She Song

Chapter 204 King Han Cannon

When Han Xiaoyao and Shen Erniang stepped into the shooting range, they were immediately attracted to the artillery.

There were two dark bronze cannons, each of which was fixed on a wooden frame by iron chains. Under the light of the torch, it shone with a faint metallic light.

A weapon that doesn't emit light is not a good weapon!
With just one glance, Han Xiaoyao concluded that this was at least a legendary level.

The barrel is four feet five long, narrow at the front and wide at the rear, with a net weight of 660 jin. The muzzle is close to the size of an adult's fist and can fire solid iron bullets weighing four jin.

A group of senior generals who arrived early came forward to greet him.

Yuan Shishi, Zhang Cheng, Guo Yaoshi, Zheng Liang, Jiang Queer and others arrived earlier and had already inquired about the relevant situation. They were all very curious about the power of the bronze cannon.

As far as they know, the most powerful weapons are the trebuchets and incendiary bombs used by King Zhao Kai in the siege of Tokyo City. Those weapons can burn a large area at once and are very lethal against dense enemies.

But the bronze cannon in front of him is much smaller in appearance and cannot be compared with the huge catapult.

"My lord, how powerful is this bronze cannon? How is it better than a catapult?"

Zhang Cheng was the first to ask. He is now in charge of [-] reservists. Although there will be a drill tomorrow, he still hurried over when he heard that the artillery that Han Xiaoyao valued so much was built.

Han Xiaoyao originally didn't care much about titles such as titles, but Zhang Cheng insisted on calling him "Prince" and said that it was the honor of the Zhenguo Army, so he had no choice but to follow him.

"Mr. Zhang, I also want to know the specific situation... Master Zeng, can you test the cannon now?"

Zeng Ming responded immediately: "Everything is ready, just waiting for the order from the prince!"

Han Xiaoyao smiled and said: "Then let's start according to the process! Be sure to pay attention to safety measures!"

Zeng Ming immediately saluted and replied: "Yes! Please, Your Majesty and the officers, please retreat to the observation seats!"

Everyone followed the order and entered the fortification thirty steps behind the gunner. Thick sandbags were built up for protection.

Seeing that the leaders had all entered the safety fortification, Zeng Ming turned around and shouted to the test gunners waiting aside: "Clean the gun bore!"

The craftsman came forward and used brushes and cloth mops to clean the clean barrel again.

"Load gunpowder! Load one pound for the No. [-] cannon, and one pound or two for the No. [-] cannon. The gunpowder must be compacted."

So the charger stepped forward, poured the gunpowder from the muzzle into the barrel, and compacted it with a cork.

But Pharmacist Guo looked at the medicine-loading hand in Taoist robes strangely, pointed at one of the old men in surprise and asked, "Isn't that Master Zhang Tianshi? Why are he and his disciples here?"

Guo Yaoshi read it right, the person who loaded the medicine was Zhang Tianshi and his apprentice who were in charge of Qunying Temple.

Only a few core personnel knew that the powerful gunpowder of the Zhenguo Army came from Zhang Tianshi, and of course Han Xiaoyao pointed the way.

For example, the granular gunpowder currently loaded into the gun barrel is at least twice as powerful as the previous precisely proportioned gunpowder.

It was based on the substantial improvement in gunpowder performance that Han Xiaoyao proposed the idea of ​​casting bronze cannons.

"Master Zhang Tianshi and his disciples are the unsung heroes of the Zhenguo Army!" Han Xiaoyao gave a fair evaluation.

After Zhang Tianshi finished loading and retreated, Zeng Ming ordered again: "Load the No. [-] cannon with projectiles and insert the fuse!"

A four-pound round iron ball was loaded from the muzzle, and a long fuse was inserted directly into the gunpowder from the fire door above the rear of the barrel.

Zeng Ming stepped forward in person, and after confirming that everything was correct, he said: "Light the fire and evacuate!"

After the fuse was lit, Zeng Ming and the igniter retreated to a nearby hiding place.

When the sparks followed the fuse and entered the fire door, and a puff of smoke floated out, the shooting range was silent, and everyone stared nervously at the No. [-] bronze cannon.

