Steel, Explosives, and Spellcasters

Following that, Old Blacksmith Poltan continued to discuss the differences between the "bloomery" and Carlos's "blast furnace."

The reason why a bloomery is called a "bloomery" is that it "smelts a large bloom of iron at one time."

"Iron doesn't have legs; it won't walk out of the furnace on its own," the old blacksmith gestured vigorously. "So with a bloomery, after smelting a batch of iron, you have to take apart the furnace wall to remove the iron and then rebuild it."

Mason's interest was piqued. "Can't you just melt the iron into liquid—like bronze and gold—so it pours out on its own?"

Being able to melt iron into liquid would mean being able to cast cannons, Senior Mason's thinking was very direct.

"That's impossible, the temperature of a bloomery is not enough to melt iron into liquid. Iron is not like gold or bronze; it's extremely difficult to melt. The forges we common blacksmiths use can only make iron slightly softer. It's far from being able to melt iron into liquid."

"The iron isn't melted during the smelting process? Then how is it smelted?" Winters asked curiously.

"Err... I actually don't know," Old Blacksmith Poltan answered somewhat embarrassedly with a wry smile. "Blacksmiths can smelt iron, but why can you get iron by just burning iron ore with charcoal? Nobody knows. Why does iron get soft when heated? Nobody knows that either. Why? Maybe it's because of magic."

Winters laughed heartily.

Old Blacksmith Poltan suggested to Mason, "Casting is much harder than forging. Any blacksmith can forge, but there are very few that understand how to cast. If you want to cast cannons, it's best to use bronze."

"But where can I find copper material?" Mason was somewhat disappointed.

"You can't make a silk purse from a sow's ear," the old blacksmith admitted, unable to help. "Without straw, you can't make bricks."

Mason sighed heavily.

"There will be a way," Winters consoled Senior Mason. "Worst comes to worst, we'll buy copper from outside."

"However," Old Blacksmith Poltan's tone was hesitant. "There's a rumor that the royal blacksmiths in the north have invented a method that allows you to melt iron into water and cast it. Some people call that kind of iron 'cast iron.' It's just hearsay, though; I'm not clear on the specifics of how it's done. In my guess, you would need a really powerful smelting furnace."

"Really?" Mason was overjoyed.

"I don't know if it's true..."

After remaining silent for a while, Andre spoke up gruffly, "We don't even know if that furnace from earlier works, so you shouldn't worry about some cast iron business that we can't even see. If you ask me, you'd better start thinking about what to do if we can't smelt any iron..."

"We'll research it when we return," Winters said casually, asking the elder for more information, "Please continue telling us about the smelting furnace."

Old Blacksmith Poltan earnestly replied, "Actually, I don't understand the blast furnace either, otherwise I would have personally helped you with it. Mr. Soria is methodical and has rules for smelting iron. Even if he isn't an expert, he's learned from one. When I first met Mr. Soria, I only had ten percent confidence; now it's at least fifty percent."

The old blacksmith lamented, "Although Mr. Soria is still young, his skills have already far surpassed mine. My whole life... sigh, it's been busy doing nothing."

"How could that be?" Winters chuckled, shaking his head. "As far as I see, young Mr. Soria's smelting furnace has been set up, but the real problems are still to come."

"After all is said and done, just what is a blast furnace?" Andre yawned. "That brick tower from earlier is a blast furnace? It didn't seem like much."

Old Blacksmith Poltan explained it to Andre again.

To put it simply, a bloomery is like a cup with an opening on top for charging materials. You have to take it apart after each use and put it back together;

A blast furnace, however, is like a cup with a tap: you charge it from the top and draw off the iron from the bottom, allowing for continuous melting.

The old blacksmith used a crude but vivid metaphor, "A blast furnace is like a person constantly drinking water from the top and urinating from the bottom. A bloomery is like drinking a large glass of water once a day and urinating once. Naturally, it can't compare to continuously drinking and urinating."

Andre laughed so hard the carriage began to tremble.

"What if we repair the road after the autumn harvest?" Winters contemplated, "Build it to the standard of a Legion main road and turn it into a paved Guzhi Road?"

Old Blacksmith Poltan could only ride in a carriage due to physical limitations. Winters, wanting to consult the elder more, also took the carriage, and he brought Andre and Senior Mason along.

The carriage was not small, but it was quite crowded with three military officers inside. Winters and Andre had to endure the discomfort of cramped knees.

Moreover, the road between Revodan and Forging Village was in poor condition, jostling them severely, which reawakened Winters's obsession with road construction.

"Road construction in winter?" Mason asked instinctively.

"That's the only time we're free."

"We might not have enough manpower."

"We'll start small, fixing the road from Revodan to Forging Village for now. The rest can be slowly repaired when we have time," Winters said, supporting his forehead. "Big and small issues abound like a tangled ball of yarn. Let's tackle them one at a time."

"That's about right," Mason nodded, then suddenly realized something seemed amiss. "Who's going to do the construction?"

Mason looked at Winters, Winters silently looked out the window;

Mason then looked at Andre, who also silently looked out the window.

"Why is it called an Artillery branch?" Mason's expression was complex as he muttered. "It should be called the 'Miscellaneous Troops' Branch!'

"Senior, you might want to consider this," Winters earnestly flattered, his praise thick as he said, "In the entire army, from top to bottom, who else has the capability, except for you?"

"Exactly," Andre agreed firmly, "The greater the ability, the greater the responsibility."