1850 American Gold Tycoon

Chapter 638 Rocket

"Our gunpowder is of better quality than the British Congreve rocket, and it is much more powerful. For rockets with the same charge, our rocket is definitely more powerful." Sartre held up a 32-pound light rocket with both hands and introduced it to Liang Yao.

"In addition, according to your requirements, we have also adjusted the center of gravity of the rocket and installed a new tail fin at the tail of the rocket to make the rocket's flight posture more stable.

The finished rockets of different weights you see now are the best solutions we adopted after countless tests.

Our rockets are better than the British Congreve rockets in terms of range and accuracy.

Take the 32-pound rocket in my hand as an example. The maximum range of the Congreve rocket of the same weight is between 3.5 kilometers and 4.5 kilometers. The maximum range of our improved rocket can exceed 6 kilometers, and the accuracy is slightly better than the Congreve rocket."

Liang Yao carefully looked at the 32-pound rocket in Sartre's hand. The length of the rocket body is about 1 meter, the diameter is about 10 centimeters, and a blasting warhead is screwed on the front end of the rocket. The warhead can be unscrewed counterclockwise according to the thread and replaced with an incendiary warhead of the same specification. The rear end of the rocket is equipped with a 4.8-meter-long balance rod with a tail fin.

The overall manufacturing process of the rocket is relatively sophisticated, at least better than the Congreve rocket used by the British army that Liang Yao has seen.

𝟔𝟗𝐬𝐡𝐮𝐱.𝐧𝐞𝐭】

"It is also more expensive than the British Congreve rocket, right?" Liang Yao said.

"You get what you pay for." Sartre smiled.

"Words are not enough. Let's see if it's a mule or a horse." Liang Yao couldn't wait to see the actual firing effect of these homemade rockets to evaluate the actual combat performance of the rockets, and then consider whether to set up a special rocket unit.

Sartre also understood that although Liang Yao had many strange ideas, he always attached great importance to the actual combat effect of weapons rather than paper data. He praised the rockets made by the Sacramento Arsenal, but it would be better to just pull these rockets to the shooting range for a test launch.

Sartre, who had already prepared, took Liang Yao to the test launch site. Three carts shaped like organ pipes were pushed out. These carts were launch frames for light rockets under 32 pounds.

The workers at the arsenal were nervous and skilled in the final inspection to ensure that everything was foolproof. The launch device was carefully debugged, and Sartre took Liang Yao back to the safe area.

The entire site before the test launch seemed very quiet, and only the rustling sound of the wind could be heard echoing in the ears.

"Launch!"

Sartre gave an order, and everyone's eyes were focused on the tall rocket. With a sharp whistle from the ignition of the rocket, hot flames spewed out from the bottom of the rocket, thick smoke billowed up, and the rocket rushed into the sky like an arrow from a string.

The rocket rose rapidly in the air, drawing a graceful arc, and the tail flame dragged a long white smoke in the air. Everyone held their breath, followed the rocket's gradually receding figure, and paid attention to the rocket's landing point.

As most of the rockets landed in the designated area, splashing smoke and dust, the workers in charge of the test firing could not help but cheer excitedly.

Only Liang Yao was not satisfied with the result of the rocket test firing. Such accuracy could only hit a large number of infantry in line formations and some fixed large fortresses, and could not achieve a more accurate strike.

Liang Yao also knew that this was the limit of the technology of this era, and Sartre did not exaggerate. The rocket improved by the Sacramento Arsenal was indeed more accurate than the Congreve rocket Liang Yao saw near Baliqiao, and the spread was smaller.

The smoke slowly dissipated, and the test firing range returned to calm, but the smell of burning gunpowder still remained in the air. Next to the rocket launcher, the ground was burned by the flames, leaving charred marks.

"How is it? Our rockets are better than the British ones, right?" Sartre rubbed his eyes that were irritated by the smoke and said with a cough.

"Not bad, but the accuracy is still a little bit off." Liang Yao said, "Pull out the 300-pound heavy rocket and fire a few rounds, so I can hear it."

"Okay, but wait a minute. There is no special launch vehicle for the 300-pound heavy rocket, so we can only build a launch pad on site." Sutter nodded and explained to the arsenal workers beside him.

The workers began to prepare for the launch of the heavy rocket. Soon, the skilled workers carefully installed a 300-pound heavy rocket on a special launch pad.

The cast iron shell of the rocket arrow flashed coldly in the sun, revealing a cold and gloomy metallic luster.

"Launch!"

After everything was ready, Sutter gave the order to launch.

With a deafening roar, a hot red and yellow flame spurted out from the bottom of the rocket, and thick smoke quickly spread on the ground, and the launch pad was almost broken apart by the shock.

A few seconds later, the rocket fell heavily back to the ground, exploding a huge fireball, and hot flames and thick smoke soared into the sky. The shock wave of the explosion swept around with the force of thunder. Flames and thick smoke instantly covered the area of ​​dozens of meters around. A wave of heat rushed over, and metal fragments flew everywhere.

The power of heavy rockets is beyond the reach of light rockets. During this test launch, Liang Yao even felt a slight tremor on the ground under his feet.

"It's so exciting, so exciting." Liang Yao clapped his hands and said happily.

Although the accuracy of rockets in this era cannot be compared with that of cannons, the effect of rockets on the morale of enemy troops is stronger. The artillery of this era cannot move freely on the battlefield with a 300-pound cannon, but a 300-pound rocket can.

"How many rockets do you plan to buy?" Sartre looked at Liang Yao with anticipation.

"Let's form a rocket battalion first to see the effect." Liang Yao said with his hands behind his back, "The focus should still be on artillery construction. How are the new recruits of the two reserve artillery regiments in Sacramento being trained?"

Sartre has been responsible for training the militia in the Sacramento area. Unlike other areas, the militia trained in the Sacramento area includes artillery in addition to infantry. The artillery training ground of the California Military Academy is also set up in Sacramento.

"The new recruits of the reserve artillery regiment are all young people who have received basic education. They learn things quickly. The only thing they lack is practical experience." Sutter said, "It's just practical experience, I can't teach them."

——————

The Battle of Fort Sumter gradually made the situation in the northern political arena clear, and the John Brown Uprising that occurred last year once again made the front pages of major newspapers.

After this incident, the North formed a call from top to bottom to suppress the Southern rebellion by force and save the Union.

This voice has become the political correctness of the North, and the last voice in the northern political arena to resolve differences through peaceful dialogue has been completely suppressed.

No northern politician dared to make a suggestion for peaceful negotiations and dialogue with the South in the face of such overwhelming public opinion.