Chapter 309: Smokeless Powder

After Spain successfully secured colonial rule over the Cameroon region, other European nations were not to be outdone, each accelerating their own pace of colonizing Africa.

Unlike Spain, which focused solely on West Africa, the European powers led by Britain, France, and Germany set their sights on the entire African continent.

This also led to the Germans, after failing to colonize Cameroon, turning their heads immediately toward other regions of Africa without the slightest hesitation.

After all, there was still plenty of land in the vast African continent not yet colonized by European powers; while Germany was certainly strong, there was no need to fight to the death with Spain over the land of Cameroon.

And let it be said, there were indeed many places the Germans had their eyes on.

Besides Cameroon, they were also interested in the Gold Coast and East Africa.

Of course, the Gold Coast here was not Spain's Gold Coast colony, but rather the stretch of coastline collectively referred to as the Gold Coast by various European nations.

The place the Germans were truly eyeing was the region east of the Spanish Gold Coast, which is the place known in later generations as Togo.

The mineral resources here were also quite abundant, though unlike the Gold Coast occupied by Spain, the mineral resources in the Togo region were mainly reflected in ores such as phosphate, limestone, barite, quartz sand, and manganese.

Although these ores did not sound as attractive as gold, silver, or diamonds, nor could they directly promote industrial progress like coal and iron mines.

But these ores also had great utility, especially phosphate, which was the main raw material for producing agricultural fertilizer and could effectively increase food production on barren land.

Spain's mainland still had a great need for various agricultural fertilizers to increase food production, which also meant that the ores in the Togo region were very important to Spain as well.

Precisely because of this, almost at the same time that Qiaoti occupied the Bamum Kingdom, the Gold Coast side was also dispatching troops to continuously invade the land of the Yoruba people.

The land occupied by the Yoruba people was exactly the Togo of later generations, a piece of land caught in a pincer movement between Spain's Gold Coast and Whydah colonies.

Because it lay on the connecting line of the Gold Coast to Congo territory planned by Spain, this was a piece of land Spain could not give up to the Germans under any circumstances.

The good news was that as early as hundreds of years ago, the Portuguese had already set foot on the land of the Yoruba people.

Of course, a small number of Spanish explorers and colonists had also reached this land, though the region Spain ultimately colonized was the Guinea colony in the Gulf of Guinea.

However, the descendants of these Portuguese colonists could still be utilized. Spain had already acquired several colonies in West Africa from Portugal, and these Portuguese who had completely immigrated to Africa could only submit to Spanish rule.

By leveraging the influence brought by the long-term colonization of this land by the Portuguese, Spain could occupy the land of the Yoruba people faster, preventing the Germans from coming from behind and forcibly wedging themselves between Spain's Gold Coast colony and Congo territory.

Because European colonists were accelerating the pace of their colonization of Africa, local wars were breaking out in various regions of Europe.

Many countries were imitating Germany's actions, changing their previous methods of economic colonization and choosing to use force to quickly achieve their colonial status.

What could be clearly seen was that during this period, various countries were ordering large quantities of weapons and equipment to lay a good foundation for their colonization of Africa.

Come to think of it, since the birth of the breech-loading rifle, Spain's standard-issue rifle had not changed for over ten years.

Since its inception, the Vitali M1872 rifle had been the standard equipment for the Spanish Royal Army and the Royal Guard, and it had also been heavily equipped in Spanish colonial armies.

In the 1870s, the design of this rifle was quite advanced, and it ensured that the combat effectiveness of the Spanish Army was maintained at a first-class European level.

But it could not be denied that as time passed, the Vitali M1872 rifle had gradually fallen behind the times. This firearm, improved based on the earliest breech-loading Swiss Vitali rifle, was about time to step down and yield to its successor.

More importantly, 1884 was also a rather special year.

For the military industries of various countries, 1884 would see the birth of a great invention: smokeless powder, which would change the history of firearms for every nation.

In fact, the discovery of smokeless powder could be traced back to a routine experiment by the Swiss chemist Schönbein in 1845.

On an ordinary day in 1845, while conducting an experiment, Schönbein accidentally knocked over a bottle of mixed nitric and sulfuric acid. When the solution splashed onto the table, he casually picked up a cotton apron to wipe it, then immediately used fire to dry the apron.

To his surprise, when the apron neared the stove, with a "poof" sound, the apron vanished instantly as if by magic, without producing a single wisp of smoke.

Schönbein immediately realized this was a great invention; he recalled the entire process of the experiment, successfully discovered a new compound used for making gunpowder, and named it guncotton.

