In the suburb of the western city wall of Neverwinter.
The loud roar attracted many people to climb the city wall to watch. The First Army had blocked the entrance to the Misty Forest to prevent people from breaking into the test site.
Although the site was far away from the city wall, it was still possible to see what was going on with an observation mirror. "It seems that I have to find a secluded place as a dedicated test site," Roland thought.
"Your Majesty, the second round of firing is ready!" the soldier reported.
"Everyone, get into the bunker." He waved his hand and said, "Start the countdown after making sure no one is around."
Now that the 152mm howitzer was being tested and the Sigil of Magic Stones was being studied, Roland did not neglect the improvement of firearms and explosives. Now that Timothy had been defeated and the Northern Region had declared their allegiance, Graycastle was in a good situation, so he had time to make a new round of improvement on the artillery.
However, it had to be said that the technical difficulty of the howitzer with a trigger fuse was several levels higher than that of a solid shell. Anna would hand-make four artillery shells for testing every day, but none of the artillery shells successfully exploded after three consecutive days. Even on the second day of the test, a shell directly exploded as soon as it was fired, causing the new artillery tube used for testing to become crooked. Fortunately, Roland was well prepared and dug several trenches around the test site to prevent accidents, so there were no casualties. As for the soldiers closest to the artillery, their eardrums were broken by Nana in time.
"Will this thing really explode when it touches the enemy, as you said?" Agatha stood on tiptoe in the trench and could not help but look around. "I've asked Anna. It's just made of a few pieces of metal. It's not a living thing. How can it distinguish whether the enemy is an enemy or not?"
She was the most active witch in the Union in weapon testing. After learning about this, she even temporarily put aside the production of the chemical factory and specially came to see the research progress of the new artillery shells.
"It won't explode when it touches the enemy, but when it falls into the enemy's position," Roland corrected her. "This is also a requirement that the howitzer must meet. Without a safety to ensure this, the artillery shell may accidentally fire at any time, which is too dangerous."
The trigger safety was the core technology of the new artillery shell and also the focus of the test.
In order to avoid collision and accidental falling off, he had painstakingly set up a total of three safety measures.
First, the fuze was stored and transported separately from the cannonball. Only when it was used would it be installed on the spot. The shape of the fuze was like a cone with a handle, about the size of a fist. Its tail had a screw thread, and when installed, it could be screwed into the notch at the top of the cannonball. It was fast and convenient. Because the shells were loaded with double-base chemical gunpowder, it was difficult to detonate without a detonator, fundamentally ensuring the safety of the logistics work.
Next was the inertia safety in the fuse.
It was similar to a door lock. Under normal circumstances, it would be held by a stiff spring and unable to move. When the artillery shell was fired, the huge inertia would cause the lock core to recoil, thus engraving the resistance of the spring, opening the latch teeth and removing the second safety.
The principle was simple, but it was not easy to put it into practice. The first two days were spent on it. If the spring was too hard, the lock core would not be able to recoil enough. If the spring was too soft, it would not be safe enough. Anna could only slowly adjust it according to the test firing situation. After six rounds of tests, she finally got a more reliable spring compression data.
The last safety was the centrifugal detonator.
It was also the most technical thing in the fuse. Simply put, the detonator was embedded in a semicircular iron plate the size of a coin, usually standing in the center of the fuse in a slanted position, fixed by a spring. At this moment, the firing pin, the detonator, and the stimulant were not in a straight line. Even if the artillery shell fell from a high place, the firing pin would not touch the detonator, avoiding the risk of misfire. Only after the second safety latch teeth were out of the lock position could the iron plate be in a state of movement.
Due to the effect of the rifling of the barrel, the grenade would spin at a very high speed after leaving the chamber. Under the action of centrifugal force, the slanted detonator would gradually return to normal, similar to a spinning top, and the center of gravity would move closer to the central axis. This process was completed about two to three hundred meters after leaving the chamber. In this way, even if the muzzle was blocked or there was a tree overhead, the warhead would not explode prematurely.
When the detonator was completely returned to normal, it would form a straight line with the firing pin and the stimulant. At this time, once the fuse touched the ground, the firing pin would plunge into the detonator, and then use the stimulant to drive the high-temperature gunpowder into the warhead warhead, tearing the surrounding enemies into pieces.
The advantage of the centrifugal safety was that if the artillery shell misfired, the detonator that had lost its centrifugal force would be pushed back to its original position by the spring and become slanted again. This way, the recovery work would be much safer.
In addition, if the entire grenade was seized by the enemy or accidentally picked up by the enemy, it could only be used as a solid artillery shell because it could not obtain enough centrifugal force when fired by conventional means. As for dismantling and copying it, it was even more impossible.
"Ready to fire. Countdown of five!"
The observer gave the command.
The extension of the fuse rope slowly tightened, and the gunner hiding in the trench retracted the rope bit by bit.
"Fire!"
As the soldier pulled with force, the ground instantly trembled.
The fierce wind from the muzzle accompanied by the roar swept over everyone's head. Roland felt a lot of small soil particles roll into his collar. Even if he tightly covered his ears, he could still feel the tremors from the soles of his feet.
"Observed the landing point. No explosion. I repeat, no explosion."
Lightning's voice quickly came from the Sigil of Listening in Nightingale's hand.
"Got it. We'll be there right away." She took out another Magic Stone and replied.
"… Failed again?" Agatha could not help but feel a little depressed.
"It's normal to fail when you're exploring," Anna comforted her. "Once we find the right direction, we can ensure that we won't fail in mass production."
"Well said." Roland patted her head approvingly. "And now with Summer and Sylvie's help, the research and development progress is already amazing."
In the future, it would not be a problem to fire thousands of rounds of grenade prototyping tests. It would be impossible to find the problem within two or three rounds.
When they arrived at the location where the warhead landed, Anna first cut off the fuse with Blackfire to ensure that the warhead was safe. Then, the soldier collected the waste grenade. Whether it was the gunpowder or the metal body, they could be reused, so naturally, they should not be wasted.
"Summer, it's your turn." Roland gestured to her.
"Yes, Your Majesty." She nodded and displayed her playback ability. In an instant, the phantom image of a falling shell appeared in front of everyone.
Summer's level of magic power was still low. After several months of training, she could only support four replays. However, through precise control of her magic power, she could now freeze the scene at a certain moment.
This kind of playback was a perfect reproduction of the scene. In other words, with her X-ray vision, Sylvie could see the inside of the illusion, except that it could not be touched. It was no different from the real scene.
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