That morning, the four messengers left Gaizhou on ice.
Binglin slides very fast, much faster than riding a horse. As long as there are no ice holes on the road and the ice falls into the sea, you can cross the North Sea to Dengzhou and Dagukou in the same day.
At noon that day, Yan Yingyuan from Dagukou and Wang Jiayan from Dengzhou both received urgent deliveries.
After Wang Jiayan received the urgent delivery, he ordered Hu Xinshui to rush it to Nanjing 800 miles away.
Two days later, the travel-worn courier entered Nanjing through the Taiping Gate. As a result, Chongzhen was not in the city, nor at the Qingliangshan Gewu Science and Technology Workshop. Instead, he took Zhu Cixiang to the arsenal.
Chongzhen was very busy. After completing the steam engine, he started to develop mountain guns.
Before receiving the report, Chongzhen was explaining the 3-inch cannon he envisioned to Zhan Yangzhi and Bu Jialao.
Bu JiaLao has become smarter now and no longer wants to be arrogant based on his skills. He has become a diligent chief engineer.
Therefore, human nature is actually the same. Without true ability, you will not get the true respect of others, and you will not be truly convincing.
But if you have real skills, you will definitely gain respect.
For example, Bu Jialao, now treats Chongzhen as one of your servants. He is even worse than Qu Shawei. He looks like he wants to kneel down and lick Chongzhen's toes.
Seeing this, Zhan Yangzhi was filled with emotion,
When it comes to flattering, you have to be a Frenchman.
"Anyway, this is the 3-inch mountain gun I envisioned,"
"After being disassembled, the weight of each component must not exceed 200 kilograms."
"As long as it weighs no more than 200 kilograms, not only can it be easily carried by pack horses, but it can even be carried by artillerymen when the situation is critical. In this way, the mobility of this mountain gun can be greatly improved."
"Then even in the high mountains of Sichuan, Guizhou and Yunnan provinces, you can accompany the infantry in marching."
After saying this, Chongzhen said again: "These are the only things I ask for. Can you do it?"
"It can be done!" before Zhan Yangzhi could say anything, Bu Jia Lao rushed to say, "Your Majesty the Emperor, no matter what request you make, your servant Bu Jia Lao will definitely find a way to do it for you.
"
"Okay." Chongzhen nodded happily, "With your words, I feel relieved."
Zhan Yangzhi shook his head and said: "Your Majesty, if this cannot be done, it really cannot be done."
Chongzhen looked over, and Zhan Yangzhi continued to explain: "Let's not talk about the wheels, frame, gun mount and adjustment mechanism of this 3-inch mountain gun. The weight of the barrel alone is far more than 200 kilograms."
"Based on the weight of a 4-inch gun, the minimum outer diameter of a 3-inch gun is at least 5 inches, and the barrel length is about 8 feet. So the weight of the barrel alone must be at least 500 kilograms, so it cannot be 200 pounds no matter what.
catty."
In the past two years or so, Zhan Yangzhi has spent most of his time in the arsenal. Now he can be regarded as an expert on weapons in the Ming Dynasty.
Chongzhen frowned slightly when he heard this.
Because he knew that Zhan Yangzhi was not lying.
Even based on the minimum outer diameter of 5 inches, the gun barrel weighs 500 pounds.
But in fact, cannons are all spindle-shaped, and the outer diameter of the bottom of the chamber is not only 5 inches, nor more than 6 inches, so the weight of the gun body is definitely more than 500 kilograms, or even 600 kilograms.
After pondering for a moment, Chongzhen said again: "Then reduce the caliber of this gun to 2.5 inches."
The 2.5-inch caliber is also 80 mm caliber, which is similar to the 75 mountain gun of later generations.
Zhan Yangzhi still shook his head after hearing this: "Even if the caliber of this cannon is reduced to two and a half inches, the gun body will still weigh nearly 400 kilograms, which is still half the 200 kilograms required by the Holy One. What can I do?"
At this time, Bugarao retorted: "By reducing the wall thickness of the gun barrel, at least another 100 kilograms can be reduced."
"Impossible." Zhan Yangzhi objected flatly, "With a caliber of two and a half inches, the minimum outer diameter of the barrel must be four and a half inches. If it is smaller, it will not be able to withstand the pressure of the chamber and explode."
"You can use stiffeners to strengthen the body tube."
Bu Jialao said: "This way I can lose at least another 100 kilograms."
"Strengthen the tendons." Zhan Yangzhi frowned. This is really possible.
"Yes, strengthen the ribs." Bugarao crossed himself and said, "I promise in the name of God that the chamber will not explode."
Zhan Yangzhi shook his head and said: "But even so, the cannon body still weighs 300 kilograms, which is still 100 kilograms away from the 200 kilograms required by the Holy One. What can we do?"
This time Bu JiaLao did not say anything.
300 pounds is really the limit of weight loss.
"If it's 300 pounds, just 300 pounds." Chongzhen could only accept the reality.
"But the weight of the gun mount must be controlled within 200 kilograms, and the wheel assembly cannot exceed 200 kilograms, so that the overall weight will not exceed 700 kilograms."
The 700-pound 2.5-inch mountain cannon is actually acceptable.
[Note: The weight of early cannons is mainly in the barrel, while the weight of modern artillery is mainly in the gun mount. Therefore, on the premise that the complexity and precision of the gun mount are low, the weight of early cannons of the same caliber is relatively much lighter]
With the 2.5-inch mountain gun, it can not only fill the firepower gap between the Tiger Crouching Cannon and the 4-inch field gun, but its range and lethality are also far greater than the Folan cannon or the Camel Swivel Cannon.
Moreover, the 300-pound cannon body can be carried by mules and horses during marches.
