Lin Gao Qiming

Chapter 1481 Hale's Cannon

It was a newly minted Dahlgren-style cannon that the arsenal had been copying since Hale had scooped it up from the wreckage of a 901.However, limited by the ability of the workers and the lack of technical details, Hale failed to adopt the central cooling casting process that played a key role in the performance of the Dahlgren cannon. Great discount.For the sake of safety, no matter how surprised he was that the "Australians" only cast 130mm Dahlgren guns, the caliber of similar guns cast by his own organization did not exceed this caliber.He could only adopt the second-best method in artillery production: forging the gun body with a water wheel forging hammer, then drilling the bore to create a smoothbore gun, and then engraving the rifling inside the gun bore.

There are many defects in the quality of workers and the operating efficiency of workshop machinery, which make the improvement of artillery quality and output face many difficulties.In particular, the lack of sufficient fuel and raw materials makes the factory often in a state of semi-shutdown-the resources that the sleepy Philippine colony can provide at the moment are really insignificant for Hale's ambitions, and he has to rely on the long and unstoppable cycle. Reliable import trade to obtain all of this-this is why he is so anxious to develop Baguio's gold mines and propose that the colonial authorities build a mint. The Philippines lacks commodities that can be exported, and only relies on royal subsidies from New Spain and It is difficult for local taxation to support such a huge military preparation.

But being able to create a cannon that staggered the Spaniards is already a huge improvement.The crafty Mr. Hale always used the Bopp Arsenal cannon for firing demonstrations, in order to impress the dignitaries.

Fernando Marcos was just a sailor, and he couldn't even tell whether the cannon should be front-mounted or rear-mounted. However, when he saw the Dahlgren cannon that he had never seen before being pushed out of the cannon foundry, he still sincerely expressed his gratitude. His benefactor praised and cheered.

There is also a human-powered lifting frame built of logs on the empty field. The most common machine in the factory area is designed for hoisting heavy artillery.However, the three Tagalog laborers that Marcos saw at this moment were not busy hoisting the cannon, but tied several seemingly heavy wooden crates together and hoisted them up to be placed on the ox cart parked aside. Compared with lifting the boxes one by one onto the bullock cart, this is of course much less labor-intensive and much faster.Marcos suddenly realized that something was wrong. He had stayed in Hale's factory for a long time, and he immediately recognized that the long crate was a special package for rockets.

He growled loudly.The driver stopped the horse in horror, and saw Master Marcos rushing out of the hood behind him, jumped out of the car and galloped away, yelling and cursing as he ran.The native laborers were overwhelmed. Although they couldn't understand the series of Filipino English that Marcos uttered out of desperation, it was definitely something bad that made a "master" so excited and angry.As if to prove that Marcos’ rage was not without reason, the rope binding the ammunition box happened to be broken at this moment, and the wooden box hit the rammed ground with a heavy whistling sound, and the broken wood was wrapped in dry and hard broken mud Blocks are flying around.

Marcos didn't know how long he was lying on the ground before he realized that there was no explosion.He saw that the three native laborers were still there. Although their naked upper bodies were bruised all over by the flying wood chips, and some of the wounds were still bleeding, they still stood motionless, dumbfounded, completely dumbfounded.

The crate fell apart on the floor, and the tin lining burst open, exposing the rockets it contained.Because of its simple structure and convenient processing, the output of Paul rockets far exceeds that of cannons and shells, and a large number of finished products are shipped out of the factory every day.After a cursory inspection, Marcos was lucky, only to break two of the guide rods on the rocket.The warheads pressed by the papier-mâché were safe and sound, but some warheads made of iron sheets showed impact dents.Thinking of the terrible gunpowder and incendiary stuffed in these iron sheets and paper shells, and thinking that this accident almost ruined the entire factory together with himself, Marcos was furious, picked up his walking stick, and beat the three coolies who caused trouble beat up.The three unlucky ghosts fell to the ground, bleeding from their heads, howling and crying.But Marcos didn't intend to stop at all, the cane flew up and down, and he exerted enough strength for each stroke, just like the supervisor of Zheng's family beat him back then.

This burst of commotion was not light.Marcus felt suddenly that his right arm holding the cane was seized by a strong hand, and his benefactor Hale, or Paul, was standing behind him, dressed as usual in the priestly black robe, but without the hat, " Marcos, put these three idiots in confinement first. There will be plenty of time later to teach them how to work according to the rules."

