Compared with the stone caster, this mortar has its advantages and disadvantages.

When the stone bullet is polished smoothly and compliant, the range is a little longer. However, a large stone caster can project one or two hundred kilograms of stones, and there is no requirement for the shape.

Then it means that it is more mobility and saves manpower.

But in Wu Qian and Ma Guangzu's view, shooting far is the biggest advantage.

Isn't it great if you can't beat me, but I can beat you up on the face.

If it is troublesome to make stone bullets, then use pottery bullets, which means burning mud balls into pottery balls, breaking and sputtering after landing, it can kill people even more.

As for siege, about twenty kilograms of shells are really tickling the truly strong city walls. At worst, it can be replaced with iron bullets. If they are not powerful enough, then they will get together. If they come to a hundred gates, they will not believe that there will be walls that cannot be knocked down.

The military thoughts of the Song people did pay more attention to long-range strikes. It seems that there is nothing wrong with thinking like this. If the cost of this mortar is ignored.

The bronze used to cast cannons contains roughly 88% of copper, 100% of tin, and 20% of zinc. If these guys of more than 300 kilograms are used to cast coins, at least 100 jin. If calculated based on the market value of copper, it will be 300 jin, which is just the material cost.

When the cost cannot be reduced by iron for the time being, Zhao Mengqi can only try to improve the cost-effectiveness of the copper cannon.

"Chen Dagong, come and have a flowering bullet."

"Okay, your Highness, please wait."

Chen Jinshan immediately got busy again, and someone started to clean the gun barrel here and someone went to set up the shooting range there.

Then everyone saw a group of soldiers carrying wooden stakes, sheep, and pigs, coming to the near the stone bullet drop point just now.

They nailed dozens of wooden stakes into the ground, tied pigs and sheep to it, and even put some pigs and sheep on various armors.

The scene looked a bit strange and funny, but Wu Qian and Ma Guangzu thought about it for a more intuitive test of the power of the weapon, so they waited silently with interest.

Then they smelled a strong smell of urine in the smell of gunpowder.

I saw a craftsman holding a long stick wrapped in a piece of cloth, immersing it into a wooden barrel filled with unknown liquid, then stabbing it into the barrel chamber that had been cleaned up the gunpowder residue, and starting the piston movement.

After being stabbed like this, the muzzle kept spraying out white mist, and the strong smell of urine also came from here.

Seeing that everyone was confused, Zhao Mengqi explained, "This is horse urine. While cleaning up the residual dirt in the cannon chamber, it also cools down the cannon body."

As for why he used horse pee, he was not very clear. He only vaguely remembered that this was done in the era of borebomb guns. For this reason, he specially equipped the island with more than 30 pack horses.

After cleaning the barrel, you must continue to cool the cannon body with cold salt water, and smoke will squeak again.

After cooling down almost, you can put the raw silk gunpowder pack and then fill the so-called flowering bullet in. Bayi Chinese website

The bullet body is a ball fixed on a wooden bullet support, which can better seal the barrel and insulate and buffer, prevent the launching drug from detonating the shell in advance, and can also enhance the flight stability of the shell to a certain extent and slightly improve the accuracy.

At the front end of the warhead, a wood pipe delay fuse is stuffed into it, and the tube is filled with hard gunpowder, which can burn at a stable speed. In principle, wood pipes of different lengths can be intercepted to adjust the detonation time.

This fuze is very primitive and the accident rate failure efficiency is quite high. But who made Zhao Mengqi not understand science and unable to create collision fuzes?

He knew about thunder and mercury, but he didn't know how to get it out. He deeply hated that he had not learned mathematics, physics and chemistry well back then, and he could only spend money to try it. Only God knows whether it can succeed.

After everything was ready, the craftsmen retreated to the tunnel behind the cement wall and left two people next to the mortar.

"Your Highness, you are ready and can be launched at any time." Chen Jinshan seemed a little nervous than before.

"Start it."

Zhao Mengqi nodded. Although it took a long time, it was still a stage of exploration and gradually improving.

Chen Jinshan issued an order, "The warhead ignites!"

A craftsman took the red-burned iron knitting into the cannon chamber, pulled it out after a moment, shouting, "Success!"

Then another craftsman immediately lit the fuse, and then the two craftsmen ran away.

The fuse this time was shorter, and the craftsman ran into the tunnel and the mortar roared.

I don’t know if it’s an illusion, but Zhao Mengqi felt that the shadows flying out of his gun were faster than before.

