Chapter 454: When the Cannon Cracks, Golden Ten Thousand Taels
As early as the Spring and Autumn Period, China had used a projectile weapon "箮" [note]. In the late Warring States period, the Qin army first attacked Zhengcheng, South Korea, using stone cannons to shoot at the city tower from a long distance, hitting the bricks and gravel, and then used pine wood cannons.
, flames soaring into the sky. By the tenth century, after gunpowder was used in the military, the teng was used to project gunpowder packets and gunpowder bombs. In the Song Dynasty, tubular jet firearms "guns" with giant bamboo as tubes appeared; later, bamboo-made
Tubular shooting firearm "burst gun". The emergence of this barrel-shaped shooting firearm was of great significance to the emergence of modern artillery.
Smoothbore artillery first appeared in the Yuan Dynasty. In the Yuan Dynasty, the oldest artillery "fire gun" had been manufactured. There were two square holes at the tail of the cannon, which could be equipped with trunnions. The Ming Dynasty had "army battles" and "arms"
"The second bureau was engaged in the manufacture of firearms. There were dozens of types of artillery produced between the Zhengde and Jiajing years alone. The "Tiger Crouching Cannon" used iron claws to limit the recoil. When shooting, the recoil was no more than five inches, and it could hold more than a hundred small lead bullets.
The "Attack Cannon" is mounted on a vehicle and fired, making it easy for mules and horses to pull it, and the iron anchor is used to limit the recoil. The "Invincible General Cannon" weighs a thousand kilograms and is mounted on a vehicle. It can hold 500 iron bars and has a striking width of more than 20
Zhang. "Poison Fire Flying Cannon" and "Flying Destruction Cannon" can launch explosive bombs. This type of artillery shell is a hollow body made of iron, filled with gunpowder and other agents, and equipped with a fuze that places the powder wire in a bamboo tube.
When loading the projectile into the barrel, first ignite the fuse, then ignite the propellant in the barrel, and the projectile explodes after reaching the target.
After gunpowder and firearms spread to the west, artillery began to develop in Europe. In the first half of the fourteenth century, Europe began to manufacture artillery that fired stone bullets. At the end of the sixteenth century, shotguns made of bullets or metal fragments packed in iron cylinders appeared.
, used to kill people and horses. Some countries began to use powder package propellant, which improved the firing speed and shooting accuracy. They also used tubes filled with gunpowder to replace the bulk gunpowder in the ignition hole, simplifying the aiming and loading process.
From the emergence of artillery to the mid-19th century, artillery was generally a smooth-bore front-loading cannon, firing solid spherical projectiles. Some artillery fired spherical explosive shells, shotshells and shrapnel. The original rifled cannon was straight-rifled, and its main purpose was for front-loading.
The projectiles are convenient. This kind of artillery fires slowly, has low shooting accuracy, and has a short range. The Italian Major Cavalli made a spiral rifled gun, which fires cone-head cylinder long explosive bombs. The spiral rifling makes the projectile rotate, fly stably, and improve
It improved the power and shooting accuracy of the artillery, and increased the range of the artillery. At the same time as the rifled gun appeared, the breech block was improved, the artillery was rear-loaded, and the firing speed was significantly increased. The adoption of the rifled gun was a major change in the structure of the artillery.
The ancient gun body was connected to the gun mount through a trunnion. The gun mount of this kind of artillery was called a rigid gun mount. The rigid gun mount received great force when the artillery was fired. The artillery was bulky and had poor maneuverability. It destroyed the aiming when firing and the firing speed was slow.
The increase in power is limited. The gun body is connected to the gun mount through the anti-recoil device. The gun mount of this kind of artillery is called an elastic gun mount. When the elastic gun mount gun is fired, the buffer of the anti-recoil device acts on the gun mount.
The force of the gun is greatly reduced, the weight of the artillery is reduced, the artillery does not shift when firing, and the firing speed is increased. The use of elastic gun mounts eases the contradiction between increasing the power of the artillery and improving mobility. The structure of the artillery tends to be perfect, and it is an artillery
Another major breakthrough in the history of development.
Because of Long Fei's acquisition of gunpowder and his research on gunpowder, the Empire's Ordnance Department, under the guidance of Long Fei, had already produced a breech-loaded smoothbore cannon with rifling and reaction devices. Like other weapons, the cannon shells were made of uniform copper.
It has a cylindrical structure with gunpowder inside, a conical warhead in front, and a built-in fuze. It is a burst bomb. Basically, it is not much different from modern artillery. It just needs to be improved in terms of manufacturing process and undefined shape.
Especially the refining of gunpowder is not pure. In order to increase the power of the artillery, Long Fei specially lengthened the barrel to fill more gunpowder, and also lengthened the barrel of the artillery to increase the initial velocity. The current barrel of the imperial artillery
It is more than two feet long, and the size of each cannon shell is more than three feet. The base is also made of iron, and the smoothbore device uses the principle of water pressure. There is a huge water tank behind each cannon.
When these cannons were placed under the city of Hulao Pass, the soldiers inside were dumbfounded. No one knew what they were. A long pipe was supported by a huge iron rod, and the huge muzzle was pointed at the city wall.
A group of soldiers wearing different clothes were busy behind the scenes taking things. A huge nest car stood aside, and the soldiers on it kept waving flags in their hands. The large underground pipe swung up and down.
"What is this?" Sima Zhao asked Sima Yi.
Sima Yi shook his head. Of course he had never seen it before. Compared with other weapons, this was not like a weapon at all. It had no sharp tip and was huge in size. It looked very bulky. If it were a siege ram or something like that, it would be enough.
