"Is this a cannon?" Liu Ziguang became even more suspicious when he saw this big copper thing covered with pipes and instruments. It was more like a tea stove.
"Exactly." Zhong Shouyong waved his hand, and several artillerymen ran over, "Show the general a trick and shoot farther."
Under Liu Ziguang's surprised eyes, several artillery soldiers took out a barrel of oil from the carriage and poured it into the combustion chamber under the small boiler. They lit a match and started burning. Two soldiers yanked the bellows on both sides, and one soldier picked up the oil.
An iron ball walked to one end of the gun barrel, stuffed the iron ball into the gun barrel, then turned the crank, raised the muzzle, and the iron ball fell along the gun barrel to the back, where the small boiler and the gun barrel were connected.
"What are you doing? Making tea?" Liu Ziguang was a little confused. Could it be another steam cannon? How long would it take to boil the water?
"It's not making tea, the stove is empty and there is no water at all." Zhong Shouyong explained.
"What's the use of dry cooking without adding water?"
"General, be patient, the water is coming."
A soldier brought a bucket of water and poured it into the funnel above the boiler. Then he continued to light the fire, shoveling carbon into the stove and pouring oil. Every once in a while, he checked the thermometer and pressure gauge on the stove.
.
"The stove uses fine coke and strong fire oil, and coupled with the bellows, it can burn to four to five hundred degrees very quickly." Zhong Shouyong explained to Liu Ziguang.
"Oh, it's very fast. By the time you finish burning, the enemies on the other side will have slept and finished their breakfast." Liu Ziguang was very disappointed. It turned out to be a thermal cannon. It's efficient enough to be used as a city defense weapon, but it's not suitable for field battles.
What a delay.
As time passed, several soldiers finally stopped lighting the fire and ran to the side to hide. One of the soldiers pulled a rope connected to the water tank above the boiler.
The cannon roared, and the iron ball roared out with a stream of steam at a speed invisible to the naked eye, straight into the sky, and flew to an unknown place. Several soldiers ran up again, loading the shells, pouring water, lighting the fire, and blowing the bellows.
After a while, the second cannonball was fired again in Liu Ziguang's surprised eyes.
"Oh my God, this little boiler is so powerful." Liu Ziguang finally recovered from the shock, put his horse under his belly, came to the cannon, and asked the soldiers, "Do you know the principle of firing this cannon?"
"Sir, please take a look." A soldier picked up a water ladle and scooped up some water and sprinkled it on the hot copper furnace wall. The water suddenly turned into white smoke. "Let's heat up the boiler first. When it gets too hot, we can hide."
I pulled the cannon rope aside, opened a valve that only went in and out, and poured cold water into the stove. The stove was so hot that it turned red. When the cold water went in, it immediately turned into steam. The volume of steam is much greater than the volume of water.
What should I do if so much steam has no place to go? The only way is to pass through this place." He pointed to the barrel, "release it quickly, and the powerful force will push the shell out. After this shot is fired, the temperature of the furnace
It hasn’t dropped much, so you can still burn it for a while and fire the second shell.”
The artilleryman's words were clear and logical, and Liu Ziguang also understood a little bit. It turned out to be the principle of using water to suddenly turn into steam. It was interesting. It was still advisable as a mobile siege weapon, but the preparation time was still too long.
"Very good. You know a lot. What's your name?" This artilleryman is very promising. It's not easy for a big-headed soldier to know so much.
"Back to the general, the young soldier's name is Zhao Zhangcheng. He is from Henan. He used to be a crossbow soldier in the Zheng Army, and now he is the squad leader of the car company." The soldier who received the praise knelt down on one knee and spoke in a pure Henan accent.
"He's a fellow countryman of your company commander. Come here, reward him with a tael of silver, and promote him to a platoon leader." Liu Ziguang patted Zhao Zhangcheng's shoulder affectionately with his riding crop.
"Thank you, General!" Zhao Zhangcheng was overjoyed. He was promoted to platoon commander after firing two shots. This was a huge advantage.
