Chapter 73 Artillery Test Firing

The western boundary of Border Town, by the Chishui River.

The snow made it difficult for the carriage to move. It took a group of people a long time to haul the first field gun out of the town.

"What is it this time?" Carter felt a little accustomed to the new gadgets that the prince kept coming up with, "A magnified musket?"

"Almost." After Roland commanded his men to remove the hook, he adjusted the angle of the gun mount himself, so that the gun body was flat and the pole was pushed into the snow.

The principle of artillery and musket is exactly the same, so it is very appropriate to say that it is an enlarged version of musket. This gun fired a twelve-pound solid iron ball, the shell and powder were front-loaded, and the fuse was fired. Referring to the mature designs in history, Roland ordered the carpenter to build a wooden gun mount for him. In order to improve durability, the parts that have more friction with the ground and are subjected to greater force during launch are covered with iron sheets.

In order to manufacture the gun carriage and wheels, Roland spent almost as much time as drilling the gun bore. The three carpenters worked hard for a week before they were done. Especially for the pair of wheels with a diameter as high as half a person, the carpenters first planed out four sections of equal length. Square wooden strips, soaked and baked with fire until bent, the ends are cut with grooves and mortise joints, and the outer edge of the hub is covered with iron sheets and beaten. This set of procedures took four days.

Therefore, in Roland's eyes, this handcrafted, limited edition 12-pound field gun exudes dazzling light throughout. When they were dragged out for a test shooting, the accompanying lineup was arranged very huge - not to mention the chief knight Carter and the militia commander Iron Axe, all the personal guards and knight apprentices went into battle, and the militia also dispatched 20 people to be responsible for clearing the field and guarding . In addition, he also brought Nightingale and Lightning for the first time. Thanks to Nana's blessing, the militia's prejudice against witches has been minimized, and Nana herself has become the most prestigious person in the team after the prince.

"Follow the procedure. First, clean the barrel." Although Roland was very clear about the structure of the artillery, the specific operation was blank. He racked his brains to recall the shooting scenes in various medieval movies, and tried to sort out a set of procedures. As for the actual effect, that's really God knows.

Lightning excitedly pulled out a mop-like cleaning rod from the bottom of the gun mount, and stuck it into the muzzle of the gun—different from the contracts of other witches, Lightning proposed that as long as she could operate various novel inventions by herself, she would be willing to work for Roland. And no salary is required. Faced with this money-saving condition, Roland naturally agreed. Anyway, when it's the turn of the confidential project, it's good to study it secretly. There are still many ideas and inventions waiting to be realized in his mind, and just a few of them are enough for her to toss for a long time.

After a few fiddles, the mop did not bring out any debris, but according to the procedure, she had to clean it up a second time. Put on another mop and pump it a few more times, and the gun bore is cleaned.

"Do you understand everything?" Roland asked the knights and militiamen who were watching. This test firing is also a drill. Now that the production of muskets has increased significantly, the militia will inevitably evolve into formal infantry, and wooden guns will also be replaced by muskets and artillery. This requires a lot of shooting training to skillfully operate these two hot weapons on the battlefield.

Seeing everyone nodding, he let Lightning proceed to the next step.

The little girl took out a bag of gunpowder wrapped in a paper roll, stuffed it into the barrel of the gun, and stabbed it to the bottom with an iron rod. Then put in the shell and poke it tight again. Take out the drill pipe and insert it through the lead eye at the rear end of the gun barrel, pierce the charge, and then insert the lead wire. In this way, the launch preparation is completed.

In order to prevent accidents, everyone retreated fifteen steps away. Lightning brought the torch close to the fuse, and saw the sparks at the end shining, and they had penetrated into the gun barrel in the blink of an eye.

Then there was a loud bang—

The high-speed airflow from the muzzle lifted up the snow, and a layer of snow mist rose on the ground. The theoretical effective range of the twelve-pound gun can reach more than a thousand meters. Even if there is no rifling, the trajectory of the front shell is still like a straight line. The armor target placed about 100 meters away made a bang, was hit head-on by the twelve-pound iron ball, and flew up. The iron ball continued unabated, and bounced continuously after falling on the snow, stirring up columnar snowflakes.

When the smoke cleared, Carter and Iron Ax ran to the target immediately. I saw that the front of the armor was completely sunken, the front deck was attached to the rear deck, and a palm-sized hole was located in the center of the armor. Obviously, after the shell penetrated the target, it flew forward for about 100 meters. Even when it hits the ground and rolls, it packs an astonishing amount of power.

"What a terrible penetration!" Carter sighed, he could already imagine the tragedy when the enemy gathered together and was pierced by several shells.

"The three gods are above," Iron Ax began to believe that Roland was the emissary of the Mother of the Earth. Except for the envoy of the gods, who else could exert the power of the flame to such a degree? He has repeatedly studied those gunpowder particles, as long as they are ground into powder and spread out to ignite, they are an ordinary combustible substance. Flames are the mother of the earth's surging anger and her most powerful weapon—thinking of the never-ending orange fire erupting from the hole in the extreme south, he had the urge to worship the prince in his heart.

Roland was not surprised by this result. The 12-pound field gun was a classic generation, especially the Napoleon gun that shined in the American Civil War, which fully proved the truth that a large caliber is beautiful.

Next, he tested the strength of the barrel with different charges. Although he knew that it might cause damage to the gun, it was a necessary test.

After adding three packs of ammunition, the muzzle has risen and the gun mount has shifted when the gun is fired, but the gun barrel has not yet shown obvious deformation. It seems that the steel-cast gun barrel performed very well in terms of strength. Roland finally determined the standard charge to be 1.2 times the test charge, and the rest was to select the gunner and practice repeatedly.

"Your Highness, this weapon is indeed powerful, but it is too heavy. As long as it encounters a mud puddle, it can be immobilized." Carter immediately saw the shortcomings of the new weapon, "and the barrel needs to be cleaned every time you fire. , charge the powder and load the ammunition. In addition, gunpowder and shells are much heavier than muskets, and I am afraid that just one artillery requires five to six people to operate."

"Indeed, but everything is worth it. As long as you are equipped with two to three cannons, the Duke... no, I mean the kind of evil beasts, giant tortoises, and it will be impossible to break through the city wall." Roland coughed twice, secretly saying yes risk. As for the shortcomings of the twelve-pound gun being too heavy, he planned to solve it by shipping. If a steam engine wants to be transformed into a steamship, even the most primitive paddle steamer is a complex and huge mechanical system.

Instead of rebuilding it yourself, it is better to directly buy a two-masted sailing ship, rely on Wendy's wind control ability to quickly transport the militia and artillery to the back of the Duke's army, and form a pincer attack with the frontal team, so as to encircle and annihilate the Duke's vital force in the fortress.

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