Several Chinese foremen led a small team of coolies to carry the rockets scattered on the ground back to the workshop according to Hale's order.At this time, Marcos found that there were some Spaniards beside Hale. He recognized several officers of the East India Fleet, including Captain Suvisareta.They were surrounded by a middle-aged officer who was well-dressed and majestic. The bright ribbons, medals, tassels and embroidered epaulets on his chest all showed that he was a distinguished general.Marcos, of course, was out of the social circle of colonial high society, otherwise he would have recognized this newcomer to Manila, Commodore Don Juan de Bazin Marquis.He passed through Mexico to Manila on the orders of the royal family to inspect the new gadgets that appeared here.The news sent waves through the upper echelons of the colony.The limelight changed overnight, with most of the colonial officials declaring themselves staunch supporters of the Governor of Salamanca, and Paul, the eccentric and reclusive Japanese friar, was once again in the limelight.

"As you can see, we just had a little accident here," Hale explained the accident to the Commodore, whose soft tone and serene manner endowed the latter with a high degree of trust and goodwill." This thing is good too. You have seen for yourself that rockets and ammunition built according to my method will not explode even if they hit the ground from a height of 10 vara. When the fuse is installed, they will be destroyed with a devastating explosion and flames Hit the target without causing any harm to the shooter, nor accidentally blowing up when flying over your army. Sir, we make weapons that are reliable for your majesty's army, and are safe for your majesty's enemies Terrible, far superior to any existing howitzer in both respects. Maybe someone tells you that these weapons are difficult and expensive to manufacture, but that is nonsense, take me for it, the facts will prove it. Hale turned around and walked towards the workshop door: "Marcos, lead the way for us."

Hale's tour route was obviously carefully arranged in advance. The group of Spanish officers who insisted on wearing formal uniforms in hot weather were first led to visit the foundry, which was privately called "Fire Hell" by the Catholic native laborers.The walls made of rammed concrete are wrapped with tall wooden columns, supporting the semi-open roof for fire prevention and air circulation.The high roof reflected the bang bang of the hydraulic forging hammer and the roar of the blowing water row, mixed with the click of hot iron dipping into the water, and hundreds of strange sounds that seemed to be inhuman, all gathered in the In this gloomy space—the sunlight penetrating between the wall and the roof was blocked and polluted by the boiling heat and thick smoke.Between the misty smoke and fire, the Chinese workers and the native Tagalog workers could not be distinguished at all. They were blackened by the smoke, crawling in and out like ants, vaguely, haunting and haunting, like ghosts. in action.

Marcos was already familiar with these scenes, but he still watched in awe as the workers lifted the red-hot forging onto the anvil. The red light shone on their painful faces. They were silent and carefully moved the copper and iron forgings. .The water wheel drives the cam to raise the arm, and then the falling hammer hits the forging heavily, and sparks fly, just like the mythical giant's weapon, a hammer can crush people to pieces.

Marcos was already dripping with sweat.The Spanish gentlemen had already taken off their hats and wigs, and a few guys wearing ruff collars almost fainted, and kept asking the attendants to pour wine to quench their thirst.Hale didn't realize it, he still led the guests to watch the furnace. The craftsmen lifted the crucible with iron tongs in pairs, and the molten steel flowed into the sand mold with dazzling white light.The Spaniard, sweating and panting, listened to Hale's invariably serene presentation of the crucible steel that made the best swords and drills.

The brick reverberatory furnace stands horizontally under the factory shed, like a giant's coffin.Captain Iker Zuvisareta approached the huge hydraulic bellows in front of the furnace, wanting to cool off beside the huge wooden fan that keeps opening and closing. The light pierced through the thick smoke in an instant, causing Ikel to back away in fright.The laborers added fuel to the reverberatory furnace, and the flame, like a glutton without picky eaters, came out of the furnace with a whistling sound, whether it was chopping firewood, charcoal or the whole basket of peat dug from the swamp to dry, they all licked oil. swallow it.Although Hale used Iliad-style poems to describe to the Commodore the magnificent scene when the molten iron came out of the furnace to cast the cannon blanks, the Spaniards were eager to escape this hell full of fire and smoke.They were blocked by a load block at the exit passage for a while, and watched as a cast cannon blank was hoisted onto the block and pushed along the hardwood track laid on the ground to the next workshop.Even after being cooled in the bunker, the huge cast-iron cannon blanks still emit unbearably hot air, revealing a dark and deep light that is dyed red like the eyes of a beast.

(End of this chapter)