Chapter 107: Test firing of naval guns

Chapter 107 – Guns Test Firing
Paul also brought 12 guns for the navy with him this time, including 2 12-pounders, 6 6-pounders, and 4 cycloramas, and together with the 2 6-pounders and 4 cycloramas that were used for training before, the navy now had 18 guns.

The cycloramas were small-caliber guns that were placed on mounts that could rotate 360 degrees to fire loose bullets and small cannon balls, very light and flexible, and were used to support gang-jumping operations and to make up for dead spots in the fire of the flanking guns.

When the Hope was built, gun doors were reserved on both sides of the upper deck to accommodate the guns. Because it was the first time the ship was built, it was not clear how many guns could be loaded, and only eight gun doors were opened, four on each side.

After returning from the trial voyage, Austin commanded the sailors to receive the new guns brought by Paul, and four of the six-pounders were immediately loaded onto the ship, along with crates of shells and barrels of gunpowder.

Mounting the guns was not a simple task, the space on the ship was small, and it was necessary to use ropes and pulleys to construct a reasonable mechanism for the guns to retreat, the navy had been experimenting on land for a long time before they had worked out a set of feasible solutions.

“Come on, take me around the sea! We’ll try a couple of shots along the way.” After the sailors had placed the guns, Paul couldn’t wait to order out to sea.

The sailmakers hoisted the sails, and several sailors worked together to push the anchor winch hard to stow the anchor. With the wind at her back, the Hope once again headed slowly out of the harbor.

Many of the men who followed Paul were first-time boat riders, and they looked at the ship with excitement, as if the Hope were a big, new toy.

“This is the feeling I want!”

Facing the sea breeze sailing towards the boundless sea, at this time Paul seemed to be in the great age of navigation on earth.

In a corner of the deck, two female counselors were whispering.

Eileen thoughtfully, “It turns out that the boat can go so fast without paddling.”

Lardy chimed in, “Yes, it’s quite rare to see a large ship that holds up so many sails and is powered entirely by the wind.”

As an adventurer, she could be considered to have seen the world, but in the past, the kind of boats that did not rely on human oars were usually small boats that sailed along the coast or inland rivers, the kind that could only take a few people.

Erin said mysteriously, “I’ll tell you oh, in addition to the paper and porcelain that we use in our day-to-day life, and the canned food that we ate the other day, this Earl Gleiman has come up with quite a few things.”

The nature of a woman makes her impatient to share what she has seen with her companion, “There is a very terrible …… thing in his army.”

She stopped suddenly, remembering the “non-disclosure agreement” she had signed.

Oops! What an awful feeling.

Erin remembered the artillery and musket fire she had seen during the semaphore drill, which she had wanted to describe to Lardy, and had been impressed by the power and noise of the firearms.

“If only we could equip the kingdom’s army with such weapons in large numbers, the rebels in the south would surely be routed before that kind of power.”

More than once, she wondered so in her heart whether she should show her identity as a princess and request this lord to contribute the manufacturing technology to the royal family.

But the fear of a union made her dismiss the thought time and time again.

Lardy cocked her head quizzically and asked, “What’s scary?” The action was adorable.

Erin smiled brightly and said, “I can’t tell you yet, but you should be able to see it later.”

Before setting sail she had heard Paul’s “Try a couple of shots” and had seen the four guns deployed on the deck, which were supposed to be fired during this test voyage.

Sure enough, a moment later she heard Paul order, “Take the ship near that rocky cliff and let’s try the effectiveness of the ship’s guns.”

Austin immediately relayed Paul’s order to Quirk, and the Hope turned the ship around and headed for the shore near the rocky cliff.

The gunners, on the other hand, began loading the guns, and they quickly loaded the two six-pounders arranged on the port side.

Soon the Hope sailed to a position about 500 meters from the cliffs and turned her port side toward them.

Austin shouted the order, “Gunners ready!”

Erin immediately tugged on Lardy’s shirt and warned, “It’s going to be loud, cover your ears.” Lardy did as she said and covered her ears tightly with both hands, then looked at the others on the ship and covered their ears as well.

“Fire!”

As soon as Austin’s words fell, the two gunners each lit the pilot holes of the cannons in front of them.

Accompanied by the loud roar from the artillery, the crowd only felt a violent jolt in the ship’s hull.

Looking forward, the power of the ship’s artillery at this distance was impressive, the cliffs were splattered with debris, and one of the shells hit a huge rock that jutted out just right, shattering it into pieces on the spot.

“Good …… good!” La Di, who had seen the scene of artillery fire for the first time, was a little dumbfounded.

Erin introduced to her, “This is the artillery, capable of firing at long distances like crossbows and stone throwers.”

Lardy thought to herself, “That’s a lot more powerful and long-range than crossbows and catapults.

She thought back to the day Paul had recaptured Port Fullan, and the thunderous sound that had come from outside the town, shortly after the Arda army had broken through.

It was thought that the loud noise that day was from this kind of weapon, such a degree of power could indeed directly blast the city gates open, no wonder the pirates’ defense didn’t play any role.

There were four openings on each side of the ship, after all the cannons were arranged, then how powerful the ship must be.

Against an oar sailing ship of the same size, a round of cannonballs hit, if all of them hit, there would still be a few oarsmen left.

Lardy also understood that Arda was facing a threat from the Kent family in the next territory, but Earl Gleiman hadn’t shown any signs of panic, was this the power he relied on?

The port gun fired three rounds in a row before stopping.

Austin ordered loudly, “Check the condition of the ship!”

It was only a flurry of fire from two guns, it wouldn’t be good if the ship was shaken up, which meant that the Hope was a failure.

“All clear in the bilge!”

“Foredeck all clear!”

……

As a loud report came through, the crowd’s hanging hearts dropped.

Austin handed Paul the binoculars, and the Lord Earl scrutinized the situation on the rock face.

“This power should be no problem against those brittle ships of the pirates.” The Navy Commander confirmed as such.

Paul remembered something, he turned to Hansel, only to see that the head of the Ministry of Agriculture was now in a very bad state.

Hansel looked stunned and held one of the railings tightly with his hand. When he saw Paul looking at him, he cried out, “I’m sorry, this is the first time in my life that I’ve been out on a boat.”

“Gee, gee, Mr. Superintendent, we’re not even going out to sea yet, but we’re just doing a few rounds around the harbor.”

“Why don’t you wait a few more days and head south on the Hope when everything is ready?”

Hansel quickly waved his hand, “No, no, no, I’d rather go south by land this time, I wouldn’t dare delay Lord Gleeman.”

The deck resounded with the laughter of the crowd.

(End of this chapter)