big song poppi

Chapter 292 0289 [Field artillery! 】

After lighting the fuse, Han Zhen stepped back twenty steps and hid behind the bunker.

boom! ! !
A deafening loud noise rang in everyone's ears, and the earth trembled.

Under the powerful recoil, the entire cannon, which weighed more than three tons, suddenly moved back two or three meters, and the originally straight muzzle tilted upwards.

Waiting for the thick black smoke to dissipate, Han Zhen did not check the power of the cannon this time, but first inspected the cannon.

The dozen or so outermost iron hoops showed no signs of loosening.

Immediately afterwards, he checked the wooden barrel and felt relieved after seeing that no cracks were found.

Generally speaking, crudely made wooden cannons are basically disposable and can no longer be used after two or three times at most, because the wooden barrel cannot withstand the force generated by the burning gunpowder.Even the leather cannon can only be used a dozen times.

The three giant cannons in front of you were carefully crafted by craftsmen, and everything from material selection to workmanship was impeccable.

The hollowed wood is inlaid with a copper core, and the iron wood itself is extremely hard.

Even if it cannot be used hundreds of times like the iron cannon, there should be no problem if it is used 35 times.

"The county magistrate!"

At this moment, Liu Qi, who was under the city wall in the distance, was waving his hands and shouting at him.

Han Zhen mounted his horse and ran towards the city wall.

After a few dozen steps, a large hole was blown open in the upper left part of the city wall.

After getting closer, Han Zhen looked carefully and found that the cannonball penetrated two feet into the rammed earth layer of the city wall.

Although it was several times more powerful than the last time, the damage caused was minimal to the thick city wall.

Even if the cannonballs were changed from stones to iron balls, there would be no qualitative change.

He now understood why artillery had been invented long ago, but during the Ming Dynasty, artillery was not developed further.

Because the cities in the country are so strong, they are often five or six meters thick. In large cities such as Yingtianfu and Tokyo City, the walls are even more than ten meters thick, and carriages can even run on the walls.

How the hell is this going?

Liu Qi was very excited and said excitedly: "A divine weapon, it is truly a divine weapon! If a thousand artillery pieces fire in volley, it only takes three or five rounds, and the city of Tokyo cannot stop it!"

Thousands of artillery pieces?
Han Zhen looked at him as if he were a fool and asked, "Do you know how much this artillery cost?"

Liu Qi said blankly: "How much?"

"A barrel-thick piece of iron wood alone costs hundreds of guan. In addition to the copper core and iron hoop, as well as the craftsmen's labor costs, a cannon costs no less than a thousand guan."

The key factor is the money. This kind of wooden cannon is unstable and can theoretically be fired dozens of times, but no one knows exactly how.

Maybe it will become useless after being used for more than a dozen times, and you still have to risk the chamber exploding.

This is just the cost. The cannon is heavy. It takes at least two ox carts to transport one cannon, plus a dozen soldiers to move it. There are thousands of cannons, and people and horses are chewed along the way. The transportation cost is in the millions.

Liu Qi looked regretful and said: "Then we won't make it?"

"make!"

Han Zhen said firmly: "We will definitely build them, but we won't build so many. Fifty doors will be enough."

Judging from the current power, it is impossible to bombard the city wall, but it is no problem to use all-iron artillery shells to bombard the city gate.

Once the city gate is blasted open, it will be a huge blow to the morale of the soldiers defending the city.

"But I have to try one more time."

After Han Zhen finished speaking, he mounted his horse and returned to the three cannons, changed the distance from three hundred steps to five hundred steps, and slowly tested the range and the amount of gunpowder filled.

Two hours later, the three cannons fired no less than fifty times in total.

And in order to prevent the gun barrel from being too hot and causing deformation, another gun will be replaced after one shot.

The final test results show that the effective range is [-] steps. If it exceeds [-] steps, it will be inaccurate. The longest range is two miles.

This data is much stronger than the three-bow bed crossbow.

The maximum range of the three-bow bed crossbow is only 300 steps, and the actual effective range is only more than [-] steps. If it exceeds [-] steps, its accuracy will be ineffective. Whether it can hit the target depends entirely on luck.

Liu Qi completely lost his contempt at this moment, and looked at the three giant cannons with eyes filled with enthusiasm.

He stretched out his hand and gently touched the cannon, as if caressing a lover, and said excitedly: "With such a terrifying range, when the two armies are fighting, they can bombard the opponent's central commander. Once hit, the enemy army will collapse!"

"This is the real way to capture the enemy general's head in the midst of thousands of troops."

Huang Kai simply imagined the scene and couldn't help but swallowed.

In the past when the two armies fought, the commander would sit in the center and be protected by his bodyguards and elite regiments.

Therefore, the two military achievements of killing generals and capturing flags are extremely difficult.

When you can kill generals and capture flags, it means that the opponent's central army is completely defeated, which is very difficult.

But now with artillery, everything has changed.

The ultra-long range greatly reduces the difficulty of killing generals.

"It is indeed possible!"

Han Zhen nodded in agreement.

After testing the cannon, he summoned Craftsman Yuan again and said, "You did a good job this time. You will be rewarded with a reward of ten thousand taels. All the craftsmen who participated will be rewarded."

Naturally, this bounty of ten thousand taels of gold cannot be gold, but copper coins.

It's just a different way of saying it, to make it sound better.

