Our Family Has Fallen

Chapter 525: Chapter 328: The Reluctant Artillery Training_2

Lance continued to strip the armor. A forceful movement tore apart the already decayed leather pouch around its waist, from which various odds and ends tumbled out. Yet, the most distinct sound was that of Gold Coins clinking.

The sound immediately caught everyone’s attention. Even Tadiff, setting aside the Claw of Agility he was examining, hurried to focus on the new development.

These Gold Coins maintained their unfading golden sheen even in such filthy surroundings.

It wasn’t just a dozen or so Gold Coins; Lance also found some cut yellow crystals that resembled faded hope. There were also a few irregularly shaped jade stones, their dull green reminiscent of rotting flesh. But this did nothing to hide their considerable value; such items would always find a buyer.

This loot was tangible. Without any fuss, Lance immediately divided the dozen or so Gold Coins.

”Come on, everyone gets a share.”

Dismas and Boudica were accustomed to the Lord’s generosity. Tadiff, however, clutched a Gold Coin not with joy, but with a degree of apprehension.

”This... isn’t exactly by the book, is it?”

”It’s not too little, is it?” Dismas frowned, appearing displeased by what he perceived as Tadiff’s greed.

But Tadiff wasn’t angry. Instead, he explained, ”The bounty was agreed upon per head. I haven’t done much yet, so how can I accept this money?”

”That’s the base bounty; more work earns more. Our rule is to distribute a percentage of the mission’s earnings to everyone,” Lance said, laughing and waving his hand. ”I can’t expect you to risk your lives with me for just that fixed sum, can I?”

Tadiff, a Bounty Hunter for some time who had even ’studied’ in prison, had never encountered such a rule.

He accepted the money, but it felt like ill-gotten gains. He’d have to kill more Pigmen before he could feel at ease with it.

Lance raised his hand, intending to Sacrifice the remains, but nothing happened. He didn’t need to think hard to realize that too much time had passed. The Power of Flesh and Blood, also known as Spiritual Essence, contained within them had likely long been claimed by the ancestors.

However, he wasn’t overly concerned and quickly regained his spirits.

”It seems this place might not be as barren as it appears. Perhaps there are still many good things awaiting us.”

Ideals and beliefs are all well and good, but profit is the true engine driving missions. With this in mind, Lance led the team deeper. The Pigmen were in for a rough time.

「...」

According to the Totnes Gun and Cannon Academy’s artillery manual, a minimum of seven crew members were required for a single cannon to operate effectively.

The gunnery sergeant, typically a sergeant, was responsible for aiming and trajectory correction. One crewman swabbed the bore, a loader rammed the ammunition, one or two men transported powder bags and Bombs, another pierced the powder bag at the vent, and a final man ignited the charge to fire the cannon.

If only one man transported ammunition, another would remain on standby with the horses and the limber, awaiting orders. A lieutenant oversaw each pair of cannons, and a captain commanded the entire artillery battery.

Barton had once been that captain, commanding a formidable artillery battery.

But that was all in the past. Now, his task was to train an artillery unit for Hamlet from scratch as quickly as possible.

At that moment, he was at the training ground, where a large group of students had been divided into five teams, each a complete artillery crew.

Back at the Gun and Cannon Academy, he would have been firing relentlessly. Now, however, he felt somewhat awkward with so many trainees gathered around a single cannon.

Fortunately, the Lord hadn’t been stingy with Bombs or gunpowder, which simplified his task. After all, he couldn’t very well teach them to fire cannons using imagination alone.

1. The loader used a worm to clear the cannon bore of any residual paper or fabric, as the powder charges of the era were wrapped in such materials.

2. A sponge was dipped in water and inserted to swab the bore, extinguishing any lingering sparks. A dry sponge or brush then wiped away remaining moisture. Meanwhile, the vent operator had to cover the touch hole with a thumbstall. (This was crucial: after firing, the cooling bore and reduced pressure could cause air to rush back in through the vent. If unburnt powder and sparks remained, this could injure the gunner swabbing the bore.)

3. Two crewmen brought the powder bag and the shell, placing them in the muzzle. The loader then used a rammer to firmly seat the ammunition.

4. The vent operator used a priming wire inserted through the touch hole to pierce the powder bag, facilitating ignition. Then, a fuse was inserted, or loose priming powder was poured into the vent.

5. The gunner applied a linstock to the fuse or priming powder, firing the cannon.

These firing protocols were essentially copied from the Gun and Cannon Academy. They were cumbersome but contained no superfluous steps, each one having been perfected at great cost.

These were the steps for sustained fire. For an initial shot, the first two steps could be skipped, and the ammunition loaded and fired directly.

The standard procedure omitted aiming and trajectory correction because the cannons produced by Totnes were too unwieldy for significant adjustment.

Essentially, they fired in a straight line. Hitting the target depended mostly on the gunnery sergeant’s experience. Barton himself largely relied on intuition when firing, rarely resorting to calculations.

The gunner aimed at the target, then abruptly swung the red flag down, shouting, ”Ready—FIRE!”

The firer, already prepared, touched the linstock to the vent upon command, igniting the fuse.

BOOM!

A deafening roar erupted. The wheels of the cannon’s carriage recoiled violently, the shockwave kicking up dust from the ground.

The fist-sized solid metal Bomb shot out with the blast. Its immense force tore through the air with a WHOOSH, covering over a hundred yards in the blink of an eye.

This Totnes-made Eight-Pound Cannon was a light artillery piece, with an effective range of about eight hundred to eleven hundred yards.

This range didn’t mean the Bomb could precisely hit targets hundreds of yards out. Rather, it indicated the distance within which the Bomb retained sufficient killing power.

The trajectory of a solid Bomb involved ricochets. For instance, a Bomb might hit the ground two hundred yards from the muzzle but still possess considerable kinetic energy. Upon impact, it would bounce, continuing this pattern until multiple ricochets depleted its energy and brought it to a halt.

It was like skipping a stone, but the Bomb’s power could obliterate anything in its path, even plowing through the entire depth of an infantry Legion.

The Bomb flew, struck the earth sending mud flying, but didn’t stop, instead continuing to roll and bounce forward.

However, the distant target remained unscathed.

Barton, seeing this, could only wave his hand helplessly.

”Next group, target number five.”

The squad that had missed could only relinquish their position to the next, their disappointment palpable and entirely normal.

This was because performance was graded. By tradition, excellent scores earned handsome rewards. Conversely, poor performance meant extra training, and if truly inadequate, a gunner could lose their qualification.

Such a system was quite standard, as artillery training consumed staggering amounts of resources. That single shot had cost several days’ wages for one man, and that was assuming the solid metal Bombs could be recovered and reused.

Practical skill is paramount. No matter how well you learn the theory, if you can’t perform in actual combat, it’s useless. You might as well become an instructor.

Another Bomb was fired, and it too missed the target, drawing wails of dismay from that crew.

Barton showed little reaction.

”Stop! Wait for the barrel to cool.” He then addressed the first crew, ”Gunner, what were you thinking? Target three was clearly within the first ricochet range...”

Typically, the barrel would overheat after two or three consecutive shots. While firing could continue, it risked a catastrophic barrel explosion. Therefore, a gunner had to be able to assess the cannon’s condition.

Barton would use these cooling periods to explain the recent errors to the artillery crews, instructing them on proper calculation and aiming.