When he was in a low position, Xu Ping still had time to make some novel tricks that transcend the era. Since he became the deputy envoy of the Three Divisions, he had basically no energy. This time, facing Dangxiang in the northwest, Xu Ping thought about it. One of the things that could be made in this era and play a huge role in the battlefield were telescopes, the other ones were artillery, and vehicles with stronger off-road performance. Xu Ping still had a lot of things, but his role in the battlefield was far less than these three. After all, in this era, the weapons and equipment of the Song army were already at the highest level in the world, and it was not very meaningful to add icing on the cake.

The artillery Xu Ping has been out for a long time, but it has never been used for field combat. The power of easy-to-carrying is too small, and the power is too high and can only be used to defend the city. It is in a very embarrassing position. There are not many times when building a base in the northwest. War often catches fighters while moving quickly, rather than sieging the city step by step. The bulky artillery is even less useful. To be used in actual combat here, it must be lighter and more portable, and it is best to advance with the cavalry.

The same is true for vehicles, but the horse-drawn carts used on Qinfeng Road are naturally easy to use on repaired roads, but when they arrive at the grasslands and deserts without roads, there are many problems. One is that the off-road capability is not strong and the ditches cannot be overcome; the other is that it is too bumpy, making it difficult to ride people on the car, and the car is easy to fall apart; the other is that it is difficult to repair if the car breaks down.

Xu Ping really couldn't take time to do these things, so he handed over the task of improvement to Guo Zi. Guo Zi was talented and had a rare talent for invention and creation, especially machinery, so he could calm down and study these things.

Seeing Guo Zi's excitement, Xu Ping stopped going back to have a meal. He followed him to the yard in front to see the newly made artillery and vehicles. There was not much time left after autumn, and it was not easy to produce these two things.

The gun did not change significantly, but Guo Zi realized that the pressure of the barrel before and after the barrel was different. It changed from the original cylindrical long barrel to a cone, with the outer wall thin in front and thick in the back, which was considered an equal strength design, which relatively reduced weight. The most important improvement was not on the gun barrel, but on the gun stand. The new gun stand was directly made into a car, with a large number of components being used with a large cart, and the size could be pulled by a horse. Xu Ping had a clear requirement for the range, which was greater than a single arrow, and could just cover the cavalry's charge. For field guns, no matter how long the range was, it would be meaningless.

Guo Zi also changed the material of the cannon. He no longer forced the use of steel or copper, but changed it to an iron-walled copper core. That is, the shell is cast with iron, and the inner wall is embedded with a copper sleeve. The outer diameter of the copper sleeve is made into a conical shape, which is exactly opposite to the inner hole of the conical outer wall. The plasticity of copper is used to force the iron outer wall. After being embedded, the inner wall is squeezed again with a standard steel roller to achieve a smooth and consistent effect. That is, the inner wall with the highest requirements of the gun barrel no longer depends on the technical accuracy of processing, but the ductility of copper is used, and the standard

Accurate steel roller molds are used to ensure that. In this way, the difficulty of making the gun barrel is greatly reduced, the production speed is greatly improved, and the requirements of scale and standardization are met. Moreover, after using it for a period of time, the gun can be re-checked, and the standard steel roller can be squeezed again, which is much lower than the maintenance cost of the machined gun barrel. Of course, the disadvantages of this are also obvious, that is, the copper tire on the inner wall is not hard enough, and after the gun is used for a period of time, the inner wall will no longer be smooth and must be re-calibrated.

The war form in this era determines that, in addition to some special occasions, artillery cannot have a decisive impact on war. A weapon must have full effect and must have a whole system to support it. Xu Ping can produce artillery, and this system that cooperates with artillery combat is something he cannot improve at once. It can only be handed over to time. As the practice of war increases, the army learns the key points in practice and slowly improves a set of combat bodies that fully benefit the power of artillery.

For Xu Ping, such artillery was enough to be used here. He didn't think of relying on artillery to fight everything. This was just an auxiliary weapon. Decisive victory on the battlefield still depends on excellent command and fight with one sword and one shot.

In Xu Ping's eyes, large chariots that can travel in the grassland and desert are more important than artillery. With such chariots, they can greatly increase the army's mobility and expand the combat range. Compared with the Dangxiang cavalry that relies on horses and camels to transport materials, they will be able to obtain a longer combat distance and carry more sufficient combat materials. This equipment is the equipment that fully utilizes the technical and sufficient materials advantages of the agricultural ethnic army.

Taking Xu Ping to look at the new cart, Guo Zi was also a little excited and said, "Maintenance, don't look at this cart as it looked roughly the same as before. In fact, those inconspicuous places are truly useful!"

While saying that, he pointed at the two wheels and said, "Look at it, the wheels of the cart are much larger than before!"

Xu Ping nodded: "The bigger the wheels, the easier it is to get the more obstacles the car will be. It is easy to pass through ditches and bumps. However, when the wheels are bigger, the body will be raised and the more likely to overturn. Moreover, when the car runs, it will be bumpy. In a word, when the wheels are bigger, the car will be easier to run in places where roads are not built, but it will not run fast."

Guo Zi nodded repeatedly: "The strategy is very true, and this is indeed the reason. I have tried it countless times. The wheels are big, and the car will easily overturn if it runs like before. However, I thought of a way to make overturning less easy."

As he said that, Guo Zi bent down and pointed at the frame to show Xu Ping: "Look at it, the original frame was flat. I have now made it into an arch, so that the axle was embedded in the frame. In this way, although the wheels are big, the body of the car will not be lifted too high, and it will not be so easy to overturn. What does Zheng Yue think?"

Xu Ping nodded: "Yes, the car is not easy to overturn. Just look at whether the center of gravity of the frame runs out of the wheels. If you make an arch, it is equivalent to putting the frame down, which is indeed not easy to overturn. But in this way, the lowered frame will easily be encountered when it encounters a high place on the ground in front, so don't consider it."

"Yes, so now when this car is running on the road, it is actually high in front and low in the back. After the shaft in front is on the horse's back, it is lifted up high and lowered in the back, which is no longer flat, but oblique. Of course, I know that the strategy will say that in this way, loading goods will cause heavy in the back and light in the front and exhausted horsepower. Therefore, this car cannot be loaded the car like before. The soldiers who are using it must be familiar with the temperament of the car and try to load the car with heavy in the front."

Xu Ping smiled and said, "I understand, it's really hard for you. With the big wheels, the car can hold a lot less cargo. It's really valuable to think of these. How to use them? The soldiers will naturally understand how to use them."

Xu Ping learned this in his previous life, so he naturally knew many of the difficult things. To strengthen the ability to overcome obstacles, wheeled vehicles naturally need to increase the wheels, but if the wheels are large, it will cause a series of problems. Guo Zi only talked about a few main aspects, and there are still many details to ensure that the large-wheeled vehicles still have enough cargo capacity. Especially the speed of large-wheeled vehicles is limited, and it is not easy to be able to ensure that the wheels can adapt to the horse's speed after they are large. It is not that there are too many things involved, so Xu Ping changed it himself, and there is no need to leave it to Guo Zi to try it bit by bit.
Chapter completed!