Chen Jinshan led people to start preparations.
First fill the gunpowder bag, then push in a wooden plug for sealing, and finally put ten lead pieces in and pound it tightly.
The range of the shotgun was less than a hundred feet, so the target was set at a distance of eighty feet.
After firing three rounds, the results were far from ideal. The shotgun shells were reasonably powerful and could penetrate two layers of iron armor, but they were too loose. Only five of the total thirty rounds hit the pigs and sheep.
Perhaps when the target is closer, the effect can be improved, but Zhao Mengqi still feels that the actual combat significance is too small.
It seems that if you want to kill people from a long distance, you still have to rely on shrapnel or simply use grenades, that is, explosive shells.
But the inner diameter of this direct gun is only one inch and seven cents, which is less than six centimeters. Not to mention that we can't make such a small explosive bullet now. Even if we can make it, it won't be able to hold much gunpowder. The power is too small, so we might as well use a mortar. .
Faced with reality, Zhao Mengqi had no choice but to give up his unrealistic assumptions and said, "Try iron bullets."
This time the target was placed at two hundred feet, with a radius of three feet. There were not only pigs and sheep, but also a dozen thick wooden shields as big as door panels.
Different from before, after reloading, Chen Jinshan shouted to Shi Cheng, "Battle Commander Shi, could you please help me adjust the head."
Shi Cheng stood on the gun position, stretched out his hand, made a fist and raised his thumb, squinted one eye, gestured towards the target, and then asked someone to move the gun mount and adjust the muzzle.
After everything was ready, Shi Cheng also took charge of lighting the fire.
After lighting the match rope, he just ran back more than a foot, lying down on the spot, and even looked up.
When the cannon sounded, even if everyone opened their eyes wide this time, they did not see the afterimage flying from the muzzle clearly, but they heard a whistling sound in the air.
Instantly, a giant shield in the target circle exploded, sending pieces flying everywhere. The pigs and sheep screamed incessantly, and a bloody path was plowed behind the shield.
Everyone was shocked. This iron bullet was obviously much stronger than the shotgun. It destroyed everything it hit!
Finally decent.
Zhao Mengqi breathed a sigh of relief, "Try again!"
In the next quarter of an hour, five more rounds were fired. One shot missed, and the other shells were widely spread, but they all landed within the target circle of about ten square meters. At this time, the accuracy was indeed controllable. .
At least Wu Qian and Ma Guangzu praised each other, looking at the stupid and clumsy man like they were looking at a newly married bride.
At this time, Zhao Mengqi also had an accurate positioning of this direct gun, and told Chen Jinshan and the craftsmen, "The shotgun used in this gun is too useless. From now on, I will only use iron bullets, and then I will try to reduce the weight of this gun. Finally, It's good that it can be controlled within 250 kilograms, but the gun mount also needs to be improved to make it as light as possible on a solid foundation."
As he spoke, Zhao Mengqi thought of the Ming Dynasty Tiger Crouching Cannon, "As for the shotgun, we can develop a new cannon that is about two feet long and two inches in inner diameter. Because it does not need to carry too high a chamber pressure, the body wall can be made smaller." It is thin, and the weight is controlled within fifty kilograms, so that one person can carry it. When using it, the tail of the gun is touching the ground, and it is supported by two iron claws..."
As he spoke, he drew graphics on the ground, "In this way, if it can be loaded with more than five kilograms of shotguns, there is no need to pay attention to the range, and it will be used to deal with the enemy's dense array. It will have miraculous effects. Well, it looks like this Like a crouching tiger, let’s call it the Tiger Crouching Cannon.”
In this way, the direct cannon, mortar cannon, and tiger crouching cannon can form the prototype of a system capable of far, medium, and near range.
Cannons with larger caliber and longer range also need to be researched as technology accumulation, but mass production and installation will not be considered in the short term unless there is sufficient supply of copper materials or progress is made in iron cannons.
In addition, Zhao Mengqi had already communicated with the craftsmen about concepts such as mother-and-child cannon, breech-loaded cannon, rifling, integrated ammunition, and individual muskets, and let them slowly study them as long-term goals.
Next, we took a look at a few new weapons.
The iron egg used before has now been improved. The weight has been reduced to one kilogram, made into a cylindrical shape, and equipped with a wooden handle. The name is more serious, called a grenade.
There are also five-jin, ten-jin and twenty-jin weights, which can be thrown with the help of bed crossbows and trebuchets.
After all, it will take a long time for the artillery to be actually installed, and the armaments already in the Song army can also be used.
The trebuchet is also new. The previous manual pulling type has been changed to a counterweight type, and it can be modified on the original trebuchet. The advantage is that it can be reset with a winch, saving a lot of operators.
I gave a copy of this drawing to Ma Guangzu and asked him to modify and manufacture it in Jiankang Prefecture. There was no need to worry too much about leaking it. Anyway, the Mongols would get this technology soon.
The last thing on display is the rocket. This thing is not unusual. The principle is simple. There are also rockets in the Song army, but most of them tie the gunpowder tube to the arrow shaft for boost.
However, Zhao Mengqi is considered a native Katyusha, or an intensive super jumping monkey.
Make a hollow cylinder out of a thin sheet of iron, fill it with iron particles and three kilograms of gunpowder to make the warhead, and then connect a one-foot-long and two-inch-thick bamboo tube with gunpowder inside to make the launcher. At the same time, hard fins are added. In a stable flight state, the appearance is still very similar to the rockets of later generations.
