Rise of Rurik

The hammers are constantly forging, and no matter how cold the wind blows outside, the heat inside the state-owned metallurgical complex in New Roseburg forces the workers to go shirtless, as if winter does not exist for them.

In the southeastern area of ​​​​New Roseburg, there are no ordinary residential buildings in this area, but there is a dense matrix of hot pots.

The kingdom's large blast furnaces are all in the north, and Roseburg's hometown still has its unique and powerful vitality in the new era - a smelting center.

Today, people who still stay in Roseburg in the north are basically engaged in industrial jobs related to mining and smelting.

They used pre-modern technology to excavate stones from Archaean iron veins in the Scandinavian mountains, crush them and use them to cast pig iron in earthen blast furnaces.

The large amount of pig iron ingots was basically unable to be digested by Rosberg itself, so it was loaded onto a navy transport ship at the port, and under the escort and supervision of naval ships, it was transported to the capital city of Nova Rosberg deep in the Gulf of Finland.

The two large mines in the north and the corresponding metallurgical cities not only provide a steady stream of crude iron to the capital, but also transport a large amount of by-products.

Glauber's salt, lime, quartz sand, these mineral products are related to other industrial categories in Russia. New Roseburg has the largest industrial population in Russia. Only they can properly absorb and utilize these products.

Among the many transported minerals, even slag is used as waste.

The slag is smashed into fine pieces and eventually becomes a substitute for high-quality river sand, which becomes a key raw material for formulating cement. The cost of cement produced in this way has been reduced, giving Ross the foundation to make Portland cement aggressively, but the price is the current situation. The Governor's Office in the capital has to spend money to repair the initial paving.

Those cement pavements that have been installed have to be repaired and will continue to be repaired year after year.

Because the dimension of New Roseburg is still too high, people who have limited knowledge of this kind of slag cement are surprised that they can create "vast and flat rocks" with human strength, but they don't know that it is not resistant to freezing and has great drying shrinkage. In New Roseburg, where the temperature difference varies greatly throughout the year, a large number of cracks have been caused by shrinkage over the past few years. Natural wind erosion has turned them into dust, and the surface has gradually become pitted and in need of repair.

Such fixes are well within acceptable limits.

There are four major cities in the core of Rus': Rus' Fort, Elon-Olava Fort, Novoros' Fort, and Novgorod.

The progress of laying cement roads and squares in the four cities is uneven, but the public has reached a consensus that the city's main roads should be turned into hard, flat avenues that are easy to dry.

Such an urban road system cannot be seen in other cities in Russia, and it is even more incredible in cities outside the territory.

Those pig iron ingots transported to the capital will eventually be turned into weapons, armor, and the most in-demand production tools in the hands of a large number of well-paid masters.

Here, an iron tower-like decoration stands in front of a stove.

He had a thick beard, with the beard on the left and right sides of his chin braided.

A piece of linen was wrapped around his forehead, so that the sweat would not sting his eyes.

He was not actually wearing a shirt, but was actually wearing a pair of solid leather overalls. On the front, a piece of hard bearskin protected the entire torso, thus preventing accidental burns during forging. But his originally hairy arms have become smooth and supple, because the hair follicles are all

He was burned to death by long-term work, and his smooth arms were soaked with sweat, which was in sharp contrast to his thick brown chest hair.

He was none other than Rurik's first male slave, Kamne, who was born in White Tree Manor.

A boy whose parents were killed by bears finally became the most trustworthy blacksmith in Rurik's hands.

The news sparked discussion throughout the city. Kamne, who had been eagerly awaiting the king's appearance in the capital, knew his task very well, which was to deliver to the king the fruits of the entire metallurgical group's work over the past six months, declaring that he had actually overfulfilled the task. .

Even, a gift that will make the king unexpected and ecstatic.

"Come here! Take out our treasure! Help me get dressed!"

Those young blacksmiths are all Rurik's blacksmith slaves in terms of attributes. But as slaves who can be directly controlled by the king, they have enough to eat and drink, and they have a salary, a stable income, and they are all young people. After so many years, almost all of them have married wives and children. With families to care for, they are even more favored by the king. Alas, I also hope that my children will continue to serve the king in order to continue to receive stable money and food.

