The gun mount made by the carpenter arrived as scheduled, and Schliemann called on everyone to put the gun body on it.
Ampton frowned as he looked at the small wheel under the gun mount. He didn't understand what the purpose of the fist-sized wheel was.
"You'll find out later."
Schliemann said as he took out the things he had prepared.
A bucket and two sticks wrapped like drum hammers.
He set up the cannon, faced the woods, inserted a fuse through the small hole in the cannon body, and then stuffed the prepared gunpowder package into the cannon bore. After stabbing it twice with the dry stick, he grabbed a round ball with both hands. The projectiles were stuffed into the muzzle with difficulty.
After doing all this, Schliemann scratched his nose and recalculated the charge and barrel endurance in his mind. He didn't want the small-caliber artillery that he had worked so hard to build to explode on the first shot.
After a simple estimate, Schliemann thought there was no problem, took out the fire letter and lit the fuse.
The fuse was long enough for him to run to the side, and he called back all the people waiting stupidly beside the cannon.
There was a thunderous noise, and a black projectile flew out of the flaming muzzle, spinning towards the forest.
The huge tree trunk was directly blasted to pieces. As if the tree hadn't noticed that it had been broken into two sections, it slowly fell from the air, stuck on the ground, and slowly fell to one side.
Behind it, there was a sound of trees falling, like a huge wave suddenly rising in the forest.
Apton, who had been disappointed by the size of the projectiles, was stunned when he saw the destructive power of the small-caliber artillery.
He imagined the terrible sight of charging armies on the plains facing such artillery.
That's really a bloody alley.
Walter, who had fast legs, was sent by Schlieman to find the cannonball. This time he did not refuse and ran into the forest.
Taking advantage of this gap, Schliemann began to teach the crew the loading process.
“Before loading the second shell with gunpowder, you must first poke it with this wet stick to make sure there are no burning sparks in the barrel.
Then there is the dry stick, and after two pokes, the lead will be placed...then the medicine pack, and finally the projectile...
When placing the medicine packs and projectiles, remember to poke them twice with a dry stick. "
"When aiming... look here, aim at the enemy target. If the enemy target is moving, you need to advance the target according to the speed of the target. The principle of aiming is similar to that of a bow.
But, the diameter of our gun is a little more than 1:14, so we don't consider projectile, only direct fire within 100 meters.
So you only need to fill one such medicine bag every time you fire! Don't fill in too much, or you'll blow yourself up! "
Connie was recording the captain's words on the side, and the crew members listened attentively. Selu couldn't believe that she was tinkering with this kind of thing in the past two days, and she didn't know which god she was praying to. She clasped her hands together and rubbed them together in a plea. Forgiving look.
Ampton didn't know when he got into the habit of taking notes. He wrote down Schlieman's words verbatim. He even made a summary, marked his own questions, and planned to ask Schlieman later. clear.
Schliemann talked for more than half an hour, but he ran out of words and did not see Walter come back. He set up an awning and watched for a long time. Finally, he got bored of waiting and ordered Selu to set up the teapot.
The teapot was placed quite far away from the cannon. Even so, Schliemann did not feel safe and glanced in the direction of the gunpowder barrel from time to time.
"Ah, Captain, let me ask you something."
Schliemann had become accustomed to Apton's calling him "Captain" when anything happened, and "Sherryman" when nothing happened. He was too lazy to vent his anger on this guy.
"What does double diameter mean?"
Schliemann looked impatient. Originally, the test firing did not take so long, but everyone was waiting for Walter to find the shells. They could not continue shooting until he came back. It would be troublesome if Walter was killed by one shot.
"Ah, I will tell you these things in detail after we set sail, including the amount of powder to be loaded and so on."
Apton shut his mouth knowingly, and changed his address to Schliemann from captain to his first name.
"Hey, Schliemann, besides hitting infantry and cavalry, what other applications can this cannon have?"
"We're going to attack the city wall. Why don't you just be a bigger player and attack the city wall?"
Apton's eyes opened wider and wider. In this world ruled by cold weapons, several hundred peasant farmers in Antler City dared to say that they spent a year relying on the city wall to fight against the Kingdom of Xisuo. This shows what kind of city defense was in his process of regaining the throne. big obstacle.
Now, he has the tools to break that barrier.
If he could make the cannon bigger, add bigger wheels, and find a few horses to pull it, his army would be an invincible army.
If everyone was equipped with a gun like Schliemann...
Apton felt that if there were no Primus Cult and no Ancient Gods, he could go back and start the restoration plan now.
It took most of the day for Walter to run out of the forest.
He held the projectile in his hands, his face covered in sweat.
"How far away was it found?"
"About two hundred meters!"
"Have you found the initial touchdown point?"
"Found it! About one hundred and seventy meters away!"
"Okay! Good job!"
Walter ran up to Schlieman, let go, and dropped the projectile on the grass, where Schlieman squatted and studied.
There are obvious burn marks from gunpowder on the projectile, as well as scratches from friction with the barrel.
"Next time I make cannonballs, I have to coat them with a layer of lead, or else I just make them lead and increase the amount of powder..."
These mutterings were recorded by two men, Connie and Upton.
Preparations for the second test firing were completed. This time, the gun was cast from the wax model carved by Selu.
There was the same loud noise, and there was also the sound of trees falling in the forest. Walter ran out again, but this time he came back quickly.
"The initial touchdown point was about 160 meters, probably because it hit more trees on the way."
Schliemann nodded and looked at Ampton: "Have you learned how to launch?"
"Learned."
"Then let's temporarily serve as gunners on the ship. We don't have enough time, we don't make enough cannonballs, and we don't have enough black powder. We can't give the crew more training."
As soon as Schliemann said this, the crew wailed. The men could not resist the temptation of the new toy. Even Mersin clamored to try it.
"Oh, I'll ask Punan to produce some cannonballs and prepare more saltpeter, sulfur and the like. Then I'll let you practice every day. You'll be here first today!"
The guns were moved onto the ship, and when he saw the two sets of tracks on both sides of the Crescent Overtime, Apton finally understood why Schliemann made the wheels so small.
This approach allows the gun to move quickly from the bow to the stern along the track. With the rotatable gun holder on the gun mount, the two guns can attack enemies on the same side at the same time.
