Lin Gao Qiming

Chapter 1259 Cannon Factory
Lian carefully inspected the structure of the ship and took some photos.These clues to the shipyard interested him greatly.In addition to collecting intelligence on hostile forces, the Intelligence Bureau also needs to discover, grasp and evaluate potential threats: including emerging hostile forces and any non-Senate forces' technological, humanistic, and scientific progress.

Examination of the shipyards proves that the natives of this plane are aware of the technological gap and are improving their technology to the extent possible.

Xu is worried about this phenomenon. No matter how small and weak such an attempt is, there is no doubt about the enterprising spirit contained in it.The existence of the Senate has greatly stimulated the indigenous people's desire for technological progress and indirectly broadened their horizons.

The space-time colonizers of the Senate are using their technological system and cultural advantages to crush the natives of this time and space, and at the same time they are constantly spreading new technologies and ideas.

Xu had mixed feelings in his heart, and the accompanying Guihuamin staff saw that his face was solemn, not as happy as the other chiefs, for some reason, they couldn't help becoming more cautious.

"Let's go to the gun factory and have a look."

The artillery factory was not far from the shipyard, but two miles away, Xu Xu went there on foot without riding a horse. Several members of the special search team of the Planning Academy and sailors were already waiting for his arrival at the gate of the artillery factory.

The cannon factory is very simple, just a large piece of compacted mud, with a few brick and tile houses built, and because of the needs of casting cannons, several reservoirs were also built.Xu Xu noticed that several iron furnaces had been built here, and a large amount of charcoal and iron materials had been stockpiled.

According to the level of Ming Dynasty at that time, the equipment of the gun factory was advanced. Even judging from the knowledge of firearms in the 17th century obtained by this half-baked assault school, it almost reached the European level of the same period. Or the moving long rod milling cutter that the boring bore of manpower pulls is used.

But there is no trace of production in the gun factory, and the iron furnace has not been turned on.

According to several captives who surrendered, the gun factory had only been built less than a month ago. Although all kinds of equipment, tools and materials were ready, Zheng Zhilong never ordered to start production because he was waiting for "foreign guns".

"Foreign cannons?" Xu Xu thought to himself that he saw a lot of genuine foreign cannons along the way. In Hulishan alone, he saw several Portuguese red barbarian cannons, and there were also "gun cannons" from the Senate on the city. .The Zheng Group is by no means so embarrassed that it has no guns-even the hired gunsmiths are surprised: a lot of money is spent, but the materials are prepared but they are not cast.

He continued to inspect the gun factory, but found a strange building.The shape is similar to a square blockhouse, the foundation is made of bluestone, and the top is made of blue bricks.All of them are bonded with sandy clay mixed with glutinous rice juice, and the height is about ten meters.The house is empty, the whole building is divided into three floors, the highest part is not sealed, only a wooden frame made of thick wood, covered with reed mats to keep out the wind and rain.

Obviously this building has not been completed yet, but I can't see what this thing is used for after a while, it seems to be a bunker from the firmness of the construction.

He turned around the building, and found a large pile of wood covered with reed mats beside it.The wood has been processed, and the long and short logs have mortise and tenon joints on them.One of them is about ten meters long.

In addition to these woods, there are also some thinner long and short wooden sticks and a large number of sliced ​​bamboo strips.

Xu Xu would not be able to guess what medicine was sold in the gourd for a while, so he had to record it with a camera first, and at the same time let the staff of the Planning Institute carry out a detailed number registration of these materials.

There is also a gunpowder workshop attached here, and a large amount of saltpeter, sulfur and charcoal are stored in the warehouse.However, no special bluestone mill was found for grinding gunpowder.Xu Xu felt very strange, this is a necessary item for making gunpowder.There are strict requirements on stone quality, not just any stone can make do.

I asked the captives to ask, but they said that the stone mill was specially made, and because of its large size and weight, it has not been shipped yet.

Li Ke didn't take it seriously, he walked through the entire artillery field, and found that there were not only cannon-making equipment, but also plans to make muskets.And, there's the crucible.

Although Xu Xu has never worked in a factory, he has at least read a lot of popular science articles on industrial technology. Of course, he knows that the only reason why the crucible appeared here is that someone in the Zheng family's munitions factory tried to make steel.

Although large-scale steelmaking is still Lingao's patent, small-scale manufacturing of "high-quality" steel by the standards of the time exists in many places in this time and space.

The question is, what is the use of the crucible steel for the Zheng Group?Xu Xu, even if he is not a weapon expert, knows that it is impossible to use this amount of steel to cast cannons-not to mention that he once heard the veterans of the industry say that casting steel is extremely difficult.Even in the 21st century, it is not something that small workshops can do.

