Kai Fu Han

Chapter 203 The Alliance Under the City 2
The pirates who were originally waiting on the side of the ship and were preparing to jump into a gang were frightened by the power of the cannon and did not dare to move. The loud noise of the close-range shooting and the tragic scene on their own deck made the pirates who survived the cannon almost surrender.

The sailors of the Qingzhou took the opportunity to cut off the hook rope thrown by the pirate ship just now, and the ship continued to move forward.

This ship was followed by a small morning ship. The pirates on the deck had already seen the miserable situation of the ship in front. They were crowding at the entrance of the lower cabin, trying to enter the cabin to avoid the bombardment. Some pirates casually picked up the boats around them. Wood and planks jumped directly into the sea.

The Qizhou that was following the Qingzhou happened to be docking with the Guan ship that had been strafed by shotguns. The pirates on the Guan ship had already recognized the situation, put down their weapons, knelt on the deck, and surrendered.

"Go up to a small team of Marines and take control of the ship." Li Cang commanded the fleet on the upper deck, and Liu Xinqi ordered the Marines on the lower deck.

The second lieutenant officer of the marine corps received the order and immediately assigned a small team of ten marines to jump to the opposite deck of the closed ship through the horizontal boards set up on the sides of the two ships.

After all ten people jumped over, the sailors on the Qizhou immediately pulled out the horizontal planks and the ship continued to move forward. On the Qingzhou at the front of the array, the roar of artillery never stopped.

After all, those who fought against the Xinghan Alliance Navy this time were a group of pirates who lacked faith and loyalty.Liu Xinqi looked towards the periphery of the battlefield. After the pirates' early defeat, some ships had already begun to turn around and escape.

"It seems that letting the Zong family negotiate with the Matsuura Party first this time can be considered a trick. The Zong family must have exaggerated our power. Today, with the help of artillery, it is full of deterrence and is a display of fangs. The attack on the heart and mind is carried out at the same time, so that these pirates Morale has dropped to the lowest point." Jiao Rui analyzed next to Liu Xinqi.

"This is a mistake." Liu Xinqi did not expect that the war would go so smoothly.

As more Xinghan League ships joined the battlefield, the balance of victory continued to tilt, and finally all the battles ended before dark. In this Battle of Hirado, the pirates dispatched a total of eighteen large and small morning ships, and were defeated by the Xinghan League. Nine ships were captured (six customs ships and three small morning ships), and the other ships fled when they saw the situation was bad.

The losses on the Xinghan League's side were minimal. Except for the gunner on the Qingzhou who was tired and fell down, the others were only slightly injured at most. This naval battle was considered a complete victory.

"It seems that the last time they ambush us in the Tuima waters, they almost mobilized all their troops, resulting in weak resistance this time." Liu Xinqi guessed.

"It may also be that there are internal differences. Many enemy ships just came to the battlefield for a formality and escaped without engaging in combat." Jiao Rui said.

"It's getting dark. Order the fleet to withdraw from the strait and anchor in the open sea for the night. We will come back tomorrow." Liu Xinqi arranged for Jiao Rui.

Jiao Rui responded and went to deliver the order.

Following Liu Xinqi's order, the fleet began to turn around, and the rear ship became the front ship. The morning ship that had lost part of its power was tied behind the sand ship and headed towards the open sea. When it reached the open sea, the fleet formed a circular formation and began to lower anchors and lower sails in preparation for the night. moored.

At this time, Cui Wu took a sampan from Qingzhou back to Qizhou.

"Leader, why don't we directly occupy Hirado Castle." Cui Wu looked very excited when he said this. "The history of the Japanese country is not short. There are Japanese people here who speak the Japanese language. If we occupy this place, the local Japanese people will share the same hatred. Even if we occupy it, we will not be able to manage it. Instead, it will take up a lot of our manpower. To eliminate the continued resistance behind, it will also cause a counterattack by the Japanese army, which is not worth the loss." Liu Xinqi explained: "Our needs here are basically the same as those in Goryeo. There are currently no conditions for occupation, so we can only try our best to meet our needs. The greatest demand at present is trade, and anything that is inconsistent with this purpose cannot be done."

"I understand." Cui Wu nodded.Then he suddenly became excited again: "That artillery piece is really exciting. I fired it myself for more than a dozen times. It feels really enjoyable."

It's definitely enjoyable, all real men like to have sex.

"Oh? Now that you have tried it yourself, tell me, is there anything that needs to be improved on this artillery?" Liu Xinqi asked.

"This..." Cui Wu was just excited before and hadn't considered this issue yet. Now that Liu Xinqi asked, he started to sort out his thoughts.

"I really found some areas that need improvement."

Cui Wu began to explain the issues that came to his mind one by one.

"Every time a shot is fired, the barrel needs to be cleaned, which is very troublesome and time-consuming. It greatly reduces the firing frequency of the artillery."

Liu Xinqi listened carefully. This problem was an unsolvable problem in the era of black powder and muzzle-loading cannons. The burning gunpowder will inevitably leave residues. If it is not cleaned and new gunpowder is directly installed, the new gunpowder may be ignited and cause an explosion.To solve this problem, we must either rear-load powder and rear-load ammunition, or develop a primer to make a cartridge case. Obviously, neither of these two methods can be done now.

"Indeed, you continue." Liu Xinqi encouraged.

"The gun barrel will become very hot after being fired more than a dozen times, and the muzzle of the gun just after firing is still a little dark red. The staff of the engineering department guided us to pour water on the barrel to cool down. This step further lengthened the time for each shot. It would be better if the time interval could be improved." Cui Wu was encouraged and continued.

"The redness of the barrel indicates that the temperature is very high. In addition to open flames, high temperature can also ignite gunpowder. Therefore, watering to cool down is to reduce the temperature of the barrel and prevent the high-temperature barrel from igniting the gunpowder in advance. This is the same purpose as you said before to clean the barrel. . Moreover, the high temperature of the barrel will reduce its physical properties and make it easy to explode." Liu Xinqi explained.

This problem cannot be solved now. To solve it, it is not only necessary to improve the performance of the steel used for making guns, but also to develop primers to make cartridge cases to isolate the direct contact between the gun barrel and the fired gunpowder.

"I see. I was in such a hurry when I came back just now that I didn't have time to ask the official in the engineering department specifically. There is so much truth in it." Cui Wu nodded.

"Is there more?" Liu Xinqi asked again.

Cui Wu thought for a while and continued: "After each shot, the artillery will be pushed back by the impact. The gunner needs to move the barrel back to its original position. This is also very time-consuming. It would be easier if there are soldiers to help. Some, if the gunners are ordinary people, it will be very difficult to move the heavy artillery. It would be great if a device could be designed and manufactured to completely fix the barrel, or to allow the artillery to return to its original position after retreating. It can also increase shooting accuracy, eliminating the need to adjust the muzzle direction every time a shot is fired.”

(End of this chapter)