However, even a simplified version of the wooden handle grenade requires a modern chemical industry as a basis for raw materials. Therefore, despite the simple manufacturing process, the personnel of the weapons design team did not put it into production plans, but waited until the chemical industry began to take shape.
It was only after acids and bases were put into production that they began to be included in the agenda.
Making grenades requires a variety of different chemicals.
Black powder is used as the explosive, mercury fulminate is used as the detonator initiating agent, potassium chlorate is used as the explosive, and red phosphorus is used as the friction agent.
Black gunpowder and fulminant were the first to be solved by the chemical industry department. Red phosphorus was quickly solved after obtaining the supply of struvite from Dongsha Island - the matches produced by the Ministry of Light Industry were solved on the basis of red phosphorus.
.
The final solution is potassium chlorate.
Potassium chlorate itself can be used as an explosive after being mixed with organic matter. It was widely used during the Great Leap Forward. However, this explosive is extremely unstable and easy to burn. It has limited military uses. If the Ministry of Chemical Industry wants to put this kind of thing into production, in addition to solving the problem of hand grenades
In addition to explosives, it also has uses as civilian explosives.
The production of potassium chlorate is not difficult, provided there is sufficient power supply and chemicals that can remove other ions in the crystallization mother liquor, it can be produced in batches. It is similar to the production of caustic soda from electrolytic salt, in that it is produced using electrolytic salt solution. Only
However, the electrolytic solution used for potassium chlorate is an acidic solution. It needs to be mixed with hydrochloric acid and red vitriol in advance. The mother liquor after electrolysis also needs to be mixed with soda ash, caustic soda, hydrochloric acid and other chemicals to neutralize and eliminate various impurities in it before crystallizing potassium chlorate.
Because potassium chlorate itself is a sensitive chemical, Ji Tuisi, who is in charge of the project, and others set up the workshop in an open space with no surroundings. No wooden structure is used inside the factory - potassium chlorate can easily react with wood and other organic matter and burn itself.
Compared with the electrolytic salt production of caustic soda, the current factories and equipment have improved a lot, and there is no longer much of an "earthy" smell. Special equipment manufactured by various mechanical departments has gradually replaced the make-shift substitutes.
The annual production scale of the potassium chlorate workshop designed and built according to the ready-made drawings is 175 tons. After completion, it will not only meet the needs of the military industry, but also some civilian uses. Although the current production capacity of Chuanchuan Group has expanded the potassium chlorate production capacity to 300 tons, or even
Five hundred tons is not a problem, but Ji Tuisi and Xu Yingjie both feel that this is not necessary. In terms of explosives, their next step is to move towards more powerful picric acid and tnt. Things like potassium chlorate are better used as explosives.
With the availability of potassium chlorate, military factories can manufacture ignition tubes in batches. With ignition tubes, soldiers no longer need to wrap a match rope around their bodies when using grenades and explosive bags, and artillerymen no longer need to hold up ignition poles to fight.
Originally, the Army had a lot of complaints about the equipment of the grenadiers, because whether they were carrying rough grenades or slowly burning match ropes, they made people feel a great sense of insecurity - in fact,
There are also many training accidents for grenadiers, so that even the most daring soldiers cannot become grenadiers.
The Lingao version of the fire tube uses a locally produced thin bamboo tube, which is cut into a certain size and a section is knotted. The bamboo tube is drilled at the remaining knots and then dried. The fire wire and flash cap are then installed inside. The flash cap is made of hard paper.
, load the explosive powder, and apply friction powder on the firing line. In addition to potassium chlorate, the explosive powder must also be mixed with other materials according to the proportion. Lin Shenhe selected ** and glass powder. Both of these things can now be manufactured by the Cross-Travel Group.
As for friction medicine, it is made from red phosphorus mixed with a certain proportion of phosphorus and glass powder.
Install a fire handle on the top of the fire wire and the entire fire tube is completed. The first batch of fifty fire tubes were tested one by one. None of them failed, and all of them ignited the fuse.
"There won't be many problems with this thing. It just depends on the quality of the fuse. If it burns suddenly fast and sometimes slowly, it won't work." Panda said, "In the past, the fuse of grenades was exposed outside when blasting.
