I do research in ancient times

The big ship broke through the morning mist, and the moment it appeared, it shocked everyone who witnessed its true appearance.

Even Twelve Lang, who had received news from his elder brother's heart before, was too frightened to move when he encountered this scene.

The boat, he had seen it before.

But like this, it was the first time in this young boy's life that he felt the impact of being coldly locked by the black cannon.

Fortunately, he is also a child who has seen the world, and he has maintained his calmness as a man.

But the cousins ​​next to him were not so lucky. The moment the whistle blew, two of them jumped off guard and almost fell to the ground with their buttocks. They almost made a big fool of themselves.

"This... this... this is our ship?!"

asked a cousin stammeringly.

They all knew that the frontier army and Mo Zong were working together to build a ship. They originally thought it was the kind of reverse sail boat used by the Donghu people. Most of them built a larger scale. They really never expected that what they saw with their own eyes turned out to be a ship equipped with artillery. A ship without sails!

What was that shocking sound just now?

Is it a huge horn?

What kind of horn can blow such a shocking volume? !

There were countless questions in their stomachs, and they even forgot to cheer for a while. It was not until the big ship slowly stopped and anchored by the pier that everyone barely recovered.

Then, the first steamship in history finally got the treatment it deserved.

When the gangway was lowered, Chief Hu Feng was the first to board the boat. After him were the elders of the Feng family. No matter how anxious the boys were, they would not dare to steal the limelight from the big brothers, and they might not go back. To eat Pai Tou.

Feng Dadu guarded on the boat, with Ning Sawzi as the guide, looking east and west, the more happy he looked, the more comfortable he looked, his whole face became a big morning glory with a smile.

He patted Ning Fei on the shoulder, "Boy Ning, your boat is really magnificent, why don't you give Uncle Feng a few shots to open your eyes?"

As he said that, Da Duhu twirled his fingers, and his eyes were full of salivation when he looked at the boat cannon.

"You don't need to do it yourself. Uncle Feng is the number one gunner in the frontier army. It's a sure thing to shoot. I'll do it myself."

"Is this cannon a usage of disharmony on the ground?"

Ning Fei, who was listening to his bragging, held back to keep his expression steady.

He knew that Chief Protector Feng was a fan of cannons. Ever since the first cannon was built, he had been thinking about taking one home with him.

However, the original artillery was supplied to the Heijia Army as coastal defense artillery, and those with movable gun mounts were also pulled onto the Donglai City battlefield. He squeezed his nose and put out this thought.

Later, more cannons were made, and Feng Dadu finally got what he wanted, and happily equipped himself with an artillery battalion.

Of course, he is not the only one in the Feng family to make this calculation, all the cousins, cousins, aunts, masters, uncles and uncles of the Feng family want it.However, artillery is a top-secret armament at this stage and must be obtained by frontier troops. Most of the artillery battalion is under the name of Ding'an City Wuwei, which is not a violation of the rules.It's just that this extra armament needs to be paid for by the guards themselves. The middle-aged man who has been suspended for more than a year has no choice but to raise a debt to the rich man's son with his old face.

The money couldn't be exchanged for so much at the moment, so it was divided up for a year, and a certain amount of silver had to be paid every month.The life of the chief guard is very tight, and he no longer has spare money to buy shells to enjoy himself, and his heart is already burning with urgency.

Now that it's so easy to get on this free boat, how can I miss the chance to relieve itching? !

"I can fight."

Ning Fei nodded, with a somewhat hesitant expression.

His original plan was to drive to the shooting range in the upper reaches of the Wuzhi River for test shooting, and then on the return journey, it was time to adjust the downwind gun near Yazicao, and the operation was handed over to the frontier sailor on the ship.

As a result, now that the chief protector offered to come in person, he naturally couldn't refuse, so he simply asked the chief protector to fight a round of superiority in the upper reaches of the Wuzhi River.

However, Brother Muye had talked to him about Daduhu's gunnery skills in a chat before, and he shot decisively and simply, but the angle of the parabola was so-so, almost relying on intuition to fire.

To such an extent, it is still necessary to find a more open and safer place, so as not to make too much intuition error and hurt the residents on both sides of the strait.

Ning Fei pondered for a moment.

"Uncle Feng, we will have two rounds of cannon test later. There is wind on the river today, and it is a bit difficult to test the cannon in downwind. The sailors on the boat are all fresh graduates from school, so I'm afraid they are inexperienced. How about..."

Speaking of this, Ning Fei paused for a moment, and as expected, he heard the excited voice of Chief Protector Feng at the next moment.

"Well, well, well!"

Da Duhu clapped his hands happily.

He just said that if you don't talk about it, you can't do things well!At the critical moment, a veteran like him has to step in!Can a group of young kids who just came out of school be able to handle such an important matter as a cannon test? Look at him.

He started, and the elders of Feng's family who followed him naturally wanted to take part in the cannon test.

