Luo Zhixue looked at the dark cannonballs on the table and couldn't help but smile.
Although these grenades still look like spherical grenades and seem to be no different from previous grenades, the difference is actually huge.
Chang Leshan, director of the Munitions Research Institute under the Ministry of Industry, was introducing this grenade to Luo Zhixue with excitement: "Based on your previous instructions, we have designed dozens of different fuse structures, and finally finalized Use this wooden fuse.”
"This kind of wooden fuze goes directly deep into the inside of the artillery shell. There is a detonation hole on the side connected to the internal charge. When it is fired, the high temperature generated by the propellant inside the gun barrel directly ignites the tubular wooden fuze. After a certain delay, Detonate the shell later!"
"At the same time, in order to ensure that the artillery shells will not roll over when loading, resulting in the inability to align the direction, we followed your Majesty's instructions and installed wooden holders for the grenades, so that when loading, the artillery shells can be loaded in a fixed direction. When loading and firing at the same time, the wooden support can better hold the air to increase the chamber pressure, and can also stabilize the direction of the projectile ejection from the chamber."
While Chang Leshan was talking, he also picked up the fuze tube to show Luo Zhixue, and installed it on the grenade without actual charge.
It was precisely because these shells actually had no charges that Luo Zhixue had the courage to approach them and even installed the fuzes himself.
If it were live ammunition, not to mention whether Luo Zhixue was afraid or not, a group of ministers below would give various advice to prevent Luo Zhixue from coming into close contact with such a dangerous thing... If there was an accident and an explosion, wouldn't it be necessary? Finished?
After Luo Zhixue personally installed the fuze, he took out the fuze and looked at it again and again, and finally said: "Okay, the ammunition station did a good job this time!"
"It lived up to my expectations!"
After hearing what Luo Zhixue said, Chang Leshan finally grinned.
You must know that during this period of time, he and dozens of colleagues in the ammunition depot have been under a lot of pressure. After all, His Majesty has personally given instructions many times, and he has asked for money and people. The research funds alone are huge. The next time, sixty thousand taels were allocated.
If a new type of grenade cannot be produced, then even if His Majesty does not blame them, others will not make irresponsible remarks.
You know, there is not only one ammunition research institute under the Ministry of Industry, but also more than a dozen others, but not every one of them can obtain 60,000 taels of research funding in just one year.
The Ammunition Institute, whose full name is the 'Ammunition Research Institute of the Ministry of Industry', is directly under the Ministry of Industry of the Dachu Empire. Like a dozen other research institutes of the Ministry of Industry, it is an independent research institution dedicated to studying and conquering major research projects.
There are more than ten similar ones, including the Firearms Research Institute of the Ministry of Industry, the Artillery Research Institute of the Ministry of Industry, the Steel Research Institute of the Ministry of Industry, and the Mechanical Research Institute of the Ministry of Industry.
They cooperate extensively with the Royal Institute of Technology to conduct research, and many of the researchers are even teachers and students of the Royal Institute of Technology.
The teachers at the Royal Institute of Technology are basically the earliest people in China who have been exposed to science and technology. For example, Song Yingxing is currently a professor at the Royal Institute of Technology. At the same time, Song Yingxing is also the director of the Teaching Materials Department of the Ministry of Ethics and Education. .
"My Healing Game"
There are actually many people like Song Yingxing who have been exposed to and studied science and technology, but most of them are not famous. In order to search for such talents, the Great Chu Empire directly ordered various local officials to recommend them.
But in a feudal empire, the emperor was afraid of being serious about everything... Luo Zhixue directly issued an order to recommend new scientific talents from various places, and naturally local officials went to great lengths to search for all kinds of scientific talents.
Not to mention new talents like Song Yingxing, even those foreign missionaries and the like were recommended.
Your Majesty did not say that the recommended person cannot be a foreigner...
After these recommended new talents pass certain assessments, those who are truly talented will be assigned to serve as teachers at the Royal Institute of Technology and be awarded grades.
Even those who are slightly inferior cannot become teachers, but they will be placed in various research institutes or factories as much as possible.
In short, no talent will be let go!
In this way, it was possible to recruit dozens of teachers for the Royal Institute of Technology and hundreds of engineers for its many factories in a short period of time... Well, even though some of them were not willing to be teachers or engineers at first. , especially when the Chu Empire had not yet launched its Northern Expedition.
But that's not important. These people are here, so naturally they won't be let go.
After all, the Chu Empire was a traditional feudal empire.
The teachers at the Royal Institute of Technology are talented people scavenged from everywhere, and the students are no exception. They are also all kinds of talented young people recommended by local officials.
Because there are no hard and fast standards for gifted teenagers, many local officials have recommended a group of magical powers in the traditional sense, such as those who can read and write at the age of three, and write poetry at the age of five.
