After touring the polders and fisheries, the Queen of Carthage graciously invited Horn to stay for dinner.
Seeing the Queen of Carthage so enthusiastic, Horn thought it wouldn't be proper to refuse, so he decided to stay and had a simple meal, sampling the local specialty, fish porridge.
However, this kind of steaming hot dish is mostly only available to the royal family and some female warriors.
While seated in the Queen's thatched palace, looking outside, Horn didn't see much cooking smoke.
In the shimmering white light of the lake, two rows of thatched huts and mud houses stood on the Mire Heart Continent, with curious beastman children occasionally emerging from houses, peeking curiously at Horn.
Most of them directly eat sashimi and rice cakes, adults and children alike.
But then Horn thought deeply and understood.
Similar to their seasonal farming and hunting activities, in the relatively wet swamps, probably only plants like reeds can be used as fuel.
To survive the cold winter, they have to reserve some reeds and firewood for winter.
One must know, although the swamp vegetation is dense, it does not mean that all plants can be used as fuel.
Many plants contain too much moisture and cannot be used as fuel, and are difficult to harvest.
As for the trees on the nearby mountains, they can be used, but the problem is transportation is difficult, and they might encounter attacks by giant spiders or creatures.
After confirming with the Queen next to him, Horn basically verified his thoughts and learned another important piece of information.
That is, the reason those salt wells failed to produce sufficient salt was not due to insufficient brine but lack of fuel.
Due to the humid air, most of the time, they had to use the boiling salt method to produce coarse salt, resulting in a shortage of fuel.
Without fuel, the pottery workshop project might not even be able to start.
After obtaining a batch of herbs and fresh fish from the Carthage Kingdom, Horn hurried back to camp.
He handed the fresh fish to Madlan, asking him to prepare dinner, and promptly gathered the present high-ranking members to inform them of the news he had just learned.
The aroma of fish porridge wafted through the camp, wrapped in the cold wind, bringing a strangely warm and enticing sensation.
Yet, the high-ranking attendees didn't seem relaxed at all; instead, each frowned.
Thomas, who had just arrived, asked Horn: "Your Majesty, actually I have seen that if we plant root crops in the nearby mountains, surviving the winter shouldn't be a problem; food shortage shouldn't be an issue."
"For most ordinary people, it is enough," Horn explained to Thomas on the side, "but for the military system, it is insufficient."
Before the invention of the near-modern spring guns, it was foreseeable that for a long time, they would have to use heavy spring guns to counter the knights.
Horn had previously investigated and discussed this with Jeska, Hakuto, and some mercenary captives.
So far, the infantry phalanx that can resist the knight's charge is the Deng Jia'er Array.
The Deng Jia'er Array can withstand and even somewhat counter knights because it replaces the ordinary infantry on the outer layer of the spear phalanx with plate armor mercenaries armed with heavy iron guns.
These mercenaries mostly possess three or four segments of breathing strength; although they lack horses and do not possess extraordinary martial arts, with the blessings bestowed by monks, they are almost like little knights.
When they don plate armor, wield ultra-long spears, and pair with bulwark tactics and heavy bowmen, they frequently leave the knights of the Leia Kingdom upset.
In the Windmill Land conflict, the Deng Jia'er Array forced the knights to abandon their reckless charging tactics, adopting the long-abandoned cavalry phalanx once again.
Marshal Deng Jia'er could create such an array not only due to his personal wisdom but also because of post-century economic development.
After the war, with the establishment of the Blood and Flesh Royal Court, Norn, and the three major overseas markets, cities began to sprout like mushrooms.
A large amount of service industries, goods, and handicrafts entered into the daily lives of the lords, and cheap food, minerals, and spices from the three major markets entered the Empire.
Nobles gradually changed their pessimistic attitudes toward material life, discarding the practice of seeking happiness in the afterlife.
Therefore, the post-war lords abandoned the increasingly heavy fiscal burdens (including maintaining the infantry system) to meet the ever-expanding material demands.
Thus, a semi-professional mercenary system was born, with numerous bankrupt armed farmers and even knights from coastal areas entering this system.
Through war, an expensive luxury service, mercenaries gained substantial income and reinvested it in their own development.
Hence, within the old military system, a new mercenary system gradually emerged, with foot knights and imperial retainers, heavy infantry possessing considerable extraordinary strength.
For Horn's spring guns to maximize their power, he must require the support of extraordinary infantry on the lines; not many, but at least one to two segments are required.
"Therefore, for our array to resist the knight's impact, our long spear soldiers and even holy gunmen must possess a certain segment of breathing technique.
We have no extraordinary martial arts, no blessings, and hardly have potions or exquisite extraordinary armor; at least at the level of breathing techniques, we still have a chance."
Specific issues require specific analysis; before the spring guns are improved to the extent that they can destroy knights before they charge into the battle formation, Horn must rely on the existing extraordinary system.
Or from a certain perspective, as long as everyone is extraordinary, then no one is extraordinary, which to some extent dismantles the extraordinary hegemony constructed by the Empire and the Church.
Horn said to the surrounding people: "Soldiers wanting to practice breathing techniques need a daily egg, even two to three ounces of meat, and it is best to pair it with potions."
"I'll add something," Jeska continued after Horn nodded, "during soldier training, especially for extraordinary infantry, the consumption of salt far exceeds what you imagine."
"Or should we help them cut trees?"
"We didn't bring many axes." Horn felt troubled when mentioning this, as with a team of twenty-five thousand, he tried to bring survival supplies and military supplies.
He didn't bring many tools like axes.
"Anyway, we have iron ingots; many laborers have decent forging skills, so can make them on-site."
"Let me tell you a bad news," Horn spread his hands, "there's no main material for softening potions here, using one portion means one less portion of the potion, and if we want to make axes, we can only rely on Jeanne's casting.
Helping them cut trees can be considered a last resort, but only if there is really no alternative."
Horn glanced around the Salvation Army leaders near the fire pit, scratching his head, suddenly turning his gaze to Patrick, who clearly seemed unfazed.
"Master Patrick, do you have any ideas?"
"Who is Patrick? I am Chrispa." Despite everyone recognizing Patrick as the High Priest of the Ruo'an Faction, Patrick stubbornly refused to admit it.
"Master Chrispa, do you have any methods?"
Seeing Horn comply with his designation, Patrick lightly coughed: "Actually, the Blackbone Marsh has an extremely abundant fuel source; you just haven't discovered it."
"In alchemy, there is a special alchemical product called basal peat, which can serve as a base for many alchemical products; this peat is extracted from swamp soil.
However, under normal circumstances, this peat is almost like charcoal, extracting it would waste the limited mana of alchemists.
So normally, unless the peat is needed for alchemical bases, alchemists would rather buy firewood and charcoal than painstakingly refine peat."
Patrick pointed at those holy gunmen holding spring guns: "But they're different; their mana is abundant, recovers quickly, and they are numerous, entirely devoid of waste and efficiency problems."
"Do you mean... Peat Alchemy Workshop?"