Our family is in decline

It's not unreasonable for Lance to choose people to start a family. If they have a family, their roots will be here, and they will work hard for their families. At least there are no lazy people now.

Of course, even if it does happen, the whip of the labor farm will teach them to forget the bitter and think of the sweet.

Now most of the refugees are well fed, clothed and housed, and have hope for life. Although they have not yet officially become residents of Hamlet, their current life has made them very satisfied. It is much better than when they worked for the farmer. .

It can be said that they have integrated into the big family of Hamlet.

If you perform well and pass the assessment and truly join Hamlet, you won’t be able to take off!

They are satisfied with Lance, and although they still need Hamlet to provide them with food, Lance believes that these farms will provide Hamlet with a steady stream of resources and population in the near future.

"These are the institute's reports."

Tiffany handed over the thing in her hand. Although it was not within her authority, she couldn't help but complain.

"The institute's monthly consumption is equivalent to three farms."

Lance laughed and said nothing when he heard this. He approved everything the institute needed. How could he not know how much it cost?

But some consumption is necessary. How can something that can improve combat effectiveness by spending money be considered a waste?

Especially when Lance saw several tests passed in the report, he immediately laughed.

"Okay, okay!"

Not caring about other things, he left Tiffany behind and rushed towards the institute.

That was because he specially set aside a place in a secluded part of the town to set up a research institute, and gave them whatever they asked for, fully supporting their actions.

You can see many water-powered kowtow machines on the river bank.

Similar to a windmill that relies on wind power, this kind of thing is not very high-tech. On the contrary, it was designed long ago in this world.

As soon as you step into it, you will see the clay molds placed. The artillery production cycle is very long, usually several months, and most of it is in the making and drying of the molds.

To be honest, Lance didn't know much about the development of guns for some reason, but he also knew that the meaningless pile of materials in Totnes was unrealistic.

The first of the reforms he made was standardization, the second was to start with materials, the third was to shape the structure, and the fourth was to improve gunpowder.

Taking into account the strength of Hamlet, those large-caliber artillery were abandoned and all six-pounders were made. The data of all cannons must be unified so that there will be no incompatibility problems in terms of charge and projectile size.

Judging from Totnes' verification, the best material for making artillery is copper, a metal with relatively good toughness and a relatively low melting point that is easy to process, while alloys made by adding other ingredients have better effects.

But it is a pity that copper is linked to coins, and the cost is too expensive. Considering the number of installations, even wealthy Totnes cannot bear it, and all use cast iron with poor performance.

But the problem of brittle cast iron needed to be solved, so they just piled materials, and Lance could see more by standing on the shoulders of those who came before him.

The solution to the problem is simple, that is - annealing process.

Annealing is a metal heat treatment process, which refers to slowly heating the metal to a certain temperature, maintaining it for a sufficient time, and then cooling it at an appropriate speed.

It can reduce metal hardness and increase toughness without changing the size of the workpiece. It can also eliminate stress, reduce deformation and crack tendencies, and reduce the occurrence of bore explosion.

There must have been a time in my last life when I liked watching forging competitions. Although I don’t remember much about it, I still learned some things.

The difficulty of the annealing process is to control the temperature and time. Although this must be tried, it is much simpler, but the effect is obvious.

Regarding the improvement of gunpowder, he only remembered the jingle, mononitrate, disulfide, and charcoal, and that was about it.

It is unrealistic to achieve results in a short time on the formula. Totnes spent so much money but failed to achieve major reforms, and he did not have the relevant knowledge in his mind.

Similarly, this world is not much better. Because of the existence of extraordinary power, feudal ideas are particularly powerful and suppress many scientific ideas.

Just like the previous artillery regiments and wolf regiments were powerless against knights wearing heavy armor, people preferred to become knights rather than study muskets.

Not to mention that muskets have been considered to be the creation of evil wizards for a long time, and few people have researched and improved them.

Therefore, after Lance arrived, the gunpowder was still in powder form after thousands of years of development, and the formula did not change much.

