Trench Bolts and Magic

Chapter 46 The International Brigade has many talented people

Meanwhile, Morin found the International Brigades' temporary camp.

He easily found the bearded commander, Andrei—the same commander of the 1st Battalion, 2nd Regiment of the Eastern European Brigade who had fought alongside them in hand-to-hand combat.

Just as Ludwig had predicted, the latter was now leading a large group of people in making Molotov cocktails.

“Andrei, my friend, are you making Molotov cocktails?” Morin asked as he approached him.

“That’s right, Morin! It’s just that we haven’t collected enough soap and rubber tires, which will mean we don’t have enough thickener and the effectiveness of the Molotov cocktails will be greatly reduced.”

Andrei put down what he was doing, sighed, and then looked at Morin with curiosity.

"Lieutenant Morin, is there something you need from me at this hour?"

"Alright, I do need your help with something!" Morin didn't mince words and spoke directly.

“Speak, Lieutenant Morin, anything I can do.”

Andrei was a generous Slav, very much like a Russian in every way.

Having fought side by side before and witnessed Morin handle military discipline issues firsthand, he had developed a considerable fondness for this young lieutenant who was not quite like a traditional Saxon soldier.

"I need a few people."

Morin stated his requirements directly.

"Are there any chemistry teachers in your team? Or blacksmiths or foundry workers would also be fine, the more skilled the better."

"A chemistry teacher? A craftsman?"

Andrei scratched his thick beard, his expression somewhat strange:
“My friend, we are a volunteer army, not a university or a factory. But now that you mention it, I do seem to have a few candidates.”

He turned around and called out a few names. Soon after, several people were brought before Morin.

The leader was a middle-aged man wearing glasses who looked refined and gentle, but whose expression was somewhat tired and melancholy.

The bearded man explained that this man was a chemistry professor from a university in Western Lucia who had been wanted for making anti-war remarks and had fled here.

Behind him were several burly men with calloused hands, who were said to be experienced workers familiar with smelting and casting.

Looking at the hastily assembled 'professional team' in front of him, Morin took a deep breath.

Success or failure depends on this.

Andrei looked at this strange group, and his curiosity was piqued.

"So, Lieutenant Morin, what exactly are you planning to do?"

"I want to make a 'can opener' for the white tin cans of Brittany."

Morin led the group back to the Teutonic Knights' camp, where Ludwig had already arranged the items he had 'borrowed' from the artillery battalion.

He found a table, then quickly drew an object with a strange structure on a piece of paper, and then looked at everyone.

"Gentlemen, I need your help with these things," Morin said, pointing to the shells and casings on the ground, "to make this thing in the picture."

The professor adjusted his glasses, picked up the blueprints, and examined them closely, his brows furrowing deeper and deeper. Meanwhile, the workers surrounded the shells, their eyes filled with curiosity.

Ludwig stood by, watching everything unfold like an outsider.

As he watched Morin command things methodically, as he gathered together seemingly unrelated people such as Saxon artillerymen, professors from the International Brigades, and workers, the strange feeling in his heart grew stronger.

How could this famous Dresden playboy have so many strange and unusual things in his head?

He watched as Morin laid out the shells, cartridge cases, and strange blueprints on the table, and suddenly felt that Morin was more like an alchemist than a Saxon officer.

"Alright, gentlemen!"

Maureen clapped her hands, drawing everyone's attention.

"Time is of the essence, let's get to work!"

Next, an unprecedented 'alchemy' began in this makeshift workshop.

Morin became the director, the chemistry professor from West Lucia became the technical advisor, and the workers from other places became the core implementers.

The first step, and also the most dangerous, was to remove the intact 105mm shells.

The leFH 98/09 105mm howitzer shells were separate-loading. Morin needed the picric acid, or yellow explosive, inside the projectile to cause damage, and this task was assigned to several veterans sent by the artillery battalion. They carefully used tools to unscrew the KlAZ23 fuse of the 105mm high-explosive shell, and then rotated it counterclockwise to remove it.

