Wentang

Chapter 471
Which came first, muzzle-loading or breech-loading?Many people think that the front-loading gun appeared first, and the breech-loading gun did not appear until the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries.

In fact, this is wrong.

Front-loaded guns and breech-loaded guns appeared at about the same time. For a long time, breech-loaded guns were used in Europe, but later they were changed to front-loaded guns.

Someone has to ask, why?

The reason is very simple. The sealing technology is not good enough for the breech gun to leak air. In order to reduce energy waste, the tail has to be cast into one body and the breech gun is used.

It was not until a man named Armstrong invented the screw breech block that this problem was solved, and the breech gun gradually became the mainstream.

But even so, the front-loading gun has not been eliminated, but it is decided according to the actual situation whether to use the front or the breech.

For example, the barrel of a mortar is relatively short, and it is more convenient to use the front bore technology.Cannons with relatively long barrels such as cannons and howitzers use breech-loading guns that are more convenient to load.

Of course, breech-loaded guns still have advanced features. For example, it is easier to draw rifling. For the same type of cannon, the range, power, and accuracy of breech-loaded guns exceed that of front-loaded guns.

Yue Shan is a traveler. Although he is not an expert in military affairs, he has seen the development history of artillery and has a certain understanding of this thing.

He directly took out the most mature breech-loading gun - the Armstrong gun.

Why is he so familiar with this kind of artillery? It is also a national tragedy to say the least - the first time this kind of artillery was used in actual combat on a large scale was when the British and French allied forces invaded the Qing Dynasty.

The Anglo-French allied forces captured the Dagu Fort in Tianjin, which used an old-fashioned front-loading smoothbore gun, and Seng Gelinqin's [-] Mongolian Eight Banners cavalry were defeated by the Armstrong field artillery of the Anglo-French allied forces at Bali Bridge.

In stark contrast, only five British and French soldiers were killed and 47 wounded in this battle.

When Yue Shan saw the data of this period of history, he only had resentment and sadness in his heart, so he remembered the name Armstrong Cannon.Later, when I searched for this name on the Internet, I learned about the development history of artillery by the way.

He hated the invaders but not this cannon, not to mention that now that he is a traverser, he can use this cannon to benefit Yanhuang civilization hundreds of years in advance.

Therefore, the Armstrong cannon was produced in one step.

Now the name of this cannon is Shenwei——Yue Shan changed the name when he wrote the science book, but I don’t know if Li Shimin agrees.

However, the Armstrong gun also has its own shortcomings, that is, the quality of the breech block and the weight of the lock.

The thrust generated by the moment the gunpowder exploded could easily shatter the breech block.The size and weight of the lock bolt is directly proportional to the artillery itself. The larger the artillery bolt, the heavier it is. It takes one or two strong men to operate a bolt that weighs tens of kilograms.

Therefore, in the original history, it took another 20 years to improve the technology of breech-loading guns to replace front-loading guns.

However, it is not a problem for Yueshan. First, the steel produced in the blast furnace can meet this requirement, and second, the breech block can be designed as a replaceable part, which can be replaced directly if it breaks.

The weight of the lock bolt is not intolerable. After all, the largest cannon that Datang can manufacture now is three to four tons, and more cannons are about one ton. The weight of the lock bolt looks like thirty to fifty catties. Two people can do it.

As for the future... future problems will naturally be solved by specialized talents, so don't underestimate the wisdom of the ancients.

Closer to home, the monarchs and ministers of the Tang Dynasty had never seen artillery before, let alone what was called a front-loaded gun or a breech-loaded gun.When I saw the gunner opening the barrel from the tail to fill the ammunition, I thought that the cannon was like this.

In fact, what they don't know is that if there is no traverser like Yueshan, just a screw breech breech can trouble human beings for hundreds of years.

Just thinking about it, the gunners over there have finished loading and fired again.

With the sound of "boom, boom", thirty large iron balls hit the city wall, and brick fragments were seen flying everywhere.

With the buffer just now, most of the people have recovered. Although they are still trembling from the sound of the cannon, they have been able to restrain their fear and carefully observe the situation of the shelling.

Li Shimin intended to show force to deter everyone and did not order to stop the shelling, but let the cannon fire round after round.

The shelling lasted for half an hour before stopping, but it had to be stopped because the gun barrel was too hot, otherwise Li Shimin would have been playing for several hours.

But even so, it was enough to deter everyone—the city wall that was built one-to-one was directly flattened.

Think about what would happen to the defender if it was a siege.

"Congratulations to the sage. Congratulations to the sage. After getting this sharp weapon, I will have no worries in the Tang Dynasty." Gao Shilian was the first to stand up and congratulate.

Others also reacted and said one after another: Congratulations to the saint, congratulations to the saint, from now on I don't have to worry about being invaded by foreign enemies.

"Haha..." Li Shimin laughed loudly: "It's over, everyone's words are over. Artifacts are dead and need to be controlled by people. The long-term stability of my Tang Dynasty depends not on mere external objects, but on you, my monarch and my ministers." Work together."

"The sage's words are very kind, and I am sincerely convinced." Yuwen Shiji bowed deeply and shouted.

"Sages are holy." Many civil servants saluted with joy on their faces.

Only the generals remained indifferent.

People are the most important thing in governing a country. Only people can have a future. Weapons alone are useless.They were really afraid that with the cannon Li Shimin would become self-willed, and they were very happy to see him sober.

Although the generals also understood this truth, but the emperor had already revealed that the civil and military affairs should be separated and a separate Privy Council should be set up, and it was hard for them to say much about admonishing the civil servants.

Yue Shan hid in the crowd and quietly observed everyone's reactions. Fortunately, the important officials of the central government seemed to be happier after waking up from the shock.

He focused on observing representatives of the semi-separatist forces such as Feng Zhidai and the Turkic and Goguryeo envoys.

Feng Zhidai and the others had gloomy expressions, mixed with a bit of rejoicing, probably worried about how their family would behave in the future, and at the same time rejoicing that they surrendered early, otherwise they would only perish in front of the cannon.

The Turks are Datang's greatest enemy at the moment, and they are naturally terrified to see Datang have such a sharp weapon.

Although the relationship between Goguryeo and Datang is relatively harmonious at the moment, both sides know that there will be a war in the future.How will Goguryeo face these terrifying cannons by that time?

A performance show that showed off its muscles and shocked the world came to an end, and everyone left with their own thoughts.Not long after, a messenger set off from Chang'an and rushed to all parts of the world.

At this time, Yue Shan followed Li Shimin into the palace, and asked a doubt: "If such a magic weapon is suddenly used when confronting the enemy, the effect will be better if it is caught off guard. Why did the saint expose it in advance by performing such a performance?" ?”

(End of this chapter)