In the Southern Song Dynasty, I competed with Mongolia for the world

Chapter 467 The Strongest Explosive

In July of the eighth year of Yuanzhen, while Wokuotai was retreating to the grassland, Zhao Yurui came to the Firearms Bureau's training ground.

The Firearms Bureau had another new gadget to show him today. Zhao Yurui came very early. When he arrived at the training ground, it was just dawn.

The site had been laid out a long time ago. Sandbags were piled up one meter high in front, and two pits were dug behind the sandbags with a trail in the middle.

This is the arrangement for training grenades in later generations.

That's right, today Zhao Yurui is going to see the Song Dynasty's own infantry grenades.

Grenade sounds easier than flintlock, but it is actually more difficult.

Zhao Yurui has only managed it now. The biggest problem is solving the fuze problem.

When the Song Army defended the city before, they used large bombs similar to those used by the Ming Dynasty to defeat thousands of enemies, but they were not difficult. The fuses could be made very long and needed to be burned for a period of time.

Since grenades are relatively small, it is impossible to get a long fuse.

"About four steps." Tang Bo finally reported to Zhao Yurui.

Tang Bo briefly explained the process, and after listening to it, Zhao Yurui felt that the amount of work was still quite large.

A little adhesive is also added. I don’t know whether Zhao and Rui will be used to glue them together in later generations. The craftsmen of the Song Dynasty used animal glue.

Not long after the grenade flew out, there was a bang and an explosion.

At the beginning of the formula, the Firearms Bureau conducted countless tests because the proportion of the three components must be moderate.

After the explosion, everyone gathered around to see it and measured the diameter of the explosion on the spot.

There was a circle of things placed in front of the sandbag, which was blown to pieces on the spot.

The rear end is the handle area, which is mainly used to store the fuse and to throw it further.

The fuse is twenty centimeters long and has a cap at the end. After opening, the fuse can be pulled out and then ignited.

If used as a fuse, it will explode as soon as it is lit, which is very dangerous.

Zhao Yurui originally wanted to try throwing one, but considering that he was the emperor, there was no need to try it, and Tang Bo and the others around him did not agree.

The proportions are wrong and it burns quickly.

At first, the fist-long fuse burned out instantly, shocking the craftsmen.

This is mainly done to save costs and labor, and Zhao Yurui believes that the lethality of grenades is enough for field battles in this era.

I saw the craftsman holding the grenade, opening the cover, pulling out the fuse, lighting it, and then stood there and counted three times before throwing it out.

"Your Majesty, please see, this is made of saltpeter, gunpowder and charcoal powder as the main ingredients, with a small amount of gauze added."

Grenade is the name given by Zhao Yurui. It is thrown by hand and produces a thunderous explosion, so it is called grenade. Everyone expressed that they were very satisfied with the name. As for whether it was given by the emperor, of course they ignored it.

Zhao Yurui calculated it silently and found that it burned about one centimeter per second. This speed was neither too fast nor too slow, and it was very suitable for fuses for grenades and explosive shells.

After the craftsmen's fiddling, the fuse placed in front of Zhao Yurui looked very familiar, and even the color was almost blue-black, like the fireworks fuses he had played with.

1, 2, 3, 4 - just after counting, the ten fuses burned out almost at the same time.

After reading the fuse, Tang Bo asked someone to bring the grenade.

Zhao Yurui was not an expert in this area. He just explained the reasons to the craftsmen. After years of experiments, the craftsmen finally found the right direction.

This has more ignition procedures than later generations of grenades. There is no way, there is no detonator this time.

When Zhao Yurui arrived at the scene, Tang Bo brought ten long fuses and placed them in front of Zhao Yurui with water.

There was no sense of seconds at this time, so Zhao and Rui counted in their hearts, while Tang Bo and the others read with their mouths.

Ten centimeters can be burned in one second.

In order to fix the fuse, the craftsmen also thought about many materials, including silk, cotton, cloth, etc., and finally chose yarn.

If the fuse is short, it will burn too quickly and explode in your hand before it is thrown.

The scraps of iron are all scraps obtained during steel-making and casting, and are not specially made to produce highly lethal shrapnel.

The diameter of the explosion was only four steps, and its power was relatively small. It could not be compared with later generations, but in Zhao Yurui's eyes, it was enough.

It was obvious that this craftsman was a skilled and confident craftsman, and he even waited there for three seconds.

Now Zhao and Rui walked far away, and the Firearms Bureau called a craftsman to try out the shot.

The fuze problem is almost the biggest difficulty with grenades in this era. Once craftsmen solve this problem, grenades will naturally not be difficult, and it will also be a huge improvement for large bombs used to defend cities.

After thousands of experiments, craftsmen finally invented the most suitable fuse according to specific proportions.

