Chen Xi wiped his sweat with a proud expression on his face.
This kind of thing is really a battlefield weapon. In this era, both infantry and cavalry must form dense military formations to fight. This is determined by the characteristics of cold weapons.
Only formation can exert collective combat effectiveness. And they can effectively monitor each other to prevent someone from escaping or taking advantage of the battle. The officer's task is to monitor every soldier and urge them to fight seriously.
If you use this kind of rocket with a range of two kilometers, it will explode and mess up the enemy's formation. Then the enemy will fall into command chaos. Many people will take the opportunity to escape, or avoid the dangerous position of the enemy in front, and run to a safe place behind the military formation.
An important breakthrough for victory in cold weapon combat is to disrupt the enemy's formation. Therefore, trapping the enemy, ascending first, and killing the general and capturing the flag are the three first achievements.
With this kind of rocket, one volley will cause the enemy to flee in all directions, and their formation will be completely chaotic. As long as our majestic formation attacks, the enemy will be defeated.
Yang Fan asked Yaoguang to give the drawings and related information of the Kangolev rocket to Chen Xi, and asked her to lead the establishment of the rocket project team. Put other work aside first. Let Qi Laoliu, who is in charge of artillery, be the deputy team leader, and mobilize personnel from the artillery factory to speed up development.
Before the 20th century, weapons such as rockets all used black powder as propellant.
Weapons like rockets were first invented by China. Just tie a black powder nozzle to the arrow, ignite it and fire it. They even made a launch box similar to a modern rocket launcher, containing a hundred rockets, and a hundred tigers running arrows on a trolley.
Later the Mongols conquered northern India and established the Mughal dynasty. Brought this technology to India. During the British conquest of India in the eighteenth century. The Sultan of Mysore at the tip of the Indian peninsula used gunpowder as a booster, black powder and a preloaded fragmentation warhead to create the Mysore rocket.
In actual combat, it was used to disrupt the formation of the British fusiliary infantry and to break up the formation of the British cavalry. The effect was very good and caused great panic to the British army. Finally, this kind of rocket was learned by the British Navy. They improved it and produced a Kangaroev rocket with a range of 2,000 meters. Launched from warships and small sampans. Used to set fire to enemy port cities.
In Europe at that time, there were a large number of wooden buildings in the cities. In several wars in Europe, the British navy burned a large number of enemy seaport cities and riverside cities. In the two anti-Japanese wars, it also achieved very good results in burning the Qing Dynasty's forts and breaking up the cavalry groups of the Eight Banners of Mongolia.
Seeing Chen Xi's proud look, Yao Guang shook his head and said, "The rocket you made is indeed good, but there are still many problems."
Chen Xi immediately asked: "Sister Yaoguang, there are still some problems. Please point them out and we will continue to improve. But I am in no hurry. I think this kind of rocket can be finalized. Produce a batch first and send it to Jiuyuan. Go to the city. At the same time, we will continue to develop the second-generation product.”
Xiao Niangpi also nodded and said: "That's the reason. The military situation on the battlefield is urgent, and the master is in urgent need of it. Since it can be used, we will mass-produce it first, and at the same time we will continue to improve the second-generation product."
Yaoguang nodded and said: "This is a mature and prudent statement. I would like to make a few points about the improvements of the second generation rocket. Please listen."
"First of all, to stabilize the ballistic trajectory, using a four-meter bamboo pole is very inconvenient to transport and launch. Our weapons are currently mainly used on land battlefields, so they must be easy to carry and transport. Such long bamboo poles must be made detachable on the battlefield. It also requires temporary assembly. It’s very troublesome. In fact, there is no such clumsy method to stabilize the ballistic trajectory.”
Chen Xi immediately asked: "Then is there any good way? Sister, tell me quickly."
Yao Guang stretched out his green jade fingers, pinched her cheek, and said: "Make the gunpowder nozzle into three or more inclined nozzles, so that the projectile can automatically rotate, and you can use the gyroscopic principle to stabilize the trajectory. This is the same as a rifled gun. It’s a truth.”
