Our Family Has Fallen

Lance was in no mood to stroll leisurely; instead, he went straight to Eugene.

”What’s the success rate for this batch of cannons?”

”Roughly 20%. Only four out of the seventeen cannons delivered for testing were usable. The rest either revealed cracks during testing or just burst outright.”

Upon hearing this, Lance’s heart clenched. With a 20% success rate, who could afford such a venture!

No wonder even Totnes had only established a single artillery corps. This endeavor was far too costly.

”What’s the success rate for cannon production in the Totnes Workshop?”

”Actually, the smaller Eight-Pound Cannons have a success rate of about 30%. For larger caliber cannons, it’s considered good if even one out of ten is usable, as the success rate is even lower. Unless we use bronze casting, which significantly increases the success rate, but the cost is five times higher.”

Hearing this, Lance felt slightly relieved; at least he wasn’t alone in his misery. Even Totnes, with its superior conditions, only achieved a 30% success rate. Hamlet wasn’t doing too badly in comparison.

But Lance still found such a success rate hard to accept.

A 30% loss for cannon molds and an 80% loss during test firing—good heavens, it felt like he had to cast cannons on bended knee!

Totnes had countless craftsmen and endless resources; they could make do even with such a success rate.

But for Hamlet, this wasn’t just bleeding resources; it was being bled dry. If this continued, there would be no funds left to update any other military equipment.

”I’ve studied the cannon casting process these past few days, and I feel that the technique can still be improved.”

Lance was about to intervene!

Even Eugene couldn’t help but perk up a bit upon hearing this.

He hadn’t forgotten how his small-caliber cannons had been dismissed by the Totnes Gunsmithing Academy. He didn’t come to Hamlet to rest on his laurels but to prove himself!

Did Lance really have no knowledge about cannon crafting whatsoever? The games he had played didn’t offer relevant information; their tech trees were just simple click-to-upgrade systems, lacking detailed specifics.

However, he had read countless novels, especially historical fiction, which often touched upon firearm development. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have been able to offer various suggestions for musket modifications.

Compared to clay casting, he knew a little about techniques like Sand Casting, solid-bore drilling, wrought iron liners with cast iron exteriors, and iron mold casting. Their rough methods were evident from their names.

But why hadn’t he intervened in the casting of cannons, still relying on the most common techniques?

This was because Hamlet’s existing system was incomplete, and its craftsmen were unfamiliar with these newer cannon casting methods.

Unlike the production of fixed ammunition, these technologies demanded significant resource investment and required thorough research and verification before implementation.

If Lance wanted to apply new technologies, he would have to gamble on their success at a time when the artillery corps had no operational cannons.

But he couldn’t afford such a gamble. So, he opted for the most cautious approach: first ensuring the artillery had cannons, even if they were only suitable for training.

Now that this batch of cannons was produced and the artillery had them, he had the breathing room to experiment with new technologies.

Another reason was that once these technologies were introduced, it would be difficult for Hamlet to keep them completely secret. If discovered by powers like Totnes, Lance would be equipping others with no benefit to himself.

Given their sheer scale, those powers could easily replicate these technologies.

To mitigate this, he could only request strengthened security and tighter oversight. He also planned to divide the workflow, assigning different craftsmen to specific, separate tasks to compartmentalize the technology. This way, even if a leak occurred, it might buy them some time.

The burden on these craftsmen was enormous. However, the apprentices had recently shown considerable growth and could now share some of the workload.

Lance even chatted with some of them and noted that a few apprentices were quite talented and worth nurturing.

After discussing cannon-related issues with Eugene and offering a few ideas, Lance’s direct involvement ceased. There was little more he could do; his own expertise was limited. The true core technologies had to be explored and mastered by Eugene and his team.

When he walked out of the firing range, he found himself alone again. Everyone else was occupied with their own pressing tasks.

Although the journey was fraught with difficulties, they had finally managed to produce the cannons.

