Cutting 1719

Chapter 586

Since the Fuhan Army completely set the standard for flintlock guns made in Hanyang in the second year of innovation, except for the development of cavalry-style flintlock guns on this basis, and the separate development of six-shot handguns, all subsequent The work has basically turned to the full production of Hanyang-made flintlock guns, in order to realize the replacement of the whole army as soon as possible.

After three full years of intensive production and refitting, the Fuhan Army currently has more than [-] active-duty troops who have fully completed the refitting, and all the old-style flintlocks have been eliminated and sealed. It will be reactivated, so at this point, the General Armament Department of the Fuhan Army has already started the research and development of the next generation of rifles.

In fact, as early as the second year of innovation, when Ning Yu instructed Lei Tuozi and the others to perfect the flintlock guns made in Hanyang, he had already mentioned the issue of rifled guns, but compared to the smooth-bore guns that Ning Chu had already mastered at that time For rifled guns, the technical requirements for all aspects will be higher.

After some trial production, Lei Tuozi and the others found many problems, among which many problems appeared on the rifling, which is the key to the rifled gun.

Although it is not difficult to describe the rifling, due to the limitation of the material, the rifling of the rifled gun is easy to be completely worn out, especially due to the process error, the description of the rifling cannot be fully standardized, which will also bring a very serious problem. Serious consequences - that is, the rifling speed is not uniform.

You must know that this will become a very serious problem on the battlefield, because when some rifled guns can play the role of rifling, and some rifled guns are smoothed, the lethality will be seriously reduced, and it will also make the commander appear. A misjudgment led to the defeat of the battle.

In addition, there is another point that Ningchu's smoothbore guns are currently mature in technology, less likely to fail, and more stable to use, while the rifled gun technology requires rifling, so steel cannot be used, only wrought iron can be used. to build, which in itself also reduces the life of the barrel.

Therefore, after the flintlock guns made in Hanyang were completely perfected, the smoothbore guns had always been the mainstream of the Fuhan army, and the rifled guns were only manufactured and used in a small amount. Just found some new light.

The development of weapons is always determined by the development of metallurgical technology, especially the barrel part. The key point is that when Ningchu used shaft furnaces to smelt iron in the past, the fuel used was ordinary coal, and the wrought iron obtained was tough. It is relatively poor. If the barrel is made, the rifling is easily ground and cannot be used normally.

After the iron smelting experts brought back by Ernst from the West, after in-depth exchanges with Chinese iron smelting experts, the two sides learned from each other and began to improve the blast furnace process, which effectively improved the blast furnace iron smelting process under long-term tests , especially found a very important process, that is, changing coke to fuel iron smelting.

You know, before that, although Ning Chu, as a traverser, provided the method of blast furnace iron smelting, he didn't know to change coke to smelt iron, so that the Fuhan army had made rapid progress in production for a long time, but the obtained The quality of iron ore has not been greatly improved.

Of course, the method of coking and iron smelting did not come out of thin air. In fact, in the experiment with everyone, it was found that the reaction of the blast furnace itself occurred between "one rise and one fall", that is, the rise of the gas and the fall of the furnace charge. The material column is required to have good air permeability so that the raw materials can be fully reduced, but the coal itself is relatively brittle and easily crushed, resulting in poor air permeability of the blast furnace.

After understanding this principle, when the craftsmen build the skeleton of the material column, the coke pile has entered the field of vision of the technicians due to the characteristics of the smallest density and large gaps, and the coke itself is relatively strong, and it can be piled up above the tuyere area. Always keep the block shape, so that the material column has good air permeability, and keep the furnace running smoothly, thus providing all the heat required for blast furnace smelting.

After such a step of improvement, the wrought iron process used in the rifled gun has been completely completed, and its lifespan has been greatly improved. Coupled with the practical application of steam engine technology, the rifling characterization technology has also begun to be standardized. These various technological advances Only then did the front-loading rifles really start to be mass-produced.

It was when Ning Yu got the news that he really realized how much Ning Chu had improved in craftsmanship, and this also gave birth to the General Armament Department's thinking about the next standard musket.

