Great Song Pirate

Chapter 366 Assault Test Cannon
Seeing the busy work of the ladies, Xu Yi certainly couldn't be idle. After taking a short rest, he ordered Jia Qian to inform the commanders of the various places that they would gather in Jilongzhai during the Spring Festival this year, and asked them to gather together before the Spring Festival. After rushing to Jilongzhai, everyone had a good time here, and Jia Qian immediately sent the news according to his instructions.

Then Xu Yi took a group of personal guards, pulled up the bronze cannons that had been cast in advance, and stationed them in the mountain that he had designated as the artillery testing ground, and started the long-term test firing work.

Last time they just tested a few shots to confirm the usability of the artillery they made, but they have not really fully grasped the specific performance of the current bronze artillery. Let's do some work to verify the various performances of their copper cannons.

At the beginning, they still used the first artillery as the basis. In the past, they tried at most a catty and a half of gunpowder loading, and they didn't know what the limit charge of this artillery could bear, so they put such The copper cannon was used as a test product, and the amount of gunpowder was continuously increased to conduct destructive firing tests.

As a result, when the gunpowder increased to two catties and six taels, the artillery finally couldn't bear the chamber pressure, the tail of the gun cracked, and the muzzle was also exploded. At this point, it was concluded that their current artillery equipment The amount of powder must not exceed two catties, otherwise there is a danger of exploding the chamber, but this kind of power is already quite good. When the powder is charged two catties, the projectile pushed by the copper cannon can hit six or seven miles away. At present, the distance is already jaw-dropping, and when the shells are fired suddenly, when the shells fall into the enemy formation, the shocking power alone is enough to disintegrate the opponent's combat effectiveness, and Xu Yi also knows that, This kind of range can actually be improved a lot. Now they use a relatively low shooting angle because of the gun body and gun mount. If the muzzle is adjusted higher, the range may be improved, but for now they don’t care about this. The problem, this range is enough to meet their requirements.

After blowing up this meritorious cannon, they began to experiment with the second same cannon. What Xu Yi had to do this time was to find out a complete set of rules for operating the cannon through the actual operation of people like himself. In the future, if there is no detailed operation specification for the training specifications formulated before a large number of artillery is equipped, God knows what troubles will arise when it is used. This is very important.

So a group of people immediately converted into gunners and began to explore the experience of gun operation, starting from artillery positioning, how to aim, how to load gunpowder, how to load shells, how to ignite and fire, how to wipe the barrel, and how to reset the artillery. During the experiment, I also checked the heating problem of the cannon by the way, so as not to cause the gunpowder to ignite spontaneously when the temperature of the cannon is too high when the fight is in full swing, which would be a big trouble!
This kind of experiment is boring and tedious, but no one has any complaints. The group of guards followed Xu Yi around the artillery and kept trying to fire it. After they tried firing one or two hundred cannons, they scrapped the second gun again. Cannons, but the result is that they have already figured out the specific performance of this cannon, and everyone is basically regarded as a decent artillery, and the various movements are skillful and smooth. In minutes, it only takes one minute to load and fire once. In total, the speed of artillery loading has been increased several times. It can be seen how much credit they have contributed to this test!

At the same time, through this test of artillery, Xu Yi and the others also mastered the law of aiming. From the beginning, the shells were basically not accurate. Later, they were able to concentrate the shells on a small area, and the accuracy was also improved. It also added a lot of experience and laid a good foundation for Xu Yi to continue to improve the artillery's aiming in the next step.

In this round of test guns, Xu Yi also directed everyone to test the power of firing shotguns loaded with artillery. After they loaded the gunpowder for the first time, they directly poured those small iron pellets into the barrel of the gun, and found that the shotguns After the launch, it took a long walk, and it looked quite powerful at a close distance. The range of these iron pellets is very limited, and they can only be fired within less than a mile. After checking the thick wooden targets, it was found that the bullets were not powerful enough. question.

After pondering for a long time, Xu Yi suddenly remembered the problem of holding the air. After the shotgun was loaded, the inside of the gun bore was not sealed. The problem of too little power appeared recently. After figuring out this problem, Xu Yi immediately improved it. After loading gunpowder, he first loaded a large bullet in the barrel, let the large bullet play the role of holding the breath, and then added shotgun, so that As soon as the power of the shotgun has increased a lot, the range has also increased a lot.

After the shotgun was fired, Xu Yi took everyone to check the thick wooden targets erected in the open space in front of him. He saw that many iron pellets actually pierced through the inch-thick wooden planks. If this kind of power is used against people, no one can To escape under this kind of shotgun rain, even wearing heavy armor could not stop such a powerful bombardment, Li Bo and the others all slammed their mouths.

"My God! If we put a hundred cannons here side by side, no matter how many cavalry the opponent has charged over, we only need to fire one row of cannons, and I'm afraid the opponent's people will be killed by us! "A personal guard stood in the wooden target group, looking around at the terrifying lethality produced by the shotgun shooting, and said to Xu Yi imagining that horrible scene with lingering fear.

Xu Yi smiled and said: "Then it depends on the thickness and number of the opponent's formation. If the opponent's number is large enough, the thickness of the formation is also large enough. I'm afraid it will be difficult to deal with the opponent with a row of artillery. If the opponent is strong enough, he can If we can withstand the first round of bombardment and accelerate towards us, we only have time to fire one more cannon, so that our opponent can rush into our formation, and then I am afraid it will be difficult! The cavalry rushes into the artillery Among them, it can be said to be a unilateral massacre!"

"I don't think this will be a problem. Since we have time to place so many guns, I think we must have time to build a line of defense, and we can equip the artillery with some spearmen to prevent the remaining cavalry from rushing into us. In the formation, in this way, we will not be in any danger!" After all, Li Bo was born in the army, so he quickly realized and put forward his opinion.

