The new Zuoying artillery was tested in the battle against the White Lotus Sect.
The effect was very good and received unanimous praise from the entire army.
In fact, the original Zuoying cannon was basically a perfect work except for the occasional problem where the cartridge bounced out of the barrel.
This time, a buckle is added so that the cartridge will not bounce out anyway, and safety is guaranteed.
After returning from the front line, the use of weapons must also be reported to the equipment department.
"Although the emergence of the buckle has solved the problem of cartridge bouncing, it is obvious that if you want the artillery to achieve the best use effect, a fully closed breech gun is the right choice."
Zuo Menggeng solemnly reminded that he was afraid that the weapons developers of the New Army would rest on their laurels.
In that case, sooner or later, the new army's weapon advantage will no longer exist.
He didn't say it, but Bi Maokang, Tu Yixian and others also knew this.
In fact, because the treatment here is very good and the rewards are generous, the craftsmen are very motivated and are very willing to carry out technical transformation.
"Take a seat, we have already trial-produced one heavy cannon and are preparing for selective testing. You are back just in time, please give us some advice."
Tu Yixian is now a lieutenant colonel, a senior officer in the new army.
For a craftsman to actually become an officer, everyone was uncomfortable with it at first and felt that it was against the rules. But then they thought that Wang Xiuqin, a clothes maker, was already a major, and their gun maker became a lieutenant colonel, so why not?
Moreover, the fact that craftsmen can also serve as officials gave all the craftsmen a huge encouragement and made them work even harder on honing their skills.
Zuo Mengeng was particularly happy when he heard that the heavy artillery had been manufactured.
The trip to Gyeonggi made everyone in the New Army realize that Zuoying artillery still had great limitations.
Although the range of the Zuoying Cannon is not inferior to that of the Red Coat Cannon, it is still worse. Often just because of the difference, there is nothing you can do to face the enemy's artillery.
The huge casualties of the Fourth Battalion and the sacrifice of Kuri Xiangzhu were all caused by this reason.
The best way is to have your own heavy artillery.
The new army will definitely carry out siege warfare in the future, even if they don't have weapons to break the city.
The heavy artillery developed by Bi Maokang and others is still made of all-steel cold forging.
Now everyone has reached an agreement that steel must be used to cast the cannon.
The cannon cast in this way is much lighter than the wrought iron cannon.
For example, such a heavy steel gun only weighs more than 800 kilograms.
The barrel length is 4.1 meters and the caliber is 125mm. It is made of double-layer all-steel casting. With the power of black powder, there is no need to worry about the problem of the barrel exploding.
This heavy gun is a front-loading smoothbore gun.
There is nothing that can be done about it. If heavy artillery wants to exert its power, it can only use front-loading charges in this era.
The front-loading charge must be smoothbore. If it has rifling, how can the shell and gunpowder be loaded in?
The weight of the entire artillery is only due to load-bearing considerations, and the gun frame and wheels are also made of steel.
The wooden gun carriage and wheels were completely unable to withstand the fire of such heavy artillery.
Like Zuoying Cannon, because it is made of steel, the top and bottom of the heavy cannon exudes a silvery white light, which is shocking and heartbreaking in the sunlight.
Bi Maokang stroked his work and felt very accomplished.
"We have produced two types of artillery shells, one is a solid shell for siege and destruction, and the other is an explosive shell for range damage."
The craftsmen brought up both types of cannonballs for everyone to see clearly.
The solid bullet is not the iron ball used in traditional artillery, but is made into a long cylinder with a rounded and smooth arc at the front end.
"We have calculated that compared to solid spherical bullets, cannonballs of this shape fly farther and are more accurate. The use of curved warheads is also to prevent the cannonballs from burying themselves in the soil after landing and preventing them from rolling."
Compared with solid bullets, the warhead of explosive bullets is very sharp, and there is even a thin iron needle at the front end.
"Qianza, you see, this iron needle is actually a firing pin, and we have installed a flash cap underneath. After the cannonball is launched, the impact of the warhead will cause the firing pin to detonate the flash cap, thereby igniting the gunpowder in the warhead, causing an explosion.
harm."
This invention made Zuo Mengeng particularly happy.
Because this is equivalent to the development of a collision fuze.
Not only the heavy artillery can be used, but also the Zuoying artillery can be used later.
Zuo Mengeng looked at Zuo Dai.
"Can your gunpowder factory guarantee the supply of flash caps?"
Zuo Dai is full of confidence.
"Currently, the number of workers in our gunpowder factory has increased to 5,000. Moreover, the technical proficiency has been greatly improved, and we can produce 8,000 flash caps every day."
