Chapter 257: Using Cannons

Style: Historical Author: writing in the sunWords: 1968Update Time: 24/01/10 11:26:19
"Put him down for me, and I want to hear what else he can say about flowers. I want to convince him today, so that I won't say in front of His Majesty that I will be executed for not teaching him in the future."

Han Du had just suffered such a blow, and he felt that his arms were pinched and hurt. These guys were not joking with him, they were really capable of killing him.

Han Du was already angry after being slapped by Duke Xin and being brought onto this boat. When he saw that Duke Xin wanted to throw himself into the sea water, Han Du was even more angry.

Then he snorted coldly and asked: "Xin Guo Gong is also a veteran commander who has been on the battlefield for a long time. Have you ever heard of the saying 'Shoot the man first, shoot the horse, and capture the thief first, capture the king'?"

After hearing this, Tang He was stunned for a moment and said faintly: "It seems that you not only question my naval battle, you also question my land battle." After finishing speaking, he looked at Han Du and said with a smile: "It seems that you are asked to do this today. After you take a shower, I’ll let you ride a horse if you have the chance that day.”

But Tang He's smile looked very cold.

Han Du ignored Tang He's threat and continued to ask in a deep voice: "Then why do you shoot people first and horses? Please teach me, Duke Xin."

How could Tang He not know such a simple question? Tang He didn't pay attention, so he followed Han Du's words and replied: "Of course horses are much bigger than people, and it is easier to shoot horses. Moreover, if the horse dies or is in the hands, the person on the horse will almost certainly die. none......"

As Tang He talked, his voice became softer and softer. There was a flash of light in his eyes, and Tang He seemed to have thought of something, but he couldn't catch the light for the moment.

"Death is almost certain, right?" Han Du sneered and pointed at the entire sea, "What about on this sea? Can that person still survive without the boat?"

After hearing this, Tang He suddenly thought of it. On this sea, people sitting in the boat are like riding on horseback. If the horse is injured, and if the person on the horse falls off, he or she will be seriously injured, and even if he does not die on the spot, 90% of the time he will not be able to escape the trampling of the horse's hooves from behind, and he will die.

The same is true for people riding in a boat. As long as the boat is damaged, there is no difference between the people inside the boat and waiting for death. But how to destroy other people's ships? It definitely won't work with arrows, not even rockets. Today's warships attach great importance to fire prevention. The most indispensable thing in the sea is water. There is spare water on the deck. If a place catches fire, it is just a bucket of water.

What about using cannons? Like this guy said, use a cannon?

Not to mention, using cannons is really feasible. Isn’t it easy to use the power of cannons to destroy stones and destroy cities, and use them to break the planks of ships?

"No." Tang He shook his head.

Fengwu and others looked at Han Du with a smile at the beginning, thinking that throwing Han Du into the bath was a cooked duck, and it was a sure thing. Therefore, they were not in a hurry and just watched from the sidelines.

But when they saw Tang Shuai's expression change, although they didn't understand what was going on, they all felt nervous. Now that everyone heard that Tang Shuai couldn't do it, everyone breathed a sigh of relief. Fengwu and Wu were about to reach out to catch Han Du and throw him into the sea.

Before their hands touched Han Du, they were stopped by Tang He with a wave of his hand.

Tang He stared at Han Du and said in a deep voice: "It is indeed a good idea to use cannons to attack ships."

When Fengwu and others heard this, they were dumbfounded. Since Tang Shuai said it was a good idea, there was obviously no need to throw Han Du into the sea to take a bath. Several people sat down angrily, ready to listen to what the two of them said.

"The range of cannons is far greater than that of bows and arrows. If cannons can really be installed on ships, they will definitely be a great weapon for our navy." Tang He said, his eyes suddenly brightened. He murmured to himself: "With the range of the cannon, we can completely attack the enemy, but the enemy is helpless against us, and the enemy is unable to fight back. But it is a pity that this is not possible at all in practice. It doesn’t make sense.”

Fengwu and others were also excited by the scene Tang He described, and quickly asked: "This is such a good thing. But Tang Shuai, why doesn't it work?"

Tang He glanced at Fengwu and explained: "Although the cannon is powerful, it is too heavy. A cannon weighs a thousand kilograms. You have no idea how much material your ship can carry in addition to the people on it. What? And even if you give up all the supplies, how many cannons can you install on the ship? What's more, the cannons are not ready for use after they are installed. You also need cannonballs, and how much does a cannonball weigh? The most important thing is gunpowder. Without gunpowder, a cannon is nothing. The sea is the most humid place, and gunpowder is the most afraid of getting wet."

The implication is that Han Du's method will not work.

After hearing this, Han Du shook his head and retorted one by one: "Gong Xin's concerns are not unreasonable, but in fact these problems are not impossible to solve. Today's warships are small and cannot hold too many supplies, so let's build Larger warships until they can hold enough supplies." The Ming Dynasty's shipbuilding technology ranked first in the world in this era. Besides, since you will be able to build a large treasure ship on your own decades later, there is no reason why you can't build it now. The technological upgrading in this era is very slow. It is impossible to build a big treasure ship now and suddenly be able to build it in a few decades. And I'm still here. I haven't eaten pork, haven't I seen pigs running? Many things are actually a matter of concept. With the correct concept, Han Du felt that Ming craftsmen could build more advanced warships. What Handu lacks most is ideas.

"The current artillery is too heavy, so we can also find ways to reduce its weight. As long as the weight is reduced, can't it be installed on the ship?" Han Du spread his hands and said with a smile.

Tang He sneered and couldn't help but interrupt Han Du, "Iron cannons are generally used now. If you want to reduce the weight, you need to use copper cannons. What is copper? Copper is money, a copper cannon Do you know how much it’s worth?”

An iron cannon weighs more than a thousand kilograms, and a copper cannon weighs at least seven to eight hundred kilograms. The material of seven to eight hundred kilograms of copper alone is three to four hundred kilograms, plus the manpower and material resources and losses of casting. Is there a war going on here or there? This is making money.

If nothing else, the emperor will definitely not be able to get through. The imperial tax revenue is tight every year, and the emperor is worried about the money and food to prepare for the Northern Expedition. Where will there be extra money to spend on the navy? Not to mention it is used to cast expensive cannons.

Moreover, Tang He couldn't ask the emperor for money.