, you can tell if it burns quickly or slowly. Now it’s hidden in the wooden handle and can’t be seen at all.”
"The quality problem of the fuse has been solved long ago." Xu Yingjie said, "Don't you feel anything when you are blasting?"
Panda chuckled: "To be honest, your fuse still has problems with quality control. It's not perfect."
Jiang Ye is responsible for the manufacture of grenades. In order to simplify the process and save steel, the grenade body uses a cast iron shell. Prefabricated fragments are cast on the shell. Each shell can hold about ** grams of black powder. It can also be loaded with other explosives, leaving
Room for upgrades.
This black powder charge can only be regarded as a "small offensive grenade" in modern warfare, but in ancient times, the blasting effect of throwing such an iron thing was shocking enough.
The wooden handle is made of ordinary miscellaneous wood - in theory, birch is the best, but traversers rarely have this kind of wood, so they use other fine-textured wood instead. Hai Lin from the woodwork factory first asked the workers to dry the handle.
The wood is cut into round wooden rods with a diameter of *cm and a length of *cm, and then turned into a spring handle on a foot-operated wood lathe, and then an auger is used to drill out the fuse tube.
The last process is to steam the bullet handle with paraffin. This process is to prevent the return of moisture. Once the bullet handle returns to moisture, it will cause the fuse to fail and the grenade will be useless.
"In the long run, wooden handle grenades are not the way to go. The production process is complex, heavy, and has less explosive charge. After our pyrotechnics equipment and machining capabilities have improved, it will be better to switch to egg-shaped grenades." Lin Shenhe
Looking at the first batch of cartridge handles coming out of the wood processing factory and the cartridge cases coming out of the foundry.
"Is this batch of loading still black powder?" Jiang Ye asked.
"Yes, the black powder grenade eliminates the need to load a detonator. It can be detonated directly with a detonator. Besides, we don't have suitable safety explosives available." Lin Shenhe was a little regretful. If the same shell can be loaded with TNT or even nitrate
Ammonium explosives have a much better killing effect.
He casually inspected several cartridge cases: the thickness of the cartridge cases was evenly cast, and even the three screw holes at the lower end of the cartridge cases were beautifully made. He couldn't help but praise:
"This cartridge case is beautifully cast! Did you make it?"
"Haha, it was made by an old caster. How is the craftsmanship?" Jiang Ye said, "This kind of old craftsman is super skilled, and coupled with our modern technology and equipment, it is even more powerful for them."
"It would be nice if they could be this beautiful when mass-produced. These are consumables. Two of them for one infantryman will cost 8,000."
"Zhan Wuya is considering how to design a production line for cartridge case casting. By then, it will not be a problem to produce 10,000 cartridge cases a month."
"Now I'm going to load the projectile. Look carefully." Lin Shenhe said to the weapons design and industry personnel present, "I have loaded old-fashioned black powder shells in the United States..."
"This is not the same thing." When Bai Yu heard this, he quickly came out to stop him, "I'll do it. At least I know how to pretend."
"I also know the contents of the book. But you must have never loaded black powder with your own hands."
Lin Shenhe pulled the rope on the wall three times. The indigenous watchman outside immediately sounded a rapid gong sound, and then hung three red lanterns outside the weapons design laboratory - this was to warn everyone that currently
In "very dangerous" condition.
Everyone else in the room hid in the explosion-proof room next door. The walls were covered with observation panels made of thick tempered glass.
"Safe to all?"
"Safety!"
"I'm starting!" Lin Shenhe took a deep breath and walked slowly towards the table. In fact, this job is not very dangerous, but he has developed an attitude of treating all explosives and pyrotechnics with caution. These things can be used at any time.
It can kill you anywhere.
A cast iron cartridge case has been fixed on the wooden table. Lin Shenhe opened a pack of black powder wrapped in wax paper and poured it into a copper plate. Then he used a wooden spoon to slowly put the fine-grained black powder into the paper funnel.
Cartridge casings are pounded firmly with a wooden stick while loading.
