Chapter 129: Matchlock Gun
The spark that the lord saw was obviously the fuse clamped on the snake head of the gun.
This should be a matchlock gun with a newly developed lever-type trigger. Pulling the bolt can make the matchlock contact the gunpowder pool on the outside of the gun body.
Fortunately, this is just an early stage matchlock gun...
After the fuse ignites the gunpowder pool in the gun body, you need to wait for nearly half a second until the gunpowder burns from the pool into the chamber before the bullet can be fired.
It was precisely because of the half-second burning time of the gunpowder that the lord was able to avoid this fatal ambush.
Fortunately, Leon is a modern man and is quite sensitive to this kind of black tubular object. If it were another noble knight, if he was pointed at by an iron pipe, he might not have the awareness to dodge quickly.
However, after the gunshot, the lord moved quickly.
He quickly peeked out from the corner of the wall - the light inside the door was dim, and he could clearly see that there was only a single point of fire inside.
It looks like a cigarette butt in the dark.
There is only one ignition head, which means there is only one musket .
What's there to be afraid of? This kind of matchlock gun cannot fire continuously. If you can fire one shot per minute, you are considered a qualified musketeer!
Li Ang rushed in with a sword in hand, and as soon as he entered the door, he kicked a strong man who was blocking the door with a shield, and knocked him to the ground.
It was a sunny day outside, but the light inside the door was relatively dim. Due to the huge light difference, after Li Ang rushed in, he could only see three dark figures for a while.
As he couldn't see clearly, the lord started swinging his sword and slashing - who cares who they are, they are all enemies anyway!
The gunman holding the matchlock gun was frantically shaking the medicine bag to load it. Seeing Li Ang rushing in, he shrank back a step and then threw the medicine bag in his hand directly at Li Ang who had just rushed in.
This technique is quite skillful, and it seems that he often uses despicable tricks like spreading lime.
The lord reacted quickly. He noticed something flying towards him and immediately stepped back to make way for the door.
And then he smelled the unique smell of nitrate and sulfur mixture of black powder!
People in China are familiar with this smell; most traditional fireworks and firecrackers have this smell.
The lord's heart skipped a beat and he reacted very quickly again - he rushed out again.
What the hell... these uneducated gangsters!
Spreading gunpowder in a closed environment?
Especially in an environment with open flames like a matchlock!
However, perhaps the gunman was lucky, and the gunpowder bag he threw did not cause a big explosion - but the lord also clearly heard a series of 'sizzling' sounds of burning gunpowder.
Then, a huge burst of thick smoke came out of the house.
A violent coughing sound was also heard.
It was obvious that the black powder that was scattered everywhere must have been partially ignited by the fuse on the gun.
Then Leon heard Forcher screaming, "You idiot! Don't run! Put out the fire!"
But a few seconds later, the two strong men ran out coughing and rolling.
Neither of them had a matchlock gun in their hands, and their faces were blackened by smoke...
The two guys were obviously choking to death, but the lord did not see Forcher come out.
Li Ang turned over and attacked with two swords. The two strong men couldn't block it at all. In fact, their tears were so severe that they basically didn't block it. One of them was easily chopped to the ground.
Then Leon held the griffin sword in one hand and put it on the other person's neck.
"Where's Forcher?"
"Ahem...still inside...ahem!"
The sturdy man was still struggling to catch his breath, and the violent coughing made him bend over, unable to resist at all.
But now he has an extremely sharp sword on his neck...
As a result, when he bent down and coughed, he put his neck close to the blade - Le Ang didn't even have time to withdraw his hand.
So the idiot slowly fell to the ground with blood spurting from his neck.
I don't know if this is suicide or an accident...
But when the lord was about to enter the small building again, he saw a blazing fire at the door...
The gunpowder just now has ignited the wooden building!
The gunpowder flying everywhere caused the area inside the door on the ground floor to burn very quickly. The flames had already blocked the entire door and were spreading rapidly upstairs.
The weather was clear and there was a breeze blowing in the lakeside manor. The building was made entirely of wood, and the fire started in just ten seconds. At the same time, a violent "sizzling" sound was heard again from inside the door!
