Although it is easy to make a living with a crooked name, given that there are already Apocalypse tanks and Wanli airships, this new weapon will still be ordered with the reign name of the cheap grandfathers, and it is tentatively named "Longqing" mortar. gun.
In view of the fact that the tens of thousands of rebels in the Beijing Camp besieged their own chicken coop, and even the Yongwei Camp was unable to hold on, it was indeed necessary to give them a "grand celebration", so let's use these four cannons to congratulate them.
Longqing Type A, Longqing Type B, and Longqing Type C. Since Yang Jinchao summoned four blacksmiths, Yaoji made two types of Longqing Type B, which are more suitable in size, and a thicker 50 cm PLUS version.
The craftsmen didn't care so much. Since the prince asked him to do it and he could get a huge sum of ten taels of silver, he would do it. As for whether such a simple firecracker could fire, it was none of their business.
After the materials arrived, the Mini Krupp Arms Company was officially put into production. The blacksmiths began to knock the iron sheets, and the carpenters used saws to pierce the wood, and measured the dimensions according to the graduated rope given by the prince.
Li Jizhou, the eunuch of the East Palace Bingbi, has never seen how fire guns are made, but the armor factory eunuch Zhang Luan and the bureau officer Liu Feng around him are both industry insiders. Faced with the prince's child's play version of the gun-making process, he can only look down upon it. He stared in silence.
The technological process of Western artillery is divided into nine parts, including copper smelting, mold making, casting, pouring, standardization, chamber inspection, grinding, boring, and drilling. Even if the metal smelting part is ignored at the beginning, it must go through at least six steps. Seven processes are required to create a finished product.
Not to mention directly casting the gun, even the clay used before making the fire gun must use materials such as clay, fine sand, loess, magnetic ash. The clay has good plasticity, the fine sand can withstand high temperatures, the loess has high strength, and the volume of the magnetic ash after firing is Changes are small.
Mix these materials and touch them on the wooden mold to make them into a fixed size. They must be dried and aired first, and then heated and fired. No moisture can enter, otherwise honeycomb holes will appear on the barrel during actual casting. , these pores will directly cause the barrel to burst when the artillery fires a shell.
This is just one part of the mold-making process. If you add up the process of making firecrackers, it would be extremely cumbersome. However, every step must be done carefully. If there is a slight mistake, all the efforts will be wasted.
In comparison, the prince's method of making guns is just a joke. Although it may have been learned from the fairy world, if they can really project a projectile weighing ten kilograms, then they will only cry secretly. .
Iron sheets, iron nails, iron rings, wooden boards, wooden frames, wooden frames...
Both sides require craftsmen to build, but the prince's side only requires a few kinds of materials, and they are very easy to make. Ordinary craftsmen can participate in making firecrackers.
If making fire blunderbuss becomes so simple and easy to use, the prince may have to lay off some people in the armor factory, and his official position may not be guaranteed. What should he do?
"Only you and I have seen this method of making cannons. If it leaks out, don't blame me for being ruthless!"
If Huang Taiji learns this thing, I really don’t know how many heartless cannons Braid will create. Then it will be easy for the "Qing Wangshi" to go south to attack the city. Maybe even the capital can be defeated by them. .
"My subordinates dare not!"
According to the prince's wishes, he does not intend to lay off himself, otherwise he would not have given such an order.
"From now on, this artillery will be produced exclusively by the armor factory. I will allocate a place for you to make this weapon. These craftsmen and their families will be included in it, and their monthly salary will be increased. They must be settled All the silver needed by his family can be met."
The confidentiality measures for manufacturing heartless cannons must be as good as possible. Even if it is eventually leaked, the leakage time must be delayed as much as possible.
When Huang Taiji leads his pig-legged men into the border again this winter, there will be at least hundreds of heartless cannons to welcome them.
Strive to ensure that the explosive package can fall on the head of every armored soldier. This is called a veritable "lucky head"...
"His Royal Highness's order, please remember it carefully!"
Hearing the prince's arrangement, Zhang Luan, the eunuch at the factory, and Liu Feng, the bureau officer, felt relieved. The official title on their head was saved. The prince was willing to give such instructions and treat these craftsmen and their families well in the future.
Whether they can be as sharp and powerful as Western fire cannons, the truth will be revealed once these fairy fire cannons are built and tested. If they are terrible, they can be persuaded to give up their previous thoughts.
Emperor Tianqi loved to do carpentry, and the young prince inherited his uncle's excellent hobby. Not only did he do carpentry, but he also did blacksmithing. He was simply better than his master!