Finally, he used a wooden stick to press out the detonator chamber. Then he connected the draw cord and the draw tube. He picked up a bomb handle and loaded the draw device into the handle. One section led out the draw cord, and the other section exposed the draw cord.
Fire pipe.
In order to fix the fire into the handle, Lin Shenhe stuffed pieces of paper into the gaps. Then he poured melted asphalt into the handle with a small spoon. After cooling, the handle was completed.
Finally, he installed the cartridge case on a screw press with a steel shield, slowly pressed the cartridge handle into the cartridge case, and then fixed the two with three screws.
Finally, he applied a layer of asphalt to the joint.
"Okay, that's good." Lin Shenhe finally sighed and said.
During official production, moisture-proof wax paper had to be covered with moisture-proof wax paper, and the grenade cover was screwed on. Now it is purely a test product, so these are no longer needed.
"It's too slow to assemble..." Jiang Ye said.
"During actual production, of course the spring handle must be manufactured in a separate workshop." Bai Yu said, "It can only be put together when the finished product is assembled. Once you are proficient, the assembly speed will not be slow."
"How's the killing effect?"
"It's very poor." Lin Shenhe said, "A grenade made according to this size, even if it is loaded with TNT, can only be regarded as an offensive grenade in the eyes of the US military. The TNT charge of the M26A1 is three times that. Back then, North Korea
The US military on the battlefield simply calls the wooden handle grenade a shock grenade. Now we use black powder, so it goes without saying."
When the grenades were transported to the shooting range, a grenadier squad was already on standby under the leadership of You Huhu.
Lin Shenhe first randomly detonated several grenades on the spot and tested the delay speed: the delay speed of this grenade was about 4 to 5 seconds. Then, he began the test of throwing live ammunition.
Although the grenadiers have never been equipped with wooden handle grenades, it is common to throw them with training bombs. Therefore, there is no need to retrain and start throwing live ammunition directly.
In order to fully demonstrate to them the difference of this new weapon, Youhuo first threw two bombs. Both bombs detonated accurately. Then, he switched to the grenadiers, and each of them threw five bombs.
Fifty-one of the sixty pre-produced grenades detonated and nine failed. The success rate was quite high. An average grenadier can throw a grenade 60 meters away in a standing position. This distance is almost as long as a match rope.
The effective range of the gun.
When I think about the fact that the enemy's arquebusiers were hit by countless grenades as soon as they reached the effective shooting range, no matter how many people were involved, they would probably collapse.
In terms of killing power, it is a bit lackluster, with an effective killing distance of less than 10 meters. Moreover, the breakage of the cast iron cartridge case is not ideal - the explosive power of black powder is still too weak.
"It's already very good. At least it was broken into pieces and didn't explode in two." Bai Yu said, "Our military industry level is much better than the old military industry in the base area. Moreover, the enemy is based on intensive troops.
If we attack on foot, the killing effect will not be too bad."
This grenade was put into formal production with the serial number of Type 5. The teaching team began to conduct grenade throwing training for all army officers and grenadiers of each infantry battalion. For the time being, grenades are only equipped to grenadiers, and they will be equipped after the batch is large.
The entire army.
Lin Shenhe immediately asked someone to buy a batch of paper flame tubes, which were prepared for artillery.
"With this, artillerymen no longer need match ropes and ignition poles." Lin Shenhe told Zhang Bolin, "Just plug the fire tube into the ignition hole, connect the match rope and pull it."
Although this is not a huge improvement, it can be considered a small improvement. But Lin Shenhe's mission is not over yet. He is also responsible for conducting a comprehensive inspection and improvement of the Army's field artillery unit - especially ammunition.
improvement of.
Because the war was approaching, He Ming had ordered that some personnel and equipment of the artillery training team be immediately transferred to build three new field artillery batteries to cooperate with the infantry operations. Two of them were 12-pound cannon batteries and one was a 24-pound howitzer battery.
According to Lin Shenhe's suggestion, the artillery training team was organized according to the US military's organization during the Civil War. The four standard artillery originally equipped by the army were also reduced to three. The 6-pound m1841 artillery was quickly eliminated in actual training.
