our family is gone

Chapter 331 Technological Innovation

Although the lord gave him a lot of authority to train artillery at any cost, in fact Patton knew very well that there were not many artillerymen who could leave the army.

It's not that there is no one in Hamlet, nor is it that he can't teach well, it's just that there are too few cannons in his hand, making it difficult to practice.

How can it be possible for the gunner to find the feeling of correcting the trajectory in this way?
And now there are only three guns, two large-caliber guns are placed in the port to guard against pirates at any time, and only one small-caliber gun is left for training.

In this environment, even if he trains a group of artillerymen, he will still fall into a situation where there are no artillery available.

There is only one way to solve this problem, and that is to solve the problem of artillery.

Button has been paying attention to this issue all the time, and after arranging the training, he rushed to a very special place in Hamlet.

Closer to the past, you can see that the newly built workshop is just above the river, and all the craftsmen have moved in, which can be regarded as finally getting rid of the previous simple and temporary environment.

It can be seen that there are almost a row of wooden water machines rotating rapidly by the river, extending into the workshop through the connecting device, and only the continuous sound of metal knocking can be heard.

The scorching sun is not good news for artillery clay molds, because once exposed to the sun, cracks will appear, which means that the whole is scrapped.

So there are a lot of thatched sheds built to shade the sun, but in the scorching summer, the warm wind blowing on the clay mold can be regarded as speeding up the time for the clay mold to be formed.

Patton understands this, or as long as it is related to artillery, he understands it.

He inspected the clay molds and found no problems, and the progress was faster than he imagined. It is estimated that the casting will be completed in a short time.

This situation gave him great comfort. After all, he took so many resources from the lord, but he didn't have any achievements, which really made him feel a little guilty.

At this time, Barton found that Leonard was not far away from Master Eugene, so he started and walked over.

"I'll hand over the first batch of bayonets to you. I'm not sure when the next batch will be. I guess we won't have time until the previous projects are completed." Master Eugene said and handed a list to the Leonard.

For the bayonet project, it took only one month for the entire process from the initial design, improvement, finalization of the plan, to manufacturing, and finally to the finished product, which is considered Hamlet's amazing efficiency.

Leonard came here to sign for the batch of bayonets. After checking that they were correct, he signed his name, made two copies, and finally filed them separately.

"There are only a hundred of them, and at least three hundred are needed to be fully deployed in the army. This is not counting the wear and tear, and there are still recruits for training. The gap is really too big.

The armor in stock is basically used to form the cavalry. Now the army has a high demand for armor. When can the standard armor belonging to Hamlet be equipped with troops? "

Leonard complained about the current situation faced by the army. Simply put, it lacked everything. Now the only ones that can be fully equipped with armor are the most elite cavalry companies.

However, the armor on the cavalry is still a patchwork of cards of all nations, with different shapes and quality. It is conceivable how far the armor rate of other troops is. Usually only the squad leader or a few sporadic battles stand out Only then.

And what about the messy guns and ammunition consumed during training?These were enough to give him a headache.

This is because the recruits have not been trained well. According to the time, the recruits will be incorporated into the army after one month. What about the equipment of the recruits?
Now Leonard understands why ordinary noble lords usually only train knights, and when they start a war, they directly recruit civilians, and the civilians have to bring their own equipment and food.

He was recruited by the church at that time, and only after he broke his fortune was he equipped with a horse and a sword. It was simple training and he was pushed onto the battlefield.

This method of recruiting did reduce a lot of logistical pressure, but the same cost was huge casualties. The training was directly on the battlefield, and those who survived were deemed to have passed the training.

There is no pension system, if you die, you will die, and you can only count yourself as unlucky, so many people would rather flee into the wilderness than be drawn

But now the lord is almost using the resources of cultivating knights to cultivate the army, and the resources consumed are naturally very exaggerated.

Of course, the combat effectiveness of these soldiers who can become regulars is not comparable to that of serf soldiers. Similarly, everyone has a strong enthusiasm for being a soldier, and being selected is a glory for the ancestors.

Eugene didn't react much when he heard Leonard's complaints, obviously this kind of conversation was not the first time.

