Compared with the trebuchet, this mortar has its own advantages and disadvantages.
When the stone bullets are polished and smooth and compliant, the range is a little longer, but a large trebuchet can project stones weighing one to two hundred kilograms, and there are no requirements on the shape.
Then it is more maneuverable and more manpower-saving.
But in the eyes of Wu Qian and Ma Guangzu, shooting far is the biggest advantage.
You can't hit me, but I can beat you up and down. Isn't that great?
Stone bombs are troublesome to make, so use clay bombs, which are made by burning clay balls into clay balls. After they fall to the ground, they will shatter and splash, which is more effective in killing people.
As for attacking the city, twenty or so kilograms of artillery shells are really just scratching the wall against a truly solid city wall. The worst thing is to replace it with iron shells. If the power is still not enough, then just make up the quantity. If you come to a hundred or ten gates, I don’t believe it will be bombarded. Collapsed wall.
The military thinking of the Song Dynasty indeed focused more on long-range strikes. There seems to be nothing wrong with thinking this way, if the cost of the mortar is ignored.
The bronze used to cast cannons contains roughly 88% copper, 10% tin, and 2% zinc. If this thing of more than 300 kilograms is used to cast money, it will cost at least more than 100 guan. If calculated based on the market value of copper materials, That's three to four hundred strings, and that's just the cost of materials.
Since it was temporarily impossible to use iron to reduce costs, Zhao Mengqi could only try to improve the cost-effectiveness of the copper cannon.
"Chen Dagong, please give me a round of explosive ammunition."
"Okay, please wait a moment, Your Highness."
Chen Jinshan immediately got busy again. Here he had people cleaning the gun barrels, and there he had people setting up the shooting range.
Then, everyone saw a group of soldiers carrying wooden stakes, leading sheep, and pigs to the place where the stone bullets had just fallen.
They drove dozens of wooden stakes into the ground, tied pigs and sheep to them, and even put various kinds of armor on some pigs and sheep.
This scene looked a bit strange and funny, but Wu Qian and Ma Guangzu thought about it briefly and guessed that this was to test the power of the weapon more intuitively, so they waited silently with interest.
Then they smelled a strong smell of urine among the smoke.
I saw a craftsman holding a long stick wrapped with a piece of cloth, dipping it into a wooden barrel filled with unknown liquid, and then thrusting it into the barrel of the gun that had been cleaned of gunpowder residue, and started the piston movement.
After being stabbed like this, white mist kept spraying out from the muzzle, and the strong smell of urine also came from here.
Seeing everyone's confused expressions, Zhao Mengqi explained, "This is horse urine. It cleans the remaining dirt in the barrel and also cools down the barrel."
As for why horse urine was used, he was actually not very clear. He only vaguely remembered that this was done in the era of muzzleloaders. For this reason, he specially equipped the island with more than 30 pack horses.
After cleaning the barrel of the gun, we still need to continue to use cold salt water to cool the body of the gun, and it starts to squeak and smoke again.
When it has almost cooled down, the raw silk gunpowder bag is put in, and then the so-called blooming bomb is filled in.
The projectile body is a round ball, fixed on a wooden ammunition holder, which can better seal the barrel, and can also provide heat insulation and buffering to prevent the propellant from detonating the projectile in advance. It can also enhance the flight stability of the projectile to a certain extent and slightly improve the accuracy.
A wooden tube delay fuse is inserted into the front end of the warhead. The tube is filled with hard gunpowder and can burn at a stable speed. In principle, wooden tubes of different lengths can be cut to adjust the detonation time.
This fuse is very primitive, and the accident rate and failure rate are also very high, but who makes Zhao Mengqi ignorant of science and unable to make a collision fuse.
He knew about mercury chloride, but didn't know how to get it. He deeply regretted that he didn't learn mathematics, physics and chemistry well back then, so he could only spend money to let people try it. Only God knows whether it can succeed.
After everything was ready, the craftsmen withdrew to the tunnel behind the cement wall, leaving two people beside the mortar.
"Your Highness, you are ready to launch at any time." Chen Jinshan seemed a little more nervous than before.
"Launch."
Zhao Mengqi nodded. Although it took a long time, it was still in the exploratory stage and would be improved step by step.
Chen Jinshan gave the order, "Light the warhead!"
A craftsman reached into the barrel of the cannon with a red-hot iron drill.
After a moment, he pulled out and shouted, "Success!"
Immediately, another craftsman lit the match rope, and then the two craftsmen ran away.
This time the match rope was shorter, and the craftsman ran to the tunnel, and the mortar roared.
