CHAPTER 71: CHAPTER 67: IRON SUPPLY UNLEASHED

Luo De would never let Tasa return.

He let Tasa choose someone relatively clever to go back to the mountain, asking their Prophet to come out for talks.

It’s worth mentioning that the knowledge of Wildman is even more scarce than that of the Desert People; those who can count to ten are few.

They are just like the goblins in knight novels, with a knowledge level of counting up to five per person.

Even now, Tasa hasn’t clearly explained how many people the White Frost Tribe actually has.

Of course, to make the Wildman of the White Frost Tribe come out willingly, Luo De would naturally offer some chips.

Before leaving, Luo De had Martha prepare a sumptuous meal for the messenger, ensuring the Wildman would never forget it.

Luo De also knew that verbal descriptions were weak, so he directly sent the messenger back with two bags of black bread.

Luo De originally wanted to send them rye, but he was afraid they’d waste the grain.

More importantly, black bread could directly give those Wildman a taste, but couldn’t fill them up.

As for the Wildman staying in town, they were treated like slaves and started working too.

Chopping trees, smashing stones, digging trenches—all jobs requiring no profound skills.

Luo De split these Wildmen up, assigning them to various engineering teams, and chose three slave overseers from among the Wildmen to watch the others work.

Tasa being honest doesn’t mean all Wildmen are honest.

Thus, Luo De specifically ordered the overseers to keep a close watch on these Wildmen.

Us temporarily found a job as well, responsible for teaching the common language to all Wildmen.

No need for depth, just simple words.

For example, work, eat, sleep, get hit.

Naturally, Tasa couldn’t mix with these Wildmen and stayed with Rein.

In fact, apart from their strength, these Wildmen are not entirely useless.

They manage to set hunting traps with simple tools, master abundant survival skills, and have strong arms, throwing spears with great accuracy.

However, Luo De can’t use them right now.

Sending the Wildmen away, Luo De shifted all his focus to the hydraulic forging hammer.

Unlike the pounding hammer, the forging hammer is heavy, requiring fast water flow to drive the waterwheel and rapidly move the forging hammer.

So, a small dam was built upstream of the irrigation channel to utilize the high fall of water to drive the medium-sized waterwheel for the forging hammer.

One medium-sized waterwheel can drive two 300-kilogram forging hammers, which can be used to craft most equipment, most typically the chest armor of plate armor.

A skilled blacksmith crafting plate armor by hand might take one to three months, but with a hydraulic forging hammer, it can be completed in as fast as three weeks, and at the slowest, no more than two months.

This is due to the time-consuming assembly, adjustment, and polishing of the plate armor later on; if it’s forging swords, efficiency is much higher.

More critically, the use of hydraulic forging hammer lowers the threshold for blacksmithing greatly.

Especially for young blacksmith apprentices, they can directly start with forging practice, skipping the forging hammer drill.

Blacksmiths possess a certain level of wisdom.

Therefore, when they see the forging hammer automatically striking the iron anvil, their eyes are filled with shock, yet their faces hold a helpless smile.

"With this forging hammer, we only need to heat the iron, and find the right spot, it’ll fall on its own."

Bard sighed deeply and said, "Lord master, I’ve been swinging a hammer all my life, now it’s useless..."

"Of course not, the hydraulic forging hammer just enhances your work efficiency."

Luo De laughed and comforted, "You still have a wealth of forging knowledge in your mind.

Don’t forget this is the Northern Territory, during winter you’ll still need to swing the hammer yourself."

Bard nodded, and Luo De’s words made him feel somewhat relieved.

Yes, the Northern Territory still has winter.

Hammer and others’ expressions improved too.

"You guys should adapt for a while, it’s just right to use the forging hammer to complete Gang Le’s set of armor." Luo De ordered.

Hammer stepped forward and reported, "Lord Gang Le’s plate armor is almost complete, next we need him to cooperate for a test fit."

"So fast?" Luo De was a bit surprised.

"You haven’t assigned us new tasks during this period, apart from the usual repairs, most of our time is spent on forging that armor."

Luo De nodded, "Good, I’ll have Gang Le test it as soon as he returns."

As he spoke, a guard hurriedly ran up to report, "Lord Gang Le’s convoy is about to enter the town."

Luo De slightly paused, then smiled back,

"What a coincidence."

...

...

After waiting for a week, the muddy road of the Black Stone Mountain Range was finally repaired.

Pig iron had accumulated into a mountain, so Gang Le hurriedly set out to return to Frost Leaf Town.

Luo De, seeing the iron on the ox cart, was very happy.

He no longer needed to spend gold coins on buying those weapons and equipment!

More crucially, the equipment forged in Luo De’s territory, enhanced by the high-end smelting furnace entries, has double the material strength!

In simple terms, if someone else’s sword were to cut the Frost Leaf Town Blacksmith Shop’s sword, the other sword would surely break!

This doesn’t even include the enchanted sword forged by Luo De himself!

"How much iron is there?" Luo De asked.

"Approximately one and a half tons."

Gang Le helplessly reported, "There’s plenty more in the Black Stone Stronghold, but these two ox carts can only carry so much."

Gang Le thought for a moment and added, "There should be at least 800 kilograms of iron and three tons of iron ore."

"It feels good to mine your own iron."

Finally releasing the iron held in his throat, Luo De felt he could breathe easier.

Next, he could forge weapons with great effort and replace all the longswords and arrows in the territory.

Selling off the obsolete weapons from other territories to exchange for slaves.

"Actually, more iron could be refined, but there’s currently a severe shortage of charcoal." Gang Le’s face showed a bit of suffering.

Luo De nodded, fuel indeed affects development significantly.

But there’s no choice.

Currently, there’s no trace of coal mines, only relying on charcoal for smelting.

"Once this period is over, I’ll assign another batch of slaves to make charcoal for you."

Black Pine Ridge has plenty of trees, but too few people to work.

It’s just right, as they need clearing for the future, completing work in advance.

Gang Le then went on to report some basic situations of the Black Stone Mountain Range to Luo De.

After gaining a rough understanding, Luo De waved his hand to Gang Le, saying, "Alright, leave the rest to others, you go take a good rest."

"Thank you for your generosity."

Gang Le grinned happily, bowed, and then retreated.

As a soldier, the most enjoyable moment is a cathartic release after completing a mission.

Bathing, drinking, sleeping with women.

However, Gang Le didn’t return to the estate but vanished into some nook in the town.

Unlike Durant’s focused personality, Gang Le is more carefree.

According to Luo De’s investigation, Gang Le had close encounters with two women in the town.

Of course, both were widows, and it was all consensual.

After all, Frost Leaf Town prohibits force.

Thus, Luo De didn’t interfere much.

Everyone has different preferences and lifestyles; as long as they can bear children, other matters don’t concern Luo De.

Gang Le stayed in Frost Leaf Town for two days and two nights.

Before leaving, Luo De had him take five axes and machetes from the Blacksmith Shop and try on the plate armor.

It fit quite well, only some minor details needed adjustment.

After Gang Le left, Luo De also immersed himself in the Blacksmith Shop, beginning his forging life.

The new pig iron has better strength, and Luo De wanted a new great sword.

However, just two days into forging, news from the Blade Mountain Range arrived.

Slower than Luo De had imagined.