After the first bombardment, at least thirty minutes had to pass before reloading. When the gunpowder exploded, tremendous heat would scorch the cannon, and the rings’ role was to keep the bronze cannon from swelling and bursting.

So that was the purpose of those rings. The reason for making the cannons out of expensive copper rather than using cast iron was simple. Cast iron explodes easily, while copper endures well.

So one of the artillerymen’s most important duties was the painstaking work of fanning the heat-scorched cannon or covering it with a water-soaked cloth to cool it quickly.

Of course, keeping water out of the fuse fitting area was extremely important. If someone failed to do this properly, Schneider would come charging over and send that artilleryman flying with a kick.

This was because the Baschurten castle gate was still standing strong, and to fire off all the remaining cannonballs, there could absolutely be no mistakes. For them, it was truly a matter of life and death.

It seemed difficult to bring down that wall in one go with stone cannonballs. As expected, there was no choice but to keep pounding away. With iron cannonballs we could deal a decisive blow, but that too was no easy matter.

They’d probably be even more expensive than the hundred-silver-coin stone cannonballs.

In an age when metal was scarce, using it as a consumable like cannonballs meant an enormous unit cost, so it was by no means a simple matter. If they could be easily obtained, war could be waged that much more easily too.

Hmm, wasn’t there an iron ore deposit somewhere nearby?

I wished there were an iron ore deposit in the undeveloped mountains south of Breisburg. For my land, still weak in power, such a treasure trove would be more of a curse than a blessing.

If such a resource really were in my territory, I’d be ruined before I could even develop it. A village lord with a population of fewer than three hundred would end up drawing unwanted attention from every direction.

Not only would I become a target of Burgundy, which devours iron ore insatiably, but there was a strong chance the surrounding princes would covet it intensely. Grand Duke’s protection or not, their own interests come first.

Rather than dealing with that, just buying it with money was better.

Bang!

Crash!

It didn’t damage the wall, but the sight of a small turret crumbling away had no doubt dealt a considerable psychological blow to the Baschurten defenders.

I mean, seeing boulders flying in when their own range didn’t even reach this far.

The attacks of the defensive trebuchets, with a maximum range of 700 meters, were nothing but empty howls. The Royal Artillery Corps was pounding the enemy gate unopposed from a kilometer away.

The crown prince watched the scene and said:

"Power aside, even the range differs enormously. Why didn’t we adopt this weapon called the cannon long ago? To think we had a treasure and never thought to use it."

The crown prince, vividly experiencing the cannon’s power, seemed to break free from the narrow preconceptions that had confined the Germans of this era. Rather, he was delighted, saying he now grasped the potential of a new weapon.

"Your words were right—from here on, it’s the age of the cannon. Beren will change with this battle."

I was very glad to feel such firm conviction from the crown prince.

No matter how much I ran around alone insisting on adopting gunpowder weapons, without support it all came to nothing. But if the state took the lead in adopting them with the crown prince leading the way, the Church’s and the knight class’s resistance could be ignored.

The previous king had tried to adopt them but was thwarted by the fierce opposition of the noble knights—because there had been no thorough understanding of or conviction about gunpowder weapons.

Unlike me, who pushed ahead with conviction.

Even though the surrounding states that faced reality were arming themselves with gunpowder weapons, the knights would oppose adoption to the very end. No matter how strong you are, before a firearm, one shot is all it takes.

These were growing pains that not only Beren but every state with a knight class had to endure. In Beren’s case, though, the problem was the outsized influence of not only the knights but the Church and the nobility too.

Watching those futile boulders flying in nonstop, I said:

"For the enemy it must have been terror beyond imagination. That’s why they’re doing such pointless things."

"Hahaha, I’d be the same. But isn’t it the same for us too?"

The crown prince and I looked back.

We could see the awe-struck faces of Fried and the many noble commanders who had never seen or experienced a cannon. Fried in particular couldn’t shake off the culture shock.

The crown prince asked Fried:

"Lord Euznirk, what do you think? The cannon’s power really is something, isn’t it?"

"...I think I finally understand why Lord Streit insisted so much on adopting it."

The tremendous roar and the gun smoke spreading like fog called to mind the atmosphere of purgatory, and it was more than enough to make the watching mercenaries and levy go weak in the knees.

If our own forces were this shaken, how much worse must it have been for the enemy?

"But why aren’t they firing again?"

"To reload, the barrel has to cool."

"It’d be hard to use this anywhere but a siege."

After firing once, the barrel had to be cooled by every means for at least thirty minutes, so they couldn’t fire in rapid succession, and with no wheels attached, mobility was very poor.

Just setting up the twelve cannons had taken quite a while.

You can’t use this kind of siege cannon in a field battle.

The enemy aren’t fools; they won’t wait around for you to set up and fire cannons.

However, if the opponent has no cannons, you can exploit the range advantage to pound them with impunity. From the twelve reloaded cannons, the second round of cannonballs was fired.

"Fire!"

Crash! Bang! Bang!

They struck the upper part of the gate dead on. As part of the once-solid wall crumbled, the interior gradually came into view. The enemy suffered considerable casualties too, and above all, the enemy’s agitation visibly increased.

It was about time to prepare the infantry now.

I said to Fried, who’d been absorbed in the cannon attack:

"The moment the gate falls, we need to commit the breaching force."

"You’re right, this is no time to be standing around watching dumbstruck. General Alexander!"

But forming the unit to breach first was a task in itself.

Those men, whose bodies were their livelihood, hoped to be placed in a safe and easy follow-up unit rather than standing at the dangerous front. That’s how it is with men hired for money.

Fortunately, we had the world’s finest mercenary corps. 𝗳𝚛𝚎𝚎𝘄𝕖𝕓𝕟𝕠𝚟𝚎𝕝.𝗰𝕠𝐦

Those valiant men of the Alps called Reisläufer.

"The Swiss mercenaries will take the lead."

They took pride in standing at the front and made it their glory to die on the battlefield. They observed the mercenary covenant, and as long as the employer fulfilled the contract, they neither retreated nor fled.

The halberd and longsword unit led by Leto was composed of the most valiant veterans even among the Swiss mercenaries. They were the Swiss mercenary corps’s signature assault unit.

The Swiss mercenary tactic was the phalanx formation, but breaking the enemy’s formation was the role of the veterans wielding halberds and longswords interspersed among the pikemen. And they commanded the highest price.

The crown prince, gazing intently at Leto, asked me:

"Is that big mercenary the opponent who fought you to a standstill?"

A standstill, hardly. I barely survived.

But the damned rumor had spread in strange ways, and I’d given up trying to correct it. Meanwhile Leto and Gedel couldn’t have cared less about that rumor, which only made me feel more awkward.

"Yes. He’s the man called the strongest mercenary in Switzerland."

"Indeed, his bearing is exceptional. What do you think of him?"

"He has a good character. A mercenary one can fully trust."

He had a good disposition and outstanding skill. Naturally I praised them without reservation. The crown prince seemed surprised, perhaps having never seen me praise a former enemy like this.

"Hmm, for you to praise him that much, I find myself convinced. With the Imperial Knights collapsed, there’s been talk of hiring mercenaries for the new guard instead, so I should recommend them."

The truth was I’d intended to hire them myself first, but the hiring cost was so enormous that I gave up. If the crown prince hired them for the guard, I could come into contact with them often, so it was no bad thing for me either.

My aim was only those two, Leto and Gedel.

Hmm, I felt a little sorry for the wounded Fiel.