Yang Fan's secret weapon is the hand-operated Gatling gun.
The Gatling gun is a multi-barreled rotating firearm. Each barrel is responsible for the functions of loading, firing, ejecting and reloading, and can achieve continuous shooting during rotation.
Now Yang Fan's bullet has a firing rate of only half because of the unreliable primer.
It's a recipe for death when used on a rifle. Once it misfires, the soldier must hurriedly withdraw the ammunition.
Single-shot rifles do not have a magazine. You must use a knife to pry the outer convex bottom edge of the bullet outward to eject the cartridge case.
This is very troublesome. With this skill, the enemies have already rushed up.
However, if this kind of bullet is used in a hand-operated Gatling gun, there will be no problem.
As the handle is shaken, the multiple barrels rotate and the fired bullets are ejected.
A misfired bullet will eject while spinning along with the cartridge case.
Apart from affecting the rate of fire, it does not have much impact on normal use.
The hand-cranked Gatling is a rotating barrel machine gun composed of multiple tubes. When shooting, the crank is manually turned, and the bullets will automatically fall from the upright magazine and be loaded into the multi-barreled rotating chamber. As the barrel rotates, each bullet is fired quickly to maintain continuous firepower.
The handle of the machine gun only needs to be rotated once to fire 6 rounds of bullets.
With constant shaking, it can reach a firing rate of 200 rounds per minute.
Yang Fan's bullets have a half misfire rate. Even so, they can still reach a rate of fire of one hundred rounds.
This rate of fire is enough. The actual rate of fire of Little Japan's crooked machine gun is only 120 rounds.
This hand-operated Gatling gun was invented in 1850. Yang Fan has the design drawings, and all parts can be produced with Yang Fan's current technical level.
There is no problem in making it. In fact, the biggest difficulty is in the metal fixed ammunition. You can't knock this thing out with a hammer.
As long as the cartridge case is not a standard cylinder, it will not fit into the gun chamber, and it will leak if it is loaded. Moreover, the cost of manually producing bullet casings would be prohibitively high.
Yang Fan put down his rifle and wiped his hands blackened by the black powder propellant with the hot towel sent by the orderly. The first batch of percussion guns made for experimental use were poorly sealed, and after firing, black gunpowder residue was left on the hand.
Seeing Yang Fan put down the gun, Lin Yueru and Xiao Niangpi also enthusiastically grabbed several other percussion guns and went up to shoot them. They are also very interested in new weapons.
Before the two of them had finished playing, they saw a group of people dragging equipment. These are three trial-produced hand-operated Gatling guns that were delivered.
The hand-operated Gatling gun has a barrel of one meter long. Because the bullet caliber reaches 15 mm, the barrel is very thick. The six barrels are fixed together, making it very heavy.
It cannot be moved by human power. So Yang Fan directly ordered the guns to be mounted on wheels and marched with mules and horses like artillery.
Such is the heavy Gatling gun.
Considering the convenience of cavalry troops, a model mounted on the back of a camel was designed.
Considering the needs of mountain troops in combat, a model mounted on a wheelbarrow was designed, which can be pushed by one soldier and can also pass on narrow mountain roads.
The three Gatlings delivered were models A, B, and C.
The first one, as heavy as a gun carriage, was placed in the first firing position.
The second unit, a light Gatling, was transported on the back of a camel, and after reaching the firing position, the camel was allowed to lie on the ground.
First put down the four brackets and support them on the ground, so there is no need for the camel to bear any force. Camels were only responsible for maneuvering with firearms and ammunition. Then the launch begins.
This design idea comes from the idea of Geldan's camel city, camel artillery unit and camel heavy matchlock unit during the battle between Kangxi and Gerdan.
The third one is a Gatling integrated into a trolley. This kind of wheelbarrow is also called a chicken bus. It can be pushed by one person, or it can be pulled by someone in front. Very suitable for marching in mountainous areas and areas with extremely poor roads.
Chang Zhu saw that the test-firing personnel at the arsenal were all ready and asked: "Sir, which one do you want to test-fire?"
Yang Fan considered that it would be difficult to carry a heavy one on this trip north, so he said: "Let's test-fire this kind of trolley."
