by David Weber
“That’s already true with the Mahndrayns, Ahlvyno,” Staynair pointed out. “They rely on primer caps.” He shrugged. “If we run out of caps, we’re SOL, to use His Majesty’s charming term.”
“Domynyk’s right,” Howsmyn agreed. “And the new machinery will produce ammunition more rapidly than our existing arrangements, since it’s going to combine the old paper cartridge and the primer cap in a single package. The ammunition’ll be safer to handle, too. And while using brass cases will push up material costs, compared to the paper, the man-hours per round will go down considerably. Overall, the metallic rounds will actually cost the Treasury less.”
Ironhill considered that for a moment, then nodded in acknowledgment, and Howsmyn went on.
“This round may be the same caliber as the revolver’s, but the bullet’s much heavier—five hundred grains, not three hundred—and the M96’s muzzle velocity will be almost six hundred feet per second higher than the revolver’s. That’s why the case is so long; getting that kind of performance out of black powder requires a heavy charge, and we’re using what Taigys calls ‘pelletized’ powder—the same thing Alfryd’s calling prismatic powder for the artillery, on a smaller scale—as well. As you can see, the bullet itself is the same basic shape as the Mark IIb’s.” He touched the tip of the bullet, which would have been called a “spitzer point” back on Old Earth. “It has the same ‘boat tail’ design, too, and Taigys”—and Owl, he carefully did not add aloud—“came up with something he calls a ‘gas check.’ It’s basically a copper disk at the base of the bullet to prevent the propellant charge from melting the lead. Our test firings indicate that with that and a lubricant to protect the sides of the bullet from melting, as well, we get higher muzzle velocities and better accuracy without the kind of lead fouling we experienced when we pushed the velocity on the Mark IIb this high. We’re using the same water quenching process we came up with for the sniper weapons, and after trying several alloys, we’ve found that adding false silver seems to give us the best combination of hardness and workability.
“At any rate, according to the ballistic pendulum, this round generates three and a half times the muzzle energy of the revolver round. And because of its shape and greater weight, it maintains that velocity to a much greater range. According to Doctor Mahklyn’s calculations, this round will have roughly the same striking power at nine hundred and fifty yards that the standard revolver has at two hundred and fifty. Of course,” the industrialist grinned suddenly, “I don’t imagine anyone besides Seijin Merlin’s going to score any hits with revolvers at that kind of range!”
“Oh, I don’t know,” Rock Point said with a slow smile of his own. “I imagine Seijin Ahbraim might pull it off, as well.”
“All right, I’ll grant you Seijin Ahbraim. Most mere mortals won’t, though.”
“Probably not,” the admiral conceded.
“That sounds really impressive,” Ironhill said. “I thought you and Ahlfryd wanted to wait for this new guncotton Doctor Lywys is working on, though. I hate to sound like a mark-pincher, and I know we’re one hell of a lot better off than we were three months ago, but that’s my job. And unless we’re very lucky, I’m going to be looking at Shan-wei’s own inflation in prices once the new mines actually start producing!” He shook his head. “I don’t think even Desnair’s ever had a situation quite like this one.”
The others nodded, although Howsmyn wondered if Pine Hollow and Rock Point found it as hard to suppress their smiles as he did. The fact that Ironhill knew about Seijin Merlin’s “visions” had made things surprisingly simple after Prince Nahrmahn dropped his little Silverlode Island surprise. Merlin had simply sent a letter to Pine Hollow giving him the location of the deposit—the first deposit, that was—with an estimate of its extent Ironhill had been willing to accept because everything else Merlin had ever told him had been accurate.
And in this case, he’d been very happy—one might even have said delighted—to take Merlin’s word, since Nahrmahn’s comparison to Old Earth’s Comstock Lode actually understated the case. In fact, Merlin had understated the real numbers to Ironhill, in turn, lest even the baron’s faith in the seijin’s visions prove insufficient this time around.
The Mohryah Mountains which formed the huge island’s mountainous spine covered an area seventy percent greater than the ancient North American state of Texas and were home to at least four major ore lodes which Shan-wei had somehow failed to mention to Langhorne and his command crew. The most accessible—which was not the richest—was between eighty and ninety percent as large as the Comstock and, like that strike, consisted of both gold and silver “bonanza ore,” layers of ore in discrete masses, up to hundreds of feet in depth in spots, and soft enough it could be cut out with a shovel. The Comstock Lode had produced almost seven million tons of silver and gold ore in a twenty-year span; this one would produce less, but a higher percentage of it would be gold. Shan-wei’s data included a highly accurate estimate of the ore body’s extent, and the total production from what had already been labeled the Mohryah Lode was likely to top four million tons of silver and almost two and a half million of gold. Given the richness of the ore, that would come to a tidy total of just over ten trillion 896 Charisian marks. It wouldn’t all be coming in at once—indeed, it would take months for the first shaft to be sunk, even knowing exactly where to begin—but it promised to provide a handy little nest egg.
