1444, Byzantium Resurrects

Chapter 400: Alchemists' War

As time entered late autumn, the weather became increasingly cold. Large amounts of coal from Carlosberg were shipped to Constantinople one after another. The coking plants in St. Joseph's City produced coke one after another, and wisps of coal smoke rose above Constantinople.

In recent years, Constantinople's "heavy pollution transfer plan" has been going very smoothly. The sewage industry, waste gas industry and noise industry that bring harm to residents' lives have been transferred to St. Joseph's City and Adrianople. The main urban area of ​​Constantinople within the Theodosius Walls mainly develops commerce, finance and services. If the increasingly thick black smoke is excluded, Constantinople will once again become a beautiful garden city and the "hometown under the golden tree" of the Romans.

The Citadel of St. Joseph is the largest and most populous of the three Cities of Constantinople. It is located in the southwestern suburbs of Constantinople, very close to the Citadel of St. Nicholas. The Mara rail transit has not been completed yet. There is an imperial highway paved with natural asphalt between the three Cities of David.

After the expansion, St. Joseph's City annexed a small seaport located at the mouth of the river. The economic development of this acropolis quickly soared. The capitalists of Constantinople built various workshops near the river, using wind and water power to drive the wheels to produce low-grade raw materials into high-end handicrafts.

Currently, St. Joseph's City has a population of nearly 10,000, and the vast majority of workers are craftsmen and laborers. Like Adrianople, St. Joseph's City also has a serious urban stratification phenomenon. The upper city with more favorable conditions belongs to senior craftsmen with citizenship, while the lower city with extremely harsh environment belongs to Muslim slave laborers without citizenship.

As for higher-level capitalists and nobles, they would not live in St. Joseph's City, which is not far from Constantinople. If you take a carriage and walk a distance to the northeast, you will soon see the Cathedral of the Armed Forces which is under emergency construction.

The main part of St. Joseph's City of Works is located on the northeast bank of a small river named Constantine River. Across the river is the Little Chekmezja Lake, and further west is the Big Chekmezja Lake. The hills between the two lakes are lush with grass and have several large villages and towns. It is one of the sites for the next Acropolis. Like St. Joseph, it is also a city of work.

The northern part of Lake Chekmaj has not been systematically developed. It is just a lush forest located on a low hill. Halfway up the hill is a strange Gothic building. The building obviously uses a concrete structure and is iron-black in color, which makes it look eerie and strange.

A very high-grade asphalt road connects the building to the main road of St. Joseph's City, further highlighting the extraordinary nature of this place.

For some reason, the flowers, plants, and shrubs on both sides of the road leading to the Gothic building all turned yellow, as if they were a curse cast by a powerful wizard.

Behind the Gothic building is a residential area, and these houses are equally strange.

It was noon and the sun was high in the sky. The wooden door of a house suddenly opened and a white-haired old man walked out. He was dressed very formally but his clothes were wrinkled, and he had a kind and friendly smile on his face.

"Mr. Bernard, are you up?"

An apprentice who was fetching water looked over calmly, as if he was accustomed to the old man's daily routine.

"Do you need lunch?"

"No need, thank you."

Bernard spoke with a smile in Latin with a strong German accent.

"I'll pick two oranges later and eat them with the leftover bread from last night. That will be enough."

"Sir, I'm afraid you won't get what you want."

The apprentice scratched his head.

"Baron Valentine used that citrus tree for an experiment a month ago, and it all withered..."

"What! I planted that when I first came here three years ago!"

Bernard stared.

"I've only been teaching at St. John's for half a year, and they've already made a mess of it!"

"Where's Valentine?"

"He has been summoned by the Emperor, and is now perhaps in Cyprus or in Cilicia."

The apprentice reported truthfully.

"Hmph, just wait and see, this bastard, a fool blinded by Satan..."

Bernard walked towards the Gothic castle, cursing, and walked angrily through the archway.

"Isn't it just the title of Royal Craftsman? What's so great about it..."

Bernard looked around. His companions had obviously gotten up long ago. The castle was filled with noise, fire, and various unpleasant smells, some coming from the rooms and some from the basement.

