"Don't be idle, build a trebuchet!"
After Xu Guangqi left, Chongzhen gave an order, and everyone immediately started to move.
After everyone finished making the trebuchet, everything Chongzhen wanted was delivered.
Chongzhen looked at the bamboo as thick as the baby's arm and whispered to the craftsman on the side: "How long does it take to make a water bag made of bamboo tubes? It doesn't need to be refined, as long as it can be used!"
"Half a quarter of an hour is enough!"
"Okay, then you can make one one...half a foot tall first!"
The craftsman didn't waste any time and dragged the bamboo aside, the light of the knife flashing in his hand.
The people on one side were a little confused as they listened to the emperor's instructions, but if the emperor didn't say anything, they could only wait.
Fortunately, in half an hour, the craftsman presented a bamboo kettle with a lid to Chongzhen.
"Make a hole as big as a soybean here!"
…
After some instructions and operations, Chongzhen walked to the gunpowder barrel with a bamboo nearly a foot long and about the size of a baby's arm.
When I was about to load the gunpowder, I seemed to have thought of something. I took some fuses, walked to a place four or five feet away from the gunpowder barrel, and lit the fuses with a fire breaker.
Seeing the speed at which the half-foot-long gunpowder burned, Chongzhen counted silently in his heart. He only counted three times before it burned out.
Looking at this scene, Chongzhen frowned.
It burns so fast that it explodes before it is thrown or is in mid-air.
"Xu Aiqing, is there any fuse that burns slower than this?"
"Your Majesty, yes, the burning speed of the fuse can be controlled according to the material and process.
Cotton thread soaked in saltpeter will burn much slower after it is dried in the sun. Your Majesty, please wait a moment, and I will send someone to get it. "
After a while, new leads were brought in.
Chongzhen took one and burned it. As expected, it was much slower. Then he passed a lead through the hole and hung it to the bottom of the bamboo tube. Then he started filling the gunpowder, compacting it, and closing the lid.
A simple 'hand grenade' made, just without a wooden handle.
"Cao Bianjiao, how far can you throw this thing?"
Cao Bianjiao took the simple grenade, weighed it, and made some gestures: "Your Majesty, this thing is estimated to be about two kilograms. I estimate that I can throw it twelve or thirty feet! After all, this thing doesn't fit well in my hand."
"Twelve to thirty feet is enough!"
Chongzhen nodded: "After a while, the fuse is lit, throw it out quickly, and then immediately crawl to the ground. Remember to react quickly and never be slow!"
"Others stand behind the wall and observe, and must not poke their heads out!"
"do you understand?"
"I understand!"
After seeing everyone's response, Cao Bianjiao took a pose, and Zhou Yuji stepped forward, took the fire folder and lit the fuse.
Cao Bianjiao directly exerted his strength, threw the simple grenade, and then climbed directly to the ground.
In the sight of Chongzhen and others behind the wall, the simple grenade drew an arc in the air and fell to the ground with a faint smoke.
Then it bounced on the ground a few times and then stopped responding.
"boom……"
Just when everyone thought they had failed and were about to walk out, there was a loud noise, accompanied by a plume of thick smoke, which scared everyone who was about to stand up.
Chongzhen ignored everyone's expressions at this time, but stared closely at the smoke. After a while, the smoke dissipated, and Chongzhen walked out of the wall and walked towards the place where the explosion had just occurred.
"Your Majesty, wait a minute, I'll go check it out later!"
Without waiting for Chongzhen to speak, Zhou Yuji rushed out and reached the explosion point in just a few breaths.
Looking at the place where the explosion occurred, Zhou Yuji stood stunned on the spot.
After waiting for a few breaths, seeing that Zhou Yuji didn't respond, Huang Degong also walked over, and then froze.
Looking at the two people standing dumbly, Chongzhen also knew that it was safe, so he led everyone to the place where the improvised grenade exploded.
"I go……"
Looking at the scene of the explosion, Cao Bianjiao cursed, forgetting that the emperor was still around.
I saw a large... small pit one foot deep and two or three feet wide. The bottom was completely charred black, and the edges of the pit were full of cracks.
Sun Chuanting, Huang Degong, and Li Banghua were full of ecstasy. If this thing was mass-produced, it would definitely be a hellish nightmare for the enemy.
If this thing is thrown next to them, no matter how fierce they are, they will be dead.
Firearms experts such as Xu Guangqi, Sun Yuanhua and Bi Maokang were more excited and thoughtful.
Chongzhen touched the bottom of the pit and its surroundings, then looked at the distance of three or four meters around the pit, nodded, and then shook his head.
He nodded because the production of simple grenades was feasible, but shook his head because it did not meet his expectations.
This is more than two kilograms of black gunpowder. Even with the current crude production conditions, it may not have only this little power.
According to his estimate, no matter what, there would be a large pit with a diameter of four to five feet and a depth of about two feet. As a result, the difference was a bit big.
"What went wrong?"
Chongzhen lowered his head and thought about the problem.
Seeing that the emperor was deep in thought, everyone was very knowledgeable and did not say anything. After a moment, Chongzhen gave up.
There is nothing that can be done about it. The explosive power of black powder is closely related to the purity, compaction, sealing, etc. of the raw materials.
It’s great to be able to produce such powerful black powder now.
He is not a professional in this field, so he can just provide an idea and let Xu Guangqi and others test it. Why would he spend so much time thinking about this?
After thinking about it, Chongzhen came out of the pit, patted the dust on his palms, and looked at Xu Guangqi and the others.
"Xu Aiqing, Sun Aiqing, Bi Aiqing, you are all firearms experts, tell us what this thing is like? Say whatever you want, don't worry too much about technical discussions."
The expressions in the eyes of the three people flickered, Xu Guangqi said: "Your Majesty's ingenuity is so ingenious that it is extremely difficult for me and others to fight against the enemy like this. It is extremely powerful, but there are still many things that can be improved."
After Xu Guangqi finished speaking, he took another bamboo tube: "Your Majesty, gunpowder damages the enemy mainly in four aspects.
First, the flames generated after the explosion of gunpowder directly burn the enemy, or ignite tents, houses, warehouses, etc.;
Second, the air wave generated by the explosion will push the enemy out, and the enemy's internal organs will be shocked or the enemy will fly out and fall, breaking his arms and legs;
The third is that the air waves push the muskets, the lead in the artillery, and the shells injure the enemy;
Finally, there was the loud noise of the explosion, which frightened the enemy, frightened the horses, and caused flaws in the formation.
The degree of gunpowder compaction and the explosion space directly affect the power of the explosion.
For example, if the gunpowder contained in this bamboo tube is spread out and ignited, it will produce a burst of fire and smoke. It will not explode, but when placed in a container, its power increases a hundred times.
Although the thickness of the bamboo tube wall is okay, it is relatively brittle. The inner part of the gunpowder will break through the bamboo tube as soon as it is ignited, and there is still some gunpowder inside that will be exposed before burning, so the power is naturally much smaller.
Or, it is possible that the bamboo tube was broken the moment it hit the ground.