And, as Ironhill had said, it also promised to inflate prices badly if Charis was careless about how it was dumped into the economy, which made it fortunate the entire island was effectively the House of Ahrmahk’s private property. Cayleb and Sharleyan could determine exactly how much of that gold and silver came out of the ground at any one time, and in the meantime, Ironhill had begun issuing interest-bearing promissory notes at six percent compound interest with ten-year expiration dates. That meant each of them would be worth a hundred and eighty percent of face value when they were redeemed, which, coupled with Charis’ reputation, was good enough for most people to take the notes even before the new ore strike was made public.
“I do have to keep reminding myself not to run wild with all that promised wealth,” Ironhill continued. “And I’m still robbing Paityr to pay Pawal in too many cases while we wait for it to start pouring in, too. So I have to ask if it’s really worthwhile to introduce an entirely new round loaded with black powder if we’re just going to turn around and change everything as soon as the new propellants become available?”
“That’s really a two-part question, Ahlvyno.” Howsmyn picked up the rifle round, cupping it in the palm of his hand. “The first is how quickly the new propellants will become available, and the answer there is that it won’t be as soon as we’d hoped.” He grimaced and closed his hand on the cartridge. “They seem to have a pretty good handle on what they need to do; the problem is figuring out how to do it, especially in quantity, and that’s going to take several more months. We should have the first revolver production line up in the next few five-days, though, and we’ll be ready to start conversion on the Mark IIs about the same time. Since we’re using the revolver to prototype my new assembly processes, it’s going to be the end of October or so before we start up the first M96 line, but Doctor Lywys’ current estimate is that it’ll be sometime late next spring or even early summer before we can produce guncotton-loaded cartridges. I don’t think we can justify not putting the black powder rounds into production in the interim.
“At the same time, there’s no question that when they do become available they’ll be a significant improvement over this round.” He opened his hand to show the shiny brass cartridge again. “Our best estimate from the numbers Doctor Lywys and Doctor Mahklyn can give us is that with guncotton, the M96’s muzzle velocity will be close to a thousand feet per second higher than with black powder … and without the huge volumes of smoke. We can’t take full advantage of the longer ranged accuracy and hitting power this cartridge theoretically makes available b
ecause black powder produces so much smoke visibility’s obscured; that won’t happen with the new propellants.”
Ironhill was nodding slowly, expression thoughtful, and Howsmyn shrugged.
“We’re taking the new powder into consideration in these designs,” he said, setting the rifle cartridge back on the table beside the pistol round. “For example, one reason to go to a completely new design is that while the steel in the Mark II’s much better than anyone had a few years ago, the steel we can produce now is even better, and that’s a significant factor when we start talking about the sort of muzzle velocities guncotton’s going to make possible. We could go on using alloyed bullets at those velocities, but it’ll probably make more sense to gild them with something with a higher melting point, like copper. We’d considered that for these rounds, but copper’s one of our bottlenecks, and demand is already going to increase when we go to the metallic cartridges. In fact, we actually looked at steel cartridges, instead, but brass has superior expansion and elasticity. At any rate, once the guncotton propellant becomes available, we should be able to convert using the same cartridges and weapons; we’ll just use lighter charges in the same cases. We’ll probably go to guncotton for the ‘Trapdoor Mahndrayns,’ as well, if only because of the smoke issue, but I wouldn’t feel comfortable loading their cartridges to the same pressures and velocities as the M96’s designed to handle.”
“All right, that answers my questions.” Ironhill grimaced. “Now all I have to do is figure out how to pay you for them. I don’t suppose you’d care to provide the first, oh, ten or twenty thousand of them as samples, would you?”
“I’m afraid not,” Howsmyn said politely. “Because you’re a friend and a valued customer, I will offer you a nice discount, though. Say, two percent?”
Ironhill laughed.
“Actually, given the number of these things we’re going to be buying, a two percent discount would probably save me a fortune in the end! I guess you’re worth it, though. His Majesty seems to think so, anyway.”
“He’s not done costing you money yet, Ahlvyno,” Rock Point said.
“Of course not. Aside from what the Treasury stands to recoup from that bastard Showail, I never see him unless it’s going to cost me money!”
“But, as you say, His Majesty thinks he’s worth it,” Pine Hollow pointed out with a smile. “And so”—the smile faded—“do the men we’ve deployed in the Republic.”
“True,” Ironhill acknowledged a bit more soberly and turned back to Howsmyn. “So what does Domynyk have in mind this time?”
“As I said, I stopped off to talk with Ahlfryd and Captain Rahzwail—and Sir Dustyn. The second flight of the new ironclads is a couple of five-days behind schedule at the moment, although Commander Malkaihy and Commander Hainai expect to make that up. Part of the problem was that last load of wrought iron from Showail, frankly.”
The industrialist grimaced, then gave himself a shake.
“Anyway, we’re in decent shape where they’re concerned, but production of the new guns is running ahead of schedule. We already had quite a few gun tubes; now mount production’s catching up, and the weapons for the improved River-class ships will be ready well before the ships themselves are. Half the new hulls are already afloat or ready for launch, but it’s going to be at least a month before the first one commissions, and I already have enough of the new guns to arm the first flight of the new ships and replace the thirty-pounders aboard the original ironclads. I’d really like to go ahead and send the extras off to Siddarmark in the next convoy.”