"It's not that you don't know the production capacity of our small place. It's because the Lord Lord's improved hydraulic forging hammer has greatly reduced the workload. Otherwise, you may have brought fifty sabers from me not long ago.

Let me tell you, these one hundred bayonets are already the limit, and there is no need to urge them in a short time. If you want to modify the project, you can find the lord, but it is useless to find me. "

Eugene explained the situation directly, and the meaning of these words was very simple.

The productivity of the workshop is like this, so many projects are queuing up, please wait slowly.

Lance has long considered that with the development of Hamlet, the production pressure faced by the workshop will increase, so he selected some young people to serve as apprentices to assist him.

But in fact, the main force of the workshop is the skilled craftsmen brought back from Totnes.

In fact, this era also pays attention to the rules that some technical jobs should not be passed on to the outside world. After all, they rely on this to make a living.

In order to solve this problem, Lance could only find a way to find Winston, a skilled craftsman, to take the lead. Combined with the verification of Eugene's research institute, he compiled a simple teaching material, directly writing out most of the situations that need attention. Newcomers learn.

Even so, those apprentices still need to accumulate experience, so it is difficult for those novices to grow up quickly.

Leonard is difficult, but Eugene is not difficult.If it's difficult for everyone, then do what you can.

"Leonard, don't embarrass Master Eugene. You can see the situation of the workshop at a glance." Barton approached, and when he heard what the two said, he smiled and cut into the topic.

His cannon casting also requires the productivity of the workshop. He has waited for so long, so he can't let people jump in the queue.

Barton's appearance was undoubtedly a reason for Eugene to change the topic, and he immediately invited the two of them: "It happens that both of you are here, our research institute has made some new breakthroughs recently, you two can come and give some advice."

Leonard and Barton looked at each other. Obviously, they didn't know about it. It should be a recent result, and they followed it curiously.

The location of the institute is as far away from the bustling center of Hamlet as the workshop.

The site was chosen on the edge, a row of masonry buildings, and further outside was the shooting range and the place to test the effect.

Without any nonsense, Eugene directly took the person to the shooting range behind, called the person who was originally testing on it down, picked up the gun and turned to look at the two of them.

"Try two?"

Leonard didn't know much about firearms, and Barton naturally didn't hesitate. He took the gun and studied it, but he didn't see much change in it, so he couldn't help frowning.

"Master Eugene, this..." Barton couldn't ask clearly, so he had to make a roundabout gesture.

"You try to hit it first."

Hearing this, Barton didn't talk nonsense, he grabbed the fixed ammunition placed on the side and finished loading and firing.

The buckshot hit the distant target, although it missed the center, which already showed his mastery of the musket.

But even so, he still couldn't feel any improvement, and Leonard next to him couldn't wait any longer, and spoke directly.

"Where is the transformation that the master said?"

"Here." Eugene picked up the notebook on the side and handed it to Button. "You should be able to understand these data."

All experiments must be recorded, and Barton took a glance and roughly figured out what it was.

"The area of ​​improvement is the propellant."

"That's right!" Eugene smiled and explained to the two, "This gunpowder adopts a new granulation technology, and we re-adjusted the ratio of the formula."

"any solution?"

Leonard is not very sensitive to technology, but Barton is a top student, and he is quite familiar with these. Totnes spends millions of gold coins every year without reforming gunpowder.

And Hamlet has now started the third round of reforms, and has found a direction, so he no longer knows what to say.

Eugene didn't mean to hide the question about gunpowder technology from the two of them.

"The lord pointed out that the loose porous structure of charcoal can absorb nitrate and sulfur to form a stable structure. In fact, the lord proposed this plan a long time ago, but you all know that the gunpowder used now is all prepared, and only the roughest can be used. The way to mix and dry broken.

Only recently did we get the gunpowder raw materials delivered by the convoy. We selected high-quality charcoal and used the by-product wine head of alcohol extraction as a solvent to mix the raw materials. Finally, we crushed and screened out the appropriate particle size.

The gunpowder produced by this new type of technology burns more stably than the previous rough mixed water agglomeration and then broken, and can achieve a longer range with the same quality, and can effectively reduce the risk of bombing. "

"Drinker?" Barton was a little puzzled, and he focused more on the unfamiliar vocabulary.