This new compound was known in later generations as nitrocellulose, which was the important raw material for making smokeless powder.

However, the nitrocellulose at the time was not stable; as long as the temperature exceeded 40 degrees Celsius, the nitrocellulose would automatically decompose and spontaneously combust.

This brought bad luck to the chemists who attempted to study this new compound; in these nearly 40 years, there were too many news stories about laboratories burning down or even exploding due to research on nitrocellulose.

As for the already discovered smokeless powder, the Spanish Royal Academy of Sciences would certainly not let it go.

Under the vigorous investment of Carlo, the Royal Academy of Sciences had established a research and development project for smokeless powder more than ten years ago, and had recruited a large number of chemists from Spain and abroad to join the project.

After more than ten years of research, Spain's smokeless powder finally achieved certain results.

Regarding the biggest challenge of nitrocellulose being unstable, Spanish chemists discovered that one only needed to dissolve it in a solution made of ether and alcohol, then supplement it with stabilizers and some special processing, to stabilize the otherwise unstable nitrocellulose.

It was precisely by relying on such a method that Spain produced smokeless powder in the true sense.

Although smokeless powder had been born, Carlo did not become complacent. Carlo understood that European countries were investing massive resources into the R&D of smokeless powder, and Spain might not be the first country to develop it.

Even if Spain was the first to successfully tame nitrocellulose, there would certainly be other countries following closely behind to produce smokeless powder.

The current smokeless powder, because it only had nitrocellulose as a raw material, was also called single-base powder, and still had great room for improvement.

However, compared to the black powder used in large quantities by European countries in bullets and shells, even single-base powder could achieve a lead in various data points.

As early as after Spain's smokeless powder was successfully invented, Carlo had already received a detailed report from the Royal Academy of Sciences.

The two most important changes of smokeless powder compared to black powder were, first, the significant increase in the power of the gunpowder, and second, that smokeless powder was true to its name, producing no significant smoke upon explosion, which would have an extremely important effect on warfare.

Currently, rifles using black powder produced a large amount of smoke with every shot. This caused the front lines to look shrouded in smoke and also exposed the position of the troops.

Especially in the era of line infantry firing, artillerymen only needed to look at where the smoke was thickest and fire blindly into the smoky area, and they would hit the enemy regardless.

The production of large amounts of smoke would also affect one's own field of vision; with soldiers in the midst of smoke, how could they aim at the enemy outside the smoke?

And for smokeless powder, this biggest flaw on the battlefield would be completely improved; the enemy would not find it so easy to discover one's movements, and one's own side would not have to worry about vision being affected by smoke.

Coupled with the higher energy of smokeless powder, which allowed for longer rifle range and greater power, it also had a revolutionary impact on weapons and equipment.

The smokeless powder R&D team provided a batch of smokeless powder to the Royal Military Factory, and the military factory produced a batch of rifle cartridges made with smokeless powder.

According to the tests by the Royal Military Factory, with the same rifle but different bullets, the rifle cartridges using smokeless powder not only had faster muzzle velocity and greater power, but the range was also far greater than black powder bullets.

One must know that the effective firing distance of current breech-loading rifles using black powder bullets was only about 100 to 200 meters; hitting a person beyond 200 meters was simply impossible, unless one was one of those unlucky souls who would break a tooth even on cold water.

General military engagement distances were also maintained at around 100 meters, because only then could they ensure their soldiers would hit someone.

Clearly, the birth of smokeless powder could completely change this phenomenon.

With the bullet head and casing unchanged, and only the gunpowder altered, the new bullet's muzzle velocity rapidly increased from the original 400 meters per second to 650 meters per second; such an increase was nothing short of exaggerated.

It was not just the muzzle velocity that increased, but also the effective firing distance of the rifle.

According to the tests by the Royal Military Factory, the Vitali M1872 rifle, when using smokeless powder cartridges, could increase its effective firing distance from less than 200 meters to over 400 meters, and the bullet even had sufficient lethal power within 600 meters.

It was just that beyond 400 meters, according to the design of existing rifles, it was already very difficult to guarantee the bullet's hit rate.

After all, when the Vitali M1872 rifle was designed, it was prepared for close-quarters combat; the designers at the time did not expect that current bullets could travel over 600 meters.

This also brought about a new problem, which was that Spain's rifles had to undergo improvements to be compatible with rifle bullets using smokeless powder.

