Dong Dapao rose to the top in one step and became a real officer. At that time, he was so moved that he didn't know what to do. Mao Wenlong grabbed him and said, "Your name means that you are an old gunner. Come on, come on, show me."

As soon as Dong Dapao heard about the cannon drill, he immediately lost his restraint and humility and regained his high spirits. His half-shrunk body seemed much younger. He led Mao Wenlong to a red cannon and talked endlessly to him.

While explaining, he then asked Mao Wenlong: "How far does the commander want to hit?"

"How far can this thing hit?" Mao Wenlong asked rhetorically.

Dong Dapao patted the red cannon in front of him: "This cannon weighs 000 kilograms, and its furthest distance can reach 0 miles." Then he pointed to another one not far away: "That one is called

The general's cannon weighs 500 kilograms and can hit a distance of ten miles, while the smaller one only weighs 500 kilograms and can hit five miles."

Then he pointed at a slender cannon in the distance: "That's called the Fran cannon. It consists of two cannons, a mother and a son. It has a fast rate of fire but a short distance. It can hit a distance of three miles."

Following Dong Dapao's instructions, Mao Wenlong looked at him with a black line on his face and a face full of sweat. There were only 100 artillery pieces, from the Hongyi cannon with a maximum weight of 000 kilograms, to the Tiger Master with a minimum weight of less than 100 kilograms, and the clumsiest and ancient straight-barrel cannon.

From artillery to the advanced Franco machine cannon, there are all kinds of them. It is simply the artillery exhibition hall of this era.

Before the mid-Ming Dynasty, China's firearms technology was not ideal compared with the development of firearms in the West at the same time. After the mid-Ming Dynasty, firearms manufacturing fell behind the West. There were too many defects in Chinese artillery during this period, and the most fundamental reason was that it did not pay attention to the size of each part of the artillery.

The combination and matching of the manufactured artillery. The ratio of the barrel to the caliber of the manufactured artillery does not comply with the "modulus" theory, and the performance is poor.

The production volume of artillery in the early Ming Dynasty was considerable, and the casting technology was also very advanced. The artillery basically formed two types: slender and short and thick. However, it can be seen from historical records and inscriptions on unearthed objects that most artillery in the early Ming Dynasty and even until the Qing Dynasty were based on weight.

As a basis for measuring its performance, it is far less scientific and reasonable than taking the ratio of barrel to caliber as the main performance parameter. Although traditional Chinese medicine has the concept of "equivalent inches", Pei Xiu of the Jin Dynasty regarded "fraction" as a basis for cartography.

The first of the six methods, as well as in architectural design, the Song Dynasty implemented the "material division" system, but there was no similar concept of "module" in ancient Chinese firearms production. Cannon casting was simply arbitrary, and there was no unified specification standard at all.

When the Ming Dynasty people were casting cannons, they were even more imaginative. For example, the row of Fran cannons on the side. In the second year of Jiajing in the Ming Dynasty, the Portuguese led warships to invade Xicao Bay, Xinhui, Guangdong, and the Ming army captured them alive.

After 4 people and captured its "Flang Machine Cannon", they found that this thing was a good thing. In terms of firepower, range, hit rate and structure, it exceeded the Ming Dynasty's magic machine gun. The Ming Dynasty then actively absorbed it.

, promoted and improved this technology, and imitated the large, small, medium, horse, meteor cannon, lianzhu, Wansheng, sunrise, invincible general, copper hair tribute, Baizi and other Franco machine artillery, with many names.

It's so outrageous that it can make even the most skilled gunner dizzy.

This is absolutely not possible. When I find Sun Yuanhua in the future and have steel, I will abandon all these bulky and useless things and directly cast the Fran machine cannons with fast fire rate and heat dissipation. Unify the caliber and appearance of the cannons so that they can be mass-produced.

to train excellent artillery and strengthen the construction of firearms.

But that's all for later, now we must solve the immediate problem.

Dong Dapao asked: "Commander, how far do you want me to shoot this cannon?"

Mao Wenlong put away his unrealistic dream and stretched his neck to look outside the city. About eight miles away on the road, there was a low pine tree. Mao Wenlong pointed there and said, "Let's hit that pine tree."

Dong Dapao squinted one eye, then stretched out his thumb, compared it with his left and right eyes, then opened and closed his left and right eyes respectively, muttered in his mouth, and then reported: "The tree is eight and a half miles away from here. I am now

Just give the commander an example."

First, clean the barrel of the cannon with a mop soaked in water, then pick up a wooden spoon and scoop a spoonful of gunpowder into the barrel. Instead of pouring it into the muzzle, you pinch a little and put it in your mouth to taste, smack it.