Fine beads of sweat appeared on everyone's foreheads. After all, they rarely dismantle shells on a regular basis, and even when they do, it is in a professional and safe environment in the rear.

Instead of just finding a shed anywhere in the war zone, like we are doing now.

"Slow down, slow down," an old soldier murmured to himself, as if gently stroking his wife's cheek.

Ludwig stood at a distance, watching this scene, and suddenly regretted following Morin to watch the spectacle.

He felt he would rather charge into battle in his armored knight and face ten armored knights of the Garde Knights than stay in a place where he could be blown to bits at any moment.

Morin, on the other hand, appeared much calmer. He watched the artillerymen operate the projectiles with great interest, and also learned how they separated the warhead from the projectile body.

When the first shell was successfully dismantled and the yellow, blocky explosive was completely removed, everyone breathed a sigh of relief.

While the artillerymen were dismantling the shells, the chemistry professor and workers on the other side were heating up a huge crucible belonging to the Knights.

Their task was to melt down the brass cartridge cases and then cast hollow metal cones according to the design on Morin's drawings.

"Bellphone! Increase the airflow!" a worker shouted, his dark skin glowing red in the firelight.

Flames roared up, and the carefully cleaned and cut cartridge cases slowly melted under the high temperature, turning into a golden liquid.

Meanwhile, another worker is making a cone-shaped mold out of clay.

His hands flew across the clay, and soon, one precise cone-shaped mold after another was formed.

The chemistry professor watched the workers operate from the sidelines and said to Maureen:

"Lieutenant, as far as I know, most countries currently use copper-zinc alloys for their artillery shell casings. However, zinc has a lower boiling point than copper's melting point. So, directly melting copper would result in the loss of zinc during the process."

"Isn't that just right?"

"Eh?"

Seeing the chemistry professor's somewhat surprised expression, Morin smiled and said, "What I really want is a hollow cone made of pure copper. If there are other impurities in it, it will have an impact."

"I see? Then I understand."

The chemistry professor nodded, and after confirming these details, he calculated the explosive yield and the optimal angle of the cone based on Morin's description.

At first, he was actually quite skeptical of Morin's theory.

"Hollow? Using a cavity to focus the energy of an explosion?" The professor adjusted his glasses and shook his head repeatedly. "Lieutenant, this completely violates traditional explosives theory. Energy should diffuse, how can it be focused?"

Maureen patiently explained, "Professor, you can think of it as light. We can use a concave mirror to focus sunlight onto a single point. The energy shockwave from an explosion spreads along the normal, which is similar in a way."

Based on previous indirect inquiries, Maureen has discovered that the 'Monroe effect' seems to have not yet been discovered in this world, so at this point, she can only use the most common analogy to describe it.

The professor was skeptical, but he still picked up a pen and paper and began to calculate frantically.

He was captivated by this entirely new theory; his academic curiosity overwhelmed his preconceived notions, and for a moment he felt as if he were back in a university classroom.

The makeshift workshop next to the Teutonic Knights' encampment quickly began operating efficiently after everyone realized that this thing was related to their lives and fortunes.

The artillerymen were in charge of dismantling, the workers were in charge of smelting and casting, the professors were in charge of calculations and theoretical support, and Morin was the brain that connected all the links.

Initially, there were some barriers between these people from different countries and different classes.

The Saxon soldiers disapproved of the International Brigades workers' lax attitude, and the workers, in turn, remained wary of these Imperial soldiers.

But as the work progressed, these barriers gradually dissolved under the shared goal and Morin's effective organization.

They began to coordinate with each other, understanding each other's meaning with just a glance or a gesture.

Ludwig watched all of this silently from the sidelines.

He noticed a peculiar sense of unity surrounding the young lieutenant.

He can unite people with completely different identities, backgrounds, and ideologies closely together for a common goal.

This shocked Ludwig even more than the 'can opener' he was about to create.

(End of this chapter)