisted on calling this seven-meter-long flatbed cart a tank.
Unfortunately, this tank did not have its own propulsion system, so it moved very slowly. It took fifteen days to drag it from the Blade Edge Mountain Range's crossbow factory to the Black Clay Swamp with ten pack horses. Then, one of the large wooden wheels got stuck in a small pit. Laurist gathered fifty family soldiers and ten pack horses, and it took him half a day to drag the entire flatbed tank out.
"There's nothing we can do. When this super crossbow is fired, the vibration is too strong. Normal cars would fall apart from the vibration. So this flatbed cart is basically solid, and it probably weighs more than five thousand pounds … "Master Fallin explained, a little embarrassed.
"Master Falin, what you've built is basically a road roller. Didn't you notice that the flatbed chariot's path has become much smoother?" Laurist laughed. "Tell me about the power of this super crossbow."
After this little incident, Loriste felt that it was better to call it a flatbed tank. Although it also had five pairs of wheels, it did not have any power, so the difference was too big.
"The main problem now is the iron bolt. Using iron to make such a long bolt is a bit too heavy. It affects the shooting range, but the damage is multiplied. The direct shooting distance is around five hundred meters, but we can guarantee that even if it's twice the size of the Ironback Bay Crocodiles, let alone a dozen meters long, it can still kill it in one shot." Falin was very confident in the steel crossbow he had made.
"Iron Spine Bay Crocodile! Be careful, the Ironback Bay Crocodiles are coming, a total of three! Ahead on the left, one big and two small! Attention, tank crossbows, prepare to fire! "
The shouts of the sentries came from ahead. This was the first time in the past two months that Si Kong had seen anything strange. Everyone busied themselves with their own matters. Either way, these Ironback Bay Crocodiles would be dealt with by the tank battalion's steel crossbows.
Laurist had drawn up a plan to develop the Black Clay Swamp with three paths at the same time. The left path was the trench and wall construction from Crouching Bull hill to Turtle Mountain. Right now, they could not provoke the Ironback Bay Crocodiles, so they were safe. The right path was from the Blade Edge Mountains. From the top of the mountains to the Black Clay Swamp to the highlands by the sea, the Ironback Bay Crocodiles obviously would not join in the fun. Also, magical beasts like the Ironback Bay Crocodiles had no interest in the sea at all. They always stayed far away from the sea, so there was no need to consider the threat of the Ironback Bay Crocodiles.
In other words, the middle path was to pave a path through the Black Clay Swamp to the highlands by the sea. Ever since they entered the Black Clay Swamp and began building the path, the Ironback Bay Crocodiles would attack from time to time. Almost two hundred of them had been killed.
Laurist jumped down from the flatbed chariot and ran to the front to take a look. In the Black Clay Swamp a hundred meters away, three muddy ripples were currently heading in his direction. According to the muddy ripples, Laurist estimated that the two smaller ones at the side were not large, around three or four meters long. The one in the middle was slightly larger, around seven meters. It was perfect for him to test the power of the super crossbow that Master Fallin had created.
"You guys back up and drive the chariot to the side of the flatbed chariot. Let the three Ironback Bay Crocodiles come over. You guys will be responsible for the two smaller ones, and the super crossbow will take the big one," Laurist ordered.
Laurist had no choice but to do this. After all, moving the flatbed chariot to where he was standing would take a long time. It was better to move the chariot in front back and let the three Ironback Bay Crocodiles come over.
The five chariot soldiers in front were very willing to do this. In order to increase the power of the crossbow, and to prevent the Ironback Bay Crocodiles from falling into the swamp, they put the Ironback Bay Crocodiles on the roadbed fifty meters away before they started killing them. Just like that, some of the larger Ironback Bay Crocodiles posed a threat to the chariots. The thick skin of these crocodiles was too strong, and the 1.2 meter long iron crossbow bolts were still as fierce as before. They would only die if they were shot in the head.
Everyone wanted to see the power of the super crossbow, so they quickly retreated to the side of the flatbed chariot and waited.
The three Ironback Bay Crocodiles were on the roadbed, and their speed was greatly reduced on the uneven ground. They did not have the agility and agility that they had in the muddy water, which made it easier for the crossbow to aim.
