Among the Western Bandits, some are dreaming of occupying the whole of Shaanxi with the help of the Jin Dynasty, while others are dreaming of restoring the Liao Dynasty with the help of the Song Dynasty. But as an important role in these two big dreams, Zhao Kai now doesn't care at all what the Dangxiang and the Khitan people plan.
Because he now has eighteen "big pots" weighing twenty-five kilograms. Not that the pot weighs twenty-five kilograms, but the iron bullets fired by this big pot cannon weigh twenty-five kilograms!
The pot of this type of "hot pot cannon" is three feet long, and the caliber is about half a foot. Although Zhao Kai repeatedly emphasizes "standardization", after each "pot" is cast, the caliber is different, but it is not the same. Affect. Because the sizes of the cast-iron shells sent by the two profiteers Zhang Guanghui and Chen Qian were not exactly the same, and the weights certainly varied, and the so-called "twenty-five pounds" was also an approximation.
However, although Zhang Guanghui and Chen Qian were very profiteers, their brains were quite good. They both made the cannonball smaller (mainly to save materials) so that it would not be unable to fit into the "mouth of the pot".
However, there is also a problem with the smaller shell, that is, too much air leakage, which will seriously affect the range and accuracy of the hotpot cannon. Fortunately, Zhao Kai, who was familiar with the "Four Military Books", also found a lot of information on weapons from the 18th and 19th centuries on the Internet, so he knew how to overcome the problem of air leakage in the barrel. He asked the carpenters in the palace to use cork to make some wooden pallets according to the "mouth" of the "big fire pot" (the pattern of the wooden pallets was drawn by Zhao Kai), and then sent these wooden pallets to the carpenters in Luoyang City. Samples were ordered, tens of thousands of them... Of course, after these wooden pallets are made, the diameter will be slightly larger than the "mouth of the pot". Before use, carpenters need to follow the "mouth" of the corresponding hot pot cannon. Perform finishing.
There are two other uses for these wooden supports. One is to use cloth strips to tie the wooden supports and iron bullets together, turning the wooden supports into a tail fin to stabilize the ballistic trajectory and improve accuracy. Another way is to place the heated shell directly on the wooden support and shoot it out - this is an arson bomb!
As for the explosive ammunition... of course it has been "invented", but it cannot be used!
This is because the trial production of cast-iron blooming bullets has not yet been successful, but the coppersmiths of Fucai Supervisor have made bronze blooming bullets...one blooming bullet uses eighteen kilograms of bronze! Although Zhao Kai has an annual salary of 6 million, he still can't afford such explosive ammunition.
In addition to cast iron bullets, Zhao Kai also ordered people to make a batch of stone bullets... stone cannonballs! This is cheap and easy to make. Just pick up some stones of suitable size, polish them, and tie them to a wooden support to punch them out!
Outside the Xuanwu City (this is a sandwiched city, part of the Luoyang Imperial City) to the north of the Ziwei Palace in Luoyang, there is a newly opened imperial shooting range. Zhao Kai is currently standing on the wall of the Xuanwu Gate under the bright early summer sun. He looked at the eight artillery groups on the shooting range outside Xuanwu City, slowly playing with the eight "big pot cannons".
Although eighteen "big pot cannons" have been delivered, there are only eight available gun crews, four of which are composed of Zhao Kai's twenty female squad members plus four craftsmen. The remaining four are personally responsible for the four generals, deputy generals, and generals: Xu Qing, Tang Xian, Wu Lin, and Huang Wubing - if you want to be an artillery officer, you don't have to know how to play with artillery!
As for the standard method of playing with cannons, Zhao Kai worked with the female classmates for more than a month to sum it up based on his memories of his previous life.
There are six people in a gun crew, one gunner, two people are responsible for loading ammunition, two people are responsible for clearing the barrel, and one person is a craftsman, responsible for repairing the artillery, modifying the wooden support, pounding stone bullets, and heating the artillery shells-if it is to be fired In the words of arson bombs.
If it really goes to the battlefield, it may be equipped with a group of strong men responsible for carrying artillery shells! After all, it is a 25-pound cannonball. If you have to carry it for several hours, an iron man will fall down from exhaustion!
When loading ammunition, first charge the powder bag, then press it with the ejector rod, then put cork (cork can also be bundled with the shell), then put the shell, and finally press it again.
The gunner is responsible for aiming and igniting. The way to aim is to adjust the shooting angle - the "hot pot gun" has gun lugs on both sides, which can be put into the bayonet of the "wooden box" gun mount, so you can raise the muzzle and then Add or adjust skids to change the angle of attack. When changing the firing angle, five gunners are required to work together.
To ignite a fire, a match rope and an ignition rod are used. The match rope is a rope soaked in salt water. The gunner pierces the medicine bag with a long needle and inserts it. Then use a ignition pole with a long lit match wrapped around it to light the match. After lighting the match rope, all gun crew members must retreat to the bunker built with sandbags to avoid exploding the barrel...
After the first shot was fired, the two gunners responsible for clearing the gun went out and used a clearing rod equipped with a barb to remove all the bits and pieces in the barrel, and then used another clearing rod equipped with felt to dip the gun. Water brushes the chamber.