"Bernard!"

Suddenly, a puff of smoke came out of a room, and a figure flashed out of the smoke and waved at Bernard.

"Some college students are coming to visit today. How about you go and receive them?"

"I see, Englishman, go do your experiment."

Bernard nodded.

"I invited them here in the first place. They are all my students."

The Englishman made a vulgar gesture to Bernard, then retreated into the room and slammed the door behind him.

Bernard grunted, walked up the dark corridor lit by oil lamps, came to the gate of the Gothic castle, lit a cigarette for himself, and waited for his students.

The cigarette burned out quickly, and the sound of carriages was heard at the end of the road. Four high-end carriages appeared in Bernard's sight, with the emblems of the University of Constantinople and Imperial College London painted on them.

More than twenty students got off the carriage and soon formed two distinct teams. On the left was the University of Constantinople, and on the right was the Imperial College of Science and Technology.

They huddled together, seemingly a little afraid of the gloomy atmosphere.

"Welcome, dear children."

Bernard nodded slightly to everyone, and the students bowed deeply and respectfully.

All students at St. John's Citadel must choose a language other than Greek. There are quite a few elective languages, but most students choose Latin. Perhaps in their minds, this language carries the glory of the past and the memory of their ancestors.

"I always say that reading textbooks is not enough. The knowledge we study requires a lot of practice. The laboratories in Cité St. John are too poor. In fact, they don't allow us to conduct experiments that are too dangerous there."

Bernard spoke in Latin, and all the resentment he had just felt was swept away, and he smiled warmly at the students.

"This castle you see is the largest alchemy research center in Europe and even the world. It has the most complete equipment, the richest collection of books, and the most scholars. We call it the Alchemy Temple."

Bernard stepped aside and let the students admire the iron-black alchemy temple.

The Alchemy Temple was built three years ago. The rise of the witch-hunting movement led to a large-scale persecution of marginalized groups in Western European society. Some researchers of strange and cunning skills who were not tolerated by the mainstream society were targeted by everyone, including some alchemists who had not yet achieved great achievements.

Under the guidance of Isaac, the Eastern Roman Empire began to implement the "Lighthouse Project", trying desperately to attract these frustrated people with generous treatment, excellent research conditions and higher social status. No matter whether your research is valuable or not, no matter whether your reputation is prominent or humble, as long as you come to Constantinople, you can get corresponding respect.

There is really no way. The 15th century was the first explosive period of alchemy in Western Europe. Various masters emerged one after another, but the Eastern Roman Empire at that time was still on the brink of life and death, and no figures worth mentioning emerged. Although Isaac revived the Eastern Roman Empire, talent training is not a matter of overnight. The initial construction must rely on Western European talents, especially Germans.

Over the past three years, more and more alchemists have come from Western Europe. They were initially placed in the Citadel of St. John and the Royal Academy of Sciences, but the alchemists' highly dangerous experiments and eccentric personalities made them incompatible with students, teachers and other scholars. No one liked these "mad wizards" who were weird and caused big explosions and poisonous gases from time to time.

In the Royal Academy of Sciences, scholars from the Academy of Engineering, the Academy of Natural Philosophy, and the Academy of Astronomy have good relations with each other, and sometimes cooperate with each other to complete research, but the Academy of Chemistry has always been isolated, and others keep their distance from alchemists, even though many of them have begun to call themselves "chemists."

Thus, the Alchemy Temple came into being. This castle, funded by the royal family, took into account all the opinions of the alchemists and was built specifically to meet their research and living needs. Some of the more eccentric alchemists moved here to engage in extremely dangerous research experiments.

Of course, some alchemists in the Alchemy Temple still retain the title of academician of the School of Chemistry, and have to obey the call of the academy and teach students in the Department of Chemistry.

Bernard Trevisanus was a member of the academic school. This alchemist from Germany loved to educate young people. In his opinion, it was not enough to rely on one's own strength alone. This discipline must be developed and promoted so that everyone can work together to get closer to the truth.

"Dear children, the Alchemy Temple is a holy place for every alchemist. Here, we can study whatever we want as we please, without having to care about the opinions of the world or the accusations of our neighbors."

