Release that Witch - Chapter 23

[Chapter 23 The Source of Power]

“Come on, try to put these two iron plates together,” Roland said.

Anna stretched out her finger and pressed it against the seam of the iron plate.

Flame spurted out from between the fingers, and the interface melted at a speed visible to the naked eye.

“Reduce the firepower, and try again from the back.”

She nodded and followed suit.

The two iron plates are spliced at 90 degrees and are firmly welded together.

Roland carefully inspected the lower joint, and found that the effect was just as he imagined—a perfect weld without any flaws.

If it is slightly polished to remove the traces of the fluid when the iron is melted, the two iron plates are almost the same as the forged body formed at one time.

“Very good, Miss Anna, it’s really great,” Roland couldn’t help admiring, “Next, let’s connect the other two iron plates.”

“What is this? An iron… bucket?”

“No, it’s a cylinder,” he corrected.

“Cylinder?” Ana repeated, confused.

“Yes, it can be used to fill air,” Roland pointed to another square iron plate, “see the small hole on it? The air enters the cylinder through this small hole, and pushes the piston—er, the piston is a ratio of the inner diameter of the cylinder. A slightly smaller iron plate, it can move freely in the cylinder.”

Even Anna was dizzy in front of so many invented words, “Then what are these… cylinders, pistons, etc., for?”

“In order to make a machine that can move automatically.”

The steam engine brought the driving force needed for the first industrial revolution of mankind, completely liberating human and animal power.

Its schematic diagram is familiar to every mechanical dog. To put it simply, it is an enlarged version of a kettle.

The boiled steam is introduced into the cylinder, pushes the piston and connecting rod, and converts heat energy into mechanical energy.

The principle is very simple, but it does not mean it is easy to manufacture.

Its difficulty lies in the airtightness of the cylinder and piston, and the manufacture of air pipes.

When you don’t have enough skills in metal processing, it is simply impossible to forge a qualified cylinder by hand.

However, Anna’s ability perfectly made up for the lack of craftsmanship.

Roland only needs to design four iron plates of the same size in advance, ask the blacksmith to cast and polish them, and then use right-angle plates to fix the shape, and then Anna will weld them to obtain a square cylinder with extremely high rigidity.

With the help of the witch, he didn’t have to build a barrel boring machine first, and then process a circular cylinder as in the traditional production process.

The same is true for other large parts, which can be made into small pieces and then spliced together. In this way, even a small workshop like a blacksmith can work together to manufacture all the parts needed for a steam engine.

In fact, before welding was invented, people could only connect small parts by bolts or riveting, and the interior of the cylinder must be smooth, which is obviously impossible for conventional connections.

The only trouble is the air pipe.

There is nothing special about its production method. A long iron plate is burned until it is red hot, then put into a grooved mold, and hammered with a hammer until it is formed. This is also the production method of the front-loading flintlock barrel. .

It’s just that the barrel still needs to be straightened after the fact, the rifling is expanded, etc., which is more complicated.

Its trouble is that Roland can’t call the blacksmith to his back garden, the witch can’t be exposed for the time being, and blacksmithing is really not his strong point.

In desperation, he had no choice but to let the chief knight do it for him, and he commanded from the side.

After struggling like this for three days, Roland finally built the first steam engine in the backyard.

“Is this what you say is infinitely powerful?” Carter frowned and looked at this strange machine. He first affirmed that this thing has nothing to do with cult rituals.

Every iron lump on it was installed by him himself, which looks like a sealed furnace.

It would be unreasonable if the devil could be attracted to it.

But how to move a bunch of iron bumps?

It looks clumsy and has no feet. Could it still fly?

But in Roland’s eyes, this seemingly simple machine exudes industrial beauty.

Standing on the shoulders of giants, he naturally did not take the route of Newcomen steam engine-Watt steam engine-improved steam engine. His first trial product was already a high-pressure steam engine with double connecting rods and sliding valves.

Its production is not much more difficult than the most primitive steam engine, the key lies in some innovative ideas.

“You’ll find out later.”

Roland poured a bucket of water into the steam room and asked Anna to light the firewood.

Ten minutes later, the water was boiled and rolled up and down.

Soon, there was a crackling sound in the cylinder, and Roland knew that it was the sound of the cylinder block being heated and expanded.

The iron plate of the piston is thinner, and the expansion deformation is larger than that of the cylinder body, and it will finally firmly touch the cylinder wall.