After more than a month of high-intensity training, all seven gun crews have become relatively proficient. However, the rate of fire is still not high. It takes three or four minutes to fire one shell. If they go to the battlefield, they can still maintain this rate of fire, which is enough.
I can shoot almost 40 rounds in one hour, and I can shoot 200 rounds in five hours a day. If the eight cannons are fully activated, they can fire 1,600 rounds in one day, and 4,800 rounds can be fired in three days... How can Lingzhou City be able to withstand it? Those were 25 kilograms of iron bullets and stone bullets, and some of them were arson bombs!
If you can really bear it, it doesn't matter... Zhao Kai also prepared a digging army, which can fire cannons and dig holes at the same time. As long as they can dig under the Lingzhou city wall, and put a dozen barrels of black powder, What kind of city wall cannot be broken down?
"Boom boom boom..."
Just when Zhao Kai was thinking about how to capture Lingzhou City at lightning speed, the eight 25-pound "big pot cannon" placed in the shooting range had already started!
This noise was much louder than the 10-pound "pot" fired at the Fu Financial Supervisory Range before. Even standing far away on the city wall, there was a deafening feeling. It scared a little girl disguised as a man next to Zhao Kai. She screamed and threw herself into his arms.
"Xiao Mei, don't be afraid, I'm here!" Zhao Kai quickly comforted the little girl - the little girl is timid! Although when Zhao Kai was away, she still played with artillery and gunpowder with a group of female classmates. According to Guo Tiannu, she was still the best among them. But whenever Zhao Kai is around her, she becomes so timid and adorable.
"Ahem..."
Suddenly someone next to Zhao Kai started coughing violently. He quickly turned around and saw that it was Han Shizhong... I wonder if he was choked by the smell of gunpowder wafting up from below?
Zhao Kai then found a circle of grown men standing around him, all staring at him as he hugged the little girl!
Ah, today I brought all the ministers to watch the test firing of the "hot pot cannon"!
He quickly let go of Wu Meiniang, returned to Baoxiang's solemn kingly posture, and then turned his gaze to the target on the shooting range outside Xuanwu City - a circle of temporary rammed earth walls.
The rammed earth wall is not high, but it encloses a large area of land - the accuracy of the "big pot cannon" is very low, so it can only be used to hit large fixed targets at close range (such as a few hundred meters) ( such as a castle).
All eight projectiles landed in the circle of earth walls... They were quite accurate - of course they were accurate! It's not the first time they've hit it. They've hit this target every day these days, and they've already got the feel for it. The shooting angle and distance are all fixed, and you can shoot with your eyes closed.
However, Lingzhou City is bigger than the earthen wall, so it is impossible not to hit it. The question is, can the cannonball be hit on the top of the Lingzhou City Wall?
"Well done!" Zhao Kai nodded with a smile and said to the ministers around him, "With these eighteen large pot cannons, not only the golden thieves will be defeated, but the western thieves will not be much better!"
There were civil servants and military generals present, and many of them saw the "big pot cannon" being fired for the first time. Although everyone heard the loud noise of the "big pot cannon", the area outside Xuanwu Gate was occupied by Tiance's army. It was circled, and no one else was allowed to come near.
So everyone only knows that the Guan family goes to "make thunder" outside Xuanwu Gate every day. As for how this "Thunder Technique" is created, everyone doesn't know... Some people think that the Guan family has cultivated magical powers, which can Hitting ground targets with thunder!
Unexpectedly, this thunder method turned out to be a "big pot gun"!
"The official's thunder magic power is so vast that a mere western thief or gold thief will have to be crowned sooner or later!"
"The official cauldron is so powerful that it will surely stew both the western and golden thieves in one pot!"
"The official's pot can hold the world! I congratulate the official!"
"If the official family has such a magical weapon, the Northern Expedition to Yanyun will definitely be a complete victory..."
The courtiers have already reacted, and they all provoked Brother Thumb to praise him vigorously! There were a few people who didn't understand the thunder method or the pot method, but they also played hard.
Anyway, flattery doesn’t stink!
Zhao Kai was also very proud and said to the officials: "I want to visit Chang'an in the west and inspect all parts of Guanzhong... It won't take long, I will be back in three or two months. There is no need for everyone to follow, let Yue Fei , Dong Jingang, and Li Fuchen can escort you. In the Eastern Capital, please trouble all the princes and privy ministers to assist the queen in supervising the country!
The Guangwu Mountain camp is still guarded by Han Liangchen, and the Hebei Guzhen camp is guarded by Huang Silang... You all must fulfill your duties and must not slack off in the slightest.
In addition, Minister Zhao, you did a great job in casting the cannon this time. This is a great achievement! Go back and get me the list of craftsmen involved in cannon casting. I will summon them and give them honors and rewards! "
Zhao Kai was of course "lucky" to go all the way to Lingzhou this time, but he couldn't talk about it publicly, otherwise it would be bad if the news leaked.
So he announced to the outside world that he was going to inspect Shaanxi, but the important ministers present knew this well - today Zhao Kai took them to see the cannon test firing, and the purpose was to reassure them!
My official family has such powerful "supernatural powers", and it's no big deal for a mere Western thief! Therefore, those who want to advise me to be cautious should stay silent and wait to hear the good news!
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