This is also the formula of the classic fuse of later generations. It combines saltpeter, gunpowder and charcoal powder into one. This kind of fuse burns relatively slowly. Calculated as the time of later generations, it burns about one centimeter per second.

The front end is the explosion zone, which is composed of gunpowder and broken iron filings and particles.

Tang Bo then asked someone to burn it on the spot for Zhao Yurui to see.

First, the saltpeter must be ground into powder. This step was originally extremely labor-intensive, but Zhao Yurui had hydraulic millstones and various machinery. If it were the Mongolians who did it this way, it would require a lot more labor.

The total weight of the grenade was one pound or two, but in the Song Dynasty, it weighed more than 600 grams per pound, which was close to the weight of one and a half pounds in later generations.

Da Song's grenade was of course larger than what he had seen in previous movies. It was said to be a grenade, but in fact it was more like an early grenade.

When Zhao Yurui got it, he was quite satisfied.

"How far can this be thrown?" Zhao Yurui asked.

"Those who are strong can throw it fifty or sixty steps."

"The average person can also throw twenty or thirty steps."

"Bring me one." Zhao Yurui tried it himself.

He is also considered a diligent and self-disciplined emperor. He gets up as early as possible every day, runs exercises in the palace, runs with the people of the Imperial City Department to exercise, and does push-ups and so on, so he has always maintained a good figure.

Tang Bo sent someone to get a new grenade. Zhao Yurui held it in his hand and felt it. It was not very heavy. Then he turned around on the spot, swung his waist, exerted his strength, and threw it directly without running.

The scene was in an uproar, and soon someone came running over excitedly.

"Your Majesty is mighty, forty-eight steps."

There was cheering all around, praising the emperor for his greatness.

Quan Yong and Niu Bao next to them had their mouths slightly twitching, but it was difficult to say anything.

Zhao and Rui laughed twice, and then said: "Throwing this thing can help you run. The throw will be further, and you can also swing on the spot."

"You must rely on the strength of your waist, not your hands. In the future, the army will develop standard movements to allow everyone to throw farther."

"Niu Bao, come and try it."

Niu Bao's strength is much greater, but strength does not mean that he can throw far.

Zhao Yurui's grenade looks like a grenade, which requires throwing skills.

He asked Niu Bao to throw it as far as he could.

Niu Bao glanced at Zhao Yurui and wondered, should he throw it farther than His Majesty?
"If you don't throw it as far as me, I will deduct your salary for the next month." Zhao Yurui said with a smile: "You are so big and stronger than me. If you can't throw it as far as me, you should be careful."

Niu Bao immediately said: "Then please forgive me, Your Majesty, Niu Bao threw it away."

Niu Bao stood on the same spot without twisting his waist. His upper body barely moved. He tilted his body slightly to the right and threw it away.

Soon someone ran over and said with a smile on his face: "Return to your Majesty, it's forty-one steps."

There was actually no Zhao and Rui Yuan. There was an uproar all around, and everyone started to brag about Zhao Yurui again.

"What?" Niu Bao looked unbelieving: "You, you -"

His face was red and he stared at the other person, trying to say that the other person would do whatever it takes to flatter him, right? My salary will be gone next month?

Quan Yong also smiled and said: "Niu Bao, you can do it, you are quite smart."

"I didn't let go." Niu Bao was furious, then came to his senses and quickly lowered his head.

Fortunately, he had known Zhao Yurui for more than ten years and knew Zhao Yurui's character. Zhao Yurui laughed and pointed forward: "Go and see for yourself, they haven't touched it."

Niu Bao walked past the sandbags unconvinced and looked at the ground in the distance. Indeed, both of their grenades were still on the ground. Looking at his and Zhao Yurui's positions, he could also distinguish which one was his and which one was his. It was thrown by the emperor.

"Your posture is wrong. I'll teach you how to throw it farther."

Zhao Yurui first taught him the waist pose on the spot.

Then comes the three-step approach.

Niu Bao practiced it several times and threw it farther and farther.

The last one was thrown nearly seventy steps.

The scene was filled with exclamations again.

Of course, Niu Bao is physically strong and extremely powerful. There is only one such person in ten thousand. It is not easy to pick out a hundred of the millions of soldiers in the entire Song Dynasty.

After ordinary people have been trained, they are usually considered powerful if they can throw more than forty steps.

Moreover, throwing grenades is very taxing on the arms. After Niu Bao threw them several times, his arms hurt.

Finally, Zhao Yurui said: "This thing needs more practice. Let's make a batch of fake grenades of the same weight and distribute them to the army for training."

"According to the order."

After watching the grenade, Zhao Yurui was still quite satisfied. The only drawback now was the step of igniting it.

If you have a detonator and nitroglycerin, there is no need to ignite it.

"Yes, nitroglycerin." Zhao Yurui suddenly realized.