This gave him a trick, which was to granulate gunpowder.

This is what he saw from historical novels. The simplest method is to mix it with urine, add some wax if the conditions are good, and then dry it in the sun and break it into particles the size of rice grains.

The gunpowder produced in this way is not susceptible to moisture, will not stratify during transportation, and has a better burning effect than powdered gunpowder.

Look at the pots of black stuff on the field that were made in this way and then broken into particles.

Going deep into it, you can hear the constant sound of forging iron. Artillery is made of casting, but muskets are not.

The most core workpiece, the gun barrel, needs to be forged from wrought iron, not to mention other parts of the workpiece. These craftsmen will not be idle while the molds are drying. On the contrary, their time is filled.

Lance used the river flowing through the town to build a hydraulic forging hammer to forge rough parts to reduce the workload. At the same time, he adopted a division of labor method to streamline the process. Originally, each person was responsible for one gun, but now each person is responsible for different steps and specializes in one. item.

At the same time, the requirements for standard workpieces are put forward. In addition to the basic salary, bonuses are also added per piece. The more work you do, the more you get. Unqualified workpieces will be excluded. The loss ratio will be calculated at regular intervals and published on the list. The top three Reward money will be awarded.

Money leads the way. The factory is extremely hot due to the high temperature caused by the fire, but it can't stop the enthusiasm of the craftsmen. Everyone is busy working.

Lance continued deeper, and behind that was the shooting range, where Eugene and the researchers were testing this new type of musket.

Lance's eyes were focused on the firearm in the tester's hand.

There are not many major improvements, but a very prominent point in appearance is the long bayonet on the muzzle.

But the focus is not on this, just observe how those people use it.

The current mainstream use is to take out the cartridge and pour some powder into the medicine pool, then pour an appropriate amount of propellant into the muzzle, then insert a bullet into the muzzle and tamp it down, and finally pull the hammer away to aim and fire.

It is this set of processes that causes the musket to fire only two or three times a minute at most. This is still experimental data. In real battlefields, according to Patton, sometimes even one shot per minute cannot be achieved.

Moreover, after a gun is fired, it is used as a fire stick before reloading. Soldiers are in a fierce battlefield and watch the people around them fall one by one. It is easy to panic and cannot even reload, and it is very likely because Too much gunpowder caused by shaking hands caused the chamber to explode.

But what's interesting is that the tester no longer uses a cartridge when loading ammunition, but takes out a paper bag.

The tester bit open the paper package, poured part of the gunpowder into the powder pool as primer, then stuffed the rest of the paper package into the barrel of the gun, tamped it, pulled the hammer, aimed, and fired.

"boom!"

The targets in the distance were shaking, and it could be seen that these testers were all experienced shooters.

Like artillery, Lance didn't do much research on these, but he had read some novels and knew that the flintlock gun had several famous improvements, namely bayonets and fixed ammunition.

He mentioned this to Master Eugene when he was in Totnes, and he started developing it as soon as he came over. It was basically not difficult.

These two improvements have passed the test very early. As long as the modification is completed, they can be deployed into the army. Once the pikemen are abandoned, all infantrymen can be converted into musketeers. At the same time, the bayonet allows them to maintain a certain degree of close combat capability.

A soldier trained in half a month can kill a knight who has been trained for more than ten years with one shot. This is progress.

Of course, those are ordinary soldiers. Real elites must retain powerful close combat capabilities and more powerful firepower.

"grown ups!"

"How's the situation?" Lance didn't have time to say anything and went straight to the topic.

"The things that need to pass the test this time are ready." Eugene raised his hand to signal, and the testers on the side moved out a wooden box. After opening it, there were neatly stacked fist-sized metal spheres with a fuse attached. Protected by sealing wax oil.

There is no doubt that this is a bomb.

This is why he came here. The army lacks heavy firepower and is powerless when facing some inhuman monsters.

The batch of bombs that Patton brought before had been used up, and he had to replace them as soon as possible to strengthen the army's firepower.