"Okay, launch the No. 3 car!" Chang Zhu ordered.
After giving the order, three people immediately started working.
One person is responsible for delivering the magazine, one person is responsible for loading the magazine, and one person shakes the handle to start shooting.
The magazines are all fifty rounds. Because the caliber is so large, the magazine is very heavy. Fifty rounds is already the maximum limit. Although the sustained firepower of a machine gun requires as many magazines as possible, the better.
No matter how much ammunition is loaded, manual loading will be difficult.
The muskets of this era, whether they were matchlocks or flintlocks, had larger calibers. Generally between 15--25 mm.
The caliber of some heavy matchlocks even reaches 25-35 mm, such as turtle dove guns, Japanese large barrels, Spanish heavy matchlocks, etc.
The reason why the diameter was large was mainly because the technology at that time was not good enough. It was very difficult to process small diameters. Larger diameters were easier to produce.
Yang Fan handed each of them a pair of industrial noise earplugs. He signaled Xiao Niangpi and Lin Yueru to plug their ears with earplugs.
The three men had just plugged their ears when the Gatling gun opened fire.
As the handle is shaken, the barrel rotates and spits out flames. There was a deafening loud noise, and the bullet casings also jingled out and rolled to the ground.
The light Gatling has only three barrels, which are responsible for loading, shooting, and unloading.
At this time, the three barrels cooperated closely, completing the three actions perfectly, and dense bullets were fired towards the target on the opposite side.
The targets and scarecrows on the opposite side were shattered by bullets, causing grass foam to fly.
Although the cartridge case is still filled with black powder and the warhead is still a cast lead slug, the bullet has a large caliber, a long barrel, and a large amount of powder. The muzzle velocity of the bullet leaving the chamber is much higher than that of a rifle, and the range and power are very impressive.
The effective range can reach 500 meters due to the stability of the gun mount.
At such a high muzzle velocity, the armor is basically the same as Zhihu's, there is no difference.
Xiao Niangpi and Lin Yueru were so surprised that they never imagined that firearms could be fired like this.
The rate of fire of one hundred rounds per minute, in their opinion, is like a violent storm. In front of such a weapon, anyone will be torn apart in an instant.
The fifty-round magazine was quickly finished, and the person to the left of the shooter quickly pulled out the magazine. The man to the shooter's right quickly loaded a new magazine.
The hand-operated Gatling gun, after a brief ceasefire, roared wildly and fired again.
Because the machine gun is mounted on a column and has a height and low pitching device and a left and right swing device, it can conveniently shoot at enemies in the sector-shaped interface in front.
The two ammunition handlers took turns loading the magazines, waiting for a box of twenty magazines to be finished. In front of the trolley, metal bullet casings lay on the ground, looking yellow.
Of course, half of the bullets here were fired blindly and were ejected without being fired at all. If they were all fired, the rate of fire would be a full 200 rounds per minute.
These stink bombs are completely recyclable and can be refurbished and used again.
The shell casings on the ground must also be recovered and reloaded into new ammunition.
Copper is very expensive, and Yang Fan can't even afford it. Here in Ming Dynasty, copper is money.
"Master, this is too scary. We have such terrible weapons, so we don't have to be afraid of cavalry. With such fierce shooting, no matter how many cavalry come, they can defeat it." Tu Shanyue said with a pale face and a clear heart. .
"Master, under such fierce firepower, what's the use of personal bravery? The future is really going to change." Lin Yueru also said with a complicated mood.
Yang Fan was very satisfied with the results of today's test firing.
This scene is similar to the last scene in the movie "The Last Samurai", where the hand-cranked Gatling gun shoots the samurai cavalry.
Yang Fan said with a smile: "This scares you. There is a big killer who hasn't appeared yet. Wait for the experiment and you won't be scared."
"Ah, this machine gun is already so terrifying. Master, is there any more powerful weapon?" Xiao Niangpi asked in disbelief.
"Of course there is. This thing is called the Iron Fist. It uses black powder to launch it, but strictly speaking it should be called a gunpowder-propelled grenade."