Not sure if it was an illusion, but Zhao Mengqi felt that the shadow flying out of the muzzle was faster than before.
A perfect parabola streaked through the air, and the cannonball crashed into the flock of pigs and sheep, stirring up smoke and dust. After three or five breaths, a dazzling fire broke out.
Thunder sounded more violent than when it was launched. Everyone felt the ground tremble under their feet, and their eyes were shocked by the sight of the shooting range in the distance.
In the thick flames and smoke, large and small fragments splashed into the air, and then fell like rain.
Some pigs and sheep that were far away from the explosion point started struggling and howling in panic. Perhaps some of the wooden stakes were loosened by the shock, but a few large pigs actually escaped from the place and dragged the wooden stakes into the woods.
Zhao Mengqi was very happy, "Next time, remember to tie the hooves, otherwise you will lose hundreds of kilograms of meat."
"My subordinate was negligent, please punish me." Shi Cheng apologized seriously.
"What are you punishing? Are you punished by missing a few bites of meat for dinner?" Zhao Mengqi teased and patted him on the shoulder, "However, although this is a small matter, it should be taken seriously. Only by learning lessons and correcting mistakes again and again can we overcome It becomes more and more perfect, and becomes more and more powerful.”
After some beatings in Shunkou Education, it can be considered that the few pigs that ran away contributed value.
The test shot went well, which made Chen Jinshan feel a lot more relaxed. Seeing that King Yan was easy-going, he grinned and said, "Actually, there's no need to worry. This island is such a big place, and those pigs can't go anywhere, so why don't we still raise them?" There are dozens of hounds. If you really want to find them, it won’t take much effort.”
The hounds on the island are actually used as police dogs to prevent strangers from sneaking in.
When the smoke cleared, a group of soldiers walked into the shooting range and began to check the results and record the data.
Zhao Mengqi looked around and said, "Let's go take a look too."
Wu Qian and Ma Guangzu could not hide their excitement at this moment. They had long wanted to see the explosion scene up close. How could they disagree.
After everyone walked in slowly, they were shocked and excited when they saw the messy scene.
The center of the explosion was a circular pit five or six feet in diameter. It was full of new soil and looked very clean. The outer circle was filled with radial burn marks. Some charred wooden piles fell to the ground, and some were still burning and smoking. .
Most of the wooden piles outside were still standing, and some unbroken ropes were still tied to varying degrees of body parts. Two or three pigs that were still alive fell to the ground, groaning feebly.
Beyond a radius of one foot, there were more pigs and sheep that survived, and many of them were injured, but they were still intact. Two feet away, most of the pigs and sheep were still alive and kicking, and the ground was littered with body parts and pieces of meat.
This effect is due to the low flight speed of the artillery shell, which does not penetrate too deep into the ground, allowing the shrapnel to fly out at a relatively flat angle.
If it were to deal with a group of cavalry, the killing range could probably be expanded a bit.
Zhao Mengqi estimated that it was probably the killing radius of a 75mm grenade in later generations, so it could be used as a make do.
He thought it was just make do, but Wu Qian and Ma Guangzu were so shocked that their scalps were numb.
Ma Guangzu squatted on the edge of the crater, looking at a dead pig covered in iron armor.
I don't know whether this pig's luck is good or bad. Anyway, it was not hit by shrapnel, its limbs are intact, and the armor on its body is not seriously damaged, but it is a little deformed and charred.
When he opened the iron armor, a stream of hot air with the aroma of barbecue came out, which almost made Ma Guangzu unable to resist.
Wu Qian was on the other side, also looking at an armored pig.
He found a thumb-sized hole in the armor, and when he opened it, he found a fist-sized gap in the pig's body, which was bloody and horrific.
The two old men were both so shocked that they couldn't describe it. They raised their heads blankly and happened to look at each other across the pit. They both noticed the horror in each other's eyes.
Wu Qian murmured, "This explosive bullet is so powerful! The iron armor is like nothing in front of it, so isn't it invincible on the battlefield!?".br>
He has seen the power of "fried eggs" before,
But the current shell is more than ten times stronger than that.
Ma Guangzu trembled, his eyes glowing red, "God bless the Song Dynasty. If you get this magical weapon, who in the world can resist it!?"
Then he became a little arrogant and said, "With this thing in hand, the Tartars will never invade my territory again! No, no, even if he doesn't come, I will go to my ancestral homeland, the old land of Han and Tang Dynasties, and I will take them all Come back! I want to report it to the officials and do my best to make it, even if I use all the strength of the country, I will not hesitate!"
Zhao Mengqi couldn't help but smile bitterly. He held Ma Guangzu's shoulder and shook it, "Ma Xiang! Ma Xiang!"