Carlo was very bold; with a wave of his hand, he had the Spanish defense department issue a tender for new rifles to all military factories in the country.

Although the Royal Military Factory was Spain's largest military enterprise, regarding the research of new rifles, Carlo would not hang himself from a single tree.

All Spanish military factories could participate in the rifle tender; for some excellent design products, even if they were not ultimately chosen by the defense department, there would be certain rewards issued to help these excellent military factories go further.

The reason for only considering domestic bidding in Spain was because there was no such thing as "aiding the enemy" for military factories now.

For the sake of military factory orders, even competing countries could reach cooperation.

Carlo did not want Spain's newly developed rifle to be immediately purchased in large quantities by other countries, and along the way, let the great weapon that was smokeless powder be exposed to other countries.

Although Carlo knew that other countries were also conducting research on smokeless powder, and even knew that the French would develop smokeless powder this year.

But Spain actively leaking it and other countries independently developing it were definitely different; before other countries developed smokeless powder, what needed to be kept secret should still be kept secret.

Soon, more than ten large and small military factories in Spain all received the rifle tender announcement from the defense department.

The defense department clarified the various requirements for the new rifle in the tender, hoping that compared to Spain's existing Vitali M1872 rifle, it could achieve the requirements of faster firing speed, greater stability, and higher precision.

The defense department also specifically requested that the new rifles designed by each military factory should increase the effective range to the range of 400 to 600 meters, and maintain a certain level of accuracy within a firing distance of 400 meters.

This requirement was also the most strange and headache-inducing for the major military factories.

The previous requirements for faster firing speed and greater stability could actually be referenced by the advantages and disadvantages of the Vitali M1872 rifle, inheriting the advantages and improving the disadvantages.

Only the firing distance was not so easy to modify. The firing distance of the Vitali M1872 rifle was less than 200 meters, yet the defense department's requirement for the new rifle's firing distance reached 400 to 600 meters; wasn't this making things difficult for people?

Who could increase the firing distance just by changing the rifle design without changing the bullet? Not to mention an increase in firing distance of two or three times; this was simply not something a human could do.

Just as some small military factories were about to give up the bid due to the strict requirements of the defense department, the defense department issued an explanatory document to these military factories.

This explanatory document introduced the increase in firing distance brought by Spain's newly developed smokeless powder, which made the large and small military factories suddenly realize; they finally understood why the defense department had such strict requirements for the firing distance of the new rifle—it turned out they had been prepared all along.

Of course, before opening this explanatory document, the defense department officials had explicitly notified that anyone who came into contact with this document must sign a confidentiality agreement and promise not to disclose any information within the document for the next five years, which included Spain's newly developed smokeless powder.

Why was it a period of five years?

Because after five years, smokeless powder would be more or less common knowledge in Europe. By then, the rifles of various European countries would be equipped with smokeless powder cartridges, so there would naturally be no need to keep the information about smokeless powder secret anymore.

In addition to this confidentiality agreement, these military factories were also told that if their rifle design was adopted by the defense department, for the next five years, any order they signed with any foreign enterprise or country would require the nod and consent of the Spanish government and the defense department.

Although most Spaniards were very patriotic, Carlo and the Spanish government dared not gamble on the patriotism of capitalists at all.

Such a treaty could ensure that Spain's new rifles would not be so easily obtained by foreign countries, and naturally, it could also let smokeless powder be invented by other countries a few years later.

It was the same logic: five years later, firearms and bullets related to smokeless powder would have long been common knowledge, and Spain would not stop these military factories from selling the related rifles and bullets abroad.

Of course, if the designs of these military factories could be adopted by the defense department, they would not have to worry about orders for the next five years.

The Spanish military would definitely fully re-equip with the new rifles, and coupled with the large number of colonial troops, even the Royal Military Factory would have to produce for a long time to meet the needs of the Spanish military.

Not to mention these small and medium-sized military factories; if they were allowed to produce at full capacity, they might not even be able to finish within five years.

This was also the reason why these small and medium-sized military factories quickly agreed to the military's two requirements; after all, the military's two requirements looked strict, but in reality, they did not have much impact on them.

Requiring the Spanish government and the defense department to nod and agree before selling weapons and ammunition abroad looked like a tyrannical clause, but it also depended on whether the production capacity of these small and medium-sized military factories could keep up.

If the production capacity could not keep up, they would not have the ability to sign arms trade orders with foreign countries, and naturally, they would not violate this regulation regarding weapon exports.

Because of the explanation from the defense department, the large and small military factories, now completely at ease, immediately began to throw themselves into the R&D of the new rifle.

