our family is gone

Chapter 304 Research Institute

It's not unreasonable for Lance to choose people who start a family. With a family, their roots are here, and they will work hard for their families. At least there are no lazy people appearing now.

Of course, even if there is, the whip of the labor farm will teach them to remember the bitterness and the sweetness.

But now most of the refugees have enough food, clothing, warm houses, and hope for life. Although they have not officially become residents of Hamlet, their current life has made them very satisfied. It is much better than when they worked for the farmer. .

It can be said that they have been integrated into the big family of Hamlet.

If you perform well and pass the assessment to really join Hamlet, then you won't be able to take off!

They are satisfied that Lance is also satisfied. Although Hamlet still needs to provide them with food, Lance believes that these farms will provide Hamlet with a steady stream of resources and people in the near future.

"These are the Institute's reports."

Tiffany handed over the things in her hands. Although it was not within her authority, she still couldn't help but complain.

"The monthly consumption of the research institute is equivalent to three farms."

When Lance heard this, he laughed and said nothing. He approved all the research institute's needs. Does he know how much it consumes?
But some consumption is necessary, how can you be considered a prodigal if you can improve your combat effectiveness by spending money.

Especially when Lance saw several tests passed in the report, he suddenly laughed.

"Good good!"

Not caring about other things, he left Tiffany and rushed towards the research institute.

That was when he specially set aside a place in a secluded part of the town to set up a research institute, and gave them what they wanted, and fully supported their actions.

On the bank of the river, you can see a lot of water-driven kowtow machines.

Similar to a windmill that operates with wind power, this kind of thing is not very high-tech. On the contrary, it was designed a long time ago in this world.

As soon as you step into it, you can see the clay molds placed. The production cycle of the cannon is very long, usually it takes several months, most of which are in the making and drying of the mold.

To be honest, for some reason, Lance didn't know much about the development of guns, but he also knew that Totnes's meaningless pile of materials was unrealistic.

The first reform he made was to standardize, the second was to start with materials, the third was to shape the structure, and the fourth was to improve gunpowder.

Considering Hamlet's strength, abandon those large-caliber artillery and make all six-pound guns. The data of all guns must be unified, so that there will be no mismatch problems in terms of charge and projectile size.

Judging from the verification of Totnes, the best material for artillery production is copper, a metal with better toughness, and its melting point is relatively low and easy to process, while alloys made with other ingredients have better results.

But it's a pity that copper is linked to coins, and the cost is too expensive. Considering the quantity to be installed, even the rich Totnes can't stand it, and all use less effective cast iron.

But the brittleness of cast iron needs to be solved, so they just pile up materials, and Lance can see more by standing on the shoulders of his predecessors.

The solution to the problem is very simple, that is - the annealing process.

Annealing is a metal heat treatment process, which refers to slowly heating the metal to a certain temperature, keeping it for a sufficient time, and then cooling it at an appropriate speed.

It can reduce the hardness of the metal and increase the toughness without changing the size of the workpiece. It can also eliminate stress, reduce deformation and crack tendency, and reduce the occurrence of bombing.

It must be that I liked to watch forging competitions for a while in my previous life. Although I don't remember much, I still learned something.

The difficulty of the annealing process lies in controlling the temperature and time. Although this has to be tried, the difficulty is much simpler, but the effect is obvious.

Regarding the improvement of gunpowder, he only remembered a jingle, one nitrate, two sulfur and three charcoals, and everything else was the same.

It is not very realistic to achieve results on the formula in a short period of time. Totnes has spent so much money but has not been able to achieve major reforms, and he has no relevant knowledge in his mind.

Similarly, this world is not much better, because of the existence of extraordinary power, so the feudal ideology is particularly strong, suppressing many scientific ideas.

Just like the artillery regiment and the wolf regiment were powerless against those knights wearing heavy armor, people prefer to be knights than to study muskets.

Not to mention that muskets have been considered the creation of evil wizards for a long time, and few people have studied and improved them.

So after the arrival of Lance, the gunpowder was still in powder form after thousands of years of development, and the formula had not changed much.