Nitroglycerin is an extremely explosive explosive, much stronger than his current explosives.

But it is relatively sensitive and will explode when exposed to vibration, impact or sparks.

If it is used for impact and sparks are generated, it can be detonated directly.

He now has mercury fulminate, which can be made into a detonator. With the addition of nitroglycerin, he can detonate it directly without igniting it in the future.

Where did nitroglycerin come from?

Treat glycerin with nitric acid and sulfuric acid.

Zhao Yurui immediately summoned a team of craftsmen specializing in chemical research and explained to them the principles and formula of nitroglycerin.

Of course, Zhao Yurui has never done it himself, he only knows the formula. This thing is quite dangerous. When Nobel came up with it, the experiment exploded many times, killing many people, including Nobel's brother. , his father was also seriously injured in the bombing.

Zhao Yurui solemnly told the group members that this thing can easily explode and they must be careful and careful. Any impact, spark or even vibration may cause an explosion.

For this reason, he asked the staff to wear military iron helmets during the experiment and reinforce the masks on their faces, leaving only their eyes exposed.

In all tests, sandbags must be piled around the periphery of the test bed, and people should try to stand behind the sandbags.

This may not be very useful, but it is better than nothing.

After talking about nitroglycerin, Zhao Yurui changed the scene. Whether it can be done later depends on the efforts of the craftsmen.

The next place is the artillery test range.

The Song Dynasty's wooden tube fuse artillery shells finally came out.

At that time, Zhao Yurui told the craftsmen the principle of wooden tube fuse cannonballs. Similarly, after countless experiments, the craftsmen found that the burning of the fuse was the biggest difficulty.

The fuse is too fast, and the shell explodes before it comes out of the barrel. The fuse is too slow, and it does not explode for a long time after it flies out and lands. If the other party knows about it, it can remove the shell in advance or avoid it.

Now that a new type of fuze has been produced, craftsmen have finally applied it to artillery shells.

Zhao Yurui saw the wooden cannonball at the scene.

This appearance is close to the conical cannonballs of later generations.

The lower plate relies on wooden supports to stabilize flight and increase range.

Tang Bo told Zhao Yurui that the 3,000-jin heavy artillery used to defend the city could only hit about three miles at the longest.

Now with the wooden support, it can hit five miles, and the hit is more accurate.

Of course, he also has a shortcoming, that is, the time it takes to hit a round becomes longer.

Then Zhao Yurui saw the wooden tube fuse shell.

The length of the fuse in the artillery shell is determined based on the range. The longest one is the 3,000-pound heavy artillery used to defend the city.

How many seconds does it take for the cannonball to fly in the air, and how long the fuse must be arranged.

It usually explodes two to three seconds after hitting the ground.

The Bureau of Firearms considered that it would explode as soon as it hit the ground.

But this thing has errors, and it may explode before it hits the ground.

Finally, after they reported it to Zhao and Rui, the delay was confirmed.

Now the artillery basically explodes about two to three seconds after landing.

In these two or three seconds, the other party generally cannot react.

If there happens to be an error, one or two seconds earlier, it will explode the moment it lands.

If the delay is three or four seconds, the impact will not be great.

Zhao Yurui watched the artillerymen fire several rounds on the spot, and the effect was very good.

The power of Song Dynasty's artillery has also been upgraded to a higher level.

First of all, because of the stabilizing effect of the wooden supports, the Song Army's artillery fired farther and became more accurate.

Secondly, the cannonballs can explode with far more power than before.

The shells are much larger than the grenades. The shells of the 3,000-kilogram heavy artillery can weigh dozens of kilograms and can explode a large area when hit.

Although limited by the technology of this era, the explosion range of the Song Army's 3,000-pound heavy artillery can still reach twenty steps. Of course, the ten steps in the middle are the most lethal. Beyond ten steps, it is basically only light. Injure, or achieve the purpose of frightening.

This is a great weapon for infantry and cavalry, and is especially useful in naval battles. In this era, all ships are made of wood. As long as they hit a cannon and explode, the opponent will be severely damaged.

Zhao Yurui was also very excited to see the combination of wooden pallet shells and wooden tube fuze shells. The artillery of the Song Army before could only play a supporting role, but artillery is the god of war. Now that this kind of artillery shells have come out, they have truly become Big killer.

The next step is to wait for the nitroglycerin to come out and then equip it with a detonator, so there is no need for a fuse.

At this time, the cone-shaped cannonballs of future generations were already flashing through his mind.

At that time, his cannonballs can be directly changed into a cone shape, and they will explode after hitting the ground.

Artillery shells are getting closer and closer to modernization.

It can be said that not only cannonballs, but the entire Song Dynasty is in his hands and is gradually moving towards the modernization of armaments.

(End of this chapter)