1635 Han style rises again

Chapter 144 Coastal Defense
In April, when the transport ship "Polang 1" was transferring immigrants in Batavia, it took two 12-pounder guns and two 14-pounder guns from the dock warehouse and shipped them back to Hanzhou.

These four cannons were provided by Ludwild's instructions to the Batavia fleet. As for the cannons weighing more than 16 pounds, they were prohibited from sale by the Dutch East India Company.

Since the four artillery pieces were transported back to Hanzhou, they were immediately dragged to the Heishanbao barracks.Looking at these four so-called heavy guns from the 17th century, Qi Tian's first feeling was, why are they so crude and bulky!

The two-meter-long cast iron barrel, with a caliber of 10-12 centimeters, can fire 6 pounds to 12 pounds of gunpowder, with a maximum range of more than three kilometers.If it is really on the land battlefield or at sea, the artillery will definitely be affected by many natural environments and even human factors when fired.The estimated effective range is between 250m and 2000m.

Qi Tian hesitated for less than a minute, and asked the craftsman to pull a 1-pound cannon to study.For the remaining three cannons, more than fifty people were selected from among the many immigrants and began to practice artillery shooting.Including simple distance measurement, gunpowder ratio, various shell uses, mastering the operation process and other artillery operation skills.

Because there are no warships, artillery shooting can only be practiced on land.However, shooting at fixed targets on land is naturally much easier than shooting at floating targets at sea.In just over two months, dozens of barrels of gunpowder were wasted, and two artillery pieces were broken. Although more than 50 gunners could not say where to shoot, they could still hit the target position nine out of ten.

As for whether they can hit the moving warship as gunners after boarding the ship, I am afraid that these people need to practice more, or add some luck to it.

Looking at the remaining 12-pound gun, everyone couldn't help but slander the Dutch.Nima, the artillery that you sold to us is an old artillery that you don't want.After a layer of iron paint, it was sold to us at a new price.

Otherwise, before the artillery fired dozens of shells, two of them would be abolished.It seems that the artillery has to be cast by itself.

Just when Qi Tiandi's patience was about to be exhausted, our Swiss cannon maker Stephen Grichdin was fully inspecting the 14-pound cannon purchased from Batavia, and several blacksmiths from Foshan With the assistance, a qualified 14-pound cast iron cannon was finally cast.After testing, the performance and range are better than the artillery purchased by Batavia.

"My lord, I guarantee that in a very short period of time, another cannon weighing 16 pounds to 20 pounds will be cast! Believe me, I promise it in the name of God!" Stephen Grechdin seemed to have a sudden urge confidence.

Although, Qi Tian really wanted to have more than 16 pounds of artillery in the shortest possible time.But he knows that the research and manufacture of artillery cannot blindly seek speed, and requires continuous technological accumulation and technological exploration.

"Stephen, I believe in you. I have always had confidence in you. Now, in addition to continuing to study casting 16-pound cannons, you can improve the 4-pound small cannon without affecting its performance. Let’s make it lighter.” Qi Tian considered that in July he and the Dutch would attack the Kingdom of Aceh, where there were all jungles, and it would be inconvenient to drag the artillery.

If the artillery can be lighter, it will be much easier for soldiers to drag and move, and even can quickly deploy artillery on the battlefield.

Now that Hanzhou has built a 14-pound artillery, it is necessary to establish coastal defense.The artillery is not powerful enough, but we can build the fort a little higher, depending on the terrain, it can also exert the power of a 16-pounder or 18-pounder.

The pier outside Jianye City is built in a concave bay with towering mountains on both sides.The No. 1 Fort set up by Qi Tian is facing the direction of the pier. It is planned to build 16 gun positions in the early stage, and arrange four 6-pounder guns, 8-pounder guns, four 12-pounder guns and four 14-pounder guns each.

The mountains on both sides are No. 2 Fort and No. 3 Fort.Because there is no need to consider that the enemy will land from the mountains on both sides, all 12-pound guns and artillery above 14-pound are set up, and ten gun positions are temporarily set up.

All the artillery positions are planned to use a large amount of cement and stones, and they are all designed to be half-covered. The thickness of the protection, the cement and the stones will reach more than 30 centimeters, and can withstand the bombardment of 16-pound to 24-pound naval guns.Of course, if the enemy is lucky enough and the shell hits the firing hole directly, he can only consider himself unlucky.

All the forts are planned to be completed in August of this year.At that time, unless the incoming enemy is willing to pay the price of sinking several or even half of the warships, it will be impossible to calmly land at the dock and launch an attack.

If you can't attack from the pier, the enemy can only go around to the shallows or places with sparse forests a little far from Jianye City to land on the beach.With the current force of Hanzhou, unless the incoming enemy ships and personnel are very large, it will become very difficult for you to land.

Therefore, as time goes by, the population of Hanzhou will gradually increase, and the defense facilities will become more and more perfect. At that time, there will be no fear of any enemy attacking.