The young man's physical condition is very similar to that of Kamini. He eats well and drinks well and engages in manual labor every day. These muscular men, who have passively developed strong bodies due to blacksmithing, gather around their boss with all kinds of equipment.

"Brother! You have brought everything, do you want to do it?" asked a strong foreman.

Kamni took a deep breath, opened his thick arms, and roared: "Come on! Imagine that I am a berserker! Put on my armor!"

"Okay. But boss, you should put on a lining, because you are afraid of these armors."

Clothes hurt your body. "

"It doesn't matter." Kamni raised his chin and opened his arms to make fists: "Anyway, it's just to show our results. May the gods bless our work with complete success."

Therefore, with the help of his cronies, Kamne, as the general person in charge of armor manufacturing, personally verified this winter's major achievements.

It is not an ordinary ring chain mail, it is not a riveted chain mail, and it is not a mass-produced plate armor.

It is a highly defensive "monster" made from a mixture of overall plate armor and plate armor.

The overall breastplate hangs on the shoulders, followed by the plate armor. Taking into account the stretch comfort of the back spine, the armor on the back is still made of plate armor, while on the front, the whole breastplate with arcs and bulges is constantly hammered!

Compared with the overall breastplate made in the past, its curvature is larger, and a shallow central ridge is created, so that during the melee, the enemy's various weapons can be knocked aside.

It adds shoulder pads on both sides, made from plate armor pieces. It was supposed to be an arm guard prepared by the soldiers themselves, but this time it was mass-produced by Kamne's side. Two pieces of solid carbon steel, one large and one small, were smashed out of the arc, and then quenched to become the hardest arm guard.

Matching the armor are skirts and crotch protectors. Since Ross's pig iron raw materials are already in surplus, Kamnier received a large order of five hundred sets of armor. This was a death order that he had to complete no matter what. Now that the original task has been completed, adding more tricks to the finished product can be said to be flattering to the king, and it can also be said to be an apology to oneself.

The skirt armor is a whole piece of plate armor riveted to the leather lining, and the crotch protector is slightly curved.

High-quality plate armor to meet the special needs of male warriors.

In principle, if the thigh is protected by skirt armor, there is no need to attach armor to prevent the warrior's lower body from becoming unstable.

At the calf, the front of the greaves is a curved plate armor, and the back end is a rope so that it can be tied to the high-top boots commonly used by the Russian army.

For traditional Nordic iron helmets, the frame is first hammered out with iron bars and riveted, and then the gaps are filled with iron sheets by riveting. In the past era, due to various reasons, the northern world that guarded the large mineral veins was also short of iron. Not many people could own iron helmets for comprehensive defense, so many helmets had the iron bars frame removed and became leather helmets.

Based on the original craftsmanship, this new batch of iron helmets has a forehead protector riveted with a whole piece of low carbon steel added to the front. There is also a hanging buckle on the helmet, so that the plate armor neck guard can be folded into a circle. In addition to protecting the warrior's neck, it also protects most of the face, so that only the eyes can look straight ahead.

It is a kind of super-heavy armor that only the physical fitness of elite warriors can accept. The defensive nature of this armor has already rivaled that of the main force of the Eastern Roman Empire, and its cost is naturally high.

But Ross does not lack iron, and the cost of smelting is still decreasing. However, for as many as 500 sets of armor, the Kingdom of Rus still spent a lot of manpower and material resources. Just the cost of fuel was a huge expense.

What's more, these armors have undergone special treatment.

The zinc ingot as the trophy was called "bright lead", and Kamni had never seen this lead-like metal before. He had studied the "Periodic Table of Elements" given by Rurik, and it was estimated that this was one of the elements.

What is it called? Bring the loot back

The blue fox that came here was called "schoe" according to the locals. Using the elimination method and intuition to estimate, it was believed that this thing was the element Zinc marked on the so-called "form taken from Odin".

