Munitions Empire

A row of soldiers dressed in bright yellow military uniforms, neatly lifted their rifles to their shoulders at the command, aimed at the distant targets, and pulled the triggers under their index fingers.

"Bang!" A concentrated volley of gunshots echoed across the drill field, with white smoke spewing out from the barrels, rolling in front of this line of soldiers and refusing to dissipate for a long time.

"Reload!" The officer standing beside this row of soldiers shouted the command, lifting his chin high.

The soldiers set down their rifles, pulled the bolts on the sides of their rifles, and began to clean the gunpowder residue and the partially burnt paper cartridge from the barrels.

Their movements were somewhat awkward, but it was clear that they had already developed some familiarity with these new type of rifles.

This weapon was more powerful than any flintlock gun they had ever seen and would give them an advantage in the imminent war.

Therefore, every one of them trained very diligently and cherished the rifles they held.

"My lord!" An officer with a longsword at his waist approached the middle-aged man dressed in a black cloak, standing at the edge of the drill field, and bowed slightly.

"Mhm. They performed very well," Fisheo lowered the monocular he was holding, very satisfied with the rifle volley.

Tang Mo had brought three sample Quick Guns when he had presented them to him, and all these samples had been left behind in Northern Ridge.

Count Fisheo, a veteran of many campaigns, made immediate use of the three Quick Guns to train all the officers first.

He personally explained to these officers the skills of shooting. Then he let these officers try out the new guns, learn their structure, and familiarize themselves with the new operating methods.

Subsequently, Tang Mo returned to Brunas with supplies. The convoy he escorted brought back ten more Quick Guns from the stockpile to Northern Ridge. Thus, the lord earl had thirteen of Tang Mo's manufactured Quick Guns at his disposal.

Also brought back was the confirmed news that Tang Mo could produce Quick Guns! This information reassured Lord Earl and he also ordered a new batch of production materials to be sent to Tang Mo.

In the past month or so, Lord Earl had been using these Quick Guns to train his guard. He hoped to immediately commence widespread military adoption once the next batch of Quick Guns arrived at Northern Ridge.

The earl tucked the monocular back into the leather case at his waist, gesturing to the officer before him to relax a bit.

The officer eased up slightly, no longer so stiff, and began complaining to Lord Earl, "We still have too few Quick Guns on hand, sir. It's really troublesome for the soldiers to train in turns."

Fisheo was also somewhat anxious, but he didn't show it, explaining, "There's no helping it, we were only provided with thirteen of these Quick Guns. I can only use the weapons at hand to rotate training so that every soldier can master the new weapon."

The officer looked at Fisheo with some anticipation and asked, "So, my lord, when will the new weapons arrive?"

"Tagg's letter said he will soon be escorting a batch of new guns back to Wolf City," the earl said, patting the officer's arm to soothe his own officer, smiling as he spoke.

"Again with 'soon', but we're running out of time," the officer muttered quietly, somewhat dissatisfied with Tagg's delay.

Earl Fisello laughed lightly, masking a hint of bitterness, "There's not much we can do; all we can do is wait. The good news is, the war won't break out immediately. We still have a bit of time..."

Recently, the neighbors to the north had been restless but had disclosed some issues—time was not on the side of the war because winter was approaching.

Once in winter, warfare would be plagued with difficulties. The best solution would be to wait until the arrival of next spring.

That way, on the one hand, they could use the war to destroy Northern Ridge's farmland during the busy farming season, wreaking havoc on Northern Ridge's agriculture; on the other hand, the weather would also be more suitable for combat, favoring large troop movements, which would benefit Suthers Kingdom with its superior military forces.

"The Suthers Kingdom's military is moving frequently; we should start conscripting new soldiers," the officer suggested.

"Having those peasants pick up weapons is nothing but a desecration of life; they know nothing and would only be heading for a one-way ticket to death on the battlefield," Earl Fisello still opposed to expanding the army, for he lacked both the ample military supplies and the time to train peasants into soldiers.

Each soldier in the Northern Ridge Legion had undergone at least two years of rigorous training; in Earl Fisello's eyes, new recruits trained within three to four months were no different from cannon fodder.

The officer who was more supportive of the expansion of the military and war preparations spoke up once again, persuading Lord Earl, "But they can halt the enemy's advance and win us enough time for our elite soldiers."

