Chapter 383 - 166: Chen Family 1662 Rifle (Part 2)
Some military scholars have commented that the emergence of the Mini Bullet and the rifle was a revolutionary breakthrough in the history of weapon technology development.
Of course, looking back from the 21st century, the Mini Bullet still had quite a few flaws.
For instance, it could only be made from lead, otherwise, the bullet would not expand easily, failing to completely seal the barrel, and if too soft, it immediately deforms upon hitting the target, causing good stopping power but too weak penetration.
Additionally, because the Mini Bullet requires the bullet to expand quickly to seal the chamber, slow-burning gunpowder cannot be used as the propellant, thus not allowing the bullet to gain prolonged uniform acceleration inside the chamber, resulting in a significant reduction in initial bullet speed.
Currently, Chen Zhou does not have the ability to solve these two issues.
Moreover, the enemies he faced were all unarmored units, especially the indigenous people, who were mostly naked, and using armor-piercing bullets with greater penetration power on them might not cause as much damage as the Mini Bullet would.
Furthermore, compared to copper bullets, lead bullets are ultimately more convenient to manufacture and have no requirements on the type of gunpowder used, making the Mini Bullet the optimal choice from any perspective at the moment.
...
Chen Zhou planned to use the lost wax method for batch production of Mini Bullets—
He had a large reserve of lead materials, and with a bit of patience, under the premise of using sufficient gunpowder, he could manufacture hundreds or even thousands of Mini Bullets.
...
This ancient and precise casting technique, the lost wax method, is still widely applied in modern precision manufacturing industries, proving its excellence over time.
And since Chen Zhou didn’t need to cast any intricate bronze ware or artworks, the threshold for this method was significantly lowered.
He first cut several candles and then hand-carved them into the size of a Mini Bullet, digging a loading port at the bottom.
Once the wax models were made, he only needed to wrap a few layers of high-temperature-resistant white clay or ceramic slurry around them and wait for it to solidify.
The solidified white clay would form a hard, heat-resistant shell.
At this point, he would heat this hard shell, allowing the wax inside to melt and flow out through pre-drilled holes, forming a hollow cavity.
At this point, the entire lost wax process was more than halfway done.
The next step was to cut lead plates into small pieces, place them in a crucible, and heat them in a forge until they melted into liquid lead. The liquid lead was then poured into the hollow cavity through the pouring gate. Once cooled and the shell was shattered, a rough Mini Bullet would be obtained.
...
Mass produce wax models, apply white clay en masse, cool in batches, and fill repeatedly; within a few days, after consuming several large lead plates, Chen Zhou had obtained nearly a thousand rough Mini Bullet models.
Over two hundred severely flawed, completely substandard lead models were discarded, leaving over seven hundred.
These over seven hundred "reserves" couldn’t rely on shortcuts to complete their final processes; they required patient, careful filing and polishing with a file and honing stone.
Furthermore, these lead Mini Bullet models were only "half" a Mini Bullet. To obtain the complete version, they needed to be loaded with gunpowder and have a wooden plug installed at the bottom.
...
For Chen Zhou, repeatedly using the lost wax method to batch produce Mini Bullets and individually fine-tune and polish them was tediously boring.
The key was that this tedium wasn’t going to end any time soon—
Sculpting the wooden plugs later on would also be a troublesome task.
However, considering that each additional bullet might play a key role in future conflicts, Chen Zhou couldn’t afford to slack off, even if he was unwilling, he had to work with patience.
He had thought of delegating bullet production to the two indigenous people.
However, knowledge about firearms and gunpowder was quite different from that of agriculture and husbandry.
Incomprehensible things could inspire awe, but once the mystery was unveiled, the two indigenous people might realize—
It turns out the Celestial God’s weapons were just this, and they could make and use them too.
Such a loss of awe was something Chen Zhou couldn’t ensure control over through personal charisma alone, so he dismissed the thought.
...
Repeating the intricate task of refining bullets day by day, time passed by, yet the watchtower in the northeastern corner never showed signs of the Great Tribe landing on the island.
Just when Chen Zhou thought the "Tribe Leader" reputedly skillful had chickened out.
On July 7th, an unexpected event occurred.
...
At noon that day, after a whole morning of polishing Mini Bullets, Chen Zhou’s eyes were sore. After a simple meal, he was just about to head back to his bedroom for a nap.