"Come on, let's go and see how far the cannonballs hit?" Liu Ziguang excitedly slapped his horse and galloped in the direction of the cannonballs. The company commanders hurriedly followed closely.
The horse galloped and ran for three miles before he found a big tree that had been knocked down by a cannonball. The thick tree had white stubble exposed and was broken in the middle. The iron ball and cannonball were lying quietly on the ground. Liu Ziguang
He dismounted and picked up the cannonball. The iron ball was still a little hot, so he quickly threw it to Zhong Shouyong, "Old Zhong, now you are strong. This cannon is very powerful. Go back and find some iron nails, iron eggs or something, and stuff it into the barrel of the cannon."
Try the cannon, it might be a useful weapon against the cavalry."
"There are broken iron and slag everywhere. I'll call someone when I turn around..." Zhong Shouyong suddenly stopped talking, threw the shell aside, took out his sword and whispered: "There is a situation." As if to verify what he said,
The birds resting in the forest were frightened and flew away.
Everyone put their hands on the handles of the swords. Zha Muhe also took off his short bow. Liu Ziguang pricked up his ears and listened and said: "There seem to be a few people running in the woods, probably hunting."
Everyone expressed their disdain for the general's idiotic statement. There is no spring hunting. Not only has the prey used up the fat over the winter to become thin and small, but it is also the animal's estrus period, killing all the animals that can reproduce.
There will be nothing to hunt in the future. Not only do ordinary hunters restrict hunting in spring, but even the emperor does not hunt in spring. He has to wait until the autumn weather is clear to carry out autumn hunting.
"The person running in front is not an animal, but a human being, and he has never practiced martial arts." Zhong Shouyong listened attentively to the sounds getting closer and closer in the woods, and made a judgment. He used to be a hunter, and his tracks were very clear.
There is a way. "Maybe the robbers are chasing the passing merchants."
"Let's go and save people. If you dare to rob someone on my territory, you don't take our brothers seriously." Liu Ziguang said angrily, riding his horse into the woods. Several company commanders followed closely.
A middle-aged man dressed as a scholar was running in front of him, with one hand protecting the scarf on his head and the other hand holding up the hem of his gown. He looked back from time to time. His whole body was covered with spring mud, and he looked like he had fallen.
After many times, I looked behind me and saw four well-dressed men wearing bamboo hats following me slowly. The steel knives in their hands glowed palely in the sunlight that filtered through the dense leaves into the forest.
The middle-aged scribe ran into Liu Ziguang head-on. When he saw the young man on horseback, he was well-dressed and had a long knife on his waist. He was followed by four ferocious-looking and fully-armed men. He thought he had encountered a robber, so he fell to the ground in fright.
Seeing that the pursuers were approaching, I didn’t care much anymore. No matter what, these people in front always wore Ming Dynasty clothes. “Your Majesty, help me, they are Qing dogs and Tatars!”
"What? Qing Gou! You hide in the back." Liu Ziguang went up to meet the men in bamboo hats, "Stop, what hats are you wearing on a sunny day? Take them off and let me see."
The four people stopped, did not answer, and quickly occupied a favorable position. Although they were four people on foot versus five people on horseback, they did not show weakness at all in terms of momentum. Four pairs of expressionless eyes under the bamboo hats looked in front of them.
The knights seemed to be looking at a group of dead people.
Zhamuhe squinted his eyes and slowly took out four arrows from his fish suit and put them on the bowstring. Anthony and Duncan also took out their spring-loaded guns. Zhong Shouyong had already held the waist knife in his hands, and the four of them were ready.
.Only Liu Ziguang had some free time. He looked at the four men in bamboo hats with disdain and threatened:
"If you don't want to take off the hat, I will help you take it off, but you have to take it off with your head."
The four of them still didn't move, and the steel knife in their hands didn't move at all either. A gust of wind blew up in the clearing in the forest for no reason, and it was extremely silent for a while. Even the sweet birdsong could not be heard. The middle-aged scribe who had escaped earlier was frightened.
Trembling, he hid next to Zhong Shouyong's horse. If Zhong Shouyong hadn't stretched out his hand to help him, he might not have been able to stand.
