The reason why ancient military formations maintained a solid square formation for a long time was because trebuchets, like heavy artillery, were too bulky and difficult to move.
It takes too long to load and launch, and its accuracy is basically dependent on the blindfold. It can only be effective against large immovable targets, and it is basically impossible to use it on the field battlefield.
On the field battlefield, crossbows and military formations still rule the roost.
Therefore, the birth of light artillery that can follow the army and can be used on the field battlefield is very necessary. It will help directly destroy the enemy's military formation and confidence on the battlefield, and destroy their will to fight.
Maybe it can also directly change the shape of war.
Although what Su Yonglin wanted to create most was a cannon that could fire explosive shells, unfortunately, judging from the current technology, explosive firearms such as the Thor Cannon could not be fired by heavy artillery.
The ultra-high chamber pressure of heavy artillery will directly destroy ordinary Thor cannons inside the barrel. It will hurt yourself first before hurting anyone. It is a seven-injury punch.
If you want to thicken the shell of the Thor Cannon to the point where it can be fired, it will probably be either a dumb cannon or split into three or five pieces. Not to mention it is meaningless, and it will basically be a lonely explosion.
Therefore, when it comes to firing exploding bombs, it is better to throw thunder cannons from trebuchets or launch them with large rockets.
As for artillery, firing solid bullets is currently the best choice, unless iron smelting technology continues to advance one day, or Ming Dynasty points out the technical points of breech-loading guns and primer technology.
But that doesn't mean you can't use artillery to open the shells.
Su Yonglin knew of an ancient mortar with a short barrel and a large muzzle, like a big bronze bell. By reducing the chamber pressure, the shells could be opened, but the range and accuracy...
It's just a bit useless, not as good as the trebuchets used skillfully by the Ming army today.
So at present, the practical light artillery is still represented by the French cannon. Although the concept of a double-shot gun reduces the range and power, it makes fast maneuverability, fast loading and high-frequency firing possible, making it a field gun. , able to cooperate with the field army.
The craftsmen looked at the more vivid artillery styles painted by Su Yonglin, listened to Su Yonglin's explanation, passed them around, looked at each other, and then nodded silently. Under the leadership of the new director of the Firearms Bureau, Qiu Yuan, they said they would definitely complete the tasks assigned by Su Yonglin. task.
Su Yonglin happily handed over this important task to them.
Imagining the scene in the future where heavy cannons would be used for sieges and light cannons would be used in field battles, Su Yonglin felt that there would be no problem in destroying the Song Dynasty at the military level.
Can the city walls of the Southern Song Dynasty stop trebuchets and the repeated bombardments of light and heavy artillery?
Can their military formation withstand the dimension-reducing blows of artillery?
A new war situation is coming, Southern Song Dynasty, are you ready?
Su Yonglin was looking forward to such a scene.
After the Firearms Bureau's inspection was almost done, Su Yonglin went to inspect the iron-making workshop and took a look at the scene where the craftsmen were making coke.
It would be nice to be able to finish the coking, but when he smelled the pungent smell and saw the lingering thick smoke, he realized that if he continued to let these coking craftsmen work without protection, he would probably die within a while. I have to stay in the hospital bed.
Although coking with local methods is feasible, the pollution caused by it is terrible.
No wonder I occasionally smelled a strange smell in the palace a while ago.
The coking plant and iron-making plant must be moved to a place a little further outside Zhongdu City. Otherwise, Zhongdu City will be polluted sooner or later, and everyone will suffer from respiratory diseases.
Looking at this fledgling industry, Su Yonglin realized that with the start of industry and the leap in productivity, environmental pollution has also followed, and various diseases caused by environmental pollution will also appear, which has a great impact on ancient medicine and per capita Lifespan has a huge impact.
However, compared with the rapidly developing society, environmental pollution is nothing at all in the eyes of the emerging bourgeoisie and ruling class.
But after all, Su Yonglin is not an unscrupulous capitalist, nor is he a traditional emperor. He believes that although development is important, humanistic care and social concepts cannot be lost for the sake of development.
He had finally built a country that was different from the past, a country that was gradually getting rid of the shackles of the old society. He could not do anything but watch it fall into the trap of history again.
Some things must be prepared for a rainy day and cannot be ignored.
