Chapter 125 Liaodong Rockets
The Liaodong rocket finalized by He Xi actually has a name called Hale rocket.
Although there are problems like this, it is indeed the beginning of modern rockets. Ming Dynasty had rich experience in making rockets, including paper tubes and wooden poles used to make rockets. There is no technical content. There are two points that are really technical. The first is gunpowder, not counting incendiary powder or propellant powder, both of which are very technical.
The second is the aerodynamic appearance.
At this point, the former is difficult to improve. As for the latter, He Xi's little bit of common sense was the hard work of countless scientists in later generations. He just imitated the shape of a rocket and it was basically enough.
This rocket is as high as others. Mounted on a carriage. There is also a removable stand on the carriage. It can support the rocket to adjust from zero to ninety degrees.
This is today's Liaodong Rockets.
King Yan was also surprised and said: "So powerful? Can you go out and give it a try?"
He Xi said: "Of course you can."
A rocket was quickly erected outside the iron factory. Ge Tiangong personally adjusted the angle and then lit it. I saw a loud sound rising into the sky. This rocket flew several miles away, missed the target by about ten feet, exploded, and the shock wave of the explosion knocked the target to the ground.
Ye Chen suddenly exclaimed: "This is it. This is what the Japanese frontline needs most."
In fact, He Xi understands best that the most important function of this rocket is to explode.
The range of this rocket is not as good as that of artillery. But the problem is that the artillery pieces are all solid bullets, and the Japanese fortifications are also very simple. In other words, the fortifications of this era were not as strong as those of later generations. They were nothing more than trenches and low stone walls. Ming Dynasty solid artillery shells hit the low wall. Although they have certain destructive capabilities, they cannot cause much damage to personnel.
If you want to capture the castle, you have to fight with people at close range.
The Japanese made baked clay, which was thrown down from the mountain. It was condescending and could explode. In addition, apart from these things, the Japanese are not without crossbows and longbows. Especially the Japanese longbow is really long.
In this case, if you attack from behind, the casualties will be heavy. In this case, armor is not very useful. Wearing armor will make it difficult to climb and move slowly. If you hit it with rocks from above, it will kill you. Armor's protection against blunt force blows is relatively weak. Moreover, the force of a stone dropped from a height is incomparable to any blunt instrument.
For reference, when the Qing army attacked the Big and Little Jinchuan, it was also very difficult to defeat the stone castles of the Big and Little Jinchuan.
But this rocket is different. Black powder explosions are not very powerful. But as long as it does damage to people. A burst of random explosions made the Japanese dare not stand firm on the stone city wall. As soon as the Ming army rushed up, they fought at close range, and the casualty ratio dropped.
He Xi said: "Just go to Nagasaki and say hello to the Marquis of Yingchuan."
This matter was not decided by He Xi alone. There must be at least a fair procedure to allow Marquis Yingchuan to speak. However, He Xi is already preparing to expand production. At this time, He Xi was fortunate to have built a paper mill in Liaodong. Didn't expect that at all. Paper will also become a raw material for weapons.
Ye Chen immediately agreed and left without saying a word.
The military situation is like a fire, so he should get this thing done as soon as possible. Just save a few soldiers from dying. For this reason, he didn't care whether he was rude or not.
He Xi didn't expect Ye Chen to leave like this, let alone go home. King Yan didn't even say hello.
It's absolutely rude.
He Xi could only say to King Yan in embarrassment: "Is this Ye Chen? I'm sorry."
King Yan shook his head and said: "I am definitely good. He may be able to take on some responsibilities in the future. However, in the future, he should not stay in the temple and stay in the border areas."
King Yan is not an ordinary person. He admires anyone who can fight. Spending time with Ye Chen these days. He also understood what kind of person Ye Chen was, and he had made achievements in the military. But that's all. To put it bluntly, in today's world, those who can fight, know how to fight, and can win the war are full of strength. Although there are a few people who can take charge of various tasks and lead hundreds of thousands of troops, it is definitely not something that only Xu Da, Feng Sheng, Fu Youde, Tang He and others can do.
