Chapter 367 Artillery

   "Boom! Boom! Boom!"

  The twelve guns on the port side of the battleship emitted white flashes one after another, and a thunderous bang shook the entire military port, followed by thick smoke that covered the sky and the sun.

  The movement frightened the war horses on the shore, and they stood up one after another. The riders on the side stood there dumbfounded, and even forgot to appease the frightened horses.

  Cleopatra and Drogon were also startled, they flapped their wings violently, and roared full of sulfur.

  Margaery and Daenerys were also taken aback. Even though Samwell had reminded them and asked them to cover their ears, they were still shocked by the scene before them.

  In the blink of an eye, the unloaded iron shell hit the water surface 200 yards away with a howling sound of piercing the air, splashing waves.

   Until the choking smoke dissipated, Margaery and Daenerys hadn't recovered.

  Bachelor Keben has seen such a scene before, so he will not be surprised. He is holding his head high at this moment, waiting for praise.

  Unfortunately, what he didn't know was that Samwell was a little disappointed in the power of this kind of artillery with a lot of thunder and little rain.

  However, this is also because Samwell is used to the scene of the roaring cannons of the later generations, so he naturally despises this most primitive front-loading smoothbore gun, let alone the solid iron shells used.

  According to the power of this kind of artillery, it is estimated that the average large sea battleship will be hit by dozens of bullets and scarred, and may not be sunk.

   "Not bad." Samwell nodded slightly, not wanting to dampen the enthusiasm of his subordinates, "Try using an explosive bomb."

   "Yes, Your Majesty."

  Bachelor Coburn conveyed the order, and the soldiers began to reload.

  The reloading process of this front-loading smoothbore gun is quite long. The gunners need to clean up the remaining gunpowder in the gun bore before reloading the shells and propellant.

  These gunners were sent to demonstrate to the Storm King. Naturally, they were carefully selected, and their movements were extremely proficient and smooth, but even so, it generally took about five minutes to complete the reloading process.

  As the herald swung down the command flag vigorously, the gunners lit the fuses almost simultaneously.

   "Boom! Boom!"

  The continuous gunfire sounded again, and the huge counter-shock force pushed the nearly thousand-ton warship to shake.

  Because the explosive bombs were used this time, the spray from the explosion was obviously bigger than the first wave of shooting.

   Of course, in Samwell's view, it was still not satisfactory.

   Moreover, the range of blasting bullets is only half that of solid iron bullets, and the accuracy is much worse.

  In fact, the accuracy of solid bullets is not very high. After all, it is a smoothbore gun without rifling.

   "Is this magic? It's amazing!" Daenerys opened her mouth wide and didn't recover for a long time.

  Margaret saw some clues: "Sam, this should be the gunpowder you used to blow up the city wall before, right?"

   "Yes." Samwell also showed a smile on his face.

  He felt that he shouldn't be too demanding. After all, with the productivity of the Middle Ages, it is rare for a Bachelor of Science to fiddle with artillery under his casual guidance, even if it is the most primitive version.

  Although the power of this kind of artillery is not great, it can already be called an epoch-making product.

  With it, since then the warship has a systematic long-range attack method, unlike the previous naval battle, which can only be hit with a sharp hammer on the bow, and then the boarding battle.

  It is said to be a naval battle, but it is actually just a land battle where the battlefield is changed to the deck.

   But now, with the addition of artillery, naval warfare will slowly shift to a new form.

   When the enemy encounters this new type of warship in Stormland, if they want to fight face-to-face, they have to endure several rounds of shelling first.

  As early as when Maester Coburn developed gunpowder, Samwell proposed the idea of ​​artillery.

  In fact, the principle of the artillery is very simple, and it is not difficult to manufacture. The difficulty is how to improve the power, increase the accuracy and reduce the weight.

  The current batch of artillery is quite weak in Samwell's view. Its power is not much greater than that of a catapult machine crossbow. The accuracy is not very accurate because there is no rifling. As for the weight, it is a big problem.

In order to prevent the chamber from exploding, the wall of the gun barrel is made very thick, which also leads to the need for at least two horses to pull a cannon, and you can only walk on that kind of well-paved flat road, and it is easy to encounter some potholes Breaking the axle, encountering a slightly more complicated terrain, such as forests and hills, let alone mountains.

  So, although the artillery has been developed a long time ago, it was not used at all in the process of attacking the stormy land.

  Instead of wasting manpower and material resources to transport these artillery to the front line, it is better to bury the explosives directly to blow up the city wall.

  However, if you load the artillery on the battleship, you don't have to worry about transportation. Such a small weight is nothing to a large battleship with a displacement of thousands of tons.

   "Sam, is this the secret weapon you plan to use against the Arbor Island fleet and the Iron Fleet?" Margaery's eyes flickered.