“Domynyk?” Pine Hollow looked at the high admiral.
“Suits me.” Rock Point snorted. “Worst case, the last half dozen of the improved Rivers are delayed a month or two waiting for their guns and we get the four originals into service instead. And Shan-wei knows they aren’t doing anyone any good sitting in an ordnance warehouse here in Old Charis!”
“Do you have enough of the new shells?” Ironhill asked.
“That’s why Domynyk said I was going to cost you more money,” Howsmyn replied with a smile. “The new copper driving bands work even better than Ahlfryd and Captain Rahzwail expected, and they’ve finally gotten their ‘brown powder’ into production at Hairatha. When you add up the tighter, more efficient bore seal, the smoother shell body, and the ballistic qualities of the ‘prismatic powder,’ the new six-inch is probably as effective as—maybe even more effective than—the existing eight-inch. We’ve got enough of the new shells in inventory to provide each existing ironclad with about ninety rounds per gun, and the line’s in place for volume production, but we won’t have any additional ships mounting the new gun until the improved Rivers begin commissioning. If we re-arm the existing ships, they won’t be able to fire the six-inch round the existing angle-guns do, but do we want to commit the money and the resources to starting up production when they’re the only units that can use it?”
“Domynyk?” Pine Hollow asked again, and the high admiral nodded sharply.
“Definitely.” His voice was flat, positive. “One thing Ehdwyrd didn’t mention is that he’s ready to begin production on the new angle-guns, as well, and they’ll fire the same shell. We’ll start by converting the existing tubes to the new mounts, but there’s no point continuing to build stud-rifled barrels if a better design’s available. We’re going to need lots of angle-gun shells down the road, and not all that far down the road. That’s reason enough from the logistic perspective to get that line of his fired up, and even if it weren’t, the tactical consequences of getting the new guns to Bahrns and the other ships in the Republic would more than justify it. I know funding’s always an issue, Ahlvyno, but this is one spider-rat hole that definitely needs money poured down it.”
“All right,” Ironhill sighed. “Consider your point made.”
He jotted a note on the pad at his elbow, then looked up again.
“And the King Haarahlds?”
“Dustyn’s finished playing with the redesign in light of Captain Bahrns’ after-action report and he’s laying down the first three this five-day,” Rock Point said. “He says eight months to commission—his crews learned a lot working on the ironclads—which means they should be ready for service next July. Personally, I think he’ll do better than his estimate, the way he always does, but that may only be my optimism talking.”
“I think he probably will have the hulls finished earlier than he’s estimating,” Howsmyn agreed. “And I’m pretty sure the guns will be ready early, too. The armor’s going to be a closer run thing, though.”
“The engines are good?” Rock Point asked. “They’re not going to cause Pawal here any more anxiety?”
“I don’t believe so,” Howsmyn said with admirable gravity.
The new engines were fiendishly expensive, and the treasurer had expressed some concern over committing funds in such quantity to yet another untried bit of technology. That had been before he knew about the Mohryah Lode, and it had been hard to blame him for his worry. The King Haarahlds would be the first ships powered by triple-expansion machinery rather than the double-expansion engines used in the smaller ironclads, and each of those engines would produce six hundred shaft dragonpower—which would have been fifteen thousand horsepower back on Old Earth. More than that, the redesigned King Haarahlds would displace over eleven thousand tons … and be built without masts or sails. The notion of relying solely on steam for the ships’ propulsion had more people than Ironhill a bit worried, so Olyvyr had provided wells and footings to mount three masts as a purely emergency measure. And it had better be something used only in emergencies. By Olyvyr’s (and Owl’s) estimate, they would be capable of no more than two knots in average conditions under sail, thanks to the drag their twin screws would impose.
“Stahlmahn’s had the test engine up and operating continuously at two-thirds power for over a month now,” he continued. “Given Dustyn’s speed estimates, that’s long enough for one of these ships to steam from here to Ch
erayth two and a half times. Of course, they’d have to stop to re-coal in Zebediah if they steamed the whole way that fast, but I think the machinery’s been about as well proved as it can be before it’s installed in an actual ship.”
“Good,” Rock Point said, and then grinned almost impishly. “And now that that’s settled, I think we can let you go for that meeting with Nearoak and Showail. And don’t forget this.” He picked up the revolver, returned it to its case, and handed it back to the ironmaster. “Maybe you’ll get a chance to try it out.”
.III.
Branath Canal, Glacierheart Province, Republic of Siddarmark
“Well, it beats walking, Sir,” Sailys Trahskhat said, standing at the rope-and-stanchion arrangement which served as a railing. “Not so sure ’bout the direction, though.”
Byrk Raimahn—Colonel Byrk Raimahn, of the 1st Glacierheart Volunteers—stepped up beside him, gazing over the side at the muddy brown water of the Branath Canal’s southbound lane. The northbound lane was occupied by an identical barge, also headed south, its deck and low superstructure covered by seated Charisian infantry busily cleaning weapons and sharpening bayonets.