All in all, it was a mess.
However, after multiple assessments, these students, among other things, at least have excellent memory, are also more flexible in their minds, and have excellent self-learning ability.
These teachers and students form the current Royal Institute of Technology.
At the same time, many of the teachers and students at the Royal Institute of Technology are also involved in projects in these research institutes or factories.
After all, there are only so many people in the Chu Empire who understand new science and technology. While these teachers are responsible for teaching, they naturally also need to undertake some scientific research tasks.
However, Chang Leshan is not a teacher at the Royal Institute of Technology. In fact, he is not even a main researcher at the Munitions Research Institute. Although he also knows some technology, he is more responsible for administrative affairs.
What I do on a daily basis is to deal with the bosses at the Ministry of Industry, other research institutes, and other manufacturers. The biggest achievement is not what research is done, but to rely on various methods to get batches from above. The research funds will also increase the personal salary of researchers in the institute.
In his own words: I don’t understand technical matters, but I have no money, so I’ll go find my boss to make trouble, but there’s no one around, so I’ll poach you!
It is precisely because of Chang Leshan's strong support that the Ammunition Research Institute was able to obtain a research fund of 60,000 taels of silver this year.
Don't look at the tens of thousands and tens of thousands, which means very little. These days, tens of thousands of taels of silver are almost as much as the annual fiscal revenue of an ordinary government.
The regular tax revenue of the huge Chu Empire was only tens of millions a year.
As for the Ministry of Industry, the total research funding for a dozen research institutes is only a few hundred thousand taels a year.
Money is quite valuable these days.
With money and people, the research of the Ammunition Research Institute was also very smooth. It tested many design plans one by one, and finally selected the current design plan and made the final design improvements.
Chang Leshan first introduced and played with his new grenade, and then took the opportunity to introduce the new artillery developed by them and the artillery research institute next door: the 18-pound light howitzer.
Just listen to Chang Leshan say: "In order to ensure the power of the grenade, we took reference from the 18-pound mortar and set the caliber to 150 millimeters. The barrel is longer than the mortar of the same caliber, reaching seven times the caliber. That’s one meter and two.”
"The reason why the barrel can be made longer is because with the use of a wooden holder, the artillery does not have to worry about rolling over when loading and firing."
"The reason why it is limited to a short barrel of seven times is because the cartridge cases we manufacture are still lacking in withstanding the chamber pressure."
"After all, our technology is still lacking. At the same time, in order to ensure that the power of the charge cannot be too low, the cartridge case is generally relatively thin, and in order to ensure that the shell does not directly break in half after the explosion, but breaks into more shrapnel, the cartridge case will Prefabricated fragmentation technology is used during processing, which results in the overall ability of grenades today to withstand bore pressure."
"After testing, we found that when using a long-barreled gun with a standard charge, the shell will fragment or even cause the chamber to explode."
"Considering that the new grenade can only withstand low chamber pressure, when it is used directly on field guns in the future, it is necessary to reduce the charge. Only by how much can we achieve a balance between range and safety. We still need to do more test."
"Because of the low chamber pressure, if you make a howitzer specifically for firing this kind of grenade, you can make a shorter and thinner barrel to control the weight."
"The prototype gun we have now developed for test firing weighs only more than 250 kilograms (pure barrel), and the laid-out weight is more than 460 kilograms (combat posture, including barrel and mount) , wheels), and the weight of the column is more than 820 kilograms (in marching state, including gun barrel, gun mount, wheels, lead vehicle, harness, standard base ammunition, etc.)."
"The weight of this 18-pound light howitzer is only slightly heavier than the two-and-a-half-pound field gun, but it is also lighter than the five-pound field gun. Its maneuverability is quite good. Three horses can be used for daily marches, and it can also be used if the horses are shorter. Using four horses, two horses can drag it to the front line in combat situations."
"As for the range, according to our previous test data, although a certain hit rate can be achieved at a distance of 800 meters, it is recommended that the effective range is 500 meters. A better balance between range and hit rate can be achieved. "
While listening to Chang Leshan's words, Luo Zhixue also stepped forward to take a look at this 18-pound light howitzer.
This thing looks a bit small...it doesn't look like a heavy artillery with a 150mm thick tube at all.
The entire barrel length is only one meter and two meters, which is basically the same as a two-and-a-half-pound field gun, but the caliber of a two-and-a-half-pound field gun is only 65 millimeters...
So this looks a bit out of place, especially with the larger wheels and frame. It has the feeling of a big car that is resistant to spraying, and it is not very beautiful...
But a lightweight howitzer is like this, as long as the shells fired are powerful enough.
So after Luo Zhixue looked at it for a while, he said to Chang Leshan: "Take it out and give it a try. You won't know until you fire it to see if this gun is good or not!"
