"On D, when the First Marine Expeditionary Team was conducting a cleanup in Zhongzuo Suo City, they discovered two Lingao-made naval guns on the city wall. [Read full text]. After checking the inscriptions, it was confirmed that these two These artillery pieces are the naval guns on the patrol boat No. 64 of the Navy that disappeared some time ago." The screen then showed two smoothbore cannons that had been tilted in the sandbags. The gun carriage has been damaged, but the cannon is intact. The inscriptions, badges and dates cast on it can be clearly seen. "
Photos of the two artillery pieces appeared on the screen, with the whole body and close-ups from all angles, including the barrel and the damaged gun mount. This kind of artillery can only be manufactured by the gun foundry in Lingao.
Then there were more than a dozen photos, showing the ammunition, fuses and supporting tools on the artillery.
"Very complete." Wen Desi said.
"Yes, after receiving my order, the special search team of the Planning Academy conducted a blanket search around the artillery firing position and found the ammunition and equipment supporting these artillery pieces - all equipment from the Hong Kong and Marine Patrol No. 64 .”
"Wait a minute..." Wen Desi raised his hand when he saw a picture of a pomegranate fuse, "They also use this kind of fuse?"
"Yes, according to the report of Shi Zhiqi and the sailors, they were shot by these two artillery pieces during the attack, including grenades."
There was a low murmur of discussion in the conference room. This kind of fuze is a 19th-century technology, and it is Lingao's unique skill in this time and space. It can be said that except for the navy and army artillery of the Fubo Army, no other armed force can use this kind of fuze correctly.
"So, there is someone in Zheng Zhilong's team who we can train well?"
"There is no definite evidence for this yet," Xu Xu said, "However, the incident of Harbor Patrol No. 64 was indeed carried out by the Zheng Group. I will report this as the last item."
"Okay, go ahead."
"Yes." Xu Xu clicked the mouse, and the weapons factory on Gulangyu Island appeared on the screen.
"This is the weapons factory built by the Zheng Group that we found on Gulangyu Island - it is mainly used for casting artillery." He showed photos and surveying data of various facilities and equipment in the factory in turn.
“We gave the facility photos and surveying data of the entire factory to several veterans from the Manufacturing Director Department who have a deeper understanding of gun casting and production organization for analysis. They concluded that this is a very well-designed foundry. The design concepts of some of the artillery factories are not only higher than the level of East Asia in this time and space, but also better than the current highest level of Europe."
Permission shows the next set of photos.
"This is one of the two facilities that the senior manufacturing director considers most suspicious: the reverberatory furnace."
Most of you here know what a reverberatory furnace is. The principle of the reverberatory furnace is very simple, and its construction is not difficult - after the founding of Japan by Kurofune and before the Meiji Restoration, the shogunate also carried out a Westernization Movement, which included the construction of reverberatory furnaces under the guidance of Europeans. Pattern cast artillery. Although the cast artillery is still a smoothbore cannon, the pig iron produced by the secondary smelting at a higher furnace temperature in the reverberatory furnace is purer, and the quality of the cast artillery is improved.
"Veterans in metallurgy and casting confirmed that the furnaces in this set of photos are all reverberatory furnaces used to melt pig iron for secondary smelting. The science and technology team of the Great Library confirmed: In this time and space, reverberatory furnaces with this structure have not yet appeared. .So it cannot be that some European technician helped Zheng Zhilong build it."
There was another slight scratching below.
"The second item has not yet been formed." Quan Quan clicked on the photo. This was the square turret-like building he saw at the cannon foundry and the various bamboo and wood accessories found nearby.
"After identification by mechanical experts and construction experts, they agreed that this was an unfinished windmill. No bearings and transmission systems used inside the windmill were found around the windmill, so it should not have been completed yet. The elders of the construction company pointed out that from the construction alone From a structural point of view, this windmill is very similar to the windmills we widely use for water lifting, drainage and irrigation."
"Zheng Zhilong definitely didn't build this to grind flour or carry water." Someone joked below. Xu Xu also smiled and said:
"The veteran of the mechanical port analyzed that there are two possibilities for making windmills. One is to power the boring machine used for artillery, and the other is to grind gunpowder. Maybe both are possible. In short, this is obviously an improvement work. An efficient approach." Quan went on to introduce the facilities, material preparation and recruitment of craftsmen at the gun range, especially the crucible.
