There is a gun

The next day, two training gunners recruited by He Zhuzhu came to Sheeptan. One of them was proficient in the Crouching Tiger Cannon, and the other was proficient in the Franco Machine Cannon.

In fact, Li Ping didn't have much hope for these four cannons, because they were too small and rough, and Li Ping doubted their power.

But they are cannons after all. As long as they can be used, Li Ping feels that they will definitely hit farther than cannons and be more powerful.

It is not used for attacking fortresses, but it should still have some effect on defending the river in a static way. After all, there is nothing more effective than using artillery to bombard the crowds crossing the water.

In fact, Li Ping didn't know much about either the Crouching Tiger Cannon or the Franco Cannon. Although they frequently appeared in various historical works, Li Ping had never understood them well, let alone

studied.

Just because Li Ping felt that there were many names for various types of artillery in history. The same artillery may have different names in every dynasty, every generation, every country, and even every region, but it is nothing more than different lengths, thicknesses, materials and processes.

They are basically the same as the artillery placed on city walls for tourists to take pictures seen in most modern scenic spots, the difference is not very big, and the power and functions are also very rudimentary.

Therefore, he never got to know him well, he just took it as a name.

It wasn't until he saw the cannons that He Zhuzi had brought back that Li Ping realized that he had taken it for granted. His "historical knowledge" was so poor and ignorant. Both of these cannons were very different from the cannons in Li Ping's impression.

.

It should be said that they are all too young.

The length of the two squatting tiger cannons is about 70 centimeters, and seven iron hoops are added at approximately equal intervals throughout the body. There are no cannon lugs, and naturally there is no gun mount. It is like a large and thick iron pipe, but the pipe wall is very thin.

thick.

What's even more strange is that there are two iron claws under the gun head of this gun, which look like a machine gun stand, and there are two downward iron nails on the butt (similar to the kind that nail rails, but much shorter). The total weight

About 40 pounds.

Because they are relatively small, although these two tiger squatting guns look like little tigers when set up, they are actually more like two mortars with half the brackets shorter. However, the elevation angle of mortars generally exceeds 45 degrees, and

The elevation angle of this gun is less than 45 degrees.

The two Fran cannons are even weirder. They are longer than the Tiger Crouching Cannon and are slightly heavier. They are estimated to be about 90 centimeters long and weigh about 45 kilograms. They also have a handle-like handle on their buttocks.

It looks like a long pointed iron rod, and this iron rod alone accounts for nearly one-third of the total length.

The two Fran cannons are overall slender, with rear sights and front sights, and lugs on both sides, and are mounted on a small wooden frame through the lugs.

Because the Fran cannon is mounted by inserting a smooth iron rod connected to the lug into a round hole in the wooden frame, the artillery can be moved up and down by manipulating the long iron rod on the butt.

Rotating left and right, the muzzle's rotational flexibility is amazing.

But what's even more surprising is that this Fran cannon is actually a breech-loading cannon.

The front half or so is a standard thin cannon tube with an iron hoop, and the butt is a long iron rod less than one-third long. The other part (after the middle) is a cannon tube that suddenly becomes much thicker.

And it is completely open. This opening is somewhat similar to a rifle with the bolt pulled open and the barrel open.

Sure enough, the cannon also came with five iron cylinders with handles that looked like bullet shells.

During the exchange with the training gunners, Li Ping learned that the Tiger Crouching Cannon was actually a type of artillery invented and widely used by Qi Jiguang, mainly to facilitate the carrying of infantry troops. These two cannons were already considered to be heavier medium-sized cannons.

Of course, there are even larger ones, placed on special gun mounts, which are enough to be used to attack cities.

The two Franco cannons are small Franco cannons, as well as the large Franco cannon and the general Franco cannon (middle). This Franco machine gun was acquired from the Franco machine gun by the Jiajing Dynasty about 120 years ago.

Learned it from the Portuguese.

The biggest feature of this gun is that you can first load the sub-cannons (those five iron barrels with handles like cartridge cases) with powder and ammunition, and then directly put them into the door opening of the gun body and ignite them. After firing, you can immediately

Replace a sub-cannon and fire again.

Theoretically, as long as the sub-cannons continue to fire, the Fran cannon can fire continuously, and the firing speed is absolutely shocking.

Because of the unique characteristics of this kind of sub-mounted cannon, this cannon is also called "Sub-Mother Cannon".

At present, whether it is the Tiger Crouching Cannon or the Franco Machine Cannon (especially the small and medium-sized ones), the number of equipment in the Ming Army is very large. These two types of cannon are the most placed on the city walls of Xiangyang and Fancheng, with hundreds of

There is always a door.

After hearing the explanation, Li Ping's curiosity was completely aroused. He couldn't wait to see the live ammunition shooting demonstration. If he could survive smoothly, he might have to deal with these guns in the future.

The test firing of artillery was organized on the riverside. Because many of Li Ping's subordinates had never seen artillery, and the few who had seen it had never seen the operation and use of artillery. Therefore, the test firing attracted many officers and soldiers to stop their hands.

Come and watch the work.

Li Ping did not stop him. He believed that it was necessary for ordinary officers and soldiers to understand artillery. Whether they were bombarding people or being bombarded, it was better to be familiar with it than not.

Because people's biggest superstitions and fears always come from the unknown.

Seeing that Li Ping did not stop him, more and more officers and soldiers gathered around him.

The first thing I tried was the Tiger Crouching Cannon.

When setting up the cannon, the two short, thick iron nails pointing downward on the butt of the Tiger Crouching Cannon were inserted into the ground for fixation, and then the small rear part of the entire cannon was half-buried in the soil for further fixation.

