Chapter 371: The Creation of the Military Industry Department, the 2-Pound Condor Cannon!

At the end of September, the corn in the Lake District has just matured and produced green grains. The fragrance of grains carried in the wind, and large flocks of birds came to smell the fragrance.

Farmers in the village were mobilized, sleeping in the fields day and night to kill birds and animals that stole the corn. This hard work lasts for more than ten days, until the corn is completely ripe, and the farmers will go to the fields to harvest.

In this era, in order to increase the yield as much as possible, corn has always been harvested late. Fresh and tender corn is a luxury for the nobles. Most of the corn eaten by the common people is old, yellow and hard, and one bite of it raw can break one's teeth. From an agricultural perspective, this is to give full play to the post-ripening effect of crops. You have to wait until the leaves turn yellow, the bracts turn white, and the stems are completely dead before you can harvest one or two more buckets.

On this day, in the southeast of the capital, a large group of warriors wearing armor and holding bows, carrying strange golden-brown copper beasts, passed through the field stalks. The farmers along the way knelt on the ground in awe, not daring to look at the warriors. The villagers of Gyeonggi always have more knowledge. Even if there is no flag in today's battle, they must be the top nobles, even the supreme king!

Soon, the warriors disappeared behind the hills in the southeast. The farmers whispered a few words in low voices and continued to guard the farmland in the village. Waiting for the sun to rise into the sky, a roar of a giant beast suddenly sounded from the hills in the southeast, and then two more!

"Boom! Boom! Boom!"

The voice was as loud as thunder, but also had the low tone of metal trembling. Then, there was a snap of the tree breaking. The villagers lay on the ground in fear, facing the southeast, praying devoutly to the Lord God.

"God bless you!"

"God bless you!"

Seeing the results of the shooting, the king was extremely excited. He roared excitedly, like a roaring jaguar. Behind him, Bertard opened his mouth in shock, and was absent-minded for a rare long time.

"Your Majesty, this is the gift of the Lord God! An indestructible artifact! The Sun Eagle Cannon!"

Tiripi, the director of the Bronze Bureau, looked excited and his face was full of irrepressible joy. He walked out from behind the cannon manipulator and stroked the golden-brown copper beast that was still smoking. The surface of the bronze beast flashed with golden light, and its tentacles were scorching hot, just like his blazing chest.

"The gun weighs 500 kilograms, the bullet weighs about 2 kilograms, the caliber is 5 centimeters, the gun length is 1.2 meters, the range that can be aimed is 500 meters, and the maximum range is 2 miles! Within 1 mile, where the stone bullets fell, there is no warrior in the world. You can resist it! If you block it, you will die, just like the big tree in front of you!"

After speaking, he pointed forward. The cannon that was just fired flew over 1 mile and hit a tree as thick as a wrist on the hill, directly breaking the tree in two! And he had tried it before, but even the strongest bronze heavy armor was as weak as newly made hemp paper in front of this condor cannon!

"2-pound eagle cannon, 2-pound eagle cannon, I finally created a truly epoch-making weapon! A real bronze cannon!!"

The king's excitement could not be calmed down. Because only he can truly know the significance of this bronze cannon to American civilization!

"This is the weapon in my hand that can really break through the colonists' plate armor! In front of it, even groups of plate armored infantry have lost their irresistible aura and become bulky and fragile! This is also the only weapon that can threaten the colonization. Even if it is only 2 pounds, I will have the truth and justice to fight against the Westerners!"

Deputy Director of the Military Industry Department, Chalape, stared at the Supreme King carefully with his eyes widened. This was the first time he had seen the king lose his temper like this.

"Haha, the Sun Eagle Cannon, a real bronze cannon!"

Two steps away, Tiripi also laughed, like a child who had created a favorite toy, shaking with joy. All this is really not easy!