Otherwise, calculated in terms of gold, Song Huizong's rewards would be bankrupt several times.

"Thank you magistrate!"

Craftsman Yuan and other craftsmen bowed to express their thanks.Han Zhen asked: "By the way, is it really impossible to make a giant cannon made of wrought iron?"

There is no way to eliminate the bubbles produced when the molten iron condenses, but the forging process at this time is very mature, whether it is cold forging or hot forging.

Craftsman Yuan was puzzled: "County magistrate, it's not because I have declined, but because I really can't do it. The cannon is too big to be successfully forged at one time, so it can only be forged in sections, but the airtightness after assembly has become a problem. "

Han Zhen was a little disappointed, but he caught the key point of his words: "What you mean is that smaller iron cannons can be forged?"

Craftsman Yuan replied: "It depends on how small the county magistrate said it is."

Han Zhen ordered: "Three feet in length, six inches in the muzzle."

Hearing this, Craftsman Yuan pondered for a moment and said uncertainly: "With such a size, it shouldn't be a problem. You can first use hot forging to make a rough model, and then use cold forging to refine it."

"it is good!"

Han Zhen was overjoyed and ordered: "Try your best. If you can do it, you will be rewarded. In addition, we will make fifty more cannons of this size."

"Wei Chen takes orders!"

Craftsman Yuan answered with clasped fists, and then led the craftsmen away in a hurry.

The small artillery that Han Zhen just described was intended to be used as a field artillery. The ammunition was shotguns such as iron nails and caltrops. In large-scale field battles, it was specially used to break the opponent's heavy armored cavalry charge and heavy infantry phalanx.

This kind of field artillery has a long range and a wide strike range. One shot can kill a large area on the opposite side.

It is countless times more powerful than throwing firearm cans and can be operated by only two soldiers. It is equivalent to an enhanced version of the Swedish leather cannon.

If it can be done, hundreds of doors will be built and blasted!

Pig iron is not valuable. It is available on the market for thirty cents per pound. If you mine and smelt it yourself, the cost will only be more than ten cents.

In addition to its low cost, more importantly, the pure iron cannon has a long service life and can fire hundreds of shots with good luck.

After ordering the soldiers to move the three artillery pieces to the armory, Han Zhen called for Liu Qi and asked, "How did Han Shizhong and the two persuade him to surrender?"

Liu Qi chuckled: "The heat is almost there. I've been hanging on to them recently. There's only one chance left."

During this time, Han Shizhong and Wu Jie had already walked out of the prisoner-of-war camp, but there was still one step left.

Hearing this, Han Zhen chuckled and said: "Okay, then I will give you some firewood. Recently, many prefectures and counties have reported that the bandits and bandits under the rule are disturbing the people. You can take three thousand soldiers out for a trip. Clean up all the bandits in Shandong and earn some pork money for the soldiers."

"Order!"

Liu Qi's eyes lit up and he responded loudly.

Han Zhen waved his hand: "Go."

……

under the sun.

Han Shizhong and Wu Jie squatted under the shade of a tree not far from the school ground with a piece of grass in their mouths, watching the soldiers drill in boredom.

Wu Jie said with emotion: "The intensity of training of soldiers of the Qingzhou Army is several times higher than that of the Western Army."

"Every meal of dry rice and meat, how can I not be strong?"

Han Shizhong curled his lips and his tone was a little sour.

Since ancient times, there has been no weak army with full food and pay, let alone such treatment as the Qingzhou Army.

The key point is that during the last war, the Qingzhou Army only practiced for three or four months. If they were allowed to practice for another year, I am afraid that their combat power would be even more powerful.

By then, even if they do not rely on firearms, the Western Army will be far from its opponent.

During this time, Liu Qi didn't know what he was busy with. He hadn't seen anyone for a long time. The two of them were really idle and felt that their bones were a little rusty.

They were unable to leave the military camp, and their range of activities was limited to the vicinity of the prisoner of war camp.

At this moment, Liu Qi's figure appeared in their sight.

Han Shizhong shook the weed in his mouth and asked, "What are you busy with these days?"

"Busy experimenting with new firearms!"

Liu Qi replied slightly mysteriously.

New firearm?
Han Shizhong and Wu Jie looked at each other and saw shock in each other's eyes, but they knew enough not to ask.

Liu Qi put his hands on his hips and asked casually: "I just received the order from the county magistrate, asking me to lead troops to wipe out the bandits in Shandong. Are you two willing to go together?"

Bandits?

Han Shizhong and Wu Jie were immediately moved.

"This... is not good. We are prisoners after all. It would be inconvenient to go with you to suppress the bandits. If your county magistrate finds out, he might even implicate you and be punished." Han Shizhong said hesitantly.

"No matter what the inconvenience is, I can trust you two."

Liu Qi waved his hand and said with confidence: "Besides, the county magistrate is not strict about trivial matters and will not punish me for such a trivial matter."

Hearing this, Wu Jie said with a twisted expression: "Then... well, I'll go and have a look, just to relax."

He was really holding it back, and since the last celebration party, he had already had the intention of defecting to Han Zhen.

Seeing this, Han Shizhong followed suit and said, "Okay, let's go together."

"go!"

Liu Qi was overjoyed.

First, he led the two people to the armory and took out two sets of armor.

An hour later, Liu Qi ordered three thousand soldiers and horses and marched out of the military camp.

　Sorry, I was delayed by something today. There will be another chapter later.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)