Release that Witch Chapter 80: The artillery team

After the cement ship has been placed in the curing room for a week, it is finally time for launching.

The called workers were stunned. When the prince ordered to push this difficult-to-make bath into the water, everyone wondered if he heard it wrong.

Roland's order does, however.

He asked the shed to be temporarily dismantled and removed, and then a **** was dug out at the bottom of the cement boat, leading directly to the river. This part must be done with special care, because the tensile strength and seismic resistance of cement products are extremely poor, and a few cracks are still a small matter. If the ground is torn apart, it will be dry.

Roll up the wood and bind the rope to control the speed of falling. When everything is ready, the workers will pull the thick hemp rope around the newly laid stake and draw it into a straight line. With a whisper, slowly loosen the rope, and the bottom of the ship slid on the log, making a harsh frictional sound.

Fortunately, everything went well. Roland saw the cement ship gradually fall into the river. The draught of the whole ship was about half a meter deep, and the wall of the ship was still about one meter out of the water. The workers were surprised to see that this stuff heavier than a stone did not sink into the bottom of the river, but floated on the water like Leaf.

"Fast a few more rounds of rope around the stakes, and then tighten!" Roland commanded. The twine tied to the hull cannot be untied, otherwise the cement boat will drift south with the river.

Nightingale, although she did n’t show her body, her incredible tone has revealed her shock: "Why does it float?"

"Uh ... In short, its average density is lower than water, and it can float on the water," Roland thought for a moment, answer. "As for whether it is iron or cement, it doesn't matter much. In fact, when you see a sailing boat, It should be understood that such a large boat is much heavier than a stone. "

The sound didn't ring again, he guessed that the other party was thinking hard. Even if it is Anna, it may not be able to react immediately. Roland smiled and continued to direct the workers to the next step.

The subsequent outfitting is a long time. When it comes to heavy snow, the work has to be stopped. Only when the snow is small, can you rush for time. The main content of the outfit is to lay the deck. The planks with planed notches are installed on the ship. The gap between the deck and the bottom of the ship stands with many short wooden stakes as support. Although it is a bit wasteful of space, considering the cement ship's The main purpose is not so much.

This is followed by a preservative treatment. The carpenter knew exactly what to do. They first painted the deck with a pungent oil, and after consolidating, they repeatedly applied several layers with red paint. After everything was completed on the deck level, the outfitting entered the superstructure installation phase.

The so-called upper part is just a wooden shed standing between two masts for storing cannon and ammunition. When it rains, the crew can also have a shelter from the rain. There is also a platform for one person to stand on the top of the wooden shed. Obviously this is for the Wendy. As long as she is standing on the roof of the shed, she can cover the sails up and down.

The stern rudder is fused by pig iron, which is slightly troublesome during installation. You need to pass the rudder handle through the reserved hole from underwater to expose it to the deck, and then weld the buckle from the sink into iron ring on the deck. The buckle is an iron plate with a right triangle, the long side is welded to the tiller, and the short side can rotate freely in the groove reserved by the iron ring.

The welding work was naturally entrusted to Anna. After expressing shock and confusion about the stone bath that can float on the water, she asked exactly the same question as Nightingale.

Roland repeated the answer, and saw Anna squatting aside and thinking.

Well ... universal education has a long way to go.

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On the other side, Van'er is hesitant to decide whether it is joining Artillery Team or firearms Team.

Everything starts with that order three days ago.

His Highness the Prince decided to transfer the outstanding performers from militia and militia to re-establish a special team, and Van'er was glad to hear that it was among them. But when Iron Axe asked if he was joining or firearms, he was confused. firearms He knows that the city head is sharp and clear against Evil Beast, and its penetration is much stronger than the hand crossbow. At present, only Iron Axe, Chief Knight adults and some hunters can use these fierce weapon. Van'er was supposed to be the joining firearms team without hesitation, but he asked a lot of words, what is cannon?

After learning that the firearms is ten times larger, and the power is a hundred times stronger than firearms, he is in a dilemma.

Obviously, the more powerful weapon can be used, the more it proves that His Highness the Prince values ​​itself. The joining artillery team seems to be a better choice than the firearms team, but walking through the streets of small town with its pretty firearms carrying it Everyone's eyes, this is the scene he has always dreamed of. Although cannon is powerful, it must not be carried away after being enlarged ten times, right?

Until the last day, he gritted his teeth and chose an artillery. The last straw that overwhelmed the camel was a monthly salary of 5 silver royal higher than the firearms soldier.

Then rigorous training begins.

A cannon requires five people to operate, and Van'er is grouped into Jop, Cat's Claw, Nelson, and Rodney. Van'er was appointed gunner because he served as the deputy of the Lance.

Compared to firearms, this stuff is more than ten times more troublesome to wait for! For more than a month, he secretly observed the flow of Iron Axe's operation of firearms, and thought that he had grown up. However, the cannon only needs to undergo a tedious set of operations to change from the traveling state to the ready-to-fire state.

Stop the horse, pull out the pins, pull up the hanging buckle, move the gun rack, push to the shooting point, and drop the support. These procedures require the cooperation of five people. For example, when pulling up the hanging buckle, others must immediately push cannon, The suspension and the tractor are separated, and the four wheels become two wheels before the support can be dropped. You must cooperate skillfully during the conversion, otherwise the heavy artillery frame will be difficult to remove from the tractor.

After landing, load ammunition and prepare to fire. This part is very similar to firearms, except that cleaning the barrel needs to be replaced with two brushes to be inserted in turn. gunpowder is also packed and can be directly loaded into the barrel. The ignition method uses a drug line to ignite. It seems that it is difficult to exert its power when it rains, Van'er thought.

Fortunately, most of the time, the gunner only needs to instruct other people what to do, without much effort.

In the first three days, only one cannon was available for the four artillery teams selected. So under the password of Iron Axe, a group of people loaded the gun mount, unloaded it, prepared to launch it, and then backed up to load it. These two steps were repeated, and Van'er suspected that the gun barrel was being cleaned uninterruptedly, and perhaps much cleaner than its own face.