"Given by the Lord God, an indestructible artifact!...The cannon exploded...It exploded..."
A group of crows flew across the sky, leaving behind a cheery "quacking" sound. Shulot was sitting under the ceiling of the big tent, holding the letter from the foundry master, his face turning purple. After a while, he calmed down, took a deep breath, and read on patiently again.
"Your Majesty, more than two years ago, you left many fragmentary and unclear divine revelations, and mentioned short and thick mortars specially used for siege..."
"It's fragmentary and unclear." Seeing such a straightforward comment, Shulot raised his eyebrows and clenched his hands.
However, this is also true. Many times, the so-called "divine revelation" is just that he puts forward the correct technical direction in an impression and then describes the shape of creation. As for how to implement it and what the technical details are, it is up to the professional master craftsmen to slowly explore and solve the difficulties one by one.
In this process, the improvement in the abilities of master craftsmen is obvious. Just like Tiripi, who was exploring cannon casting. He has been casting cannons for many years and has accumulated a lot of experience. He is even able to independently research and manufacture mortars.
"...You said that the length of the barrel determines the range, the caliber determines the power, and the weight of the gun body affects maneuverability... For heavy artillery for sieges, the larger the caliber, the better, but the range is second. Of course, siege artillery The weight can be increased, as long as it can be transported, it will be no problem even if it is slower..."
"Based on this idea, I designed a new siege mortar. Its length is about one and a half meters, its caliber is between seven and eight inches, it is loaded with 30 kilograms of stone bullets, and its weight is more than 800 kilograms..."
Seeing this, Shulot thought deeply and made calculations.
The bronze cannon, one and a half meters long, has a caliber between seven and eight inches, that is, 22-26 centimeters. A closed stone bullet is about half a catty of 6-6.5 cm stone balls, with a volume of about 1,000 cubic centimeters. According to the standard density of stone, 2.8 grams per cubic centimeter, the mouth-opening bullet is indeed around thirty kilograms. A stone bullet of this weight, converted into pounds, would be a full 33 pounds! And if it is replaced by a closed iron ball with a density of 2-3 times, the power will be...
"Well, the iron bullets widely used in Europe are still too luxurious for the current alliance. On the contrary, the alliance has enough manpower to polish stone bullets. After the stone bullets hit the city wall, there will be shattering splash damage , more suitable for the current alliance..."
Shulot pondered for a moment, then estimated the shape of the bronze cannon on the papyrus paper.
Bronze is three times denser than standard rock, at about 8.4 grams per cubic centimeter. The 800-pound bronze cannon is about 50,000 cubic centimeters. According to the calculation formula of a hollow cylinder, the internal diameter is 12-13 cm and the length is 1.5 meters, then the external diameter is...
"An outer diameter of 24-25 centimeters? A cannon with a wall thickness of 6 centimeters?"
Thinking of this, Shulot's face showed surprise. Such a short, short and thick artillery is simply...
"It's just a lump of bronze! This... the kingdom's cannon-casting technology still has a lot of room for improvement! Huh... with the current technology, it's stupid, big and thick, and it's the only way to pile up the power. The choice was made.”
Shulot held the pen and stared at the bronze cannon he drew. After a while, he put a "tick" at the bottom. Then he looked at the letter again.
"Your Majesty, the difficulty of casting this kind of stubby artillery is much easier than that of long-barreled artillery. Although it took the artillery casting bureau a year or two to build the first one. But with this template, it can be built this year Three...no, five!... Please wait and see, even if I risk my life and exhaust my apprentices, I will build enough siege cannons for you!"
The forthright cannon-forging master made a written pledge and made a promise that was not necessarily reliable. Then, in a tone that was half excited and half frightened, he described the details of the test gun.
"During the first test of the artillery, we used five kilograms of gunpowder and fired it at the forty-five-degree angle prescribed by His Majesty. The range of the thirty kilograms of stone bullets was approximately one hundred steps, and they hit a half-pound in the soil where they landed. A deep pit of 3 meters... The second test of the cannon, with ten kilograms of gunpowder added, took more than 200 steps, fell into the woods, and broke several big trees! Your Majesty, this kind of range is enough to bombard the city wall. , instead of worrying about the crossbows at the top of the city!"
Seeing this, Shulot's eyes flashed. According to the parabolic formula, the range of a cannonball is related to the square of the muzzle velocity and is affected by air resistance. The kinetic energy imparted by the burning of ten kilograms of gunpowder is about twice that of five kilograms of gunpowder... No, including the possibility of incomplete combustion, it should be less than twice. The kinetic energy is proportional to the square of the initial velocity, that is, proportional to the range, plus the air resistance...
"If the range of five kilograms of gunpowder is less than a hundred steps, then ten kilograms of gunpowder will definitely not be able to reach a range of more than two hundred steps...Tiripi, my casting master, you are patting your chest and talking nonsense again!" ..Moreover, such a range is a bit small even for a mortar. The air tightness during launch needs to be strengthened..."
Shulot picked up the pen and was about to write down a reply to the admonishment. But after pondering for a moment, he put down the pen again and did not write any criticism.
The last paragraph of the letter contains the details of the explosion of the artillery, with only a few simple sentences.
"Blessed by the Lord God! The power of this mortar is so great, like the thunder of the Lord God, that all the wood and stone are smashed, and even the city walls cannot withstand it!... The craftsmen of the Cannon Foundry Bureau and the Gunpowder Department were very excited, and everyone unanimously decided to test it. The upper limit of the artillery range. Director Talaya also nodded in agreement and provided new gunpowder..."
"But I underestimated the power of the new gunpowder, so I added a full fifteen kilograms... This caused the chamber to explode, killing two gunners. I have already provided compensation to their families... Supreme Your Majesty, please show mercy and forgive my ignorant mistakes!..."
Seeing this, Shulot lowered his eyes slightly. Although Tiripi's barrel exploded and people died, such an outstanding cannon-casting master should still be greatly encouraged and generously rewarded. Of course, this will have to wait until the new mortars really arrive at the front line and show their power to destroy cities and destroy countries!
"Your Majesty, when this letter arrives in your hands, the new batch of mortar clay molds should already be drying in the shade. This time, I will thicken the walls of the cannon again and increase the weight to one thousand kilograms. Tighten the copper hoops on the outside! And with such reinforcement, this siege cannon will definitely be able to fire heavier stone bullets, load more gunpowder, and shoot to a farther distance! They are given by the Lord God and inspired by His Highness. , an indestructible artifact!..."
"Huh? A thousand-pound mortar..."
Hulot picked up his pen and did some calculations. With the addition of two hundred kilograms, the wall thickness of the artillery has increased by 1 centimeter, and the toughness will be further improved.
"Ha! Tiripi, my cannon-forging master, you are on the road of stupidity and darkness, and you will never look back..."
Shulot laughed dumbly. Then, he began to calculate that when shooting in a 45-degree parabola, the height of the shell would be about half of the range. And if you can fire 33-pound stone bullets to a hill more than a hundred steps away and more than a hundred steps high, then the White Snake Hill City in front of you will be dangerous and difficult to attack...
"Huh! If there are such heavy artillery... all the countries and cities in the world will be like weak girls in front of the kingdom's legions, no longer able to stop them!"
Shulot looked sternly and put down the letter. He stood up, walked out of the tent, climbed to the watchtower in the camp, and looked at the northeastern sky. There, a solid hill city was already huddled in its shell like a tortoise waiting to be slaughtered. At this moment, a group of warriors from the kingdom were escorting two really weak girls into the camp slowly.
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