Lin Gao Qiming

Chapter 1280 Resurfaced
"On D-Day, when the First Expeditionary Team of the Marine Corps was carrying out a campaign against Suocheng in Zhongzuo, they found two naval guns manufactured by Lingao on the city wall of Suocheng. After checking the inscriptions, it was confirmed that these two artillery pieces belonged to the Navy some time ago. The naval guns on the missing Hong Kong Haixun No. 64 patrol boat." Then the screen showed two smoothbore guns that had fallen over in sandbags of bricks.The carriage is damaged, but the cannon is intact, and the inscriptions, badges and dates cast on it can be seen very clearly. "

Photos of the two guns appeared on the screen, close-ups of the whole body and various angles, including the gun body and the damaged gun mount.Only the cannon foundry in Lingao can manufacture this kind of artillery.

Then there are more than a dozen photos, which are the ammunition, fuze and supporting tools on the artillery.

"Very complete." Wen Desi said.

"Yes, after receiving my order, the special search team of the Planning Institute conducted a carpet search around the artillery firing position, and found the ammunition and equipment supporting these artillery - all the equipment on the Ganghai Xun 64 .”

"Wait..." Wen Desi raised his hand when a picture of a grenade fuze was played, "They also use this kind of fuze?"

"Yes, according to reports from Shi Zhiqi and the sea soldiers, they were shot by these two artillery pieces during the attack, and there were grenades in them."

There was a murmur of discussion in the conference room.This kind of fuze is a technology of the 19th century, and it is a unique skill of Lingao in this time and space. It can be said that except for the navy, army and artillery of the Fubo Army, no other armed force can use this kind of fuze correctly.

"So, there are people in Zheng Zhilong's team who we have trained?"

"Well, there is no definite evidence yet." Xu Xu said, "However, the Ganghaixun 64 incident was indeed done by the Zheng Group. I will report this in the last project."

"Okay, go ahead."

"Yes." Xu Xu clicked the mouse, and the weapons factory on Gulangyu Island appeared on the screen.

"This is the new weapons factory of the Zheng Group that we found on Gulangyu Island—mainly for casting artillery." He showed photos and surveying and mapping materials of various facilities and equipment in the factory in turn.

"We handed over the photographs and surveying and mapping data of the entire workshop to several veterans in the manufacturing director department who have a relatively in-depth understanding of casting cannons and production organizations for analysis. They concluded that this is a very well-designed casting Cannon Factory, the design concept of some of the facilities is not only higher than the East Asian level in this time and space, but also better than the current highest level in Europe."

The next set of photos is shown with permission.

"This is one of the two facilities that the elders of the manufacturing directorate consider most suspicious: the reverberatory furnace."

Most of you here know what a reverberatory furnace is.The principle of the reflective furnace is very simple, and it is not difficult to build. After the founding of the country in Japan and before the Meiji Restoration, the shogunate also engaged in a period of Westernization Movement, which included the construction of reflective furnaces under the guidance of Europeans. According to the European model Cast artillery.Although the cast cannons are still smoothbore cannons, the pig iron liquid produced by the secondary smelting of the reverberatory furnace at a higher temperature is relatively pure, and the quality of the cast cannons is improved.

"The veterans of metallurgy and foundry confirmed that all the furnaces in this group of photos are reverberatory furnaces used to melt pig iron for secondary smelting. The science and technology team of the Great Library confirmed that in this time and space, reverberatory furnaces with this structure have not yet appeared. So it is impossible for some European technician to help Zheng Zhilong build it."

There was another slight commotion below.

"The second item has not yet been formed." Xu Lian clicked on the photo. This is the building similar to the square gun tower he saw in the cannon casting yard and various bamboo and wood accessories found nearby.

"After the identification of the mechanical and construction veterans, they agreed that it was an unfinished windmill. The bearings and transmission systems used inside the windmill were not found around the windmill, and it should not have been manufactured yet. The construction company's veterans pointed out that from the construction alone From a structural point of view, this windmill is very similar to the windmills we currently use for water pumping, drainage and irrigation.”

"Zheng Zhilong definitely didn't make this for grinding flour or lifting water." Someone joked below.Xu also smiled and said:

"The veteran of the mechanical mouth analyzed that there are two possibilities for building a windmill. One is to power the boring machine used by the artillery, and the other is to grind the gunpowder. Maybe both are possible. In short, this is obviously a work to improve Efficient approach." Xu Xu then introduced the facilities, material preparation and craftsman recruitment of the cannon field, especially the crucible.

