Ming Zuo

Chapter 101 Artillery [Seventh More]

Zuo Menggeng had plans for artillery when he was planning to build a weapon station.Therefore, many of the craftsmen brought in through Zhang Jimeng and Hou Xun were artillery craftsmen.

During this period of time, other craftsmen were busy, but these artillery craftsmen fell ill.

They thought that there was no need for artillery craftsmen here, and the craftsmanship of themselves and others would be wasted.

After all day long, I was finally summoned.

Next to the gun-making station is the gun-making station.

The site was planned early in the morning, and the house was built long ago.

In addition to these original craftsmen, the craftsmen have added more than [-] skills from the gun-making workshop to a certain level.

Cannon-making is a major event, and even Bi Maokang and Zhang Jimeng came.

Bi Maokang is an expert in firearms, including artillery of course.

It's a pity that later generations remember him, only the flintlock gun.

"We have few soldiers, and we are still weak. The need for artillery is actually not big."

As soon as he came up, Bi Maokang disagreed with the artillery building.

But he wasn't wrong.

Although the rear camp is overstaffed, there are only more than [-] people.Equipped with tiger squat guns, it is okay to have a few Flang cannons.

But if you get a red-clothed cannon, you won't be able to hide it.

Zuo Menggeng did not flinch.

"There must be artillery, otherwise, it will be unfavorable for combat. The tiger squat cannon is unusable, and the red-clothed cannon is not practical. So what I decided to build is an improved version of the Folang cannon."

Everyone seems to have already guessed it, and it is not surprising.

The craftsman Tu Yixian said: "Thousands, the Folang cannons are suitable for field battles, because they are easy to move. However, their power is limited, and they cannot reach far. Unless there is an advantage in quantity, they will be of little use."

Zuo Menggeng thought that I should use you to remind me?
I'm the best weapons expert of this era.

"Of course the existing Folang cannon will not work, but after the improvement, it is guaranteed to become a weapon of magic."

Everyone was surprised to hear that he was going to make changes to the Folang cannon.

When this kind of artillery was introduced from the West, the Ming people were amazed, and they all felt that it was a fantastic idea, so they copied it one after another.

The shortcomings of the Kovran cannon are always present.

First, the air tightness is not good.

The Folang cannon is a breech gun. Although it is easy to reload quickly, the craftsmanship of this era cannot be perfectly matched, so the gap between the cartridge and the barrel (cannon belly) is very large.

As a result, after the gunpowder exploded, a large part of the energy was wasted.

A good Folang cannon can hit [-] paces.

Coupled with the need for field operations, the caliber of the Folang cannon is very limited, so the lethality is very low.

In many cases, the effect in the field is not as good as defending the city.

Therefore, the big guys were not very optimistic when they heard that Zuo Menggeng would use the Folang cannon in field battles.

But everyone is very curious, how he wants to improve the Flang cannon.

As a result, Zuo Menggeng's first big move stunned everyone.

"The artillery used by our department must be made of steel."

"Steel?"

"This...is there so much steel?"

Bi Maokang pulled down a strand of beard in fright, fearing that Zuo Menggeng would mess up.

"Boy, don't blame me for not reminding you. If you use steel to make a gun, I'm afraid you can't afford it."

How did he know that Zuo Menggeng had already thought about it.

"Although the material used for artillery is far more than that of muskets, the overall size is not as large as that of muskets. Therefore, the use of steel guns seems to consume a lot of money, but it is still within the range of our army."

He was too lazy to talk nonsense with everyone, and took out the drawings directly.

"Come on, big guy, take a closer look, this is the steel cannon I developed."

Seeing that he even took out the blueprints, the big guys didn't have much to say, and they all came together to watch.

At first glance, the big guy found that the artillery painted by Zuo Menggeng was very different from the current Folang cannon.

The gun is very small in size, with a slender barrel, and it doesn't have much bulk.

There is a mark next to it, which is the specific data of the gun.

The inner diameter is 57 mm, the wall thickness is 1.8 cm, and the barrel length is 1.7 meters.

Because new units have been popularized in the rear camp, everyone here can understand it.However, everyone is very puzzled that these data have shrunk a lot compared to the normal Flang cannon.

Zuo Menggeng solved the mystery.

"The biggest advantage of using stainless steel to make artillery is that it can reduce the material used and the weight of the artillery."

When he said this, everyone reacted.

