Chapter 212 The war begins and the east wind is really coming

Author: tx Cheng Zhi

Chapter 212 The war begins and the east wind is really coming

Chapter 211

"boom!"

With this loud noise, a ball of orange fire burst out from the barrel, smoke rolled up, and the ground shook violently as if it was an earthquake. The guys who were hiding in the distance to watch the excitement were weak.

, they all turned into gourds, and their ears were buzzing as if someone had slapped them hard!

A lot of gravel was thrown up high and fell like hail, leaving everyone with a gray face. However, everyone did not have any overreaction to the dust on their faces. Their faces turned pale, obviously because of the thunderous explosion.

Hibiki was scared!

Not only Cheng Shijie, but also the surrounding craftsmen and technicians, and the workers in the Gunnery Bureau factory further away were also frightened. They could be seen jumping up and down from a few hundred meters away!

Don't blame them, most people have never heard such a terrifying loud noise in their lives, and it is normal to be scared out of their wits. Cheng Shijie was still calm amidst the smoke.

Because he knew the power of artillery shells in later generations. Today's five-inch cannon with thirty times the caliber, converted into later generations' units, is larger than the caliber of a 155mm howitzer. Because the caliber is large enough, the shells are also large enough. Generally,

The weight of the 155mm howitzer shells of later generations was between 40 and at least 50 kilograms, and the charge was also about 10 to 15 kilograms.

Although Ning Haijun's artillery is far less advanced than later generations, the problem is that Ning Haijun's gunpowder and warhead now use nitrocellulose.

This is a very powerful explosive, even more powerful than TNT. Even the most perfectly formulated black powder has an explosive power equivalent to only 30% of TNT. But the problem is that nitrocellulose is very sensitive.

, is also prone to explosion. If the environment is too humid, it will lose sensitivity and be difficult to detonate, thus becoming ineffective.

In the autumn of 1863, Nobel successfully invented nitroglycerin. In October, he obtained the patent for nitroglycerin dynamite and established the Nitroglycerin Explosives Company.

Nitroglycerine is extremely powerful, two or three times more powerful than black powder. Its emergence has enabled humans to truly possess the explosives needed to make high-explosive shells. Before its appearance, the so-called black powder had pitifully little lethality, and could only produce at most one time.

There are more than ten pieces of shrapnel. It is simply a dream to rely on this small amount of shrapnel to kill a large number of enemy troops.

But the problem is that nitroglycerin is too sensitive, so nitroglycerin is also called "cheating oil". Use diatomaceous earth or flour to absorb the yellow solid made from nitroglycerin, which completely solves this problem.

Yellow explosives are very safe.

The inventor of gunpowder in Ning Haijun is Chen Yiming. Chen Yiming is a fireworks craftsman for generations. Starting from Chen Yiming's ancestor, Chen Shigui during the Hongwu period, he has been engaged in gunpowder work for generations. Because he invented granular black powder and improved the power of gunpowder, Cheng Shijie rewarded him

One thousand taels of silver and two hundred acres of land.

Chen Yiming went crazy and experimented. In the experiment, he mixed nitric acid with cotton to produce nitrocellulose. In fact, Ning Haijun did not solve the absolute safety problem of nitrocellulose, but only adopted an isolation method, including this flowering shell. First of all,

A small copper tube, with water at one end and quicklime at the other end, sealed with paraffin in the middle.

Nitrocellulose will explode when the temperature exceeds 40 degrees, so when the cannonball falls on the ground or in the water, the paraffin in the copper pipe will pierce the paraffin film, and a chemical reaction will occur between the water and the lime, producing a large amount of

heat, thereby detonating the nitrocellulose.

In other words, the explosive power of nitrocellulose is 1.5 times that of TNT. Due to the large size of nitrocellulose, the amount of explosive charge is not as good as that of TNT in the same volume, so the power of the two sides is actually about the same.

As the cylindrical shells fired from the five-inch breech-loading rifled gun, under the action of the twelve riflings, rotated to the right, they flew towards the woods to the south of the gun and artillery bureau, only to the woods immediately ahead.

