As early as the beginning of the construction of the cement section, Roland made plans for several follow-up project test houses. Most of them are built around the Beipo mining area, which can be effectively centralized and guarded - this kind of adobe wall and wooden roof bungalow construction. The speed is extremely fast, and it does not affect the construction progress of the city wall.
The saltpeter purchased in large quantities from Liuye Town was transported to a nearby warehouse for storage. When it was used, it was ground and weighed by servants and sent to the bungalow in batches. The same goes for charcoal and sulphur, the handling and mixing of the three raw materials is done by separate groups of people, which minimises the risk of leaks.
Roland weighed twenty pounds from the prepared black powder and slowly poured it onto a cut sheepskin.
These gunpowders have been soaked, compacted, dried, crushed, sieved, etc., and have been in the form of uniform granules with excellent combustion performance. In order to prevent accidents caused by collision sparks, no metal utensils are used in the entire production process, and most of them are ceramic or log products.
After pouring the gunpowder, Roland layered the sheepskin layers, wrapped them up to three layers, and tied them with ropes.
"That's it?" Carter asked. Can this thing be called a weapon? Although it is an improved product of snow powder, who can be fooled by the sound alone? It might work against a farmer who has never been on the battlefield, and any trained warrior or mercenary would not take it seriously. However... The chief knight thought about it carefully, what His Highness has done recently seems to be unreasonable, but most of the effects are amazing. If the IQ of evil beasts is similar to that of beasts, maybe this thing will be unexpectedly effective? For example, a loud bang causes them to be frightened and scattered, thereby reducing the pressure on the defending team.
Roland shoved the wrapped gunpowder into Carter's arms, and then took a bag of finely ground gunpowder powder for ignition, "Almost, let's go outside the city wall, the iron axe should be ready."
About two miles west of the city wall, a piece of open space between the Hidden Forest and the Desolate Mountains is the test area he has set out this time.
Iron Axe and several other hunters have been waiting here for a long time. Except for Iron Axe himself, everyone is a local and also the best archery group. Hearing that His Royal Highness had a task for them, he immediately followed Iron Axe over.
Everyone knows by now that the new lord of Border Town is never stingy with employment remuneration.
According to Roland's instructions, they erected long wooden poles around them, tied ropes, and formed a warning circle for nearly half a mile. In the direction close to the city wall, knight patrols were arranged to prevent anyone from accidentally approaching.
Roland checked around the warning circle and nodded, "Have you brought all the prey?"
"Your Highness, it's all here," Iron Axe dragged a cage forward, and Carter noticed that there were several pheasants and rabbits inside.
"Very well, place them five, ten, fifteen, thirty paces away from the center point, and tie one to each stake."
Carter shook his head secretly and proposed, "Your Highness, the animals you selected may not be able to be tested. They are very timid and run away at the slightest noise. Even if you can scare them, you may not be able to scare them. Walk the evil beast."
"Scare away the evil beasts?" Roland froze for a moment, then reacted, "I didn't intend to scare them away, even though the momentum of this thing's explosion was indeed amazing."
He walked to the center of the circle with the chief knight, put down the gunpowder bag, and made a small slit with the dagger to let the gunpowder leak out. Then he took out the leather bag containing the powdered gunpowder, sprinkled it from the crack, and moved backwards as he sprinkled.
Today is a windless day, perfect for this primitive detonation method.
After withdrawing for nearly 100 meters, Roland put away the leather bag.
"Okay, let's set fire here," he repeatedly estimated the distance, and after confirming it was correct, he said to Carter, "Go and call the hunters over."
At this moment, Roland was also a little excited. He had done a small amount of flash test before, and he was not worried about the test results. What he cares about is that this will be a great moment. From today, the hot weapon will officially take the stage, and he will be written into a milestone in history as the leader.
After everyone was concentrated, Roland lit the powder.
Carter was lying on the ground, looking at the quickly gone Mars, with some disapproval in his heart.
At such a long distance, and it was not placed in the bronze bucket, it was still a question whether the blasting sound of snow powder could reach here. His Royal Highness actually made everyone lie on the ground. But since the fourth prince took the lead in doing this, he couldn't say anything more.
The ground in winter is full of chills, and the chill can be felt through the chainmail. Carter shifted his body and was about to turn his chest over when a loud bang suddenly sounded—
Because the distance was too close, the explosion sound and the shock wave arrived at almost the same time, he felt his ears buzzing, and the world suddenly quieted down. The tremor of the earth was fleeting, and he raised his head, only to see a black cloud rising slowly, and then the gravel and mud fell like rain.
Roland's impact was much smaller than that of the chief knight. Even setting off firecrackers would block his ears, and he immediately prepared for protection after igniting the gunpowder powder. The explosion point is not like in the movie, it will free up a huge fireball. The flames flashed away, and a large amount of mud was lifted by the air waves and rushed into the air about ten meters. When the dust settled, Roland's only feeling was that the sound was much louder than firecrackers.
As for Iron Axe and several other hunters, they were already stunned. Among them, only Iron Axe knew that the trip was to test a new weapon, but they did not expect the momentum of the weapon to be so amazing.
I am afraid that only the thunder of God's punishment can compare with it!
Roland stood up and took everyone back to the blast site. There was a half-meter deep pit on the ground. The rabbit closest to the blast had long since disappeared, leaving only a short piece of wood on the ground.
He checked the other animals one by one. The pheasants placed at ten paces and fifteen paces lay motionless on the ground, apparently dead. Although no obvious trauma could be seen, Roland knew that they died from the shock wave of the explosion.
The only survivor was a gray rabbit thirty steps (about 15 meters) away. There was blood oozing from its thin ear wall, and it stopped struggling when it saw someone approaching, as if the loud noise just took it away. soul.
Carter swallowed his saliva, and his buzzing ears gradually returned to normal. Only then did he understand what His Royal Highness said, "I didn't intend to scare them away". Is this really made from snow powder? With this achievement alone, an alchemist would be far superior to an astrologer.
Iron Axe looked at Roland's eyes completely changed, "Your Highness, if the militia can have such a weapon, Border Town will no longer be afraid of the threat of evil beasts. I wonder if it can be mass-produced?"
Roland spread his hands and said, "Probably not. When the Moon of Demons comes, it is estimated that there will only be enough to make twenty or thirty." The main key is saltpeter. The method of making nitrate in this era is still very primitive. Lime mixture to collect precipitated potassium nitrate crystals. Except for the needs of the alchemy workshop and the upper-level nobles, there are almost no other uses, so there are not many such refineries, and if they are all used for explosives, they will soon be exhausted.
As a killer, this weapon must be used in conjunction with muskets and crossbows.