Since September last year, when he started making cannons, he has encountered hundreds of failures in a row. He has built more than 100 clay molds alone! Seeing that the six-month period required by His Majesty was about to expire, he had been under tremendous pressure and even thought about committing suicide. Fortunately, His Majesty led the army to march north, leaving him enough time to continue exploring slowly.

All this time, he had room and board in the workshop, forcing the craftsmen and apprentices to work overtime day and night. Everyone overcame countless difficulties and suffered countless hardships, and only in June last year did they build the first qualified Sun Condor Cannon! The weight of the Condor cannon continued to increase, from 250 kilograms to 500 kilograms, the inner diameter increased from 4 centimeters to 5 centimeters, and the outer diameter continued to thicken. The 1-pound cannon was cast into a 2-pound cannon, and all the barrels were eliminated. There is no air leakage, even if it is placed in water, there will be no bubbles at all.

After building the first condor cannon, everyone immediately sent a letter to the north to report the belated good news. Then, based on this successful experience, the clay mold and cannon casting process were adjusted. Bronze cannons were cast and melted one after another, and it was not until August this year that 10 usable condor cannons were cast from more than two hundred clay molds!

His Majesty once said: "When casting cannons from clay molds, those who get 20 or 3 out of 10 are called national masters!"

Thinking of these words, Tilippi simply wanted to look like "poof" on His Majesty's face. Obviously if you cast ten and get one, you are a rare craftsman blessed by God! He generously promised his craftsmen and apprentices, "As long as you can cast a qualified eagle cannon from ten clay molds, you will be directly promoted to a first-level divine priest regardless of your original identity!"

In two full years, he only promoted 8 people and forged 10 cannons! Yes, out of the 10 cannons, he cast 2 by himself.

Charape looked at His Majesty who was talking excitedly, and then looked at his brother who was grinning all the time, and didn't know what to say for a moment. He approached Bertard carefully and asked softly.

"Respected Holy Eagle Warrior Captain, should we call His Majesty?"

"Shh!"

Bertard stretched out his hand to stop and shook his head gently. A pure smile appeared on his face.

"Let Your Majesty be happy for a while."

"Yes, you are right!"

The two of them waited quietly in the test firing range. There were 3 God Eagle cannons, 3 Tiger Crouching cannons, and more than 30 craftsmen operating the cannons in the cannon range. Outside the cannon range, there were 500 personal guards who were closely guarding the surroundings. Further away, there was a team of warriors responsible for patrolling, driving away merchants or villagers who tried to approach.

After a long time, Shulot finally calmed down. He walked out from behind the protective earthen wall, stepped forward in person, and touched the 2-pound Eagle Cannon. The inner and outer surfaces of the Eagle Cannon were polished smooth, with a bronze golden glow. He looked at it carefully for a while before asking seriously.

"Tiripi, have you estimated the life of this Condor Cannon?"

"Life?"

"How many rounds can the barrel fire?"

Tiripi blinked, thought for a while, and smiled.

"Your Majesty, we have tested hundreds of rounds, and the barrel of this Condor Cannon has no damage, and it seems to be more stable. It is estimated that there will be no problem firing more than a thousand rounds!"

"More than a thousand rounds?"

Xuluot thought for a while and nodded. The cannon in front of him is only 2 pounds, the charge is only 2 kilograms, and the barrel is only 1.2 meters long. The gun chamber pressure is not high, the barrel is extremely thick, the bronze quality is very good, and the smoothbore cannon does not need to consider rifling wear. There is indeed no problem firing more than a thousand rounds.

Although the current bronze cannon poundage is still small, it has formed a comprehensive crushing advantage over the wooden cannons used by the alliance. The range, accuracy, and service life of bronze cannons are much higher than wooden cannons. The airtightness of wooden cannons is low, and the kinetic energy decays greatly. The lifespan is usually only a few dozen rounds, and the distance is no more than a hundred meters. It is a simple temporary firearm. In general, the two are not products of the same era at all.

"Tiripi, what is the success rate of cannon casting now? How long can it take to cast a qualified Condor cannon?"