After three breaths, there was a loud "Bang!" sound, and the bronze cannon body suddenly rose up. Fortunately, four fastened iron chains controlled the vibration of the cannon body within a small range, but it still made a series of rattling sounds, which was frightening. Everyone jumped.

Han Xiaoyao paid attention to the muzzle of the gun. A bright and vivid fire flashed and a large amount of thick smoke rose. A projectile cut through the night sky like a meteor, shooting towards the bamboo wall five hundred steps ahead at a super high speed that was difficult to follow with the eyes.

"Click! Click, click~"

The observers in the bunker under the third row of bamboo walls heard the crack of the bamboo wall.Each bamboo wall is a hundred steps away, which means that the projectile cannonball is projected seven hundred steps away, and if there is no bamboo wall to block it, it will definitely exceed a thousand steps.

At a distance of a thousand steps, except for telescopes, normal people can only see blurry shadows.

awesome!
Although Han Xiaoyao didn't know the specific range of the artillery shells, five hundred steps was far beyond most current weapons, and its power was even different.

Soon, an observer came on horseback to report: "The cannonball penetrated the [-]-step bamboo wall!"

Whoa!
Everyone present became excited.

They all have actual combat experience. The bronze cannon has such a powerful range, which means that the enemy will be under our attack before they have assembled.

Absolute preemptive strike!
Han Xiaoyao immediately ordered to remove the three bamboo walls in front and test-fire the No. [-] artillery.

Soon, the three bamboo walls were brought down, and Zeng Ming confidently ordered the No. [-] cannon to be fired.

"Oh!"

There was another earth-shattering noise, and everyone picked up their binoculars to look at the bamboo wall [-] steps away.

I saw a small hole instantly appear on the bamboo wall illuminated by the fire, followed by a tremor and bamboo chips flying.

Yuan Shishi shouted: "Hit!"

Not only that, the solid cannonballs carried great kinetic energy, penetrated two bamboo walls and then smashed into the third bamboo wall. This was a real shooting range of a thousand steps.

The observer came back again to report: "The shell hit the bamboo wall a thousand steps away!"

"Clap clap clap!"

Everyone was amazed and applauded warmly in celebration.

Yuan Shishi couldn't wait to get out of the fortification and ran to the No. [-] bronze gun mount, touched the hot gun body, and gave Zeng Ming a thumbs up.

"Master Zeng, you have created a very good treasure this time! Great!"

Jiang Que'er was also very excited. It was a magic weapon to defend the enemy from a thousand steps away!

"Master, this thing is so powerful. Can you make it smaller? It weighs about a hundred pounds. If one person carries it on his back, he can definitely kill their general when he reaches the enemy's rear!"

Han Xiaoyao was a little surprised. This cheap apprentice was getting more and more enlightened and actually thought of this level.

"The idea is good, you can consider trying to develop a portable artillery, you and Master Zeng communicate more!"

Witnessing the birth of such a powerful artillery piece, Yaoshi Guo was speechless.

The Zhenguo Army itself has high combat capabilities, and now it is adding long-range artillery. I am afraid that the Jurchens will also suffer!

Zhang Cheng rolled his eyes and took the opportunity to say: "Your Majesty, such a powerful artillery should have a resounding name!"

exactly!
Everyone suddenly woke up and came up with names such as "Mighty Cannon", "Flying Cannon", "Victory Cannon" and so on.

Seeing Zhang Cheng shaking his head repeatedly, Yuan Shishisu came to know that he had a lot of tricks, so he asked, "Old Zhang, what do you think of his name and prestige?"

When Zhang Cheng saw everyone looking at him, he said: "This cannon was proposed by the prince, why not just call it 'King Han Cannon'!"

Fuck you, bullshit!

This flattery shot was so smooth!
Everyone unanimously agreed that it was well deserved and appropriate.

Han Xiaoyao touched the body of the cannon, imagining the birth of the era of hot weapons and the future development, feeling infinitely emotional in his heart.

Under the eyes of everyone, the name of the cannon was determined.

"Then call it King Han Pao!"

(End of this chapter)