A perfect parabola passed through the air, and the shells fell into the flock of pigs and sheep, stirring up smoke and dust. After three or five breaths, a dazzling fire burst out.

A more violent thunder came than when it was launched, and everyone felt the ground trembling slightly under their feet, and their eyes were even more shocked by the scene of the shooting range in the distance.

In the flames and smoke, fragments of large and small sputtered into the air and then fell like rain.

Some pigs and sheep far from the explosion point ran around in panic howling and struggling. Perhaps some of the wooden stakes were shaken loose. Some of the big pigs actually escaped and dragged the wooden stakes into the woods.

Zhao Mengqi was happy, "Next time, remember to tie the hooves, otherwise you will have to lose several hundred kilograms of meat."

"My subordinates are negligent, please punish your superiors." Shi Cheng apologized seriously.

"What are you punishing you? Are you punishing you to eat less meat for dinner?" Zhao Mengqi teased and patted his shoulder, "However, although this is a trivial matter, it should be taken seriously. Only by learning lessons and correcting mistakes can we become more and more perfect and stronger."

Shunkou Education beat it up and it can be regarded as the pigs that ran away contributed value.

The successful test shot made Chen Jinshan feel much more relaxed. Seeing that King Yan was easy-going, he grinned and said, "Actually, there is no need to worry. This island is so big, and those pigs can't go anywhere. Didn't we even raise dozens of hunting dogs? It wouldn't take much time to find it."

The island’s hunting dogs are actually used as police dogs to prevent strangers from sneaking in.

After the smoke of gunpowder dissipated, a team of soldiers walked into the shooting range, began to view the effects and record the data.

Zhao Mengqi looked around and said, "Let's go and have a look, too."

Wu Qian and Ma Guangzu could not hide their excitement at this moment. They had long wanted to see the explosion scene up close, so they would not agree.

After everyone walked in slowly, they were shocked and excited to see the messy scene.

In the center of the explosion, there was a round pit with a diameter of five or six feet. It was full of new soil, which looked very clean. The outer circle was filled with radial burning marks. Some charred wooden stakes fell to the ground, and some were still igniting fire and smoking.

Some of the wooden stakes were basically still standing, and some unbreakable ropes were tied to different levels of broken bodies. Two or three living pigs fell to the ground, humming weakly.

With a radius of one meter away, there were more pigs and sheep that survived, many of them were injured, but they were roughly intact. Two meter away, most pigs and sheep were still alive and minced meat was scattered on the ground.

This effect is because the shells fly at a low speed and do not plunge too much into the ground, allowing the shrapnel to fly out relatively flat.

If it is dealt with the cavalry group, the range of killing can be roughly expanded.

Zhao Mengqi estimated that it was probably the killing radius of the 75mm grenade in later generations, so he could use it.

He felt that he was just trying to settle down, but Wu Qian and Ma Guangzu were so shocked that their scalp was numb.

Ma Guangzu squatted at the edge of the crater and looked at a dead pig wearing iron armor.

I don’t know whether the pig’s luck is good or bad. Anyway, it was not hit by shrapnel, its limbs were intact, and the armor on its body was not seriously damaged, it was just a little deformed and charred.

When he lifted the iron armor, he emitted a heat with the aroma of barbecue, which almost made Ma Guangzu unable to resist it.

Wu Qian was on the other side, also looking at an iron-armored pig.

He found a hole as big as a thumb in the iron armor, and when he opened it, he saw that the pig had a gap as big as a fist, which was blurred and bloody, and it was terrible.

Both old men were so shocked that they could not express their feelings. They looked up at each other through the pit and saw the horror in each other's eyes.

Wu Qian murmured, "This flowering bullet is so powerful! The iron armor is as if nothing is in front of it. Isn't it invincible on the battlefield? "

He had seen the power of "fried eggs" before, but now this shell is more than ten times stronger than that.

Ma Guangzu shuddered, and a red light appeared in his eyes, "God blesses the Song Dynasty, who can compete with this magical artifact in the world?"

Then he became a little divine, "This thing is in hand, so the Tartars can't even attack my border again! No, no, even if he doesn't come, I will go back to the old land of our ancestors and the old land of the Han and Tang Dynasties! I will report to the officials and make it all their efforts, and even if I do whatever the whole country can do, I will do whatever I can!"

Zhao Mengqi couldn't smile bitterly, and held Ma Guangzu's shoulder and shook it, "Ma Xiang! Ma Xiang!"

