Copper Cannons and Iron Cannons

In the outer city of Carnford, now completely reduced to ruins and littered with corpses, Harald, surrounded by his generals, stopped his horse on a slightly elevated earthen slope and coldly gazed ahead.

His gaze fell upon the massive, dark, heavy machine that had just been laboriously pushed onto the battlefield by the Sauron soldier —a nine-pound "Elephant" siege cannon captured from an important fortress within the Goldflower Kingdom.

This cannon, which had inflicted heavy casualties on Sauron army, has now turned its barrel against its former camp.

Harald had not used such heavy artillery in the early stages of the siege for a simple reason: the firing angle of Cannon in this era was limited. Shooting at the hill city of Carnford from a low position was extremely ineffective; the shells either missed or were unable to breach the walls.

But now, the situation is different.

His army has completely occupied the outer city and can advance the Cannon to a position almost level with the inner city wall for deadly direct fire!

"Great Chieftain, the cannon position has been calibrated and loaded; it is ready to fire at any time." The surrendered general Leon rode closer and reported in a low voice, his tone carrying a hint of satisfaction at the impending revenge.

Harald nodded slightly, his face expressionless, and merely raised his hand slightly.

Leon understood, immediately turned around, and shouted sharply to the messenger behind him, "Send the signal! Open fire!"

"Woo!!!" A long, drawn-out horn signaling an attack suddenly rang out, shattering the deathly silence before dawn!

The next instant.

"Boom!!!"

A deafening roar, far more deafening than the Six-pound Cannon from Carnford, suddenly erupted from the Sauron Army!

The massive barrel of the Nine-pound Cannon recoiled violently backward, spewing out huge, orange-red tongues of fire several meters long and thick, wall-like white smoke that instantly engulfed the entire artillery position! The ground trembled!

A heavy nine-pound solid iron cannonball, with a terrifying shriek tearing through the air, streaked along a low, deadly straight line at a speed too fast for the naked eye to follow, and slammed into a section of the inner wall of Carnford!

"Boom!!!"

The shell hit its target with pinpoint accuracy! The sturdy stone wall trembled violently before the overwhelming force; the hit area instantly sent rubble flying and dust billowing everywhere!

A clear dent appeared on the wall, and spiderweb-like cracks spread rapidly from the dent point!

Countless loosened bricks and mortar fell from the city wall like a torrential rain, crashing down at its base with a crackling sound.

Although this attack failed to immediately breach the city wall, its destructive power was enough to terrify any defender! This was only the first shot!

Harald looked through the dissipating smoke at the fresh wound on the city wall, and a cold, satisfied smile finally appeared on his lips.

He could almost see that, under the relentless bombardment of this heavy cannon, Carnford's last reliance, the inner city walls, would eventually crumble.

He must stand in the hall of Lord Carnford Castle before the sun sets today.

"Load! Keep firing! Bomb it down!" he coldly commanded.

The roar of artillery fire temporarily ceased, and the battlefield was filled with the acrid smell of gunpowder and a deathly silence.

The well-trained Sauron gunners immediately began the intense cleaning and preparation work. One of them used a long pole to hold a brush soaked in cold water and quickly inserted it into the scorching cannon barrel to scrape back and forth, cleaning away the remaining gunpowder residue. The hot cannon barrel made a dense "sizzling" sound when it came into contact with water, and large clouds of white water vapor rose up.

After the breech was cleaned, another loader immediately stuffed a standard propellant charge wrapped in silk into the depth of the breech. Then, together they lifted a heavy nine-pound solid iron ball and steadily fed it into the muzzle. The assistant used a push rod to compact the ball.

The entire process was skillful and swift, demonstrating the professionalism of these captured Broomflower gunners.

The cannon fired two more rounds, but soon fell silent. By then, the cannon was burning hot and had to be left to cool down naturally.

Seeing this, Leon quickly rode to Harald's side, fearing that the Great Chieftain would be displeased with the interruption of the firing, and hurriedly explained, "Great Chieftain, please calm down. This Nine-pound Cannon is made of cast iron. After three rounds of rapid firing, the barrel has overheated and must be stopped to allow it to cool down naturally for a while."

"If we force the firing to continue, it is highly likely to cause a barrel explosion, which would not only damage this valuable weapon, but also injure nearby personnel and disrupt morale."

Harald, who was holding a telescope and carefully observing the damage to the inner walls of Carnford in the distance, simply gave a noncommittal "Oh" upon hearing this.

Through the gradually dissipating smoke and dust, he could clearly see that after three rounds of precise bombardment, the sturdy stone city wall was riddled with wounds.

The area around the massive impact point was covered with spiderweb-like cracks, and the outer layer of regular stone blocks had broken and peeled off in many places, revealing the relatively soft rammed earth core inside.

Although the wall has not completely collapsed, its structural strength has clearly been severely damaged, and its defensive capabilities have been greatly reduced.

From behind the city wall, he could faintly hear the crashing sound of bricks and stones continuously sliding down, along with the panicked shouts of the defenders and the cries of the wounded. To him, these sounds were like a beautiful melody.

As he observed, he casually asked, his tone tinged with inquiry, "If that's the case, then why did the cannon in Carnford seem to have a much faster rate of fire?"

Leon immediately replied respectfully, "Your Great Chieftain, Carnford is using a six-pound Bronze Cannon. Bronze has excellent thermal conductivity and dissipates heat much faster than cast iron, so it can withstand higher firing rates without overheating and exploding. This is the advantage of our... our Broomflower military industry."

He subconsciously used "we," then realized his mistake and quickly lowered his head.

Harald put down his binoculars, glanced at Leon, and didn't take his slip of the tongue to heart. He simply nodded slightly, keeping the detail in mind.

"Bronze Cannon... have good heat dissipation..." he thought to himself. This was an important lesson for the future Sauron army to build or capture Cannon for use.

"It's alright," Harald said calmly. "Since the cannons and men need to cool down, let them rest for a while. It's also good to let Kardo behind the city walls suffer for a bit. An explosion would certainly disturb morale."

He knew that sometimes waiting and uncertainty were more effective at breaking the enemy's will than continuous bombing.

Having said that, he stopped paying attention to the artillery positions, gently pulled on the reins, turned his horse around, and, surrounded by a group of generals, slowly walked towards the temporary command tent set up at the rear.

The shelling paused, but he still firmly controlled the pace of the attack.

He needed to use this gap to make a final check on the preparations of each siege force, ensuring that when the walls were finally breached, a swift and decisive strike could be launched immediately, giving the Carnford defenders no chance to regroup.

Final victory is within reach.