Smack your lips, it's really delicious.

This move stunned Mao Wenlong at the time. He really didn't understand what this guy was going to do?

Dong Dapao saw Mao Wenlong's confused eyes and immediately explained: "The purity of the gunpowder made by each shift in the Ministry of Industry is very different. Although the powder charge is the same, because it is not the same shift, the shooting distance is often different, so it must be

Taste the purity of the gunpowder first."

At this time, a wretched man next to him stretched out his head and smiled flatteringly at Mao Wenlong: "Our Brother Dong's mouth is the touchstone. He can immediately tell whether good or bad gunpowder is good by just tasting it.

You can estimate how far it can hit.”

Mao Wenlong slapped his head. In this heinous era without standardization, people are speechless. If we want to train artillery well, do we have to let them all be able to test the gunpowder? It seems that in the future, our gunpowder must be standardized.

After trying the gunpowder, Dong Dapao knew what he was doing, so he picked up a wooden spoon, dug out a spoonful, smoothed the spoon with his palm, weighed it, poured the gunpowder into the muzzle, and then repeated this three times, digging in five spoonfuls.

Finally, I thought about it again, continued to murmur, took half a spoonful and poured it in. While operating, he explained to Mao Wenlong: "The amount of charge depends entirely on experience. If you put too much, it will easily explode or directly cause damage to the chamber."

When flying, there is too little pretense, but the power is not enough, and it cannot hit there. If you want to do the right thing, you will not be able to do it without three to five years of experience."

So the wretched man stuck out his head again and showed off to Mao Wenlong: "Our brother Dong's hand is a fair scale. As long as we use his hand, the weight of the gunpowder can be determined."

With such continuous movements, Mao Wenlong could no longer pat his head. Instead, he closed his eyes in pain. This was simply embarrassing. No wonder the Ming Dynasty's firearms are not powerful enough. The most fundamental reason is that there is no fixed charge.

The experience of soldiers is that due to the poor manufacturing technology of the Ministry of Industry, those firearms soldiers can only try to use the minimum charge to ensure that the firearm does not explode and to ensure their own life safety, so the firearm cannot play its due role at all.

.

Regarding the firearms of the Ming Dynasty, Mao Wenlong definitely gave the lowest evaluation. The firearms made by the Ministry of Industry of the Ming Dynasty were simply suicide weapons. They could kill five hundred enemies and lose one thousand to themselves. Therefore, in the army of the Ming Dynasty,

, soldiers would rather use a spear and a broadsword to fight the enemy, but they are absolutely unwilling to use firearms to fight the enemy, because if I use a spear and a broadsword to fight the enemy, at least if I am lucky, I can still kill the enemy.

If firearms are used to fight the enemy, the result will be direct suicide, and the unjust death will no longer be unjust. And Mao Wenlong also knows the trend of history, that is, firearms will replace the cold weapons of swords and guns and move towards cruel battlefields.

But that premise is that the manufacturing quality of firearms must definitely develop by leaps and bounds, and Mao Wenlong has always been frustrated here. He is indeed not a science and engineering talent. In fact, he is not even a qualified college student. He is allowed to make guns and cannons.

When it comes to steel training in a factory, it's just like chasing landlubbers to the shelves. You can go out and see if the sow is already in the tree.

From this point of view, the firearms soldiers of the Ming Dynasty are indeed the bravest people in the world, because only this fearless and brave suicidal spirit dares to play with this guy who is so unreliable that it is outrageous.

Now I think back to the time when my adopted son Mao Chengluan operated those elm spray guns during the gate blocking battle in Zhenjiang. He did not kill all his troops at once. God was really blessing me. Thinking about it now, Mao Wenlong has already started to get chills on his back.

, thanked all the Buddhas in the sky.

So Mao Wenlong has silently decided that as long as his finances improve, the first place to invest will be Sun Yuanhua's firearms workshop, so that he can produce truly qualified firearms for himself to equip his own army. At that time, it will be his own army.

When it comes to reinventing itself and moving towards hot weapons, I hope this time won’t be too far away.

While Mao Wenlong was thinking about it, Dong Dapao had already compacted the gunpowder, squatted on the ground, and picked through the pellets next to the cannon.

Mao Wenlong looked at the projectiles on the ground again and almost fainted. The projectiles piled up next to the cannon were made of stone, iron, big and small.

If you nervously pick one up and stuff it in during a battle, it will either get stuck, or it will be too small and not airtight, so it will be fired directly.

Dong Dapao picked one, weighed it in his hand and stuffed it into the muzzle. Then a group of brothers started to adjust the angle of the cannon. After playing with it for a while, they picked up the fire folder and lit the fire door.
Chapter completed!