Great Qing Dynasty talker

Chapter 245: The giant cannon crushed the entire city of Hangzhou, announcing the end of an era!

Xishan Iron Factory and Xishan Gun Factory have long used iron molds to cast cannons, and they have already understood the technical difficulties.

The summary in one sentence is:

The cooling speeds inside and outside the gun embryo are different, resulting in a high scrap rate. The cooling rate of the outer layer of the gun embryo can be reduced by heating the iron mold, so as to achieve synchronous cooling with the inner layer.

[The natural cooling process of the cast red-hot gun barrel when it is left to stand must be from the outside to the inside. Reason one is that the outer surface area of ​​the barrel is larger than the inner bore. Second, air circulates faster outside than inside the barrel. So the outer layer must cool faster than the inner layer. The consequence is that the stress is great and the barrel is prone to explosion. 】

This method of casting cannons under 12 pounds is already very mature.

……

But for guns above 24 pounds, especially 36-pound or even 48-pound guns, this method is not very effective.

The larger the diameter, the higher the scrap rate.

Finally, under Li Yu's suggestion, Lao Zhang made a bold attempt - the hollow cooling method.

As an army composed mainly of soldiers from Yingzhou Prefecture, Zheng Hean's face is quite famous throughout the Second Army.

……

"It's ok."

When infantry fights cavalry, the most fearful thing is facing the enemy on all sides. If you can ensure the safety of one or both sides, the pressure will be greatly reduced.

……

Li Yu suddenly stopped and asked:

While we were chatting, someone came to report.

It is worth noting that the speed of circulating water must not be fast, otherwise the inner layer will cool down too quickly and it will be scrapped.

Ruiming finally understood that holding on and not going out was the best policy, and going out to fight in the city was courting death.

In short, the prestige is very high.

Hollow cooling method - actually invented by a Citizen officer in the 19th century. Li Yu had a slight impression, so he was lucky enough to successfully break through this level of technology.

The mold used to make the inner mold of the gun barrel is hollow and has a cooling water pipe in the middle to circulate the cooling water. In this way, the cooling rate of the inner chamber is accelerated.

"The old man understands."

Whichever camp he went to, everyone clasped their fists and shouted: "Brother Zheng".

"1000 Eight Banners cavalry came out of Yongjinmen and besieged our army's No. 3 fortress."

The hollow cooling method of the special cast heavy cannon is only mastered within the Xishan Gun Factory.

Because most of the Li Jiajun's camps were built with their backs to rivers. The purpose is self-evident, to limit the impact of the cavalry.

"Our army is not afraid of fighting cavalry in the south of the Yangtze River."

As for the core circulating water volume and circulation speed, only Lao Zhang, his son and two apprentices know it.

He had performed well in his mission to recruit soldiers back home, and this battalion commander was a reward for him.

Finally returned in frustration.

It is impossible to use cavalry to defeat an enemy army and then drive it back to cause a comprehensive avalanche.

"Twenty corresponding artillery shells have been cast, and they are refining the size to fit the gun bore as much as possible."

In the end, a relatively mature set of data was found, which was recorded as confidential.

But it was impossible to satisfy his "ambitious" idea in a short period of time. The Huai generals will rule the Huai soldiers. I'm afraid you are not going to heaven!

"Assemble two nearby battalions of the Second Army for reinforcements."

"But in the future, the Northern Expedition to the Central Plains must have its own cavalry, otherwise this battle cannot be fought."

"Can a giant cannon be made of copper?"

"I tried it once. The same data was copied, and the cast copper cannon cracked."

The technology tree is sometimes just missing a layer of window paper.

"Old Zhang, this method must not be leaked to anyone. Do you understand?"

Looking at the cavalry running back to Hangzhou with smoke and dust, Li Yu smiled and said:

Ruiming, the general of Hangzhou, felt that it was a bit embarrassing to hide in the city and fight defensive battles. He couldn't help but want to test the strength of this band of thieves himself, and by the way, he could pull out the fortress and open up a gas hole.

The gun factory adopted an exhaustive method and tested repeatedly.

