Daming: Apocalypse of Longevity

Chapter 102 Ammunition and Gun List

After much consideration, Sun Yuanhua finally set his sights on the Crouching Tiger Cannon.

The Tiger Crouching Cannon is a small artillery piece commonly used by the Qi Army. It is favored by the Qi Army because it is suitable for field operations in complex terrain such as forests and mountains.

The Tiger Crouching Cannon is a small curved-fire artillery that can be classified as an early mortar. The total weight of the gun body is only [-] kilograms. It is very light, but its relative range and power are also relatively small. The range is only one mile, and it only Can shoot some buckshot stones.

Sun Yuanhua made some improvements to the Tiger Crouching Cannon. The Tiger Crouching Cannon made of new steel is slightly heavier than the original one, weighing about fifty kilograms, but it can still be carried by a single soldier.

Sun Yuanhua then conducted a test firing of the new Tiger Crouching Cannon. The maximum range was more than doubled, and the power was also significantly improved. It can fire some larger shells or a larger number of projectiles.

However, the Tiger Crouching Cannon is a mortar, and its firing method is a deflection type. For the Ming army without a gun watch, it is very difficult to control the range and aim. Even the Qi Jiajun, who is good at using the Tiger Crouching Cannon, Most of them are empiricists. Excellent artillerymen may rely on their own experience and feel to be able to hit wherever they point, but they cannot summarize it and teach others.

In fact, it is not only the problem of the gun table of the Tiger Crouching Cannon. Sun Yuanhua has long discovered this major problem that affects the Ming army's firearms from exerting their due power - the lack of simpler operating standards for soldiers.

Although the firearms equipment of the Ming Army has been iteratively updated, the combat effectiveness of the firearms battalions has not achieved the desired results. Except for the Shenji Battalion in the Beijing Camp, the artillery and firecrackers of the local guards all exist due to a lack of systematic training. There are many problems with irregular operations. Once a war starts, artillery and firecrackers are often fired indiscriminately, completely unable to make the artillery and muskets work.

Even among the elite soldiers in the Shenji Battalion, not everyone can perform standardized operations. How much gunpowder should be added for each launch, how many shells should be loaded, and how to aim. These factors that affect the power and effect of firearms are all due to human factors. vary.

Even the imperial court has introduced some measures to solve this problem, such as setting clear quantitative standards for the loading of ammunition for various types of firearms - "The invincible general's blunderbuss is loaded with three liters of gunpowder and six or seven layers of iron; the tiger crouching The cannon is loaded with six or seven taels of gunpowder, a hundred small ones, or fifty big ones; a quick gun is loaded with three or four taels of lead, etc."

Another example is the invention of the "Powder Sheng", which can not only help soldiers weigh gunpowder, but also help soldiers quickly load gunpowder. However, even so, soldiers still need to have certain artillery knowledge and experience. Although these measures have greatly improved the Ming Dynasty. There are problems in the arms camp, but the effect is limited.

Therefore, Sun Yuanhua decided to work hard on gunpowder and cannonballs.

Sun Yuanhua had been on the battlefield and got along with soldiers day and night. He was very clear about the reasons why the previous measures taken by the court failed to produce results, because although these measures had provided clear standards and relatively convenient tools for the soldiers, they had no impact on the personal qualities of the soldiers. The requirements are still high.On the battlefield, few soldiers can always keep a clear and calm mind and implement these standards in an orderly manner. Moreover, the battle situation is changing rapidly, and there is no guarantee that every soldier can always control the firearms and equipment that he is most comfortable with. It is often necessary to obtain You have to use whatever you want. In this case, who can recall the loading standards and usage methods of various firearms?
Therefore, the best way is to use fixed ammunition and equip it with a gun chart, design fixed gunpowder and shells that meet the standards for various artillery uses, and make a simple and easy-to-understand fool-proof gun chart to indicate what should be used in various situations. Fixed loading of gunpowder and shells, how to adjust the firing angle of the artillery, etc.

Take the Hongyi cannon as an example. A metal nameplate is nailed on the cannon body, and a simple cannon watch is engraved on it, marking the corresponding relationship between the shooting angle and the range of the cannon, and the corresponding effects of using various fixed gunpowder and ammunition, so as to ensure No matter who is operating the artillery, they can quickly master it and quickly enter the battle, so that the artillery can exert its due power.

Fireguns also use fixed gunpowder and bullets. However, fireguns are simpler to operate than artillery. You only need to make a fixed amount of gunpowder. However, in order to increase the lethality of fireguns, you can Work on the bullets.

The development of new gunpowder went very smoothly, because Sun Yuanhua had ready-made information given to him by Zhu Tianqi for reference, and the Thai and Western people under him also had many experts in making gunpowder.

Now that these Thai and Western craftsmen have seen that the Ming Dynasty has more advanced knowledge and scientific and technological information than they do, they no longer hide their secrets. They have also explained the advanced gunpowder formulas currently used in the Thai and Western countries, and even personally taught the gunpowder craftsmen of the Ming Dynasty. How they made and mixed the more powerful Tessin gunpowder.

The craftsmen of the Ming Dynasty are also very experienced experts. Many of them worked in the firearms bureau of Wang Gong Factory. They were working on errands for the court. Their skills are naturally top-notch, so they can understand everything at a glance. Through this, a perfect imitation of Thai gunpowder was soon made.

Then Sun Yuanhua and the Thai and Western craftsmen worked together to research and produce new more powerful gunpowder based on the gunpowder information given by Zhu Tianqi. The Thai and Western craftsmen all had a good foundation in modern chemistry, which made it easier to understand the information, while Sun Yuanhua passed Communicate with Thai and Western craftsmen, and then tell the craftsmen the key contents of the materials in a more understandable language, so that the craftsmen can conduct trial production.

After more than half a month of research and experimentation, the craftsmen of Ming Dynasty finally succeeded in producing a new type of gunpowder with greater power, even much more powerful than the gunpowder of the Taixi people.

Using the new gunpowder, you only need to fill half the original gunpowder amount to achieve the original range and power. If you fill it according to the previous gunpowder amount, the range can be increased by nearly two-thirds.

However, after several test firings, Sun Yuanhua discovered that although the range and power of the Hongyi cannon could be greatly increased by filling the gunpowder according to the previous filling amount, its recoil and danger would also be greatly increased, and he was also worried , given the design strength of the Hongyi cannon, it may not be able to withstand the power of such gunpowder. If it is used like this for a long time, there is a risk of the chamber exploding.

Therefore, Sun Yuanhua had no choice but to re-formulate the new gunpowder loading standards for the Hongyi cannon and reduce the charge. While ensuring the power, he still had to pay attention to safety. If he really wanted to pursue longer range and greater power, he still had to We must design an artillery piece with a larger caliber than the Hongyi cannon as soon as possible.

(End of this chapter)