There was a deafening "bang", followed by a "weng weng weng" sound of the steel wire string that made people uneasy. Laurist instinctively felt a black shadow that could not be seen with the naked eye flash past him. Seventy meters away, the Ironback Gulf Crocodile that was more than seven meters in length was already nailed to the ground. It only struggled a few times before it stopped moving.
"Good!" Laurist shouted excitedly. With such a super crossbow in hand, would they be afraid of the four to five meters tall Ironback Bay Crocodiles?
Just as he was about to turn around and praise the archer, the scene in front of him immediately made him dumbfounded.
He saw that the archer who had aimed and fired the crossbow was trembling like a pendulum. The two assistants beside him were patting his shoulders and massaging his arms and body.
"What's wrong with him?" Laurist asked.
"Sir, this is another weakness of this super steel crossbow. One person can only shoot once because the vibration of the steel crossbow frame and the steel wire crossbow string will cause every shooter who comes into contact with this super steel crossbow to become like this. He needs to rest for more than half an hour before he can recover, and we can't let him shoot again today in case something happens to his body. But it doesn't matter, we've prepared ten archers for this super crossbow, and they can take turns. "Master Falin explained.
Loriste carefully examined the super ballista and realized that it was the same as the war chariot ballista. There was only one support column, but this support column was about three times the diameter of the war chariot ballista's support column. On top of the pillar was a large steel ball, and there was a hole dug in the wooden beam below the super crossbow to cover the steel ball. This way, it was convenient for the super crossbow to move up, down, left and right when aiming, and the archer had to use his shoulder to tightly press against the back half of the crossbow. After aiming, he pulled the trigger and fired the crossbow bolt. No wonder it was shaken like this by the vibration after firing.
Laurist sighed inwardly, thinking that it was a big mistake to let Falin, a master crossbow, improve the longbow. He wanted the archer cavalry unit to have a cavalry bow that was as powerful as the longbow on horseback, but he had given this task to Master Falin, but there had been no progress. It seemed like the main reason was that Master Falin didn't have the ability to innovate.
Leurist had asked him to design a powerful steel crossbow, and Master Falin had copied him. He had enlarged the tank's steel crossbow by three times. Whether it was the support column or the size of the steel crossbow, this three times magnification was perfect. It left people speechless.
One arrow per person, so be it. The war chariot battalion was already a division anyway, and they had the numbers. At worst, they could just line up and take turns shooting. One arrow per person would definitely kill the Iron Spine Bay Crocodiles.
"Master Falin, I'm very satisfied with this super crossbow. I'll have to trouble you to make two more. I think that with three of these super crossbows, the Iron Spine Bay Crocodiles of the Black Clay Swamp won't be a threat to our family soldiers. "Laurist said.
"Understood, my lord. We will make the other two super crossbows as soon as possible and send them to the Black Clay Swamp." Receiving Laurist's approval, Master Falin smiled happily and immediately agreed to Laurist's request.
… …
At the end of the fifth month, the commander of the Monolith Castle's First Guard Battalion, Ovis, sent a letter to Laurist overnight.
The messenger who sent the letter said that this letter was sent to Monolith Castle at noon yesterday. A knight came to Monolith Castle and shot an arrow at the tower before leaving. Commander Ovis discovered that there was a letter wrapped around the arrow. He untied it and saw that it was addressed to Baron Norton. Urgent, urgent. He didn't dare to delay and sent a small group of people to rush through the afternoon and night to deliver this letter to Laurist.
There was a Z-shaped insignia on the letter, and it looked familiar. After thinking for a long time, he remembered that this was the family insignia of Knight Henned, Baron Shahin. Opening the letter, Laurist was furious. He hadn't even gone to settle the score with the second prince, and the second prince was already bullying him.
Knight Henned's letter was very simple. He said that he went to Gildos City to attend the Northern Noble Fellowship and heard the second prince's announcement of a crusade against the Norton family. The crime was that the Norton family had disrespected the Iberian royal family and repeatedly disobeyed the second prince's orders. They didn't hand in their annual tribute and even accepted the title of Earl from the Andinac royal family without permission. This was equivalent to rebellion, so the second prince wanted to send troops.