An orange-red fireball rose up.

Cheng Shijie didn't see clearly how far away it was, but he felt that it was at least more than 3,670 meters. The range of this kind of artillery was much greater than that of a three-inch gun.

"Go over and take a look."

Cheng Shijie didn't even have time for the observer to report the results, so he mounted his horse and ran towards the place where the shell fell. Huang Lidong, Chen Yiming, and the foundry gunner Luo Ruwang who was responsible for the development of the new five-inch cannon. Luo Ruwang was brought in by Sun Yuanhua.

When the foundry master was in Dengzhou, he could receive 600 taels of silver a year from Sun Yuanhua. This income was considered top-notch in Dengzhou.

Cheng Shijie is even more wealthy. His income has increased more than ten times because he has seventy apprentices. The cost of taking apprentices every month is more than three hundred taels of silver. Adding his salary and subsidies, he has a total of six

More than a thousand taels of silver.

Cheng Shijie has a point of view, that is, once you have enough money, your brain will be enlightened. With Cheng Shijie's generous reward, Ning Haijun's scientific research level has rapidly improved.

After more than ten minutes, Cheng Shijie finally arrived at the explosion point of the shell. At this time, the place seemed to be swept by a tornado. Dozens of hundreds of big trees were blown to pieces. One hundred and fifty steps away from the explosion point, there were still

There are shrapnel embedded in the tree trunk.

This power is quite amazing.

The power of this five-inch gun is really incredible. This era-defining artillery uses nitrocellulose as the propellant and the explosive warhead. As long as one shot hits, any sail warship in this era can be killed.

Yes! "Reporting back to the commander, we have 3,782 steps for this test shot!"

In the Ming Dynasty, one step was five feet, equivalent to 157.5 centimeters, and the firing range was nearly six thousand meters. Of course, this is not the farthest range of this artillery. The firing angle is fundamentally different, which should be calculated from five hundred meters to eight thousand meters.

between.

The age of artillery is coming.

Cheng Shijie saw that this new five-inch gun could not be used by infantry, so he asked: "Luo Ruwang, how much does this gun weigh?"

"Commander, the total weight of this cannon is 3,462 kilograms!"

Cheng Shijie fell silent when he heard this. In the Napoleonic era, the French four-pounder gun weighed 560 kilograms, which is 1,120 pounds, and needed four horses to pull it. This was based on the fact that European horses were of good quality and the gun carriages had a reasonable structure.

Basically, the average Napoleonic artillery battery required thirteen horses per gun.

Based on the condition of horses in the late Ming Dynasty, it was impossible for two horses to pull a 3,600-pound five-inch cannon. On better road conditions, especially on the newly built official roads in southern Liaoning, there was no problem in pulling this kind of artillery.

However, it is impossible for all the artillery used by the infantry to move along the road, and the situation where there is no road must also be considered. What's more, today's Ning navy and army have become mules and horses, and the troops march faster.

In this case, the artillery division of the Ning Navy had no way to equip five-inch cannons, even though such five-inch cannons were extremely powerful, because the cannons were heavy and basically limited the speed of the army.

Just like the Jiannu Army, there are actually a large number of artillery, but the problem is that most of these artillery are relatively bulky Hongyi cannons, ranging from three thousand kilograms to five thousand kilograms. When Jiannu was fighting against the Ning Navy

, often the cavalry in front fought for several days, but the artillery failed to catch up.

What's more, the current Ning Navy and Army have no urgent needs. The key to the problem is that this kind of five-inch gun will also be classified as a heavy artillery in later generations. If it is loaded on a wooden sailing ship, can the sail warship withstand the huge rear force?

Seat strength?

When Cheng Shijie asked about other data about this artillery, neither Luo Ruwang nor Huang Lidong could tell a reason, because the development method of this artillery is like kneading noodles. If there is more water, add more noodles. If there is more noodles, add more water.

After adding and adding, such a monster was added.