This method is casting as a whole instead of drilling the bore after molding.

As a result, the fortress with only a hundred people was very difficult to attack.

Li Yu didn't care, because steel cannons and iron cannons were the future.

Li Yu knew that his goal was to be the commander-in-chief of the Second Army.

Once it is revealed, it suddenly becomes clear.

The first battalion of the Second Army, which was rushed in for reinforcements, fired neatly with flintlock muskets and caused dozens of casualties.

The first battalion of the Second Army Corps, the battalion commander Zheng Hean stood aside.

……

"Zheng He'an."

"My subordinate is here."

"I want to give you a hard bone to chew on, do you dare?"

"The 500 brothers from Yingzhou Prefecture in the First Battalion are willing to destroy our Lord."

"After the heavy artillery destroyed the Qingbo Gate wall, you led the first battalion to quickly break into Hangzhou City. Occupy the heart of Hangzhou City and block the Pinghai Gate and Yingzi Gate that fill the city."

"I obey my orders."

"Work hard. If you have spare strength when attacking Mancheng, you can be the first to attack."

"Thank you, my lord."

Zheng Hean retired happily.

Li Yu glanced at Wei Jun next to him:
"Commander Wei, your second battalion will then enter the city to block the Trillium Gate."

"I obey my orders."

……

Back at the commander's tent, Li Yu summoned Miao Youlin again.

Ask him straight to the point:
"Do you want to be a local bully in a county, or do you want to be in charge of an army?"

Miao Youlin replied without hesitation:
"But according to the Lord's orders."

"For the newly formed Second Army, you will also lead the Third and Fourth Battalions. You will then select 800 elite soldiers from among the old brothers to form a soldier battalion, and your wife Changjin will serve as the battalion commander."

"Thank you, my lord. But my subordinates are bold and want to ask for some favors for some brothers?"

"Ok?"

"Some brothers under my command have stayed in Tongxiang County for a long time, and their bones are tender. They don't want to fight, and they don't want to travel around. They want to find a wife and buy some land to live on. They~"

Li Yu smiled:

"I plan to set up a new military camp in northern Zhejiang to train militiamen. Let brothers like you become full-time instructors."

Miao Youlin looked up, his eyes full of surprise. This is truly a blessing.

He knelt down on one knee again to thank and left.

Li Yu couldn't help but laugh. It won't be long before there will be turmoil within the Second Legion, with dragons fighting and tigers fighting, and all the talents returning to their posts.

Miao Youlin and Zheng He'an are both rebellious and ambitious people.

The bottom line is that armed conflict is not allowed, and others can turn a blind eye.

……

Three days later, the two giant cannons were completed.

A road was temporarily built from the heavily guarded camp to Qingbo Gate.

Hundreds of mules and horses were pulling the troops, and six battalions of troops were assembled to escort them. It took 6 hours to travel just a few miles.

Before the giant artillery was put in place, hundreds of artillery pieces of various calibers were bombarded to suppress the Qing army at the top of the city.

Both warring parties are aware of this and are serious about it.

Since the Li army surrounded Hangzhou City, this was the first siege with full firepower.

Wang Danwang hid in the governor's office, his face uncertain. As agreed, it was time for him to fulfill a mission.

"Someone is coming."

"What are your orders, Lord Futai?"

"Concentrate all the mobile forces in the city near Qingbo Gate. If the thieves break through the city, they must resist with all their might. Immediately organize a supervising team. If you are afraid of defeating the enemy, you will be killed without mercy."

"Whoo."

The sound of gunfire outside the city became more and more intense.

Throughout the city, bannermen and their families were all armed.

Ruiming is a diehard, and his philosophy of life has only one word: fight!

"The city is full of the essence of the country. All the people in the city, young and old, are soldiers. I want to turn West Lake into a sea of ​​blood! I want to turn Hangzhou into Yama Luozhou!"

"Kill the thief!"

……

Li Yu rode on the horse and looked at the cannon in place from a distance.

It is extremely thick, even the gun carriage is made of pure iron, and the thickness of the barrel is amazing.

