"On the day of D, when the first expeditionary team of the Marine Corps was conducting a cleanup in Zhongzuo Suo City, they found two Lingao-made naval guns on the city wall. After checking the inscriptions, it was confirmed that these two cannons were from the front section.
The gun on the missing patrol boat No. 64 of the Time Navy." The screen then showed two smoothbore guns that had been tilted in the sandbags of bricks. The gun mount was damaged, but the gun was intact, and the cast gun on it was intact.
The inscriptions, coats of arms and dates can be seen very clearly."
Photos of two artillery pieces appeared on the screen, with the whole body and close-ups from all angles, including the barrel and the damaged gun mount. This kind of artillery can only be manufactured by the gun foundry in Lingao.
Then there are more than a dozen photos, showing the ammunition, fuses and supporting tools on the artillery.
"It's very complete." Wen Desi said.
"Yes, after receiving my order, the special search team of the Planning Academy conducted a blanket search around the artillery firing position and found the ammunition and equipment supporting these artillery pieces - all equipment from the Harbor Patrol No. 64
.”
"Wait..." Wen Desi raised his hand when a picture of a grenade fuse was played, "They also use this kind of fuse?"
"Yes, according to reports from Shi Zhiqi and the sailors, they were fired upon by these two artillery pieces during the attack, including grenades."
There was a low discussion in the conference room. This kind of fuze is a 19th century technology, and it is a unique skill of Lingao in this time and space. It can be said that except for the navy and army artillery of the Fubo Army, no other armed force can accurately
Use this fuse.
"So, there are people in Zheng Zhilong's team who we can train well?"
"There is no definite evidence for this yet." Xu Xu said, "However, the incident of Harbor Patrol No. 64 was indeed carried out by the Zheng Group. I will report this in the last project."
"Okay, you go ahead."
"Yes." Xu Xu clicked the mouse, and the weapons factory on Gulangyu Island appeared on the screen.
"This is the newly built weapons factory of the Zheng Group that we discovered on Gulangyu Island - it is mainly used for casting artillery." He showed the various facilities in the factory, photos of the equipment and surveying data in turn.
"We gave the facility photos and surveying data of the entire factory to several veterans from the Manufacturing Director Department who have a deep understanding of gun casting and production organization for analysis. They concluded that this is a very well-designed foundry.
The design concepts of some of the facilities in the artillery factory are not only higher than the level of East Asia in this time and space, but also better than the current highest level of Europe."
Permission shows the next set of photos.
"This is one of the two facilities that the manufacturing director thinks is the most suspicious: the reverberatory furnace."
Most of the people here know what a reverberatory furnace is. The principle of a reverberatory furnace is very simple, and its construction is not difficult. After the founding of the Kurofune country and before the Meiji Restoration, the shogunate also carried out a Westernization movement, including
Under the guidance of Europeans, a reverberatory furnace was built and the artillery was cast according to the European model. Although the cast artillery was still a smoothbore cannon, the molten pig iron produced by the secondary smelting at a higher temperature in the reverberatory furnace was relatively pure, and the cast artillery had high quality.
Have to improve.
"Veterans in metallurgy and casting confirmed that the furnaces in this set of photos are all reverberatory furnaces used to melt pig iron for secondary smelting. The science and technology team of the Great Library confirmed: In this time and space, reverberatory furnaces with this structure have not yet appeared.
.So it cannot be that some European technician helped Zheng Zhilong build it."
There was another slight scratching below.
"The second item has not yet been formed." Xuanzang clicked on the photo, which was the square turret-like building he saw at the cannon foundry and the various bamboo and wood accessories found nearby.
"After identification by mechanical experts and construction experts, they agreed that this was an unfinished windmill. No bearings and transmission systems used inside the windmill were found around the windmill, so it should not have been completed yet. The elders of the construction company pointed out that from the perspective of construction alone,
From a structural point of view, this windmill is very similar to the windmills we widely use for water lifting, drainage and irrigation."
"Zheng Zhilong definitely didn't build this to grind flour or lift water." Someone joked below. Xu Xu also smiled and said:
"The veteran of the mechanical port analyzed that there are two possibilities for making windmills. One is to power the boring machine used for artillery, and the other is to grind gunpowder. Maybe both are possible. In short, this is obviously an improvement work.
An efficient approach." Quan went on to introduce the facilities, material preparation and recruitment of craftsmen at the artillery farm, especially the crucible.
The use of crucibles is nothing more than to obtain high-quality steel, but when it comes to casting cannons, neither China nor the West used steel before the mid-19th century. Furthermore, the amount of steel produced by crucibles is too small. It can be used to make a small number of swords or tools.
It is uneconomical to build cannons.