But the problem is that war is not only a military issue, but also a political issue. We cannot balance the interests of all parties so that they can be obedient during the war and what is the difference between those who cannot fight?
So He Xi doesn't know what Ye Chen was like in history. But He Xi probably knew the reason why Ye Chen never left his name in the history of society.
King Yan stopped talking about this topic and said, "By the way, I'm about to go north. Do you have any new gadgets for the cavalry?"
He Xi said: "Yes, there is, but now it seems that it is not much different from a hand crossbow."
King Yan said: "Let's take a look."
Soon He Xi had someone bring it over. It's nothing more than a blunderbuss.
If it weren't for King Yan to ask, He Xi would be too embarrassed to take it out. Gein's gun is a matchlock gun, and it is front-loaded. It’s not easy to fill in and don’t talk about it. Just after loading it in advance, you have to point the gun at the enemy. You must not let the muzzle of the gun point down with a shake of your hand.
Everyone can imagine what will happen.
Gunpowder fell out of it.
He Xi felt very embarrassed just thinking about this situation.
Not as good as a hand crossbow. There is a buckle on the hand crossbow. Before firing, as long as you don't shake it hard, the crossbow arrow will not fly out. The same is a one-time use. When charging, you can only fire one blunderbuss. He Xi doesn't think that a hand blunderbuss is better than a hand crossbow.
But King Yan didn't think so, so he fired several times. He thought it was good and said, "Give me 10,000 of these guns."
"Ten thousand?" He Xi said, "This thing is not mature."
King Yan said: "Don't worry, it won't be in vain. I have already reported all the expenses to the prince before I came. Just settle the accounts with the prince. As for whether it is mature or not, it depends on how it is used. With me on the battlefield Based on my experience, any weapon has its application on the battlefield. Moreover, this thing only weighs one or two kilograms, even with gunpowder it is not much. It is nothing if it is hung on a horse."
In fact, King Yan thought this thing was good for self-defense.
Moreover, King Yan actually had great experience in using firearms. Historically, Zhu Di created the Shenji Camp and used firearms on a large scale to repel the cavalry in Mobei. He saw so many firearms again today. Of course he knew that these firearms were not very suitable for cavalry.
Otherwise, most firearms are very heavy, and rockets are already relatively light, so a special rocket vehicle is required for launch.
This rocket car needs to be pulled by a horse. King Yan knew the speed of the carriage very well. If it's on a pipe, there's still a certain speed. Although by He Xi's standards, there is almost no difference between official roads and rural dirt roads. But the problem is that in this era, infrastructure like official roads is rare. This is even more true outside the customs.
The grassland is vast, and it seems like there are roads everywhere. But that's for the cavalry. The carriage is different.
It is said that the carriage cannot travel on the grassland. That's too much. But today's carriages have no tires and are very heavy. Even though He Xi had installed bearings, it was still very heavy, and it still couldn't keep up with the speed of the cavalry on terrain like the grassland.
Not to mention, most of the grassland is still very friendly to horse-drawn carriages. The last thing you see is muddy land. At that time, it was difficult to push the carriage, let alone move it.
What a coincidence.
The Songhua River Basin is a swamp with many wetlands. Especially where King Yan is going this time. Most firearms are useless. It is only useful when building a city for defense, but at that time, it needs to be transported by ship.
And King Yan has seen so many firearms. He has seen more types of firearms in one day than King Yan has seen in his entire life. Naturally, he didn't want to return empty-handed, although he felt that the fire gun was defective. But if you don’t use it right away. But not bad.
Since King Yan said so. What else could He Xi say. Naturally, he obeyed and let others arrange it.
Firearms are just a sideshow. It’s time for King Yan to get down to business. He said: "I'm going to Changchun Fort next. Are you going?"