"Your Majesty, the current success rate of cannon casting is about one in ten. But the craftsmen are making rapid progress."

Although Tilipi complained about His Majesty in his heart, he did not dare to show it at all. At this moment, he bowed his head slightly, his expression respectful.

"As long as there is enough copper material, we can start working on dozens of clay molds at the same time. On average, can we produce one Condor cannon a month? Ah, no, if we work overtime, two can be produced!"

Seeing His Majesty's eyebrows raised, Tilipi quickly added.

Xiuluot concentrated on thinking and nodded slowly.

"One in ten success rate means two cannons per month."

In the early stages of technological leaps, the success rate of manufacturing is always low. After all, this is the first successful cannon casting attempt in the entire Mesoamerican civilization! As long as a breakthrough is made, technical experience will continue to accumulate, and the manufacturing success rate will steadily increase.

"Tiripi, you just said that the weight of this Condor Cannon is 500 jin?"

"Yes, Your Majesty."

"Can you make it lighter? A 500-jin cannon is too difficult to carry with the army, and it may cause problems when crossing mountains and ridges."

Xiuluot frowned slightly. Now there is no reliable camel beast, and we can't let the alpaca pull the cannon, right?

"Your Majesty, the bronze workshop can try to reduce the weight of the cannon. But we must first ensure that the barrel will not leak."

Tilipi looked embarrassed and replied carefully.

Hearing this, Xiuluot understood. The kingdom's technology and craftsmanship level are not up to par, and it can only develop in the direction of stupid, big, black and rough, which is the way of the later Jin Dynasty. If you don't consider movement and cost, expand the Condor Cannon exponentially, and build a 4,000-jin, 10-pound and a half long-barreled cannon can also be produced. Of course, as the weight of the cannon increases, the molten bronze will cool in steps, and the difficulty of casting will increase exponentially. So far, the 2-3 pound bronze cannon should be the technological limit of the kingdom.

In this era, Europe has already seen the "terrible" 18-pound long-barreled cannon (culverin) and 10-pound half-long-barreled cannon (Demi-culverin), and iron bullets have replaced stone bullets, which are used in the fierce battle for fortresses.

The standard 18-pound long-barreled cannon weighs 4,500 kilograms, has a caliber of 13-14 centimeters, and a cannon length of 3.5 meters. One shot "erodes" twelve or thirteen miles. Of course, the effective aiming distance is only about 3 miles. The common 10-pound half-long-barreled cannon weighs 3,000 kilograms, has a caliber of 10-11 centimeters, a cannon length of 2.6 meters, a maximum range of 9 miles, and an effective range of 1.5 miles. These are the most advanced levels of cannon making in Europe at present, and they are continuing to improve rapidly.

However, for Central America with its poor terrain, there is no need to worry about these European "heavy cannons". The difficult rainforest and complex mountains will make all heavy cannons become unmovable scrap copper and iron.

Xiu Luote had a clear idea at the beginning of casting the cannon. The future artillery of the empire must be mainly light infantry artillery. Thinking of this, he looked at the side of the Condor Cannon again. There were three short and light tiger squat cannons, 0.4 meters long, 4 centimeters in diameter, weighing more than 100 kilograms. The tiger squat cannon body was tightened with a copper hoop and equipped with fixed copper claws. The difficulty of casting this kind of cannon is much easier than that of a long-barreled cannon, and it is also easier to carry.

"Tiripi, how powerful is this tiger squat cannon?"

The king asked with a smile.

A confident smile appeared on Tilipi's face. He stretched out his hand and pointed to the earth wall behind him.

"Lord God bless you! Your Majesty, please retreat behind the earth wall. I will let the gunners test fire the Rain God Tiger Crouching Cannon!"

"Okay! Lord God bless you!"

The long wind blew, bringing the smell of gunpowder in the air. The king sniffed twice and smiled sincerely. This breath is so intoxicating, full of the power of light and justice!

The roar of the bronze cannon, go for it! (_)