The four men in bamboo hats suddenly took action, and their movements were as fast as lightning. Four rays of silver light flew out of their hands first, and then they swooped up and slashed with their swords. There was no ambiguity here, four feather arrows shot out from Zhamuhe's hands,
Twelve steel nails were also shot from the hands of Anthony and Duncan.
All the darts of the haters were shot at Liu Ziguang alone. These four people had a tacit understanding and understood the principle of catching the thief first. They did not fight against each other, but like a pack of wolves, they concentrated their efforts to kill the leader of the enemy first.
Then deal with the rest.
They were very discerning and saw that Liu Ziguang was the leader and the strongest one, but they still made a mistake, that is, Liu Ziguang's strength was much higher than their visual inspection!
No one saw how Liu Ziguang's Baihong Sword was unsheathed. They only heard the sound of gold and iron, four steel darts flew away, and then a head with a hat on it flew into the sky, while his body continued to move forward.
After taking two steps, their concentrated attack not only failed to gain any advantage, but actually resulted in the loss of one person.
The haters were very good at dodge and maneuver. The arrows fired by the three company commanders all pierced the ground with steel spikes. Seeing that they missed a hit, Anthony and Duncan jumped on their horses and grabbed them with their swords. Zhan Muhe continued
The three people who were fighting with Liu Ziguang were surrounded in an instant. It was difficult enough to deal with one Liu Ziguang, and they also had to deal with two tall black and white warriors. Coupled with the accurate and powerful bow and arrow sneak attack, they were somewhat supportive.
Unable to hold on any longer, he retreated while fighting. Another one was shot down by Zhan Muhe without paying attention. Anthony rushed forward and stabbed him, and another head with a bamboo hat flew high into the air. The bamboo hat and the head separated in mid-air, revealing
The long braid hidden in the bamboo hat.
Sure enough, they were from the Qing Dynasty. They were highly skilled in martial arts and well-trained. They went deep into the vicinity of the iron factory to pursue and kill him. There must be some ulterior conspiracy.
"Stay alive!" Liu Ziguang shouted, and the steel knives of Anthony and Duncan stopped on the neck of the last bucket man in time. The bucket man who almost lost his head was not afraid, and looked at Liu Ziguang who dismounted and walked over and sneered.
No, this kid smiled so sinisterly, he couldn't be hiding some suicidal poison between his teeth. Liu Ziguang hurriedly slapped him over and knocked off the hat man's lower jaw, leaving his mouth open and unable to speak.
"It's so hard for you to take off your hat. No wonder our general slaps you with his big mouth." Anthony said as he took off the man's hat and picked up his braid on the knife to admire it.
"I really don't understand why you Qing people wear such ugly braids? It's like dragging a pig's tail." Anthony said harshly.
The man glared at Anthony with a sinister look, looking like a hero who could not be killed or insulted. Liu Ziguang turned his face and saw that there was no hidden poison in his mouth, and then closed his mouth.
mandible.
"Tell me, why do you want to kill him? If you satisfy me, I can consider letting you go," Liu Ziguang said.
The man snorted and didn't answer.
"Heroes, they are the detective horses of the Qing Dynasty. They came here specifically to spy on the military situation. If I find out, they will kill me and silence me." The middle-aged scribe who had escaped earlier came over and complained. Now he no longer trembled, and his fingers
The Qing army spies looked very proud.
"What else do you have to say?" Liu Ziguang asked, picking up the Qing spy's chin with his dagger.
"Huh, now that the matter has come to this, I have nothing to say, but I just want to die quickly." He is still a diehard.
"Who are you? How did you find out that they were Qing army spies?" Liu Ziguang asked after circling the middle-aged scribe twice.
"I was born as a scholar and taught in a private school in Weishan County. I discovered the mysterious whereabouts of the four of them on the road..."
"That's enough! In my opinion, you are not a private school teacher, and he is not an ordinary Qing army spy. You two, I don't know if I am right?" Liu Ziguang looked at the two of them and said lightly.