Incendiary bombs, bombs, and muskets are all things that can be made and can increase combat power in a short time.

"Sir, let's try it. It basically meets your requirements. The explosion damage diameter is three meters, and the fragmentation damage is ten meters. It is very damaging to the unarmored mass formation."

Lance grabbed one and weighed it, and found that it felt quite heavy because the cast iron shell was a bit thick due to technical issues.

"What's the throwing distance?"

"I have had people test it. The best result is thirty-four meters, and the worst is twenty. The average is twenty-four meters. The weight is still too high. We need to find ways to optimize the process and reduce the weight. And the best There are bunkers.”

Eugene is a professional craftsman, and he must have thought about practical use.

Lance didn't waste any time and lit the bomb in his hand directly. The wax oil dissolved and penetrated into the fuse. Looking at the steadily burning fuse, he knew that the quality was reliable.

He didn't want his soldiers to receive unreliable weapons, especially bombs.

Once self-destruction can easily cause morale to collapse.

Eugene and others subconsciously stopped breathing when they saw the bomb in front of them, and focused on the fuse above, which was advancing at a slow but determined speed.

In the past, they used to set fire to the test and throw it out. What does the lord want to do now?

Some testers couldn't help but retreat. They tested this thing every day, knowing that the power of the explosion would kill everyone here.

Fortunately, Lance only observed it for a moment and threw it out casually, but the bomb flew out like a cannonball, and the exaggerated speed made everyone dumbfounded.

Then an explosion in the distance woke him up.

The sites were all marked, and the testers could roughly deduce the explosion distance at a glance, but at this time they seemed a little unsure.

"The 100-meter signage is still outside, which is beyond our site."

"How many?"

"At least one hundred and twenty-three."

"What I want is accurate data." Eugene looked a little irritable. It's not like he didn't see it. What he needed was accurate data.

The tester immediately ran over to measure it, but Lance just smiled.

"My data has no reference value. I'd better find ways to improve the process and reduce weight."

Although Lance said this, the data he just created will definitely be passed on to these people, and he will not miss any opportunity to promote his strength.

Soon the bomb project came to an end amid various tests. To be honest, Lance was still a little dissatisfied. He had used bombs produced by Totnes, which were more powerful.

In fact, these people can do it. After all, they are all produced on the same production line, but those things need to be shot out with artillery. What Lance needs now is a throwing type.

This needs to be continued to be studied and improved slowly. Lance knows that technology requires continuous trial and error to accumulate experience and improve, and cannot be achieved overnight.

"Continue testing."

Lance came here not just for the bomb project, but for several different projects.

Following his order, the products for the next project were quickly produced.

"This is a smoke bomb developed at the request of adults. After being ignited, it can excite a large amount of smoke in a short period of time. The smoke itself is irritating to a certain extent and can cause eye irritation, nausea, and respiratory tract burning..."

Of course, these detailed experiences that Eugene mentioned cannot be the results of testers, but are the results of some "patients" in sanatoriums.

Lance picked up a fist-sized iron can, leaving only one side open. Cloth could be seen stuffed inside. There is no such thing as chemical reaction yet. If you want to create smoke, you can only start with the material. These tar-soaked flax Cloth emits heavy smoke when it burns incompletely.

The smoke bomb in front of me is obviously based on this research. It is simple and has a sense of helplessness.

The demand for smoke grenades was mainly due to Lance's discovery of the problems faced by the army in small space battles during his last mission to the town to exterminate cultists.

Buildings will restrict them, and it's easy to get ambushed, so just smoke the enemy out of the mouse hole.

Lance observed the test and could only say that the effect was very poor. Some of them could not even be lit. If they were thrown out, they would either not emit smoke, or they would emit smoke, but not completely.

Also, the speed of smoking is too slow and the amount is too small.

"Let's continue to find ways to improve this project. How is the research on the flare?"

Just as Lance was about to complete the remaining tests, a soldier suddenly ran over and reported to him.

"Report! A fishing boat found traces of pirates offshore."

Started paying off debt, progress 2/5.