Chapter 510 Castel's Expedition
Hunter had felt more shock in the last few days than he had in the first half of his life.
If he knew how powerful Castel was on the island, then the time he spent in the expeditionary force made him realize how exaggerated Castel's production capacity was.
The heavy machine gun mounted on the top of a steam locomotive alone is enough to destroy the entire coalition force, but these days, in order to transport quickly, Castel's locomotive only goes out and never comes back.
At least three trains depart every day. These steel-cast locomotives and carriages are treated as consumables. They are thrown here directly after they arrive, without wasting time to send them back.
This directly doubled the railway capacity to the north in a short period of time.
Not only did Castel send expeditionary soldiers and weapons, he also sent a large amount of building materials.
It was also the first time that Hunter saw the "concrete" he had been longing for.
“Is that all?!”
Hunter stared in amazement at the workers who were plastering in front of him.
"Yes, just mix the concrete and pour it. It's that simple, not much harder than playing with mud." Hodge spread his hands. "It will solidify in a few hours, and the mold can be removed after a whole day. If the weather is suitable, it can be used in a few days. Of course, according to the regulations, it will take a month to reach the design strength."
What Hodge said was a bit exaggerated. In fact, there are many steps in construction, from burying steel bars to installing molds and vibrating.
But Hunter had seen how construction was done in other places.
First, you have to find a suitable quarry, drill holes in the huge stones, insert steel chisels, and split the stones into pieces of appropriate sizes.
Then it is polished, transported to the construction site, and stacked up piece by piece, with chalk mortar in the middle applied like building a wall. The total time required is several years. If you try to rush the work, it will take at least several months.
This is just an ordinary city wall.
Locations such as city gates and battlements require special construction techniques. If you can't find suitable stonemasons, they can't be built at all. If there is winter in between, additional maintenance methods are required. Otherwise, the unfinished and exposed building materials will easily deform due to thermal expansion and contraction.
Even so, the fortifications built are far less solid than concrete.
In comparison, the difficulty and speed of Castres' fortification construction can really be described as "not much different from playing in the mud."
Hunter was an expert in siege equipment and was well aware of the defensive capabilities of city walls and other fortifications, which is why he was so shocked.
Concrete is definitely a product that changes the times.
Without any additional industrial products, just by giving Hunter this construction capability, he would have the confidence to unify the entire continent.
But this is not the strongest technology for Castel, and even Hughes has never considered relying on it to advance outward.
——As for fortifications, you can build them casually. It doesn’t matter whether they are strong or not. Anyway, no one can rush over with heavy machine guns.
Looking at the fortifications that had already taken shape in front of him, Hunter was speechless.
This kind of fortification in Castel is absolutely a shoddy project. Neither the thickness of the concrete nor the level of protection is worth mentioning. Even the foundation is not very deep, and it can barely withstand aerial bombs. It is just a temporary fortification hastily built to deal with possible troubles in the future.
But Hunter could guarantee that there were no weapons in the North that could destroy the outer walls of the fortification.
The giant trebuchet, the pinnacle of siege technology, did not require the time and materials to build a thinner wall, but according to Hunter's estimation, it would be difficult for it to even make a dent in the wall of this fortification.
Reinforced concrete structures can transfer and absorb large amounts of kinetic energy through reinforcement, making them not only strong but also extremely tough.
This fortress will be the wall of despair in the North, a fortress that will never fall, and any army will have to pay with the lives of its soldiers to fill it.
And such a wall of despair would appear every few days.
As for their enemies, the three grand dukes have been fighting in the north for decades without a clear winner, and were instead being overwhelmed by Count Bazel. If they came to fight Castel... Hunter shook his head and threw the matter out of his mind. His smart mind should not be used to think about such stupid questions.
Suddenly, Hodge beside him raised his head sharply.
"Captain Hodge!" An expeditionary soldier trotted over from a distance, accompanied by a dusty messenger.
"Captain Hodge, the latest battle report from Wolfburg!"
Ho Qiteng jumped up and rushed over to take the document from the soldier. Hunter stood up and wanted to go over to take a look, but halfway through he suddenly remembered his identity and stopped in embarrassment.
The battle report was not long, and Hodge finished reading it quickly. He glanced at Hunter, who had an embarrassed look on his face, waved at him, and handed him the battle report.
Hunter just glanced at it and his eyes widened.
"Bazel left Wolfburg?!"
"Yes, our soldiers quickly captured Wolf Castle, but it was already an empty city. Bazel took away all the troops."
Castel's expeditionary force did not come to the North without doing anything. Building some fortifications near the front of the car was just a matter of convenience. Their main focus was still on the four northern territories.
The resistance army was retreating, and their marching speed was quite fast. Given the speed of intelligence transmission in this era, it was quite difficult to find them.
Moreover, Castel was not familiar with the North. It was not easy for him to find the right place according to the map, let alone track a moving team.
But the expeditionary forces had another solution: defeat all the lords of the four northern territories, and naturally they would have no time to deal with the resistance.
The resistance can run, but these lords can’t get their castles up and run away.
Therefore, the expeditionary force sent troops to the Grand Duke of Longya, the Earldom of Bazel, and the nearest Grand Dukedom of Alvarez without hesitation.
As for Octavia, her territory was too far away and posed no threat to the resistance for the time being, so Castel ignored her.
The situation on the side of Grand Duke Alvarez is special. The expeditionary force sent to the west to be led by Grand Duke Longya received news not long ago that Grand Duke Longya is leading his team to personally pursue the resistance forces.
Castel had heard about this matter a long time ago, so it was within his expectations, but something was wrong with Basel.
"Count Bazel has been staying in Wolfburg for the past six months to recuperate. Did they leave suddenly?"
Hunter frowned.
"This is not right. The stronghold near Wolfburg has been taken down by the coalition forces of the three archdukes. In fact, the coalition forces were killed by Castel on the way to Wolfburg."
"That is to say, Count Basil should have no information about the outside world at all. So why did they leave?"
(End of this chapter)
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