"Tell me, what is this? The name makes people fascinated when they hear it." Zhang Shize was used to seeing strange things invented by Yang Fan, and this heartless gun made him feel itchy when he brought it up.
Xiao Niangpi and Lin Yueru also pricked up their ears. They have always been interested in Yang Fan's inventions. Not that they knew the significance of these things. And it's all just for fun. They think this is an exciting new toy.
"Actually, to put it bluntly, there is nothing to be curious about. Just make an iron bucket, bury it in the soil, expose the mouth, first fill it with black powder for launching. Then put the gunpowder bag tightly wrapped with cowhide and sacks into it, and then light it. It can launch the gunpowder bag from 150 to more than 200 meters, and the longest distance is more than 300 meters." Yang Fan said.
Zhang Shize's eyes widened in disbelief. Asked: "You heartless cannon, how much is the charge? How much is the charge in the package you fired?"
"This kind of gun mainly fires gunpowder packets. The gunpowder packets generally weigh more than 20 kilograms, and the larger ones weigh more than 40 kilograms. The range is up to half a mile." Yang Fan explained the shape of this thing and how to use it. .
Xiao Niangpi couldn't help but said: "Master, isn't this just a large bowl-mouth gun? There's nothing strange about it."
Lin Yueru said: "Master, you may have never seen this thing. This thing is mainly used by navy troops on ships. It is actually a tubular tube below, with a large bowl-shaped opening on top. The tube is filled with medicine, and the bowl is Put a stone ball in it. Click it and launch it. Using the projectile principle, the cannonball draws a parabola in the air and hits the enemy."
After hearing this, Yang Fan shook his head and said, "It's not the same thing. What you're talking about should be called a mortar more appropriately. It's a light infantry portable light artillery. And the thing I'm talking about is used to blast city walls. Fortresses, or even hoplite phalanxes. The weight of the powder packets he fired exceeded the weight of the small bowl-mouth musket itself."
Xiao Niangpi said unconvinced: "Master, there are also big bowl-mouth guns. I have seen one that weighs 500 kilograms. It is as heavy as the copper-haired cannon you made. It can fire stone bullets weighing more than 30 kilograms. Woolen cloth."
Yang Fan said: "The thing you are talking about relies on the strength of its own tube wall to resist the power of the gunpowder explosion during launch. And what I am talking about, the launch tube itself does not bear much force. It mainly relies on the strength of the tube buried around the launch tube. The soil has to withstand a lot of launch pressure."
When Zhang Shize heard about the firearms, he became excited and said quickly: "Don't argue anymore. Let's find a foundry and make a batch. We will understand everything after comparing them."
Yang Fan said: "This is a good idea. I remember there is a foundry in the military camp in Nanyuan. There are also copper ingots in stock there. But these are from the imperial court. Let's use them first, and I will transfer the copper ingots later. Make up.”
A group of people immediately became excited. They didn't even eat the barbecue and got on the carriage and headed straight to Nanyuan.
An hour later, the carriage, escorted by a small flag of elite cavalry, entered the Nanyuan Military Camp.
After a few days of preliminary training, the barracks in Nanyuan has gained a new atmosphere of order and prohibition. The soldiers at the gate asked to stop for inspection.
Yang Fan's flag was erected on the carriage, and the soldiers immediately let him go.
When Zhou Yuji heard that the commander-in-chief was coming, he quickly rode over to report on his work.
Yang Fan opened the car window, waved his hand, and said: "You go about your business first. I'm not here for training. I'm going to the southernmost foundry to cast a few experimental artillery pieces. You go about your business. .”
After saying that, the carriage went straight to the southernmost foundry.
This foundry is mainly used to repair the weapons and armor of the Nanyuan garrison, and also to cast a small amount of small and medium-sized firearms. For example, Thunder Cannon, General Cannon, Crouching Tiger Cannon, Bowl Mouth Cannon, etc.
Zhang Shize got off the carriage and yelled, "Is there anyone in charge? Come out."
A ninth-grade ambassador hurriedly ran out. When he saw these two people, he immediately said with a smile on his face: "Commander, Mr. Zhang, what are your orders?"
Yang Fan said: "Find some bowl-mouth blunderbuss, and get some gunpowder and stone bullets. Call some craftsmen who know how to cast to come over."
After a while, several bowl-mouth guns and cannons were brought.
Yang Fan took a closer look and saw that this thing was placed on a wooden bed frame. It is not long, and like the Ming Dynasty's general cannon, it is a short-barreled artillery piece. This thing is a tube with a closed tail, and the muzzle is made into a horn, similar to the half-spherical shape of a bowl. It was made like this to fire larger shells.
If you put a cannonball into the cannon bore, the cannonball must be smaller than the cannon bore, otherwise it will not fit in.
If the muzzle is made into this bowl shape, stone bullets that are much thicker than the barrel can be fired. This is actually designed to fire super-caliber artillery shells.
Seeing this thing, Yang Fan suddenly realized that with the technological level of this era, mortars could actually be made. The bowl-kou gun is actually a variant of the mortar, similar to later mortars that fired super-caliber projectiles.
The ballistics and mortars are essentially the same, except that the bowl-mouth gun is a super-caliber mortar. The gun mount of the bowl-mouth gun is not as flexible as the bipod of the artillery cannon, and can adjust the firing range over a wide range.
The range of the bowl-mouth blunderbuss exceeds that of gunpowder-propelled grenades and hand grenades. The bullet weight is also relatively heavy, while the gun itself is relatively light. Easy for soldiers to carry. It's just that the gun mount is too bulky. If you replace it with a lightweight bipod-type gun mount, you can completely make a mortar based on Ming Dynasty's handicraft industry.
Later, Yang Fan and others fired dozens of rounds. I found that the accuracy was extremely poor. This thing is okay for dealing with dense enemy formations, but it's useless for accurate shooting.
The reason is also very simple. The weird bowl design allows super-caliber loading and increases the weight and volume of the projectile. However, the artillery shells are fired outside the barrel, and there is no artillery barrel to play a directional role. It is strange that the accuracy is good.
At this time, a 300 mm diameter iron barrel forged according to Yang Fan's requirements was completed. It was carried up by the craftsmen.
The artillery of this era was not all cast. There are also many types of forgings, which are made by cold forging process.
Regardless of the Ming Dynasty or the West, there are a large number of cold-forged artillery. The method is to wrap four iron tiles around an iron pillar and hammer them into a ring, beat dozens of rings at the joints with iron hoops, and finally cold-forge them into a barrel.
This kind of cold-forged gun has no bubbles caused by casting and no cracks produced during cooling. Therefore, the chamber explosion rate is relatively low. Security is very good.
However, although the performance of this kind of gun is good, it is very large. They are all small-caliber light artillery. The reason is also very simple. Large artillery cannot be cold-forged by manpower, and it cannot be smashed with a hammer. If you want to do cold forging, you need a hydraulic press.
"Follow my instructions, first dig a hole and put the iron bucket in diagonally. Then you can wrap it in cowhide to make a few gunpowder packets." Yang Fan directed at the side.
Then he drove them far away and hid them behind a big rock. It's not that Yang Fan is too cautious, the key is that the biggest problem with unscrupulous cannons is that they are easy to explode.
Not today. I was delayed because of something. I still owe a chapter. I will make up for it tomorrow.