In later generations, there is a saying that there is a mathematical way to measure everything. But the problem is that the mathematics of Ming craftsmen is generally not good. Cheng Shijie's mathematics is barely average. However, in the Ming Dynasty, he could crush most mathematics masters.

In desperation, this new five-inch gun can only be installed on the Jusha-class and slowly tested.

"You have done a very good job. You have made great contributions to the success of the five-inch rifled gun. With this weapon, our army may be able to reverse the outcome of a battle and save the lives of thousands of soldiers.

!”

The question that Cheng Shijie is most concerned about: "How many can this five-inch gun make?"

"The commander-in-chief means..."

"Two months!"

Cheng Shijie planned to catch Zheng Zhilong off guard at the end of December, which was also the Chinese New Year. Otherwise, he would be beaten to death if he didn't take action.

Now Cheng Shijie is deliberately shouting and killing in Liaodong. It is certain that Zheng Zhilong has many informants in Liaodong. Cheng Shijie's every move cannot be hidden from them. In this way, it can give Zheng Zhilong an illusion.

Cheng Shijie had nothing to do with Zheng Zhilong, so he could only ask for an advantage in his words.

"Six doors!"

"No, at least twelve doors!"

"Commander, this cannon is too problematic..."

Before Luo Ruwang could finish speaking, Cheng Shijie said: "We currently have two giant shark-class warships that will be commissioned, and I am planning to install five-inch guns on them!"

After leaving the Gun and Artillery Bureau, Cheng Shijie visited the Gun Powder Manufacturing Factory of the Gun and Artillery Bureau, which was producing gunpowder around the clock.

Nowadays, the application of the new explosive nitrocellulose is becoming more and more widespread. It is indispensable for mining and road construction. It is even used to blow up the dangerous rocks on the waterway and dredge the waterway. Therefore, the business of the gunpowder factory is booming.

Shiploads of nitric acid, cotton, tar, flour, and yellow phosphorus were sent over, and then turned into collodion, collodion, and other things necessary for killing and selling goods. Colloidal and nitrocellulose glue were stored in the arsenal, and collodion was stored in the arsenal.

It is the propellant for gun bureau bullets and artillery shells, and the demand is very huge.

“How much inventory do we have now?”

Chen Yiming replied: "We currently only have 50,000 kilograms of inventory, which is divided into three warehouses: Dongshan, Nanshan, and Lantau Island. We must use some of it. It is dangerous and takes up space to pile up in the warehouse..."

"Don't worry, I will take care of it."

Cheng Shijie knew that once a fight with Zheng Zhilong started, the demand for gunpowder would definitely increase greatly. Fifty thousand kilograms sounded like a lot, but the problem was that it was only twenty-five tons of gunpowder.

"The storage capacity of 50,000 kilograms is not enough, far from enough. I need you to increase your production capacity immediately. The strategic reserve needs at least 100,000 kilograms."

Overall, Cheng Shijie was very satisfied with the results of this inspection. His arsenal already has a very strong production capacity and has accumulated a considerable ammunition inventory, which is enough for him to fight a big war.

Satisfied, Boss Cheng once again rewarded those hard-working craftsmen and skilled workers, and then left with satisfaction, heading to the Agricultural Sciences Research Institute in Zhenhai City.

Chen Zilong, Song Yingxing and a large group of agricultural technical experts from the Western French Party are working in full swing.

At the beginning, Cheng Shijie was worried that these more than 100 agricultural experts would leave Liaonan, so he specially ordered the garrison officers of the Zhenhai Defense Bureau who were responsible for protecting them. If any of them wanted to leave, they must be stopped and reported as soon as possible.

Cheng Shijie.

As a result, Cheng Shijie overthought. Although Xu Guangqi taught a large number of agricultural students, the problem was that Xu Guangqi did not have a huge amount of money to support their research.

When they were in Shanghai, they didn't even have an experimental field, but Cheng Shijie was very generous and directly allocated them a county seat in Xinghai, not only providing more than 2 million acres of land, but also providing good dry farmland.
To be continued...