However, when Roland personally operated it, he found that the actual situation was far from as simple as he thought.
After working in the backyard for four or five days, he successfully produced a hard drill. Using Anna's high-temperature flame, he could easily obtain molten iron with a temperature of more than 1500 degrees. Without the restriction of temperature, the conventional method of frying steel could easily and quickly produce a small batch of steel. That was to use an iron rod to quickly stir the molten iron, so that the excess carbon and other impurities in the pig iron were fully exposed to the air and oxidized. After several repetitions, the molten iron cooled down to obtain high-quality steel.
The problem lay in the steam engine.
When the prototype was working, the noise and vibration were very alarming, even the drill could not steadily drill a complete iron pipe. This level of tremor was insignificant when doing heavy work, but it was obviously not feasible when processing a gun barrel.
To improve this, he had to first create a centrifugal governor to control the steam engine's output power, and then use a gear combination to reduce the vibration and adjust the rotation rate of the drill. But processing the gear required a simple lathe. In this way, Roland found that he had no way to achieve this goal before the Months of the Demons.
In the end, he could only use the old way, relying on the blacksmith's hands to hammer it out. The plan to mass-produce guns was a failure. According to the number of blacksmiths in Border Town, at most they could produce 3-4 barrels a month, and this was under the condition that they stopped building the second steam engine.
The only good news was that they didn't have to worry about the quality of the barrels. The blacksmith only needed to hammer out a roughly round pipe, and then Anna would uniformly sew it. The effect was close to that of a seamless boring pipe, which basically eliminated the risk of explosion.
Roland had no choice but to modify his previous plan. He originally intended to recruit the hunters of Border Town to form a gun team – most of them were proficient in archery, whether it was a bow or a crossbow, they were both handy weapons. In addition, firearms training was not time-consuming, so they could quickly gain combat effectiveness.
But now during the Months of the Demons, at most four flintlocks could be made, so he could only select the most outstanding hunters to create an elite team. Roland decided to give this task to Iron Axe, who had been in Border Town for fifteen years and was recognized as the best hunter.
*****
Brian was not happy for the past two weeks.
Especially when they met the militia on the street, the unhappiness would be magnified … and there would even be a trace of unwillingness in their hearts.
He felt that he had been forgotten by His Highness.
A month ago, when he was summoned by the Chief Knight, he was filled with excitement. To be in close contact with the 4th Prince and to be personally questioned by His Highness was such a fortunate and glorious thing.
He had grown up in Border Town. Although he came from an ordinary hunter family, he had relied on his own ability to become a patrol captain. He knew that he couldn't rely on his family to become a Knight, so he could only wait for an opportunity to make contributions and receive the title of a superior.
His Royal Highness's question made him feel that his opportunity had come. Obviously, the 4th Prince Roland was not willing to give up his territory. He was trying to find a way to fight against the demonic beasts. Later, the wantonly construction of the city wall also proved this point, there was no doubt that this year they would spend the Months of the Demons in Border Town.
If they wanted to stop the invasion of the demonic beasts here, they had to form a team that dared to fight head-on. Brian thought that he was the best candidate. He was proficient in reconnaissance, swordsmanship and horsemanship. Every year, he stayed behind to light the beacon, proving that he didn't lack courage. But he never expected that His Highness would choose a team of civilians to fight against the demonic beasts!
That's right, a pure civilian team. Not only him, but the entire patrol team of ten people didn't pass the Chief Knight's examination. This was simply incredible. Did His Highness think that this group of people who had never held a sword would be better at fighting than him? I'm afraid that if they saw the fierce appearance of the demonic beasts, they would be defeated!
But His Highness seemed to be serious … He not only trained this motley crew, but also gave them a uniform. Every afternoon, Brian could see this group of people wearing brown and gray leather armor, running through the street in two columns. At the beginning, the team was sparse, but recently it had become more and more orderly.
But Brian himself was still carrying out boring tasks every day, and he couldn't see any hope of promotion.
At night, when he couldn't sleep, he heard a noise next door, then the door was pushed open and someone quietly came in.
