The western boundary of Border Town, by the Chishui River.
The snow made it difficult for the carriage to move, and it took the group half a day to haul the first built field gun outside the town.
"What is it this time?" Carter was a little accustomed to the new things the prince kept coming up with. "An enlarged musket?"
"Almost." Roland instructed his men to remove the hook, and then adjusted the angle of the gun mount so that the gun body was flat, and the support rod 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 the musket. The gun fires twelve pound solid iron balls, the shells and gunpowder are front loaded, and the leads are ignited. Referring to the mature designs in history, Roland instructed the carpenter to build a set of wooden gun mounts for it. 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 cannon frame and the wheels, Roland spent almost as much time as drilling the cannon bore. The three carpenters worked for a week to complete the work, especially the pair of wheels with a diameter of more than half a man. The carpenters first planed out four sections of equal length. The square wood strips are soaked and baked with fire until they are bent, the ends are cut out with grooves and tenon joints, and the outer edge of the wheel hub is covered with iron sheet for beating. This process took four days.
Therefore, in Roland's eyes, this 12-pound field gun, which was entirely handcrafted and limited in release, radiated dazzling light. When they were dragged out for a test launch, the entourage was arranged in a very large number - not to mention the chief knight Carter and the militia commander Iron Axe, all the personal guards and knight apprentices went into battle. Besides, he also brought Nightingale and Lightning for the first time. Thanks to Tonanava's blessing, the militia team's prejudice against the witch group has been reduced to a minimum, and Nana herself has become the most prestigious person in the team after the prince.
"Let's do it according to the procedure. First, clean the gun chamber." Although Roland was very clear about the structure of the gun, the specific operation was blank. He racked his brains to recall the fucking scenes in various medieval movies, trying to sort out a process, as for the actual effect, who knows.
Lightning enthusiastically pulled out a mop-style cleaning rod from under the gun mount and stabbed it into the muzzle—different from other witch contracts, Lightning proposed that she would be willing to work for Roland as long as she could operate various novel inventions by herself, and No salary required. Faced with this kind of money-saving condition, Roland naturally agreed. Anyway, when it was his turn to keep a secret project, he would just study it secretly. There are still many ideas and inventions in his mind waiting to be realized, and just a few pieces will be enough for her to toss for a while.
After fiddling a few times, the mop didn't bring out any debris, but according to the procedure, she had to clean up a second time. Put on another mop and pump it a few more times, and the cleaning of the cannon is complete.
"Do you understand?" Roland asked the knights and militiamen who were watching. This test firing was also an exercise. 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 be proficient in operating 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 paper rolls, stuffed it into the barrel of the gun, and stabbed it to the bottom with a wooden pole. Then put in the cannonball and stab it again. Take out the drill pipe and insert it through the lead eye at the rear of the gun barrel, pierce the cartridge, and then insert the lead, so that the launch preparation is complete.
In order to prevent accidents, everyone retreated thirty steps away and hid behind the cover. Lightning brought the torch close to the lead, and saw the spark at the end flashing, and it had penetrated into the barrel in the blink of an eye.
Then there was a loud bang—
The high-speed airflow from the muzzle lifted the snow, and a layer of snow mist rose on the ground. The theoretical effective range of the 12-pounder can reach more than one kilometer. Even if there is no rifling, the trajectory of the front shell is still a straight line. The armor target placed about 100 meters away made a bang and was hit head-on by the twelve-pound iron ball, and the whole flew up. The iron ball was castrated unabated, and after falling on the snow, it bounced continuously, causing a column of snowflakes.
When the smoke cleared, Carter and Iron Axe immediately ran to the target. I saw that the front of the armor was completely sunken, the front deck was attached to the rear deck, and a hole the size of a palm was located in the center of the armor. Obviously, the shell flew forward about 100 meters after penetrating the target. Even when it rolls on the ground, it contains amazing power.
"What a terrifying penetration!" Carter exclaimed, he could already imagine the tragic situation when the enemy gathered together and was penetrated by several shells.
"The three gods are above," Iron Axe began to believe that Roland was the messenger of the Mother Earth. Besides the gods, who else could exert the power of flames to such a level? Those gunpowder particles, he has repeatedly studied, as long as they are crushed into powder and spread out and ignited, they are an ordinary flammable substance. Fire is the surging anger of the Mother Earth, and it is also her most powerful weapon. Thinking of the never-ending orange fire erupting from the cave in the extreme south, he has the urge to worship the prince in his heart.
Roland was not surprised by such a result. The 12-pounder field gun can be described as a classic generation, especially the Napoleon gun that shined in the American Civil War, which fully proved the truth that large caliber is beautiful.
He next tested the barrel strength with different charges, which was a necessary test even though he knew it might cause damage to the gun.
It has been added to the three-pack of powder, the muzzle has been raised when the gun is fired, the gun mount has been displaced, and the gun barrel has not been significantly deformed. It seems that the steel cast gun barrel is very strong in terms of strength. Roland finally set the standard charge at 1.2 times the test charge. The rest is to select the gunner and practice repeatedly.
"Your Highness, this weapon is really powerful, but it's too heavy. As long as it encounters a mud puddle, it can make it immobile." Carter immediately saw the shortcomings of the new weapon, "and the barrel needs to be cleaned every round of firing. , charge and ammunition. In addition, gunpowder and shells are much heavier than muskets, so I am afraid that just one cannon requires five to six people to operate."
"Indeed, but everything is worth it. As long as you are equipped with two or three artillery pieces, the duke... No, I mean the kind of evil beasts, giant tortoises, it is impossible to break through the city wall." Roland coughed twice, secretly saying that it was dangerous . As for the disadvantage of the 12-pounder being too heavy, he intended to solve it by shipping. The steam engine wants to be transformed into a steam ship, even the most primitive paddle steamer is a complex and huge mechanical system.
Instead of transforming it yourself, it is better to buy a two-masted sailboat directly, relying on Wendy's wind control ability to quickly transport the militia and artillery behind the Duke's troops, and form a flanking attack with the frontal team, so as to surround and wipe out the living force of the Duke of the fortress.