Vientiane Throne of Civilization

Chapter 1783 New Weapons

Don't be fooled by the seemingly simple rotating mechanism of the Thunder Rotary Cannon. During its production, the research and development team had to consider the weapon's power, range, and durability, as well as the stability of the entire structure.

They need to achieve the most cost-effective balance among these various influences.

This also resulted in the Thunder Cannon undergoing far more adjustments than the original Dwarven Heavy Cannon.

As a weapon, the Thunder Rotary Cannon cannot be viewed in isolation.

The purpose of this weapon is to enrich the artillery's offensive capabilities, complementing the dwarven heavy artillery and thus enhancing the artillery's firepower and strike range.

However, this time, Zhou Xu came to the grassland military region not for the Thunder Rotary Artillery.

Filled with excitement, Zhou Xu quickly walked across the testing ground of the Thunder Rotary Cannon and arrived at another field next to it.

Because weapons and equipment testing often requires consideration of different environments, the environment of this site is undoubtedly much more complex.

As soon as we entered, we saw a large area of ​​trenches that had already been formed.

Strictly speaking, this is not actually a testing ground.

As weaponry and equipment continue to evolve, the nature of warfare also changes.

If they encounter a technologically advanced power of similar development level, trench warfare will inevitably be an important part of the battle.

In response to this situation, the Grassland Military Region also simulated the battlefield environment and dug trenches early on for soldiers to conduct relevant training.

In other words, this is actually a training ground for the grassland military region.

Inside the trench, all the testers were already in place, and it was unclear how many rounds of testing they had already completed.

As soon as Zhou Xu arrived, he saw a weapon that was seven or eight parts similar in design to the Thunder Rotary Cannon, but smaller in size, mounted on a platform in the trench.

The weapon had a handle on one side, and the tester next to him gripped the handle and started to turn it.

This weapon clearly has a sophisticated linkage mechanism inside. This operation directly drives the barrel to rotate, and at the same time completes the firing step. Accompanied by a series of gunshots, bullets are continuously fired from the barrel.

The name of this weapon is the Dwarf Hand-Cranked Heavy Machine Gun.

When they were confirming the dwarven design blueprints they obtained from Copperforge, Zhuang Mengdie thought that the development of the dwarven hand-cranked heavy machine gun could be put on hold for the time being.

Considering the circumstances at the time, this judgment was clearly correct.

But the situation is different now, the key being that they have an additional formidable defensive line in the Rakshasa region.

Aside from the oasis outposts, which offer virtually no defensive advantages, the natural barrier along the Russian border is the closest outpost to that desert force.

Given the environment of that formidable barrier, the dwarven heavy artillery is basically unusable.

Transporting them up there was extremely difficult, and the space available for deployment on the mountain was also very limited, making it impossible to form effective fire suppression.

In comparison, the lighter and more flexible dwarven hand-cranked heavy machine gun became the preferred choice for deploying this defensive line.

Given this premise, the ordnance research and development department was already developing the Thunder Rotary Cannon. On this basis, further research on the Dwarven Hand-cranked Heavy Machine Gun could be said to be twice as effective with half the effort.

However, when it comes to these two weapons, the dwarven hand-cranked heavy machine gun is more difficult to manufacture and develop than the Thunder Revolver, and its internal interconnected structure is also more complex.

After the Thunder Rotary Cannon unleashed its eight-round barrage, the artillerymen responsible for operating it had to clean the breech of each cannon one by one and then manually load the shells into each of the eight barrels in sequence. However, the dwarven hand-cranked heavy machine gun did not require this. This heavy machine gun was equipped with a special ammunition belt, and the bullets were pre-loaded onto the belt.

When in use, the soldier responsible for operating this hand-cranked heavy machine gun only needs to install the ammunition belt and then grip the handle to turn it.

During the rotation of the grip, the internal structure creates a linkage that not only causes the barrel to rotate as well, but also drives the ammunition belt, continuously feeding the bullets loaded on the belt into the chamber and completing the firing operation.

This is also where the dwarf hand-cranked heavy machine gun is more complicated than the Thunder Rotary Cannon.

Noticing Zhou Xu's arrival, Zhuang Mengdie quickly waved her hand, signaling the soldiers who were conducting weapons testing to stop for a moment so that they could demonstrate their department's achievements to Zhou Xu in more detail.

"We have set up two sets of brackets for this hand-cranked heavy machine gun. One set is a fixed bracket, which is directly integrated with the defensive facilities. The advantage is that it is more stable and easier to operate."

"The other set is a portable stand. In addition to being able to be folded up for easy carrying, each support point is adjustable to adapt to various terrains. However, the support is definitely not as good as the fixed stand, and its main feature is convenience."

At this point, Zhuang Mengdie paused.

"Of course, it's not that convenient either."

Zhuang Mengdie did not hide the shortcomings of this dwarf hand-cranked heavy machine gun.

"Compared to cannons, this hand-cranked heavy machine gun is definitely lighter, but for an individual soldier, this thing is still very heavy! With its pure metal structure, it weighs 140 pounds without even counting the ammunition belt."

"On the battlefield, it is best to use horse-drawn carts for transportation, but when necessary, the carrying capacity of the corresponding troops must be tested."

This isn't something you can just casually lift up.

When necessary, you may need to carry this heavy machine gun for several kilometers in the field, or even cross mountains and valleys.

The soldiers of their Great Zhou Dynasty, of course, also had to undergo training in marching with heavy loads.

However, including the full set of equipment from head to toe, their requirement was 30 kilograms, or 60 pounds, which was no match for this heavy machine gun.

"At the time, we considered that the weight was a bit too heavy, so we made the bracket detachable. But even so, the weight is still outrageous, and that's not all."

As Zhuang Mengdie spoke, she grabbed a bullet belt from a box next to her.

"This ammunition belt can hold two hundred bullets. It is also made of pure metal. When fully loaded, an ammunition belt weighs about nine pounds."

Upon hearing this, Zhou Xu quickly realized what was going on.

How long does it take to empty this ammunition belt?

Compared to modern machine guns that fire thousands of bullets per minute, the rate of fire of the hand-cranked heavy machine gun, the first heavy machine gun developed by their Great Zhou, obviously could not be that fast.

However, considering the historical context, this result is still astonishing.

"One minute, just one minute is enough to empty a belt of ammunition."

While giving her reply, Zhuang Mengdie added another sentence.

“We are considering producing ammunition belts that can hold 400 or even more bullets, but that would also make them heavier.”

(End of this chapter)