It seems like more gunpowder has been ignited!
Perhaps because the amount of gunpowder was not particularly dense, no explosion occurred in the building, but continuous deflagration occurred!
"Boom... Boom..."
There were constant violent flames and smoke shocks in the building.
The lord had no choice but to retreat to a distance - it was obvious that Forcher had placed gunpowder everywhere in the building, and such an explosion would quickly engulf the wooden building.
It looks like Focher won't be able to escape...
Such a big noise in the house, with gunshots and smoke, naturally attracted the attention of others.
In the manor outside, a group of people were still fighting, but the smaller side had already gained the upper hand - the greatswordsmen were well-equipped, with thick armor and long swords, and they could easily withstand the enemy's attacks.
Now they are chasing those pirates and gangsters all over the fields.
At this moment, after the small building began to explode, all the enemies seemed to pause, then dispersed and began to flee in all directions.
The pirates headed straight for the lake, while the Red Brotherhood guys scattered in all directions, all running very fast.
The great swordsmen were wearing heavy armor and were few in number, so it was impossible for them to catch up with everyone.
Those rogue knights, along with a dozen or so ragtag soldiers, also planned to run into the building, but were immediately blocked by Klose and his men brandishing their swords.
Those minions scattered in a hurry, and the greatswordsmen blocked a few rogue knights and hacked at them, and the situation was quickly under control.
In fact, these rogue knights also planned to run away, but they were dressed like cans and could not run fast at all. The greatswordsmen chopped off their legs one by one from behind.
The Lord had already walked around the side of the building, trying to see where Forcher was.
Li Ang was not trying to save the illegitimate child trapped in the fire, he was trying to save the matchlock gun...
This building is built close to the lake, and there is a balcony on the second floor at the back.
The balcony on the second floor faces the wide lake, and there is a wooden boat on the side of the lake.
At this time, a dozen pirates were pushing the wooden boat to the back of the house, then jumped on the boat and started paddling - they would definitely not be able to catch up in this situation, as everyone has their own expertise, and since the pirates had a boat, they would most likely be able to escape.
But Leon still couldn't see Forcher.
There was only one pirate ship on the lake, and Forcher was not on it.
"Faucher! Come out and surrender! You didn't die in there!"
Leon shouted loudly.
The entire building has been surrounded by fire, and the second floor is about to be completely engulfed. There is definitely no way out in the building.
In such a short time, it is impossible for Forcher, a fat man with little physical strength, to disappear like that.
"Get out of the way!"
This was Amy's voice, coming from behind Leon.
Amy was riding a horse on the side of the building, just a few dozen meters behind Leon, holding her ladies' crossbow in her hand, aiming at the second floor where flames and smoke were rising.
Li Ang just looked back at Amy and found that Amy looked very nervous. Realizing that something was wrong, he held his head and rolled on the ground.
"Bang!" "Whoosh!"
At this moment, a gunshot was heard from the second-floor balcony.
Amy's crossbow arrow was also shot out at the same time.
Then, a figure fell from the balcony on the second floor of the wooden building and fell into the lake.
The great swordsmen also reacted and rushed to the lake, intending to find the shooter.
"Leon! Are you okay?"
After Amy shot the crossbow arrow, she saw the lord rolled over and didn't move, so she quickly dismounted and ran over nervously.
Then he threw away the crossbow in his hand and started to pick on Leon.
When she gets nervous, she no longer calls me "teacher"...
“Hiss… it hurts, it hurts!”
The lord grimaced and covered his lower back, his face twisted in pain.
"Are you hurt? Where are you hurt..."
Amy hurriedly pushed Leon's hand away, tears almost coming out of her eyes.
There was no external injury on the lower back area that Li Ang was covering.
But his pain was not fake - he rolled subconsciously and was hit hard by a stone on the ground. His half-body armor could not protect his waist, and he was indeed injured internally.
I almost passed out after rolling around just now.
And right where he had just stood, a small hole had appeared on the ground, with white smoke coming out.
