Industrial Cthulhu, starting from the island lord

Chapter 214 Hand Cranked Gatling Gun

The three of them walked quietly on the street, each of them thinking about something.

Josh was the first to break the silence. He forced a smile and said, "At least we accomplished our original goal. The 'Prince' planned to send a ship to Castel to investigate."

"His name is William."

Jeremiah and Josh looked at Ken together, but Ken stiffened his neck and refused to look at them.

"Ken, that prince. Forget it." Josh hesitated for a while, and finally didn't know how to start.

The "prince" gave them a very contradictory feeling. He extended a helping hand to them without hesitation and rescued the victims without expecting anything in return. If they didn't know this man's past, they might really think he was a selfless saint.

"Mr. Jeremiah, do you think that 'prince' will really help us?" Ken asked hesitantly.

"Yes." Jeremiah was very sure. "There are many nobles like this. After doing bad things, they feel guilty and try to make amends. Some donate money to the church, and some do charity. What's more, this man even swore an oath in the name of his ancestors. We didn't force him."

At this point, Jeremiah sneered, "He's actually thinking of that. If his ancestors really knew what this 'prince' had done, they'd probably be furious."

Ken was speechless. Indeed, the "Prince" directly betrayed Grand Duke Tis's old subordinates and sold the duchy to the Queen. If Grand Duke Tis knew about this, he would probably be furious.

Especially recently he had to go to the Rhine to meet the Queen, who appointed him as the nominal lord of Tis.

The "Prince" promised to rescue Nora in the North upon his return, and immediately sent his steward to investigate Castel. After all, Blood Harbor was not far from Castel, and if one fell, the other would be in danger. Jeremiah prepared to sail along to investigate.

As for sending troops to the north, Jeremiah did not take it seriously. Given this "prince's" ability to protect himself, he would probably find a reason to retreat after discovering difficulties.

By wagging his tail to the queen, the "prince" saved himself and could continue to play his game of upholding justice under the queen's protection. Jeremiah looked up to him instead.

But these have nothing to do with them. No matter what the reason is, it is a pleasant surprise that the "prince" can help them find out the truth about Castel.

"Captain, do you think the Prince will really send troops to the North?" Ken hesitated for a long time before asking in a low voice.

Jeremiah snorted, not bothering to answer. The "Prince" didn't even have any soldiers under his command, so how could he convince the Queen to send troops? The massacre of the refugees might have been the Queen's doing.

It all depends on how the "prince" tries to explain it to his ancestors.

"Don't worry, Ken. Even if the 'Prince' won't send troops, Lord Zeus won't just sit there and watch Nora stay in the North." Josh patted Ken's shoulder.

Jeremiah agreed with this point. Castel was waiting for this group of refugees to join him, and it would be reasonable for Hughes to send someone to the northern border.

"But, it seems that Castel doesn't have many soldiers, right?" Ken hesitated and said, "Lord Zeus loves peace and has been engaged in construction. Can we really defeat those dukes in the north?" The three of them frowned together. It seemed that this was indeed the case. Zeus seemed to love peace too much and had never had any conflicts with the surrounding areas. Could Castel really defeat him?
"Everyone, look at this, a Gatling gun." Zeus, with a flushed face, commanded the banshees to carry out a heavy gun.

The Gatling gun has a very old history. This weapon was imported during the Tongzhi period of the Qing Dynasty. It was the first machine gun used on a large scale in the world. Hughes made some changes to the classic hand-cranked Gatling gun. The machine gun in front of the people has a firing rate of more than 300 rounds per minute.

The principle of a machine gun is not complicated. The most troublesome thing is actually the bullet. There are quite a lot of technical bottlenecks from the primer to the cartridge case stamping. Even in modern times, many countries still do not have the ability to manufacture bullets independently.

Zeus was able to produce bullets thanks to the technological explosion brought about by the lifting of the technology lock. He was lucky enough to solve most of the technical difficulties in one go. Although the yield rate of the bullets he produced now is not high, he has solved the problem from zero to one after all.

Now Xiusi has a love-hate relationship with technology locks. They usually act as a bottleneck, but once they are lifted, they can bring about a wave of technological explosion.

However, this limitation also brings about a technical black box. Without the intermediate phased results, it is difficult to judge whether the technical route is wrong.

Fortunately, Xiusi is a time traveler, and he knows which technical routes are feasible. With the advantage of foresight, the positive effects brought by the technology lock are even greater.

For example, this wave of technological explosion allowed him to develop bullets. If he had taken the wrong technical route and insisted on using rifled rifles, he would probably be heading in a strange direction, such as a steam rifle?

hiss.

Xiu Si suddenly had a guess. Steam rifles, mechanical priests, these technologies that are unheard of on the blue planet, are they the result of climbing the wrong technology tree under the restriction of technology lock?

This seems to make sense.

In short, although the research and development speed has slowed down recently, the restrictions of the technology lock have not yet come again. Xius is currently trying to race against time to develop airships and artillery.

Several people in the room began to whisper. This machine gun was designed entirely by Hughes himself. Alexi, Chloe and others were unaware of it. Gaia was only responsible for the manufacture of bullets. She could probably guess what she had made, but she certainly didn't know how powerful it was.

"Our southern railway is now complete. This hand-cranked Gatling gun will be installed on the front of the armored locomotive." Hughes patted the brand new gun. "Of course, the wheels underneath will be replaced with a fixed base."

Alexei almost understood what was going on. He looked at the machine gun and asked, "My Lord, is this a weapon that soldiers can carry?"

The Gatling gun is made entirely of steel. Alexey knew after just one look that it was impossible for someone to carry it on their back. It was too heavy.

But even with wheels, it would be extremely inconvenient to move forward on the battlefield. Is this thing really necessary?
Looking at the structure, especially the barrels on top, Alexei guessed that it should be a firearm that can fire multiple bullets at the same time. This kind of thing is not rare. It is usually made like a duckbill facing in all directions. Pirates like to wear it. It perfectly solves the problem that a musket can only fire one bullet at a time.

The disadvantage is that it is basically a disposable item, there is no chance to reload it on the battlefield, and this thing has basically no accuracy.

(End of this chapter)