Come to another world and become a lord

Chapter 170 Cannon

After a simple New Year celebration, the dwarf craftsmen arrived at Reikberg as scheduled. There were 20 people in total. Carl prepared a grand welcome dinner for them and directly vacated the guest rooms used to entertain nobles for them to live in. Of course, this was only a temporary emergency. Considering that this group of people would stay in Reikberg for a long time, Carl planned to build a luxurious residential area near the main castle for them to live in. At the same time, for future large-scale production, corresponding factories need to be built. Now that the population of Reikberg is increasing rapidly, expansion is urgent.

With the arrival of this group of people, the firearms plan was finally implemented. Guns and cannons are weapons that can change the way wars are fought. Once they are in their possession, they will defeat all those who are still fighting with cold weapons.

In his previous life, Carl had read many novels about traveling back to ancient times. Basically, the authors would write about inventing muskets and artillery after traveling back to ancient times, and then killing people everywhere. It seems that this is a very simple thing, as if any modern person can do it. However, the fact is that it is much more difficult than imagined. The most important thing is that the emergence of any technology is not a single phenomenon, it is the product of the joint progress of its related processes and technologies. For example, guns and artillery, without superb cast iron capabilities, without seamless steel pipe manufacturing technology, without various lathe processes that can achieve standardized production. It just can't be realized, even if you clearly know its principles and can even draw detailed drawings, it will be of no avail.

This is not something that can be made simply by having a blueprint. It requires the improvement of the overall industrial technology. However, with the arrival of the dwarves, these problems have been solved. The level of these dwarven craftsmen is far beyond Carl's imagination.

After looking at Carl's design drawings, Goswin immediately gave two options. Yes, Goswin himself was actually in the team, which Carl did not expect. As it turned out, he was not only in the team, but also the most experienced craftsman among them.

"I can think of two methods. One is to directly use sand to make a cannon mold with an inner core, and add a cylindrical clay with the same diameter as the gun hole in the center of the gun body mold. The second method is to cast the gun body first, and then drill holes in it at a later stage." The latter said to him in a flat tone.

"Hmm~ It sounds like the latter is a bit more difficult." Carl said thoughtfully.

“But the production will be more precise,” Goswin replied.

"But what are you going to use to drill the hole?"

"It's definitely not possible with human power, but we can make a giant hydraulically driven drill." Goswin paused, looked out the window, and said, "Rickburg has a unique advantage in this regard. But first I suggest using the first method. After all, the construction of the corresponding drill is not a small project. Before that, we need to make samples to conduct various tests."

"I agree with this." Carl nodded.

"To be honest, you've found the right person. I've seen those... well, the power of the explosive packs. The key lies in the pressure-bearing capacity of the barrel. To be able to withstand such an impact without exploding... only the steel made by us dwarves can meet that standard." Goswin continued, with a hint of pride in his tone.

But what he said was true. In this world, weapons made by dwarves were indeed famous for being good, and they could cut through iron like mud, far better than those of other races. They even said that dwarves cast special magic on their weapons when making them.

"It's not that we dwarves have magic, but the ironmaking technology of other races is too poor." As if seeing through Carl's thoughts, Goswin said, "If we use the steel made by you humans, it will probably kill a lot of testers."

Carl just spread his hands in response to this. Of course, the latter was actually right. The reason why he had not considered these things before and had always maintained the cold weapon combat was because the existing human technology was indeed not up to the standard.

Goswin seemed to have seen through his thoughts again, and even hummed a song with pride, and then the two of them threw themselves into the busy work. Carl did it right away. He vacated all the blacksmith houses in Rickburg and ordered people to urgently build several brick houses nearby as their workshops.

Goswin began to direct his craftsmen, who built an iron smelting blast furnace and a steel smelting converter in the open air. When Carl saw the structure, he finally understood how big the gap was between humans and dwarves.

During this period, Goswin was also busy:

"The temperature must be maintained above 1500 degrees."

He gave instructions while carefully checking every detail. The dwarves made steel and made the mold of the gun body according to the drawings drawn by Carl. They made it with sand and then applied a coating containing alcohol on the inner wall to ensure the smoothness of the inner wall.

When the metal is completely melted, they pour the liquid metal into the sand mold. When pouring into the mold, the craftsmen concentrate on ensuring that the metal flows evenly and avoids bubbles or cracks.

After cooling, the castings are taken out and placed on a workbench for preliminary inspection. Carl and his team carefully inspect each casting to ensure there are no obvious defects or cracks.

The last step is what the dwarves are best at. They use hammers, files and various grinding tools to start fine grinding of the castings to remove burrs and uneven parts on the surface.

In fact, there was also good news during this period, that is, Mia, who had been in a coma for a long time, was finally out of danger and woke up. But when Aisha reported this to Carl, he didn't care too much, just nodded to indicate that he knew. After all, nothing is more important than producing cannons.

After about half a month of hard work, the first cannon was finally assembled. A bunch of dwarves and Carl were so excited that they shouted and jumped like children. In the past half month, they ate and slept in the workshop. Apart from eating and sleeping, all their time was spent on design and production. Carl even had a circle of stubble on his face.

Now, the efforts have finally paid off, and the most crucial test is coming. In an open space outside Rickburg, they started the first test firing. The craftsmen carefully loaded the shells into the barrel, adjusted the angle and direction, and then ignited the fuse.

"Everyone stand back and prepare to fire!" Carl commanded loudly.

With a loud roar, the shells shot out from the barrel, carrying hot flames and thick smoke, heading straight for the target in the distance. The huge impact force filled the air with the aftermath of the vibration.

The shell hit the target accurately, and a burst of fire and smoke broke out. Success! Everyone cheered, and all the hard work and efforts were rewarded at this moment.

“We did it!” Goswin exclaimed excitedly. “I knew we could do it!”

His face was filled with a joyful smile and his eyes were shining with victory, as if this moment of success was the best reward for all his efforts.

Carl smiled with satisfaction and patted the dwarf on the shoulder:

“Well done~”

"This is just the beginning~" Goswin laughed, "Don't forget we still have the main event."

"You mean the musket?"

"This is your idea~" he said with a smile, "It seems that I will be staying in Rickburg for a long time. You have to arrange a house for me to live in for a long time."

"With pleasure~" Carl replied.

"And there's plenty of wine!" the dwarf added.

"That's natural." Carl laughed.

As the two were chatting and laughing, a servant suddenly walked out of the castle and ran towards Carl:

"My Lord, the envoy from Doronso requests to see you."

"Toronto?" Carl didn't react for a moment.

"The other party represents the current Earl of Doronso, Gamond Doronso," the servant immediately added.

"Ha~" Carl couldn't help but laugh. What was supposed to come finally came, but that guy had actually proclaimed himself a count. This was something Carl had never expected. He really had no shame at all.

Thinking of this, Carl replied:

"Okay, I got it. Tell him I'll see him right away."

"It seems like you're in trouble again." Goswin laughed.

"It's just a small matter, not worth mentioning." Carl said as he rode on his horse, "Then I'll go ahead."

Goswin nodded, and then Carl pulled the reins and ran towards Rickburg.