"Hey, get up," the person whispered. Brian recognized the other side's voice, it was a member of the patrol team, nicknamed Fierce Scar.
There were five people sleeping in his room, except for himself and Greyhound, the other three quickly turned over and got up, as if they were already prepared, they didn't even take off their coats.
"Captain, get up, I have something important to tell you."
Fierce Scar had a noble relative in Longsong Stronghold, and he heard that he was a great noble, so his position in the team was very high. Brian couldn't ignore him, so he got up and asked, "What's the matter?"
Greyhound was also woken up, "It … it's so late, you … you don't sleep …?"
"I have a good job to introduce to you, do you want to be conferred the title of Knight?"
"Wh … what? Knight? "Greyhound was surprised.
Brian's heart jumped, he quickly asked, "In the end, what kind of job is it?"
"You all know my uncle Hill, he is the Earl of the Duke, he is also his Excellency's confidant. He told me this news personally, "Fierce Scar said in a low voice," The 4th Prince is ready to leave Longsong Stronghold alone, which made the Duke very unhappy. He decided to let the Prince know, who is the master of the Western Territory. "
"Difficult, difficult, don't tell me … you plan to … assassinate …" Greyhound was nervous, he stuttered even more, a short sentence could not be completed for a long time.
"How is that possible," Fierce Scar sneered, "He is a prince, if he dies, even the Duke can't protect us. I said, this is a good job. "
Brian subconsciously felt that this deal was certainly not as simple as he claimed, but the temptation of being conferred the title of Knight was too big, he couldn't help but open his mouth, "Let's hear it."
"Food. Without food, he can only obediently roll back to Longsong Stronghold. This job was promised by the Duke, as long as we can successfully burn the food bought by the 4th Prince, he will hold a knighthood ceremony for us, and also give us a fief in the east of Longsong Stronghold. This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, captain, what do you think? "
"You, you are crazy … His Highness, didn't His Highness say, this year … the Months of the Demons is likely to … last for more than four months, if you burn, burn the food, what will we eat!" Greyhound shook his head again and again, "Two … two years ago, have you forgotten?"
"What does it have to do with us?" Another person said disdainfully, "Anyway, I don't intend to stay here, Duke Ryan's matter, we can live a comfortable life in Longsong Stronghold."
"Yes, do you want to eat slag in this damn place for a lifetime?" The others also chimed in one after another.
Hell, they had already colluded, Brian's heart turned cold, except for Greyhound and himself who grew up in Border Town, most of them came from all over the kingdom, they simply didn't have any nostalgia for the town. Seeing that he was powerless to stop them, he had to change the topic, "But the wheat has been transferred to His Highness' castle, the door is guarded by His Highness' personal Knight, how can you get in?"
"That's why I called you," Fierce Scar proudly said, "You have been living in this broken place since you were a child, no one is more familiar with the environment here than you. I remember you once said that there is an abandoned well in the ravine behind the castle, which is connected to the waterway under the castle. Through it, you can quietly reach the castle garden. Didn't you climb in when you were a child? How about it, if you do this with me, in the future you can also become a Knight – a Knight personally appointed by His Excellency the Duke. "
No … a Knight should have the courage to fight against injustice, should not be afraid of power, and should protect the weak! Just because of His Excellency the Duke's personal grievances, he should ignore the threat of starvation and death for the residents of Border Town? Such a Knight, in addition to being an empty shell, what glory does he have to speak of!
He was about to open his mouth to refuse, but Greyhound had already barked.
"A, a group of madmen! You, you, actually dare to take the idea of food, I will, will never let you leave here, here! I will report, report to … cough, "Greyhound said halfway, his voice suddenly froze, he incredulously turned his head, a former teammate was standing behind him sneering at him. A black dagger was inserted from behind Greyhound's waist, the dagger was completely inserted into his body. He trembled twice, opened his mouth to say something, but could only let out a hoarse breath sound.
The other side stirred the dagger twice, and then fiercely pulled it back, Greyhound suddenly lost his support like a rag doll, softly paralyzed on the ground.
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