Rise of the 1630s South America

May 5.Steel workshop.

"Ignite!" The vest looked at the five graphite crucibles lined up in the melting furnace, and ordered calmly.

Just a few days after the smelting furnace was built and dried, the vest impatiently carried out the first steelmaking in the steelmaking workshop. At this time, the regenerators, pipes, chimneys, blowers and other facilities on the drawings had not yet been seen.A few immigrant coolies pushed and pulled the human bellows that the carpenter made impromptu, blowing air into the furnace from the feeding port, and there were people nearby to replace them at any time.

Five crucibles of 5# are placed in the smelting furnace. The raw materials are scrap iron, scrap steel and lime, which are heated by anthracite (white coal).As the coal burns, the furnace gradually heats up, and the color of the flame slowly changes from dark red at the beginning to orange red.

"The flame turned orange, indicating that the temperature in the furnace is now close to 1000 degrees." The vest took the opportunity to impart knowledge to the group of people behind him, and even the Swiss blacksmith Pierre listened half-understood, and then Looking into the furnace in amazement.

At this time, the regenerator has not been built and used, and the process of heating and melting is relatively slow.Almost an hour later, at this time, a large part of the scrap iron and steel in the crucible had melted, and the molten iron began to boil a little, and wisps of blue flames burst out from time to time, which was the carbon monoxide produced by the reaction was burning.

"Open the furnace door." After a while, the vest said.

Two crossing people stepped forward and opened the furnace door made of refractory bricks, and a wave of heat that almost scorched people rushed towards them.The vest took a long spoon and scooped out the slag floating on the surface of the molten iron in the crucible.

"The main components of these slags are calcium phosphate and calcium sulfide, which are formed by the reaction of phosphorus, sulfur and lime in the molten iron." The vest pointed to the slag thrown in the water, and said: "The phosphorus and sulfur in the molten iron cannot be removed. If it falls off, it will greatly affect the texture of the iron and make the iron brittle."

Then he picked up a long steel braze and stirred vigorously in each crucible. After the stirring, he ordered the furnace door to be closed, and then said to the crowd: "Stirring can speed up the decarburization reaction of molten iron, making it easier for the carbon in the iron to Combines with oxygen to form carbon monoxide, which is burned."

Seeing that there was still some time left, the vest simply talked to everyone about the difference between pig iron, wrought iron and steel, and the things that need to be paid attention to in steelmaking.After the on-site teaching, the vest estimated that more than two hours had passed since the ignition was turned down, so he walked to the fire viewing hole and looked in, then opened the furnace door, fished out the slag and looked at it, and then ordered: "It's ok! , Take out the crucibles one by one, be careful."

Soon, 10 cross-travelers in groups of two took the crucible tongs and carefully tore out the graphite crucible, and then poured the molten steel into each mold cavity that had already been made.Then, someone spread a layer of lime on the surface of the molten steel in the mold cavity, and then spread a layer of charcoal on the lime to prevent the oxidation of the molten steel.

One crucible can make 43 kilograms of steel at one time, and five crucibles can make more than 5 kilograms. With these high-quality high-carbon molten steel, many difficulties can be easily solved.For example, the production of forging hammers, drill bits, gears, knives and even armor, which require a large number of high-quality high-carbon steel products, was immediately available.

When Peng Zhicheng and Wang Qinian heard that steel was being tapped here, they rushed over with gunsmiths and cannonsmiths from Switzerland, as well as "translator" Gao Mo.Several foreigners looked at the crucible for steelmaking, and then at the cooled steel ingot beside them, with expressions of surprise.At this time in Europe, there is no way to smelt molten steel, and it will be more than 100 years later to use graphite crucibles to smelt steel.

"Can this steel be used to make cannons?" Peng Zhicheng asked, and Gao Mo then asked several gunsmiths in French.

"In theory, there is no problem. Steel can withstand greater chamber pressure than cast iron. With the same power, the gun body can be made lighter." Francois, the gunsmith, is still immersed in the "miracle" of melting molten steel from a crucible , but the answer to this question is unambiguous.

"What kind of gun do we need now?" Vest asked, "The carbon content of the steel smelted this time can't be measured, but I guess it must be more than 1%. Although the ductility is not as good as copper, the cost is also low. Yes Now, how much steel does a gun need?"