Regarding Kamne, Rurik regarded this boy as his little brother, and he taught him everything he could. As for whether the boy understood it or not, it all depended on his nature. At least in this process, Rurik could not talk to others more. It relieves my boredom and gives me a sense of accomplishment as a teacher.

Kamne listened to some things. He only knew that the unheard of Zinc was said to be a shiny metal.

These "bright lead" may be Zinc, but it doesn't matter, they must serve as special coatings on armor to provide the army with a special aura.

Because Europe in this era often found lead-zinc ores by good luck when digging lead mines. Zinc ingots and lead ingots were separated based on their different melting points. Overall, zinc was precious.

Kamni treated them as a pile of lead ingots, melted them, and used the most traditional and crude fire dipping method to gild each armor piece. After continuous fire immersion, all the armors completed their work, and the results were surprising.

The tower-like Kamne finally put on a full set of armor made by his organization. It must be said that only strong people can bear this set of armor.

He finally put down the neck guard, and the only things exposed were his hands and a pair of sharp eyes.

Seeing the boss's new attitude, the young blacksmiths all felt chilled!

"Boss!" Someone's mouth trembled: "You seem to be a legendary figure."

"Oh? I'm very powerful?"

"It seems

A warrior only found in Asgard. " Another person lamented.

All the young blacksmiths expressed similar admiration when they saw it. They were definitely not flattering, because the parts of this suit of armor were made by everyone in groups, and everyone put their efforts into this suit of armor.

The estimates of the state-run iron and steel complex have forced it to carry out internal refinements. Although it does not have the name Taylor, it already uses Taylor in many aspects. All blacksmith slaves are divided into multiple workshops, and each workshop is further divided into multiple teams, each of which performs its own duties.

The young blacksmiths joked: "Our formation is like a flag team."

Kamne is indeed doing militarized management here. Only in this way can the "consortium" that has expanded into a behemoth of more than 500 people have the strength to take over the Russian military weapons industry.

Kamni walked around wearing heavy armor, feeling the weight of the armor firsthand. He also hit himself with a hammer, and helplessly found that some of the zinc coating on the surface had peeled off due to the impact. This does not affect the unprecedented bright color highlighted by the armor.

It's not an ordinary metallic color, it's not bright white, but a bunch of bright whites that are turquoise in color.

Generally, iron tools are prone to tarnishing, and the hand axes of the Russian army are mostly black with lumps. Even normal steel swords will tarnish quickly if they lack oiling and maintenance.

This armor was so shiny that it was unnaturally bright, but it actually showed up in the capital.

And such a complete set of armor is enough to equip a flag team.

Kamnier's armor was first highly recognized by his own people, so he organized his subordinates to wear it in the capital city, especially to show off to Governor Cornuson the Younger.

"Bros!"

He roared angrily: "Organize the strongest men in your hands! Their blacksmithing work is suspended! Each group will hand over a hundred people to me and organize a hundred-man team. Tomorrow, put on our armor and bring the sword we made, Carry our flag and show it off at the gate of the Governor’s Palace.”

The "Commonwealth" has been actively preparing for war since the autumn harvest last year. As of early May, it has been preparing for eight months.

It has never been a secret that many blacksmiths were making armor for the king. A large number of people in New Roseburg continued to make a fortune by providing weapons raw materials for "special wartime needs".

It is precisely because the work of the "Combined" is so complicated that their efforts in making armors have been ignored by the public.

Making armor is nothing unusual. What era has it been? It's not like it was in the past. Soldiers jumped off ships and went into battle shirtless. That kind of behavior was gangster piracy. Today's Russian army can't afford to lose this man. If they want to fight, they will be fully armed to crush the opponent.

The people in the capital were mainly immigrants from the north. In the past, they boasted that they were well-informed when they traveled across the Baltic Sea. However, this morning, the army that had always been strange came out of the "Commonwealth" in the southeast corner of the city in a mighty manner.

"What is that? The iron ingot is moving?!"

"That's stupid. That's a bunch of warriors."

"Has the king's army already arrived? It doesn't look like it. What happened to this army? When did it enter the city?"

