The Strange Craftsman Hector

Having resolved the issue of fortification, Karl turned his attention to another weapon that had demonstrated its decisive power in the previous battle: the musket.

A detailed post-war inventory report has been submitted.

Of the more than 600 Sauron soldier confirmed to have been killed, at least 200 bodies sustained fatal or major injuries from lead bullets fired from muskets.

This figure clearly demonstrates the terrifying lethality of firearms in defensive warfare.

Especially in close-quarters combat within fifty paces, a volley of Flintlock Rifle was powerful enough to tear through the heavy armor that the Sauron were so proud of, causing massive casualties in an instant.

But the value of muskets goes far beyond direct physical elimination.

Karl recalled the most crucial moment of the battle, when the Sauron Berserker, relying on brute force and heavy armor, almost broke through the gap in the spear formation.

It was the two timely and deadly volleys from the Musketeers that, like invisible hammers, shattered the enemy's momentum and completely crushed their fighting will.

The despair and fear generated when facing an inescapable and undefendable hail of bullets can be devastating to morale.

Watching his battle-hardened comrades instantly turn into mangled corpses, while he could only numbly charge forward amidst the smoke and explosions, awaiting the fatal blow that seemed to come from nowhere...

This kind of psychological pressure is enough to break even the bravest warrior.

Moreover, unlike archery and complex cold weapons, which require years of training to master, the training period for Musketeers is much shorter!

A healthy farmer or craftsman, after a month of basic drill, loading, and shooting training, could barely make it onto the battlefield.

With three months of intensive training and live-fire exercises, a highly effective Musketeers could be formed.

This was undoubtedly extremely attractive to Carnford, who urgently needed to rapidly expand his army.

Karl's goal was clear: the five hundred militiamen supported by the Count were physically capable and had relatively simple backgrounds, making them excellent Musketeers candidates.

He planned to train at least half of them, at least two hundred men, into professional Musketeers, and merge them with the existing Musketeers to form a sizable long-range core force capable of sustained firepower.

However, the ideal is often far from reality.

The biggest obstacle to achieving this goal is not manpower or training, but the muskets themselves.

Currently, almost all of Carnford's musket production relies entirely on Hector, the chief and only master gunsmith.

Although Karl had already instructed him to recruit apprentices in an attempt to expand production capacity, progress was slow.

Hector essentially continued the closed, small-workshop-style production methods of the old-time artisans.

He personally handled almost all the core processes, especially the most critical barrel forging, locking mechanism processing, and overall assembly and debugging. The apprentices were mostly only responsible for some basic tasks such as pre-processing and polishing.

The result of this model is extremely low production capacity.

Even with Hector and his apprentices working day and night, they could only deliver about five qualified Flintlock Rifle a month, and occasionally a few simpler Matchlock Rifle.

This output was a drop in the ocean for Karl, who wanted to quickly equip hundreds of new Musketeers.

"This mode of production must be changed!" Karl made up his mind.

He needs to have a deep, and possibly difficult, conversation with Hector.

He left the Lord's Hall and headed towards the newly built blacksmith workshop area at the foot of the mountain.

The closer one gets to Hector's fortified workshop, the clearer and louder the scorching heat in the air and the rhythmic clanging of hammers become.

Pushing open the heavy wooden door, a wave of heat mixed with the smells of coal, metal, and sweat hit me.

The furnace inside the workshop was burning brightly, casting a red glow on the walls.

Hector stood intently in front of the anvil, his upper body bare, his bronze skin covered in sweat and tiny burn scars, his muscular physique expanding with each swing of the hammer.

He was holding a red-hot iron bar in his hand, carefully placing it on a steel core mold specially used for rolling gun barrels, and then using a small hammer to precisely tap and bend it. This is one of the most crucial and technically demanding steps in manufacturing gun barrels.

Karl noticed that Hector was the only one in the workshop; his apprentices were not present.

He approached quietly.

Hector, engrossed in his meticulous work, seemed to hear footsteps. Without even looking up, he roared impatiently, "Didn't I tell you? No one's allowed to disturb us while we're forging gun barrels! This level of skill and feel—it'll all be ruined in no time! You can't learn it now, and watching is pointless! Get out!"

Karl stopped walking and remained silent.

Hector waited a few seconds, but instead of hearing footsteps leaving, he sensed someone standing behind him. He instantly flew into a rage, abruptly raising his head to yell, "Are you deaf? I'll teach you..."

When he saw that the person who came was the calm-faced Karl, the angry curse that was on the tip of his tongue instantly choked back, and the anger on his face was quickly replaced by astonishment and a trace of panic.

He quickly put down his tools and iron bars, somewhat flustered, and said, "My Lord... it's you! I'm so sorry! I didn't know it was you... I thought it was those clumsy lads sneaking around again... I..."

Karl waved his hand dismissively, interrupting his apology. "It's alright, Hector. It's my fault for not informing you beforehand. You can continue; work is more important."

His gaze fell on the red-hot iron bar on the anvil, which was beginning to darken slightly. "This gun barrel seems important?"

Hector glanced at the iron bar, his face showing distress and anxiety. "Yes... yes, sir! This is high-quality wrought iron that has been painstakingly heated to the right temperature. It's at the crucial moment of rolling the tube. If we stop now, the temperature will drop, and the toughness will change. This piece of material will be ruined... you see..."

"I understand," Karl nodded, gesturing for him to continue. "You go about your business; I'll just watch from the side and won't bother you."

Hector glanced gratefully at Karl, then quickly picked up the iron bar again and focused on continuing his meticulous hammering work, the clanging of the hammer ringing out once more.

However, while Karl simply stood quietly watching, Hector seemed quite uncomfortable.

His movements began to stiffen, and his rhythm was not as smooth and natural as before. He seemed to be sweating more on his forehead, and he would occasionally steal glances at Karl out of the corner of his eye.

After tapping a few more times with great difficulty, Hector finally couldn't help but stop.

He turned around, his face showing embarrassment and pleading, and said to Karl, "Sir... um... I'm so sorry... I... I have a bad habit... when I'm working, especially when doing this kind of delicate work, I really don't like having someone watching me... as soon as someone's watching, I get nervous and my hands start to shake... this gun barrel... I'm afraid..."

Karl was slightly taken aback, then understood.

He understands that such technical talents often have unique habits and quirks, especially when performing core processes that require a high degree of focus and finesse; any external interference can affect their performance.

He showed no displeasure; instead, he nodded gently. "I see. It was my oversight that disturbed your work."

He took a few steps back and pointed outside the workshop. "How about this, I'll wait for you outside first. You focus on finishing this gun barrel. We'll talk after you're done. This matter is important, but there's no rush."

Upon hearing this, Hector immediately breathed a sigh of relief, a grateful and relaxed expression appearing on his face. "Thank you for your understanding, sir! Thank you! I'll finish it as soon as possible! As soon as possible!"

Karl said no more, turned and walked out of the workshop, standing patiently in the open space outside the door.

Inside the workshop, the rhythmic clanging of hammers, now back to its steady beat, once again filled the air.