The Folang machine guns made by the Ming court were generally made of wrought iron or iron-core bronze guns.

The hardness of the iron is not enough, and the iron produced in China is too high in sulfur and phosphorus, so it is very fragile and it is easy to explode.

In order to solve this problem, either wrap another layer of copper on the outside of the gun barrel, or make the gun barrel of the gun thicker.

But no matter which method, the result is that the artillery is extremely heavy.

Even the Folang machine gun, which should be known for its lightness, is also called the Qianjin Cannon in Daming.

With steel available, it's different.

The hardness of steel can be much higher, so it is possible to make the barrel thinner and lighter to restore the advantages that the Folang cannon should have.

Zuo Menggeng was even more daring, and the material used for the artillery was greatly reduced.

The reason is that the propellant in this era is black powder, which has limited power and is unlikely to have much destructive power on the steel gun barrel.

And to say that his biggest change to the Folang cannon is...

"The inner wall of the barrel must be rifled."

Li Xiangzhu is also here.

Accompanying Bi Maokang during this time made him interested in the manufacture of firearms, which really helped him a lot.With the advantages of readers, at least in theory, it is much stronger.

As soon as Zuo Menggeng saw him, he was transferred to the artillery brigade as deputy commander.

Because Zuo Menggeng's team has a lot of business, it is impossible to soak in the artillery brigade all the time, and a person in charge is needed here.

At this time, when he heard that the gun was about to be rifled, Li Xiangzhu questioned.

"Qianzuo, the current boring tools are not hard enough to carve rifling on the steel."

Zuo Menggeng smiled slightly and told everyone very exciting news.

"The problem you were worried about has been solved."

Of course, the boring tool made of tungsten steel is available.

As for how to smelt tungsten and fuse it with steel, Zuo Menggeng really struggled with memory before finding a way.

It is impossible to expect tungsten to be obtained by smelting.

The melting point of tungsten is 3410 ℃, and the current technology to refine this metal is a nonsense.

Zuo Menggeng used the method of reacting tungsten ore with soda ash to obtain tungsten trioxide first, and then using carbon reduction to obtain tungsten powder.

By the way, the soda ash problem that has plagued him for a long time has also been solved by him.

The only method of soda ash production that can be used today is the Lublan method.

That is, soda ash produced from salt, sulfuric acid, coal and limestone as raw materials.

The preparation method of sulfuric acid was already available when Zuo Menggeng made mercury fulminate.Naturally, there is no obstacle to making soda ash.

Zuo Menggeng can't take care of many problems such as insufficient utilization of raw materials, poor labor conditions, and poor product quality.

Soldiers have always had a habit of only looking at results.

He needs soda ash, so he must get this important industrial raw material.

The smooth production of the tungsten steel milling cutter solved the problem of rifling the barrel, but everyone has more doubts.

"Most of the cannons shot by the Folang machine gun are round balls. You have carved a rifling on the barrel of the cannon, can the cannon shoot out?"

In the face of Bi Maokang's question, Zuo Menggeng was in high spirits and pulled everyone to the drawing.

This time, he drew something similar to a pointed cap on the drawing in front of everyone, and then asked, "Can such a warhead be made? No steel, just wrought iron. It is hollow inside, and the projectile requires thin enough."

The hollow-pointed shells make the big guy extremely novel.

But the craftsmen did not hesitate at all and gave the answer directly.

"This thing is not difficult, but it can be made by casting a mold and pouring it with molten iron."

Tu Yixian couldn't understand it, and asked, "Qianzuo, this hollow cannon has this shape again, and it doesn't have the power to hit people, right?"

Zuo Menggeng sneered, his eyes flashing coldly.

"Such cannonballs are of course not very powerful, but what if this hollow is filled with gunpowder?"

Warhead stuffed with gunpowder?
Everyone was taken aback by this novel idea.

Is this possible?

Zuo Menggeng ignored them and continued to draw.

This time he drew a cross-section of the warhead, and something like a thick plate.

"Pay attention, this thing is the base of the warhead. After the gunpowder is put into the warhead, it needs to be blocked with this thing to prevent it from leaking out. How to block it? Thread. And around this base, there are also threads. That is to say, you have to make two things like this. When the base rotates along the thread, it will be integrated with the warhead, and it will also form a closed space inside the warhead."

He looked at everyone with bright eyes and asked, "Can you do it?"

(End of this chapter)