Chapter 563: The Divine Machine Battalion Mastering Black Technology
The cast copper and cast iron cannons exploded, and the fragments flew away. Fortunately, there was a low wall to protect them, so no casualties were caused.
After inspection, obvious cracks can be seen at the joints of the wrought iron barrels that have not exploded.
The Falcon Cannon was a complete failure, and Liu Xiang's heavy artillery design was wrong.
"The barrel is still thin." He muttered in distress. However, that kind of clumsy artillery with a several-pound barrel that could only fire a few pounds of projectiles was not what he wanted.
In the stage of technology accumulation, failure was inevitable. He could only advise himself that it was impossible to give up heavy artillery. It seemed that he could only try the technology of forging and then drilling gun barrels.
"Deploy fifty forging craftsmen from the iron smelting workshop and thirty water hammer craftsmen from the armor workshop to build the Shuishui channel by the river in Taiyi Palace and install water hammers.
According to the shape of the Falcon Cannon, forge a steel column with a head end diameter of nine inches, a tail end diameter of 12 inches, and a length of one foot, and then drill a hole in the center with a diameter of three inches and a length of nine and a half feet."
Liu Xiang's request made the engineer instantly grimace. It was not impossible to drill a hole in steel, but drilling a nine-and-a-half-foot-deep hole in a one-foot-long steel column was too difficult.
"Your Majesty, this..." The engineer didn't dare to disobey the order, but he also didn't dare to agree. He froze for a moment, not knowing what to say without being punished.
"I know it is difficult, but you are the best craftsmen in Han Dynasty. I believe that this matter will not be difficult for you." Liu Xiang first praised him as an encouragement, and then came up with an idea:
"You can make a large pliers to fix the steel column, and then make a drill bit with a diameter of three inches and a length of nine and a half feet. Just find the right angle, and then use the slide rail to stabilize the drill bit. Wouldn't this problem be solved?"
As for how to make the fixed table, how to find the angle, and how to make the slide rails, that is the craftsman's business. He will only provide ideas. Don't rely on him for the specific operations.
Over the years, the craftsmen who will serve as supervisors have come here in this way, and haven't they made many technological breakthroughs? He believes that this time will be no exception.
Thinking of the manpower consumption of drilling, he came up with another idea: "The waterwheel can drive the main shaft of the water hammer to rotate, and naturally it can also drive the drill bit to rotate. You can make a fixed casing on the outside of the drill bit, which will save labor and save money."
Is it stable?"
The emperor had already spoken to this point. Regardless of whether the idea was good or not, the engineer felt that if he dared to refuse, he would be in trouble, so he could only bite the bullet and made a guarantee: "Please rest assured, Your Majesty, I will do my best.
Make a qualified gun barrel."
This attitude made Liu Xiang very satisfied, and he said Wen Yan: "Okay, just to have this momentum, don't worry, even if something goes wrong, I will not punish you. If you can succeed, you will be rewarded heavily. Military titles, gold,
Field, whatever you want, I will give you!"
After motivating the engineer who was excited and worried at the same time, he turned to Zhao Jing and said:
"I will order the supervisor to allocate 20 carpenters who are making cars to design a gun carriage for the mother-and-child cannon. It must not only be lightweight, but also be able to withstand the recoil when the cannon is fired. The adjustment brackets for horizontal firing and upward firing must also be installed.
In the car, you are responsible for supervising this matter.
Also, ask the carpenter to make a wooden support for the cannonball that can fit tightly with the barrel. You can check it during the test firing. This will not only facilitate loading, but also increase the range."
The difficulty of building a gun carriage will not be too great. The vehicle manufacturing technology of the Han Dynasty is not low. There is no way to make a gun mount with wheels for a hundred-pound cannon. There are ready-made technologies for adjusting the brackets for firing range and vehicle-mounted bed crossbows.
Just take it and use it.
As for making a wooden support for the artillery projectile, it was to increase the air tightness of the gun bore and increase the range. He did not explain the principle. It was too complicated and could not be explained clearly in a sentence or two. It was enough to know how to use it.
Looking at the craftsmen who were cleaning up the mess and about to take the three useless cannons back to the furnace, Liu Xiang sighed. It was almost evening and the sun was westward. It was time for him to return to the city. The most powerful and longest-range Falcon cannon
Declaring failure made him feel a little disheartened.
Cui Yi advised: "Your Majesty, you have become two kinds of artillery that can produce thunder. In the future, if our army has this magical weapon to help us, it will definitely break the enemy's guts and destroy everything. Don't worry."
Xun Yu and the others also tried to persuade them. Today they were shocked to the point where their heads were buzzing, but they were in high spirits. They had solved the problem of the emperor's obsession with alchemy.
I felt sad, and saw the future weapons that were about to shock the world. I felt excited, and I felt that the emperor was a little too demanding.
It's a lucky thing that two of them can be made. The big man can be satisfied with such a sharp weapon.
"Don't force anything. Your Majesty, please don't be impatient."
"To the extreme, to the extreme, this thing takes over the creation of heaven and earth. It has not yet completed its full work and it has not yet been born. Your Majesty, just wait patiently."
Liu Xiang was amused in his heart. It was obvious that his metallurgical technology was not up to standard and his cannon-casting skills were insufficient. When they said that it was like a treasure in a myth being born, his understanding ability was almost perfect.
He waved his hand: "I have a sense of discretion, don't worry, let's go back to the city."
They did not gallop back to Chang'an. The heat of the early autumn evening had subsided. The few of them were free to rein in their horses and enjoy the scenery of the Shanglin Garden hunting ground. The guards accompanying them were not nervous either.
From Chang'an to Taiyi Palace, they are all within the scope of Shanglin Garden, which is the boundary of the royal hunting ground. With the Yulin Army patrolling, safety issues can still be guaranteed.
"The entire Qingchao Battalion was wiped out, and one battalion of the 12th Regiment of the Forbidden Army was missing. It has not been rebuilt yet. I intend to change the Qingchao Battalion into the Shenji Battalion to practice new firearms and control the Taiyi Palace. But the road to firearms has just begun.
I don’t know how many years it will take before it can be used in actual combat. How should this divine machine camp be built? Do you have any good ideas?”
Although Liu Xiang has no intention of equipping artillery on a large scale, the research and development of thermal weapons cannot be done behind closed doors. The weapons will eventually be put on the battlefield. Without actual combat testing, the advantages and disadvantages cannot be seen, and it is not known whether they can adapt to the current era.
An army is needed to test the actual combat effectiveness on the battlefield, and then it can be gradually improved.
However, the artillery has not yet been completely finalized, the production workshop has not been built, and the gunpowder has only been prepared in small quantities. It is not known how long it will take for the combat effectiveness to be established. And what is the tactics of the new weapon? Can it cooperate with other troops? All are unknown.
It is very possible that the Japanese army will be frightened half to death when they open here, or the cavalry horses will be frightened and their own formation will be destroyed. This is very likely to happen.
So, how to build the Shenji Camp, how many people to recruit, what kind of people to recruit, and who will be the leader?
It's a problem.
For the Han Dynasty, this is a unit that masters black technology, which is extremely important for the development of new weapons. Not only must they learn how to use firearms, but they must also be brave and good at fighting.
After all, weapons have to be used by people. No matter how good the weapons are, brought to the battlefield by a group of cowards, they may not be able to defeat primitive people.
The most important thing is that the Shenji Battalion is also responsible for keeping secrets. From the officers to the soldiers, everyone must be trustworthy.
Open recruitment of soldiers is not suitable for this army.