Bernard spoke with great interest.

"Our emperor is a truly wise ruler. There has never been a monarch in the world who loves alchemy as much as he does. The support he gives us is simply beyond words."

"He respected us, protected us, was willing to write to us to discuss problems in the experiment, and was willing to provide us with the most valuable advice. Please remember, please all alchemists or chemists remember, without the wisest Emperor Isaac, we would not be where we are today!"

The students nodded frequently. They were all young people living in a prosperous era. They grew up listening to stories about the emperor. In their hearts, the emperor's status was extremely high.

"Okay, next, let's go in."

Bernard walked into the doorway, followed closely by the students. The hall of the church was very spacious, with portraits on the purple-black walls.

"The first age of alchemy belongs to the era of ancient Greece, ancient Egypt, and classical Rome."

Bernard introduced the portraits in the front to the students, giving instructions as he walked.

"This is the legendary Hermes. I believe you are all familiar with the book The Emerald Record."

"This, Empedorux, was an ancient Greek who was born in Sicily. His knowledge was very diverse, not only including alchemy. He said that the heart was the center of all blood vessels. He also had some insights into biology, believing that any animal that was not adapted to survival would have died out in the past, and those that survived now must have adapted to the current environment."

Bernard pointed to a bearded man.

"His achievement in alchemy was the 'mixture theory', which believed that everything was made up of different combinations and arrangements of substances, which was relatively abstract..."

"And this one, Democritus, who believed that everything is made up of atoms and the void. Atoms are indivisible particles of matter. The word 'atom' was coined by him..."

Bernard continued walking and the students continued listening. The first stage of portraits was quickly completed, and in the next few portraits, the scholars wore turbans.

"The second stage, the Islamic stage, began in the seventh century and ended in the 13th century. This was the most glorious era of Islamic civilization. At that time, they undoubtedly represented advancement and civilization. There were men and women, Christians, Muslims, and even blacks and Indians in the Palace of Wisdom. It was extremely open, inclusive, and glorious..."

Bernard came to a portrait framed in gold, stood solemnly, and bowed deeply.

"Jaber ibn Hayyan, the father of chemistry, the father of alchemy, the greatest Islamic scholar, the greatest Arab chemist, the inventor of nitric acid and sulfuric acid, the promoter of the sulfur-mercury theory, the word "alkali" that you learned in class was also coined by him."

The students also followed Bernard in bowing. Their most important textbook, "The Book of Chemistry", was written by Jaber, so they naturally knew this great pioneer.

After bowing, Bernard continued to move forward and introduced each Arab alchemist to the students.

"Razi, another famous Islamic scholar..."

"Avicenna, medical students must have read his books..."

The second stage also ended quickly with the students' footsteps, and Bernard sighed.

"After the 13th century, the Islamic Golden Age came to an end. Their thoughts seemed to be imprisoned by something and became increasingly conservative. The ideas that were recognized and respected during the Golden Age were suppressed. Even the Mamluks and Ottomans, who also had their glory days, could not change this."

"There has not been a single Islamic scholar worthy of being on this wall in the past two hundred years, and there probably won't be one in the future."

Bernard looked at the portrait of the third stage with a little more interest.

"Dear students, the next era is ours. The third stage belongs to Europe."

"Artephius was dedicated to absorbing the alchemical knowledge of the Islamic Golden Age and translated many important works..."

"Magnus, the production of sulfuric acid by dry distillation of gallstones is a supplement to the Jaber Method..."

"Nicolas Flamel, who is said to have created the Philosopher's Stone."

At this point, Bernard paused and shook his head.

"Sir, do you not approve of Nicolas Flamel?"

one student asked boldly.

"It is said that many people in Western Europe are desperately trying to find his legacy."

"No, he is also a great pioneer. I took this path because of his stories when I was a child."

Bernard spread his hands.

"But you also know that I am an academic, and I have had several correspondences with the emperor. Now I really don't believe in the magic of turning stone into gold."

"Equivalent exchange is the unchanging principle of alchemy, but turning stone into gold..."

