By the agreed-upon fifth day, Roland had finally prepared all the ingredients for making guncotton. ∑, x.
During the electrolysis of salt water, he made a serious blunder, using the leftover copper strips from Anna's bullet making as electrodes, which resulted in the electrodes dissolving and wasting a basin of salt water. Because in order to avoid chlorine gas dissolving in the water during electrolysis, the electrolyte is generally saturated salt water, and salt is not cheap in this era. So, when he poured away the waste salt water mixed with copper ions that produced sediment, Roland felt like he had thrown away several gold dragons for nothing. He only solved the problem after replacing the electrodes with carbon rods.
After boiling degreased cotton gauze with caustic soda and water to remove the grease, he took the remaining caustic soda to the chemical laboratory.
Esterification is the most important step in making guncotton. He didn't know the principle, only that the gauze had to be soaked in a mixed acid solution and taken out after complete nitration. The solution ratio and reaction time were completely unknown. Roland had Kaimo divide into several groups to experiment, using hourglasses to control the time. After soaking, the small pieces of gauze were repeatedly washed with water, then soaked in a sodium hydroxide solution to react with the excess acid. The wet finished products were transported back to the castle and handed over to Wendy for air-drying.
Because concentrated fuming nitric acid was used during esterification, most of the test products could be quickly ignited. The guncotton soaked in one part nitric acid and two parts sulfuric acid had the best effect. After obtaining a rough formula, the laboratory started mass production. The guncotton that had been soaked and washed was immediately taken away by the First Army soldiers, and even the Chief Alchemist didn't know what they were making it for.
The air-dried gauze was cut into nail-sized squares by the maids, packed into boxes, and sent to the North Slope Mountain, where it was finally loaded in the backyard of the firing room. Without machines for fixed loading, this process could only be done manually. A group of personal guards sat scattered, gently poking the guncotton gauze coated with glue into the bottom of the cartridge case with wooden sticks, sealing the ignition hole, and then pouring granular black huoyào into the cartridge case with a funnel, compacting it in layers, keeping the filling amount as consistent as possible for each cartridge.
The final step was to press on the bullet head. The bullet heads and cartridge cases made by Anna were extremely well-matched, and could be pushed in by hand and gently tapped a few times with a hammer.
The efficiency was a little low, but they could produce about a hundred bullets a day. By the sixth day, Carter was finally using the fully-realized new weapon. As the Chief Knight with excellent physical qualities, his hit rate had improved significantly after a few days of repeated practice, completely different from Roland's shooting performance during military training.
After switching to the flintlock fixed cartridge bullet, Carter no longer had to hold the musket with a strange drooping wrist shooting posture. As long as the sealing guncotton did not break, the breech could be kept clean. At the same time, its sensitivity to sparks was several times that of black huoyào, and the firing rate was also guaranteed.
Taking advantage of the last day, Roland had Carter. Lannis practiced quickdraw and dual-wielding shooting. Even when using black huoyào, the recoil of the 12mm caliber sniper rifle was considerable. It was difficult to guarantee the hit rate of the second shot when holding the gun with one hand, but in Roland's plan, this was a desperate counterattack after Ash got too close.
Carter would appear with two guns. In a war of attrition, ten bullets were enough to decide the outcome. If he was approached early in the battle, he could quickly draw the other gun to counterattack. And considering that the opponent's weapon had a certain defensive capability, Roland specifically chose steel bullet heads that were not easily deformed for these ten bullets, increasing penetration while reducing cavity damage. In addition, due to the limitations of the smelting technology of this era, Ash's greatsword was most likely made of pig iron. The exaggerated shape would not bring about an improvement in quality. On the contrary, a massive iron weapon could not be fully forged, and the internal stress distribution was more uneven, not worthy of being called a good shield. According to Roland's point of view, the greatsword was at most a blank weapon, and unless he was particularly unlucky, the possibility of ricochets was low.
If Ash wanted to defeat Carter, she had to get close to the knight first. This was the natural disadvantage of cold weapons against firearms. As long as she wasn't so exaggerated that she could see the bullet trajectory with her eyes and dodge bullets instantly, this distance was an insurmountable gap.
*******************
It wasn't until dusk that Ash waited for Maisie to fly back to the room.
"Why are you coming back later and later these days?" she asked, closing the window.
"Lightning took me to catch birds," Maisie transformed back into human form, took out a roasted bird leg from her waist bag, and the overflowing aroma immediately filled the room, "I specially saved it for you."
"I've already eaten," Ash shook her head, "Is Lightning a witch from the Mutual Aid Society?"
"Yes," she nodded vigorously, "Her ability is the same as mine, also flying, but it's much more convenient to use." After a moment of pause, she continued, "Ash, do you really have to fight this battle? I think... they won't leave with you, and, they're living well here."
Ash was stunned and didn't answer.
"Because even I want to stay here," Maisie sat on the bed with a plop, talking to herself, "The bed is soft, and the food is plentiful. I saw at lunch that the lord specially placed the dining table in the backyard and dined with the witches who had finished practicing. Everyone was chatting and laughing, and he occasionally chimed in, completely different from the annoying appearance of other nobles. I was even pulled by Lightning to play Kunt cards in the afternoon. It's where two people draw ten cards each and compete against each other, and the one with the bigger score wins, it's extremely interesting. They even gave me two sets of cards, Ash, do you want to play a game? I'll teach you."
"No..." Ash shook her head and took a deep breath. She had noticed Maisie's changes these days, but it wasn't until now that she suddenly realized that her own thinking seemed to have fallen into a misunderstanding.
Most witches are stealing a life in days of fear and anxiety, and a stable and comfortable place to live is all they pursue. For example, Maisie, before being accepted by Tilly, had been hiding in the shacks of the slums of the royal capital, like a real bird, curling up in the crevices of the roof beams to spend every night. Even after Tilly decided to cross the sea eastward, Maisie was running around everywhere, contacting those witches in the dark gminjian, and hadn't stopped for half a year. This kind of peaceful and tranquil life was probably the first time she had experienced it.
Wasn't she herself the same? It wasn't until she met Tilly that she lived a life she had never dared to imagine before. Having become accustomed to the relatively peaceful life in the palace, she overlooked the meaning of the town to these witches - the attraction of a home, which has always been unparalleled in the eyes of witches. Their desire to stay here and protect this territory is probably the same as her desire to protect Tilly...
If Roland. Wimbledon really could withstand the mad Divine Punishment Army, as he said, this was undoubtedly a better choice than the Fjords - building a witch's kingdom in a completely unfamiliar land sounded desirable, but no one could predict how much suffering it would actually entail.
But if he couldn't resist, should the witches leave?
Ash's mood suddenly calmed down.
Thinking about it from another angle, if Tilly couldn't gain a foothold in the Fjords, she would probably choose to stand by her side and protect her to the last moment. As the person who gave her a home, she had no reason to leave first.
"This place is constantly under the threat of the church, and it's only a matter of time before Border Town is destroyed if it can't stop the Divine Punishment Army."
This contest was indeed unnecessary... but she still decided to complete it, to warn, or to prove.
"What if they can stop it?" Maisie muttered.
"I hope so too, so I will help them verify this." Ash said in a deep voice.
She closed her eyes and prepared to give it her all. (。)