Munitions Empire

Chapter 15: Assembly 15

The morning sunlight was always beautiful, and when Tang Mo opened his eyes, warm rays were streaming through the grimy glass onto his feet.

He sat up in bed, stretched lazily, and the bustle of recent days brought back the feeling he had when he was working in the past, a sense of fulfillment and the wonderful experience of reaping rewards every day.

Yesterday, after several experiments, he had mastered the correct method for producing smokeless gunpowder, or at least the preparation process in a laboratory setting had become very familiar to him.

However, to produce this stuff on a large scale, it would still take some time. Although he had acted as a hands-off manager for a day yesterday, the production of steam engine components had not paused for a moment.

A few days ago, Roger, Mathews, and others who had received the blueprints, started working around the clock.

Tang Mo estimated that the components should have been mostly manufactured by now, and once assembled according to the blueprints, he could start mass-producing various firearm parts.

In reality, without electricity, it was impossible for machine tools to perform cutting tasks perfectly. Thus, most of the work still relied on the support of workers, but machinery saved a large amount of manpower and stabilized the quality during critical steps.

The continuous days without producing a single Quick Gun had left Tagg looking quite unpleasant. Yesterday, he sought out Tang Mo and expressed his dissatisfaction.

However, this poor military officer was clueless about weapon manufacturing, so he really didn't understand what Tang Mo was doing. In the end, Tang Mo dismissed the loyal officer with just a few words.

Since there were Soldiers belonging to Lord Earl at the door, and the rest of the Gold Coin was in Tagg's hands, he wasn't worried about Tang Mo running off with the materials and money.

And over these days, although Tang Mo hadn't produced a single Quick Gun, he had indeed been busy in the workshop the entire time and wasn't slacking off, so Tagg could only wait honestly, waiting for the miracle Tang Mo promised to appear.

The principle of the steam engine was actually very simple, just a process of boiling water. However, it could also be very complicated, as it had been improved countless times in the hundred years after its inception.

This thing was indeed very complex, but for Tang Mo, who could query all internal structure assembly methods, it wasn't too complicated.

Tang Mo was unable to develop the most advanced steam engine all at once, but he could skip past the immature designs and start with the mature ones.

Sometimes, these designs were improved through the accumulation of experience rather than a technical leap. Thus, Tang Mo could use current materials and technology to make a small leap forward.

After washing his face, he walked out of his room and saw Dwarf Mathews leading a few workers, together with old Roger, installing a massive machine nearly five meters long.

To minimize the problems caused by component discrepancies, the first steam engine Tang Mo built was quite large. He had no choice but to ensure the machine's output strength, to allow it to directly participate in work.

This was completely different from an experimental model because this machine was not just meant to be turned on; it needed to run steadily and maintain a powerful output. After all, Tang Mo was also counting on it for drilling gun barrels!

"According to the blueprint, we should use the long screw here!" With a pencil behind his ear, old Roger bent over a component, gesturing where it should roughly be placed, and consulted the blueprint.

Mathews, holding the blueprint, looked down at the assembly sequence marked out by Tang Mo, then raised his head to compare it with the component in Roger's hand, seeming to confirm their positions.

Then, he nodded and pointed at the specially annotated screw with length notes on the blueprint, asking, "Where did you put that screw just now?"

"Damn it, find that screw! Quick!" The workers immediately descended into chaos, rifling through trays filled with screws and other components, murmuring anxiously.

Roger also rummaged through his pocket with the other hand, yawning and complaining as he searched, "I'm already so sleepy I can't keep my eyes open, and now you're making me look for a screw? To hell with it!"

"Shut up! I found it!" Dwarf Mathews found the previously machined screw in his own pocket and rebuked in a low voice.

"Quick, screw it on fast!" Roger didn't bother to correct Mathews's tone; he took the screw and then realized he didn't have a screwdriver in hand.

"Where's the screwdriver? Where did the screwdriver go?" Then came another round of commotion. Everyone began searching for the screwdriver, making a ruckus as they rifled through components.