This output is already remarkable given the purely manual production method.
Zuo Mengeng was relieved but did not forget to remind him.
"While ensuring production, don't forget about research and development. If you can realize the industrial production of flash caps, I will not hesitate to reward you."
Zuo Dai expressed his understanding and would implement it in the factory after returning.
The artillery was pulled to the firing range.
Unlike Zuoying artillery, which can be propelled by two people, heavy artillery must use mules and horses, and it must be two horses. If it is in rugged terrain, it may even require three horses.
The generals of the New Army were troubled by this request, but Zuo Mengeng thought it was too normal.
Guys, have you ever seen a super-large heavy artillery piece pulled by sixteen horses?
As the size of the artillery increased, so did the number of operators.
A Zuoying cannon only requires six men, but a heavy cannon requires ten men.
Apart from anything else, a cannonball weighs dozens of kilograms and is simply not something that one person can hold.
It seems that Bi Maokang and others put a lot of thought into research and development.
They made a tool for lifting artillery shells, somewhat similar to a net bag.
Two people put the cannonball in and then sent it to the muzzle. After aligning it, they pulled out the baffle at the bottom, and the cannonball could slide smoothly into the barrel.
In addition, in order to ensure that the cannonball reaches the bottom of the barrel smoothly and is compacted, the push rod is also specially made, and the head is a bit like a shovel.
In this way, the shell can be sent to the bottom of the gun barrel without worrying about hitting the firing pin and detonating the shell.
The first shot was fired to test the range.
The soldiers raised the muzzle to an elevation of forty-five degrees and then ignited it.
The roar of the heavy artillery was much more violent than that of the Zuoying artillery, and the ground could be felt trembling within a hundred meters. The rising smoke completely annihilated the surroundings of the cannon, and nothing could be seen.
What Zuo Menggeng and others were watching was only the flight path of the cannonballs.
The solid bullet does not have any obvious rotation, but the flight condition is relatively stable, and there is no mysterious movement of the Brownian bullet.
The shell flew to a very far distance, hit the ground, and then rolled irregularly, leaving a mess within tens of meters in front of the impact point.
The staff immediately followed and began to measure the range. Another group of staff began to cool down the artillery and prepare for the next launch.
Soon, the datagram came back.
Tu Yi was as excited as if he was about to enter the bridal chamber.
"Shenzuo, 3,700 meters, a full 3,700 meters!"
Zuo Mengeng silently calculated in his mind, 3.7 kilometers. This range is really exaggerated for black powder artillery.
After all, even a 10,000-kilogram red cannon can only travel 2.3 kilometers away.
In the future, if we encounter each other on the battlefield, we can bully our opponents at will.
The results of the first round of testing were good, making everyone happy and ready to prepare for the second round of testing.
This round of shooting is still a solid bullet, testing the destructive ability.
Bi Maokang and others built several sections of city walls, imitating the capital, Linqing and ordinary cities respectively.
In the first wave of tests, the Linqing City Wall was chosen.
The city wall of Linqing City is considered average in the world. It is not as good as the capital, Nanjing, Jinan and other fortified cities, but it is much stronger than ordinary cities.
Using a Linqing-level city wall as a test is actually to set a standard for heavy artillery. In the future, when attacking a city, the generals can know it well.
Amidst the roar of cannons, the city walls were filled with dust and smoke.
After everyone dispersed, everyone walked forward and found that a large section of the originally good city wall had collapsed. In other words, with two or three more cannons, this section of the city wall would definitely collapse.
"Nine out of ten city walls in the world can stop our heavy artillery."
The craftsmen and generals were all excited and fell in love with the new artillery even more.
Later, they tested the city wall at the level of the capital city, and found that after more than ten rounds were fired at one location, only part of it was broken.
This result is really frustrating.
"In such a fortified city, in addition to attacking the heart, we can only use explosive bombs to sweep away the defenders at the top of the city, and then attack by force."
Historically, it is true that places like the capital have never been attacked by force. Basically, the situation is over, people's hearts are lost, and the city surrenders without a fight.
Anyway, with the current artillery technology, it is really impossible to break it.
Even so, the performance of the heavy artillery was very satisfactory to everyone.
Everyone present unanimously expressed their opinion and agreed that the heavy artillery would be commissioned into the army.
Zuo Mengeng also gave Bi Maokang and others a suggestion.
"Go find Mr. Deng Yuhan and ask him to help cast a section of the bastion, and then test the power of the heavy artillery."
Zuo Mengeng's vision has not always been limited to China.
If we compete with the world's great powers on the sea in the future, breaking the fortress must also be considered.