The purpose of using crucibles is not to obtain high-quality steel, but when it comes to casting cannons, neither China nor the West needed steel before the mid-19th century. Furthermore, the amount of steel produced by crucibles is too small, so it can be used to make a small number of swords or tools. It is uneconomical to make cannons.
If you want to obtain high-quality swords, it is not worth mentioning to the Zheng Zhilong Group, which controls the trade routes with Japan. Therefore, the possibility of making swords can be ruled out.
"... From on-site inspections and prisoners' confessions, we know that this factory 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 be related to the fact that they are brushing up naval equipment. In the beach shipyard near the gun foundry, we found several improved Daifuku ships under construction. These two ships are nearing completion. We are considering using them Tow it back to Hong Kong for further inspection - this is a photo of the ship."
"There are ribs, a deck, and this unusual length-to-width ratio: I think it's 4." Wen Desi commented, "This ship is an improved version of the Fu Ship. The deck and ribs are all for installing artillery. Make improvements.”
"Yes." Quan Quan nodded, "Navy experts also said so."
"So, apart from the shipyard, this arms factory has not been put into production so far?"
"Yes. There are no traces of production in the factory - although according to the assessment they can start production. According to the prisoners, they are waiting for 'foreign cannons'. After analysis, we believe that the so-called foreign cannons captured by the prisoners should refer to 'sample cannons'. Because in Jinxia and other places, we found artillery made by various countries: they were cast by the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, Portugal, and Spain, with calibers ranging from 1 pound to 24 pounds. Furthermore, they also had two cannons on our ship. ―Apparently they have no shortage of foreign artillery.”
Finally, the issue of Harbor Patrol No. 64 was discussed.
"Based on 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 the ship were disassembled Come down."
At this time, what was displayed on the screen was a portrait of a young man, with the label below: "Zheng Zhifeng".
"We failed to capture Zheng Zhifeng. As for the other high-ranking prisoners captured, they knew very little about the matter, but we still gained something: several staff members testified that the patrol boat No. 64 of the Hong Kong and Maritime Patrol was responsible for the Zheng family's big accident. The price will be hijacked by someone and then handed over to the Zheng family." After hearing this, there was another small commotion in the conference room, and it became quiet again in an instant.
"...In order to find out the specific situation, our bureau conducted an investigation in Kinmen, Xiamen, Anping and other places. Unfortunately, the Ganghaixun 64 was not found, nor was it found other equipment on the ship - including typewriters and medicines. .They seem to disappear.
"Considering that the patrol boat No. 64 was captured almost intact, this is not something ordinary pirates can do. Therefore, we are very curious about who did it. Although Zheng Zhifeng himself was not captured, we captured Many of his staff, personal soldiers, and domestic servants. Through further questioning 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 Zheng They provide cannons and other firearms, and they claim they are not much worse than those in Lingao." Hearing this, everyone in the conference room looked more solemn.
"Because Zheng Zhilong kept secret how he contacted Mr. Paul, we were unable to get much information from his staff. But through questioning Zheng Zhifeng's entourage, we got a portrait of Mr. Paul." A picture appeared on the screen. Zhang is about thirty-five to forty years old, a typical East Asian face in the prime of life.
"Everyone here may not necessarily know this person, 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 very well. " When Senator Lando first came to Lingao, the General Administration of Political Security interrogated him many times. At that time, he mentioned that while traveling through time and space, the boat he was on encountered a storm. There were two Filipino crew members on board at the time, and one The German first mate, and a Japanese." This time a photo of the corpse of a naked white man appeared on the screen.
"This is the German first mate. He died after hitting his head on the control platform. His name is Paul." Xu Xu paused intentionally to let others collect their thoughts. "Two Filipino crew members disappeared after encountering the storm. It was speculated that they were swept into the waves. Paul died. The Japanese named Hale climbed into the lifeboat with Lando. Later, the lifeboat was overturned by the waves. From then on 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 white face, and a smooth forehead.
"This is a portrait of Hale drawn at that time based on Lando's description. It can be seen that the images in the two portraits are very consistent." This portrait overlaps with the previous portrait, and the outline and facial features are very similar. To be continued. )