The outside of the launcher is square, and there are twenty iron cylinders arranged inside. After loading the rockets, connect the fuses, and after igniting, the rockets will fly out one by one.
This time it was launched towards the lake, and a relatively large elevation angle was deliberately used.
The rockets were flying in the air dragging white smoke, and their trajectory was somewhat distorted. Twenty rockets flew more and more scattered.
After flying five or sixty feet, some were still high in the air, while others plunged into the lake, and then exploded one by one, with an astonishing sound and a really beautiful sight.
The surface of the lake was rippling, but it was smoky. After a while, more than a dozen fish with their stomachs turned over even floated to the surface.
Seeing this result, Zhao Mengqi touched his nose. This thing was probably not even one percent as good as Katyusha, but it was still much better than the swarm of bees in the Ming Dynasty.
A single accurate head is indeed too unreliable. If used intensively, it is quite lethal. The key is that this thing is cheap. Twenty of them only cost five thousand dollars. Killing an enemy is worth the money. If there are too many, it will not hurt. Either death or big profit.
"This...bazooka is far more powerful than a mortar. We should make more of them!"
Wu Qian tugged at his beard and widened his eyes, seeming to still be recalling the scene of repeated explosions just now.
"If hundreds of rocket launchers are deployed on the top of the city, thousands of enemies can be destroyed at one time! Good! Great good! We should make more of them, the more the better!"
Ma Guangzu has seen so many new weapons today, but he is still excited at this moment, "The day when our great Song Dynasty rises to prominence is right before our eyes!"
Zhao Mengqi couldn't help but pour some cold water on him, "Firearms will become the dominant force on the battlefield. This is inevitable, but it still needs a long time to develop. Now we are limited by technology and raw materials, and it is basically impossible to do so in three to five years. For large-scale production, take this copper material as an example. If it hadn’t been for the tens of thousands of kilograms of Japanese copper ingots seized during the previous raid on the Liu family, these experimental cannons might not have been produced.”
Ma Guangzu was stunned, "Does this cannon have to be made of copper? Can it be made of iron?"
Zhao Mengqi had to explain, "It's not impossible to use iron. I'm sure that the artillery in the future will basically be made of steel, but at present, the quality of steel does not meet the requirements, so copper can only be used."
"What's the requirement? Isn't iron more suitable for weapons than copper? Aren't all swords nowadays made of iron?" Ma Guangzu was still puzzled.
Zhao Mengqi smiled bitterly, "You don't know something, Mr. Ma. The reason why I stipulated that the personnel must evacuate to a safe area during the artillery test is because the artillery is easy to explode, that is, it explodes like a bomb..."
It took a lot of talking to make Ma Guangzu understand why iron cannons cannot be used at present, and Zhao Mengqi continued.
"If you want to have enough copper, the first step is to try to restore the copper mining volume in the Song Dynasty. This requires adjustments to the court's policies."
"Second, obtain raw materials from other countries. For example, the Japanese country is rich in copper and sulfur. Our country should strengthen trade with the Japanese to obtain it. For example, Dali is also rich in copper, but it has been destroyed by Mongolia. If our country can regain Dali, not only can we obtain it ourselves Copper materials can also reduce the source of copper materials for the Mongols. After all, when artillery appears on the battlefield in the future, the Mongols will learn to use it sooner or later."
Zhao Mengqi brings a Dali statement here because he already has a strategic vision in this regard, but Dali
Many people within the Song Dynasty opposed the initiative to use troops abroad.
For example, not long ago, Li Zengbo, who was in charge of southwest defense, put forward a plan in order to undermine the "dry belly" strategy implemented by the Mongols. Yu Xing, the deputy pacification envoy of Chengdu, selected elite troops, crossed the Dadu River from Lizhou, and looked for an opportunity to surprise Dali City.
Originally, this plan was very feasible, but after hearing about it, the gentry in Sichuan attacked and said that this plan was "operating outside the territory and putting the cart before the horse", and they wrote to the court for impeachment.
So Li Zengbo had to give up this plan and could only wait for the Mongols to outflank and stab the Song Dynasty Juhua.
Judging from this situation, Zhao Mengqi estimated that if he wanted to use troops in the direction of Dali, he would probably encounter opposition from many people. What he said now was to lay a lead for the future so that Ma Guangzu could be on his side.
"Third, reform our country's currency and remove copper coins from the market. In this way, our country's copper shortage will be alleviated. I have already started working on this plan. Mr. Ma, you were in charge of the Ministry of Finance before, so I need your help. Support and assistance.”
This last item was actually Zhao Mengqi's main purpose, to persuade Ma Guangzu to support his currency reform.
After listening to these three points, Ma Guangzu's eyebrows became tighter and tighter.
It can be said that every one of them is related to national policy and involves all aspects, especially the last one. If you are not careful, the entire country will be plunged into turmoil.
King Yan obviously knew the stakes, but he still planned to do it. He didn't know whether to call him talented or bold.
If he expressed support, it would be equivalent to being completely tied to King Yan's chariot.
Is King Yan really the hope of the Song Dynasty?
Ma Guangzu thought for a long time, and finally looked at Wu Qian subconsciously, only to see him nodding meaningfully.
At this time, Zhao Mengqi added, "Please rest assured, Mr. Ma, no matter which plan I make, I will plan it carefully and implement it carefully."
"Okay..." Ma Guangzu let out a long breath, "For the sake of the Song Dynasty, I will fight with His Highness."