It seems that there are quite a few unsolved mysteries here.Xu Xu felt more and more that there were many unknown secrets hidden in this gun factory.

"Chief..." The staff of the special search team of the Planning Institute have been waiting for him to finish his inspection before starting to count and compile the books. Seeing that he has returned to the gate of the gun factory, they hurried up to ask for instructions.

“Everything here has to be carefully documented, drawn and photographed before it can be moved – including its exact location in the gun factory. The specifics are done by the people I brought in. Every project is done after they’re done and you go Get started, understand?"

"Understood, Chief."

"Give them a copy of the catalog and numbers you have counted—I can use it." After speaking, Xu Xu hurriedly returned to the pier and took a small boat back to Xiamen Island, where there are still more work to be done. He does it.

With a click, a miraculously well-preserved Xuandehong vase in the rubble was crushed by Xue Ziliang's combat boots.

Xue Ziliang stood in a courtyard of the Zheng Mansion, lighting a Chuqing limited-edition Corolla cigar for himself in a calm manner. He was wearing a FAL short-barreled assault type, with the sleeves rolled up to his thick biceps, and his head Wearing a boonie hat and the sun shining on his fake Lei Peng sunglasses, he looks like the "real American soldier" in the movies of the past.

Only four hours had passed since he fired the cannonball, but during these four hours, Anping had already changed hands - the speed was faster than Xue Ziliang and all Lingao's staff officers estimated.

The shelling caused great confusion in Anping. As a result, a team of hundreds of people was sent from the city to search the artillery position long after the sound of the artillery stopped. They left a dozen corpses and retreated after encountering continuous accurate rifle fire. After returning, the navy's spy boat squadron arrived in Anping, and in a battle without much suspense, all Zheng's ships moored on the river were wiped out.

Before the sea soldiers began to land and attack the city, the city was already in chaos, with fires everywhere.The special investigation teams ambushing everywhere began to report that the gates of the cities had been opened, and people were fleeing out of the city everywhere. There were so many people fleeing, and the turbulence was so violent that the sniper teams everywhere could not intercept them at all, so they had to watch When it came to those in gorgeous clothes, those riding horses and sedan chairs opened fire, killing many people, but more people escaped.

Now, the roads from the gates of Anping are full of discarded cages, damaged sedan chairs, dead horses, and corpses scattered all over the place.

The Marine Corps quickly took control of the four gates of Anping City and set out to put out the fire and restore order.Xue Ziliang led the special investigation team into Anping—his primary goal was to control Zheng Zhilong's mansion.

He took a puff of his cigar to dispel the pungent smell of blood. The yard was completely overturned by shells, and there were gravel and shrapnel everywhere.Bloody corpses were everywhere in the courtyard and under the corridors, and there were a few dying ones still groaning in pain.More than a dozen male and female servants who were running for their lives in a panic seemed to have been hit by shrapnel shells when they rushed to the gate of the courtyard to escape.

It leads to the Dunren Pavilion where Zheng Zhilong discusses and handles affairs in the mansion, and it is the main traffic road in the mansion.Xue Ziliang ordered the four team members behind him to quickly clean up several rooms in the yard.He knew, needless to say, that these veterans knew how to behave.They were panting now, looking around vigilantly, ready to act immediately.

Xue Ziliang carefully walked through the passage by himself - although the mansion was already in a mess, this was Zheng Zhilong's mansion after all, if they still encountered resistance in Anping City, it must have happened here.

As soon as he stepped into the courtyard, a man with a Japanese sword rushed out from the left, screaming and rushing towards him.This might be a frightened servant trying to flee for his life, but right now Xue Ziliang has no room for thinking.As soon as he dodged, the automatic rifle in his hand fired a burst of three rounds, and the guy staggered and fell down, spitting blood from his mouth.

Xue Ziliang kicked the corpse away and walked forward cautiously.There is no mass resistance anymore, but the dying may appear at any time.He took two team members to cover each other and entered the courtyard of Dunren Pavilion.

There were more corpses here, where many stewards, bosses, and servants had assembled for a meeting, and the shelling had killed many of them, and there was a bloody mess everywhere.

He subconsciously felt a slight sound of footsteps in the main room, and immediately raised the gun, maintaining a posture of being ready to fire at all times, slowly approached the main room, and kicked the door open.

There was no one in the main room, but he knew someone was hiding behind the curtain.

"Come out, we won't kill you!" shouted a naturalized soldier from southern Fujian who accompanied him in the search.

(End of this chapter)