…

This is the strongest armor Kamnier has made for Ross, and it is a major improvement over the plate armor created two years ago.

He had a detailed conversation with Blue Fox, and now he learned about the extreme performance of the First Standard of the Standing Army Infantry who fought in the Frankish world wearing full plate armor, and his victory over the heavy armored standard.

I know it well and humbly accept some of the improvement suggestions mentioned by Blue Fox.

For example, Blue Fox mentioned that although the warriors were heavily armored, the clever Frankish warriors discovered the weak point of defense - the neck.

The new armor made up for the shortcomings in this area. Kamne estimated that with such armor, no soldiers would die in a sneak attack.

With such armor, do you still need to carry a round shield? The wooden shield is the standard equipment of the Russian army and has even become a symbol of honor.

These heavily armored warriors carried it on their backs, with swords hanging on their belts, as well as hand axes and daggers.

Their faces were all covered by huge neck protectors. Led by Kamni, the brothers lined up in two neat columns and walked towards Harvest Square.

They were extremely eye-catching along the way, and the onlookers commented on the unheard-of military qualities. No one noticed that the leader was actually Kamnier, the boss of the "State-owned Iron Smelting Complex."

The sunshine in the early summer morning shines on these galvanized armors. In line with the principle that wherever metal is exposed, the shiny coating must be highlighted. Under the sun, all those swaggering through the market appear to be shining.

According to legend, God Frey rides a luminous golden boar. He is the great god of wealth. Could this army be blessed by God Frey?

So a large number of curious people gathered behind the army, and the news spread from one to another. The Harvest Square was doing cement repair work, and the sudden intrusion of the crowd made the construction workers raise long wooden poles to drive away those who entered by mistake. But they were also attracted to those "luminous iron men."

The loud noise made the Governor's Mansion uneasy!

It also caused the arrival of High Priest Rumia and the king's fleet, especially

I changed my clothes and walked out of the big temple, only to see a group of citizens watching a group of luminous people.

Here, only a few people know what's going on.

The blue fox mingled in the crowd, pinching his beard and stroking his round chin. He was very satisfied with what he saw and sighed secretly: "Kamne, it seems that you have exceeded the task assigned to you by the king. You also brought me back. The bright lead is in the right place, very good.”

He was almost kept in the dark about Governor-General Cornuson the Younger.

He did not hesitate to think that the King's expeditionary force had finally arrived in Hong Kong, and immediately organized his troops to walk out of the Governor's Mansion to go to the pier to greet them. As soon as they left, he saw a group of monsters lined up neatly at the gate.

"You?! Who are you? Where did the mad warriors come from?!" Little Konuson was confused for a moment, and his voice became louder.

At this moment, the leading iron man gathered up his neck protector without haste, and finally hung it on his helmet with a rope, thus revealing the warrior's face.

"Kamne? Is that you? What are you doing?"

"Hehe, just to show you our results? How about it? This is the armor that the king wants. Now let's show it to the people in the city. Especially you! Mr. Governor, what do you think?"

Feeling excited? There is. However, young Conuson is more in awe now. After all, it is his achievements on the battlefield that make him qualified to succeed his father and continue to serve as governor. He is a man who knows soldiers. Seeing these luminous warriors, he quickly became in awe. Turned into fear.

No one wants to fight with this kind of person on the battlefield, because they will definitely not be able to fight.

In the end, Konuson had no choice but to suppress the panic in his heart, pretending to be calm on the surface, and praised: "Very good. This will

It's a surprise for the king. Ross's expedition would be a great success. "

In this way, Kamuni didn't bother to listen to Chelulu's words, and shouted maliciously: "Sir, you must be scared."

"Scared? Not that much. By the way, what do you call yourself now. Berserker?"

"We all wear white armor, which will equip the entire flag team. The white-armored berserkers will be our strongest force." As he spoke, the confident Kamni punched his chest, and the galvanized chest There was a loud banging sound.

This was beyond the understanding of little Conuson, and now he had no choice but to hide it with a smile.