So Su Yonglin felt that it was time to put on a mask or something like that. If it was not possible, a wet cloth would do. Some protection was needed to avoid respiratory diseases.
The most important thing is of course to limit working hours, establish a shift system, set a maximum working time, and shift immediately as soon as the time is up, so as to somewhat reduce the damage caused to the craftsmen's bodies by coking.
Then they must be equipped with relatively complete medical services and undergo regular physical examinations to prevent them from losing their livelihood due to illness.
Speaking of which, Su Yonglin feels that it is time to provide these craftsmen with some state-level care. They should arrange regular physical examinations, free medical care, paid vacations, a four-hour work system, and the benefits that ordinary officials and staff should have. No less.
In particular, craftsmen engaged in such dangerous professions need state care to prevent their families from being left in a miserable state after their deaths.
After making some inspections, Su Yonglin planned to return to the palace to arrange the matter.
Before going back, Wang Tietou, the traditional craftsman who came up with the method of making iron cores and copper bodies, approached Su Yonglin mysteriously and handed Su Yonglin a long pole he had been holding.
"Your Majesty, this is the cannon from the picture you drew before. Can you see if this can be used by soldiers?"
"Small cannon?"
Su Yonglin was stunned for a moment and didn't realize it until he saw the "long pole" in Wang Tietou's hand.
What kind of little cannon is this girl?
This damn thing is a musket!
Su Yonglin then remembered that when he came to inspect the work of the Firearms Department, he suddenly became interested and drew a picture of a matchlock gun and a picture of a flintlock gun, telling them that this thing was interesting and could be seen as a very interesting thing. A very small cannon.
But despite its small size, the principle is similar and the power it produces is also very powerful.
The main body of the matchlock gun is an iron pipe, which is thicker. The butt of the auxiliary material can be made of wood. There is a fire door behind the iron pipe, which can be filled with propellant to ignite the fire.
Then, just like a cannon, the ammunition is stuffed into the barrel from the front and compacted. The trigger is connected to a match rope, which ignites the match. When the trigger is pulled, the fire from the match rope ignites the gunpowder in the fire door, and then ignites it. The gunpowder in the barrel causes the bullet to be fired, and the subsequent principle is the same as that of a cannon.
So it is a miniature one-man artillery, which is more portable than light artillery such as the Franchise and can be used by one person.
The principle of a flintlock gun is similar to that of a matchlock gun, but it has more technical advantages than a matchlock gun. Because flint is used to ignite the fire, a fire sickle can be installed on the powder chamber as a fire door cover.
When firing, the flint is directly struck against the fire sickle to generate sparks, and there is no need to open the fire door cover like a matchlock gun. In this way, even if there is some wind and rain, there is no need to worry about the gunpowder getting damp or being blown away by the wind.
But the difficulty with a flintlock gun is that it requires a qualified spring to provide enough power for the sparks ignited by the flint to ignite the gunpowder and then fire the bullet. If the spring is not good or the flint quality is not good, the ignition success rate is not as good as that of the matchlock gun.
At that time, Su Yonglin became interested and talked with several craftsmen for a long time, ranging from the elasticity of wood and animal tendons to the elasticity of steel and the power of flintlock guns.
Of course, Su Yonglin didn't expect them to be able to use their hands to rub the muskets out. He thought they could just get the artillery ready for the time being. The significance of artillery was very great now.
But he didn't expect that the people's wisdom is endless. Wang Tietou actually rubbed his hand with a matchlock gun and brought it out.
What a tough guy. He could still shoot a matchlock gun with his hands. This really surprised Su Yonglin.
"Can you fight?"
"sure."
Wang Tietou smiled and took out a piece of match rope from his pocket: "Didn't you tell me before? Match ropes are also very particular. Just a twisted rope is not enough. It has to be soaked in urine for a day and then dried in the sun. It ignited slowly, so I made a piece of match rope myself.”
After Wang Tietou finished speaking, some craftsmen over there laughed.
"I said your house smells like urine. I thought you were peeing everywhere and not being hygienic."
"Fuck you, does it smell like urine?"
"You still don't admit it, do you? That smell is coming! You haven't opened the window yet, how can you still have people in the house? Are you angry? Take some medicine to go away the anger!"
"You're the one who got angry!"
Wang Tietou obviously had a good relationship with the craftsman. The two bickered for a while, but the movements of his hands did not slow down.