"It depends on how heavy it is." Wang Qinian replied, "Small-caliber, short-barreled field guns are fine, but heavy siege guns, fortress guns, and naval guns are hard to say. They range from one ton to several tons. But this is I don’t know the weight of cast iron and copper cannons, steel cannons.”

"Try it. Cast a few more doors and test a lot. This way there will be a score." The vest said, "It's just that in this way, the steel I made is not enough for you to toss about."

"Hehe, there is no way. Now we have no defense at sea." Wang Qinian smiled, "At least we have to cast ten or eight cannons for coastal defense first. We can't take it if the outsiders bombard us a few times."

"Where's the Army Field Artillery?"

"It's easy to say. Given the size of our army, a few four-pound guns are enough. Of course, if you build us a few more fortress guns, I'm sure I don't mind. Hehe." Peng Zhicheng joked .

"Do you have gunners? How many cannons can you serve with dozens of people?" The vest also smiled and said, "By the way, didn't you buy ten cannons from Couette this time? What cannon?"

"The four four-pound field guns, the four eight-pound field guns, and the two 24-pound naval guns are all copper cannons." Peng Zhicheng said, "We can train more reserve gunners during our breaks, so as to save people from coming to our door." I was caught off guard when it came.”

"What kind of cannon do these people make?" asked the vest.

"I asked before. They have only cast some small cannons, three-pound, four-pound, six-pound. Those who can cast cannons are talents, and the salary is generally very good. They will not be reduced to come to the New World to try their luck. Of course, even people like them are experts specially hired by me, they are free citizens, and they are paid every month." Peng Zhicheng said.

"Let's not talk about the guns. Where are the guns? What are the 50 muskets I bought this time? Matchlock guns?" asked the vest.

"It is said to be the latest Suer matchlock gun." Peng Zhicheng sighed, "I tried to fire a few shots. Except for a little more power, the accuracy and speed of fire are far inferior to our hunting crossbow. The range of the two is similar, but the hunting The crossbow has the ability to shoot continuously. In short, for us, this kind of arquebus can only be said to be better than nothing."

"Arquebus? I remember that flintlock is the mainstream of this era, right?" Vest asked doubtfully.

"At present, matchlock guns are still equipped on a large scale in Europe. There are flintlock guns, but they are still equipped on a small scale. But to be honest, at this stage, flintlock guns are really not much better than bows. Matchlock guns Regardless of whether it is a gun or a flintlock, the advantage is that it is cheap, and soldiers can go into battle with a little training without consuming physical strength, which is something that even bows and horses cannot catch up with." Peng Zhicheng explained.

"But what we lack now is manpower. They can train a lot of cannon fodder, but we can't. Each of us is precious. Although I don't know guns, I also know that breech-loading rifles are king." The vest looked at Peng Zhicheng Said.

"Don't look at me, I don't understand these 17th-century firearms." Peng Zhicheng smiled wryly, "These gunsmiths have only made a few matchlock guns, and the performance may not be as good as the batch we bought. It doesn't matter how the craftsmanship is." Not sure."

"Practice! Let them practice! Bring some more apprentices, no matter how bad the matchlock gun is, we have to try to make it ourselves." Wang Qinian gritted his teeth, "Large-caliber guns also need to be cast! Isn't it because the yield rate is low, and if it cracks, it will explode." Let's go back to the furnace!"

While the three committee members were gnashing their teeth fiercely over the matter of steel and guns, a group of novices from the guard also looked left and right around a few field guns.Referring to the latest compiled artillery shooting outline, they will practice the steps of clearing, charging, loading, aiming, and firing continuously in order to master the firing skills of artillery in this era as soon as possible.

In addition, the use of matchlock guns must be mastered as soon as possible.Although they are not required to play queuing and shooting, they do not have the courage or the skills.Peng Zhicheng's requirement is only to be able to fire a gun, know how to fire a gun, and be able to hide in a bunker and shoot when the enemy attacks, and he is already qualified.Of course, many of the Swiss immigrants were former mercenaries. Their military skills were not bad, and they could be called up to fight if necessary.As long as they promise a lot of benefits, I believe these former mercenaries will be happy to fight for the crossing people.