   "Yes." Samwell smiled, "Do you think there is a chance of winning?"

   "How many warships like this are there now?" Margaret asked.

   Samwell looks back at Maester Qyburn.

  Bachelor Keben immediately reported a number:

"Your Majesty, we have built twelve warships of the same new type, each with a displacement of 1,200 tons and equipped with twenty-four cannons. There are also thirty smaller warships with a displacement of 600 tons. They are all equipped with paddle wheels and cannons, but the number of cannons is also a little less, each ship has only ten."

   "The number is still a little less..." Samwell rubbed his chin, frowning.

  However, he did not blame Bachelor Coburn, after all, it is not easy to build a fleet of this size in such a short period of time.

  The key is that Stormland is too far behind in naval construction, so it is naturally extremely difficult to catch up now.

   It is obvious that the gap in naval personnel cannot catch up in a short period of time, so it can only be made up by technological means.

   Needless to say, the artillery can greatly increase the long-range attack power of the warship. The design of the paddle wheel is also to make up for the lack of rowers.

Rowing may seem simple, but it is not easy to play various tricks. Experienced oarsmen are familiar with their warships and hydrological conditions. They cooperate with sailors and helmsmen to make warships go fast. Forward, backward, turn and U-turn, flexible like a fish on the water surface.

   It will take at least ten years to cultivate such a veteran, and it is obviously impossible for Samwell to wait so long.

   Paddle sailboats are relatively simple to operate. Sailors only need to step on the wheels, and the technical requirements are much simpler. Ordinary soldiers, even if they have not been on a ship much, can basically be competent with a little training.

Moreover, the power output of the waist and legs is definitely greater than the power output of the back of the arm, and it is more durable. The continuous operation of the paddle wheel drive is also an advantage that the paddle drive does not have, especially when sailing against the current in inland waterways and when the wind and waves are small. The advantage of the wheel is even more obvious.

Coupled with a simple lever and gear structure, the output efficiency of the paddle wheel to beat water is significantly higher than that of rowing. Traditional sailing boats require hundreds of oarsmen, and rotation operations can ensure the continuous sailing of the warship. A ship needs to be equipped with half the number of wheel treaders to continuously drive the warship.

  Of course, paddle wheel sailboats are not as flexible as galley sailboats, but for stormy regions that lack naval talents, paddle wheel technology is the most suitable means for them to achieve cornering overtaking.

  And in Samwell's vision, the paddle wheel can also be driven by a steam engine in the future—of course, the premise is that Bachelor Coburn can first tinker with the steam engine.

  Steam engine-driven ships, equipped with artillery, are the real killers that dominate inland rivers and coastal waters.

   But now, this big killer is still in a semi-finished state, and time is running out.

"Your Majesty, we still have three thousand-ton warships under construction." Bachelor Coburn added, "It will be completed in two or three months. If you can wait a year, our fleet size will be about 10000 tons." Doubling it, when the time comes, even if the Qingting Island Fleet and the Iron Fleet join forces, we are confident to fight against it.”

   "I'm afraid we can't wait that long for a year..."

  Winter is approaching, and the situation in the northern border is eroding faster than he expected. Sam Well originally planned to wait for the Unsullied army to arrive in Westeros three months later, and immediately attack King's Landing.

   If it was later, perhaps the White Walkers had already broken through the Great Wall of Desperation.

  In Samwell's plan, it is best to enter King's Landing before the official arrival of winter.

  Unifying the forces of the Seven Kingdoms in this way and stopping the aliens at the Great Wall of Desperation is the best solution.

Thinking of this, Samwell said: "Since we can't deal with the combination of the Qingting Island Fleet and the Iron Fleet for the time being, let's lure one of them first and catch him by surprise. They don't know the power of the new warships yet, and they will definitely be paralyzed Basically, this is our chance."

  Margaret proposed after hearing the words:

   "Horace Redwyne is currently leading an Arbor Island fleet in the Greenblood River Basin. Maybe we can lure them over and destroy them."

   "Horace is at the Greenblood River?" Samwell was stunned for a moment, then came to his senses, "They must be sending supplies to Sunspear."

"Yes." Margaret added, "Since the Reachland issued a food embargo order to Dorne, Sunspear City's food supply is in short supply. The captives nearly rioted."

  Samwell was not surprised by this either. Earl Paxter must have hated him deeply because of Lady Olenna's death. As long as he was an enemy of the Stormlands, he would be willing to support him.

   "How is the civil war in Dorne going?" Samwell asked.

"Still anxious." Margaery said, "The Yronwood family sent an envoy to ask us for help, but since you were not here, I did not agree without authorization. He has been waiting in Storm's End for several months. Do you want to meet him?"

   "OK, take him to the Hall of Storms."

  (end of this chapter)