Kai Fu Han

Chapter 334 Grenade

"Can this gun shoot horizontally?" Liu Xinqi considered that during a naval battle, he might need to use this artillery to sweep the deck of the opposite ship. At that time, the gun would need to shoot horizontally.

"You can't shoot flat, but you can shoot the enemy's deck completely. But if you encounter a ship that is much smaller than our ship, it is too close, and you can't shoot from top to bottom." Liu Zhimu introduced.

"It is enough to be able to shoot at the decks of enemy ships on the same plane. If the ship is smaller than ours, we can use grenades and other weapons." Liu Xin said.

"What's a grenade?"

Liu Xinqi felt regretful in his heart. He had never thought of the melee weapon "grenade".

Wooden-handled grenades are very easy to make. The current technical strength of the Yixing Han Alliance is fully capable of satisfying the entire army with three grenades. The only limit on production is gunpowder.

"It is to wrap a small iron shell around the gunpowder and connect it to the fuse, which weighs one or two kilograms in total. During combat, the fuse is lit and thrown into the enemy's camp or ship. It is equivalent to a small, manually launched explosive bomb. "Liu Xinqi explained it in a simple way.

Seeing that Liu Zhimu didn't understand very well, he asked for paper and pen, and then drew a structural diagram of a wooden handle grenade on the paper, and marked the functions of each position.

"The projectile body is made of cast iron, which is low-cost. It is carved with horizontal and vertical ditches to increase the fragmentation after the explosion."

Liu Xinqi explained while drawing.

Hand grenades appeared in the West earlier than muskets and artillery, two to three hundred years earlier.In modern times, it is still an indispensable weapon in war.

"I understand, it's very simple. I'll make one right now and see the effect." Liu Zhimu said.

Liu Xinqi nodded in agreement.

That's fine, he can be there to provide on-the-spot guidance.

When you come to the foundry, the iron is ready. Cast iron can be cast but not forged. It can only be forged with pig iron first.

First make a palm-sized shell with a rough appearance, then use grooves to carve patterns on the shell, and finally fill the shell with explosives, plug in leads, and seal it.A super crude grenade did the trick.

"Isn't this just a small explosive bag with an iron shell?" the craftsman commented.

When Liu Xinqi thought about it, it was true.

"Try the power."

Under the instructions of Liu Xinqi.

Craftsmen quickly assembled a space enclosed on all sides with wooden boards at the test site, and then used sandbags to build a small protective wall.

Liu Xinqi was unable to go into battle in person due to strong resistance from others.

A craftsman walked behind the protective wall with a simple grenade. After Liu Xinqi's detailed explanation, he already knew the specific function and usage method of this weapon.

Use a fire stick to light the fuse first, and then throw the grenade violently outside the protective wall between the four wooden boards.After throwing the grenade, he quickly lay down and hid behind the protective wall.

There was a loud noise of "Boom!"Four wooden boards flew apart.

"This power is so powerful." Liu Zhimu couldn't help but praise it.

"I didn't expect black powder to be so powerful. Let me count it to see how many fragments there are."

Liu Zhimu and several craftsmen quickly stepped forward to personally check the grenade's killing effect.

"The wooden planks half an inch behind were blown apart, and there were 23 fragments that could be picked up. Even the sandbags on the protective wall had fragments stuck in them, which shows that the killing range of this grenade exceeds three feet."

The sandbag protective wall is three feet away from the wooden board.

"This is because there are too many charges, which can easily hurt your own people. You can reduce some of the charges. Use cast iron to make the texture denser, and the fragments should be around thirty or forty." Liu Xinqi suggested.

"Understood. I will arrange for more people to try it, test the optimal amount of charge and fragmentation, and maximize the power of the grenade." Liu Zhimu responded.

"Everything else is easy to say, this is the fuze. If you still use a fire to light the fuze on the battlefield, he will be in trouble, and the explosion time will be difficult to control. It is best to make a pull-type fuze, and use a rope from under the wooden handle. Pull it out, and when using it, remove the protective cover at the bottom of the wooden handle, and then yank the fuze rope to ignite the fuze, which will explode after a short breath. In this way, it will be much more convenient and flexible during combat. It will be much safer if you say so." Liu Xinqi suggested again.

In later generations, during World War I and World War II, the fuse time of grenades ranged from 3-4 seconds to 4-6 seconds.Liu Xinqi recommends setting it to more than one breath (6 seconds).This is because the Xinghan League currently does not have a concept of time that is accurate to the second. The fuze time is shorter than one breath, which is difficult to train and difficult for soldiers to control.

"The fuze you mentioned shouldn't be difficult to make. If you assemble it with small pieces of iron and flint, you can meet your requirements." Liu Zhimu thought about it and replied.

[It’s not as simple as you said. 】

Liu Xinqi thought in his mind, but didn't point it out.Maybe these craftsmen can put their heads together and finally make it.

"You can make the fuze as a whole, and then arrange for some people to cast the shells, some people to cast the wooden handles, and some people to configure the explosives suitable for grenades. It is more efficient to arrange for people to assemble these," Liu Xinqi suggested. .

The structure of the grenade is too simple and there is no need to keep it secret.As soon as this kind of weapon comes out, anyone who cares will be able to understand its principle after just a few glances.In the end, the only thing that matters is manufacturing capabilities.

"From now on, our Xinghan League's army and navy will have giant artillery, tiger cannons and grenades, plus flintlock guns, so they can be truly invincible." Liu Zhimu sighed.

With these complete types of fire energy that can be coordinated from both far and near, it has already created a generational difference to other forces in the current era.

After the generation difference is formed, if the enemy wants to defeat the Xinghan League's army, they can't just use a lot of people to close the gap.

"That's true. Future wars will not only be about the bravery of soldiers and the wisdom of generals, but the most important thing about future wars will be logistics. As long as there is a steady stream of artillery, muskets, gunpowder and grenades, no matter how many enemies come, , they can only die." Liu Xinqi said.

"This will put too much pressure on our Ministry of Industry." Liu Zhimu suddenly realized.

"The Military Academy has a Logistics Department. At present, they are only responsible for purchasing and transporting food, clothing, cloth, etc. You can gradually transfer the manufacturing of weapons to the Logistics Department. From now on, you will only be responsible for research and invention. Those with two or more stars attached to them will People can get out and focus on research and development, so that we can better and faster improve the scientific and technological development speed of our Xinghan League." Liu Xinqi arranged.

"I will make arrangements with Uncle Li Sheng later."

"Take your time, don't delay the manufacture of weapons and equipment for the navy's new ships." Liu Xinqi reminded.

(End of this chapter)