Chapter 145 New Discoveries
"So how did it go little Willy?"
"Were there any problems?"
"Is that why you were delayed?"
William looked at his family helplessly.
"Mom, dad....uncles.... everything went according to plan.
The only reason I'm arriving now, is because I had to receive something from the Capital."
Everyone frowned as they instantly thought that something unexpected had happened.
"It's not what you guys think.
It's just that while I was resting in 'Zambra City', I got a letter from our spies in the Capital.
They had successfully bought several bags of snow powder for us....so I had to wait there a little more."
"Snow powder?" Oden asked.
After an hour of explaining what snow powder was, its numerous effects on war....as well as demonstrating it's full capabilities in front of them, everyone in the room was shocked.
'How could this tiny powder do this?'
This weapon was definitely a double edged sword that could definitely ruin their plans, if they weren't careful.
"If you managed to get your hands on this product, then I'm sure that my brother has also gotten his hands on it as well." Oden said.
"That's true father... my spies said that his alchemists have already started mass producing it, as we speak."
Instantly, the atmosphere in the room became heavy.
"Get Fanji and Quambey to start mass producing them as well!!
No matter what, we need to always be 1 step ahead of that beast if we plan on succeeding!!" Mona said.
"Hmmmmm.....Although mass production is important, it's also important to understand how to guard against such attacks." Murel said
"Uncle is right!!" William said while nodding.
They carried everything outside, and headed towards a deserted broken down stone building, a little further away from their base.
The powder was placed into several tubes (the size of dynamite), and mounted on arrows, crossbows, and even sticks.
Just like how arrows would work, the tubes would be lit and launched at a trajectory angle..making its way towards their enemies.
"Boom!!!"
They began firing at the stone walls continuously, but nothing happened.
The walls didn't break down at all.... the only thing that could be seen, was a thick layer of black soot on the walls.
William wiped off the soot and observed the walls carefully.
"No cracks yet" William said.
"Damn!!... how many times do we have to blast it before the wall takes a hit?" Powin grumbled as he noted down what was said with a feather pen and parchment paper.
(**Their ink was made from burnt bones, charcoal and sap of trees which glued everything together)
"Alright.... I think we're done with this stone building... let's target the wooden horse sheds next."
'Boom!!'
Instantly, 1/4 of the front door scattered into several pieces.
"Success!!", Murel exclaimed.
Later on, they experimented on rabbits and other animals of different sizes.
For smaller animals, they noticed that the blast would shatter them completely.
But for larger animals like horses, they noticed that only targeted areas would be affected.
For example.... their first shot shattered part of the horses front left leg.
It shattered the region between the horse's knee and 'Fetlock' (ankle).
And so far, there were no side effects from standing close to the attack... they were all safe and fine.
"Okay I think we're done here.
Little Willy, carry this wooden barrel of snow powder, and let's get out of here."
When William traveled with the snow powder, he had chosen to put them in barrels.. so as to avoid suspicion.
These wooden barrels were what was usually used to store wine.....so anyone who saw it, would most likely think that he and his group were just travelling merchants.
As William carried the barrel forward, a trail of snow powder continuously flowed out through some cracks on the barrel... which was completely unnoticed by William.
"Dad, let's go.. put out the flame torch."
Oden dropped the torch on the floor and was about to step on it.. but then, he saw a spark of fire moving towards William.
"Willy quickly.. drop the barrel!!! Oden yelled out.
"Drop it nowww!!!" Uncle Powin and Murel yelled.
William turned around, saw the sparks.
He immediately dropped the barrel by one of the building's stone walls, and quickly dived towards his father's direction.
If anyone back on earth had ever seen old western movies, then they would easily know this scene.
It was the famous scene where cowboys would light up a trail of gunpowder... and hide away, while watching the trail of fire move towards a large and obviously explosive barrel.
And once the fire gets to the barrel, a large boom occurs.
'Booommmm!!!!!'
Smoke had completely filled the air, as well as the distinct smell of the powder.
"Is everyone okay?" Oden asked.
"I'm good"
"All good"
"Brother-in-law, I'm okay as well."
They all answered.
Once the smoke had cleared out, everyone looked up and was immediately stunned.
The ground had been uprooted 20 centimeters deep.. and the building's stone wall, had several cracks on it around a particular spot.
"Hahahahhaha...Look!!! There are many cracks on this area of the wall!!
I reckon that if we continue blasting this same spot... with the same amount of snow powder for at least 7 more times, then a hole would definitely be formed on the wall.
And who knows.. maybe the wall might even break down because of the hole." Powin said excitedly.
"Hmmm... although that's true, building walls are not the same as castle walls." Oden said.
Although Oden didn't know the exact thickness for several walls, he still knew that there were different wall sizes for different purposes.
In this era, stone walls for buildings were just half a meter thick, while castle walls were generally 2 meters thick..... And of course city walls, were usually 4 to 5 meters thick as well.
Right now, they had only been able to form cracks on a particular spot of the building's 1/2-meter thick wall.... so they still had a long way to go.
If they wanted to attack their enemies using this barrel method, they would need to sneak in several men with barrels into the cities.....and place these barrels all around their enemy's territory.
This would definitely be a hassle.
Anyone who has ever watched western movies back on earth, would instantly know the effects of 1 barrel of gunpowder.
If the building was made of wood, then part of it would definitely be destroyed... but with medieval stone walls, it wasn't that easy to destroy.
That's why back on earth, a lot of old castles in the U.K, still stood tall till this day.
Those walls had even been hit with several cannons throughout history, and their thick walls had prevented their enemies from winning.
So how could this barrel take down city walls that were at least 4 meters thick, when they couldn't even destroy 1/2 meter thick building walls?
And to make matters worse, this snow powder wasn't even as powerful as regular gunpowder.. so its effects were really weak.
But of course, it was a different matter when human lives were involved.
If they could successfully place and light up several barrels... within several rooms of these stone buildings, then the people inside these buildings would definitely die or have serious injuries when the explosion occurs.
And if the structures they were targeting were wooden, then the entire building itself would fall down with just 4 or 5 barrels within it.
.
"But I'm curious though, why didn't the trail of snow powder explode?
Why was it only the barrel that exploded?" William asked.
"I think it might have something to do with the wood that the barrel was made of" Murel said.
"That's right!!... it's probably the wood.... plus did you all notice that it's only with wood, that this powder seems to react with?" Oden said
"Previously when we shot it at the wooden door, 1/4 of the door immediately scattered into several pieces.... but with stone, it didn't.. So I think your right!!" William added.
In fact, all of them were completely wrong.
Wood was less dense and less heavier than stone.... so obviously, wood would break more easily than stone.
And the reason why the trail of snow powder didn't explode, was because burning the powder released energy and gases.
While the trail was burning, these were easily released to the atmosphere.
But when the powder is contained within the barrel, the energy and gases cannot easily escape.
So they continue to build up, until.....'boom'.... the fire reaches them.
But what would Oden, William and his uncles know about science?
They actually thought that it was the wood, that had caused such an explosion to occur.
"Okay, we only have 6 barrels of snow powder left.
So we can experiment with 2 more, and the rest would be sent to our alchemists for mass production." Oden said.