Breech-loading guns and rifling have already been developed. However, the replacement cost is too high, and we are currently conducting research on the combination of breech loading, rifled rifles, and all-metal bullets. After all, it's the kind used on Gatling guns. After the mercury-fired all-metal copper bullet comes out, the breech-loading gun and rifling are not a big problem.
.
The current development of machine tools is also relatively strong. Rifling capabilities are also available.
Chen Xi slapped his forehead, why didn't he think of such a simple truth? You can indeed do this. Change one nozzle into three or four nozzles with a certain tilt angle, so that the rocket body will rotate on its own after being launched, which can indeed stabilize the trajectory.
Xiao Niangpi was confused after hearing this, but she didn't feel it was serious and didn't dare to ask for fear of being embarrassed. Lin Yueru was good at mathematics and often studied by herself using books from Yaoguang. She finally understood.
"In addition, the propellant can be used without black powder and maroon gunpowder. The propulsion efficiency is too low and the combustion value is insufficient. It also takes up too much load. If the energy density of the propellant is high, it can be used less and the weight of the warhead will be increased. Or, equivalently Increase range under certain conditions."
"You can give it a try. Grind white sugar into powder as a burning agent, and use chemical fertilizer into powder as an oxidant. We have plenty of these two things in our warehouse. You can make as many as you want. It is much more convenient than black powder and maroon gunpowder. . Besides, these gunpowders are also used for rifles and artillery, and some production is insufficient." Yaoguang said.
The main component of chemical fertilizer is potassium nitrate, which can indeed be used as an oxidant. Yang Fan obtained a large amount of sugar and chemical fertilizers from Hyundai, mainly for use in some new variety breeding bases within the territory.
Now, under the guidance of Yao Guang, Tian Zili Tabu Nang is doing experimental planting of new varieties of crops.
Chen Xi took out a small notebook and recorded it carefully. This was the first time she had heard of this new propellant, and she decided to try it out when she returned home.
"In addition, I think the rocket body can be made larger. For example, the caliber can be expanded to 107, and the length can be expanded to about one meter. The launcher can also be made into three rows up and down, with four launching steel cylinders in each row. . It is installed on a two-wheeled gun carriage and can be towed by mules and horses. This way it can be carried and used by both infantry and cavalry."
The more Chen Xi listened, the brighter his eyes became, and he casually started sketching out this imaginary weapon drawing with a pencil. After several revisions, I showed it to Yao Guang.
When Yao Guang saw it, he was also surprised and said, "I can imagine how your little head looks like."
It turns out that the drawings are very close to each other. The guerrilla warfare artifact rocket launcher, which has been the most severely infringed on intellectual property rights in later generations, is as famous as the ak47 and RPG. It is actually very similar.
Yao Guang thought about it, the current propellants, explosives, and fuses were poor, but if the current technology was integrated, it would really be possible to build this kind of rocket launcher. Wouldn't it be that the range would be shorter and the explosion power would be smaller?
Yaoguang said: "I will give you a complete set of rocket launcher blueprints later. Just follow that. It should be possible to make it, but the range and warhead power will be half the difference. But it will be enough. Then I will give you a big surprise. .”
Xiao Niangpi finally reacted at this time and said: "Are you planning to put gunpowder-propelled grenades in a multi-barreled launcher and launch them?"
Chen Xi thought about it, and that was actually what happened.
It is a breakthrough in design thinking and the integration of existing technology. It's really not a creative technological advance. The emergence of this kind of weapon is based on the needs of the battlefield, the integration of existing technology, and the blessing of advanced design concepts.
Xiao Niangpi couldn't help but ask: "According to your ideas, using the new large projectile and propellant, what is the range of this weapon? How is its performance?"
Yao Guang rubbed his chin and made an estimate, then said: "The rate of fire can shoot out all twelve rockets in one minute. What about the range? I estimate it can be close to four kilometers. The warhead charge can reach one kilogram of explosives." , which is much more powerful than a gunpowder-propelled grenade."
After all, Syria’s gas tank mortars use this kind of propellant. There is no reason why it won’t be useful in Ming Dynasty.