When the nobles in the rear mansion heard that the beautiful mother said that a rebellion had been launched in the capital, they suddenly became uneasy. They were extremely anxious and sleepy, so Yaoji no longer had any scruples about banging.
It took more than an hour to build the Longqing Type A mortar using hammers, planes, saws and other tools.
It can be seen that the master blacksmith is still very serious and responsible, and may be afraid of being beheaded, so even though the making time is short, the iron barrel has already taken on a relatively regular cylindrical shape.
Yaoji asked the chamberlain to move the mortar to the square in front of Huangji Palace, and then according to the written operating procedures, he put the stone shells with the same weight as the explosive packets into the cannon, with wooden boards still behind them.
The recoil of the heartless cannon is very large, so the semi-buried firing method is generally used. The floor in front of the Huangji Palace is covered with stone slabs, so Yaoji had to have someone break a piece open and then dig a hole to fix the iron cannon.
There would be exposed soil in other places, but the place is not spacious enough. Without knowing the range, it would probably hit the building, leaving nothing but mountains of gold and silver.
After a testing ground was opened, the guards all exited the square. The only people present were a certain prince, Li Jizhou, Yang Jinchao, the factory eunuch Zhang Luan, the bureau officer Liu Feng, and eight internal experts. Zhou Yuji had returned to Chengtianmen to inspect the city defense situation. .
In order to show off in front of his little master, Zhang Luan volunteered to light the fuse, and asked Liu Feng to hold a large wooden board ten meters away as a shield to prevent being blown up. The prince and others hid behind twenty meters. meters away
Since it was still dark, a brazier was placed every ten steps in the middle of the square to indicate distance and provide lighting.
After weighing in advance, the two stone bombs weighed five and ten kilograms respectively, that is, six and twelve kilograms. Yaoji didn't know how far such heavy shells could be hit.
It is not convenient to observe ballistics at night, so the artillery can only be buried at a 45-degree angle that can theoretically achieve the maximum range.
It was difficult to find the point of impact when the projectile hit the stone slab, so Yaoji had people paint the stone projectile with painting paint, so that as soon as it fell on the ground, it would create a graffiti, making it easier to be discovered and measure the range.
There is also a luminous pearl tied on it, which I got from my beautiful mother. I hope that the blame dad will not be angry when he wakes up. After all, the development of advanced weapons also requires early investment...
"ignition!"
Yaoji decided to test a heavier live bomb first, because if a stone weighing ten kilograms can fly a hundred meters away, and if it is fired by a cannonball weighing five kilograms, it is estimated that the own people in the gatehouse in front will suffer. .
When Zhang Luan saw the fuse starting to burn, he ran back quickly. He didn't know if the thing would explode on the spot. If he was guessed, he would definitely be blown into pieces first.
"Bang~!"
Because of its large caliber, it is difficult to gather sound, so the sound emitted by this large-caliber mortar is relatively low. It is not as crisp as that of a small-caliber artillery, but the propellant still creates an oblate fireball in the dark night.
The lack of an explosion in situ satisfied Yaoji's first requirement. When he saw something that seemed to be streaking across the night sky, he couldn't help but set up a pergola to watch closely. However, his eyesight was too poor, and the light was dim and the distance was far away. Nothing is visible.
"Bang~!"
A few seconds later, there was a muffled sound in the distance. It should be that a stone bullet hit the stone slab. Yang Jinchao asked four inner masters to go look for the luminous pearl. However, it was probably broken, but as long as it still glowed, it would be easy to find.
"Over there!"
One of the guys holding a torch saw the target and hurriedly turned around and called over.
The other three followed the final landing point and looked back for the first landing point of the stone bullet.
After the graffiti was discovered, the actual range could be determined. As an insider, Bureau Officer Liu Feng began to measure the distance.
"Your Majesty, it's one hundred and seventeen steps!"
After hearing the news, Yaoji calculated that the range of the Longqing Type A mortar was 175.5 meters, which exceeded his higher expectation of 150 meters. The test results were very satisfactory to a certain prince.
Fortunately, the shells were not tested with five-pound shells at first, otherwise they might have been thrown on the heads of the soldiers of the Yongwei Battalion. As long as they hit someone, even if they were wearing helmets, they would be fatally hit.
According to this inference, a five-pound cannonball should be thrown 250 meters away, but the power will be relatively small. Since explosive bags are used, it will require a lot of money to entertain the chicken outside the customs. It is absolutely indispensable. A pound is a pound short of a pound.