Bernard said nothing more and led the students to the sculpture in the front.

In the center of the sculpture is the symbol of alchemy - Ouroboros, and below the Ouroboros are four angels.

"The original four elements of alchemy, earth, water, wind and fire, may have been first proposed by Aristotle. I am used to corresponding them with the four angels in the Bible."

Bernard said.

"Michael for fire, Raphael for wind, Gabriel for water, Uriel for earth."

"However, as of now, we have some new theories. The statues of earth, water, wind and fire are only to commemorate our ancestors."

"Sir, are you talking about the 'new theory of elements' that we talked about in class?"

a student asked curiously.

"Yes, this is my main academic focus. Four elements are too few and too general to describe the alchemical process well."

Bernard nodded appreciatively.

"We have studied some common objects and found some new elements, such as plants, hair and ash from burning coal, which is likely to be a basic element because it cannot be further decomposed."

"And sulfur. Sulfur can be burned and can produce a series of unpleasant-smelling gases, but it itself cannot be decomposed. This may also be an element."

"Then there is air, which is also a basic element. Combustibles must be in air to burn."

"Sir, air cannot be a fundamental element?"

A voice asked doubtfully.

"When all kinds of things burn, smoke is released into the air, so the air cannot be pure."

"Very good, you are right. This is exactly one of the doubts we are facing now."

Bernard smiled happily.

"It's a good thing to know how to ask questions. You can ask any questions you have. Teachers and students in ancient Greece loved to discuss problems."

Several more students raised their own questions, and Bernard answered them all and waited for more insights.

"Mr. Bernard, are we here just to talk today?"

A discordant voice sounded, and Bernard looked in the direction of the sound. Several students gathered together, looking at him impatiently.

The leader was the son of a noble with outstanding military achievements and excellent academic performance. Bernard knew him. His name was Oliver.

"Sir, I respect you and your research, and I know that the emperor attaches great importance to chemistry and even gave you 50,000 solidus not long ago."

Oliver said.

"But now is a time of war. Every Roman must contribute to the war effort. It is obviously inappropriate for the Alchemy Temple to occupy such a huge amount of resources at this time."

"College students are marching and petitioning to participate in the war. We, the students of the Chemistry Department, cannot fall behind. If you have nothing else to do, please let me take my friends back and drive our own boat to deliver supplies to General Gonzalo."

Oliver looked at Bernard with a firm look in his eyes.

Bernard was stunned for a moment, then smiled and shook his head.

"My child, you are well-informed. I admit that the emperor did allocate 50,000 solidus to the School of Chemistry not long ago, but most of the money was just in the name of the School of Chemistry. It was not our experimental funds, but was used elsewhere."

Bernard remained kind.

"I understand your patriotism, and that's fine, but have you ever wondered why the Emperor would allocate funds to us during a time of war?"

Without waiting for Oliver to answer, Bernard continued.

"We are not just talking nonsense. Alchemy and chemistry are very important. They are the progress of civilization and science. We have improved Jaber's sulfuric acid method. We have also developed a new acid production method under the advice of Your Majesty. Sulfuric acid is produced by burning sulfur and saltpeter. Both methods can produce a large amount of sulfuric acid, which can be used for leather, dyes and fertilizers."

Bernard said gently, "We have improved Raymond's nitric acid method from the 13th century by using oily concentrated sulfuric acid and saltpeter, and we can produce nitric acid so concentrated that it will smoke."

"We treat natural dyes with nitric acid to get richer colors, and we treat phosphate rock with nitric acid to get nitrophosphate fertilizer, which works better."

"We adopted Jabir's method, using oily concentrated sulfuric acid and salt water to react, passing the gas into distilled water, and obtained the concentrated hydrochloric acid that Jabir mentioned. This substance has a greater effect. Valentine was awarded the title of Royal Craftsman and the title of Baron because of his extended research on hydrochloric acid."

"How can you say we are just talking nonsense?"

"But these are all civilian--"

Oliver continued to argue.

"No, it's not just that."

Bernard stopped smiling and became serious.

"Both alchemy and chemistry are the most powerful sciences. We can use chemistry to benefit mankind, but we can also use it to destroy mankind."