"Ah? What's wrong with Your Highness?" Ma Guangzu was still immersed in his imagination.

Zhao Mengqi had no choice but to reach out and gesture in front of him, "This mortar cannon costs at least 500 s, one flowering bullet, three slogan."

"So expensive!" Ma Guangzu was stunned and explained to himself, "In fact, it's okay, it's only the cost of a cavalry..."

Zhao Mengqi scratched his head, "You can't calculate this way. This shell is a consumable and will be gone after it is shot. Moreover, in actual combat, the effect is definitely not so good. Except for the first time or two unexpected opportunities to find the right opportunity to do something big, the enemy will definitely find a solution to it later. Maybe, they will be secretly learned by the enemy and will deal with us in turn."

When Ma Guangzu heard this, he gradually regained his rationality and realized that he was too excited and took it for granted.

"Your Highness is right. After all, the weapon is a weapon. You may gain an advantage, but it may not necessarily determine the victory..."

As he said that, Ma Guangzu seemed to have thought of something again, "No matter what, this thing is related to the fate of the country. It is too unstable to protect only more than 300 soldiers. No, it is not safe to put it here. If it is stolen by spies, it will be a huge disaster for our dynasty!"

Zhao Mengqi shrugged his shoulders, "Then where do you say you can put it? There are probably more spies in Lin'an than anywhere else. You can't put them in the palace, right? If this thing goes crazy... Tsk, my father will take a dirt plane."

Although I don’t know what the earth plane is, the general meaning of King Yan’s words is still not difficult to understand. So not only Ma Guangzu, but also Wu Qian’s face began to suck. His Highness really dares to say anything.

Seeing the two old ministers' expressions ugly, Zhao Mengqi couldn't help but feel embarrassed, "Actually, you two don't have to worry about security measures. The guards on this island are just the last line of defense. Xishan Island is also stationed with Fenghua Navy. There are also watercraft ships on the lake. Before the new weapons are put into actual combat, they will try to keep them as confidential as possible."

Indeed, studying artillery technology now is just a reserve technology. Only when the time is ripe and mass production can Zhao Mengqi be put into the battlefield. And the most important thing is the gunpowder formula, which is the top secret among the top secrets.

After hearing the explanation, the two old men looked a little better, and Ma Guangzu thought, "With this thing, many weapons are actually no longer produced, especially old firearms, otherwise they would be a waste of money, grain and raw materials."

"I invited Ma Xiang to come and this is also the case. I suggest that after Ma Xiang takes office, he will stop Jiankang's firearm workshop and move him to Pingjiang Prefecture. I will set up a special military base to facilitate unified management and security." Zhao Mengqi went with the flow.

Ma Guangzu nodded slightly, "The old minister will consider your highness's suggestion carefully. After all, other military ordnances may also need to be changed. This matter is related to the supply of each army and is very involved. It requires a reason not to attract others' attention."

Zhao Mengqi was not anxious about this and said, "After seeing the mortar, let's take a look at another one."

Then, the soldiers cleaned up the dead and injured pigs and sheep and broken limbs, leaving behind the intact to continue to be targets.

Everyone returned to the launch site and turned their eyes to another cannon that was pushing back again.

This cannon is much longer than the mortar. It lies on a gun stand made of hardwood. It is equipped with two iron wheels and can be dragged by a cattle and horse. When arranged, the drag stand can be unfolded as a support, which is slightly a bit like the "Italian cannon" used by Li Yunlong.

Of course, the cannon body is much thicker and the cannon stand is also very rough, so I can only say it looks a little bit like it.

It is still Chen Jinshan introduced, "This cannon is temporarily called 'direct cannon'. It is three feet long and weighs 427 kilograms. It can fire one kilogram of iron bullets or shotguns with a range of 270 zhang. The accuracy is considered to be a controllable range. According to the idea, iron bullets are mainly used to attack large enemy equipment, such as stone cannons, crossbows, shield cars, cloud ladders, etc. The shotguns are used to attack enemy cavalry, especially heavy cavalry with dense arrays."

In fact, if it is true that when the opponent's cavalry is about to rush to the battlefield, there is a high probability that their own defense will have problems. If you use this cannon to attack the cavalry, it is probably only a chance to fire a shot, because more than 200 father-in-law rushed over in a flash, and firing a shot is just a matter of personnel.

Of course, how to use weapons depends on the battlefield commander's idea.
Chapter completed!