our family is gone

Chapter 761 I Can’t Fight

The so-called explosive is actually an unstable substance, a general term for substances that will cause violent explosions when faced with high temperatures or impacts.

In modern society, mercuric cyanate, a product produced by the reaction of ethanol and mercury in nitric acid, was first used.

Because it is often used to make detonators and explosives, it is also called fulminate of mercury.

However, with the development of the times, this kind of explosive was replaced by another explosive, lead azide, which was discovered later, due to factors such as corrosion of the cartridge and instability.

But Lance doesn't understand these. His chemistry level is only at the level of junior high school or high school. He may not remember all of them, and even if he does, it won't be of much use.

Because the key basic materials of chemistry, three acids and two bases, were not developed.

Or maybe it was developed, but not used in the right place.

While waiting for the reaction, Lance began to think about this question: Can supernatural powers be considered as chemical catalysts or biological enzymes?
The transformation of some substances is not possible in reality, but as long as a little bit of supernatural power is added into it, some strange substances can be successfully generated.

For example, Greendale can control plants and use her extraordinary power to accelerate their growth. Isn’t this the effect of biological enzymes?
Junia's magic that accelerates wound regeneration and healing can also be supported by a similar theory.

Similarly, isn't Bigby's alchemy about using supernatural powers to overcome the limitations of physics or reality and create a new substance?

The problem now is that the means to study and observe these forces are too poor, and the problem returns to development.

Just as Lance was daydreaming, Bigby finally completed the experiment, and a substance that was deposited in the liquid at the bottom of the test tube was extracted.

"Do it!"

Lance took the reagent bottle directly and walked out, not hiding his excitement at all.

He is brave but not stupid. Everyone knows that dangerous goods should be tested in a safe place.

There are a lot of things in this laboratory. If it explodes, it will be troublesome afterwards.

I found an open space and poured some of the stuff onto an iron plate. I lit a fire across the iron plate, preparing to dry the powder and test its reaction under high temperature at the same time.

For safety reasons, Lance and Bigby kept a distance from each other. Sure enough, a small noise was heard on the iron plate, and the thing disappeared under the sudden firelight, leaving a little burn mark on the iron plate.

"It's possible! But it's definitely not very stable."

Lance hurried forward to put out the fire, and poured some more on the iron plate with residual heat. After it dried slightly, Lance picked up a tool hammer and hit it. Sure enough, he heard a "pop" amid the sound of metal collision.

When the hammer was removed, only the burn marks were left.

Lance could no longer suppress the smile on his face, but he still changed to another one and knocked it on the stone again. This success confirmed that this substance could be used as an explosive.

Then comes the final experiment...

Lance ran back to the storage room and took out a revolver designed for a percussion cap rifle. He didn't expect that he would need it so soon.

The matching flash cap shell is still available, but there is no powder inside. But you can try it now.

This type of revolver is not even loaded with cardboard bullets, but rather by pouring gunpowder into it, then stuffing lead bullets in, and finally installing the primer from the back.

Run out and carefully stuff some dry powder in, then complete the loading.

"If successful, this will be the first shot of a new era. It will be recorded in the history of firearms development. You are the inventor. Will you do it or should I?"

Lance still respects people who do research.

"I don't understand muskets." Bigby refused directly. He had been blown up once, and it would be hard to say what would happen if the gun exploded.

Lance didn't care about it. He raised his hand, pointed the gun to the side and pulled the trigger. This time it was not the flint that struck to ignite, but the firing pin that struck the primer.

The detonation happened almost instantly. Gunshots rang out, and the bullet was pushed out, filling the air with the smell of gunpowder.

But there is no doubt that the experiment was successful, this thing really works!

"List the materials you need, and I will get them for you as soon as possible. During this time, please help me make more. I need more and more complete research and experiments."

Lance had to arrange a ship to go to Totnes to purchase the goods. The process of making the percussion cap was also somewhat complicated. After all, there was no stamping equipment at present, so it could only be made by hand, which was not very efficient. Moreover, only copper could be used because iron had poor ductility.