"Ah? What's the matter, Your Highness?" Ma Guangzu was still immersed in his own imagination.
Zhao Mengqi had no choice but to stretch out his hand and gesture in front of his eyes, "This mortar will cost at least five hundred bullets, one blasting bullet, three bullets."
"So expensive!?" Ma Guangzu was stunned and explained to himself, "Actually, it's not bad, it only costs the same as a cavalry..."
Zhao Mengqi scratched his head, "You can't calculate it like that. These shells are consumables and will be gone once they are fired. Moreover, in actual combat, the effect will definitely not be so good. Except for the first or two times when you are unexpected and find the right opportunity to do big things, the enemy will definitely do it later. We will look for countermeasures, and maybe the enemy will steal them and use them against us."
Upon hearing this, Ma Guangzu gradually regained his senses and realized that he was too excited and took it for granted.
"Your Highness is right. A weapon is a weapon after all. It may give you an advantage, but it may not determine the victory..."
As he spoke, Ma Guangzu seemed to have thought of something else, "Anyway, this thing is related to the fate of the country. It is too unstable to be guarded by more than 300 soldiers. No, no, it is not safe to put it here. If it is stolen by a female officer, , that would be a huge disaster for our country!"
Zhao Mengqi shrugged his shoulders, "Then tell me where to put it. I'm afraid there are more female cadres in Lin'an than anywhere else, so we can't put it in the palace. If this thing goes wrong... tsk tsk, my father is going to take a plane."
Although he didn't know what a clay plane was, the general meaning of King Yan's words was not difficult to understand. Not only Ma Guangzu, but also Wu Qian's face began to twitch. His Highness really dared to say anything.
Seeing the ugly expressions on the faces of the two veterans, Zhao Mengqi couldn't help but sneered, "Actually, you two don't have to worry about security measures. The guards on this island are just the last line of defense. Fenghua Navy is also stationed on Xishan Island, and there are always Navy ships on the lake. On patrol, we will try to keep the new weapons secret before they are put into actual combat.”
Indeed, the current research on artillery is just a reserve of technology. Only when the time is right and mass production can be achieved, Zhao Mengqi will enter the battlefield, and the most critical thing is the secret. This is the top secret among top secrets.
After listening to the explanation, the two old men looked a little better. Ma Guangzu said thoughtfully, "With this thing, many ordnances can no longer be produced anymore, especially old-fashioned firearms. Otherwise, it would be a complete waste of money, food and raw materials."
"I asked Prime Minister Ma to come and see it, and that's what I meant. I suggested that after Prime Minister Ma takes office, he should stop the firearms workshop in Jiankang and move it to Pingjiang Prefecture. I will set up a special military industrial base to facilitate unified management. and provide security." Zhao Mengqi followed suit.
Ma Guangzu nodded slightly, "I will carefully consider your highness's suggestion. After all, other ordnance may also need to be changed. This matter is related to the supply of various armies and has wide implications. We need a reason that will not attract other people's attention."
Zhao Mengqi was not in a hurry about this and said, "After seeing the mortar, let's look at the other one."
Afterwards, the soldiers cleaned up the dead, injured pigs, sheep and mutilated body parts, leaving the intact ones to continue to use as targets.
Everyone returned to the launch site and turned their attention to the other cannon that was pushed back again.
This gun is much longer than the mortar. It lies on a gun carriage made of hardwood. The gun carriage is equipped with two iron wheels and can be dragged by oxen and horses. When arranged, the trailer can be unfolded as a support, which is slightly The "Italian gun" used by Li Yunlong.
Of course, the gun body is much bulkier and the gun frame is also bulky, so we can only say they are slightly similar.
It was still Chen Jinshan who introduced, "The temporary name of this cannon is "straight cannon". It is three feet long and weighs 427 kilograms. It can fire one kilogram of iron bullets and shotguns. It has a range of 270 feet and an accuracy of 270 feet." It is considered a controllable range. It is assumed that iron bullets are mainly used to attack large enemy equipment, such as stone cannons, ballistas, and shields.
Cars, ladders, etc., and shotguns are used to attack enemy cavalry, especially heavy armored cavalry in dense arrays. "
In fact, if you are in a field battle and the opponent's cavalry is about to charge into the formation, there is a high probability that your own defense will have problems. Using this cannon to hit the cavalry will probably only have the chance to fire one shot, because the cavalry of more than 200 feet will rush over in an instant. Well, one shot is just doing your best.
Of course, how to use weapons depends on the battlefield commander's ideas.
Zhao Mengqi decided, "Let's try shotgun first."
