Chapter 211 (1/2)
Chapter 211 Light Industry
Roland sat at his desk and was reading with great interest through the recent report of the First Army from his Chief Knight.
Compared to his meticulous appearance from several months ago, nowadays Carter’s iceberg like face often carried some other emotions, letting him appear much less calm, and instead giving him an aura of expectation and eagerness.
Most probably this has something to do with the Star of the West, Roland thought.
About the event of Carter’s and May’s recent stroll, Roland had also heard about it. After all, as one of the top members of the First Army, he also represented the Army, so every movement would naturally be noticed. Not to mention May, the woman walking at his side, belonged to the kind that would draw the attention of all men to herself.
When they had appeared side by side on the streets of Border Town for the first time, his guards had immediately passed along the news to his ears.
Regarding this kind of matter, Roland didn’t really mind it. Carter was roughly two to three years older than he was. So it was reasonable to say that it was a strange that he still wasn’t married. And if he could actually find his other half in the Western Territory it wasn’t that bad, as long as it didn’t interfere with his work.
According to the Knight’s report, the First Army had been equipped with about 200 revolving rifles, adding almost a dozen with every day – in fact, if the raw materials were sufficient, Anna’s production capacity could be increased by several times. But at the same time she was also in charge of the refining pig iron into steel and manufacturing the steam engine, which was slowing her down.
However, this speed was still acceptable. After all, the First Army was only 600 people strong, so another one and a half month would be enough to entirely replace all their weapons. Furthermore, before the next expansion of the population, the military’s size couldn’t be further expanded anyway.
Another point of the report was the formation of the Second Army.
In order to make the training convenient as well as maintain their secrecy, Roland had the people recruited from Longsong Stronghold all incorporated into the second army. Currently, they were all undergoing disciplinary training, which followed the same pattern as the military’s training. Then it would be time for ideological education in the evening, in the attempt to let these people as soon as possible think of themselves at the protector of the Western Territory, implanting in them the believe that their loved ones’ safety needed to be protected by them.
“At present, the training of the Second Army is progressing well; the current estimation is that they should be ready to start with the shooting practice in a week. By that time, enough weapons should have been replaced making it possible to have a flintlock to match every hand.” Carter concluded.
This was the advantage of guns, to train a cold weapon soldier, at least one year’s time was needed; to teach a knight, five or six years had to be spent on training; while soldiers equipped with guns could already be dispatched on military missions after only a month of training. Furthermore, the longer a battle lasted, the bigger advantage of firearms became – after all, pulling a trigger was much safer than fighting with a sword.
“During the shooting practice, the supervisors have to pay attention to the number of guns, how many have been given away and how many of them come back. The same applied to the gunpowder, when it was distributed for the training, the veterans of the First Arm would be responsible for its supervision.
“Yes,” he nodded.
“Very well,” Roland dismissed him with a wave. “That was all; you must be busy now as well.”
“Uh, Your Highness…” Carter hesitated. “Last time you said that the perfume mixed with the soap was made out of sugar cane, was that true?”
“Yes,” the Prince said, sitting up in his chair. “What’s the matter?
“That sugarcane, is it expensive?”
“No… they are just some common crops.”