We also need to make a batch of pistols, which also requires a lot of craftsmen and cannot be produced in a short time.

The style of the musket also had to change. The change from a flintlock to a percussion cap musket was a historical necessity. Similarly, after this thing came out, the firepower was improved and the threshold was lower.

If all the cavalry were equipped with this kind of revolver, and fired six rounds in one charge, wouldn't they be able to advance straight ahead?
This time, those knights are really canned.

Lance didn't expect that Greendale didn't stop him. Bigby suddenly took out the explosives, which made him want to stop and change clothes before starting the battle.

After all, technological superiority is so cool!
But Hamlet’s problem now is not that he cannot defeat the noble knight, so there is no need to do so.

Although a lot of firearms research is conducted at the institute and gunshots and explosions can often be heard, this is not a testing area, so the gunshots immediately attracted the attention of the guards.

"Hello, Lord!"

"It's okay, I'm just testing a new weapon. Go and call a few people for me."

Lance is in a very good mood now. He ordered Master Eugene, the person in charge, and several researchers in firearms design.

For example, the young man named Richard completed the mechanical device of the revolver based on Lance's foundation, and later made it more perfect, which is the one in Lance's hand now.

It was just the lack of a flash cap that made it difficult to carry out further research. Now that he finally has the real thing, it is estimated that his talent will be further demonstrated.

"Look at this, be careful of getting excited."

Lance handed the gun to Eugene. Although the trigger had been released, no one knew how unstable it was, so it was better to be careful.

All the people who were called here were studying this field. When they heard the lord's words, they seemed to understand something and showed excitement and excitement.

"Has the problem of explosives been solved?" Eugene took the revolver and could clearly see an activated primer. The dent on it was very obvious.

"Try it. Today is destined to be an important day in the history of the development of firearms. You are all participants."

Lance didn't explain too much, and Eugene and the others couldn't help themselves. After all, they had heard about how powerful the Lord's blowgun was every day, and now they finally had a real thing. Eugene pulled the trigger and fired. When the gunshot sounded, the bullet hit the ground in front of him, which proved that this was indeed a successful excitation of getting rid of the flint.

Each person had a gun, and six bullets were used up, but their emotions could not calm down for a long time.

Because everyone understands that times have changed.

“You can test the guns later, but you must be careful. This substance is extremely unstable and will explode under high temperature and impact. You have to find a way to preserve it properly.

Moreover, we must be cautious about every uncertain substance, and we must take protective measures when the toxicity has not been fully determined.

At the same time, we need to start designing and manufacturing rifles that use percussion caps to ignite the rifles, gradually phase out the current flintlock rifles, and try to make a batch of truly copper-cased fixed ammunition.

In addition, our series of improvements in rifled, breech-loading, bolt-action, and continuous-fire rifles are all based on the design of new firing devices..."

Lance called them here to carry out a new round of research. Finally, they were no longer making up unimaginable things, but had real objects, so people's thinking had something to rely on.

At the same time, Lance approached Master Eugene and told him a plan.

"Do you think my new gun will be attractive to those master gunsmiths?"

"Of course there are. No one who plays with muskets is not curious, but they may not agree. After all, they trust their own technology more. Just like it took me a long time to accept your theoretical suggestions on the development of artillery."

Eugene certainly understood that Lance wanted to get more gunsmiths, because this thing could only be made by hand in a short period of time, and gunsmiths with equally superb skills could further promote design improvements.

But the problem is that it is very unrealistic. It is very difficult for a person to suddenly move from a familiar field to an unfamiliar field, especially when people get older and their ability to accept things becomes worse.

After playing with flintlock rifles all your life and making a name for yourself, suddenly you kill them with a small percussion cap. Who can stand it?

Eugene's words were still rather tactful, but Lance could understand what he meant.

To put it simply, it is destroying people's jobs. The fire cap brings about all-round changes, which is equivalent to denying their accumulation to a certain extent.

