Chess Mage of Faerûn

Chapter 419 The Continuing Journey

"Your Excellency, this is truly amazing, truly incredible! And according to you, even ordinary people like us can wield such terrifying weapons?"

Lars asked, his voice tinged with excitement and anticipation.

"Of course, otherwise why would I have sent your crew to the fort to observe and assist?"

The mage didn't keep them in suspense and gave a direct answer. Before setting off, he had recruited several literate sailors with basic arithmetic or observation training from Lars to help him station at the fort.

It's not about expecting them to be of any help, but about focusing on the cultivation and development of future naval power.

Nominally, the Auerbach still belongs to the Grand Duke, but for the next three years it has been temporarily transferred to Zhang Yuan's name for transportation purposes. It is essentially a lease, but no rent is required; only the crew's salaries need to be paid.

Having acquired such a ship, Zhang Yuan naturally wouldn't sit idly by and leave the empty vessel idle in the floating dock. Instead, he used the existing personnel and ships to recruit and train the first batch of naval forces and maritime transport teams for his territory. This would be of great significance for both the future establishment of the navy and maritime trade.

As for three years from now?
Well, haha, once the crew members have become part of our own crew, would they be willing to go back to being ordinary merchant ship sailors? We'll just find an opportunity to give the Grand Duke an explanation then.

"While its power is considerable, hitting the target is not an easy task. Even if this weapon were handed to you, you would need a long period of learning and training to make it effective."

"Truly worthy of being a magical creation. I will definitely make those kids learn and practice well."

The monk nodded and said nothing more. This matter couldn't be rushed. Without sufficient knowledge, understanding of mathematics and geometry, and practical experience, it was basically a matter of luck.

Especially in the environment of a naval warship, hitting the opponent in mobile warfare is extremely difficult. Although the first hit was achieved on the third round of shelling, it would have been much harder if the two engineering masters and the inventors of the cannon, Tinker and Old Clockwork, had not been personally operating the equipment, coupled with the opponent's panicked mistakes.

Four out of ten shots hit?

The most likely outcome of an amateur operating a cannon is that they will empty all their ammunition reserves without even touching the enemy ship, needlessly harming innocent fish in the sea.

However, these things were beyond Lars's current comprehension. He was still excited about the power of his ships and even fantasized about an "invincible fleet" in his own mind.

"If we had a dozen or so ships like these, with plenty of ammunition, we could easily dominate the entire Sword Sea. It wouldn't be an exaggeration to say that we're invincible."

Is that all it takes to be invincible?
The mage chuckled softly, saying nothing, but in his mind he was thinking of the era of large ships and giant cannons in his previous life, and the battleships that opened the prelude to the fierce competition.

Undoubtedly, the appearance of such a standard battleship, equipped with eight to ten large-caliber guns of 300 mm or more, thick protective armor, and excellent mobility, in Faerûn would signify the end of an era and the beginning of a new one. However!

Leaving aside the fact that building a battleship requires an industrial base and shipbuilding technology in Faerûn that are comparable to alien technology, not to mention the enormous expense that would bankrupt an entire territory, even if one day their territory develops and has sufficient resources to engage in such a wasteful endeavor…

If you can afford to build it, can you really afford to use it?

Leaving aside whether the massive energy required to operate the giant ship could be solved through magical technology, the ammunition problem is already difficult to resolve. As the saying goes, "When the cannons roar, gold flows like water," but given their current stingy approach—even calculating the cost of using a 105mm cannon—the prospect of having several times that amount of heavy artillery on the battlefield is daunting.

To avoid the foreseeable outcome of bankruptcy, Mr. Zhang wisely abandoned his unrealistic idea of ​​a strategic decisive navy composed of battleships and battlecruisers.

After indulging in a daydream for a while, he suddenly woke up and realized that he was just a minor lord in the north, not the emperor of the empire. Why was he making such a big deal out of nothing?

Let alone battleships, even cruisers would be considered overpowered weapons of mass destruction. Using cannons to kill mosquitoes is acceptable, but using nuclear bombs to bombard them is really unnecessary.

A rational estimate suggests that a single frigate equipped with two twin-gun turrets would be sufficient to escort the entire trade fleet; a few more would make it an invincible fleet.

However, these visions and prospects are all for the distant future. Right now, the focus is on how to manage the small plot of land that I've worked so hard to acquire. There are just too many things to do.

The mage descended the steps of the ship, facing the sea breeze, and stepped into the High Cliff Harbor. Not far away, Münster and his other teammates arrived, seemingly having been waiting there for a long time.

After more than a month apart, the Canaanite team reunited. However, they didn't have much time for pleasantries. The migration of villagers and dwarves, the arrangement of temporary accommodations, and the supply of food and daily necessities were all pressing matters. Even though the new settlers had brought their own provisions, and Münster and his men had made many preparations over the past month, the sudden influx of over a hundred people into the still impoverished High Cliff Territory was a severe test.

Master Zhang's new subjects disembarked one after another. The villagers were fine, but the dwarves felt like their feet were floating when they boarded the ship. Many of them collapsed onto the long-lost ground as soon as they got off the deck, almost bursting into tears of joy.

The monk sighed, but he didn't want to urge them. He turned to his team and started organizing the villagers' affairs.

This is no easy task. A huge influx of people, families and all sorts of belongings that are hard to leave behind, pots and pans. Back in Baldur's Gate, it was alright, because with Flamefist's connections, you could just hire a caravan for a few gold coins.

While Zhang Yuan had the title of baron and the academy as his backing in Wudong, his foundation was still too shallow, and he was thousands of miles away. It was unrealistic to expect him to remotely control the caravans in such a short time.

However, the mage had already made arrangements for this. Led by Münster and the half-ogre brothers, the villagers walked hesitantly and fearfully to the door of a warehouse.

There was no way around it; the Berserker trio were all huge, especially Rick and Morty, whose faces were anything but kind.

Fortunately, what greeted them after opening the gate was not some horror story prop like a meat chopping board or a giant cauldron, but vehicles—all sorts of different vehicles.

There are many different types of vehicles, including wheelbarrows, handcarts, horse-drawn carriages, and freight wagons.

This is all thanks to the team members who stayed behind in Neverwinter. They either bought or customized these vehicles, and they managed to gather them together with great difficulty.

Fortunately, the port is located in the southern part of High Cliff Territory, not far from the plains of the territory and the pre-designated settlement. Even by handcart, it can be reached within a day, not to mention the presence of vehicles for carrying loads.

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(End of this chapter)