Virgin Knight Who Is the Frontier Lord in the Gender Switched World - Chapter 105

Firstly, the book’s title.

The title was provisionally set as “The Grave Consequences of Gunpowder, A Future Projection of the Battlefield,” but Lord Faust expressed his concerns.

“It’s a bit long,” he said.

He suggested a simpler title, “Guns, Cannons, and Knights,” and so it was decided.

There was no need to fuss over this.

“I would appreciate it if the book could be written in modern language, so a frontier lord knight like myself could read it,”

Lord Faust also showed hesitation regarding the language of the manuscript.

I, however, objected to this.

“I am terribly sorry, Lord Faust. However, I believe that no readers other than the Anhalt royal family are necessary for this book.”

It was a consideration for the reader.

The reason was clear, to prevent the widespread dissemination of this knowledge through movable type printing, something the Anhalt royal family would certainly not desire.

In writing this book, I engaged in discussions, shared knowledge, and sometimes furrowed my brows.

Indeed, the knowledge Duchess Astarte truly wanted to know was what was inside Lord Faust’s brain.

She sent me enough paper to write a book, just to have me write letters, without hesitating over a few scribbles or notes.

I am beginning to understand that.

Lord Faust’s knowledge is valuable, but terribly difficult to decipher.

It’s like he expresses only fully matured conclusions without knowing the processes involved.

Like someone who has just learned the latest technology from a textbook.

That’s the impression it gives.

It’s terribly disjointed, lacks clarity, yet is concise and rushes to conclusions.

The mad Sabine obtained some military answers through direct conversation.

Duchess Astarte tried to interpret more by filtering it through me, Martina.

It’s hard to say which approach is correct.

Neither of them is wrong.

Both women are of superhuman intellect.

But that’s only good because they can understand.

Those of a lower rank who cannot understand ancient language wouldn’t even comprehend what Lord Faust is saying.

Honestly, even I sometimes dig deeply into where his conclusions come from, as Lord Faust tends to blurt out odd things.

The conclusions scatter in all directions, and I ponder the process.

That’s the struggle I face as I write “Guns, Cannons, and Knights.”

In short.

It’s best for everyone if the book is made unintelligible from the start to those who cannot understand ancient language.

After all, it isn’t meant to be sold widely.

That is my decision.

“And now, regarding the content of the book,”

“As I said earlier, state the conclusion first, shockingly and concisely,”

“Then, we shall indeed discuss gunpowder.”

♢♢ 1 ♢♢

I predict to Her Majesty Queen Liesenlotte what firearms will bring in the future.

Gunpowder will end all defensive nature and military tactics of castles, fortresses, and dismounted knights.

High walls built to defend against the growing number of crossbows will become meaningless.

Fortresses turned from wood to stone to defend against incendiary weapons will also become meaningless.

The invention called the musket, produced by the messenger of hell, will even penetrate plate armor of dismounted knights.

The battlefield, once decorated with the cooperation of infantry, cavalry, and archers, will show a completely different scene.

Soldiers will hold guns.

Large-caliber cannons will mow everything down.

Knights will not be swallowed up by this tide but will be increasingly demanded as commanders.

♢♢♢♢

“If we were to conclude as Lord Faust and I have, it would look like this…”

“It’s a bit shocking, though,”

“But Lord Faust suggested it, didn’t he?”

Indeed, it’s shocking and somewhat exaggerated.

After all, new technologies in any era are intended to replace or complement old ones.

The technology of gunpowder is not yet fully matured.

Crossbows, also projectile weapons, remain powerful; they may not penetrate plate armor but can pierce chain mail with considerable force and range.

Cannons might indeed destroy stone fortresses, but their operation will not be straightforward.

Muskets can certainly penetrate plate armor, but countermeasures for breastplates and helmets are being developed, and besides, the accuracy of guns themselves is low unless at close range.

At this point, guns are merely one branch of the military.

The emergence of gunners is just that—a new branch.

However, I think we shall ignore that premise for now.