This gave him a tricky way, that is, the granulation of gunpowder.

This is what he saw from historical novels. The easiest way is to mix it with urine, add some wax if the conditions are good, and then dry it and break it into rice-sized particles.

The gunpowder produced in this way is less susceptible to moisture, will not be stratified during transportation, and will burn better than powdered ones.

Look at the pots of black things drying in the field that are made in this way, and then they have to be broken into particles.

Going deep into it, you can hear the continuous sound of iron hammering. Cannons are cast, but muskets are not.

The barrel of the core workpiece needs to be forged from wrought iron, not to mention other parts of the workpiece. These craftsmen will not be idle because the mold is drying, but their time is filled.

Lance used the river flowing through the town to create a hydraulic forging hammer to forge rough parts to reduce the workload. At the same time, he adopted a division of labor and cooperation to simplify the process. Originally, each person was responsible for one gun, but now each person is responsible for different steps, specializing in one item.

At the same time, the requirements for standard workpieces are put forward. In addition to the basic salary, bonuses are added on a per-piece basis. The more you work, the more you get. The unqualified workpieces will be excluded. Every once in a while, the loss ratio will be calculated and announced on the list. The top three Money will be awarded.

Qian Kailu, the workshop is extremely hot because of the high temperature of the fire, but it can't stop the enthusiasm of the craftsmen, everyone is busy working.

Lance continued to go deeper, and behind that was the shooting range, where Eugene and the researchers were testing this new type of musket.

Lance's gaze was on the firearm in the tester's hand.

There are not many major improvements, but the most prominent point in appearance is the extra long bayonet on the muzzle.

It's just that the focus is not on this, just observe how those people use it.

In the current mainstream use, it is to take out the cartridge and pour some priming medicine into the medicine pool, then pour an appropriate amount of propellant into the muzzle, then stuff the bullet into the muzzle for compaction, and finally pull the hammer to aim and fire.

It is this set of procedures that causes the musket to shoot at most two or three shots per minute. This is still experimental data. According to what Patton said on the real battlefield, one shot per minute is sometimes impossible.

Moreover, after a gun is shot and before it is reloaded, it is a fire stick. Soldiers are in a fierce battlefield, watching people around them fall one by one, it is easy to panic, and they can't even reload, and it is very likely because Too much gunpowder loaded with shaking hands caused the chamber to explode.

But what's interesting is that the tester no longer uses a cartridge when loading ammunition, but takes out a paper bag.

The tester bit open the paper bag, poured part of the gunpowder into the powder pool as a primer, and then directly stuffed the rest of the paper bag into the barrel, tamped it, pulled the hammer, aimed, and shot.

"boom!"

The shaking of the target in the distance shows that these testers are experienced shooters.

Like artillery, Lance has no research on these, but he has read some novels and knows that there are several well-known improvements to the flintlock gun, that is, the bayonet and fixed ammunition.

He mentioned this to Master Eugene when he was in Totnes, and he started research and development as soon as he came here, basically without any difficulty.

These two improvements have passed the test very early. As long as the modification is completed, the troops can be installed. After that, the pikemen can be abandoned and all infantry can be transferred to musketeers.

A soldier who has been trained in half a month can kill a knight who has been trained for more than ten years with one shot. This is progress.

Of course, those are ordinary soldiers. The real elite must retain powerful melee capabilities and more powerful firepower.

"grown ups!"

"How's the situation?" Lance didn't have time to exchange greetings, and cut directly to the topic.

"The things that need to pass the test this time are ready." Eugene raised his hand to signal, and the testers on the side moved out a wooden box. After opening, there were fist-sized metal spheres neatly stacked, and a fuze was attached to it. Sealed with wax oil for protection.

There is no doubt that this is - the bomb.

This is why he came here. The army lacks heavy firepower, and it appears powerless when facing some inhuman monsters.

The batch of bombs that Patton brought before had been used up, so he had to replace them as soon as possible to strengthen the army's firepower.