"I say, Old Roger, what's got you so tense?" a worker asked with a laugh as he moved a large iron plate that would serve as the casing for the steam engine.

It wasn't just Roger, Mathews was nervous as could be, too. He hadn't imagined himself creating something so colossal; at first, he thought it was going to be a small device, similar to a lathe.

Who could have guessed that a pile of parts, when combined with massive torque rods and bearings, would result in something so huge?

No wonder they lacked imagination, for the main bulk of the parts had been made in the foundry workshop next door. They hadn't been to see them, thus they had no clear concept of the machinery they were to assemble.

When the foundry workers finally joined together the parts, which had taken a tremendous amount of steel to produce, what emerged before everyone was this colossal contraption.

Even though it wasn't operational yet, its sheer size was already overwhelming everyone present.

In comparison to other objects of the era, this thing was simply massive, so much so that even the workers constructing it were feeling extremely tense.

The force of impact that comes from a leap in technology is immense. Without any cushion or disguise, once it's presented before people, it's naturally astoundingly shocking.

If Tang Mo had started with a small tea kettle, showing everyone a lid jumping from the boiling water... then experimented with a small model, a craft roughly two feet long, making it move for everyone to see... followed by a larger one, a prototype that could drive a loom, explaining the principles to everyone... then finally calmly unveiling this giant, certainly, they wouldn't be so nervous.

But now, he had directly brought out this enormous piece of machinery, of course, everyone was feeling out of their element. This era, although it had already seen steam engines, those were merely... toys in comparison.

As for thrust, the steam engines of this era could barely rotate on their own, let alone provide continuous power. So these engines were still experimental, just conceptual, really.

But right now, the colossal contraption before Tang Mo was not just a demonstration prototype; it really could provide powerful energy capable of changing the production of the era!

Roger pointed at the huge machinery in front of them, already linked to a drill press with chains, and said, "How can I not be nervous? Look for yourself, who would have thought we'd be building such a behemoth?"

"What on earth is it for?" the worker felt that having such a large metal device in the workshop was somewhat... rather terrifying.

Just look at this thing; it even had several gauges on it, nearly the size of the palm of a hand, their needles pointing at zero, with no clear understanding of their purpose.

While it looked odd, some clues could still be discerned from the details: a few days ago, the workshop boss, Tang Mo, had opened a hole at the back of this room, and then erected a huge chimney.

Combined with a combustion chamber underneath the machine for burning fuel, those coming from the smelting workshop immediately realized that this contraption, too, required coal.

In any case, some guessed it was a device for burning something, but with those huge moving parts added, everyone became perplexed: they all knew that to fully understand what this thing was for, they only needed to wait for Tang Mo to start it up.

Roger finally found a screwdriver, tightened the components, then took another part from Mathews, "No idea, but the boss thinks this thing is very important."

"Enough talking, get back to work!" Mathews worked with a very serious focus.

It was at this moment that Roger asked him, "I say, you Dwarfs... do you all keep such big tufts of beard?"

"If you showed the slightest bit of respect for your elders while working, your skills wouldn't be so poor!" Mathews, visibly irritated, puffed out his beard and glared as he shouted.

Just as Roger was about to respond and continue teasing him, he looked up and saw Tang Mo approaching, and with a somewhat embarrassed smile, he said, "Boss! You're up?"

"Yeah, I'm up," Tang Mo replied as he walked beside Dwarf Mathews, looking up at the steam engine that was eight layers complete, and then asked Mathews, "Been busy all night?"

"Pretty much," Mathews said, wiping his greasy hands on his clothing before handing over equally greasy schematics to Tang Mo: "We followed your instructions and rigged up a simple lever to barely get this thing installed."

He was full of anticipation to see this device in motion, so much so that even when talking, his gaze involuntarily drifted towards the huge machine nearby: "You used so much top-quality steel, surely it won't be a failure in the end, will it?"