Li Ang gritted his teeth and sat up, holding his waist and moving it. Fortunately, his internal organs should not be injured.
Looking at the bullet holes around him, he let out a long sigh.
Fortunately, Amy saw the enemy, otherwise she would have died if she was hit!
"Why did you come in? Didn't I tell you to hide..."
Most men are like this - if they are helped by a woman passively, their first reaction is not to thank her, but to talk nonsense...
"You told me that to ensure that I would not be caught, it is best to follow the person with the strongest fighting ability. So after you broke out of the encirclement, I have been guarding behind you."
Seeing that nothing serious happened to Li Ang, Amy calmed down.
"Fortunately, the gunman didn't attack you..."
Li Ang fired a few times into the bullet hole and dug out a deformed lead bullet.
"Sir! This guy is dead..."
In just a short while, Summer had dragged a wet person, or rather, a corpse, out of the shallow water at the lake.
By the way, the matchlock gun was also fished out.
This is the man who fell into the lake from the second-floor balcony just now, and the man who shot Leon just now - this is Forcher himself.
But at this time, the blond young man had a crossbow arrow stuck in his neck and was dead.
Looking back at the pirates' boats and then at Forcher's body, Leon sighed.
Apparently, Forcher had scattered gunpowder carelessly in the living room on the first floor, causing an accidental fire, and his two men failed to put out the fire and were choked by the thick smoke and ran out.
And Foucher's legs and feet were probably not so flexible, so he couldn't run out, which basically formed a real self-destructive situation...
Then Forcher retreated to the second-floor balcony with a gun in hand, and was probably planning to jump into the lake to escape. But when he saw Li Ang coming to the side, he planned to shoot Li Ang to death before jumping into the lake and running away.
As a result, Amy saw him and shot him with a crossbow arrow.
Amy's shooting skills are really accurate...
"Great job, Amy! Do you know who he is?"
The lord gave a thumbs-up sign , signaling Summer to throw the body down.
Amy shook her head. "Isn't he the leader of the Red Brotherhood? Why? Is he someone important?"
Li Ang raised his eyebrows: "He is indeed very famous. He is the illegitimate son of Duke Alma...Faucher."
Amy was stunned for a moment, but then she shook her head nonchalantly: "I heard Sister Sarah mention him...I heard he was a scumbag?"
Li Ang nodded: "He is probably a scumbag."
"I think Sister Sarah will be very happy. Who told him to attack you? Anyway, we are enemies of the Horton family, so we can just kill him."
Amy acted quite calm. Having experienced two wars, she was no longer a weak girl.
Li Ang smiled and shook his head: "That's right, we are all enemies anyway."
Although he said he didn't care, the lord still felt a little regretful in his heart.
It’s not because of anything else, it’s just that we failed to maximize our profits.
Foucher was probably Alma's favorite son, and judging by his age, he would have been the eldest.
If he were caught alive, he could be used as a means to coerce the Duke of Alma, or as a bargaining chip to plunge the Horton family into civil strife.
In fact, even if Leon did nothing, this illegitimate son would ask the underworld to stir up trouble everywhere and even call himself the "Son of Prophecy". This kind of behavior would probably lead to internal strife in the Horton family.
But Amy was right - who told him to attack the Lord? It was no use killing him.
"Summer, what kind of weapon is that? It looks powerful... I can't even see the arrow!"
Amy pointed at the rifle.
"This should be Buckley's new musket...it is really powerful."
Seeing that Amy was staring at the matchlock in his hand, Summer handed the gun to her.
Amy took the gun, and the heavy gun made her hand sink and she almost dropped it to the ground.
The fuse had been extinguished by the lake water, but the gun body was intact.
This is a double-layer matchlock gun, and the barrel is made of two layers of steel pipes nested inside and outside.
The outer tube is octagonal and the inner tube is round.
The diameter is about half an inch - which is quite large.
High-tech equipment such as muskets are actually no secret in the continent of Pendor. Many nobles have seen them, especially on the west coast of Firdsvain.
This weapon comes from the Buckley Empire on another continent.