Artillerymen discovered that the maximum range of this m1841 gun was only 1,400 meters, but its weight reached two-thirds of that of the m1857, and the shells it fired were only half as heavy.
Such a weapon with poor cost-effectiveness is not popular in the cross-country group that pays attention to standardization and economy. The Army Artillery quickly eliminated all m1841s. Now the m1857 12-pound cannon has become the absolute main artillery equipment.
Half of the personnel of the three newly formed artillery companies were drawn from the artillery training team and half from the infantry.
Judging from the artillery production capacity of the Crossing Group, it is not a problem to equip 20 artillery batteries, but the number of horses and trained gunners is insufficient. Not only are only 3 companies formed, but each company is also equipped with only 4 artillery pieces - normally it should be
Build 6 cannons.
Each company is divided into three platoons. Two of the platoons are artillery platoons, each platoon consists of 2 artillery pieces and 40 people. The third platoon is the "transport platoon", which is the so-called "transporting animals to soldiers".
A platoon is a large platoon of more than 100 people, composed entirely of infantry. It is used to pull artillery when marching. It serves as a cover force for the artillery company during combat. It can also be used to help the artillery reset and move, and can also serve as ammunition handler when necessary.
.
According to the establishment of the Union Army during the Civil War, each artillery company must have at least 110 horses. Now it is replaced by 100 soldiers. Obviously, the transportation capacity is not the same. Even if all the personnel are equipped with Zidian modified trolleys, a trolley
The carrying capacity of the artillery battery is always limited. Zhang Bolin said: If there are no horses to transport ammunition, the artillery company will have to increase the number of "animals and soldiers" by 200 people.
Fortunately, the Crossing Group has mechanized transportation. Since this is a "national war", we will no longer begrudge motorcycle hours. The Planning Institute temporarily strengthened two four-wheel-drive agricultural vehicles for each artillery company to carry the heaviest ammunition.
——According to the establishment of the Union Army during the Civil War, each gun was required to prepare 200 rounds of shells.
Agricultural vehicles and human-pulled Napoleon cannons were the strange equipment of the Fubo Army's field artillery battery.
The 12-pound Napoleon cannon of the field artillery company has been partially improved by the Ministry of Machinery Industry. Originally, Jiang Ye and others wanted to install a simple retraction device - for the gunner who retreated the gun, the reset and re-aim after the gun was fired was a
It was very physically demanding. However, after testing several options, it was found that the material was too heavy. So Jiang Ye and others had to settle for the next best thing and add a steering wheel.
The Napoleon gun only has a simple pitching device and no direction adjustment device. When the shooting direction needs to be changed, it can only be solved by moving the gun mount. This is definitely not an easy task for a gun weighing nearly half a ton. If there is a direction
Machinery - Even if it can only be adjusted at a small angle, it will be a great advantage in actual combat.
This improvement finally succeeded after a series of tests, at the cost of an increase in the weight of the gun. In order to reduce the overall gun weight, Jiang Ye cooperated with Li Chiqi and Jiang Muzhi of the vehicle factory to develop a new gun mount.
"I don't think we need to be too retro and fashionable, and use all wooden frames - the strength of wood itself is limited, and the materials used to ensure the gun frame are strong and durable must be thicker. I remember that we deliberately used dense hardwood at that time." Jiang Muzhi studied the cannon for a long time.
Mount, "How about switching to an all-metal gun mount? This can significantly reduce weight."
"Do you still use wooden wheels for wheels?"
"We will use wooden wheels for the time being - we don't have rubber. But the axles are equipped with ball bearings. Now even the trolleys use ball bearings. There is no reason why our artillery carts don't use them." Jiang Muzhi said, "This way the artillery cart can be towed more easily.
many."
After the improved materials, the total weight of the gun mount was controlled within half a ton even with the addition of a steering gear.
The 12-pound cannon equipped with a new gun mount was immediately tested on the shooting range - it was proved that the steering gear was effective, but the steering gear lacked a direction locking device, and the barrel would deflect under the recoil when shooting. Subsequently, it was tested
50-kilometer march test. The new gun mount performed better than the old gun mount in terms of flexibility and traction performance, but the inferior ball bearings caused several mid-course repairs.