After hearing this, Chang Leshan immediately said: "I obey the order!"
Even if Luo Zhixue didn't take the initiative to speak, today Changleshan, people in the arsenal nearby, and even the army generals would look for opportunities to test-fire this artillery and new grenades in front of them.
Otherwise, how can we promote this new type of howitzer and new artillery shells to enter military service quickly and on a large scale?
The factories of the Ministry of Industry are waiting for orders, the research institutes are waiting for rewards, and even the Army is counting on additional military expenditures to purchase such artillery and grenades!
This can't be done without money.
In the Dachu Empire, the support of a large amount of funds, whether it was military expenses or administrative expenses, would not have been possible without Luo Zhixue's nod.
Therefore, if the factory wants to obtain a large number of orders, and if the army wants to widely equip and use a new support weapon, it must have money.
But if you want money, you have to impress Luo Zhixue first.
And for a piece of artillery, nothing is more convincing than live fire.
Soon, they arrived at the Dangtu Industrial Zone, a weapons testing site specially established for the Dangtu Arsenal and the Dangtu Artillery Factory. But now, in the weapons testing site, in addition to the eighteen-pound light howitzer, there are many other weapons. Will also be tested together.
The main reason is to show their face in front of Luo Zhixue. In fact, many of them have already served in batches and put into combat effectiveness.
For example, an improved version of the two-and-a-half-pound field gun is called the four-year-old two-and-a-half-pound field gun.
The improvement of this kind of artillery is actually not big. Compared with the original model, which is the first year type two and a half pound field gun, the main reason is to lengthen the barrel length, increasing the barrel diameter from sixteen times to eighteen times, although this will increase the time required. It is heavy, but it also allows the improved two-and-a-half-pound field gun to gain greater range and power.
An engineer at the Artillery Research Institute explained to Luo Zhixue: "The frontline troops generally reported that our two-and-a-half-pound field guns were relatively poor in range and power. The effective range of about three hundred meters was too short, and at the same time, the power was not very high. It is not enough, especially when the enemy also has long-barreled artillery, the effective range of 300 meters and the existing power are not enough."
"In response to the feedback from the frontline troops, we lengthened the barrel and appropriately thickened the thickness of the tail of the barrel to increase the bore pressure. In the end, the barrel diameter of this artillery reached 18 times, and the effective range increased to three One hundred and eighty meters, the power has also been improved to a certain extent!"
Luo Zhixue looked at the new two-and-a-half-pound field gun in front, nodded slightly and said: "It is very necessary to continue to improve weapons and equipment according to the needs of frontline troops."
In addition to the two-and-a-half-pound field gun, there are also improved models of the five-pound field gun and the nine-pound field gun. However, the overall parameter improvements are not significant. They are mainly adjustments in details. For example, the gun mount has been improved, allowing the gun to expand. time faster.
In addition, there are some improvements that are not visible on the surface, which are mainly reflected in materials and processing.
They are both copper cannons, but the processing technology and materials are also very different.
For example, although the gun barrels are all made of copper, they are actually copper alloys, and different material ratios have a greater impact on material properties.
The same is true for the processing technology. Even though the Dachu Empire can still only use backward clay mold casting, there is still room for improvement in some detailed processes, especially the subsequent processing and shaping of the gun barrel.
The copper cannon barrels of the Dachu Empire were not used directly after being cast. Instead, a rough embryo was cast first, and then a large hydrodynamic boring machine was used to expand the diameter of the inside of the barrel to make the inside of the barrel smoother.
The craftsmanship in these details has been continuously improved, but it has not stayed on the same ground.
This is true not only of artillery but also of muskets.
For example, the improved version of the 2-year-old flintlock gun is mainly based on some problems exposed by the previous original model. For example, the butt is adjusted to make the butt more ergonomic (although there is no such word at this time) ) to reduce the pressure on soldiers to adopt such muskets.
Secondly, the bayonet was used for the first time!
That's right, it's a bayonet!
The Dachu Empire had already begun to use 'bayonets' on matchlock guns long ago, from the earliest plug-in bayonets to the later sleeve-type bayonets.
But the two previous ones actually have nothing to do with knives... The earliest plug-in bayonet was actually a spear head.
The knife on the sleeve bayonet is actually a spear...
The reason why real knife-style bayonets have not been used for a long time is also very simple. On the one hand, the materials and processing techniques are not very good. The resulting bayonets are not strong enough and are easy to break, especially the ones connected to the barrel. The turning part needs to withstand a lot of impact in actual combat. If it is not strong enough, it will easily break.
But now, when the Tu Arsenal has improved the process and created a new bayonet, its strength can initially meet the needs. At least when soldiers engage in bayonet combat, they don't have to worry about the bayonet being bent or simply broken.