But the Buckley Empire would not sell muskets to other countries - Buckley's emperor obviously knew the value of this weapon better than most people.
However, since Emperor Barclay had already started the pace of maritime colonization, weapons such as muskets would occasionally be brought to ports on the west coast by ocean-going merchant ships from Barclay.
But in inland areas like Changhe Town, it is very rare.
In fact, even in Buckley's homeland, muskets have only been equipped in the army in recent years and are still a supporting role in wars.
Because this is roughly equivalent to a fifteenth-century matchlock gun, it has a very slow rate of fire and can only be used in good weather.
Rain can cause the fuse to go out or the gunpowder to become damp, and wind can blow away the gunpowder in the gun body's powder pool, both of which can cause the gun to fail to fire.
In fact, it was quite strenuous just to ensure that the fuse did not go out...
And it must be kept steady, the gun body cannot shake or turn sideways - the powder pool is a shallow pit on the outside of the gun body with a hole leading to the barrel, and the gunpowder will fall out if you are not careful.
As for when the weather is good - then we have to be careful of accidental discharge. After all, the fire pit and the tinderbox are exposed to the outside, so it is normal for these things to discharge accidentally...
Moreover, this is a muzzle-loading rifle. After each firing, the barrel, vent and powder pool need to be cleaned to ensure that the heat from the barrel will not directly ignite the gunpowder before you can start reloading.
The interval between firing a shot is often as long as one minute - anyone who can fire three shots in two minutes is considered a skilled shooter.
However, although the matchlock had many shortcomings, it had two great advantages.
One is that it is powerful enough, and the other is that the training time is short.
This type of matchlock gun has a range of 200-300 meters and can penetrate plate armor within 100 meters, which is obviously difficult to achieve with ordinary bows and arrows.
Of course, the accuracy is not actually very high - since there is nearly half a second response time after pulling the trigger, many opportunities will be missed, and it is actually quite difficult to hit moving targets.
Although smart shooters will predict the outcome, the gun is heavy and difficult to keep stable when held horizontally. In addition, the recoil is enormous and improper operation may even break ribs.
In addition, there is no front sight cover, and the fuse and the burning gunpowder in the fire pool will also interfere with aiming, so its accuracy in actual combat is different from that of modern firearms.
However, the mere fact that it can penetrate plate armor from a distance is enough to make it a weapon valued by the Barclay Empire.
After all, lack of accuracy can be made up for by numbers, and huge power is the primary pursuit.
Moreover, the use of a musket does not require long-term training. A farmer can go to the battlefield after practicing for two weeks.
Although the manufacturing cost of the musket itself is relatively high, the cost to the farmer is so low!
Therefore, the Barclay Empire has been vigorously promoting the mass deployment of muskets in recent years.
But the people of Pendor are actually not too keen on this kind of weapon - this is caused by ideology.
The knight culture of Pendor is mainstream, and no noble knight would be willing to allow such a weapon that does not require training to appear on the battlefield - the nobles have monopolized the military force with the knight class for thousands of years, and the emergence of muskets will obviously break this monopoly.
No one wants to see the possibility of farmers turning things around.
For kings and nobles, class status is far more important than disputes between nations.
Just like an emperor of a certain dynasty in another time and space would order the destruction of his country's extremely advanced weapons inventions.
All to maintain their dominance.
Therefore, things like matchlock guns rarely appear in the Fierce Lion Realm, and even its existence is deliberately hidden.
But if nothing unexpected happens, the Firdsvain lords on the west coast probably all know about muskets.
However, as a new kingdom, the leaders of Fierdsvain, who have just transformed from pirates and smugglers into nobles, are also pursuing long-term class status and hereditary rule, and are expected to make the same decision as the Kingdom of Sarleon.
Those nouveau riche who have just achieved class transition often oppress the proletariat more harshly than traditional aristocrats, and are more concerned about how to maintain their class status...
But now, something like a matchlock gun has appeared around Changhe Town, and it is in Forcher's hands. No one knows how he got it.
But Forcher is dead, so now we can probably only ask Frederick.
