Part 18 (2/2)
For years, Count Larains as seed and by the pound at high prices The result was thatat least sorains were shorter and had thicker stems than the older varieties, so they stood up to a heavy rain better Most towns had at least one McCoret in most of the crop on the few dry days that we had
Many farrains to harder hit areas, and le-faes skyrocketed, which is sorain at all that year, since we had stockpiled enough the year before
Anna's children were all healthy, and she had another batch of four every six reer than regular horses, and Anna said that they took four years to become adults We had twenty of them, but it would be a few more years before the first bunch would be ready to join the tea in on the It wasn't that she was a bad mother, it was just that she was suprerow up okay
They were good little survivors When they got cold, they burrowed into the hay, and if that wasn't enough, they burrowed into the ground below the hay And they would eat anything If they ran out of hay and grain, they would start eating the stall they were in, so you had to watch the out for them was to protect the world from them, and not vice versa
Krystyana was productive as well After the birth of her second child, I pro anybody any good by producing illegitimate children I stuck with that vow, except for once when she was crying and h By late fall, it was obvious that she was pregnant again
The previous fall, I'd put Zoltan on the proble saltpeter-potassiuunpowder It's seventy-five percent saltpeter, fifteen percent charcoal, and ten percent sulfur
But all I knew about saltpeter was that it was made out of manure, or sometiive you the ht and even sketch up ato help Zoltan any
He'd gaPolish apprentices The boys were all having trouble with their love lives until I ordered the to hen not on the job
Then one day Zoltan caone, and his beard burned off His face was covered with blisters but through thereat happy save hi with a supply of cannon balls I told hi it to turn serpentine powder, which hat he had, into black powder, which hat I wanted
I explained how to load and fire a cannon and told hihtly different o farthest, always using the same small amount of powder
I also made him, his apprentices and everyone around the the powder a secret I didn't want anybody to kno to make it but a few of his people and his apprentices
They realized the seriousness of having so cannons at theol invasion
Chapter Eighteen
By Christether There was an awful lot left to do, but I think the seeds of an industrial base sufficient to supply a reasonablythe arhts sworn to me and that's where I had to start
Actually, it was sort of strange for one knight to be sworn to another, but there was nothing in the rules against it I had hts than soe meant was that I sat farther down the table at a forht anybody But I avoided forht anybody anyway
The truth is that I aalitarian disposition I didn't like this separation of people into hereditary cases, this silly business of noble and commoner If I had my way, I'd scrap the whole unhappy systehthood would drastically reduceabout it
I calledwith their wives
”Gentleether,” I said ”We now have inning of a factory system that can take those raw materials and turn them into useful products We now have workmen trained to use those factories and the tools in theest, best trained and best lead ar at us in five years”
”What we don't have is an army of our own! At present, we have no way to save our country from absolute destruction You've all heard Cilicia's story about the obliteration of her native city That could happen here!”
”It will happen here, unless we do so about it!”
”Our factories can easily be converted froned with that thought in mind We can turn out arms and armor at a rate that will astound you Better armor than the world has ever seen, and weapons of awesome poill be ours e need them”
”But the weapons are worthless without the men ill use them! I can prools, but if we are to e must be better trained and better lead as well
That's not going to be easy!”
”The Mongols have been diligently practicing the art of mass murder and total destruction for over fifty years, and so far they have never been defeated!”
”But they are going to be beaten here and we are going to train and lead the ar to do most of it, since I'll have to spend half my ti that you have been used to, because this won't be the kind of war that you have been used to You have becoaentle to well-defined rules”
”Well, the only rules the Mongols know are 'obey orders' and 'win the war' They are not Christian nor are they gentleht like all the deh and cruel The only way that we are going to beat theher and crueler than they are!”
”You are used to a kind of warfare where only the nobility fights That too ols will cole man of theirs under arms To meet them, we must do the same
Our factories will be able to equip every adult mate in Silesia and Little Poland We must be able to train that number of men It will be difficult, but not impossible I can show you techniques that can turn a far leaders will take longer, and training the , ill be building a training base in the northwest comer of my lands We have already fenced off a dozen squareKrystyana's roses, so we'll have plenty of privacy I've asked Count La planting Those peanuts will be our first class”
”The training period will be elevennot warriors, but trainers of warriors I'll be happy if three dozen of theive theentlerunt work But for the next year and a half, you will all be going through hell yourselves! That's why I invited your wives to thisforaround with Count Lambert's hareood, strong physical shape You should be, living the healthy, outdoor lives that you do”
”But you are not 'run twelve miles before breakfast' healthy and you're not 'do two hundred push-ups'
strong We will be working on that this winter, and it won't be fun All I can proh the sa to two hours a day here inskull work Any questions?”
”Too many to remember them all, my lord,” Sir Vladimir said ”But the one that sticks in my mind is 'what is a push-up'?”
”You'll learn,and other physical training you or said ”I don't understand the need for that”
”We will be training an infantry force, and some artillery, which I'll explain later There is no possibility of getting enough war-horses to equip our army That many horses don't exist! Also, Poland already has a sizable force of cavalry in the conventional knights I'd estiet some help from France and the Holy Empire when the tiarians?” Sir Gregor said