Bernard turned and continued walking.

"Come with me, and I will show you the latest research results of the Alchemy Temple."

The students seemed to be intimidated by Bernard's seriousness and followed him obediently.

After passing through several corridors and carefully avoiding several smoking laboratories, they passed through an open-air test site. There were flowers and plants planted here, but they were dead and yellow.

There was a laboratory table on the open space, with a series of glass instruments on the table, and long pipes connected to the Jaber-style distillation flask on the furnace.

Several apprentices were busy, and several glass tubes seemed to be filled with yellow-green gas.

Strangely, Bernard did not take them in here, but instead brought them to another empty testing site. On the wooden table were only a few bottles of reagents with glass stoppers and a small cloth bag filled with pale yellow crystals.

"Sir...what was that just now?"

Oliver asked quietly.

"This has nothing to do with you. It is not our main purpose."

Bernard said, admonishing.

"Although I have taught you the basic method of making triacids, please do not experiment at home. Many substances are toxic. If you are exposed to them for a long time, you will not live long."

"The labor force of the chemical factory is all Muslim slaves. The workshop owners are not allowed to employ Roman citizens at all. Don't you think about why?"

Bernard finished speaking and looked at the students' clothes.

"Has anyone ever used indigo dye to dye their clothes?"

The students looked at each other, not quite sure.

Indigo is one of the oldest natural pigments of mankind and is very easy to obtain. Various civilizations on the Old World had their own methods of producing indigo, and blue clothes were also relatively cheap, but students don't know much about this.

"Sir, my handkerchief seems to be blue..."

A student raised his hand and handed Bernard his handkerchief.

"Hmm... that should be correct."

Bernard nodded, spread his handkerchief flat on the table, uncorked a bottle, and a faint smoke appeared above the solution. It was concentrated nitric acid.

Bernard used a glass rod to take a few drops of concentrated nitric acid and dropped them on the indigo handkerchief.

The handkerchief reacted immediately, and soon, yellow and light yellow rings began to spread along the center.

"Sir, what is this?"

The students were confused.

Bernard did not answer, but carefully displayed the cloth bag containing the pale yellow crystals. He then took out a small rusty iron can from the side and gently put the pale yellow crystals into it until it was full.

After putting the iron lid on the can, Bernard placed it on an open space in the distance, moved the wooden table, and led the students back into the castle to watch from the window.

He took out a small crossbow from a box nearby, cocked it and aimed it under the surprised eyes of the students.

boom--

The crossbow arrow accurately hit the small iron can. A violent explosion instantly resounded throughout the entire open space. The rising smoke gradually dissipated, and a deep round pit appeared on the dirt ground. Iron pieces were scattered everywhere and pierced into the surrounding walls.

The students looked in shock at the pit, then at Bernard, who had lowered his crossbow and was smiling.

He waved the indigo handkerchief with the yellow ring.

"After we obtained the three acids, we used them to treat many natural substances. We eventually found that many natural substances would undergo such changes after contact with concentrated nitric acid. We call the precipitated substances plant acids. Their characteristic is that they tend to crystallize automatically under natural conditions, and they can be obtained at a high purity without extraction."

Then he picked up the cloth bag again and pointed at the yellow crystal.

"This is a good thing. Although it cannot be obtained simply by processing a handkerchief, it is still not difficult to make. There are only three raw materials: indigo, nitric acid, and water. It does not require high temperature or air isolation. The instruments only use glass containers and crucibles. The production cycle is about a week, mainly the time it takes for the mixed solution to stand still."

"Your Majesty provided very valuable suggestions. We spent half a year and successfully set up a small workshop. We are currently exploring more efficient production methods."

"This stuff can be used as a yellow dye. It's not easy to fade and it's very bright."

Bernard said.

"The most important thing is that when this stuff is stored in a damp and rusty iron container, once it is subjected to external force, it will produce an extremely violent explosion, the effect of which is simply not comparable to that of black powder."

"I tasted some, and it was bitter, and of the same acidity as Jabir's other acids, which His Majesty called bitter acids."

