My British Empire

Since the arquebus entered the war, especially after the Spanish phalanx was famous and made everyone tremble with fear, major European countries have equipped a large number of arquebus to improve their combat effectiveness.

Drawing on the situation of the Spanish phalanx, various countries have more or less begun to reform, but the stubborn forces are so powerful, and there are many matchlock guns.

To say that the most effective reforms are the English.

The prerequisite for military reform is equipment.

Only a large number of matchlock guns can carry out reforms and strengthen the army.

Since the bold innovative technology and the comprehensive study of the Spanish phalanx, the nascent United Kingdom Army has finally exploded its potential and performed well in the French battlefield.

And all of this is inseparable from the support of military factories.

In order to do their best to produce matchlock guns and supply the army, the royal family invested 10,000 pounds at once to expand the factory and recruit talents.

Coupled with the water mill and the maturity of ironmaking technology, the monthly output of the royal military factory has reached 1,000 sticks.

But in this way, it still cannot meet the needs of the Army.

In order to strengthen the army, His Majesty the King directly ordered the Bank of England to provide loans to other civilian arquebus factories to expand their production.

In this way, the unlimited supply of steel directly allowed the monthly production of matchlock guns to reach two thousand.

For a year, it can temporarily meet the needs of the army.

In terms of artillery, due to the discovery of iron mold technology, cheap iron cannons were mass-produced, with a monthly output of 100 pieces.

Moreover, it was also sold to sea merchants and pirates, earning a lot of profits.

Of course, at this time, the bronze cannon is the most powerful, and the iron cannon is still slightly inferior.

This is also thanks to the large number of copper mines in England, which can temporarily meet the demand.

The mass production of iron cannons and bronze cannons, driven by His Majesty Edward who admired artillery first, immediately established an artillery force in the army.

Each regiment has ten companies, each with 250 men, plus a special artillery company of 400 men, with 20 artillery pieces, and the total number of each regiment has reached 3,000.

When necessary, several artillery companies can also be merged, and the artillery can be used intensively.

It can be said that the United Kingdom Army is the army with the densest artillery in the world.

A tributary of the Thames River 50 miles away from Oxford, dozens of chimneys emitting black smoke, are exhaling polluted exhaust gas. The black smoke slowly drifts into the air along the wind, leaving an unpleasant smell.

"Your Majesty, this is where the military factories are located, including the royal musket factory, private musket factory, iron factory, coal factory, gunpowder factory, artillery factory, wood factory, etc., a total of fifty-eight factories."

On a hillside, a gorgeous carriage was parked on it. On the carriage, a young man in gorgeous clothes was holding a binoculars and observing the factory that was emitting black smoke.

On the side, an old man with dark skin, wearing glasses, explained in the direction the young man was looking.

Surrounding them are more than two hundred well-equipped, handsome guards, and the black-holed muskets look chilling.

"Not bad, very good!" Looking at an industrial area in front of him, factories are connected one after another, covering an area of ​​tens of thousands of acres, and the sizes of factories vary.

Black smoke enveloped the factory area, and from a distance, it looked like a gray smoke ring surrounding it.

In the eyes of modern people, the air pollution here is serious, the nearby cultivated land has become barren, and the yield has been greatly reduced. It is an out-and-out heavily polluted area.

But in the eyes of the young King, this is the foundation of the United Kingdom, the location of heavy industry, and the starting point of military and industry. Compared with hundreds of years of hegemony, what is a little pollution?

"This is the important place of the kingdom, it is very important, so you must be prepared for fire prevention, and there must be no loss!"

His Majesty the King raised his opinion to the person in charge of the factory area.

"Yes, Your Majesty, we have already made preparations. There are a large number of water tanks near each factory, which can extinguish the fire in time!"

The old man was dressed in decent clothes, with slightly rough skin, glasses, and curly gray hair. Like a gentleman, he replied politely.

"En!" Edward nodded, with a hint of joy on his face, put away the binoculars, looked at the old man with gray curly hair, and asked seriously:

"Mr. Jonathan, is it true that you say that an artisan has made a new invention, which proposes a great improvement over the existing arquebus?"

"Yes, Your Majesty, he is the young craftsman who improved the matchlock gun—Hercules Owen."

Mr. Jonathan nodded slightly, and said politely with a smile.

Following his movements, a dark young man with bright eyes came out timidly behind him and saluted Edward.

Edward noticed his wide palm covered with black marks, looked at his height of about 1.6 meters, and showed a smile that he thought he was kind and friendly. He walked a few steps closer and asked kindly:

"Mr. Hercules Owen, I heard that you have made major improvements to the matchlock gun?"

"Yes, Your Majesty! I was born as a watchmaker, and I am very interested in some mechanical things, so after seeing the matchlock gun, I made some improvements!"

Although Hercules Owen was a shy young man in his twenties, facing the king's friendly smile, he plucked up his courage and said loudly.

"What are the improved parts for the arquebus?" the king asked tirelessly.

At this time, Owen brought a matchlock gun from the side. The black muzzle of the gun was dazzling. Just as he was about to speak, there was a clattering sound.

The vigilant guards immediately raised their muskets and rapiers, aiming at Owen, the young craftsman holding the gun.

At this moment, Owen's expression was bewildered, and he was full of panic: What did I do?

"What's the difference between this and the old version?" Edward waved his hand to make the guards retreat, then picked up the musket in front of him and observed it carefully.

"Your Majesty, please see, I have added an opening and closing device for the powder pot cover to the original version, which can increase the shooting speed to a certain extent.

You can operate it with a light touch of your thumb, no need to free up your right hand to open the cover! "

Owen pointed to the cover on the musket, and said timidly, with timid eyes.

"Click ~" Edward demonstrated that when he pressed the cover, the cover would pop up automatically, which surprised the king very much.

Matchlock guns need to open the cover to fill gunpowder, which must take time.

After the cover plate is semi-automatic, it will reduce the filling time.

On the battlefield, every second could decide the outcome, and these few seconds could very well tip the battle.

"Mr. Owen, this is an outstanding contribution of yours, a very practical improvement!"

His Majesty the King said happily that inventive and creative talents are exactly what the Kingdom urgently needs.

"You'll get a hundred pounds, and a knighthood for life!"