The wind rises at the end of the Ming Dynasty

Chapter 204 Field Cannon and Spontaneous Fire Gun
"There are many kinds of guns, I don't know what kind of guns the commander-in-chief wants to forge."

Bo Yu frowned slightly, looking a little hesitant, after pondering for a moment, it seemed that she had made some decision in her heart, and then spoke.

"With all due respect to the students, the Hongyi cannon is expensive to build. Although it is effective in attacking cities and destroying walls, it is not practical for artillery battles."

"The Hongyi cannon weighs more than several thousand catties at every turn, is extremely bulky, extremely difficult to transfer, difficult to fill, and has an extremely slow rate of fire. It is flashy."

Bo Yu looked dignified, bowed slightly, and said in a deep voice.

Chen Wang's eyes moved slightly, Bo Yu's opinion at this time is undoubtedly a heresy among heresies.

At the end of Ming Dynasty, in fact, the Ming army had already selected the wrong technology tree.

In the early and middle period of Chongzhen, there was a wave of buying Hongyi cannons. From small Hongyi cannons to large heavy artillery, the price ranged from at least a hundred taels to thousands of taels.

The largest Hongyi cannon even weighed 23 jin, and the shell alone weighed [-] jin.

Tomorrow, a catty is almost equal to 450 grams now, and a pound is about [-] grams. Converting the two, the fired cannon weighs [-] pounds.

Thirty-pound guns can be called heavy guns among naval guns, let alone on the road.

Leaving aside the cost of the Hongyi cannon, its rate of fire and slow loading are difficult to form intensive vitality, and its killing effect on troops and horses is limited, so it is already unsuitable for land warfare.

Moreover, during the land battle, the two armies fought against each other in formation, and the two formations strangled each other and attacked each other.

Naturally, the artillery can't just hit one place, and this also exposed another shortcoming of the Hongyi cannon-slow turning.

The situation on the battlefield is changing rapidly. Because the Hongyi cannon turns slowly, it is often unable to provide fire support in time.

Thinking of the above shortcomings, the Hongyi Cannon is actually not very effective in defending the city and in field battles. This does not mean that the Hongyi Cannon is not good.

After all, this kind of heavy artillery was not designed for field battles and city defense. It was originally designed for the confrontation between ships at sea, and... siege of cities!
However, in the current situation in the north, the Ming army still has no strength to take the initiative to attack. The only ones who have always attacked the city are the Qing soldiers.

In April of the sixth year of Chongzhen, Kong Youde led the rebels and their families to defect from Dengzhou, Shandong to Houjin.

The consequences of Kong Youde's defection were extremely serious, and even laid the groundwork for the subsequent collapse of the Ming court.

When Kong Youde defected, he not only took with him more than twenty Hongyi cannons, but more importantly, he also brought the fleet, cannon casting craftsmen, and elite gunners that Houjin urgently needed.

It is precisely because of Kong Youde's defection that the ability of the later Jin, and later the Qing army, to attack cities and villages has been greatly improved.

The Qing court attached great importance to firearms and artillery, not only formed a firearms unit named "Wuzhenchaoha", but even began to promote firearms and artillery on a large scale in the army.

The Ming army was also influenced by the Qing army's mass production of Hongyi cannons, and began to cast a large number of cannons. The two sides continued to innovate their military equipment and weapons for more than ten years.

This is why, during the Battle of Songjin, the Ming and Qing sides used artillery and firearms even to the point of appalling.

In many cases, the most intense battle between the two sides is not when the two sides meet each other, but when the artillery confronts each other.

"Originally, these artillery were Hongyi's heavy artillery used by ships at sea, and they were not suitable for field battles and marches on land."

Bo Yu didn't notice the change in Chen Wang's expression, and was still persuading him sincerely.

"Students do not suggest that the commander-in-chief cast such a heavy artillery."

"Moreover, most of the artisans who followed the students to make cannons stayed in Nanzhili, and only a dozen people came with them. Even if they wanted to make Hongyi cannons, it would be difficult to make them in a while."

The first task of Chen Guang when he went to Nanzhili was to invite Bo Yu. In addition, he also had a secondary task, which was to recruit craftsmen who could make cannons.

However, recruiting cannon-casting craftsmen is very troublesome. After all, at this time, the craftsmen who can cast cannons are all military craftsmen. Although Chen Guang has a lot of money, it is difficult to spend money if he has no connections. These things cannot be put on the table.

Several of the cannon-casting craftsmen who followed Bo Yu to Hanzhong Mansion were Bo Yu's students, and others were craftsmen who knew Bo Yu well, and it cost a lot to bring them along.

