Chapter 12 of 100

Chapter 12

12 min read2,983 words

May 1st. Steelmaking workshop.

"Fire up!" Ma Jia looked at the five graphite crucibles lined up inside the smelting furnace and calmly gave the order.

The smelting furnace had just been built and dried for a few days, and Ma Jia couldn't wait to start the first steelmaking in the workshop. At this point, the regenerator, pipes, chimney, and blower on the blueprint were still not in place. A few immigrant laborers were pushing and pulling the temporary hand-operated bellows made by the carpenter, blowing air into the furnace through the feed port, with someone ready to replace them at any time.

Inside the smelting furnace, five 50# crucibles were placed, with raw materials of scrap iron, scrap steel, and lime, heated by burning anthracite (white coal). As the coal burned, the temperature inside the furnace gradually increased, and the color of the flames slowly changed from dark red to orange.

"The flames turning orange indicates that the temperature inside the furnace is now approaching 1000 degrees," Ma Jia took the opportunity to impart knowledge to the group behind him. Even the Swiss blacksmith Pierre listened with a mix of understanding and confusion, then looked at the furnace in amazement.

At this point, the regenerator had not yet been built and used, so the heating and melting process was relatively slow. After about an hour, a large part of the scrap iron and scrap steel in the crucibles had melted, and the molten iron began to boil, occasionally emitting blue flames, which were the result of carbon monoxide being produced and burning.

"Open the furnace door," Ma Jia said after a while.

Two members of the穿越者 (time travelers) approached and opened the furnace door made of refractory bricks, and a wave of scorching heat hit them. Ma Jia took a long spoon and scooped out the slag floating on the surface of the molten iron in the crucibles.

"These slags are mainly composed of calcium phosphate and calcium sulfide, which are produced by the reaction of phosphorus and sulfur in the molten iron with lime," Ma Jia pointed to the slag thrown into the water and said, "If the phosphorus and sulfur in the molten iron are not removed, they will greatly affect the quality of the iron, making it brittle."

He then picked up a long steel rod and stirred vigorously in each crucible. After stirring, he ordered the furnace door to be closed and said to the group, "Stirring can accelerate the decarburization reaction of the molten iron, making it easier for the carbon in the iron to combine with oxygen to form carbon monoxide and burn off."

Seeing that there was still some time, Ma Jia took the opportunity to explain the differences between cast iron, wrought iron, and steel, and also discussed the precautions to be taken during steelmaking. After the on-site teaching, Ma Jia estimated that it had been over two hours since the fire was lit, so he went to the observation hole to check. He then opened the furnace door, scooped out the slag again, and said, "It's ready. Take out the crucibles one by one, carefully."

Soon, ten members of the穿越者 (time travelers) worked in pairs, carefully using crucible tongs to remove the graphite crucibles and pour the molten steel into the pre-made molds. Then, someone immediately spread a layer of lime on the surface of the molten steel in the molds, followed by a layer of charcoal to prevent the steel from oxidizing.

One crucible could produce 43 kilograms of steel, and five crucibles could produce over 200 kilograms. With this high-quality high-carbon steel, many problems were solved. For example, the production of forging hammers, drill bits, gears, cutting tools, and even armor, which required a large amount of high-quality high-carbon steel, was now feasible.

Peng Zhicheng and Wang Qian heard that Ma Jia had produced steel and brought the Swiss gunsmiths, cannon makers, and the "translator" Gao Mo over. The foreigners looked at the crucibles used for steelmaking and the already cooled steel ingots with amazement. At this time in Europe, it was not possible to produce liquid steel, and using graphite crucibles for steelmaking was something that would happen over 100 years later.

"Can this steel be used to cast cannons?" Peng Zhicheng asked, and Gao Mo immediately translated the question into French for the gunsmiths.

"In theory, there's no problem. Steel can withstand greater chamber pressure than cast iron, so for the same power, the cannon can be made lighter," the cannon maker François, still in awe of the "miracle" of the crucible steel, answered without hesitation.

