Chapter 777

"Incredible! It actually exploded!"

After staring in stunned silence for quite a while, Catherine finally cried out.

"Fun, huh?" Paul said smugly.

But Malo, the Cannon Factory Director standing beside him, shook his head regretfully.

Malo looked at Paul and said apologetically, "The shell should have exploded before hitting the ground, but in reality, it exploded only after landing and rolling for a while. It seems the fuse still needs to be made more stable."

Paul said, "So it'll work if we shorten the fuse a little?"

Malo nodded. "That'll require a great deal of experimentation."

The Demolition Shells currently being developed at the Arda Cannon Factory had a very simple design: a hollow iron ball packed with gunpowder and shrapnel, with a hollow wooden tube inserted through a small hole in the shell. The tube was filled with hard-packed gunpowder, forming the fuse. By cutting the fuse to different lengths, the artillerymen could control how long it would take for the shell to explode.

Catherine, who was standing nearby, asked, "What kind of shell is that?"

She had been in contact with the Alarda Army for quite some time. There was no doubt that it was a powerful force far beyond the standards of ordinary armies today. Catherine had been constantly cramming all kinds of knowledge related to it—though she was not the only one. The former Royal Army commanders sent by Rhodesney XVIII were also studying rapidly at the "Greiman Military Academy."

In Catherine's previous understanding, cannon shells were either large iron balls or piles of small iron balls called grapeshot. The experiment just now had shattered her existing impression.

"Demolition Shells, or Blossom Shells. You see, when they explode, they look just like a flower in bloom."

"That's a very fitting name." Catherine nodded. "Can you tell