Source Star Windy Hour（源星风云时刻）

Chapter 38: The completion of the ship's guns

"In your plan?" Ferry thought for a moment and said, "Are you trying to get through to me to better deal with the Republican Guard?"

　　"Yes. Multiple opponents have soldiers from the Republican Guard, which makes it difficult for me, and the Republican Jihad Front is a greater threat, and you have had contact with them, so I asked you to come." Jean Gal said.

　　"Good, now that I'm here, what's your next plan?"

　　"Train a musketry team, I know you have had some success with this weapon called the musket, and I see its potential."

　　"Watch out for rainy days, better load your bayonets and stay in close combat."

　　"Can do."

　　"Say, are you asking me to rule jointly with you?"

　　"Yes, come into town and talk."

　　So, the two arrived in the city of Angell, only to see that Angell smelled like wine everywhere, which of course was nothing, Angell was a place where wine was the main business.

　　Arrived at the command headquarters, which was a large double-storey house made of marble.

　　Entered inside and came to the command room, where several maps of the battlefield were placed, so you can see the battle situation very clearly.

　　"You really want me to rule jointly with you?" Feri was a little less convinced that Jean-Gal would actually share power.

　　"Of course, but we are independent in all aspects, we each run our own control areas, each attack, and we can also cooperate in attacking other opponents."

　　"In that case, we could just form an alliance without joint rule at all." It seems that Jean Gal does not want to share power.

　　"No, no, no, we can deter our opponents better by ruling jointly."

　　"Deterring opponents? That said, what kind of opponents do we currently have to face?"

　　"There are two." Jean-Galton said after a pause, "Émile Coulomb in the South and Mari Betancourt in the East."

　　"What is their situation?"

　　"Émile Coulomb, a royalist, controls an area of two thousand square kilometers, controls a population of fifty thousand people, and has built up a force of more than a thousand men; Mali Betancourt, a pro-monarchy monarchist, controls fifteen hundred square kilometers and a population of twenty thousand people, and has a force of five hundred men."

　　"So how much strength do we have."

　　"In my case, I control an area of about 2,200 square kilometers, control a population of about 60,000 people, and have a force of 1,000 people. I know your situation, as long as you can assist me."

　　"So, the other side is still a little stronger than us?" Ferry pondered to, then said, "How many people do you plan to set the musket team?"

　　"Two companies totaling more than 200 men can be armed in a month's time." Jean-Gal said very confidently.

　　"And a month of training time."

　　"Yes, in two months' time, there will be a force of considerable power, and during these two months I will try not to launch large-scale risky operations."

　　"Well, is there anything else."

　　"Today is no more, now it's late, let's spend the night here."

　　"OK, I'll go back to Changhu village tomorrow and form my own musket team."

　　The time came on July 25, a day when Leah was very happy that, at last, the Elijah Arms Factory had finally built an 18-pounder long gun. Although it took a little longer, in the meantime she made another drawing, which was for an Iphigenia class frigate.

　　This was a sail frigate once built in France in the late 1770s. Weighing a total of 620 tons, it was 134 feet long and 34 feet 6 inches wide. It had 26 long 12-pounder guns and 6 long 6-pounder guns.

　　According to her observation, there were two thousand people in the Grapevine Islands who were engaged in shipbuilding, and it was theoretically possible to build such a frigate. Once built, just one could gain a great naval advantage. By building a small fleet, one could control the entire western sea control of the Republic of Calais and deal a huge blow to targets on shore.

　　It took more than a dozen people to call this freshly built long gun to a large stack of carts, and then push the long gun, all the way down a road that led to a one of a higher flat area that could be used as a firing range.

　　This time the mayor of Gaius Clément also came over to watch, and if successful, the long gun was officially put into manufacture.

　　The five operators were ready and aimed at a dense rocky forest about five or six hundred meters ahead, loading, firing and firing according to the steps Leah had written down.

　　Boom! The cannonball hit the stone forest heavily, smashing a huge stone out on the spot.

　　For this performance, Leah was not surprised, the 18-pound long gun is enough to shatter a foot of oak from 1,000 yards away. Its power, Leah still understands.

　　But the crowd around the first time to see the artillery firing is very shocked.

　　"If this kind of powerful weapon is used in the navy, our victory is just around the corner." Gaius got excited all of a sudden: "It is necessary to use most of the sulfur to make black powder and put this long gun on the Oceanic."

　　Leah knew about the Oceana, the largest ship in the Grapevine, with 500 tons and a crew of 50, which was enough for an 18-pounder gun.

　　But it was not a standard gunboat and could not use the full power of the guns. Therefore, Leah gave Gaius the plans of the Iphigenia-class frigate.

　　"This kind of ship looks very impressive, 32 guns, enough to rule the ocean." Gaius sighed, "It's time to build it, I'll try the long cannon's ability in actual battle first."

　　"Practical combat capability?" When Leah responded, Gaius was already far away.

　　"Such a hurry?" Leah couldn't help but sigh, "Let him go prepare for the actual battle, I guess the winning rate will be very high."

　　She thought that Gaius only fought sea skirmishes, after all, only one gun, in this case, there is no certainty to win a sea battle.

　　And indeed it is, but Gaius is not as Leah thought which rush, Gaius arrived at the port of Elijah City, the crowd behind the cart loaded with long guns pushed to the dock.

　　Then using the pulley set on the dock, the long guns were lifted onto the deck of the Oceanic, replacing the stone throwing carts on the Oceanic.

　　The pulley set on the pier was designed to lift large things, and it was still possible to lift an 18-pound long gun.

　　Gaius ordered the soldiers to train in gun firing, and he had now used most of the sulfur. Leah had written out the black powder manufacturing method, and there were others who would follow it.

　　Still, the sulfur reserves were not enough to support the battle, which threw out his excitement with cold water.

　　It was necessary to find a way to obtain more sulfur, so he then sent another caravan to the Kayari Empire to buy pyrite. But this would take at least half a month or more to come and go.

　　Was there a way to get sulphur faster?