Ning Fei thought about it, and felt that the left and right were people who had been on the battlefield. Leaving aside the accuracy, the experience feedback of these people who had participated in actual combat was also very important.

As a result, the plans for the test were changed.

Originally, frontier sailors were in charge of checking the two-way up and down tuyere. After Feng's family joined, the frontier sailors were responsible for the one-way upwind.

Hearing this, a group of young sailors who had been eagerly waiting for a long time almost shed tears from their noses.They were all the best selected from the sailor school. They fought openly and secretly for the first shot on the steamship, and they arranged the order of the test in private early in the morning.

As a result, it is not good now, the number of places has been reduced directly, and there are some unlucky ones who can fight to get on the boat, but are destined to return empty-handed.

While Feng Dahu and others were visiting Hungry Kungfu, the shipwright who accompanied the ship had already checked the inside and outside of the steamboat to make sure that everything was in good condition.

Ning Fei was in charge of the boiler and steam engine. Nada and Lao Dao had been paying close attention to the operation of the steam engine during the sailing process. Now, the performance was very stable and there was no abnormality.

After a brief rest, the big anchor was pulled up again, ready to start the next flight segment.

Linka blew the whistle calmly, with a very solemn expression.

For him, this is a kind of almost pious prayer, which is to inform the world and the rivers that the big ship is about to set sail, which is very ceremonial.

For the steamship's new passengers, they were no different from the previous batch.

Most of them stood on the deck, stunned by the swiftness and smoothness of the boat's speed. From the moment it started sailing until it reached the water shooting range, a few junior members of the Feng family were holding on to the side of the boat tightly. The voice was so shocking that it was dry and petrified, and his whole body was stiff.

God, what is this booming iron guy?How powerful!

Before they came back to their senses, the boat had already arrived at the shooting range near Wuwei City.

The shooting range is a relatively open water area, and the targets are two wooden merchant ships moored in the distance.

Seeing the predetermined distance, Linka turned his head steadily on the steering wheel, and the ship turned a right angle steadily while advancing, and the black side string gun was aimed at the direction of the target ship.

Almost without hesitation, the string cannon roared.

Boom-boom-boom-

Facing the huge muffled noise, Ning Fei raised his voice to let Sanshui Taoist and Nada pay attention to the situation of the hull, while he stood by the steam engine, staring at the machine's operation nervously.In order to resist the reaction force of the cannon fire, the power output of the steamship was maximized, and Ning Fei was very afraid that the excessive vibration of the hull would affect the performance of the boiler.

The birth of a steamship, engines and boilers are only the first step. Whether these technologies can be perfectly integrated into actual warfare is the biggest test Ning Juzi faces.

Born in a peaceful and prosperous age, he has almost no concept of war, and can only predict all extreme situations with his imagination.

All this happened so quickly that the Feng family members on the boat hadn't recovered their senses when a series of dense explosions sounded not far away, causing monstrous water waves.

The shells of this stringed cannon are special, and they will explode into countless fragments at the moment of explosion, which is extremely lethal.

Twelve Lang was stunned, dumbfounded, watching the fire blazing in the waves, and black smoke rose from the Wuzhi River.

But the big ship turned around and turned back without any hesitation, without any stop in the whole process, heading all the way in the direction of the duck.

"Hurry up, it's my turn this time."

Chief Guard Feng couldn't wait any longer, he squeezed away the reluctant frontier sailors, and grabbed the center gun position on the side string by himself.

After all, he was a battle-tested veteran. As soon as he touched the cannon, the guard's eyes immediately became cautious and solemn.

He asked the frontier sailor who had just tested the cannon just now, and inquired about the details of the calibration and firing, and combined with the previous situation of the shell's impact, he was familiar with the various performances of the string cannon. Get up to speed.

The big boat sailed fast and steadily in the Wuzhi River, and arrived near Yaziao in less than an hour.

After Linka raised his hair to indicate that he was approaching the target, the observation post on the ship raised the command flag to indicate that the gunners of the whole map were in position, and the atmosphere on the ship suddenly became tense.

Captain Feng grasped the fire rope tightly, holding up the binoculars and constantly aligning the direction of the target ship.The previous sailor told him to fire the gun when the side of the string gun is facing the target after the hull is sideways. The timing is very critical, because the water is flowing, and the slightest hesitation will deviate from the original angle.

"Ready—launch—"

Hearing the order, the chief guard confirmed the position of the target ship for the last time, and then decisively pulled the fire rope.

boom boom boom boom-

Five stringed cannon salvos were fired, and the target ship was broken into two pieces from the middle, and sea water quickly poured into the belly of the ship.

Da Duhu jumped three feet high, smiling like a big morning glory in full bloom.

"Hit it! I hit it!"

He grabbed Ning Fei.

"Boy Ning, your boat is very good, very good!"

"I'll build as much as I have. I want to install the whole fucking fleet. This is the fleet of our frontier army. It's not short of money! It's not short of money!"