The end of the Ming Dynasty swept the world

Chapter 163
After going to the island, I saw the alley head-on. That's right, once I got on the island, there were mountains and forests on the left and right, and an alley was built in the middle.

Anyone who wants to come up to attack, even if they break through the fort, will directly enter the street fighting after coming up.

After seeing it, Xu Wei once said that if two hundred soldiers were placed here, even 2000 people would not be able to attack.

The alley is made by workers with large mountain rocks, eight meters wide and eight meters high, and the top is full of stones. Once someone attacks, the stones can be pushed down, and the alley can be blocked immediately, or let the people The alley became narrower.

The road in the middle is very smooth, with stone slabs paved on both sides. If the heavy artillery is built, it can be pushed out with a cart, which saves effort.

After passing through more than 300 meters of twisted alleys, you enter the middle of the island, and your eyes are suddenly bright.

There are hundreds of acres of fertile land in the middle, where wheat is planted now, and there are some chickens on the edge of the fields, but now it is cold, and the chickens have not come out of their nests.

There are more than [-] people on the island, including garrison troops and family members of craftsmen and apprentices. They are basically self-sufficient by farming, and Lushun occasionally brings some living supplies over.

As soon as I arrived at the center of the island, boom, I heard a cannon.

Ding Yi's face showed joy.

The artillery field is at the southernmost part of the island, mainly for the short distance and convenient transportation.

There used to be a forest between two low mountains, but now the forest has been cut down and turned into charcoal.

The ground is also very flat, and the mountain to the north is used as a shooting range.

To the south is the gun factory, and there are currently more than 20 craftsmen.

Mainly the Portuguese Lumalio and Wang Youan were in charge.

Lu Molue and Xi Laojing are classmates. They have seen casting guns together, and have seen all kinds of artillery in Europe. They have a high level of theory.

The two have fully communicated and cooperated with each other under one translator, and they have cooperated very well in the past few months.

When Ding Yi and the others arrived, they seemed to be arguing about something.

Seeing Ding Yi coming, he stopped quickly and started reporting with Ding Yi respectively.

It turned out that the two were arguing about whether to use copper to cast cannons or iron to cast cannons.

Wang Youan meant to use iron for casting, because copper is too expensive, and iron cannons are used outside.

Lu Molue asked to use copper to make it. He said that the copper cannon is not easy to rust, has good stretchability, can hold more gunpowder, has high precision, and is powerful. .

There was a shortage of copper in ancient Chinese dynasties. Wang Youan followed Zhao Shizhen, who was literate and experienced, so he decided that the Ming Dynasty could not make copper cannons because it could not afford it.

Lu Molue insisted on making copper cannons. He said that the best cannons should be made.

"General, if you want to make field cannons, you must use copper cannons. The smaller the cannon, the harder it is to cast, and the less powerful it is. Only copper cannons can maximize their power."

After hearing this, Ding Yi nodded decisively, field artillery must be made of copper.

He and the two agreed that the cannons for defending the city must be made of iron, and the field cannons must be made of copper.

But, so much copper?

Ding Yi’s field guns, according to Lu Molue, can be made in two types, 6-pound and 12-pound, and another 24-pound gun for city defense, which is used together with the Hongyi cannon.

The 24-pound gun can be used to defend the city, and it can also be borrowed for field battles. It is called a dual-purpose gun for field defense and city defense.

After the 6-pound gun is built, it will weigh about [-] catties today, and it can be lifted by two or three soldiers.

The 12-pound iron cannon weighs about 500 catties, and it can be lifted by four soldiers. The copper cannon weighs about [-] catties and is lighter.

Ding Yi thinks about it, don't be so complicated, unified, either 6 pounds or 12 pounds.

Lu Molue asked Ding Yi what were the main objectives of the field battle?
Infantry and cavalry may sometimes have shield vehicles or something. If they attack a city, they will use 24 pounds.

Considering the presence of cavalry, Lu Molue suggested increasing the range and using 12-pound guns.

The 12-pound copper cannon weighs 1.2 jin, the length of the barrel is 114 meters, the diameter is 0.45 mm, and the gunpowder is [-] kg.

The range is based on the elevation angle, the minimum is 1 degree, the maximum is 5 degrees, and the distance is 310 meters - 970 meters.

Ding Yi immediately asked after listening, "Can you reduce the weight and increase the range?"

Lu Molue and Xilao looked at each other in blank dismay, which was already standard in Europe at the same time.

But this kind of gun in Europe is basically used on ships.

The two frowned, seeming to consider the possibility.

It was Wang Youan who thought for a while: "You can try."

"Increase the length of the gun barrel, 1.2 meters is too short. To make a field gun, it must be lengthened. If the barrel is lengthened and thinned, the weight can be reduced. The specific length of the gun will only be known after experiments."

"The elevation angle can be increased."

"I predict, let's fight for it, put the weight within 400-450 catties, and the range can reach more than 1100 meters. There is a granular gunpowder invented by adults. I think the range is completely fine, and it may be farther."

"However, my lord, the barrel is thinner, the range is longer, and the gunpowder is used more, the durability of the barrel will be reduced, and it will cost more."

Wang You'an was heartbroken to use copper, never forgetting to spend money.

Ding Yi thought about Houjin and the refugee cavalry charging, and if they were 1100 meters away, they would only hit two or three shots.

But field artillery is considered the strongest in this era.

"Okay, you guys study hard, and I will reward you a lot when you figure it out." Ding Yi made the final decision, and finally everyone agreed.

The field gun is about 12 pounds. Try to reduce the weight of the gun and increase the range. If it is not possible, use the 12-pound European standard.

Ding Yi wanted to reduce the weight of the gun, hoping that in some places, four infantrymen could easily lift the 4-pound gun and move.

Then Ding Yi looked at their casting method.

Both Lu Molue and Wang Youan used the lost wax method.

There are mainly two casting methods in this era, one is the lost wax method, and the other is the clay casting method.

The former is to use wax to make the same mold as the casting, and apply the modeling material to form an integral casting mold. Then the wax is melted by heating to form a cavity casting mold, and liquid metal is poured into it, and the casting is formed after cooling.

The clay mold casting method belongs to one of the ancient Chinese fan casting techniques. In this method, the dried nanmu is first rotated into a wooden core according to the shape of the cannon body, and then the molds such as the ears, sharp hoops, and decorations are installed, and then the clay is applied in stages. After it dries up, knock out the wooden core, burn the clay mold with charcoal fire for the second time, and at the same time turn the sharp ears, hoops and decorative molds into ashes, and finally make the clay mold of tail beads according to the previous method, and put them on the cylinder On the surface of the iron core, mud is used to make mold cores such as the inner cavity of the gun barrel, so that a complete milling mold can be synthesized to pour the metal liquid.

The former is more efficient, and the cast cannon body is integrated, which is also obviously better.

But when the weather is hot in summer, the lost wax method is not very easy to use, and this season is just right.

At this time next year in history, Huang Taiji reused craftsmen, abolished the Han craftsmen's registration, and promoted them to Qianzong, which fully mobilized their enthusiasm. Han Wang Tianxiang and Jin Shichang finally built the first red barbarian cannon for Houjin. It was named "God Bless the Great General Cannon". Since then, the Houjin army has far surpassed the Ming army in terms of artillery quantity and quality, laying the foundation for the unification of the world.

Compared with the humble craftsman status of the Ming Dynasty, and the code that could not be removed for life, Huang Taiji's eclectic reuse soon won the loyalty of a large number of craftsmen.

So sometimes, an ancient and unreasonable system can really affect the country's plans and the rise and fall of the dynasty.

(End of this chapter)