"Oh, you may not be very clear about this. Greendale was originally responsible for this aspect. There is really too much food in the town, and it is imported continuously. Some of the old food is about to go moldy and go bad.

In order to solve this problem, the wine brewing that was stopped by the lord was restarted. I don't know the details, but it seems that the distillation technology has been improved. The purified is called alcohol, and the by-product is the wine head.

The lord of this by-product said that it would be toxic, so it cannot be eaten, and it can only be used for other purposes, which happens to be good as a solvent. "

When Barton heard this, he understood what was going on. First of all, there must be a convoy to transport raw materials, a large amount of charcoal produced by the large-scale development of the northern wilderness, and finally, the by-products generated by the improvement of winemaking technology and distillation equipment, all of which are indispensable.

The emergence of this technology did not simply appear, but occurred incidentally when Hamlet accumulated enough in the development process.

But the shock given to them by the research institute is far from over.

"We also recently achieved a result."

As Eugene spoke, he opened the box beside him, took out a bomb from it, and handed it over.

"The improvement is also gunpowder, right?" Barton has participated in the research on bombs, and has also participated in testing, and he will understand when something falls on his hand.

"That's right. In fact, not only the gunpowder of muskets and cannons has been improved, but also the gunpowder formula of bombs. The real effect can only be understood by seeing it with your own eyes."

As he spoke, Eugene raised his finger and pointed to the target area, motioning for Barton to make a move.

It has to be said that his words also aroused the curiosity of Leonard and the two of them. Barton doesn't like to pretend like Lance, and throws the lead wire directly when he ignites.

The bomb flew out and landed precisely in the target area. One must know that this happened not long ago. It was obvious that Barton had also practiced his throwing ability in private.

After waiting for about ten seconds, the bomb exploded, and the power directly overturned the ground, and all the targets inserted around were pierced, leaving countless holes, and the ones that were close were knocked down directly .

"Why is it so powerful!"

The two of them had researched this, and the explosion damage radius was actually one-third larger than the normal one, which was already a very terrifying effect.

"Because the formula was improved, sugar was added according to the request of the lord."

"Sugar?"

"Yes, we don't know the exact principle yet, but after we added powdered sugar to the bomb's explosive formula, the power has been greatly enhanced."

"These are two technologies? Then why don't muskets use sugar, and aren't they more powerful?" Leonard noticed a problem.

Hearing this, Eugene laughed and explained.

"In fact, I had a similar idea with you at the beginning, but after discussing this issue with the lord, I understood the difference between propellant and explosives. First of all, we must understand the principle of guns and artillery and the concept of chamber pressure. .

To put it simply, even if the musket is fired, the energy released by the gunpowder forms a chamber pressure in a relatively sealed pipe and continues to propel the projectile in the pipe to accelerate.

According to this characteristic, more stable gunpowder is needed, and the instantaneous explosion is not pursued, otherwise the power of the instantaneous explosion will exceed the chamber pressure and cause the chamber to explode.

But the effect pursued by the bomb is just the opposite. The stronger the power at the moment of explosion, the better, so there are differences in the improvement of the two gunpowder formulas. "

"If soldiers can equip these bombs, I'm afraid they won't be afraid to face a large number of legions." Leonard didn't understand this, but he saw the war potential of this explosive.

"Actually, you have forgotten one issue, that is the price of sugar. Just now you have blown up one gold coin and seven ordinary bombs."

As soon as these words came out, the two of them poured a basin of cold water. Now white sugar is a very expensive material, and it is even regarded as a medicine.

"The lord said that this technology is only prepared to deal with special enemies, and it is impossible to equip the army on a large scale."

The two also seemed to understand what the special enemy the lord was talking about, and they fell silent for a while.

But Eugene had a smile on his face, since the money didn't belong to him anyway.

Technological innovation is undoubtedly a surprise for Eugene, who likes research, and now he feels more and more that he chose to give up Totnes to come to this.

"Now these two technologies are still top secret, and not many people know about them. I hope you two will keep them a good secret."

"clear."

The two nodded solemnly. They had participated in seminars on army building held by the lord many times.

Understand that gunpowder weapons are the protagonists of future warfare, and the importance of this innovative technology can be imagined.

(End of this chapter)