Li Dingguo walked up to the cross-shaped steel beast with an expression of disbelief.
Knocked.
clang! clang!
There was a dull sound of metal. Except for the wooden frame underneath, it seemed that everything was made of iron.
When I walked to the front of this thing and looked through the big dark hole, I couldn't see anything because it was so dark.
But looking at the muzzle, I'm afraid it could fit something bigger than a person's head.
Pointing to the muzzle of the cannon, Li Dingguo asked the old master of Tiangongyuan who was following him:
"Old Master Tang, do you think this thing uses gunpowder?"
Mr. Tang, who looked like a thin old man wearing a smart short-sleeved suit, quickly shook his head and said: "The general is too praised. The old man is just a blacksmith, not a master."
Li Dingguo waved his hand indifferently and said: "The prince has already written and asked me to respect you as a teacher, so you will naturally be the master.
We’ll talk about this later. First, tell me, does this thing really use gunpowder? "
Master Tang saw that he persisted, so he had no choice but to admit it.
Hearing his question, he quickly nodded and said: "This cannon is indeed made of gunpowder!"
Li Dingguo thought for a while and then asked: "Is it the kind of explosive pack we used to attack the city?"
"no the same."
"What's the difference?"
Li Dingguo was puzzled. They were all gunpowder. What was the difference?
But Old Master Tang chuckled and said, "The gunpowder we used this time is spherical, or a solid iron ball."
"A solid iron ball?"
Li Dingguo's eyes widened. He had never used gunpowder before. Didn't that thing explode with a bang as soon as it was lit?
How to fry with solid iron ball?
Master Tang nodded and affirmed: "That's right, it's a solid iron ball."
Looking at the expression on Li Dingguo's face, Master Tang guessed what he was thinking, and then explained: "The purpose of this cannon is to launch solid iron balls.
General Li, think about it. During the battle, the enemy is approaching in the same formation as ours. At this time, you fire a cannon from 300 steps away. The stone bullet directly hits the opponent's crowd. That's absolutely If you touch it, you will die, if you touch it, you will be injured!
Even this practice bomb will ricochet if conditions permit. Once again causing damage to the opponent!
If this shot continues, at least dozens of people will die! "
Li Dingguo's eyes flashed, but he touched his chin and said:
"This sounds pretty powerful, but I feel like its lethality is not as powerful as a repeating crossbow.
Even our repeating crossbow can kill a lot of people with thirty arrows fired at a time, but its range is limited. "
However, Old Master Tang said confidently: "The repeating crossbow created by the prince is naturally powerful, and it is definitely not comparable to this thing in terms of attack frequency and lethality.
But the original main purpose of this thing is not for field use. "
"Oh? It's not for field use. Could it be that it's for city defense?"
"bingo!"
Master Tang clapped his hands fiercely and said excitedly: "The general is right, this is a powerful weapon for defending the city!
General, you have fought so many battles and used so many siege equipment. This has also given us, the soldiers of the Yunzhou Army, many advantages.
With those siege equipment, many cities that were originally difficult to attack could no longer survive in an instant.
But have you ever thought about defending the city? "
Li Dingguo was startled, then shook his head and said: "The prince said that the best defense is to attack. As long as you kill all the enemies, there is no need to defend."
Old Master Tang slapped himself in the face, looked at the confused Li Dingguo for a while before sighing:
"I remember that when we first captured Nanli County, we defended the city for a period of time. At that time, we also said that many soldiers were not good at defending the city and caused a lot of casualties.
The prince's place is small now. If you don't defend it, you won't defend it. The army can come to support at any time if it is nearby.
But General, have you ever thought about what happens if the General’s territory is very large in the future?
At times like this, the city always needs to be defended. It is impossible for the prince to have the energy to take care of everything.
And this is a weapon for defending the city! "
With that said, Master Tang patted the huge artillery barrel and continued: "General Li, think about it, how do you defend the city when someone is pushing siege equipment such as Lu Gong's chariot, carriage, and ladder?
If the opponent's siege equipment is poorly made, you can still cut off ladders and the like with the knife in your hand.
But if the other party makes the front section of the ladder out of iron like we do, wouldn't the knife be useless?
But with this artillery, it's different.
All you have to do is aim at those siege engines and blast them down with a bang!
In the blink of an eye, our artillery can directly destroy all their siege equipment!
It is even possible to take advantage of the range and take advantage of an unprepared place to crush the enemy's generals into powder with one shot from a distance! "
"this……"
Only then did Li Dingguo realize the usefulness of this artillery.
Indeed, as Mr. Tang said, if you have artillery to defend the city, you will not be afraid of others using siege equipment to attack the city.
Without siege equipment, it would be an extremely difficult method for the enemy to attack the city using the most primitive siege method.
In such a battle, it is normal for the loss ratio between the defender and the enemy to reach ten to one.
Seeing his astonished expression, Mr. Tang hurriedly struck while the iron was hot and continued:
"That's not all. If this thing is used to attack a city, the effect will be even better.
Since his cannonballs are all solid cannonballs, this cannon will directly hit the opponent's city wall or city gate. Even a slightly thinner city gate can be directly broken into pieces by him. If it is not broken, then One more shot!
As for the city wall, as long as it is not built particularly tall and thick, it can be directly bombarded with artillery, and it can be directly destroyed when it reaches the limit of the city wall. This is simply a weapon for siege. "
"I would use a catapult to attack a city." Li Dingguo muttered in a low voice.
Master Tang heard these words, and Master Tang immediately became dissatisfied and said: "General Li, the range of your catapult is only about a hundred steps.
Our artillery has more than three hundred steps!
And the power is huge, the impact of one shot is much greater than the bomb dropped by the catapult!
If you don't believe it, stand in front of the cannon and I'll give you a shot so that you can feel the power for yourself and you will know that I am not telling lies! "
"What the hell?!"
Li Dingguo's eyes widened.
Let me stand in front and let you have a hard time?
Am I crazy or are you crazy?
Should I try it myself just because I have doubts?
When I finish the experiment, I'm afraid it will be over if it's not me!
Seeing the shocked expression on Li Dingguo's face, Mr. Tang realized that he seemed to have said the wrong thing just now because he was too excited.
How could I let General Li stand and let me shoot him?
If this was according to what the prince said, it would be an artillery attack on General Li.
Suddenly he scratched the back of his head in embarrassment and quickly changed the subject: "By the way, although the current range of this artillery is only more than three hundred steps, we are improving it and it will be farther and farther in the future.
This time I will ask the general to use it more on the battlefield. Let me see if there are any problems in actual combat and where it would be better to improve it. "
Li Dingguo had also long heard that the group of craftsmen in Tiangongyuan had been obsessed with making things since they were awakened by the prince, and they had no emotional intelligence at all.
So I didn't continue to argue with Mr. Tang, and nodded and agreed.
Then he waved his hand and immediately asked his men to pull the ten artillery pieces towards their own camp.
Master Tang and other artillery instructors and maintenance personnel also hurriedly followed.
…
(End of chapter)