It's like you've been training to be a knight for half your life, but you're shot down by an ordinary person. All your efforts will be wasted because of a gun. I guess it's hard to accept this psychologically.

It can only be said that even the so-called masters will still become conservative when faced with new technologies. The old guys will take the lead in resisting in order to maintain their own authority and may even become an obstacle to the promotion of new technologies.

"Forget it." After hearing this, Lance temporarily gave up the idea of ​​recruiting a few masters. He didn't have the money to support these masters, so it would be better to train a few more skilled technicians.

"We can promote this gun and spread the word. People who are interested will come, and those who look down on it will not."

Eugene suggested that after all, not all masters are old-fashioned, and it is still possible to attract some who are truly studying these things.

"It's not time to release this thing yet. We have to keep it secret until the technology is relatively mature."

I have said before that this thing is a huge improvement over the flintlock rifle. Hamlet should not cause too much hostility from the outside world before resolving his internal conflicts.

Because of this incident, Lance stayed in the institute and held a small meeting with them to determine the research direction and issues that needed to be improved, and also arranged for the alchemist Bigby to stay.

But these things could not stop the start of the war.

"I'm not good at fighting. This time, Patton will be the commander. You will be in charge. I have only one request. Not only do you want to recover Hamlet's territory, I want to eat theirs as well.

My mission is to follow behind and sort out those territories, ensure logistical supplies, and serve as your transport captain."

Lance made no secret of his greed for other territories. After all, if he didn't swallow up their core areas, how could Hamlet have so much land to distribute?
As for the war among mortals, he really has no interest in it. It would be enough to have a few masters in the front to support the enemy. The protagonist this time is the army.

Of course, he had never been exposed to a real war, and he was too lazy to even read the war books in the library of the old house, so he didn't do any micro-management and left it to those professionals.

The lord said so, but Barton and the others didn't dare to really believe it. No one knew better than them how Hamlet rose to power.

At the beginning, the three of them dared to seize the town, the four of them dared to raid the farm, and they designed to provoke a civil war among the bandits and defeat them one by one. They mobilized thirty serfs to fight counterattacks and annihilation wars with hundreds of bandits.

Later, he led them to fight against the cultists, using various tactics to almost crush them and drive them out step by step...

If there is no way to fight a war like this, then no one can say that they understand war.

In their view, it was more of a test from the overlord, because to be honest, the army had rarely had any impressive achievements since the cultists were driven out of the wilderness, and they needed to prove themselves.

And the lord now has this opportunity in his hands.

"There are two keys here. The first is speed. We need to finish clearing those places before the heavy snow falls. You just need to keep going forward.

The second is not to kill. Except on the battlefield, try not to kill people in other places. Do not kill those who surrender. As for the towns, just control them and I will deal with them when I get there."

Lance added two points, which had already been decided at the beginning of the battle plan.

No one had any objection. The lord was still kind and couldn't bear the sight of blood.

"Then let's go." Lance looked around at everyone, "Push those guys down for me."

"Yes!"

Everyone answered and then started to prepare.

Scouting comes first, and then one horse after another gallops out. Even if it is a crushing defeat, what is needed is still there.

Then the huge artillery team began to move. One artillery vehicle was equipped with a seven-man artillery team, and one hundred artillery pieces were directly deployed in this battle.

In addition, there were also many horse-drawn carriages carrying ammunition. If Watt had not found so many horses, it would not have been possible to form this team.

Although there is stable logistics for internal fighting, they still have to be prepared and cannot rely entirely on logistics.

Then came the main force. The infantrymen, each of them neatly equipped, started marching with spears on their shoulders.

And supporting them is naturally the cavalry brigade led by Reynard, the main body of which is hundreds of people, plus the auxiliary troops who had previously cooperated in suppressing the cultists, and Joan of Arc and Reynard's son are also among them.

They are scattered around the main force, acting as flanks, providing early warning and protection.

At this time, the sky was just dim, and such a team rushed headlong into the war.