If you want to obtain high-quality swords, it is not worth mentioning to the Zheng Zhilong Group, which controls the trade routes with Japan. Therefore, the possibility of manufacturing swords can be ruled out.
"... From the on-site investigation and the prisoners' confessions, we learned that the factory is nearing completion. Judging from the fact that they have accumulated a large amount of cannon-casting materials and recruited a large number of craftsmen in advance, the Zheng Zhilong Group has very high expectations for this cannon factory -
―This may be related to the fact that they are refreshing their naval equipment. In the beach shipyard near the gun foundry, we found several improved Daifuku ships under construction. These two ships are nearing completion. We are considering using them
Tow it back to Hong Kong for further inspection - this is a photo of the ship."
"There are ribs, a deck, and this unusual length-to-width ratio: I think it's 4." Wen Desi commented, "This ship is an improved version of the Fu Ship. The deck and ribs are all for installing artillery.
Make improvements.”
"Yes." Xu Xu nodded, "Navy experts also said so."
"So, apart from the shipyard, this arms factory has not been put into production so far?"
"Yes. There are no traces of production in the factory - although according to the assessment they can start production. According to the prisoners, they are waiting for 'foreign cannons'. After analysis, we believe that the so-called foreign cannons captured by the prisoners should refer to 'sample cannons'.
Because in Jinxia and other places, we found artillery made by various countries: they were cast by the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, Portugal, and Spain, with calibers ranging from 1 pound to 24 pounds. Furthermore, they also had two cannons on our ship.
--Obviously they have no shortage of foreign artillery."
Finally, the issue of Harbor Patrol No. 64 was discussed.
"Based on our interrogation of the captured prisoners, we got the following information: The patrol boat was brought back by Zheng Zhilong's brother Zheng Zhifeng some time ago and was repaired at the dock. At the same time, the artillery and some equipment on the ship were disassembled
Come down."
At this time, what was displayed on the screen was a portrait of a young man, with the label below: "Zheng Zhifeng".
"We failed to capture Zheng Zhifeng. As for the other high-ranking prisoners captured, they knew very little about the matter, but we still gained something: several staff members testified that the patrol boat No. 64 of the Hong Kong and Coast Guard was responsible for the Zheng family's big accident.
After asking someone to hijack the price, it will be handed over to the Zheng family." After hearing this, there was a small commotion in the conference room, and it became quiet again in an instant.
"...In order to find out the specific situation, our bureau conducted an investigation in Kinmen, Xiamen and Anping. Unfortunately, the Ganghaixun 64 was not found, nor was it found other equipment on the ship - including typewriters and ammunition.
.They seem to disappear.
"Considering that the patrol boat No. 64 was captured almost intact, this is not something ordinary pirates can do. Therefore, we are very curious about who did it. Although Zheng Zhifeng himself was not captured, we captured
Many of his staff, personal soldiers, and domestic servants. Through further interrogation of these people, it was learned that this was done by a Chechidan believer named Paul from Japan. In addition, it is said that this man also promised to give Zheng
They provide cannons and other firearms, and they claim they are not much worse than those in Lingao." Hearing this, everyone in the conference room looked more solemn.
"Because Zheng Zhilong kept secret how he contacted Mr. Paul, we were unable to get more information from his staff. But through questioning Zheng Zhifeng's entourage, we got a portrait of Mr. Paul." The screen displayed.
The face of a typical East Asian in his prime, about thirty-five to forty years old.
"Everyone here may not necessarily know this person, but everyone must know Lando." Xu Xu paused. In his heart, Xu Xu didn't want to mention his colleagues, but he also understood his responsibilities very well. "
When Elder Lando first came to Lingao, the General Administration of Political Security interrogated him many times. At that time, he mentioned that while traveling through time and space, the boat he was on encountered a storm. There were two Filipino crew members on board at the time, and one
The German first mate, and a Japanese." This time a photo of the corpse of a naked white man appeared on the screen.
"This is the German chief mate. He died after hitting his head on the control platform. His name is Paul." Xu Xu paused intentionally to let others collect their thoughts. "Two Filipino crew members died after encountering the storm.
He disappeared, presumably being swept into the waves. Paul died, and his Japanese name was Hale. He climbed into the lifeboat with Lando. Later, the lifeboat was overturned by the waves and they were separated from each other. Lando never met him again."
What appeared on the screen was a portrait of an East Asian man in his thirties, with short hair, no beard, a strong build, a white face, and a smooth forehead.
"This is a portrait of Hale drawn based on Lando's description at that time. It can be seen that the images in the two portraits are very consistent." This portrait overlaps with the previous portrait, and the outline and facial features are very similar. (To be completed.