The Rise of the European Emperor

In a field battle, Marin's army of 20,000 and Lübeck and Hamburg's army of 10,000 can completely abuse the Danes. However, what is certain is that seeing so many enemy troops, the other party will definitely choose to retreat into the castle to defend.

The last time they attacked Yevre Castle, a thick oak door and so many Khoun mortars fired for more than a day, which made Marin very dissatisfied. In fact, although the Cohoun mortar has a relatively small charge and saves gunpowder, the impact force of the shell is also insufficient, and it depends entirely on the impact force brought by the weight. So, Marin is looking forward to more powerful artillery.

For example, the famous "Hongyi Cannon", that is, the 18-pound imperial Koufeilin long cannon, was very powerful when it bombarded the city wall. Although the shells were not as heavy as the Cohoun mortar shells, the impact was definitely greater than the opponent's. Why? Because the medicine is different...

The Cohoun mortar, although the shell weighs 24 pounds, can hold a charge of up to 255 grams. Even if the purity of gunpowder is not high, it only uses 280 grams, which is more than half a pound.

The Hongyi cannon has a shell weight of 18 pounds, and the charge can be loaded with a maximum of 6 pounds of gunpowder according to the principle of 1 to 3. Therefore, although the caliber is not as large as that of the Cohoun shelling, the speed of the cannon when it is fired is much higher than that of the Cohoun shelling. Bombarding the Oak Gate with the red cannon is definitely much more efficient than the Cohoun artillery run.

But the biggest problem is that the Hongyi cannon is too heavy, weighing 2 tons. Such a heavy gun body, plus the gun mount, is very heavy. Generally speaking, it is difficult for a horse to pull a gun carriage loaded with Hongyi cannons. Even if it is pulled, it is a snail crawling and often needs to rest. Therefore, in ancient times, to transport red barbarian cannons on land, not only more than one horse was needed to pull the cart, but also a large number of people were needed. Because, when the carriage was going up the slope, it could not go up the slope with two or three tons of heavy objects, so a dozen people had to be sent to pull it forward and push it back...

So, as long as you go out with the red cannons, don't think about marching fast...

And Marin's military thinking is fast, preferably a blitzkrieg, and the opponent can't react in time, similar to the German thinking during World War II. However, because of the lack of siege weapons, it is difficult to be fast. It is also possible to bypass the opponent's fortress, but it is easy to be cut off by the enemy in the fortress, which is very dangerous.

Through the last shelling of Yevre, Marin could see it. Although the Cohoun mortar is much more capable of sieging cities than those three-pounders and six-pounders, that's it. Even if equipped with a large number of Cohoun mortars, it would take several days to deal with the average fortress.

Therefore, Marin was particularly eager to obtain a heavy artillery that was easy to transport and more powerful than Cohoun's artillery run, which was used to attack the city.

Ordinarily, this kind of idea should be an extravagant hope, but Marin's extravagant hope has come true...

It turned out that Marin had previously arranged for the Cannon Foundry to develop the Karen naval gun, requiring that the length of the barrel be shortened to reduce the weight of the gun body while the caliber remained unchanged. In this way, the barrel is shorter, and the ammunition loading can be accelerated. The weight is lower and it is easier to transport and reset.

Originally, Marin intended for craftsmen to cast a standard Karen naval gun with a caliber of 32 pounds and a total weight of 771.8 kilograms. However, after doing it for so long, the craftsmen are still very conservative. Until now, the transitional Karen naval gun with a total weight of 750 kg and a caliber of 18 pounds has been produced.

When Marin went to inspect the gun casting factory, he was very dissatisfied with the development progress of the Karen naval gun. However, after seeing the development progress and data, he had a new idea...

"Kalu (cannon-casting craftsman, old John's apprentice, formerly your blacksmith on Texel Island), you said that you have now produced a 750-kilogram, 18-pound Carron cannon?" Marin asked seriously.

Karoo, the chief engineer of the Second Cannon Foundry, nodded affirmatively:

"Yes, Lord Count, we have now developed an 18-pounder Karen gun with a total weight of 750 kilograms!"

Most of the craftsmen of the Second Cannon Foundry were serf craftsmen sent by Marin on Texel Island to learn cannon casting from Old John.