Xu Yi nodded and said: "That's right, this is a way. We can use our artillery vehicles to form a ring formation as a line of defense, and cooperate with spearmen or even crossbowmen to prevent the opponent's cavalry from rushing into our artillery formation. , the opponent should have nothing to do with us!"

"It's a pity that our cannon is too heavy, and this kind of four-wheeled vehicle is too inconvenient to pull. Otherwise, we can sweep the world with this sharp weapon!" Li Bo continued.

"This is a problem, but don't worry, we won't pull this kind of four-wheeled artillery cart on land. At most, this kind of four-wheeled artillery cart is used on our ships and allocated to our future infantry. The cannons we use now will not use this kind of four-wheeled artillery cart, but a lighter two-wheeled artillery cart with a hoe at the back. In that case, the artillery cart will be much more convenient to move than this four-wheeled artillery cart , we can solve this problem!" Xu Yi said confidently, this kind of two-wheeled artillery vehicle has long been in his mind, and he has already told Tang Youcheng about the structure of this two-wheeled artillery vehicle, and it is estimated that it will be built It won't be a problem.

After they scrapped the second bronze cannon, Xu Yi checked the cannon. The cannon did not explode like the first one. The violent friction inside caused the barrel to deform, and the shooting range was greatly reduced. Moreover, the bronze with this ratio is obviously a little bit harder, and cracks began to appear on the gun body. If you continue to shoot, it may kill you. up!Xu Yi asked everyone to stop firing the cannon, pulled the cannon back to the furnace for remanufacturing, and considered whether the copper-tin ratio needed to be adjusted again.

Because no one has done this kind of thing before, they scrapped two cannons in a few days, and accumulated a lot of experience in using cannons in the fastest time. These experiences will be very precious first-hand information in the future , It is very important for the development of the Fubo Army's combat power in the future, so Xu Yi is not a pity at all, not to mention the advantage of copper cannons is that they can be remade after being scrapped and returned to the furnace, so there is no waste of materials.

In the past few days, all of them have been disgraced, but no one is bored, they are still playing with gunpowder, shells and other things with great interest, let alone those who can fire hundreds of cannons like them in the world Not in the past, even in later generations, few people will have this kind of opportunity. If you miss this village, there will be no such shop in the future. After a few days, he has become a veteran, and he can operate the artillery in an orderly manner.

During the operation, they found that after the artillery was fired, sometimes there would be sparks left in the barrel, so they had to be very careful when wiping, and the inside must be wiped clean, otherwise it might cause an explosion when reloading, and they could be poured in if necessary A little water, and then wipe the gun to ensure that no sparks remain in the gun bore.

Then Xu Yi discovered that although the cannonballs cast by Qin Huzi are very regular, but considering that the cannonballs must be filled into the gun bore, they must not be larger than the gun bore, otherwise they will not be able to fill the gun bore, so the cannonballs cast are smaller than the gun bore. As soon as those shells were put into the muzzle, the round shells would roll in by themselves. Such a result would inevitably cause gas leakage when the gunpowder exploded, affecting the range and power of the shells. So Xu Yi asked his guards to get oilcloth and put The shells were wrapped, then filled into the barrel, and pushed into the barrel with a push rod. This played a good sealing effect, and the range and power of the shells were improved. This is what he accidentally saw on a website before. The information I got is really good to use.

Also, after experimenting, they found that the direct firing range of their current artillery is actually only about one mile. That is to say, direct shooting with this kind of artillery can be more accurate within one mile at most. After more than one mile, it basically depends on estimation. If such a direct shooting distance is used in naval battles and bombarded on swaying ships, after more than one mile, the artillery's hit rate will become very low. No wonder it used to be When watching a movie, there will be scenes of wooden battleships facing each other side by side. It turns out that it is because they are too far away to hit each other. After figuring out this problem, it will be easier for them to deal with their opponents when they fight at sea in the future. With first-hand data, it is most appropriate to know when to choose to fire.

When they dragged over the third bronze cannon with its mount installed, Xu Yi no longer blindly misplaced it this time. He turned his attention to the problem of increasing the rate of fire. Generally speaking, loading one cannon in one minute is the limit. This operation is too troublesome and is not conducive to the display of combat capabilities. So Xu Yi sent someone to get some linen, sewed it into a small bag, and then put the weighed gunpowder into a small bag. Put it in the bag, stuff the bag directly into the barrel of the gun, then use the push rod to push it firmly, and find an awl, pierce the bag at the fire door, pour in the primer or install the fuse, and set off, so that The loading of the artillery has been simplified a lot again. For each loading, you only need to fill the prepared medicine pack into the barrel and punch it firmly. In this way, when a skilled hand reloads quickly, it can reach about two rounds per minute, and the rate of fire once again The increase was doubled, and then Xu Yi simply found some goose quills, which were filled with gunpowder and used as the fuses of the artillery. The reversed priming speed was a little faster. So far, they have increased the rate of fire of this kind of artillery to an extreme. If they want to improve it, even Xu Yi himself can't think of any other way.

Just like this, Xu Yi led a group of people to shoot cannons in the valley every day, which caused constant roars in the sky, and birds and beasts fled one after another. It was impossible for no one to know such a big movement, but because Xu Yi was in When entering the mountain to test the cannon, sentry posts have been set up, and no one is allowed to enter the valley without authorization, so people can only hear the thunder-like roar coming from inside, but they don't know what is inside. Something was ringing, and the ignorant immigrants began to discuss in private, wanting to discuss what happened, but the more they discussed, the more they couldn't figure out what the constant roaring sound in the valley was. The more they discussed, The more weird things felt, the more rumors spread in Jilong Village...

(End of this chapter)