Chapter 249: Now It’s the Age of the Cannon
The reason Beren’s stone cannonballs were so expensive was no great mystery. Unlike the neighboring states, there wasn’t a single noble who operated cannons. I was probably the first, wasn’t I?
So when someone suddenly tried to obtain them, the supply price couldn’t help but skyrocket.
Still, a weapon is the kind of thing that proves its worth in proportion to its cost, so I could only hope the doubters would recognize its power today. Schneider and Marco, as I’d ordered, aimed intensively at the Baschurten castle gate.
Since the quantity of cannonballs was limited, concentrated fire on a single target was essential. So the laborers built a small mound in front of the cannons and adjusted the angle several times.
Because of that, the laborers had to rebuild the support mounds several times over.
There was no backbreaking labor quite like it.
Only after precise measurement did they find the right mound height. After positioning the cannons, they installed wooden boards behind and to the left and right of the cannons to absorb the recoil.
"Drive the stakes into the boards properly! So it doesn’t bounce back and blow off your goods!"
"How about you take care of your own goods, Commander? Please, shut up and let’s work!"
"That’s why I’m hammering the stakes hard, you damned fool!"
Schneider, who’d been bickering with Marco and spitting out coarse curses, felt the gazes of the high and mighty and laughed sheepishly. That guy looked like he’d get a serious chewing-out someday because of that mouth.
To Fried, who disliked vulgar sorts, he’d be a man one wouldn’t even deign to speak with. But the crown prince, just as he’d embraced his rough Guard members, tended to be tolerant of foul-mouthed sorts.
"What’s the reason for raising wooden walls around the cannons?"
"Yes, Your Highness! The recoil is monstrous, so if you don’t anchor them with boards like that, the cannon bounces back! Once, a guy who ignored the recoil got hit and became a eunuch... eep!"
"So it’s a lesson learned the hard way? I salute the artilleryman who became a eunuch."
The naive but foul-mouthed artillery commander seemed deeply moved by the crown prince, who chuckled and clapped him on the shoulder. He’d been treated as an unwanted burden, and now he was getting encouragement from Beren’s next ruler.
As if the bitterness of all that time was welling up, the eyes of several artillerymen reddened. This was one of the crown prince’s good points. That capacity to embrace was precisely the virtue a man who stands above others must possess.
By the way, I’d wondered why he’d brought along so many wooden boards, and now I had my answer.
Perhaps because they were early muzzle-loading bronze cannons, there was no device to absorb the recoil, so one could easily see them bounce backward with each shot.
Which was why some unlucky fellow had become a eunuch.
So when they bounced back, the artillerymen had to forcibly push them forward again, but bracing them on all sides with layers of boards could greatly reduce that effort.
In any case, all the preparations were now complete.
Twelve cannons were positioned on the small mounds, and beside each were placed powder kegs and five stone cannonballs. In addition, they prepared barrels filled with water and leather-tipped barrel sponges for cleaning the muzzle.
Trained laborers were mobilized to remove the powder residue.
So each cannon position had three artillerymen and five laborers assigned. They’d only had the setup period to practice, so it was nerve-wracking, but there was no choice but to trust their coordination. The remaining artillerymen were classified as reserves.
Schneider and Marco directed the whole thing.
Schneider, his face flushed as if about to burst with excitement, shouted vigorously.
"Now, this is the time for the Royal Artillery Corps to show its strength at last! We’re doing one final check, and if there’s a bastard who screws up, I’ll shove his head in and launch it! Get your heads on straight, you pigs!"
When they began the final check, the crown prince, Fried, and I watched firsthand and couldn’t help but admire their coordination—unbelievably fast and accurate, as if they’d been waiting for this very day.
"That’s the fighting spirit of those determined to see it through."
"They haven’t seen the light of day for a long time, so this could be their last chance."
"It would be. After all, Father wasn’t pleased with the Kaiser’s gift."
Hm? He wasn’t pleased with the emperor’s gift?
The crown prince’s expression was bitter, but he didn’t tell me anything more about it.
When the Royal Artillery Corps reported that all preparations were complete, the scattered nobles and commanders all gathered. Benjamin, who’d been patrolling the surroundings, and General Alexander, who’d been holding council after council, both joined as well.
Hmm, that foul-mouthed fellow was awfully stiff.
Where had the bravado from earlier gone?
In Schneider’s life, would there ever be another occasion when he drew this much attention? It was probably his first, aside from the artillery demonstration. The crown prince gave me a glance. In effect, I’d become the highest authority over the artillery corps.
When Marco quickly jabbed Schneider in the back, he finally snapped to.
His lips might have felt parched, but from here on it was the real thing.
"We now begin the operation. Our objective is to destroy the Baschurten castle gate and aid our forces’ entry. Whatever you do, don’t make mistakes, and demonstrate your abilities to the fullest! All batteries, load!"
"Load powder!"
The artillerymen moved in lockstep, pouring the pre-measured gunpowder into the muzzles. Then they compressed the powder firmly and thoroughly with the ramrod.
"Load cannonball!"
The waiting laborers rushed in en masse and inserted the heavy stone cannonballs into the muzzles. When all twelve completed loading almost simultaneously, they inserted fuses into the breeches and awaited the order.
Schneider, his face flushed, looked at me as if begging me to give the order. But I passed the honor of the first shot to another. To the crown prince, that is.
"Your Highness. Please give the order to fire."
"...Do I just shout fire?"
"Yes. You will be giving the first order to fire in the history of the Duchy of Beren."
The artillery demonstration was, quite literally, just a demonstration; this was indeed the first time using them in actual combat. The crown prince, recognizing the weight of the moment, turned solemn.
"Fire!"
"Fire!"
The artillerymen lit the fuses all at once.
The crown prince and I quickly covered our ears.
Crash! Bang!
Crash!
With a tremendous roar, the stone cannonballs flew toward the Baschurten castle gate. The billowing smoke and roar were so great and so terrible that some of the watching nobles crumpled in a sorry heap.
The cannons kicked backward the instant they fired, but thanks to the boards and the laborers bracing them, they didn’t slide far.
Crash! Crash-crash!
The stone cannonballs launched from the twelve muzzles struck Baschurten’s solid walls and gate hard. Experiencing a cannon attack for the first time in their lives, the Baschurten army must have been greatly shaken.
No, our own forces were shaken too.
No one could have known the power and roar would be this overwhelming.
"Th-this is what they call a cannon?"
The dumbfounded look on Fried’s face was a sight to behold.
I didn’t know whether a crack had formed in the gate, but the first bombardment was a success.
"Now it’s the age of the cannon."