The medicine bag is like a beer barrel and is surprisingly large. And the huge solid bullet is even more amazing.

"How much does this cannonball weigh?" "320 pounds."

Everyone present sighed in shock. One cannonball weighed as much as two adults.

Every step of operating the giant cannon requires the cooperation of dozens of people. Especially that cannonball, which took a lot of effort and even used a simple crane and special tools.

Zhang Manku's hands began to tremble due to excessive excitement and nervousness.

This shot determined the ownership of Hangzhou City and the future of three generations of his old Zhang family.

An artillery battalion commander shouted in an excited voice:
"Ready, fire."

Everyone immediately evacuated around and temporarily left the cannon.

A gunner tragically held up a long pole soaked in kerosene, first approached the stove, and then lit the long fuse.

After 4 breaths, the giant cannon roared like thunder on the ground, spewed out a thick stream of white smoke, and the cannon body retreated 2 feet.

A 320-pound solid iron ball barely hit the city wall.

The surrounding Qing troops felt violent vibrations under their feet, like an earthquake. Many people even lost their footing and fell from the city wall.

And the city wall,
Hulala collapsed from the point where the shell hit, revealing a gap 2 feet long and 4 feet wide. Everyone was stunned.

……

In an instant, the Second Legion burst into thunderous cheers and their morale was like a rainbow.

Zheng Hean lost his composure and turned to the musketeers of the first battalion and shouted loudly:
"Brothers from Huaixi, tighten your bayonets and hold your muskets steady. When we enter Hangzhou City, the first battalion must take the lead."

"Kill, kill, kill."

A group of young musketeers, their faces full of excitement.

Before the war, rewards and punishments were clearly announced.

Those who disobey orders, those who run away, those who act on their own initiative, beheaded!
Military merit is divided into two types of rewards. One is money, the other is military position.

Merit is recorded as a group, and the credit is shared among the whole team and battalion. Everyone has a share of the money, but the military merit will be counted towards the soldiers and officers with the most outstanding performance.

It is restricted for individuals to walk alone to seize merit, it is prohibited to leave the team during combat, and it is prohibited to cut off one's head.

Each battalion has one additional clerk. Usually responsible for correspondence, reading orders, and writing letters. During the war, they advance and retreat with the main camp and record rewards and punishments.

The small leather-covered book in the clerk's hand was jokingly called by the soldiers: "The Book of Life and Death."

……

The reloading of the giant cannon is very slow, enough for one person to slowly enter the hook bar, click on a girl, and then come out after all the procedures are completed.

Everyone is watching eagerly.

Finally the second round of shots was fired.

One after the other, the moment the two cannons were ejected from the chamber, they made a sharp whistling sound like a train passing by.

But Lao Zhang said firmly: "This is the dragon's roar."

The people around him immediately agreed, yes, it was Long Yin. When he looked at the lord again, there was a little fanaticism in his eyes.

However, considering that the summer in Hangzhou is too hot.

If I add some clothes to my lord, does it seem out of place? In a few months, when the weather gets cooler, a full costume, including a crown, will be required whenever the lord sneezes.

Don’t get cold by chance!

Hangzhou City.

A huge gap appeared in the northern section of Qingbo Gate, nearly 10 feet wide.

The power of the giant cannon is so terrifying, just 2 cannons are like a series of heavy hammers smashing through all obstacles.

Li Yu waved to Zheng Hean.

He couldn't wait to stand on a gun carriage and drew out his command sword:
"First Battalion, follow me."

"I fought hard for the title of wife and son, for the glory and wealth."

500 Huaixi men responded in unison, holding their guns and rushing towards the gap crazily.

Li Yu nodded with satisfaction:

"Military morale is available."

……

The green soldiers defending this section of the city wall resisted for a while and then collapsed.

Fu Biao, who happened to arrive here, was stunned. He finally dispersed the defeated troops and faced the first battalion whose morale was in a feverish state.

The firearms on both sides spewed out white smoke.

In the third round of shooting, Fubiao couldn't stand the intensive volleys of flintlock rifles from the first battalion and collapsed completely, running like a wolf.