"Mr. Bo, you don't need to worry. I didn't plan to make Hongyi cannons in the first place."

From the very beginning, Chen Wang never thought about making Hongyi cannons. The best field and land cannons at this stage are not the heavier the better.

Bo Yu's frowning brows relaxed a little, when he made cannons for Zhang Guowei, the first thing Zhang Guowei asked for was to make red barbarian cannons, the bigger the cannons, the better, all of them were used to defend the city.

His several times of persuasion did not yield any results in the end, and he was worried that Chen Wang would go his own way and go to build Hongyi cannons, and wasting money was useless.

Chen Wang's words made Bo Yuxuan's heart relax slightly,

"I would like to ask Mr. Bo to cast the cannon. First of all, it should be light and strong, and not too heavy. It is best that it can be easily pulled by four or two horses. After entering the battlefield, it can be pushed and transferred by the artillery."

The target of the field artillery on land is not the solid city wall but the enemy's soldiers. If they are fighting against the Qing soldiers, they only need to consider their shield vehicles.

The caliber of the land battle gun does not need to be too large, it only needs to be powerful enough, and it is best to be able to move easily with a few horses.

After entering the battlefield, the artillery can push forward. The key point is to be able to quickly adjust and aim and turn, to load quickly, and to have a high rate of fire, so as to be able to quickly provide fire support.

According to the caliber of the European continent during the Napoleonic Wars, land battle guns are generally in the three-pound, six-pound, nine-pound, and twelve-pound ranges. Guns exceeding the twelve-pound are basically not applicable due to weight and other problems. Against the enemy in land warfare.

However, the period of the Napoleonic Wars was already in the [-]th century after all, and the weight of the cannon was considered due to the cannon casting process.

In the current situation, there is no need for a twelve-pound gun, and the heaviest cast nine-pound gun can handle most situations.

Chen Wang had memories of being in Liaodong back then. There were a lot of Hongyi cannons in Liaodong, and it was not that he had never seen them.

Xu Guangqi once ordered a large number of Hongyi cannons with shells weighing ten catties from Westerners. If converted into pounds, it would be almost thirteen-pound cannons. This batch of cannons was later shipped to Liaodong.

These cannons are extremely heavy, requiring more than six mules and horses to pull them, and it is difficult to keep up with the marching team.

"I plan to make artillery of three specifications as fire support at the bureau, department, and battalion levels."

"The artillery at the bureau level should be able to hit three catties, the best at the department level is five catties, and the best at the battalion level is seven catties."

In terms of pounds, the bureau level is almost a four-pounder gun, the department level is almost a seven-pounder gun, and the battalion level is almost a nine-pounder gun.

Chen Wang didn't apply the data completely, firstly because it was inconvenient to convert, and secondly because according to the European standard, the three-pound gun might not be powerful enough to deal with Houjin's shield vehicle, and it would be more reliable if it was increased to a four-pound gun bigger.

"It's not difficult for the commander-in-chief to request the cannon to be cast, and a sample cannon can be produced soon."

Bo Yu's eyes lighted up slightly, she finally let go of her hanging heart, and said with a smile on her face.

"According to the requirements of the commander-in-chief, the bronze cannon is the most suitable. The cannon is made of bronze, and the cannon body is much lighter."

Bo Yu was relieved, and Chen Wang was also relieved.

He spent more than two years on the copper doors that were seized at the beginning, and they are already unusable.

Not to mention the heavy weight of those launch guns. Although the transportation is much more convenient with the help of the new gun mounts, there are still a lot of troubles.

"By the way, I have encountered a problem here. Now the artillery in our army uses volcanic cannons. After dragging the artillery carriage for a long time, the artillery carriage has problems in many places, so I can only stop and rest and speed up. Is there any way to solve this problem?"

Chen Wang didn't know why these problems occurred when he directly imitated the gun mounts made during the later Napoleonic Wars. After hesitating for a while, he still asked the question.

To Chen Wang's surprise, Bo Yu gave a solution after pondering for a while.

"The new type of gun mount developed by Mr. General Soldier has been used in many places. The bolts and iron sleeves of the gun mount cover the tail ball of the gun, which can adjust the height of the muzzle. With the front sight and rear sight, you can aim quickly."

"If it takes several days for the Mercedes-Benz to turn in, and there may be problems at the connection, it should be caused by long-term marching vibrations. Installing some shock-absorbing measures should solve the problem."

Chen Wang's expression froze slightly. He thought about a lot of things, but he only forgot the problem of shock absorption. After all, it was still dark under the lamp.

"Mr. Bo helped me a lot this time and solved a problem that had troubled me for a long time."

Chen Wang cupped his fists and said with a smile.