Ultimately, Earl Fisello still did not agree to his suggestion and shook his head, saying, "I'll think about it some more! If Tagg comes back, you must inform me at once!"

"Certainly!" Though reluctant and clenching his fist in private, the officer still nodded slightly to Fisello.

At that moment, a voice as clear and pleasant as that of a yellow oriole rose from behind the two men: "Father!"

Fisello turned around and saw a dashing young lady standing there, dressed as a noblewoman rider, wearing riding breeches and long riding boots, without a complicated hat, her hair tied back in a long ponytail.

This spirited young lady had delicate eyebrows and clear, beautiful eyes, resembling a painting come to life. Her large eyes and upward-tilting eyebrows complemented her bright red lips, which were made even more enticing by her fair skin.

A smile immediately spread across his face, and he stretched out his arms to embrace her: "Oh! My dear Alice, you've returned from the copper mines, eh? How was it? That place is a great spot for hunting."

After embracing her father, Alice got straight to the point with some annoyance, "If I hadn't come back, Lord Father, you might have gone bankrupt by now."

"What do you mean?" Fisello laughed awkwardly, scratching his head as he feigned ignorance.

Alice nodded slightly to the officer beside her father in greeting, then continued to look at Fisello: "I noticed that a large sum of money has gone missing recently, so I've come to discuss with you how our already slender income has been squandered."

The mention of this made Fisello even more embarrassed—his wife had passed away early, leaving him with just one daughter. And this daughter had clearly inherited her mother's intelligence, managing the Earl's estate since the age of twelve.

Now, this 17-year-old beauty had become a well-known financial officer in Northern Ridge Wolf City. Under her management, Lord Earl, known for his tax reductions and paternal love for his people, had been able to maintain development and stave off bankruptcy.

So now, facing his own daughter, Lord Earl could only offer an embarrassed explanation: "It's like this, we've been purchasing a batch of munitions recently..."

"Munitions? Lord Father, the Shireck Flintlock Guns are centrally purchased by the Kingdom! We don't need to spend money on that! I'd just allocated funds before I left for the purchase of 30 cannons in preparation for war! And to my knowledge, acquiring a batch of munitions wouldn't need such a large sum of money!" Alice pressed, gazing into the Earl's eyes, word by word.

Earl Fisello put on a strained smile and continued to explain, "Yes, but what I bought is a type of new munition."

"New munition?" Alice frowned, and for a moment, she even considered the possibility that her father had been duped. Nowadays, who didn't know that the weapons and munitions from Shireck were the best?

The Earl immediately went on to explain to his beloved daughter: "You were away at the copper mines for an audit, and didn't return to Wolf City, so you might not know. We've purchased a batch of new rifles to counter the threat from Suthers to Northern Ridge."

Alice was almost amused by her father's words, asking with irritation, "So, the 1,400 Gold Coins in our reserves, and all of the gunpowder, steel, copper, silver, leather, and nearly all the other materials we had gathered privately for the war, have disappeared?"

In her view, her father, who didn't concern himself with household affairs, seemed to have no idea what that money and materials truly represented.

Once war broke out, all resources were vital, with every little bit being used. Under such circumstances, stocking up more wealth and goods was beneficial and necessary from any perspective.

Earl Fisello added somewhat sheepishly, "Pretty much, though there are maybe 300 more workers."

Alice sighed helplessly, "You're really quite generous."

"Would you be interested in seeing the new weaponry?" asked Lord Earl, shifting the topic somewhat embarrassingly.

"Let's take a look then, see what has impressed you so much, Lord Father, to willingly... spend such a large amount of money." Alice looked over to the shooting range, where a row of soldiers stood awaiting new orders.

"Continue the training, let my guards demonstrate the rapid fire!" Earl Fisello ordered with some remorse.

The number of paper cartridge bullets transported from Brunas wasn't very high; with the last return of the Earl's convoy, they had brought back 500 bullets urgently assembled by Tang Mo.

These bullets were for training, containing only two-thirds the normal charge, thus their power was considerably low! However, they were not without merit: on one hand, the reduced charge meant less barrel pressure, causing less wear to the barrels, and on the other hand, they were cheaper, allowing the Earl to buy more bullets with less money.

Upon receiving the order, the officer nodded slightly, walked over to the soldiers cleaning their barrels on the shooting range, and commanded loudly, "Prepare for rapid fire!"