There were four or five of them, and they were protected from a long distance. Besides, there were no protective measures above. Could it be that Long Fei thought that his soldiers and horses were invulnerable?
"No matter what it is? Let the brothers be careful and protect themselves, and don't let the dragon army get close to the city wall!" Sima Yi ordered while observing carefully. Back then, he had heard that Long Fei had many strange things, which scared Dong Zhuo's thunder and captured Zhu Zhu.
There was a lot of gunpowder. I wanted to get some to see what it was. Unfortunately, Long Fei was very careful and even the people around him couldn't get it easily, let alone himself.
Long Fei was far away from the artillery. He clearly understood the power of the things and knew the dangers. Although he had not gone through serious tests, with the current smelting technology, it was impossible to make high-quality things. Just these few
I still spent all my money to purchase high-quality iron ore from various places, and used the skills of people outside the Great Wall to make sabers. In the eyes of ordinary people, if they were made into weapons, each piece would be a treasure.
Ma Jun checked everything for the last time and nodded to Long Fei. A soldier wearing a school uniform said loudly: "Your Majesty, everything is ready. Please give your order!"
These soldiers are all elites who were carefully selected by Long Fei and transferred from various units. These soldiers have all attended private schools, and some of them have also studied in military advisor schools. Take this school captain as an example, his official rank is not high.
He is also considered a veteran of Long Fei's staff. He followed Long Fei all the way from Luoyang when he was a teenager. Even Dian Wei was polite to him when he met him. His family was originally rich, and the most important thing was that he could settle accounts, so Long Fei transferred him.
The captain of his own first artillery regiment.
Long Fei nodded: "Okay! Then come one by one!"
"No!" the captain turned around, grabbed the red flag behind him, and shouted loudly: "One shot, one shot, first shot, height 25, one shot, fire!"
"Boom!" The huge noise made everyone not only dizzy, but also the earth trembled. At that moment, everyone seemed to have lost consciousness, and their minds went blank. Thick smoke spurted out and dispersed in the air.
, nothing could be seen. I could only hear someone screaming and making clanging sounds. An unknown object fell in front of Long Fei. It was so dark that I did not know what it was.
Dian Wei reached out to pick it up. As soon as he touched it, he immediately retracted his hand: "Damn, it's so hot!"
Ma Jun hurriedly came over, took a look and shook his head: "It's the breech block, or the same problem, it can't be sealed, this statue needs to be remade!"
After the smoke cleared, where the first cannon was originally placed, the cannon had fallen apart, and the soldiers were either dead or injured. The soldiers from the medical team hurriedly stepped forward to treat them and carried down a dark object. Long Fei frowned.
. He knew that the sealing problem was the biggest problem, and the chamber would explode if he failed. He thought of many methods, but the research on new materials could not keep up, so he had to use this method, which combines mechanical seals and rubber ring seals.
Long Fei specially asked Wang Wei to go to Nanman and purchase a lot of rubber. However, the rough technology still could not achieve 100% sealing.
"Hahaha..." Sima Zhao laughed loudly: "This Long Fei is really dead. He makes these things, makes a loud noise, but kills his own people. This is a joke for us to see him, hahaha..."
When Sima Zhao smiled, the soldiers on Hulao Pass laughed together, and the laughter made people feel even more aggrieved. Dian Wei shouted and was about to rush over, but Long Fei gave him a fierce look, which made Dian Wei stop.
After a while, Ma Jun hurriedly checked several other cannons, and the results were similar. Whether they can be intelligent depends on God's will. The captain stopped and turned to look at Long Fei.
Long Fei didn't speak for a long time. He looked up to the sky and closed his eyes to think for a moment, then said loudly: "Continue!"
"No! Continue!" The captain turned around again: "Second artillery, height 25, one shot, fire!"
"Boom!" There was another loud sound. This time everyone was alert. A sharp whistle passed into their ears. Long Fei stood up. Not long ago, Hulao Pass not far away followed closely.
There was also a loud noise. Rubbles were rolling, and the cries and wails of the soldiers were immediately heard. The Wei army, who were still laughing wildly, felt the threat of death, and ran down one by one without looking back.
Sima Zhao had sharp eyes and threw Sima Yi to the ground. When the father and son climbed up from the ruins, they looked at the city wall and saw a huge gap not far away. The injured soldier lay on the ground and screamed.
Looking at the Dragon Army position opposite, the billowing black smoke had not cleared up. Sima and his son were dumbfounded. What kind of thing was this? It was so powerful. It was many times more powerful than his own Thunderbolt Chariot.
"Boom!" "Boom...!" There was a loud noise, followed by a piercing roar. Sima Zhao hurriedly pinned Sima Yi under him. Sima Yi was furious, pushed Sima Zhao away, and saw the city wall rising not far away.
The smoke made my feet tremble, and I hurriedly held on to the parapet. The broken stones flew everywhere, and one of them flew past Sima Yi's cheek, leaving a long blood mark on his face.
"Mighty! Mighty!" After changing the previous decline, the Dragon Army soldiers are now more confident. No matter how tall your city wall is, this thing can have a greater psychological and physical impact on the enemy than siege.
Many. Except for the first cannon that exploded, the other five were still up to par. Five cannonballs in a row made five large craters on the top of the city of Hulao Pass. The morale of the Wei army dropped to the lowest.
Note: 箮 (pronounced pao), the same as cannon. An ancient war tool that uses the principle of leverage to throw stone projectiles. Abbreviated as cannon. It is also called 杝, 云杝, flying rocks, riprap, etc. In ancient Europe, it was called a trebuchet.
Before the emergence of artillery, the teng had always been an important weapon in ancient offensive and defensive warfare.