As soon as he lay on the bed, before closing his eyes, he heard a rapid knocking at the door from outside.
For safety reasons, Chen Zhou had established a rule for the two indigenous people long ago—
They could enter the cave but were not allowed to intrude without his consent, and every time they wanted to enter, they must knock on the door, up to five times at the most.
If five knocks went unanswered, no matter what was happening, they had to leave the door; otherwise, it would be deemed malicious intent, resulting in punishment ranging from whipping at minimum to death at maximum.
Of course, if the matter was truly urgent, they could loudly report from outside the door.
...
This "knocking" rule was among the top five pieces of knowledge the indigenous people learned.
Chen Zhou required Saturday and Sunday to memorize it thoroughly and understand it completely; otherwise, they would have to write it a hundred times.
Having experienced the horrors of homework and given their respect for the Celestial God, the two indigenous individuals naturally put in their utmost effort, not only memorizing the rule but also strictly adhering to it daily, wary of any violations.
Usually, if they knocked, it would be in a slow, rhythmic manner, and it was the first time Chen Zhou heard such rapid knocking today.
"Could it be that indigenous people have landed on the island?"
Hearing the urgent knocking while feeling drowsy in bed, Chen Zhou immediately became alert.
Quickly jumping off the bed and slipping on his shoes, he headed outside. After opening the door, he saw Sunday’s still-juvenile face.
...
The two indigenous people had their daily schedules; today happened to be Saturday’s turn to herd sheep and stand guard.
Logically, if indigenous people landed on the island, the one reporting should have been Saturday, not Sunday.
"Why are you knocking so urgently? What’s the matter?"
With confusion, Chen Zhou inquired.
...
Sunday seemed to have just undergone intense exercise, drenched in sweat and panting heavily. Supporting himself with both hands on his knees, he took several deep breaths before speaking sporadically.
"Someone... someone has landed on the island.
But they are not on Saturday’s side... they are at the river."
As he spoke, he pointed in the direction of the camp at the foot of the mountain, adding further.
"I saw a large canoe and a dozen people.
They’ve destroyed the wall that Saturday and I built and lit a fire on the beach..."
After saying this, Sunday cautiously glanced at Chen Zhou’s face, and upon seeing not much change in his expression, he continued in a quieter voice.
"I also saw someone walk into the camp at the foot of the mountain and enter the largest house there.
Your fishing box, along with those rods, they took them out, and now they are celebrating down the mountain..."
...
"Huh?"
Upon hearing the preceding information, Chen Zhou was puzzled as to why the indigenous people would land from the southwest direction, preparing to listen carefully for more specifics.
Who would have thought, these barbaric individuals not only destroyed his labor achievements but had already begun meddling with his personal collection.
Images of the indigenous people brandishing his fishing rod as a Golden Cudgel and breaking the rods against each other appeared in his mind.
Chen Zhou felt his blood pressure skyrocketing, wishing he could immediately grab his new gun, bring bullets, and wipe out these audacious barbarians.
However, since the incident had already occurred, it was too late to stop it now.
Taking deep breaths to calm his emotions, Chen Zhou patiently inquired about the indigenous people’s information Sunday had observed.
He originally didn’t have high hopes.
Because Sunday’s lively character often made him careless and prone to small mistakes, quite different from the cautious Saturday.
Now, given the urgent situation, based on his usual self, he might have just glimpsed the indigenous landing and reported back immediately without much observation, likely holding little information.
Unexpectedly, faced with this major incident, Sunday showed much more maturity and meticulousness than before.
He took out the telescope he always carried, adjusted his breathing, straightened up, and relayed the full story of what he observed and the sequence of events to Chen Zhou.
Including several key pieces of information—
"This group of indigenous people does not look like those from the Great Tribe that last landed; there are distinct differences between their canoe and that made by the Great Tribe."
"The landing of these indigenous people doesn’t seem to be for holding a cannibal ceremony; they seemed to know there’s something on the shore.
After landing, only a few indigenous remained to light a bonfire, while the rest dispersed into the nearby woodland, seeming to search for something."
"Besides the naked indigenous individuals, there was also someone dressed like them among those landing this time; he didn’t quite seem like an indigenous person."