Warrior in Turbulent Han Dynasty

Guo Shao received the report that the Military Weapons Supervisor had cast an iron-cast cannon, which had been successfully tested for firing stones.

He personally went to Beiyuan Firearms Workshop to watch it, accompanied by Zan Jurun. Arriving at the place, Guo Shao saw a few short and thick cannons, all made of iron, with six iron rings hooped on the barrels, which looked very strange, completely different from the cannons in his impression; the thing in front of him didn't look like a cannon, but a long oil barrel!

Zan Jurun said: "We ordered two types of cannons to be cast. This one is the largest and weighs 500 catties! The diameter of the muzzle is 9 inches 6 fen (approximately 320 millimeters), and the length of the cannon is 4 feet..."

Guo Shao nodded to indicate that he was listening carefully, thinking that the ratio of the caliber to the length was only more than four to one, no wonder it looked like a barrel. There is also a base at the bottom of the "barrel", which is used to fix the wooden base of the gun body, so it looks very strange, not quite like a cannon.

Zan Jurun continued: "It can fire stone bullets weighing more than 100 jin, with a range of 600 steps!"

"Should the muzzle be thrown upwards?" Guo Shao asked immediately. Because of such a thick|short caliber and such a big rock, it is impossible to shoot it too far, and it must have hit the ground not far from the chamber.

Sure enough, Zan Jurun said: "That's the only way. It fires like a catapult. But I think this cannon is far better than a catapult. It has a longer range and the stone bullets are heavier and more powerful. Moreover, the cost of casting an iron cannon is less than making a catapult, and it is not easy to break. The catapult is easy to damage. The only disadvantage of the gunpowder cannon is that it is very slow to reload."

Guo Shao ordered the experiment. All the craftsmen came up and fiddled with the filling, poured the gunpowder in with a dustpan, and then a big man carried a round stone and put it in, and filled the gap with soil. Guo Shao sat down beside the wooden table in the distance, and while observing, he wrote, drew, drew and calculated. According to the size described by Zan Jurun, the spherical volume of the stone bomb is calculated according to the volume formula... Then the density of the stone is about three times that of water. Guo Shao quickly estimated that the weight of the stone is indeed about 100 catties!

At this time, the craftsmen put a paper-wrapped red lead through the small hole at the bottom of the cannon, and shouted: "Your Majesty, the villain is about to light the fire!"

Guo Shao put down the brush and blocked his ears with his fingers. After a while, a person took a torch and lit the fuse, which quickly burned in. Suddenly there was a loud bang, and the writing brushes on the wooden case jumped for a bit, and then saw the flames from the gun muzzle, thick white smoke rising, and a stone flying towards the midair with a visible trajectory. After a while, it landed on the grass in the distance.

Guo Shao looked into the distance and saw a brick-covered wall as a target. Everyone fired several more cannons one after another, one of which hit the city wall, and the sound of stones hitting could be heard far away. At this time, Guo Shao got on his horse and ran to the landing point with a group of people to watch. The three big pits on the grass were all made by stone cannons, and the earthen wall in front was hit by a stone. Although it was impossible to collapse, the female wall and bricks above were smashed to pieces!

The scene in front of him immediately made Guo Shao think that this thing can be used to attack the city, which is better than the catapult.

... Then Guo Shao watched the experiment of another small cannon. The shape of the casting is similar to the cannon just now, only smaller, only weighs more than 50 jins, the same as an iron barrel, the wall of the cannon is thinner, and it is hooped by iron rings.

This kind of gun is used to break stones, and dozens of pieces of gravel are loaded at one time to carry out area strikes.

But the effect of the shotgun is not satisfactory, it can only cover an area twenty paces away, and the coverage width is less than ten paces; if it is farther away, it will have no lethality, because the direction of the gravel flying out of the large-caliber gun muzzle is uncertain. It is also because of this that gravel can form an area of ​​impact. If they are all in one direction, the coverage will be narrower.

Guo Shao estimated that if there were cavalry in the front, because the cavalry were relatively sparse when charging to prevent collisions, two or three cavalry could be hit with one shot, but the short-range damage to dense infantry might be greater.

The effect of the shotgun is much worse than Guo Shao imagined, and I feel that it is not very practical; maybe this kind of artillery made by the military supervisor is not as good as Qi Jiguang's Huzun Cannon... But it is also reasonable to think about it. If the shotgun's damage is far and wide, then what is the value of the fire|gun salvo?

So Guo Shao personally named the cannon that threw big rocks "Longxiao Cannon", but did not name the cannon that threw small stones.

...

Guo Shao spent a lot of effort, and most of the firearms he produced were not as effective as cold weapons. Only the Longxiao Cannon was the most useful, and it could replace the catapult to attack the city.

But he still did not give up the firearm. The bronze blunderbuss cast by the military inspector before has an effective range of 40 steps, and a more lethal range of 20 steps; when it is put into practical production, the firing method is similar to that of a cannon. Then some iron rings with iron thorns were added to the barrel; a handle was cast at the back... The idea is that after firing the lead bullets, it can be used as a mace!

Huo|gun has completely deviated from Guo Shao's original intention, and its appearance is getting weirder and weirder, but he can't help it, because with the current performance, it is more practical to do so.

However, he felt that the bronze blunderbuss still needs to be improved, that is, the way of ignition. One can imagine how inconvenient it is for one person to light the lead with a torch in battle. If the torch goes out, it will be a complete mace!

What Guo Shao thought of was the ignition method of the matchlock gun. He has given up the flint method for the time being, because the part is too difficult to make, and he can't remember the structure, so he can't figure it out for a while.

The craftsmen in the Firearms Workshop couldn't make this kind of thing in a short time, because they had never seen it before. Guo Shao designed the mechanism himself in the iron shop of the Hall of Grace, and the principle to be realized is very simple: use a mechanism to press the ignited match into the gunpowder; and then realize the firing.

But it’s just such a simple thing, Guo Shao has been tinkering with it for several evenings but still can’t figure it out, and found many problems... For example, if you press the matchstick directly into the barrel, the ignition hole will be relatively large, which will affect the airtightness and further reduce the performance of the fire|gun; there is also a matchstick exposed near the gunpowder, which is easy to go off, because the gunpowder ignites at one point; ordinary hemp rope or cloth rope burns too fast...

What's more, the firing mechanism is not complicated, but if it is placed behind the barrel, it will be easily damaged if it is used as a mace; it is also very awkward.

Guo Shao felt a little headache, and felt that it was not easy to improve even the most backward technology in the eyes of later generations. But he was still unwilling to give up this road, so he had to be patient and slowly explore by himself and the military inspector.

!!