I just asked a little bit and learned that although this thing is already usable, the cost of the bayonet is more than three times higher than that of the current bayonet, because in order to ensure the strength of the new bayonet, a large number of craftsmen are used to forge it. This ensures the strength of the bayonet.
Luo Zhixue rejected this thing without hesitation!
"In addition to considering performance, the main equipment must also consider cost-effectiveness. The new bayonet is very good, and the research direction is also right. However, the cost is still a bit higher. The pressure of large-scale equipment will be too great. You must continue to work hard and strive to reduce the cost. Come down."
Luo Zhixue feels that the current spear stab is very easy to use. It has no technical difficulty and low cost. It is good to use it now.
As for the new bayonet, it seems to have more functions. It can also be used as a short-waisted knife for soldiers on weekdays. However, there are so many short-waisted knives in the Chu Empire today, and the cost of short-waisted knives is much lower than bayonets.
Even if it is a spear and a short-waisted knife, its cost is less than half of the new bayonet.
Under such circumstances, Luo Zhixue felt that there was no need to change the equipment for the time being, at least until the cost of the new bayonet was reduced to the total cost of the existing bayonet + musketeer's dagger.
Even if it is higher, it cannot be too high.
After all, the number of musket equipment is not hundreds or thousands, but hundreds of thousands.
Now the Chu Army's first-class and second-class divisions add up to sixty. In the following years, these troops will need to be equipped with flintlock guns and transformed into new-style troops. In addition to strategic reserves, daily consumption , by then the number of flintlock guns in use is estimated to reach more than one million.
With such a huge amount of muskets used, even if the cost increases by one tael of silver, it will still be in the millions of taels.
Therefore, when the Chu army purchases weapons and equipment, it can accept large-scale weapons such as artillery and even battleships, with costs ranging from tens to hundreds of taels. However, for basic weapons such as muskets with hundreds of thousands or even millions of equipment, the cost I will be very concerned about a few taels of silver floating around.
————
After Luo Zhixue briefly inspected more than a dozen new or improved weapons and listened to the researchers' reports, he returned to the rostrum and waited for the live-fire testing of various weapons.
In order to ensure safety, there is a defensive wall several meters in front of the podium, and Luo Zhixue can only show his head when standing on it...
After all, in a live ammunition test, whether the chamber explodes or someone with evil intentions fires directly at the rostrum with a test weapon, these possibilities need to be considered.
The first to go on stage for live ammunition testing is today’s protagonist, the 18-pound light howitzer that many people have high hopes for.
Well, in fact, this kind of artillery itself has no meaning. For this kind of light short-barreled artillery, let alone the artillery research institute, even Daye Heavy Artillery Factory or Dangtu Heavy Artillery Factory, their own research laboratories can Design one.
The real focus of the test is the new grenade.
There are three 18-pound light howitzers used for testing. The test items include four links: maneuvering, deployment, shooting, and emergency maneuvering.
These four links are directly related to the combat effectiveness of this new artillery.
The first test was maneuverability. The three artillery pieces were towed by four horses, three horses, and two horses respectively.
This is a maneuver test under marching conditions. In addition to the artillery itself, it also includes the lead vehicle and ammunition boxes. The overall weight reaches more than 700 kilograms.
Under this weight, using two horses is too reluctant, and four horses is actually a bit redundant. It is best to use three horses.
The test also reflected this. Using a four-horse artillery team, the march was quite comfortable. Even if there were some potholes and even uphill roads, it could be passed smoothly. Even if there were some minor problems, the artillery team members could still move forward smoothly. With the help of others, we can get out of the predicament and move forward.
As for the two-horse artillery group, it is more troublesome. It is not visible at first, but after walking for a long time and encountering bumpy roads and even uphill roads, the movement becomes slower, and the physical energy consumption of the horse is relatively large. Wait until the later stage. The speed obviously dropped a lot.
Sanma's artillery group is located between the two.
However, overall, the maneuverability of this kind of artillery is relatively good. It has a caliber of 150 mm, but its column weight is only more than 800 kilograms. The column weight of a five-pound field gun is more than 100 pounds heavier than it. How many kilograms...
After the maneuver test was completed, the three artillery pieces arrived at the predetermined location and began the live ammunition test!
The loading procedure of this kind of artillery is almost the same as that of a field gun, because there is no need to light the fuse of the grenade first like the mortar...
Now, to load the shells of this kind of light howitzer, just insert the grenade with the wooden bullet holder directly into the muzzle.
The overall process is similar to the loading of field artillery.
After the loading was completed, the gunners at the front were seen firing one after another.
As several gunshots rang out, Sanmei's black shells came out one after another and flew towards the target ahead.
