EFB Chapter 744 - 72: Manor System and Hesse Holy Flame Gunpowder Academy (3)
Chapter 744 - 72: Manor System and Hesse Holy Flame Gunpowder Academy (3)
Regarding such professional military knowledge, Su Li was really not very clear, so he replied: "Explain it in detail."
"According to the current foundry technology of the territory, the barrel lifespan of a Cannon is roughly only 4 seconds."
"4 seconds?"
"That’s right, a heavy Cannonball firing from the Cannon only takes about 0.02 to 0.03 seconds, so theoretically, after firing around 133 times, there’s a risk of a barrel explosion, and the risk increases the more it’s used. It needs disassembly, maintenance, and replacement. So if you wish to rely on the artillery to flatten the ground and destroy the enemy’s fortified military positions, it’s almost impossible. Therefore, our Gunpowder Academy specifically researched the [Uzul Holy Fire Heavy Explosion Bomb]."
"The effect of this shell is as its name suggests; once fired, it explodes in the air like the Uzul Holy Fire, splitting into nine columnar flame beams to unleash devastating damage on the enemy. This is the masterpiece of Francesca, the dean of the Hesse Holy Flame Gunpowder Academy."
Francesca, who Su Li bought from the Gray Market Trading Company at a High Tier, was a master from the Imperial Engineering College invited by a son of the Elector, becoming a top talent for the Border Prince.
If it weren’t for the downfall of the Elector’s son’s territory, Su Li wouldn’t have even had the chance to meet such a top-tier talent.
Su Li looked at the dean of the Gunpowder Academy and said, "Then let’s go, let’s continue visiting the Hesse Holy Flame Gunpowder Academy."
Francesca slightly bowed, and said enthusiastically, "Willing to be your guide, to introduce our territory’s masterpiece to you."
"Lord, I believe one day the Hesse Territory will be famous in the old world continent because of our Holy Flame Gunpowder Academy. Although it’s called an academy externally, in reality, it is a massive complex comprised of workshops, anvils, and furnaces. Here, experienced gunsmiths and Dwarfs work day and night to manufacture and maintain the powerful firearms of the territory’s army, while the army’s commanders also continually send promising trainee artillerymen to this smoky large factory to study theoretical knowledge like ballistics, and these artillerymen will be invaluable treasures to various corps in the future."
"Compared to the more divinely bright Knight Academy, the towering towers of the Holy Flame Gunpowder Academy, the vigilantly guarding gargoyle statues, and robust arch bridge piers attract visiting outsiders more. Its existence makes smaller academies shiver on the edges of the island. Regarding the academy itself, most of its grounds are used as shooting ranges, which leads to the loud noise of black gunpowder weapons firing becoming part of the city and island daily. For weapons like Cannons with excessive power, test sites are set in black iron ridge island and wilderness outside the city walls, places where damage fees aren’t a concern. Besides the testing grounds, the academy still has portions dedicated to classrooms, lecture halls, dormitories for study and rest for teachers and students."
"Even now, the citizens of Heisen City are proud of the academy, they enthusiastically celebrate during academy open days, boasting its excellence and its importance to the territory to visiting tourists. Their loyalty is partly due to the academy’s efforts in orphan care. These abandoned children, referred to as ’Children of Guns and Cannons,’ are trained to serve as workers and apprentices in the academy in the future."
As Francesca explained, Su Li finally arrived in front of the Holy Flame Foundry, witnessing a magnificent scene: walls 18 meters high surround the area on three sides, and a 20-meter-high city wall forms the fourth side. The academy overlooks the Brionne River and Black Iron Ridge Island, where many live firing practices occur. The walls are constructed from limestone blocks, that have blackened over time due to coal smoke and atmospheric oxidation from the river. Two towers, 35 meters high, mark the intersections of the shorter northern wall, eastern wall, and the longer eastern wall, which features a gate.
The academy’s playground forms an uneven rectangle in front of the city wall, wider along the direction of the river. Inside the walls are dormitories resembling barracks, a courtyard used for military drills instead of shooting practice, and smithies nestled amidst a cluster of low buildings by the river. The entire wall is lined with Cannons, a few mounted on wheeled carriages in the courtyard center, with a huge pile of heavy stone Cannonballs nearby.
A large multi-story building occupies the northern wall; the basement houses kitchens, the ground floor is a hall (about twice the size of a student cafeteria), classrooms occupy the next floor, and employee dormitories are on the top floor. The western wall has only one door: a human-sized door leading to narrow wooden stairs descending to the riverside. There, a small pier accommodates two or three small rowboats docked at any time.
The Gunpowder Academy has long been connected with the city’s orphans, teaching them necessary skills to become vendors, artisans, and shooters, ensuring they receive not only training and maintenance but also basic education in mathematics and literacy. In future, many of these individuals may become soldiers, engineers, gunners, or artillerymen, while others may be employed by nobility as secretaries, scribes, and couriers. A number will serve in government circles as staff and secretaries within the vast bureaucratic apparatus of the territory.
The Alchemy Master oversees the mixing of gunpowder, stocking sufficient raw materials from local suppliers to meet the extensive usage for a year. Ammunition is cast on site. Bullet towers manufacture bullets for handheld weapons while molds produce Cannonballs. Cannons can fire heavy explosive bombs, though in emergencies they can launch stone Cannonballs. This is why the Empire often employs stonemasons to accompany the army during sieges, tasked with locating and extracting these stone Cannonballs from local quarries.