One Piece of Song Dynasty

After the first shot was fired, Li Xin immediately ran towards the gun position, and the rest of the people followed him to the gun position.

Li Xin observed it carefully and touched it again with his hand. The cannon body was now a little hot to the touch because the temperature had increased a lot after firing.

After carefully observing it, Li Xinchang breathed a sigh of relief. This gun was indeed very good. Although it used a reduced charge, only one and a half kilograms of gunpowder was loaded, at least it could withstand the chamber pressure. The gun body as a whole had no No cracks appeared, and it successfully withstood the first test shot.

Then Li Xin led everyone to the place where the cannonball landed. When everyone came to the first impact point of the cannonball, they all gasped. A big crater appeared in front of everyone.

Zhai Jin sighed: "This is too powerful. If it hits the city wall, it won't make a big hole."

Li Xin waved his hand: "This is only useful for the walls of some small cities. It is not very useful for the walls of big cities such as Tokyo and Luoyang. Moreover, even if this cannon is used to attack cities, it is not used to blast city walls. For those who bombard the city battlements, as long as the battlements are knocked down, it will be much easier to attack the city. Of course, if you want to have such accuracy in cannon fire, you need to practice more."

Liu Fa nodded and said: "My lord is right, this cannon is not of much use against the walls of the big city. It is good for bombarding the battlements. As long as the battlements are gone, the defenders will have no protection, and attacking the city will be much easier than before. .Net"

Li Xin continued: "And in fact, the role of this cannon in defending the city is greater than that in attacking the city. Think about it if dozens of cannons are placed on the city wall, how much casualties it will cause to the siege party, and this cannon is also effective in attacking the city." There is a kind of projectile that can be fired. This kind of projectile is called shotgun. It is specially used to hit people. The projectile has a wide area and is most effective if it hits a crowd."

Zhai Jin said excitedly: "Lord, I don't know when this cannon will be equipped with our army?"

Li Xin laughed and said: "Let's try a few more shots and talk about this issue again."

Later, Li Xin led the others and fired several shots each with two cannons. The six-pounder cannon with a six-degree angle charge of three kilograms has a maximum range of one thousand meters, a horizontal range of meters, and a forty-five-degree angle upward range. Five miles, the maximum range of the -pounder gun with a six-degree angle charge of three pounds is meters, the horizontal range is meters, and the -degree angle upward range can reach six miles.

Li Xin was very satisfied with the first-hand experimental data of the two cannons, and there were no problems with the cannon bodies after many test firings of the two cannons. This showed the superiority of the iron film cast cannons, but Li Xin did not dare to go too far. After all, the artillery at this time relied on its own heat dissipation. After several consecutive test firings, the barrels of the two cannons were already very hot.

Everyone was very excited after seeing the power of the artillery, especially the infantry generals except Liu Fa. However, they did not know that Li Xin had no plans to equip the infantry with heavy artillery for the time being.

I saw Zhai Jin excitedly saying to Li Xin: "Master, can you tell us now when we will equip the artillery?"

Li Xin shook his head: "Your infantry will not be equipped with this kind of artillery for the time being."

Zhai Jin's eyes widened: "Lord, why is this?"

Li Xin pointed at Liu Fa and said, "You can ask General Liu. I think General Liu should have seen something."

Liu Fa said: "Someone would like to ask my lord, how much do these two cannons weigh?"

Li Xin smiled and replied: "The smaller one plus the cannon cart weighs kilograms, and the larger one plus the cannon cart weighs kilograms."

Liu Fa nodded and said: "That's right. The current infantry is indeed not suitable for equipping this cannon. Our infantry currently lacks mules and horses. Equipping this cannon will greatly affect the marching speed. Even if we have mules and horses, if we encounter mules and horses in the field, The enemy's cavalry, our army lacks cavalry, and if the infantry cannot repel the enemy and allows the enemy to obtain this artillery, it will only cause trouble for our army in future battles."

Li Xin clapped his hands: "General Liu is indeed a famous general. General Zhai will now know why he did not equip the infantry with this artillery."

Zhai Jin suddenly muttered like a deflated balloon: "Yes, my lord, a certain family knows about it, so why are we here today? We can't equip it when we see such a sharp weapon."

Liu Fa stroked his beard and said: "My lord asked us to come today probably because of the youngest one." As he said this, Liu Fa pointed at the Tiger Crouching Cannon.

Li Xin nodded with a smile and said: "General Liu is right. This little thing named it the Tiger Crouching Cannon. It is specially prepared for the infantry. This cannon shoots stone bullets, which are made of small and large gravel." It is composed of a cannon with a range of one mile. Although it is not as powerful as a cannon, it is enough to kill people and livestock. Let me fire a cannon and you can see."

After that, Li Xin loaded a stone bullet with the Tiger Crouching Cannon and fired one round. After the smoke cleared, Li Xin led everyone to the impact point of the stone bullet to observe. Although the stone bullet was less powerful, it affected a wide area and scattered stones near the impact point. There are everywhere, and it is most suitable for killing and injuring the enemy's vitality.

Li Xin said: "General Liu, how about this thing? Although it is less powerful, it affects a wide area. Enemies within a radius of five feet can be effectively killed by the stone bullets. Moreover, the total weight of this cannon is less than forty kilograms. It can be used by one person." It can be carried and walked without affecting the marching speed. Although it cannot be used to siege cities, it is most suitable for field battles, especially in areas with complex terrain. Stone bullets can be made from local materials. As long as you bring enough gunpowder, there is no need to worry. The shells will be fired."

Liu Fa nodded and said: "This Tiger Crouching Cannon is indeed good. Not only can it shoot far, it is also light. It is the best weapon to enhance the combat effectiveness of the infantry."

Li Xin instructed: "This Tiger Crouching Cannon requires seven taels of gunpowder for each firing. It must be prepared in advance. Before firing, a three- to four-inch hole must be dug at the gun position, and the tail of the cannon must be pressed against the hole. Then raise the muzzle to the predetermined height, and then install a two-claw nail in the front and a double-claw tip trip in the rear to fix the artillery to the ground. This way, you don't have to worry about the artillery bouncing up and injuring people when it is fired, but even so, the gunpowder is ignited. Afterwards, you must retreat five inches away from the artillery. The artillery cannot fire multiple times in a row. After firing four or five shots, you must stop and wait for the gun body to cool down slowly before firing. Otherwise, if you fire too many times, the gun body will overheat and there is a risk of bursting. ."

Liu Fa nodded: "Yes, lord, a certain family knows."

Li Xin continued: "I will first equip your infantry with ten Crouching Tiger Cannons. You can first think carefully about how to use the Crouching Tiger Cannons in combat and how to use the Crouching Tiger Cannons with other weapons. When the number of troops increases in the future, I will give you ten Crouching Tiger Cannons." I will equip you with more squatting tiger cannons. You can select some people from the army to form an artillery team. In a few days, you can select a few people to learn how to fire cannons from a certain person. After they have learned how, you can go back to the army to teach others how. Use the Crouching Tiger Cannon."

Liu Fa cupped his fists and said, "Yes, Lord, a certain family has an order."