The use of crucibles is nothing more than to obtain high-quality steel, but for casting guns, no matter whether China or the West did not use steel before the mid-19th century, and the amount of steel smelted from crucibles is too small, it can be used to make a small amount of swords or tools. It is uneconomical to build guns.

If you want to get high-quality swords, it is not worth mentioning to Zheng Zhilong Group, which controls the trade route with Japan.So the possibility of making swords can be ruled out.

"...From the on-site survey and the confessions of the captives, we know that this workshop is nearing completion. Judging from the fact that they have stockpiled a large amount of cannon casting materials and recruited a large number of craftsmen in advance, the Zheng Zhilong Group has very high expectations for this cannon factory— ―This may have something to do with the fact that they are refreshing their naval equipment. In the beach shipyard near the Cannon Factory, we found several improved Daifuku ships under construction. These two ships are nearing completion. Towed back to Hong Kong for further investigation - this is a photo of the ship."

"There are ribs, there are decks, and this unusual aspect ratio: I think there are four." Wen Desi commented, "This ship is an improved version of Fuchuan. The deck and ribs are for the installation of artillery Do improve."

"Yes." Xu nodded, "Experts in the navy also said the same."

"So, apart from the shipyard, the munitions factory has not been put into operation so far?"

"Yes. There is no trace of production in the factory—although according to the assessment, they can start production. According to the captives, they are waiting for 'foreign cannons'. After our analysis, we believe that the so-called foreign cannons of the captives should refer to 'sample cannons'. Because in Jinsha and other places, we found cannons made in various countries: British, Dutch, Portuguese, and Spanish, with calibers ranging from 1 pound to 24 pounds. Furthermore, they also have two cannons on our ship --apparently they have no shortage of foreign guns."

The final permission talked about the issue of Gang Hai Xun No. 64.

"According to our interrogation of the captured prisoners, we got the following information: The patrol boat was brought back by Zheng Zhilong's brother Zheng Zhifeng some time ago and was repaired at the dock. At the same time, the artillery and some equipment on board were dismantled come down."

At this time, a portrait of a young man was displayed on the screen, with the label below: "Zheng Zhifeng".

"We failed to capture Zheng Zhifeng. As for the other high-level prisoners captured, they knew very little about this matter, but we still gained something: Several staff members confessed that the patrol boat No. 64 of the Hong Kong Haixun was a big After the price is hijacked, it will be handed over to the Zheng family." Hearing this, there was another small commotion in the conference room, and it fell silent again in an instant.

"... In order to find out the specific situation, our bureau conducted an investigation in Jinmen, Xiamen, and Anping. Unfortunately, we did not find Ganghaixun 64, nor did we find any other equipment on board, including typewriters and ammunition. .They seem to disappear.

"Considering that it is impossible for ordinary pirates to capture the patrol boat No. 64 of Gang Hai Xun almost intact, we are very curious about who did it. Although Zheng Zhifeng himself was not captured, we captured Many of his aides, soldiers, and domestic servants. Through further interrogation of these people, it was learned that this was done by a Chechitan believer named Paul from Japan. In addition, it is said that this person also promised to give the Zheng family They provide cannons and other firearms, claiming that they are not much worse than Lingao's." Hearing this, everyone in the conference room looked even more serious.

"Because Zheng Zhilong kept secret how he contacted Mr. Paul, we did not get more information from the staff. But through interrogation of Zheng Zhifeng's entourage, we got a portrait of Mr. Paul." The screen displayed A typical East Asian face in the prime of life, about 35 to 40 years old.

"Everyone here may not know this person well, but everyone must know Lando." Xu Xu paused. In his heart, Xu Xu didn't want to mention his colleagues, but he also understood his responsibilities, " When Elder Lando first came to Lingao, the State Administration of Political Security interrogated him many times. At that time, he mentioned that when traveling through time and space, the boat he was on encountered a storm. At that time, there were two Filipino crew members on board, one A German first officer, and a Japanese." This time the screen showed a photo of a naked white man's corpse.

"This is the German first officer. He died because he hit his head on the console. His name is Paul." Xu Xu paused intentionally so that others could gather their thoughts. "Two Filipino sailors went missing after the storm, presumed to have been swept into the waves. Paul died, and the Japanese, named Hale, climbed into the lifeboat with Lando, which was overturned by the waves and has since been lost. , Lando never met him again."

What appeared on the screen was a portrait of an East Asian man in his thirties, with short hair, no beard, a strong build, a fair face, and a smooth forehead.

"This is the portrait of Hale drawn according to Lando's description at that time. It can be seen that the images of the two portraits are very consistent." This portrait overlaps with the previous one, and the outline and facial features are very similar.

(End of this chapter)