Chapter 258
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Chapter 258: Liu Meng’s Insight
“Because I want to enhance the destructive power of the shield-axemen unit, to forge a violent unit that can, in one swift encounter, smash through the opponent’s shield-wielding unit’s defense line and tear open their entire formation!”
Hearing this, Liu Meng subconsciously thought of Luo Yong, who on the battlefield was truly like a killing machine.
The double-bladed battle axe in his hand could cut through both man and shield with a single swing, killing wherever he went, it was incredibly violent.
Just one of him was terrifying enough, if there was an entire unit, it would undoubtedly be an extremely fearsome elite force!
But not everyone could be that violent.
As an experienced veteran general, Liu Meng clearly saw the key issue here at a glance.
“But if you do that, the lengthened battle axes will raise the requirements for soldiers, making it difficult for the shield-axemen unit to recruit suitable candidates afterward, leading to a significant reduction in their numbers.”
“At the same time, on the battlefield, whether in pitched battles or sieges, a large number of shield-axemen are needed to push forward with their shields.”
“This is a main force, and if the numbers are too small, it will be difficult to pose a threat to the enemy.”
Hearing Liu Meng’s analysis, Luo Ji’s eyes immediately lit up.
It wasn’t that he hadn’t considered this issue, but he hadn’t expected Liu Meng to see it so thoroughly.
Upon closer thought, Liu Meng was also a first-class general with both martial prowess and leadership capped at 4-stars.
Moreover, and more importantly, he was an experienced veteran general!
“Liu Meng, actually, it’s like this. I want to change the main force responsible for pushing forward on the battlefield to other troop types, and the original main pushing force, the shield-axemen unit, will be changed into an elite unit of about 500 men, specifically responsible for targeting the enemy’s shield-wielding troops!”
“That could work.”
Liu Meng’s expression was subtle.
“But what do you mean by ‘other troop types?’”
“Follow me!”
Luo Ji was clearly intrigued at this point.
He immediately called Liu Meng and walked towards the Armament Forging Department.
Before they even entered, just by approaching the area where the Armament Forging Department was located, they could clearly feel the temperature rising.
The moment they stepped inside, the temperature was simply like a super-large furnace, and it felt as if even the air became thin.
Enduring the heat, Luo Ji walked directly to a weapon rack nearby, then picked up one of the newly forged weapons and gestured with it.
“Liu Meng, what do you think of this?”
“This is…? A bronze sword?”
Taking the weapon Luo Ji handed him, Liu Meng’s expression subtly changed the moment it entered his hand.
As a martial general, his instincts allowed him to quickly grasp the weapon’s function as soon as he held it.
“Leader, may your subordinate test this weapon?”
“Go ahead and test it.”
As he spoke, Luo Ji pointed to a wooden stake nearby.
Receiving Luo Ji’s permission, Liu Meng quickly took 2 steps forward.
Without any fancy moves, he swung the weapon in his hand, and with a roar, directly chopped at the wooden stake in front of him.
The thick wooden stake snapped in response.
Then Liu Meng looked down at the weapon in his hand, his face openly revealing his fondness for it.
And Luo Ji’s voice echoed at this moment.
“This new weapon in your hand is called the Bronze Sword! Do you like it? I plan to create a sword-shield soldier unit and use it to replace the shield-axemen unit, making it the main pushing force on the battlefield!”
“Bronze Sword?”
Caressing the cold blade, Liu Meng’s face was filled with excitement.
“Your subordinate likes it very much!”
Hearing Liu Meng’s crisp reply, Luo Ji also chuckled, then suddenly said.
“Then the sword-shield soldier unit will be under your command.”
Liu Meng was a bit slow to react for a moment, his expression clearly stunned.
And after he came to his senses, he was completely dumbfounded.
“Un-under your subordinate’s command?”
“That’s right.”
Luo Ji nodded with a smile.
“What? Do you feel the burden is too heavy?”
After all, it was a brand new troop type and a brand new weapon.
To command such an unfamiliar unit, it would certainly be a lie to say he wasn’t worried at all, but as a first-class general, his pride at this moment would not allow him to shrink back.
He suddenly puffed out his chest.
“Your subordinate will never fail to live up to the Leader’s expectations!”
“Good, well done.”
Luo Ji nodded in satisfaction.
As a general of an army, it was acceptable for the soldiers under him to lack confidence!
But if the general commanding the unit also lacked confidence, then it would truly be over!
As he spoke, Luo Ji beckoned, calling over Liu Shu, the head of the Armament Department, who had also shaved his head bald.
“Liu Shu, what’s the current forging progress of the Bronze Swords?”
He had given this order some time ago.
To save materials, increase success rate, and forging efficiency, Luo Ji had even specifically bought a Silver-tier ‘Bronze Sword’ forging blueprint for the Armament Forging Department to use.
Facts proved that the efficiency was quite good.
However, since the processes were basically completed in batches, it was difficult to accurately state how many war blades they could forge in a day.
This Armament Forging Department was built based on Luo Ji’s modern thinking.
With so many weapons for the soldiers in his civilization waiting to be forged, he pursued high efficiency.
Simply put, this was equivalent to an assembly line factory specifically for forging weapons and equipment.
One group of people was responsible for tempering bronze, another group for forging blanks, another for quenching, and finally, another group for polishing weapons and sharpening them.
So, when reporting, they would only say how many were forged in half a month, or in a month.
Currently, the Armament Forging Department had 20 artisans specifically responsible for forging Bronze Sword.
And the number Liu Shu told him was 437.
Luo Ji was quite satisfied with this efficiency.
Once they became more proficient, the forging efficiency and success rate should be able to increase further.
It’s also worth noting that people often think it took several months, or even several years, to forge a single sword or other weapon in ancient times.
Such cases did exist, the most famous being Ouyezi.
To forge a single sword, he first started by finding a location, then built a forging furnace there after confirming the location, and then found iron mother ore and suitable mountain spring water.
It took him 3 years in total to forge a sword.
Leaving aside any exaggeration, the name of that sword was ‘Zhanlu.’
Other swords that took a long time to forge included ‘Longyuan,’ ‘Tai’a,’ ‘Jueque,’ ‘Chun Jun,’ ‘Gan Jiang Mo Xie,’ and so on.
Looking at the entire history of the Celestial Dynasty, spanning 5,000 years, no profligate ruler ever equipped his tens of thousands of troops with such weapons.
To put it plainly, these famous swords pursued the ultimate upper limit, while the swords used in armies, Luo Ji only pursued a qualified standard.
Otherwise, how do you think the weapons and equipment for armies of tens of thousands, or even hundreds of thousands, came about in the cold weapon era?