"This... this can be used as a substitute for black powder? Can it be used to fill muskets and cannons?"

Oliver was a little excited.

"What a powerful killing weapon!"

"Unfortunately, no."

Bernard directly extinguished Oliver's fantasy.

"It cannot be used on guns or artillery, as it will kill the shooter instantly."

"But this stuff is cheap and can be mass-produced. It was just used as a yellow dye at first, but it will definitely have more military uses in the future."

"So, it can only be detonated like this, from such a long distance?"

Oliver asked.

"Did our soldiers have to sneak up on the enemy's front, place the small iron cans, and then use sharpshooters to shoot them?"

"Kid, you're so funny."

Bernard chuckled.

"A quarter of the money His Majesty allocated was used for the production of picric acid, so naturally we found a feasible way."

Bernard said nothing more, and looked proudly at the students' admiring and shocked eyes.

"Well, Oliver, are we only talking?"

"Sir, please forgive my ignorance!"

Oliver immediately bowed and apologized without any hesitation.

"But you just said that even picric acid only took up a quarter of the funds. Where did the rest go?"

Bernard didn't answer directly, but tapped Oliver on the head and smiled meaningfully.

"You will all know it later."

……

The Cilician Plain was ablaze with smoke, and three large cities were reduced to ashes under powerful firepower. The Eastern Roman Empire's siege mode of "inland fleet plus marines" was successful in practice. The main targets of city wall defense have always been powerful enemies on land. Even the weakest point of the wall of Constantinople is the sea wall of the Golden Horn. What's more, these inland Muslim cities have no counter-plans against surface enemies at all, and they have no ability to fight back under the new war mode.

At present, after several weeks of siege, the port of Icel and the city of Adana have collapsed under the offensive of the Eastern Roman Empire, the city of Ceyhan is also under siege by the inland fleet, and Western European mercenaries are looting the Cilician plains.

After capturing the city of Adana, Isaac did not stop. He quickly led the Varangian Guard and the Catalan Mercenaries to the northwest, pursuing the scattered remnants of Ramazan all the way.

This small Bey state was once a vassal state of the Mamluk Empire, and later pledged allegiance to the Aq Qoyunlu Empire. Its own strength was extremely weak, the people were in panic, and the soldiers had no will to fight. Even at this time, the princes did not unite and continued to fight for cities and villages.

The four thousand-strong army crawled along the winding mountain road. This was the northwest of Cilicia, on the southeast foot of the Taurus Mountains. The higher they went, the steeper the mountain became and the narrower the road became.

On a horse, Isaac gently held the horse's belly and looked at the mountain pass that was getting closer and closer.

Cilicia is a land full of legends. The rivers and mountains here record the anecdotes of many famous figures throughout history, such as the river that drowned Frederick "Barbarossa" and the narrow mountain gate that caused Nikephoros I to suffer a disastrous defeat.

This is the Cilician Gate, located in the northwest of Adana City. It is a narrow pass leading from the plain to the plateau. The terrain is steep and the road is narrow, making it difficult for a large army to deploy. The fortress defenders here can use very few troops to block the enemy army that is several times larger than their own.

At present, this mountain fortress, which is "one man guarding the pass against ten thousand men", is occupied by a defected Prince Ramazan. Many of Ramazan's remnant soldiers in Adana city have also fled here, and the garrison is about two thousand.

Connecting Cilicia with Cappadocia, which was in revolt, was a crucial part of Isaac's plan. He had to take the mountain pass while the remnants of Ramazan were still in shock and make contact with the Cappadocian Self-Defense Forces as soon as possible.

"Your Majesty, are you sure you won't wait for the other troops?"

The voice came from beside him. It was Nathan, the leader of the Catalan Mercenaries.

"Although the combat effectiveness of Ramazan's army is low, our troops are only twice as many as the defenders. This place is easy to defend but difficult to attack. The artillery positions cannot be arranged, so I'm afraid it will be difficult to fight."

"The artillery positions cannot be arranged, and the army cannot be arranged either. In such a narrow terrain, the advantage of numbers will be reduced to the minimum. Even if you bring an army of 100,000, there may only be 2,000 people who can actually squeeze onto the battlefield."