Bo Yu also smiled, bowed back, and said modestly.

"Master Chief Soldier is talented and intelligent. He not only knows how to lead troops to fight, but also has a deep research on ordnance and weapons. He has many unique insights."

"This time the students just couldn't come up with a solution, and the commander-in-chief can solve the problem after spending some time."

Bo Yu's words are modest and polite, and flattery is not embarrassing or offensive, which is actually a kind of learning.

But Chen Wang didn't forget what he wanted to do with Bo Yu.

"Besides casting cannons, there are two other things that need Mr. Bo's help."

Bo Yu slightly bowed and said seriously.

"If there is something that requires students to contribute, the commander-in-chief can just speak up, and the students should do their best."

Chen Wang raised his hand and said.

"These two things don't require much energy from Mr. Bo. The future will last forever. Mr. Bo still focuses on maintaining his health first."

"The first thing is about firecrackers. I wonder if Mr. Bo has heard of self-generated firecrackers?"

"Self-generated firecracker?"

Bo Yu frowned again, frowning is a habit of his, usually when he started to recall and think about problems, he would frown subconsciously.

Chen Wang saw that Bo Yu was lost in memory and thinking, but he was not in a hurry.

In the middle hall, someone had already brewed tea and put it on the table.

Chen Wang calmly picked up the tea in front of him, lifted the lid and took a sip, waiting patiently for Bo Yu's answer.

Chen Wang didn't wait long, and Bo Yu already gave an answer.

"The blunderbuss are inconvenient when encountering wind and rain. Every blunderbuss must open the fire door first, and then it can be released to the enemy."

"There are often those who are wet by the wind and rain and cannot send it out, and there are those who send it by mistake before it shines on the stars."

"The faucet must be transformed into a message, so that the flint will strike at the trigger and the medicine will spontaneously ignite.

"Students have seen the self-generating firecrackers mentioned by Mr. Zongbing in "Illustration of Military Weapons". Didn't they know it was the same thing?"

There is also a more widely known name for self-igniting firearms, called flintlock guns.

Compared with the arquebus, the flintlock is undoubtedly a huge improvement.

Matchlock guns need to use matchlocks to ignite, so shooters must maintain a large distance when shooting, so the frontal firepower density is not high, and it cannot effectively contain the enemy's charge.

But the flintlock has no such concerns. The fusiliers can stand close together like ordinary infantry, and the frontal firepower is more than double that of the arquebus.

And because there is no need to use a match to ignite the fire, a piece of flint is clamped on the jaw of the hammer, and an anvil is set beside the fire transmission hole.

When shooting, the trigger is pulled, and under the action of the spring, the flint is hit heavily on the edge of the fire door, sparks are emitted, and the gunpowder is ignited to fire.Greatly simplifies the shooting process.

Therefore, the rate of fire is faster than that of matchlock guns, and soldiers can use flintlock guns to get used to it faster and become an army.

Field artillery can only provide advantages on the battlefield, but flintlock guns can change the situation of the entire battlefield, and even lead to the innovation of warfare.

The popularity of flintlock guns and the installation of bayonets made queuing and shooting obsolete all tactics in the later era and became the main theme on the battlefield.

Chen Wang was a little surprised. Bo Yu not only remembered that the self-generated firecracker was from "Illustration of Military Weapons", but also said the original words recorded verbatim.

"That's right, it's exactly the self-generating firecracker recorded in Bi Maokang's "Illustration of Military Weapons."

Chen Wang's memory has been strengthened a lot now, and he almost has the ability of photographic memory, but Bo Yu should not have it.

Sure enough, in this era, there are not many mediocre candidates for imperial examinations, even scholars, and this memory is already amazing.

"I have a few self-generating firecrackers here that can be used as a reference. I wonder if Mr. Bo has made new firecrackers based on these self-generating firecrackers."

"This is not difficult, this is not difficult..."

Bo Yu's eyes were flooded, as if he saw some rare treasure, and said immediately.

"It's not that the students are boasting and waiting for the ordnance. The students only need to look at the structure to imitate it."

Bo Yu herself is extremely fascinated by firearms and armaments.

When it comes to other things, he can be indifferent, but when it comes to ordnance skills, it is difficult for Bo Yu to calm down.

In "Illustrations of Military Weapons", Bo Yu has seen many new-style firearms, but because of his status, it is difficult for him to get in touch with the items.

He really wanted to buy a self-generated firecracker, but it is a serious crime to keep a firecracker privately, and there is no place to sell it in Wumen, Suzhou and other places.

Now that he heard that Chen Wang actually brought several self-generating firecrackers, Bo Yu was naturally very excited.

(End of this chapter)