"What kind of cannons do we need now?" Ma Jia asked, "The carbon content of this batch of steel can't be measured, but I estimate it's definitely over 1%. Although its ductility is not as good as copper, the cost is much lower. By the way, how much steel does one cannon need?"

"That depends on the weight," Wang Qian answered, "For small-caliber, short-barreled field guns, it's manageable. For heavy siege guns, fort guns, and ship guns, it's more difficult, ranging from one ton to several tons. But these are the weights of cast iron and copper cannons; I don't know about steel cannons."

"Let's try. Cast a few more and test them thoroughly. Then we'll have a better idea," Ma Jia said, "But this way, the steel I produce won't be enough for your experiments."

"Hehe, no choice. We have the sea but no defense," Wang Qian smiled, "We need to cast at least ten to twelve coastal defense guns and install them. Otherwise, if a few warships come and bombard us from outside the dock, we won't be able to handle it."

"What about the field guns for the army?"

"That's easy. With our current army size, a few four-pound guns are enough. Of course, if you can make more fort guns, I wouldn't mind. Hehe," Peng Zhicheng joked.

"Do you have gunners? With your group of dozens, how many guns can you handle?" Ma Jia also laughed, "By the way, didn't we buy ten guns from Kwait? What kind of guns are they?"

"Four four-pound field guns, four eight-pound field guns, and two 24-pound ship guns, all made of copper," Peng Zhicheng said, "We can train more reserve gunners in our spare time to avoid being caught off guard if someone attacks us."

"What kind of guns can these people cast?" Ma Jia asked.

"I asked them before. They have only cast small guns, like three-pound, four-pound, and six-pound guns. Those who can cast large guns are highly skilled and well-paid, and they wouldn't end up in the New World to seek their fortune. Of course, even these people are experts I specially hired, and they are free citizens who are paid monthly," Peng Zhicheng said.

"Let's put the gun issue aside for now. What about the 50 muskets we bought? Are they matchlock muskets?"

"According to the information, they are the latest Sul muskets," Peng Zhicheng sighed, "I tried a few shots, and apart from the greater power, the accuracy and rate of fire are far inferior to our hunting crossbows. The range is about the same, but the hunting crossbows can fire continuously. In short, for us, these matchlock muskets are only slightly better than nothing."

"Matchlock muskets? I thought flintlock muskets were the mainstream in this era," Ma Jia asked, puzzled.

"Currently, the large-scale equipment in Europe is still matchlock muskets. Flintlock muskets do exist, but they are only used in small quantities. To be honest, at this stage, flintlock muskets are not much better than bows. The advantage of matchlock and flintlock muskets is that they are cheap, and soldiers can be trained quickly to use them without much physical exertion, which is something bows can't match," Peng Zhicheng explained.

"But we are short of manpower. They can train a large number of cannon fodder, but we can't. Every one of us is precious. Although I don't know much about guns, I do know that breech-loading rifled guns are the way to go," Ma Jia said, looking at Peng Zhicheng.

"Don't look at me; I don't know much about 17th-century guns either," Peng Zhicheng smiled bitterly, "These gunsmiths have only made some matchlock muskets, and their performance might not even be as good as the ones we bought. I'm not sure about their skills."

"Train! Train them! Train more apprentices. No matter how bad the matchlock muskets are, we have to try to make our own," Wang Qian said firmly, "We also need to cast large-caliber guns! Even if the success rate is low, if they crack or explode, we can melt them down again!"

While the three committee members were gritting their teeth and making fierce decisions about steel and guns, a group of new recruits from the security team were also gathered around a few field guns, examining them closely. According to the newly compiled artillery firing guidelines, they would continuously practice clearing the barrel, loading the powder, loading the projectile, aiming, and firing to quickly master the firing techniques of the era's artillery.

In addition, they needed to quickly become proficient in using matchlock muskets. Although they didn't have the courage or skill to form firing lines, Peng Zhicheng's requirement was simply to be able to fire the guns and shoot from cover when the enemy attacked, which was already considered qualified. Of course, among the Swiss immigrants, there were some former mercenaries with good military skills, who could be called upon to fight if necessary. With the promise of substantial rewards, these former mercenaries would be willing to fight for the穿越者 (time travelers).

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