Isaac said.

"Of course, you can also fight a war of attrition, but this goes against my original intention of a quick victory."

"Don't worry, I'm sure of it."

Isaac smiled, and Nathan nodded and retreated, half believing and half doubting.

The army continued to move forward. The fortress was in sight. Cliffs and steep cliffs surrounded the city gate, and on the gate was the flag of Ramazan.

The sound of trumpets blew in the valley, and the soldiers in the fortress panicked.

A thousand Varangian guards formed a battle formation under the fortress, and Isaac watched their busy work quietly from behind.

"Your Majesty, they want to negotiate!"

A Varangian captain ran over, holding an arrow with a letter tied to it.

"What do you think we should do?"

"Negotiation? Why negotiate?"

"I didn't even bring supplies. It will take two days to capture them."

Isaac shook his head in disbelief, took the letter and threw it on the ground.

"According to our original plan, we will test the power of the new weapon."

Captain Varangian's eyes lit up, he chuckled a few times, and directed the soldiers to take down the large wooden parts from the ox cart and assemble them on the spot under the guidance of the army engineer.

After a while, three small catapults were built. In front of the huge fortress, these catapults looked particularly small.

The soldiers in the fort seemed to feel humiliated, and several waves of arrows rained down and hit the shield of the catapult.

Isaac ignored him and waved his hand. Several engineers carefully lifted a dozen large iron barrels wrapped in cotton from the ox cart. The iron barrels were rusty and looked a little dirty.

"This is……"

Nathan looked at the engineers with a strange expression as they loaded the barrels onto the catapult.

"what is this?"

"The Wrath of Augustus."

Isaac whispered the code name of the weapon.

"Just watch."

The engineers finished loading and waved their flags.

"Fire!"

Isaac raised his right hand and swung it down heavily.

The rusty iron barrel drew an ungraceful curve in the air and fell heavily on the wall of the fortress. The soldiers raised their shields as if trying to block it.

Boom——Boom——

The violent explosion shattered the tranquility of the canyon, white smoke flew, iron pieces splashed, several hard stone bricks collapsed, and the Ramazan soldiers on the city wall fell to the ground crying, broken arms and limbs were everywhere, and the screams of pain resounded between heaven and earth.

This is picric acid, a high explosive that Isaac ordered alchemists to extract. The production method is simple and the raw materials are very cheap. It was first used as a textile dye in the original time and space. A hundred years after it was safely used, a reckless French worker hit an iron barrel of picric acid dye with a hammer, which was difficult to open due to rust.

However, apart from the "Wrath of Augustus" that has already been developed, it is actually difficult for Isaac to use it directly in war, as the existing artillery is not capable of using "shrapnel shells".

The earliest record of the use of "shrapnel bombs" in human history comes from the Ming Dynasty. A few decades later, the descendants of the Eastern Roman Empire might also invent shells that could explode after falling, but they would still have to use black powder, and picric acid would still not be able to be used.

This type of explosive has too many disadvantages, is too dangerous, and requires too much prior technology to use safely. Although its power exceeds that of TNT, it still cannot achieve the same world-renowned status as the latter.

Of course, using catapults to throw rusty iron barrels and sending engineers to bury some explosive packs under the city walls are completely feasible with current military technology.

The "Wrath of Augustus" continued to fire, and the city wall gradually collapsed in the chaos. A smile appeared on Isaac's face, and the natural canyon became a smooth road.

Isaac looked far away at the plateau. The first two plans had been successful. Cilicia and Cappadocia were connected. Isaac's riders could gallop freely on the plateau from Anatolia to Armenia.

It was not difficult to defeat the Muslim tribes on the battlefield. The real difficulty was to keep them away from the Roman homes and eliminate the soil for their survival here.

"Nathan, I will stay here tonight. You take a hundred people down the mountain."

Isaac commanded.

"Go and bring Bashir Valentine here."

"The third plan can begin now."

Explosions sounded one after another, as if it was the wrath of God, with raging flames, judging the original sins of the blasphemers.

(End of this chapter)