Incendiary bombs, bombs, muskets, these are things that can be made and increase combat power in a short period of time.

"Try it, my lord. It basically meets your requirements. The diameter of the explosion is three meters, and the damage of the fragments is ten meters. It can do a lot of damage to an unarmored dense formation."

Lance grabbed one and weighed it, and found that it felt quite heavy, because the technical problem of the cast iron casing was a bit thick.

"What is the throwing distance?"

"I have had people test it. The best result is 34 meters, and the worst is 24. The average is [-]. The weight is still too large. We must find ways to optimize the process and reduce the weight. It is best to have a bunker."

Eugene was born as a professional craftsman, so he must have considered practical use.

Lance didn't talk nonsense, he directly ignited the bomb in his hand, the wax oil dissolved and penetrated into the fuze, looking at the stable burning fuze, he knew that the quality was still reliable.

He didn't want his soldiers to receive unreliable weapons, especially bombs.

Once self-destruction is easy to make morale collapse.

Eugene and the others subconsciously stopped breathing when they saw the bomb in front of them, and they were all focused on the fuze above, advancing at a slow but firm speed.

In the past, they used to ignite and throw them out. What does the lord want to do now?
Some testers couldn't help but retreat. They test this thing every day, knowing that the power of an explosion will kill everyone here.

Fortunately, Lance just observed it for a moment before throwing it out casually, but the bomb flew out like a cannonball, and the exaggerated speed directly made everyone dumbfounded.

And then a distant explosion woke him up.

The venues are all marked, and the testers can probably infer the explosion distance at a glance, but at this time they seem a little unsure.

"The 100-meter sign is still outside, which is beyond our site."

"How many?"

"At least one hundred and twenty-three."

"What I want is accurate data." Eugene looked a little irritable, and it's not that he didn't see it, what he needed was accurate data.

The testers immediately trotted over to measure, but Lance just smiled at this.

"My data has no reference meaning, let's find a way to improve the process and reduce weight."

Although Lance said so, the data he created just now will definitely be passed on to these people, and he will not let go of any opportunity to promote his strength.

Soon the bomb project came to an end amid various tests. To be honest, Lance was still a little dissatisfied. He had used the bomb produced by Totnes, which was more powerful.

In fact, these people can also do it. After all, they all come out of a production line, but that thing needs to be shot with artillery. What Lance needs now is a throwing type.

This has to continue to be studied and improved slowly. Lance knows that technology needs to accumulate experience and improve through continuous trial and error, and it cannot be achieved overnight.

"Continue testing."

Lance didn't just come here for the bomb project, but several different projects.

Following his order, the products of the next project were soon brought out.

"This is a smoke bomb developed at the request of adults. After being ignited, it can generate a large amount of smoke in a short period of time. The smoke itself is irritating to a certain extent, and can cause eye irritation, nausea, and burning of the respiratory tract..."

Of course, these detailed experiences mentioned by Eugene could not be the results obtained by testers, but some "patients" in nursing homes.

Lance picked up a fist-sized iron can, leaving only one side open, and you can see that it is stuffed with cloth. There is no such thing as a chemical reaction, and the only way to make smoke is to start from the material. These tar-soaked flax Cloth emits thick smoke when incompletely burned.

And the smoke bomb in front of him is obviously based on this research, plain and full of helplessness.

The need for smoke bombs is mainly because Lance discovered the problems faced by the army in small space battles during the last time he sent troops to the small town to wipe out the cultists.

Buildings will restrict them, and ambushes are easy, so just smoke the enemies out of the rat holes.

Lance observed the test and could only say that the effect was very poor, and some of them didn't even light up. When thrown out, there was either no smoke, or it did smoke, but it didn't completely smoke.

Also, the speed of smoking is too slow, and the amount is too small

"Continue to find ways to improve this project. How is the research on the flare?"

And just as Lance was about to finish the rest of the test, a soldier suddenly ran over to report to him.

"Report! Some fishing boats have found traces of pirates in the offshore."

　Began to pay off the debt, the progress is 2/5.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)