Of course, just the advancement of technology, there is no way to completely solve the pain points of the new musket, and these problems also need further inspiration from Ning Yu to the General Armament Department.

On December [-]th of the fifth year of innovation, when the new year was about to usher in, Ning Yu, accompanied by officials from the General Armament Department of the Privy Council, went to the Xinyou Second Base outside Nanjing for inspection. In addition to the development level of the military industry, it sets the tone for the development of new rifles.

The so-called Xinyou Second Base, like the previous Guimao, is a research and development center with the highest confidentiality mechanism, and there are more than 40 bases like this, so they are named after the heavenly stems and earthly branches. This time, the research and development of the new standard rifle was placed at the Xinyou [-] base.

In front of the heavily guarded Xinyou [-]nd Base, a group of researchers in white coats, led by an old man with gray hair, waited respectfully. Not all of them were yellow-skinned and black-haired Chinese, and some They are technical experts from the West, but when they gather together, they appear very harmonious.

The reason is very simple. Among the high-level experts in Ningchu, there has never been a shortage of Westerners, especially in the Dachu Supreme Academy of Sciences established this year, there are more than [-] Westerners headed by Ernst and Newcomen. Experts have officially become lifelong scholars. Among them, the lowest level is to enjoy the treatment of the fourth-rank civil servants. Ernst, Newcomen and Lei Tuozi and ten others have become chief scholars and can directly enjoy the treatment of the first-rank civil servants.

Therefore, Western experts who have received high-ranking officials, generous salaries and even titles have a very sense of belonging to Da Chu, because even in their own country, it is impossible for them to receive such great respect and courtesy, and there is no way It's really a good thing to play - but in Nanjing, they can get almost everything they want.

When Ning Yu's imperial chariot arrived in front of the door, Lei Tuozi, who was already a bit old, walked up slowly with someone, first bowed deeply, and then said loudly together: "I wait to see you!" Your Majesty, Long Live Your Majesty!"

Ning Yu was wearing a heavy cloak, and after stepping off the imperial chariot, he looked at Lei Tuozi and the others with a smile on his face, and said softly: "Technology is the primary productive force. There is still not enough, I can add one more sentence, that is, technology is also the number one combat power, I am here today, I believe you should understand my purpose."

The slightly shriveled Lei Tuozi had a smile on his face. Of course he could understand that although the imperial court was rich, none of the money was superfluous, and it was even more impossible for the Academy of Sciences, which wasted a lot of money, to waste resources. Finally, they also need to come up with something that can make a difference.

"Reporting to Your Majesty, since the ministers have invited His Majesty to come and inspect, they naturally have plans."

Ning Yu nodded noncommittally, and then, guided by Lei Tuozi and others, walked into the slightly mysterious Xinyou Second Base.

When everyone came to a very large laboratory, they saw that a large number of researchers were divided into groups to carry out experiments. Each of them did different things, obviously they were researching from different directions.

Lei Tuozi hurriedly stepped forward and introduced: "Your Majesty, our current research and development strength is very sufficient. The number of research and development personnel directly owned by the Xinyou Second Base alone has exceeded 200 people, and they have now been divided into six project teams. Come to trial-produce a new standard rifle."

Ning Yu nodded, casually picked up a sample gun in front of him, looked at it carefully, and then said with a soft smile: "When I was on the battlefield before, many soldiers still praised our Hanyang-made flintlock guns. Stop talking, because compared with the Qing army's bird guns, our guns are really much stronger."

Speaking of this, Ning Yu's expression was slightly solemn, and he said in a low voice: "But judging from the previously seized Erut muskets, Russian muskets, and muskets brought by the Swedes and the British, our muskets are no better than those brought by the British." No matter how strong they are, they are even a little behind in some places, so the idea of ​​living with a gun for a lifetime is absolutely unacceptable."

Since the mainstream of muskets in the early eighteenth century was still muskets, although the muskets currently used by the Fuhan Army are still second to none, there is no real technical difference with muskets from other countries. It can be reflected in the battle of the Chinese people that they also caused a large number of casualties to the Fuhan army during the firing stage.