Just now Yao Ji saw a very weak and vague green light in the night sky, which was the bright light emitted by the night pearl, but it was far less bright than the brightness of the flare, and the parabola of the ballistic trajectory was almost invisible.
What if you apply a layer of oil on the surface of the stone?
When the propellant is ignited, the oil on the stone bullet may also burn, and it will become a fireball when thrown, so that the trajectory can be seen.
Just do it, Yaoji immediately asked the chamberlain to brush the stone bullets according to this method, and then conducted a second test, and then began to use explosive bags to launch live ammunition.
"Bang~!"
As expected, despite the oak board as a barrier, a few wisps of flames bursting out of the barrel still ignited the oil on the stone bullets, and everyone could easily see that the bullets were thrown into the air at a 45-degree angle.
"Yo Xi~!"
Now those guys with bad consciences in the Beijing camp will have something to play with, and many of them will go to the Paralympics...
I don’t know if the flames will directly ignite the explosive bag. The oak partition and the bottom of the gun barrel are not perfectly connected. It is certain that the flame will escape and even surround the explosive bag. If it is not wrapped with a wet cloth, the explosive bag is very likely to be in the gun chamber. explode.
The fuse of the explosive package cannot speed up the burning speed because of this. Otherwise, if it explodes in advance while flying in the air, the lethality to the enemy will plummet.
But at the moment, the Yongwei Battalion is desperately resisting the attack of those second- and fifth-grade men. Time is precious and a third test must be conducted immediately. It is not too late to think of countermeasures after the live-fire test is completed.
This time, the fuse was specially lengthened to give the eunuch Zhang Luan enough time to escape. If ten kilograms of explosives exploded on the spot, it would be no joke.
Since the surface area of the explosive package is much larger than that of the stone bomb, and the impact of air resistance is more obvious, the range should be closer than that of the stone bomb, but it still needs to completely eliminate everyone in the impact area.
"Bang~!"
The first step is to shoot the explosive package safely, and the second step is to complete it without exploding in mid-air.
"boom……"
The third step is to wait until it reaches the limit of the range before exploding. The next step is to check the damage near the explosion point.
Fortunately, the inner court had been notified in advance, otherwise a group of concubines would have been so frightened that their faces would turn pale, and their hearts and hemispheres would tremble wildly.
Is this considered a success?
Why don't you have any sense of accomplishment?
Does it mean that weapons that are not put on the battlefield have no value in existence?
Yaoji went over to check the wear and tear of the mortar, that is, the iron barrel. It seemed that it was not too serious, and he could still fire several more shots. It would be better to hit the sun on another day, so now he would bring it to the inner city to show off his skills. alright.
Although there is only one cannon, it is a little less, but it is a rare living target to hit. This kind of opportunity is not easy to come across, and one is killed one after another.
According to Fang Zhenghua's description after returning from the survey site, there were ten thousand people in the Beijing camp who came to attack the city. Do you think this is Shabak?
Throwing a packet of explosives and killing or injuring five or six people will not be worth the manufacturing cost of the manufacturer!
As a prince, Yaoji can't go out to climb the city. Seeing the killing effect of this cannon with his own eyes, I always feel that the satisfaction will be a little less.
No matter what the prince thought, the people around him were so shocked that they could hardly close their jaws.
Especially the factory eunuch Zhang Luan and the bureau officer Liu Feng had mixed feelings when they saw that such a crudely made firecracker could have great power.
The advanced gun-making process that their armor factory had painstakingly learned from the West was crushed by such a simple fairy magic weapon...
The range is the same, but they are much cheaper than the guns in your factory. The price is the same, but the quantity they produce is much larger than yours. No matter how you think about it, it makes you sad.
After watching three test firings, just such an unscrupulous cannon caused 2.5 million points of critical damage to the factory director and deputy director!
If you think about it on the bright side, it won't be so troublesome to make fire cannons with a shorter range in the future. Hundreds of blacksmiths and carpenters can make hundreds or thousands of fire cannons.
According to the manufacturing method of His Highness the Prince, I dare not speak of large-scale firecrackers, but small and medium-sized firecrackers will no longer be in short supply in the Ming Dynasty from now on.
Subsequently, the other three mortars were also completed one after another. Yaoji tested them and recorded the data, then allocated these four small iron cannons to Huang Degong's troops who were fighting fierce battles with the rebels at the top of the city.
