Empire Rising: Spain

Chapter 111: Chapter 101: Buy One, Get Two Maxim

Carlo assigned the task to Kadir to go to the United States to find Gatling and Maxim and invite them to work in Spain as much as possible.

These two names are quite famous; one is the ancestor of machine guns, and the other is praised as the father of automatic weapons and a genius designer.

If these two can be brought to Spain, Spain’s progress in machine guns has the hope of reaching the world’s top level in the future.

Moreover, Maxim’s talents are not limited to machine guns; he has significant achievements in smokeless powder as well. Smokeless powder is a powerful aid to machine guns, and it is one of the main contributors to the strength of machine guns.

Carlo’s task for Kadir is to invite Gatling and Maxim to work in Spain, at least to bring one of them.

In terms of priority between the two, Carlo stated that if only one could be brought to Spain, it should be Maxim rather than Gatling.

The reason is simple. Gatling is already quite famous in the United States, and the hand-cranked Gatling machine gun he developed showed considerable effectiveness during the American Civil War.

And he has never stopped developing machine guns; Gatling himself has long received attention from the United States Government, making it very difficult to attract him to Spain.

Compared to Gatling, the younger, and whose capabilities have not yet been fully demonstrated, Maxim is obviously easier to recruit.

Moreover, if we only consider the impact on Spain, Carlo has more optimism about Maxim. The Maxim machine gun played a significant role in both World War I and World War II, and the Maxim machine gun he developed was imitated and improved by various countries, showing his talent in machine guns.

As the father of automatic weapons, Maxim’s abilities are not only applicable to machine guns; they can also be applied to artillery.

If the future Spanish Army could be equipped with machine guns and semi-automatic artillery, coupled with advanced military concepts, it would definitely become a world-class powerful army.

If Gatling is unwilling to come to Spain, it doesn’t matter, as the hand-cranked machine gun developed by Gatling can already be purchased.

If Gatling cannot be brought, then bring several Gatling machine guns back, which can be handed to the Royal Military Factory for imitation and learning, and to manufacture Spain’s own machine gun.

The current hand-cranked Gatling machine gun is not very stable anyway, Carlo is more looking forward to Maxim’s achievements in machine guns, and the truly war-impacting Maxim machine gun that Maxim created.

On January 28, 1871, Carlo finally met his long-awaited Hiram Stevens Maxim, one of the greatest mechanical geniuses in history, the famous father of automatic weapons.

During these few days, Carlo also learned about the entire process of Kadir recruiting Maxim.

The fact is indeed so; compared to Gatling, who has already become famous through the hand-cranked Gatling machine gun, Maxim had no fame in the United States at this time.

Maxim was born on February 1840, and calculating fully, he is only 31 years old.

Speaking of which, Kadir was quite puzzled about why Carlo was so determined to recruit Maxim, because although Maxim was a researcher in mechanical aspects, the patents he invented did not have such a huge effect.

Up to now, Maxim has only a few pitiful patents, including his first patent for a curling iron and a headlamp that can be installed on a train.

During the days when Kadir went to America, Maxim was hesitating on whether to accept an invitation from an American company to become an engineer at this electric lighting company.

However, upon meeting Kadir, Maxim immediately had a new choice.

It’s also unavoidable, considering the conditions offered by Carlo were too tempting, making it impossible for the 31-year-old Maxim not to be moved.

When Maxim was coming to Spain, Carlo was also very happy, because recruiting Maxim not only equated to obtaining this top talent in weapon design, it was buy one get two free; his brother Hudson Maxim and his two-year-old son Hiram Percy Maxim also came to Spain.

Although Hudson Maxim was not as famous as his brother, he was also an excellent military inventor with his own achievements in explosives.

And Maxim’s son, Hiram Percy Maxim, likewise was an excellent talent; like his father, he chose to become a mechanical engineer, not only inventing the firearm silencer but also making certain improvements to the internal combustion engine.

Spain is currently lacking inventors in military weapons, and of course, they welcome Maxim’s buy-one-get-two behavior.

In the Madrid Royal Palace, Carlo received the Maxim brothers, welcoming them from the United States to Spain.

“Mr. Hudson Maxim, Mr. Hiram Stevens Maxim, welcome to Spain.” Carlo said with a smile to the two.

“Thank you, Your Majesty, it is our honor to receive Your Majesty’s invitation, and we also thank Your Majesty for giving us the opportunity.” Maxim said very respectfully to Carlo.

Although born in the United States, a republic, this doesn’t mean Maxim holds an opposing attitude towards the monarchy of European Countries.