Because, after all, this is a projection of the future battlefield.

“Next, a slight correction to the premise…”

♢♢ 2 ♢♢

This is not yet the reality in the Kingdom of Anhalt.

Needless to explain everything, the wise Queen Liesenlotte is expected to understand.

However, I urge not to discard this until the end, and to read through this book.

This book is not one of many anecdotal tales of tactics that overemphasize the valor of ‘fighting people’—the knights—and end up incomplete.

It purely discusses the battlefields of past and future, transformed by artillery.

It is written about how knights should accept their future.

Rear support, concentration of military force, methods to break through battle lines and formations.

It would be beneficial if this could be communicated to the genius in strategy, Her Highness Princess Anastasia, the First Princess.

Moreover, I wish her to know that neglecting the operation of firearms, which will dominate the future battlefields, could shatter even those strategies.

♢♢♢♢

“And, I shall emphasize that Lord Faust is a co-author…”

“Do we really have to go that far for them to actually read it?”

“Lord Faust thinks less of how busy the royal family is. There’s a high chance they won’t read it.”

♢♢ 3 ♢♢

In writing this book, I record here the words of my co-author, Lord Polydoro.

“Even if it is a foolish strategy, there are monsters in the world who can somehow execute it, and conversely, fools who can ruin even the best plans. I am neither. I’m just a superhuman who can wield a sword better than most, and in terms of intelligence, I’m an ordinary person.”

It goes without saying that this heroic knight, Polydoro, has shattered the siege strategies of the heroic knight Reckenber of Virendorf in a single combat with overwhelming force.

Powerful violence sometimes sweeps away everything.

The kind of violence I consider with cannons is not a barbaric brawl but reaches the level of an unreasonable, one-sided mass slaughter from a distance, an extreme form of violence that isn’t even a fair fight.

Such elements break away from the traditional military branches of infantry, cavalry, and archers.

Indeed, those who operate my envisioned cannons, akin to the Valkyries of the battlefield, are artillerywomen.

In this book, I will describe chapter by chapter why Polydoro and I, Martina, have reached the conclusions initially written.

We will explain everything in order.

Please read through to the end.

This is the only request that will benefit Her Majesty Queen Liesenlotte of the Sacred Gusten Empire of Anhalt, and the knights, including Martina von Bösel and the lord knight Faust von Polydoro, who kneel before her.

I have always contemplated how to make use of this life granted by Her Majesty Queen Liesenlotte’s grace and Polydoro’s plea for mercy.

♢♢♢♢

“That’s the last lie, right? You weren’t thinking about that at all.”

“It’s a lie, yes. But even Her Majesty Queen Liesenlotte knows it’s a lie; writing it this way gives a better impression.”

As much as I claim to write unadorned text, it seems necessary to do this much.

Not only for the impression of Her Majesty Queen Liesenlotte, but also, if the book survives into future generations, I need to restore my honor a bit.

It would also console my mother, Caroline.

“I’ll continue. Because it’s embarrassing to be wrong, I’m making an excuse just in case.”

♢♢ 4 ♢♢

Now, concerning the artillery I will describe.

If there are muskets, then surely the development of larger caliber artillery is advancing.

Except for the Cologne Sect, which conducts firearm development in the bishopric, it is presumed that Her Imperial Majesty of the Sacred Gusten Empire, Her Holiness the Pope, and Her Electoral Highness Queen Liesenlotte of Anhalt would eventually become aware of such reports.

A nine-year-old child like Martina or a lord knight like Polydoro, ruling merely 300 subjects, cannot know this.

Therefore, there may be some differences between the established knowledge already known to Her Majesty Queen Liesenlotte and what is mentioned intermittently in this book.

In such a case, please laugh at the foolish delusions of the two and forgive us.

♢♢♢♢

“No, I think there’s no need for an excuse because it definitely matches.”

“That’s the only thing Lord Faust is overly confident about, isn’t it?”

