Rebirth of Wu Ba Spring and Autumn

Chapter 1068 The Second Western Expedition, General Cannon
The tail of Dawu's artillery is thicker, with a tail bead, and there are cylindrical earrings on both sides of the center of gravity of the gun body. The artillery adjusts the shooting angle based on this axis, and changes the firing range according to the amount of gunpowder.

There are front sights and rear sights on the body of the gun, and the trajectory is calculated according to a parabola with high accuracy.

This kind of artillery is carried by a car and can run freely.

Most of Dawu's cannons now have a length of about three meters, a caliber of 110 to 130 mm, and a weight of more than two tons.

As for the effective range of the artillery is about 500 meters, the maximum range is less than 1.5 kilometers.

This leaves something to be desired.

It is worth mentioning that Dawu's artillery is a type of receding front-loading smoothbore artillery, and every time it is fired, it will seriously deviate from the original shooting position.

According to the normal operating procedure, it needs to go through the steps of resetting, reloading, and setting the azimuth and elevation angles again.

The most well-trained gunner can only fire at a rate of 2 minutes.

It is impossible to increase the rate of fire of front-mounted artillery.

Because after firing once, water must be poured into the barrel to extinguish the sparks, a dry cloth tied to a stick and inserted into the barrel to dry it, then filled with gunpowder and combustion aids, stuffed into the shell, and then fired.

These actions are rather slow and cumbersome, and do not include correcting gun positions.

This is a common problem with front-mounted artillery, and it is not bad to be able to fire every 2 minutes.

It's a pity that a running horse can run a considerable distance in one minute. Is there time to fire the second shot?

Therefore, the characteristic of the front-mounted artillery is that it has a slow rate of fire, but it is powerful. It is no problem to blast the city wall, but it is a joke to deal with cavalry...

Standing beside Qingji, the emperor's grandson Wu Ji also saw the flaws of the cannon, frowned and said, "Grandfather, from my grandson's point of view, this cannon is very good, but it seems too bulky."

"Artillery is good at siege, but clumsy at field battles, let alone defending the city."

"good."

Qing Ji nodded slightly and said, "The artillery is loaded and fired at a low rate, and the artillery body is heavy, so it is impossible to quickly shift positions."

"That's why in field battles, most of them can only bombard at fixed points before the start of the battle. When the battle situation between the enemy and us reverses, it is often impossible to respond flexibly..."

"However, artillery is more practical than trebuchets."

"Gongshuban, what is the longest range of the new artillery now?"

Hearing this, Lu Ban, who was the minister of the Ministry of Industry, hurriedly came out and said: "Reporting to Your Majesty, the longest range of the new artillery is about [-] paces."

"it is good."

Qingji was quite satisfied.

One step of Dawu is equivalent to 1.3 meters, and five hundred steps is 650 meters.

With such a long range, it is enough, and the artillery technology can be gradually improved in the future.

Qing Ji vaguely remembered that at the peak period of the red cannon in history, the effective range reached 1500 meters, and the maximum range reached 2.5 kilometers!

According to Dawu's scientific research achievements and development speed, the new artillery can reach this level within ten years.

"How many cannons does my Great Wu have now?"

"Reporting to Your Majesty, not to mention the new artillery that is still in the development stage, there are three hundred and two artillery pieces that have been put into use."

"Give me another two hundred heavy artillery, according to the standard of new artillery. Make more artillery shells, the more the better... From now on, my Great Wu's artillery will be called 'Great General Cannon'."

"promise!"

Lu Ban immediately agreed.

What a "big general cannon"!
With enough materials and funds, Lu Ban would not worry about not being able to make so many artillery.

Qingji and the others inspected the power of the general's cannon, and then inspected the training of the gunmen.

Dawu's level of firecrackers is roughly equivalent to that of the Ming Dynasty, which is a kind of black technology.

The range of the firecracker can reach 100 meters, the effective range of the basic aim (that is, the aim whose error can be compensated by multiple firecracker salvos) is about 50 meters, and the best range with the armor-piercing ability is about 30 meters.

This also means that the firecrackers can't actually restrain the cavalry on the battlefield.

It takes too long to reload the firecracker after shooting, and it is not as good as a bow and arrow.

But the deterrence it can cause to the enemy is great.

Qingji was very cautious about the training of the firecrackers, and adopted the "line array method", that is, "line up and shoot"...

The effective range is short, and it is difficult to issue a second shot, so increase the coverage of firepower and directly knock down the enemy's spirit.

……

In Fengtian Hall, Prince Heng is reporting state affairs to Qingji.

"..."Da Wu Dictionary" and "Hundred Surnames" have been compiled and have been published in large volumes, while "Wenwen Dadian" is still being compiled, with 1122 volumes completed."

"good."

Qingji is quite satisfied with this editing speed.

After all, it is no small matter that there are thousands of scholars from the Imperial Academy and officials from the DPRK and China participating in the compilation work.

They forgot to eat and sleep to compile such a book for Wu, and pass it on to later generations, which can be regarded as immeasurable merit.

The Compendium of Documents has been compiled for nearly two years, and it has not yet been completed. It is conceivable that there are so many documents in it.

Compared with the "Yongle Dadian" and "Siku Quanshu" in history, Da Wu's "Wen Wen Da Dian" is more voluminous.

Its content includes classics, history, sons, and collections, involving astronomy and geography, yin and yang medicine, divination, Taoist scriptures, drama, crafts, agriculture, etc., covering the knowledge wealth of various civilizations in the world for thousands of years.

Absolutely the largest encyclopedia the world has ever seen.

"Pass down my decree and order the twenty feudal kingdoms in the West to implement the "Yi Fu Order" and "Yi Wen Order"!"

"promise!"

Qingji finally made a move.

The previous Great Wu only implemented the "Yifu Order" and "Yi Wenling" in the [-] vassal kingdoms in the East, [-] vassal kingdoms in the New World (American Continent), and one Lu State, and achieved good results.

Now, Qingji wants to treat everyone equally, and let all the fifty vassal kingdoms of Great Wu implement such reform measures.

It is conceivable that this will definitely lead to the rebellion of the foreign kingdoms of the Western vassal kingdoms.

Mass Rebellion!
"Second and third sons, I want to conquer Fanyi in the west again."

Qingji still expressed his plan.

Hearing this, all the ministers and officials suddenly changed their colors and knelt down one after another, begging Qingji to dispel this idea.

"No! Your Majesty, for the second Western Expedition, your Majesty will let the King of Liao and the King of Sai lead the troops to conquer foreign countries and foreign barbarians. How can you go on the expedition yourself?"

"Exactly!"

"Your Majesty, you are the body of ten thousand gold, the lord of the ninety-five years, the extreme west is dangerous, wild and untouched, and it is thousands of miles away from the mainland of Great Wu. The journey is bumpy, and I am afraid..."

"Please think twice, Your Majesty!"

The ministers were really worried that something might happen to Qingji.

If you are not careful, what should you do if Qingji dies on the road to the West Expedition?
It is true that with the current prestige of Prince Heng, it is not a problem to succeed to the throne and stabilize the power, but it is inevitable that the remnants of the local countries will cause chaos, and the vassal kingdoms also have the heart of disobedience.

When the time comes, the Great Wu Empire may fall apart in an instant.

"I've made up my mind. Three months later, I'll march west!"

Qingji is still arbitrary.

Who can make him change his mind?

(End of this chapter)