Knight Henned said that he was already under house arrest by the second prince. The second prince forced him to send ten thousand men to assist in the crusade against the Norton family. He wrote this letter in secret and sent it back to the Shahin family along with the transfer order. Then, he sent someone to Monolith Castle to deliver the letter. Knight Henned said that he would think of a way to delay it. Coupled with the other northern lords' delay in sending troops, he estimated that the second prince and the northern noble army would arrive at Monolith Castle before the 20th of June. He hoped that Laurist would be prepared. In addition, Earl Kenneth was under house arrest just like him. His family would probably have to send troops to assist in the battle …
Damn! Can't they just let me farm in peace? I don't want to participate in the so-called war games of those ambitious nobles. I just want to develop my family's territory. Why do people always have ideas about me? Do they really think that the Norton family is a pushover? It seemed that the lesson from Duke Lujins, the Grand Duke of the North, was not enough to leave a deep impression on the people. In that case, he would use the second prince as a warning to the others. Let's see who else dares to provoke the Norton family in the future …
"Pass down my order. All the labourers in the three roads that are developing the Black Clay Swamp are to stop their work and wait for orders in the camp. All the knights in the three roads are to rush here today. I want to call for a meeting …"
Laurist gave the order to the guards. In an instant, messengers rushed out from the camp and rushed in all directions.
In the evening, the small tent was filled to the brim with dozens of family knights. Many of the knights were covered in dust. Everyone was curious as to why Loriste would suddenly summon the family knights for this meeting. Had something happened?
Redi opened the curtains at the back of the tent, and Laurist walked in with a tense expression.
"Greetings, my lord!" Bofinger shouted. All the family knights in the tent stood at attention and saluted with their hands on their chests.
Laurist nodded, "At ease. Sit down."
"I called everyone here today because I have bad news to inform everyone. The second prince has lost his mind. The last time he wrote me a letter, he asked me to meet him. He also asked for our family to give him five hundred thousand gold fords and ten million kilograms of snow salt as an annual tribute. I rejected him. Now he wants to summon the nobles in the north to send troops to attack our family. They will be here soon. "
"Boom!" The tent immediately became noisy. What surprised Laurist was that almost everyone had an excited expression on their faces. He really couldn't understand why people were so happy when they were going to war.
"Loke, your plan is great. Last time, you asked us to change the arrow wounds on the magical beasts to stab and spear wounds. Now, a bunch of idiots have come to get beaten up …" Er said happily.
Laurist's face darkened. In all honesty, he had instructed Aire to change the arrow marks on the magical beasts to something else because he didn't want outsiders to know that his family already had such powerful war chariots and ballistae. Laurist understood the principle of not showing off one's wealth. Another reason was that Laurist wanted to use the wounds on the magical beasts to tell others how powerful the Norton Family's army was. Even such ferocious magical beasts had died under the blades of the Norton Family's army.
Unfortunately, Laurist did not understand that the second prince had interpreted the wounds on the magical beasts from a different angle. Instead, he came to the conclusion that the Norton Family's army had suffered heavy losses in defending against the magical beast wave. That was why he decided to use force against the Norton Family. If Laurist knew about this, he could only sigh at his own cleverness for bringing about a war.
"Sir, don't worry. With the strength of our family's army, defeating the second prince's northern noble army is not a problem. Not only do we have to defeat the enemy this time, we have to capture more captives … "Bofinger represented all the family knights and expressed their determination and fighting spirit to win this battle.
"Capture more captives? You want us to give you food to capture captives? Are you going to feed them? "Laurist scolded jokingly, not minding it at all. It was a good thing that everyone was confident of winning. However, they seemed to be a little too eager to fight. Hearing that war was approaching, they were all unusually happy. How strange. Why did it feel like so many people were so eager to fight?
"It's good to have the determination to win, but we cannot be careless. Our family's army is strong, and we have to teach the second prince and the other nobles a lesson. We have to stop them from coveting our family's territory and wealth. However, the situation on the battlefield is unpredictable, and everyone has to be careful. We don't want to be bitten by a rabid dog before victory comes. That way, even if we win, we will lose more than we gain. I hope everyone will be careful, "Laurist reminded.
"Since the enemy is coming soon, we have to prepare for battle. Now, I order that the development of the Black Clay Swamp be temporarily suspended. Within five days, the guards in the family's territory will return to their original positions and be prepared to be mobilized at any time. All the family's regular army will gather at Monolith Castle and rest. The reserve soldiers who have already been training for two months will immediately be assigned to active duty. Quickly familiarize yourself with the new formation and prepare for battle, "Laurist ordered.
"Yes, sir!"
…
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