Marin had taught them Rodman's in-mold cooling technique, not Old John's First Cannon Foundry. Therefore, the qualified rate of the finished heavy guns cast by the second gun casting factory is much higher than that of the first gun casting factory. Moreover, Marin also believed more in the serf artisans of the Second Cannon Foundry.

However, because these craftsmen were born as serfs, they have little culture and low IQ. Marin asked them to improve the artillery and develop the Karen Cannon. Up to now, the 18-pound Karen cannon has only been produced. The progress is slow, and there is still a long way to go from the target of 32 pounds.

Even for the 18-pounder Karen gun, the data is wrong. Because, Marin, who has played a big sailing game, clearly remembers that the British standard 32-pound Karen naval gun should weigh 771.8 kg and have a length of 1.219 meters...

However, the craftsmen of the No. 2 Gun Casting Factory produced an 18-pound Karen naval gun that weighed 750 kilograms, which shows that the technical level is still limited. You know, the steel they use is all medium and low carbon steel, not wrought iron. Although the carbon content is not well controlled. But whether it is medium carbon steel or low carbon steel, the quality is much better than that of wrought iron, and it is more suitable for casting guns.

Marin also lost confidence in these serf-born gunsmiths. Fortunately, he has implemented universal education, and even the villages have comprehensively promoted artisan schools. In the future, when the students in these artisan schools grow up, Marin intends to let them completely replace these serf artisans who rely solely on experience and low education, and become the main force of cannon casting.

But anyway, the 18-pounder Karen gun...

"By the way, Karoo, if these 18-pounder Karen guns are fitted with gun mounts and converted into infantry guns, it should be fine, right?"

Marin suddenly opened his mind - since the Karen cannon is not heavy, has a large caliber and is powerful, why can't it be converted into an infantry cannon and used to attack cities? At least, its power is much stronger than Cohoun's shelling run. After all, it was a straight-line bombardment, the aiming was easy, and the kinetic energy was still large...

After thinking about it, Karoo replied:

"It shouldn't be a problem, Lord Count, if the 18-pound karen gun is mounted on a mount, the total weight will probably exceed 1 ton. If it is pulled by a carriage, it can only be taken on a flat road, otherwise, it will be difficult to transport. If you take a small road , the forward speed will not be fast, unless you use two horse-drawn carts to keep up with the march of the large army..."

"This is no problem, as long as you take it to siege the city and waste some animal power, it's worth it..." Marin can completely imagine that using the infantry version of the Karen cannon to bombard the city gate is not only more powerful than the Khoun mortar The bigger it is, the easier it is to aim. Because, the gunner only needs to aim directly through the Wangshan behind the barrel...

As for the transportation of artillery, it is a problem. Because, you can't guarantee that the gun car will walk on the flat road. If it encounters rough roads or swamps, it is indeed difficult to transport heavy artillery.

Therefore, Malin specifically instructed that the wheels of the gun mount should be made wider to disperse the pressure and prevent the gun carriage from getting stuck in the dirt road and unable to pull it.

As for the horses that pull the cart, Marin temporarily intends to use two horses and an infantry version of the Karen Cannon. Thinking of the problem of pulling force, Marin suddenly thought of the strong man among the horses - the British Sharma.

The Sharma is the heaviest horse in the world, with a tall body and a shoulder height of more than 2 meters. Moreover, it is so powerful that a single horse can pull 5 tons of beer. Of course, that's on a modern flat road. There are no smooth asphalt and concrete roads in this era. Therefore, its shipping capacity will be greatly reduced. But in any case, the "Hercules" among horses like Sharma, it's not a problem for a single horse to move a gun cart with a total weight of one or two tons.

However, the breed of Sharma seems to have not yet been finalized. So, Marlin needs to send someone to England to look carefully for this tall breed. After finding this giant breed, Marin will order a large-scale introduction, and specially cultivate it into a high-level draught horse responsible for pulling heavy artillery, so as to facilitate the march of artillery troops.

In addition, when transforming the existing dozen or so 18-pound Karen naval guns, Marin specifically asked Karoo to paint the gun bodies of all the guns with bronze paint to deceive others. Let others think that these heavy artillery are all bronze. What's the matter, look at how jealous my artillery is? Okay, you can build one too, one cannon and one ton of copper, see if you have the financial resources...