Therefore, in the current military industry system of Great Chu, everyone is naturally very interested in rifled guns with longer range and higher precision. After all, rifled guns have already been invented, and the reason why they have not been used on a large scale is entirely due to Subject to various technical limitations, but it is still the mainstream of development.

Lei Tuozi stroked his beard and sighed: "Your Majesty, Dachu's new-generation standard rifles naturally cannot continue to follow the path of smoothbore guns. This time, the iron smelting technology has improved, and our barrel material problem has been solved, but there are still two. There are two key issues, one is the projectile and the other is the primer."

It turned out that before this, although the smoothbore gun Ning Chu used had begun to use the process of fixed-loading paper-shell bullets, the bullet part was still the traditional lead-melted round bullet. In order to facilitate loading from the muzzle, the diameter of the bullet is usually Slightly smaller than the diameter of the barrel, there is no problem with it,
But when the new type of rifled gun came out, it was discovered that the diameter of this round bullet was slightly smaller than the diameter of the barrel, so it was difficult to keep the chamber airtight, which greatly reduced the power. Therefore, in desperation, the caliber of the bullet could only be matched The caliber of the gun is the same or even slightly larger, but this also means that due to the rifling, it not only makes loading inconvenient, but also affects the rate of fire and efficiency of the rifled gun.

Therefore, under so many technical difficulties, although the rifled gun was born as early as the fifteenth century, it has been troubled by everyone due to the problem of bullets, and it has not been recognized by the world. It is also used when using rifled guns. The stupid way, that is, carry a mallet with you, and reload by tapping the push rod when reloading, the result often leads to a more dangerous chamber rupture, and it is difficult to get the satisfaction of the world.

This problem is not easy to solve. If there is no Ning Yu, a traveler from the later generations, I am afraid that it will continue to be delayed. But fortunately, with Ning Yu, he will naturally understand the solutions that will appear in later generations. The main solution is Use rear-loading bullets to get it done once and for all, but it has relatively high requirements for the airtightness of the barrel, which is basically impossible to achieve with the current technical capabilities, so Ning Yu temporarily vetoed it.

Another method is relatively flattering, which is to use bottom expansion bombs, also known as Mini bombs.

In fact, the so-called Mini bomb is not a product of a sudden whim. Its principle is inspired by the blowing arrows used by South Indian tribes. The tail of the blowing arrows of this tribe is made of soft and elastic Made of high-quality wood pith, it has the characteristics of expansion. Therefore, when using a blow dart, the expansion of the wood pith is used to withstand the inner surface of the blowpipe to prevent the air from escaping, thereby launching the arrow.

The appearance of the Minie bullet, that is, the expansion bullet with a conical bottom, imitates this design. It no longer uses the circular design of the past, but uses a conical bullet with a diameter slightly smaller than the diameter of the barrel, and then at the bottom of the bullet. A conical cavity is dug and the bottom of the hole is blocked with a wooden stopper.

When the musket is fired, the gas generated from the inside will press the cork into the cavity, forcing the bottom of the bullet to expand, which can achieve the purpose of clinging to the rifling, thereby closing the gap between the bullet and the barrel, so that the gas cannot go out. It can also make the bullet rotate at a high speed under the pressure of the rifling, which solves all the above technical problems in one fell swoop.

It is precisely because these problems have been completely solved that this rifled gun is so powerful that it is unimaginable. Its effective range has reached at least about 500 meters. Because of the gun, its effective range is only between 100 meters and 120 meters.

In addition to increasing the range several times, due to the thread engraved inside the rifled gun, the bullet can rotate and fly, so that it has the precise pointing and long-term stability in high-speed motion that smoothbore bullets do not have, and its accuracy is also high. It has reached an unimaginable level, and even can complete long-distance sniper killing on the battlefield.

However, in the original history, the bottom expansion ammunition was invented too late, so it just caught up with the era of rear-loading guns. As the last glory of front-loading guns, the Minigun did not show its true brilliance. Instead, like a shooting star, it quickly disappeared into the twilight of the pre-loaded gun era.

　To bring you a good book of the Three Kingdoms, "The Three Kingdoms Begins from Fooling Jia Xu", the idea is very good, everyone can be healthy.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)