As long as the artillery equipment could keep up, Lance was confident that Barton could form Hamlet’s Artillery troops.

Another project that weighed on Lance’s mind was shipbuilding.

Whether it was Hamlet’s future invincible fleet or the exploitation of ocean resources, shipping, and more—everything depended on ships.

The ships in this world had not yet reached the level of ironclads; they were made of wood. Perhaps some were enhanced by Supernatural Power, but these were inaccessible to the common man.

Therefore, overcoming the technological challenges of shipbuilding wasn’t excessively difficult, provided the necessary craftsmen were available and materials were prepared.

After Lance had secured the port and fully controlled Hamlet, he began efforts to reorganize the town’s former small shipyard.

Unfortunately, Hamlet had been ravaged first by bandits and then by its former mayor, leading to the deaths of most skilled shipwrights. Furthermore, the majority of refugees Lance had taken in were from inland regions; they included various types of craftsmen, but none specialized in shipbuilding.

The shipyard’s reorganization had dragged on for so long that it hadn’t produced even a single small boat. It was only capable of simple maintenance. In this situation, Lance had no choice but to continue stockpiling timber, essentially using the yard as a warehouse.

However, what Hamlet lacked, Ovando possessed. Having developed as a river transport hub, Ovando had some established shipbuilding industry.

Fortunately, Walter understood his needs. This time, Vick had brought skilled workers from Ovando City, including shipbuilders.

It was the arrival of these people that advanced Hamlet’s shipbuilding industry. They could now provide maintenance services for cargo ships and had the capability to build ships, though this was limited to ordinary small boats.

In this era, craftsmen generally lacked a concept of specialization; they typically mastered the entire set of shipbuilding skills. A few, or even a single skilled individual, could build a boat. However, constructing a proper ship actually required an entire supporting industrial chain, of which craftsmen were only one component.

The supporting materials involved many intricacies: the type of wood, the waterproof oil, the caulking materials, the canvas, and so on.

Those three-masted sailing ships capable of traversing the high seas, or even giant cargo ships with five decks standing over ten meters tall, were the product of the crystallized skills of hundreds of shipwrights. All of this was backed by an entire supporting industrial chain.

Currently, Hamlet could likely only build small fishing boats and slightly larger light vessels. Moreover, apart from timber, all other materials had to be procured externally.

Lance’s only consolation was that the technological gap wasn’t insurmountable. Hamlet had taken its first step, moving from zero to one, and that in itself was progress.

”Good day, My Lord!”

”Carry on with your work, don’t mind me,” he responded.

Lance toured the shipyard. He observed a peculiar situation: apprentices outnumbered experienced craftsmen. It looked more like a training center than an active shipbuilding operation.

Rather than waiting for some master shipbuilders to come from the outside, it was better to train their own.

Therefore, Lance selected a group of young people from all over Hamlet, including from among the refugees, to join the shipyard as apprentices.

He assigned each of them to learn a specific part of the process, with an experienced craftsman responsible for instruction and guidance.

This approach was bound to severely slow project progress, making short-term output unlikely. Worse still, he would have to invest significant amounts of material for their practice.

But one had to look to the long term. It was a deficiency for now, certainly, but these were Hamlet’s own future talents.

Lance had laid out plans for the entire port area. These included expanding the docks, constructing warehouses, and establishing a new industrial district, which was already underway.

Why could Hamlet accommodate so many refugees without any problems arising?

Besides a comprehensive management system, it was also because they all had jobs to do, and their issues with food and lodging had been resolved.

Because Lance himself had been an ordinary man, he understood what ordinary people desired. If they had a choice, who would want to risk their lives? Who wouldn’t want a stable environment?

Of course, there were still some hooligans and lazybones among them, but the lashes from the labor reform supervisors would set them straight.

Human rights are a luxury one can only afford after their belly is full. In this era, such a concept simply didn’t exist.