“Isn’t this boiling water? I didn’t expect it to be a stove,” Carter muttered.

When the cylinder was filled with steam, a scene that made Roland extremely excited appeared.

The piston starts to push the connecting rod outward, and when it reaches the top, the other connecting rod pulls the sliding valve, and the steam pushes the piston inward.

The two connecting rods drove the wheels to rotate rapidly back and forth, and as the firepower increased, the speed quickly reached its peak.

The machine made an ear-piercing roar, and white air was whistling from the exhaust port, with an unstoppable momentum.

“Is this what you said…the power hidden in nature?” Anna asked blankly.

The chief knight was full of disbelief. He had put in a lot of effort to install the last big iron wheel, but now it was spinning like a feather. Standing by the side, he could even feel the airflow stirred up by the wheel blowing toward his face—— This can only show that the strength of the iron lump in front of him has reached an astonishing level.

A trace of uneasiness gradually rose in his heart.

His Highness said that it can replace human and animal power. If you don’t lie to yourself, when it replaces horses to pull a chariot, even ten knights will be hard to resist with this brute force.

It takes fifteen years to train a qualified knight, but it only takes three days to manufacture such an iron furnace.

Counting the time it took for the blacksmith to make the parts, it was only a week.

It does not need to be fed, it is not afraid of cold and hunger, nor is it afraid of arrows and knives.

As long as the front ram is installed, it can rampage on the battlefield.

In this way…is there still a need for traditional knights to exist?

*******************

At night, when Roland returned to his bedroom, he saw Nightingale again.

She didn’t wear a hood this time, and sat at the table with a smile on her face, flicking a few pieces of parchment in her hand, “It seems that the rumors outside are really unbelievable. It is said that the fourth prince is ignorant and has a bad personality. It’s not much better than the court master. What is drawn on this paper is the design of the iron stove? You call it… a steam engine, right?”

I’m going, can I leave some privacy for others, come and leave as you want, you think this is your home!

Roland was slandering inwardly, but he replied nonchalantly, “It’s a design drawing, but without Anna’s help, it’s just a blueprint.”

“What can it do?”

“Many, ore transportation, drainage, iron smelting, forging, wherever it takes a lot of effort, it can play a role.”

“Then I’ll take it.” Nightingale rolled up the parchment and put it in her robe. “There are also people in the Aid Society who can control flames.”

“Hey–”

She waved her hand to stop Roland’s protest, “Of course, I didn’t take your things for nothing, you should take a look at this first.” She put a small ball of white things on the table.

Roland walked over, pinched it with his fingers, and found that it was actually a roll of paper.

He unfolded it gently, glanced twice, “This is…”

“A secret letter for carrier pigeons,” Nightingale said jokingly, “The addressee is your head maid Tyre, tsk tsk, it seems that your harem is not safe.”

“I haven’t touched her,” Roland frowned.

Tire, this woman in my memory seems to have followed him a long time ago. Originally, the fourth prince was quite interested in her, but several times of harassment failed.

This time when he came to Border Town, he simply promoted her to be the head maid, and served him personally. Her room was next door.

Unexpectedly, it was the eyeliner arranged by Brother Wang and Sister Wang?

Although the letter was not signed, judging from the content, it is likely that it was written by those brothers and sisters.

The letter said that the master was very displeased with the failure last time, and the next time he took advantage of the disturbance in Longsong Fortress, he would never allow another failure.

Well, you have already succeeded, he thought, otherwise he would not have become Roland Wimbledon.

It is unlikely that this letter was forged by Nightingale, because only those who participated in this conspiracy would clearly know about the first assassination plan.

And if Nightingale wanted to kill herself, there was no need to be so troublesome.

“You stole it from her?”

“Your head maid isn’t that stupid. She planned to burn it after she finished reading it. It’s a pity that I happened to be behind her when she watched it.” She made a switch, “So, what are you going to do? You need me Help “handle” it?

”

Roland naturally understood what she meant by the treatment. After hesitating for a moment, he finally nodded, “I’m sorry.” He really didn’t have the confidence to do this kind of thing by himself, “If you can…ask for me, behind her back Who are the people?”

“As you wish, Your Highness,” Nightingale smiled and bowed in salute, “Then, this scroll of blueprints will be my reward.”

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[End of this Chapter]