The defense department's emphasis on the new rifle was visible to the naked eye; in addition to reaching cooperation with the military factory that developed the new rifle, they would also pay an additional support fund of about 1 million Pesetas to that military factory to help the military factory expand faster and reach the production requirements needed by the defense department.

Do not look down on this support fund of only 1 million Pesetas.

Currently, apart from the Royal Military Factory, only a few military factories that had been established for decades had a total value exceeding this share.

The remaining small military factories, counting factory buildings and equipment together, had a total value that did not reach the level of 1 million Pesetas.

According to the scale of Spain's military industry, a military factory with a total valuation that could reach 1 million Pesetas could barely be considered a medium-sized military factory.

Regrettably, there were only three military factories in Spain that reached the medium level, and adding the only large military factory, the Royal Military Factory, these were the representative enterprises that the Spanish military industry could currently put forward.

Theoretically speaking, Spain's final new rifle should be born in the Royal Military Factory or one of those three medium-sized military factories.

After all, larger Jiagongchang are more powerful than smaller ones, whether in terms of equipment or the reserve of technical personnel.

Unless a smaller Jiagongchang can produce a weapons expert worthy of being written into history in grand detail, it is unlikely they will be able to win this weapons tender.

The main focus of the Spanish Guofang Force was also on the Royal Jiagongchang and those three medium-sized Jiagongchang, hoping they could develop a standard-issue rifle that met their requirements.

What Kaluo and the Guofang Force did not expect was that the first to submit a rifle design was not the Royal Jiagongchang, but a medium-sized Jiagongchang with little fame.

Qiaomengtuoya Machinery Manufacturing Plant; looking at the name, Kaluo almost thought they made tractors.

After learning that the other party was indeed a genuine Jiagongchang, Kaluo did not say much, but instead turned his attention to the weapon design they had submitted.

From the exterior, this rifle was highly similar to Spain's original Vitali M1872 rifle; one could even say the former was an improved product of the latter.

Actual testing confirmed this; because the sights had been improved, the new rifle could indeed shoot more accurately at longer distances than the original Vitali M1872 rifle.

This small-scale Jiagongchang also made certain improvements to the interior of the rifle, which indeed achieved the features of a longer firing range and a faster rate of fire.

But the problem was that because it was a product improved by a small-scale Jiagongchang, the rifle specifically manufactured for testing suffered a fatal barrel explosion during the test.

The barrel explosion occurred while testing the rifle's service life. Fortunately, it was a new gun test; the testing was not operated manually, but used a method of fixing the rifle and connecting a rope to the trigger to fire it.

After firing over a hundred rounds of ammunition in succession, the barrel explosion suddenly occurred, and the rifle turned into a pile of parts of various sizes along with the explosion.

At this, the faces of the Guofang Force officials, which had previously been smiling, changed instantly, and it also left the experts from this small factory feeling extremely embarrassed.

After this incident, let alone having the Guofang Force adopt their design, I am afraid that future cooperation with their factory will be considered with caution.

Weapon stability and safety are still very important, which is also something the Guofang Force specifically requested and emphasized during the tender.

Clearly, no matter how excellently the rifle designed by this factory performed in previous stages, as long as there were problems with stability and safety, the Guofang Force would not consider adopting their rifle design.

After all, it is Spanish soldiers who use the rifles, and the Guofang Force must consider the Spanish soldiers.

Compared to other data for the rifle, what the Guofang Force values most is the rifle's stability and safety.

Kaluo also hopes that the rifles produced by Spain are used to defeat enemies, not to harm Spain's own soldiers in such a bizarre way.

However, considering that this small factory did not do it on purpose, Kaluo did not blame them, but instead told them to go back and improve this rifle as much as possible to extend the rifle's service life.

If it cannot be improved, then it is better to abandon this rifle design as soon as possible.

After all, this rifle design followed the basic shape of the Vitali M1872 rifle and only made certain modifications to the internal design; perhaps this was also one of the reasons for the rifle's barrel explosion.

For a small factory, being able to reach this step is already quite excellent. After all, improving a rifle step by step requires a huge amount of cost, especially if one were to redo everything from the exterior to the internal design; the required research and development funds and costs are immeasurable, which is also the reason why Kaluo and the Guofang Force do not favor small Jiagongchang being able to manufacture rifles that meet the requirements of the Guofang Force.

6, 00-word two-in-one chapter, requesting monthly tickets!

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(End of this chapter)