It turns out that the iron nails were used for this purpose. No wonder there was no gun mount.

When firing solid bullets, it's okay. It's basically the normal procedure for a front-loading gun, but it can be clearly seen that the Tiger Crouching Gun shoots in a curve.

Li Ping thought that the sound was relatively normal, the crowd of officers and soldiers onlookers did not fluctuate much, the cannon was not big after all, and everyone was used to the daily live ammunition training of Li Ping's cannon unit.

But just one shot almost hit the center of the river, which still made many people exclaim in surprise. It was probably the first time for ordinary people at this time to see a weapon that could hit such a long distance.

Li Ping visually estimated that it was about 400 meters. Of course, he would not make any trouble about this range.

When loading shotgun, Li Ping became novel.

I saw the gunner first put the powder wire wrapped in cloth into the fire door, then filled six or seven taels of gunpowder, put the wooden horse in, and pushed the wooden horse to the position of the second hoop.

After the wooden horse is installed, the surface is covered with a small amount of soil, and a layer of lead and iron is placed on the soil. The lead is covered with another layer of soil and flattened, and then a layer of lead is placed.

Cover it with soil again, and repeat until it is full.

When it was time to fire, the shot was much duller, and it directly shot a large small splash on the river a hundred or ten meters away.

Most of the officers and soldiers who were watching did not exclaim this time, and most of them just made sighing sounds like "oh".

Presumably, they thought it was not as far as a bow and arrow could shoot. It was not enough to see, and they could not perceive the significance of those small water splashes.

Only Li Ping knew very well that the crowd used for the intensive charge was obviously very unhappy.

After trying a few more shots, I saw that the range basically changed little, so I started to test-fire the small Franco machine gun.

The shooting of this cannon is indeed quite novel.

Because each sub-cannon is installed in advance, just like a single-shot rifle, one shot ejects the sub-barrel, and then directly installs the next sub-barrel, eliminating the need for a large number of steps such as clearing the chamber, charging, and loading.

.

Therefore, each gun can fire five consecutive rounds in a round, and it also has live ammunition and shotgun shells, and the muzzle can be adjusted quickly.

The continuous firing formation of the Franco machine is still a bit scary, and it does open a lot of eyes.

It's just that the range of this small Franco machine gun is obviously not as good as that of the Tiger Crouching Cannon. The solid ammunition is only about 200 to 300 meters, and the shotgun is only 70 to 80 meters. Moreover, the shotgun has less ammunition and a smaller barrage.

Li Ping immediately understood that this should be the reason for poor air tightness.

Because it is obviously impossible to achieve true locking between the mother and child cannons, the technology and materials of this era simply cannot solve this problem. This is also the main reason why front-loaded artillery currently dominates.

After testing the cannon, Li Ping told Ma Yong to let the soldiers who were selected to learn the cannon learn as soon as possible. All the records must be recorded, and the practical live-fire training should be completed as soon as possible. The four cannons were also temporarily assigned to the staff.

Directly manage and direct the department.

But while chatting with the instructor gunner, Li Ping was shocked to hear some news.

The fleet that had been carrying property and women in Fancheng all day yesterday actually went downstream this morning.

Although Li Ping was secretly shocked that Zuo Liangyu had decided to run away, he could only curse in his heart. At this point, he could only take one step at a time.

In the next few days, the weather has been very good and sunny.

In addition, all the preparatory work before the war has been completed, and it is impossible to continue to organize excessive training before the war. The troops mainly focus on rest and adjustment, and everyone is very comfortable.

Li Ping found that he had nothing more to do. He just walked back and forth along the short shoal several times every day, occasionally looking at the map in a daze, and sometimes crossing the river to take a look.

In such an environment, not only did Li Ping gradually relax, but the mood of most of the officers and soldiers also relaxed. Anxiety and uneasiness were gradually replaced by joy. Some small sports activities were also organized to prevent the officers and soldiers from being too idle.

When people stay on the edge of danger for a long time, they get used to it and no longer pay more attention to it.

Currently, Li Ping's 2nd Company and 1st Company's birdgun platoons are equipped with a total of about 150 new birdguns, about 20 distributed birdguns, and several fireguns. The rest of their original issued birdguns are basically at high intensity.

It was abandoned during the training. The archery platoon of the 3rd company is still equipped with about 50 bows.

After testing the 100 newly received muskets one by one, Li Ping assigned them to the 8th company, which was the latest to be formed, because the company had only been built for more than a month and was not reassuring in close combat.

As for the three-eyed gun, Li Ping has completely given up.

For a three-eyed blunderbuss with three short blazing blunderbuss (actually cast as a whole) tied to the finished shape of the front end of a shovel handle, this thing made Li Ping feel very useless.

Because the barrel length is not as long as that of a bird gun, the range of the three-eyed gun is naturally much worse than that of a bird gun. Although it can achieve so-called rapid fire in a short period of time, reloading is also horribly slow.

Although the three-eyed gun also has a magical advantage, that is, it can be used as a long weapon by hammering it when not firing.

However, since the range is not as good as that of bows and arrows, and the melee combat is not as good as that of spears, and the so-called rapid shooting can also be done by archers, the three-eyed gun did not give Li Ping a good impression, at least it was not in line with Li Ping's army-building strategy.

Li Ping also knows that the core advantages of the three-eyed gun are simplicity, reliability, and dual-use. This is also the main reason why the three-eyed gun, including the fire gun, can coexist with the bird gun that is much more advanced than them for a long time.

However, because of Song Baolai, what Li Ping did not lack was quality control and precision craftsmanship, so the three-eyed gun naturally became useless.
To be continued...