At present, the No. 1 Fort facing the pier has been completed. There are 14 gun positions, and [-] cannons have been installed. The remaining four [-]-pounder guns still need to be produced and tested by the Cannon Casting Workshop in Montenegro.

Since the artillery was in place, it began to continuously test the firing range and impact point distribution of the artillery.It must be done. When an enemy ship attacks, each gun position of the fort knows what specification artillery to use, how much gunpowder ratio to use, and what the elevation angle of the gun muzzle is.Inflict as much damage and damage as possible on enemy ships.

From a distance, the sound of "Boom, Boom" from Jianye City Wharf was heard. Niu Jinmin, who had returned from Batavia, couldn't help but rubbed his teeth.

Now, when their transport ships come back, they have to stop at a distance and wave the flag again and again, indicating that the fort is the arrival of their own ships, so don't shoot by mistake.

With the uninterrupted transshipment of the two ships, by the end of May, all the immigrants stranded in Batavia had been transported back to Hanzhou.

As of the end of May, there were 340 nine residents in Hanzhou (excluding natives and pirate coolies), and there were 95 residents in Xinxiangbao on the opposite Timor Island.Embarrassingly, the female population is only about 1 people.Qi Tian felt that if he came back from Daming in the future, although he couldn't achieve a 1:1 male-to-female ratio, he had to achieve a 2:[-] ratio.

Otherwise, in the long run, the Hanzhou Continent will be full of rough men at a glance, and many social problems will indeed exist or occur.

At present, after a large number of Hanzhou immigrants have worked hard, in addition to looking forward to the distribution of houses and land, their biggest thought has added another one-marrying a wife.

Niu Jinmin's "Polang 1" repeatedly confirmed that there would be no misfire from the fort, then carefully drove into the harbor, and finally docked slowly at the pier.

"Niu Da, did you pull the wood again?" Zhang Jiawen approached the trestle bridge crookedly.

Zhang Jiawen used to be the gunner on the ship. During the sea battle with Zheng Zhilong, his foot was injured by the falling artillery, so he has been placed in Jianye City for the elderly.But a few months ago, when I heard that Hanzhou was going to form a coastal defense team, I thought, this is not like the gunners of the Marine Corps, who need to run around.So he recommended himself to Yu Fukun, wanting to be a gunner of a coastal defense team.

Yu Fukun and Qi Tian discussed for a while, any valuable talent needs to be fully utilized!Immediately appointed Zhang Jiawen as the captain of the interim coastal defense team to form and manage the entire coastal defense fort.

"Isn't that right?" Niu Jinming jumped out of the boat, "I pulled 100 pieces of ship timber... There were also some large animals such as mules, horses, cattle and sheep, 10 tons of Indian saltpeter, and 50 tons of grain, but they were unloaded at Xinxiangpu. 10 tons."

"Huh, there are still immigrants?... Barbarians!" Zhang Jiawen saw more than two dozen blond barbarians coming out of the cabin.

"They!" Niu Jinming glanced back, "There are a few of them, but they are shipbuilders that Commander Hu managed to get in Batavia! Qi Tian must be happy to see it."

"Niu Da, I remind you, don't shout at the sky all day long!" Zhang Jiawen frowned and said; "Don't look at him because he is young, but he is also the civil affairs chief of our Hanzhou. Even if you don't look at Master Cao For the sake of saving face, just show him the management of more than 2000 people in Hanzhou, and you have to respect him. In the future, as Hanzhou develops and grows, his status and power will only become more prominent."

Niu Jinming was shocked when he heard this.That's right, I really regarded Qi Tian as the frail young man when he first got on the ship, and he didn't have any scruples. This young man is already the chief civil affairs officer of Hanzhou, and all civil affairs are under his management.In addition, the military preparation department established under the civil affairs department is also responsible for organizing the training of township soldiers and providing reserve soldiers for the marine corps and army. At the same time, all the guards in the mining area are also under his jurisdiction.

If in Daming, Qi Tian had such authority, he would be a Zhengyin official in one prefecture and one county, and he would also have the duties of pushing officials and making judgments, so he could be regarded as a big man.Niu Jin Mingchao and Zhang Jiawen cupped their hands, "Thank you for reminding me, my brother is used to being reckless!"

"Those of us who came out of Dengzhou are all vulgar people. It stands to reason that we are not very promising. But now, in the border of Hanzhou, we old people, which immigrant doesn't respect you. But, is that what we deserve? It’s nothing more than cutting through the wind and waves, and pulling people to come here first. The bricks, tiles, castles, workshops, and these forts here are all built by the chief executive with us and all the immigrants. Yes. We must be content and know how to measure." Zhang Jiawen said slowly.

"I will tell other brothers in the future." Niu Jinming patted Zhang Jiawen on the shoulder, "We can't become domineering because we are used to carelessness now. He Laoliu is a lesson from the past!"

"It's good that you know, I'm going up, and see if those bastards have wiped the cannon clean." As he spoke, Zhang Jiawen dragged a stumped leg and walked slowly towards the fort.

(End of this chapter)