Steel, Explosives, and Spellcasters

Chapter 379: Chapter 36: The Ultra-Long Spear_2

Colonel Jeska arrived at the Arsenal with three lieutenants just as the militia in charge of the armory was sweeping up.

Seeing his subordinates sharpening their weapons at the eleventh hour, Winters and his companions couldn’t help but blush.

The colonel, however, dismissed it with a wave of his hand, “No need to hustle, the Arsenal is not a banquet hall.”

Winters asked the Centurion in charge of the armory to bring the list: “The spears, halberds, swords, shields, and firearms for three hundred-man squads, as well as the ammunition, are all here.”

“Mixed forces?” Jeska’s eyebrows raised.

“Yes, mixed forces,” Winters nodded.

Normally, each hundred-man squad in a legion would be equipped with the same weapons. Halberdiers would only have halberds, and musketeers would only have firearms; only at the cohort level would there be mixed forces.

Such a design is for legion-level battles, where soldiers using different weapons are organized into separate units, making it more convenient for commanders to arrange troops and formations.

However, militias like the one in Wolf Town, mainly engaged in assorted tasks such as escorting and road maintenance, and operating independently most of the time, could only institute mixed forces at the hundred-man squad level.

“Spears, firearms, heavy halberds, and swords with shields, in the ratio of four to three to two to one,” Winters took the list and handed it to the colonel: “Only Centurions are issued with half armor, everyone else gets a helmet. There’s also sixty kilograms of lead, twelve kegs of gunpowder, and some other assorted items, all here.”

Spearmen, musketeers, and halberdiers are each additionally equipped with a single-handed sword, while swordsmen with shields also have a small iron shield.@@novelbin@@

The musketeers also have molds for casting lead bullets, which Winters, fearing the militia might not manage them well, had also collected.

Colonel Jeska, without even looking at the list, directly asked, “Is it higher-ups issuing only one kilogram of lead per musketeer, or are you down to only one kilogram per person?”

“Each musketeer is only issued one kilogram.”

“Haven’t done any training?”

“The militia hasn’t undergone training,” Winters thought for a moment before answering, “But we have conducted a few training sessions ourselves using the gunpowder and lead brought from the recruiting areas.”

“Alright then,” Colonel Jeska’s expression remained unchanged, not revealing much emotion, “Let’s see the goods.”

Opening a wooden crate, the pungent smell of oil hit them, the box was filled with single-handed swords, each oiled and wrapped in cloth.

“Pretty good,” the colonel nodded, “Let’s see the others.”

The other weapon crates were inspected one by one, and everything was well preserved: the metal equipment was oiled, camphor was placed beside the long poles, and the blades were all properly wrapped.

John Jeska seemed quite satisfied until the crate containing the firearms was opened.

The one-eyed colonel’s expression was a mix of a smile and not a smile: “Hook guns?”

“Yes, sir. We were issued hook guns,” Winters replied awkwardly.

The colonel took out a hook gun from the top and couldn’t help but laugh, “This thing, I fear its age might even surpass mine, eh?”

“I wouldn’t know about that,” Malcolm replied in a muffled voice, “But it’s definitely older than any of us.”

…

Hook guns, in fact, are matchlock muskets, a type of improved matchlock musket.

Early firearms did not have stocks until a gunsmith had the inspiration to attach the wooden stock from a crossbow to the firearm, until then, muskets had to be fired by holding them in hand.

But hand-held firing was unstable, so to dissipate the recoil, gunsmiths began to add a small iron hook to the barrel.

This way, the user could hook the musket to objects like city walls, wagons, or shields for support.

Thus, this type of musket was named a hook gun.

At least in the early stages of the Sovereignty Wars, both sides were still using hook guns.

But war spurred more advanced designs, which then spread rapidly during the wars.

With the proliferation of musket stocks, longer barrels, and serpentine firing rods, muskets evolved from the early matchlock “stick and iron tube” to their present form.

By the later stages of the Sovereignty Wars, both sides were fully equipped with more advanced matchlock muskets and cannons to wreak havoc upon each other.

No one used or manufactured hook guns anymore; in other words, this type of weapon had been off the historical stage for at least thirty years.

That’s why the colonel asked such a question.

The swords, shields, and super-long spears issued to Winters and his hundred-man squads conformed to legion specifications, but the firearms they received were outdated models.

There wasn’t much to complain about, as the militia mostly operated behind the lines and at most had to deal with a few highwaymen.

Having a couple of guns that could make a noise was enough to intimidate attackers. For actual combat, a couple of crossbows would be more useful.

…

Shaking his head slightly, the colonel put the hook gun back in the crate and pointing at the kegs of gunpowder said, “Open this and have a look.”

The colonel specifically wanted to check the kegs of gunpowder stacked at the bottom. Malcolm, in charge of the Arsenal, fetched a crowbar made of hardwood and carefully opened the keg.

Colonel Jeska poured out the entire barrel of gunpowder, revealing lovely black granules without any signs of layering.

“Not bad,” the colonel rarely patted the Centurion in charge of the armory on the shoulder, “The gunpowder has been well-stored.”

Malcolm scratched his head and said sheepishly, “It was Centurion Montaigne who told me to flip the keg of gunpowder upside down every day.”

Jeska looked at Winters with some surprise and nodded slightly.

Winters also felt a bit embarrassed, as this trick was something he had learned from the Vineta navy.

“No need to check further, that will do,” the colonel dusted the gunpowder off his hands and said offhandedly, “Take your men to the legion Arsenal, swap the super-long spears for regular spears or halberds. Exchange the hook guns for matchlock muskets.”

Winters was momentarily taken aback, “Uh… we can just go and exchange them?”

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