If you are worried that mules and horses will be too strenuous, you can also consider going with camels.
So as long as it is built, it will definitely be an excellent mountain cannon.
After a pause, Chongzhen said again: "Then you should step up the trial production."
"Accept the imperial edict." Bu Jialao received the imperial edict and left in a hurry.
Zhan Yangzhi was hesitant to speak. As Dong Weng of the Ming Dynasty Arsenal, he had many things to consider. For example, what would be the price of this 2.5-inch mountain gun after it is mass-produced?
And how to arrange the production capacity of this mountain gun?
After all, there are only so many skilled gunsmiths in the Ming Dynasty Arsenal.
The production capacity is given to 2.5-inch mountain guns, but the 4-inch field guns are less.
Chongzhen seemed to be able to guess what Zhan Yangzhi was thinking, and said: "Don't worry about the price, it will never cause the Ming Dynasty Arsenal to suffer. As for how to allocate production capacity, we will talk about it later."
This chapter is not finished yet, please click on the next page to continue reading the exciting content! "In this case, I will retire." Now Zhan Yangzhi has no problem.
After sending Zhan Yangzhi and Bu Jialao away, Chongzhen asked Zhu Cihong: "Hong'er, are there any urgent deliveries from North Korea in the past few days? How is the matter over there in Jiong'er being handled? When can the North Korean craftsmen leave?
?”
If the arsenal wants to increase its production capacity, it cannot do without blacksmiths, and North Korean blacksmiths cannot be spared.
"Father, the decree for my third brother has been sent out a long time ago. I think there should be a reply in the next few days."
As soon as Zhu Cixi finished speaking, a young eunuch hurried in and gasped: "Long live the Lord, hurry, hurry, there is an urgent delivery from Liaodong, there is an urgent delivery!"
Gao Qiqian reached out and took the express delivery.
Then he took out his dagger and cut open the fire paint.
After reading the letter, Chongzhen's face fell instantly.
"Damn it!" Chongzhen said bitterly, "I seem to have missed something."
"What happened?" Zhu Cixiang asked hurriedly, "Father, what happened in Liaodong?"
Gao Qiqian was also secretly worried, wondering if Liaodong would be defeated?
Chongzhen didn't say much, he just handed the letter in his hand to Zhu Cihong.
"Jiannu also started to build gun towers?" Zhu Cixiang was stunned after reading the letter.
"Building slaves is not just about building a gun platform." Chongzhen said solemnly, "Xian'er, do you still remember the national policy that Fan Wenzhenggong used to deal with Xixia during the reign of Emperor Renzong of the Song Dynasty?"
"I remember," Zhu Cixiang replied, "Slowly attack the building!"
"Yes, let's attack the building with a shallow attack." Chongzhen said with a frown, "I should have thought of it a long time ago. I should have thought of it a long time ago."
"Father, the situation may not be as bad as imagined. This may just be Jiannu's unintentional action. It does not mean that Jiannu's overall tactics have been reformed." Zhu Cixiang comforted him in a low voice.
Chongzhen shook his head and said, "Hong'er, do you believe this?"
Zhu Cixiang fell silent immediately, but no, even he didn't believe what he said.
Gao Qiqian was confused by what Chongzhen and his son told him. He wanted to ask but didn't dare to ask. He was so anxious that he kept scratching his cheeks.
Chongzhen sighed softly and said: "Speaking of which, I am too wishful thinking. I only thought that our Ming army could adopt the tactics of 'fortifying the stronghold and fighting stupid wars', but I forgot that it was possible for slaves to retaliate in the same way."
He will also imitate my Ming Dynasty and adopt the tactics of 'fortifying the stronghold and fighting the war', but now I am trapped in a cocoon."
To be honest, Chongzhen did not expect that the Jiannu Society would change course and adopt the "shallow attack on the building" tactic.
Because Jiannu has been attacking, attacking, and attacking again since the day Lao Nu launched his army. From Lao Nu to Huang Taiji, and then from Huang Taiji to Dorgon, the offensive never stopped.
From the beginning to the end, Jiannu kept suppressing the Ming army and fought without stopping.
But now Jiannu suddenly imitated the Song army and began to attack with shallow attacks, which caught Chongzhen off guard.
Jiannu could not learn from Zeng Guofan's "Fortify the stronghold and fight stupidly", but he could learn from Fan Zhongyan's "Shallow attack and advance the building", and the essence of these two tactics is actually the same.
What's even more troublesome is that Chongzhen also upgraded this tactic.
Zeng Guofan only built ordinary camps, and Fan Zhongyan only built regular forts, but Chongzhen upgraded ordinary camps and regular forts into bastions!
It was naturally an excellent strategy for the Ming army to adopt this strategy of forming a stronghold, fighting a dull battle, and then combining it with a fortress to deal with the slaves.
But now that Jiannu Lengbuding is also using this strategy to deal with the Ming army, it will be a big trouble. It means that the Ming army needs to sacrifice much more people, which is really a mistake.
But then again, Chongzhen had no other choice.
If he had not adopted this strategy at the beginning, he would not have been able to hold the Huanghuai defense line, and the Ming Dynasty would have perished long ago.
So, now that the matter has come to this, regret and regret will no longer help. It is better to think about how to solve this situation.
Zhu Cixi also persuaded in a low voice: "Father, building a slave may not understand the essence of 'building a strong stronghold and fighting stupid wars'. Even if you learn, you can only learn a little bit at most. It does not pose a big threat to our Ming Dynasty."
."
"Otherwise." Chongzhen waved his hand and said, "We must prepare for the worst."
Zhu Cihong didn't say much more, because Chongzhen often said that the enemy should be lenient with caution.
The estimate of the enemy should be as high as possible.