“My conclusions might seem far-fetched indeed, but most of the knowledge Martina supplemented is logical, and I think it’s not wrong.”

Lord Faust really is brimming with confidence.

He insists that the conclusions are certainly so, he hasn’t thought through the processes at all, and he says to the things I somehow rationalize, “That’s probably right!” with a ridiculously good smile.

Lord Faust is not foolish, and I am indeed a superhuman in intelligence, as everyone believes.

But every time I see that ridiculously good smile of Lord Faust, I am driven by tremendous uncertainty.

Is it really correct?

No, even if it’s wrong, Queen Liesenlotte would probably think it’s not unreasonable to believe so.

Such concerns dull the pen.

Let’s forget it all and continue writing.

“…As previously mentioned, let’s write about artillery.”

♢♢ 5 ♢♢

I previously mentioned artillery as an unreasonable form of violence.

As an example of its application, imagine a container filled with musket bullets—let’s tentatively call it a canister shot.

Hundreds of musket balls packed in a container are fired into the air, scattering shots that kill and injure enemies over a wide area—a hypothetical weapon.

This type of violence, especially effective against dense defensive formations, tears through bodies and shatters bones, conducting massacres on the battlefield with a single barrage.

Of course, there is a need to research its range, but has there ever been such unreasonable violence before, aside from superhuman beings like Polydoro?

The enemy would fear its desperate power, and no matter how well-trained the soldiers, they would flee, and their ranks would collapse.

What about the defensive aspects, not just the offensive?

Heavy cavalry in armor, charging in dense formations, is currently the strongest offensive tactic in the Kingdom of Anhalt.

If the charge is completed with discipline, it easily breaks the spearheads raised in desperation, and the enemy’s formation collapses with a single strike.

Then, all that remains is to trample them.

However.

What if artillery were on the defensive side?

Until now, heavy cavalry could withstand attacks from guns, crossbows, and longbows.

The time it takes for a horse to cover the distance at twice the speed of a person allowed the heavily armored cavalry to sustain damage within an acceptable range.

But the damage from canister shot of artillery goes beyond an acceptable range.

A single artillery strike would destroy the heavy cavalry’s horses, plate armor, helmets, and take the lives of the knights.

Of course, whether artillery can respond instantly to flanking attacks due to cavalry’s mobility is subject to discussion.

♢♢♢♢

“Canister shot will massacre everything within range. There’s no doubt about it. But,”

“What’s wrong, Martina?”

“Against a superhuman, would it really be lethal?”

Perhaps Lord Faust, wearing magical armor, and his beloved horse Flügel would not die from a hit by canister shot.

A superhuman who has mastered the art of war is such an entity.

“I won’t die. Probably, Reckenber of Virendorf wouldn’t either. If both countries combined, there might be a few superhumans who could survive. They’d avoid fatal wounds and continue the charge. But in countries with a population of barely 3 million like Anhalt and Virendorf, that’s all there is. There’s no need to consider it otherwise.”

“Right. It’s not like there are armies composed entirely of such monstrous superhumans in the world.”

It would be impossible to form a unit comprising over a hundred such superhumans.

Superhumans like Lord Faust are few and far between in this world.

Unless it is a completely meritocratic state or a special recruitment policy that elevates magicians as hereditary nobles, a person born to a farmer remains a peasant.

At best, they are appreciated as hard-working women.

My position as a spare child of a feudal lord, Martina, and my career so far prove it the most.

“…”

Lord Faust frowned a bit.

“What is it?”

“Nothing. An army composed of monstrous superhumans. It might be possible in a nomadic equestrian tribal nation.”

The tapping of his fingers on the desk continued.

I do not know how the social structure of a nomadic equestrian tribal nation is established.

However, if it is a nation that adopts a meritocratic tribalism, the possibility is high.

“Lord Faust, there’s no use thinking about such things. We are not in a situation to know that.”

“That’s true.”

Lord Faust, letting out a slightly somber air, nodded quietly, and I decided to continue writing.