Zheng Hean laughed, but did not forget his tactical mission:
"Brothers from the first battalion, follow the military flag and fight to Pinghaimen."

At this time, Miao Youlin was also eager to try, and knelt down on one knee to ask for instructions:
"Lord, can we attack the city?"

Li Yu smiled and nodded, bent down and whispered:

"I'm optimistic about you, go ahead."

"I obey my orders."

The third and fourth battalions followed Miao Youlin and also entered Hangzhou City.

Li Yu opened his telescope, observed the Golden Gate all over the city, and then ordered:

"The mobile cannon will destroy the whole city today."

Hundreds of mules and horses and hundreds of soldiers joined the cannon-pushing sequence, and the labor chants were earth-shattering.

……

"Futai, Qingbo Gate is broken! Thieves have entered the city!"

Wang Danwang picked up the red tassel hat from the case and put it on his forehead, strode out without saying a word.

Goshiha had already prepared his war horse and immediately helped him mount.

"I swear that I will not surrender until I die, so I will go and fight the traitors."

Then he walked out of the governor's office in a flash, leaving behind a group of dumbfounded officials and clerks.

After just being stunned for a while, everyone came to their senses and dispersed.

Some threw away their official robes and wanted to become ordinary people.

Some rushed into the inner hall, looted some valuables, and then ran away.

Others probably thought of the ancient saying that "good birds choose trees to roost in" and frantically collected important documents and albums, preparing to show their sincerity in joining the ranks.

The whole city of Hangzhou was trembling.

Half an hour later, Li Yu received reports one after another:
"Manchengdong has been blocked."

"The whole city is south, complete the blockade."

"The entire city has also been blocked in the north."

[Except for the west wall of the entire city of Hangzhou, which faces outward alone, the other three walls are all within the main city of Hangzhou. 】

……

Li Yu sneered and said:
"If I were Ruiming, I would risk everything and lead everyone out of the west gate at this moment. If I try hard, I might die with a narrow escape. If I defend the whole city, I will die with no chance of survival."

"My lord is wise."

A group of people laughed and complimented each other.

During this southern expedition, Li Yu brought more than twenty unrelated people with him.

There are grassroots officers, logistics clerks, small leaders of the Cao Gang who are responsible for arranging transportation, officers of the heavy supply camp who participated in the Jiangning Campaign, and small leaders of the mining area~
They all have one thing in common: they are literate and reserved.

"When Hangzhou is defeated, you all will make a separate battle plan for me. Take Shaoxing Prefecture as an example. The plan must be detailed."

"As ordered."

Li Yu did not continue to remind them. There are many factors that need to be paid attention to when traveling in the army:
Weather, season, troop size, service types, routes, road conditions, ration consumption rate and transportation supplies, gunpowder consumption, medicinal materials, enemy characteristics, and redundancy, etc.

After the recent war, he realized the urgent need for an experienced staff team that understood the actual situation.

Otherwise, the territory will continue to grow, the army will continue to increase, and the command hierarchy will become more and more bloated, which will expose more and more problems.

I don’t want to imitate Zhuge Liang and do everything by himself.

What's more, a person's energy is limited and it is impossible to cover everything.

If he could gradually develop a qualified staff team, he would be free.

on.

……

The cannon was in position again.

Thank God it hasn't rained recently.

Thanks to the road along the West Lake, it is wide, flat and has a solid roadbed.

The Eight Banners soldiers who rushed to Kinmen had long discovered this big guy, and mobilized all the artillery they could move to bombard him wildly.

The artillerymen of the Li Jiajun prepared a dozen heavy carriages in advance and installed iron plates to block the sides and front of the giant cannon in the shape of a peacock screen to provide maximum defense.

At the same time, 20 12-pound guns were fired at close range to suppress the Qing army's firepower.

As a result,
Unless the Qing artillery can directly hit the cannon with a parabola, it will be impossible to destroy it by bouncing with solid bullets.

The artillery battalion commander's face turned red, his right hand that had been hanging in the air reached down and shouted:

"fire."

(End of this chapter)