Being a knight is not easy

Chapter 249 Water Power Forging

Robin's fingertips traced the exterior wall of the workshop.

Water droplets seeping from the cracks in the rocks evaporate the moment they are touched; the temperature here is at least twenty degrees higher than that of the castle.

Deep inside the workshop, a set of bronze gears with a diameter of over three meters is being driven by a giant waterwheel.

"It can already handle the impact of a 500-pound sledgehammer," Robin frowned, looking at the operational logs, then suddenly turned and asked, "Ito has taken over the Knights?"

Groot wiped his brow: "His Excellency just announced it this morning. I heard they're selecting six hundred."

“Tell Father,” Robin interrupted him, tapping the cavalry breastplate that was being completed with his fingers, “that by next month I need a hundred blacksmiths who can forge weapons and three hundred apprentices.”

The valley fell silent for a moment as the largest waterwheel reached its highest point, casting a shadow that swept across the entire workshop like a giant beast.

Molten iron poured from the furnace and flowed in a perfect arc through the sand mold.

Robin stood in the center of the forging workshop, drawing designs for armor from another world on the blueprints he held in his hands.

That was a cavalry breastplate from the pinnacle of Europe's era of cold weapons; its simple yet deadly curve gleamed coldly in the candlelight.

“Segmented forging, riveted and spliced.” Robin’s finger traced the seams on the blueprint. “Each breastplate is divided into six parts, which are made by different craftsmen at the same time.”

Sir Groot stared wide-eyed at the unprecedented craftsmanship.

In this world, a full set of knight's armor requires two blacksmiths to spend a month meticulously forging it.

And the design in front of us.

"Three days." Robin closed the blueprints, his voice clearly audible amidst the roar of the forging hammer. "I need the first batch of fifty breastplates, to be inspected in three days."

In a corner of the workshop, several old blacksmiths were carefully testing newly made molds.

When the red-hot steel billet is placed into the mold, and the hydraulic press presses down with a roar, a perfect breastplate is born. The whole process takes less than ten minutes.

"Young Master, this...this is simply a miracle!" Groot stroked the just-cooled breastplate sample, his fingertips feeling the flowing curves of the metal surface. "It's half the weight of a full-body suit of armor, yet the protection is..."

Robin did not answer.

His gaze swept across the workshop and landed on the training ground in the distance.

There, the first batch of selected infantrymen were practicing in formation.

When these warriors don mass-produced breastplates and form battle formations, they will become an iron torrent on the battlefield, crushing traditional knightly orders.

“Tell Ito.” As Robin turned, the sample of his breastplate gleamed blindingly in the sunlight. “His order of knights will soon have ‘new friends.’”

The afterglow of the setting sun cast a blood-red hue over the workshop complex, and Andisu's warriors busied themselves like ants.

“A three-layered defensive perimeter centered on the main workshop.” Robin’s boots traced three arcs on the ground. “The innermost layer is guarded by two hundred heavily armored soldiers, on duty day and night.”

Amidst the clanging of halberds, the wooden fence rose from the ground at a speed visible to the naked eye.

Further away, craftsmen are driving sharpened logs deep into the ground. These specially treated logs can grow thorny vines within three days, forming a natural thorny wall.

Andy Su stroked the newly acquired halberd, its steel blade gleaming blue in the twilight: "Young Master, should we also bring the furnace from the third workshop in?"

Robin shook his head and pointed to the new building complex under construction on the other side of the river: "They're building a second workshop area there, specifically for production." He suddenly fell silent because a warning popped up on the system interface: [High-level energy reaction detected, distance 3.2 kilometers].

Almost simultaneously, the alarm bells on the watchtower rang loudly.

"Enemy attack! From the northwest!"

Robin squinted.

On the distant mountain ridge, the silhouettes of a group of black-armored knights could be vaguely seen, their dark gold scales shimmering like dragon eyes in the last rays of sunlight.

"The Knights of Sword and Fire of the Wolft family," Andisu's Adam's apple bobbed, "They've arrived earlier than expected." The machinery in the workshop continued to roar.

The blade of the Dragon Slayer Spear sliced ​​through the twilight. Robin stood on the workshop's high platform, with three hundred heavily armored warriors standing behind him like a steel jungle.

The newly crafted breastplate gleamed with a dark red luster in the afterglow of the setting sun, and the blades of the halberds all faced forward at a 45-degree angle.

This is the anti-cavalry angle that Robin personally adjusted.

"Array up!"

With Andisu's roar, the warriors quickly split into three ranks.

The first row knelt on one knee, with the end of their halberds touching the ground;

The second row held their halberds level; the third row rested their halberds on the shoulders of their comrades in front, instantly forming a chilling, deadly thorny thicket.

Along the ridgeline, the scout cavalry of the Knights of Sword and Fire reined in their horses.

The lead knight lifted his visor, revealing an incredulous expression: "These farmers... want to use lances to fight off a knight's charge?"

Before his laughter had even subsided, the roar of machinery suddenly echoed from deep within the workshop.

Twelve ballistae hidden behind the fortifications raised their barrels simultaneously, the sound of gears meshing even drowning out the neighing of warhorses.

"put!"

Robin swung his dragon-slaying spear down suddenly.

The sound of something cutting through the air ripped through the twilight as specially made triangular crossbow bolts traced twelve deadly paths through the sky.

These crossbow bolts, with flower-shaped stabilizing wings at the tail, emit a piercing whistle when in flight; they are the latest mass-produced "buzzing arrows" from the waterworks.

Six knights fell from their horses in the first volley.

The warhorses reared up in terror as the crossbow bolts driven into the ground emitted high-frequency vibrations, and a sound wave that sent shivers down the spines of magical beasts echoed through the valley.

"Push forward!"

The battle formation began to advance steadily.

The heavy infantrymen's footsteps shook the ground slightly, and the anchor patterns on their breastplates looked like burning flames in the setting sun.

The reconnaissance captain finally realized that these were not ordinary militiamen; the gleaming armor worn by those warriors was not something ordinary militiamen could afford.

"Retreat! Retreat back immediately and report! We have encountered elite enemy infantry."

But it was too late.

The roof of the second workshop suddenly burst open, revealing three menacing-looking crossbow carts. These were water-powered "Rainstorm" type rapid-fire crossbows, capable of unleashing two hundred arrows per minute.

When the storm of steel subsided, only a few frightened warhorses and the corpses of knights riddled with arrows remained on the ridgeline.

The scout who escaped a hundred paces away was cut down from a distance by Robin's new Tang sword. The cracks left by the sword energy on the armor were as neat as the cuts on a mass-produced steel plate in a workshop.

Andy Su kicked the knight's helmet at his feet, from which dark gold blood seeped: "Young master, these seem to be..."

“Members of the Wolford family’s knightly order.” Robin wiped his katana. “It seems our guests are more impatient than expected.”

Suddenly, the furnace in the workshop spewed forth a towering purple flame, illuminating the entire valley as if it were daytime.

In the blinding firelight, the fifty newly produced breastplates were being rapidly distributed.

(End of this chapter)