The bitter nights of midsummer are short, and the opening is slightly cool.

The scorching sun is in the sky and the summer is scorching, but Wang Song does not have such time to go to Yixing to enjoy the coolness. The official documents of the court and the central government were smashed one after another, and the wording calling for an immediate northern expedition became more and more intense, which shows that the pressure of the ministers of the court and the central government on the king can be said to be at the limit.

Wang Song ignored it, and after receiving Lin Tianyou's report, he rushed from Hedong to Hebei again, and worked tirelessly.

The reason why the Hedong army did not go north in an instant, but has been entrenched so far, is to wait for news from Hebei.

He has been deeply suspicious by the court, and he can't afford to lose when he recovers Taiyuan, and he has no chance to squander it. Once the army is defeated, he may be constrained in every way, and even lose the right to lead the army.

Regarding the Northern Expedition, he didn't believe anyone, even Yue Wumu, who was famous for thousands of years!

The willows by the river were motionless, and their leaves were curled as if they were sick. The fields are green, and there are still peasants wearing hats and shuttling through them. A few old fishermen hid under the ancient willows, but they were leisurely.

When you step on the road, you can feel the heat of the concrete floor. In the air, there was a tumbling heat wave everywhere. Fortunately, according to Wang Song's requirements, the cement roadside is full of trees, and there is not much dust on the cement road, which also makes people walking on it in summer not so upset.

I have been in Li Cheng for more than a month, and the time has entered August, and the weather is not so hot. The training of the troops has basically ended, and all the armies have been reorganized and entered the familiarization stage, all of which are waiting for the order to send troops.

Hedong Road Jurchen West Route Army Commander Wanyan Zonghan sits in Yunzhong Mansion, the so-called "Little God of War" Wanyan Yinshu can sit in Taiyuan, and there is another well-known "God of War" Wanyan Lou Room, plus Wanyan Xi Room, as well as Wanyan Pujianu, Wanyan Hulu and other tiger and wolf generals, it can be said that the Hexi West Route Army has gathered the most elite tiger and wolf division of the Jurchens, if the Western Route Army is defeated, then the Song people's disadvantage to the Jin people will be completely reversed.

Therefore, Wang Song cannot be defeated, otherwise it will be wiped out in an instant, and the great cause of resisting gold will be successful.

“…… The three towns of the north, the barrier of the country, the division of the tiger and wolf of the headquarters, the soldiers and horses, the exhaustion, the restoration of the old land, the shame of the snow country, the monarch and the ministers are single-minded, and the name is left in history......"

Wang Song received Zhao Huan's secret decree, telling him to be cautious and make sure that he succeeds in one blow, and his urgency is full of words. The emperor's stubbornness and weakness made Wang Song feel empathy. As a king who grew up in the splendid pile, it is already rare for Zhao Huan to be able to do this.

Zhang Xian, Niu Gao and others wondered in their hearts that the time to send troops could not be delayed any longer, otherwise once the weather turned cold, the Jurchens might lead their troops to invade south at any time.

If it is repeatedly delayed, it will be difficult to suppress the impetuosity and restlessness of the army, and the morale will inevitably suffer a great blow.

The young man seemed to be uneasy and had been waiting for something. This can't help but remind them of the story of Jing Ke's assassination of King Qin in history.

Jing Ke didn't wait for his best friend, and under the urging of Prince Yan Dan, he could only go west in a hurry, and finally ended up dying and destroying the country.

Although everyone muttered in their hearts and was uneasy, they didn't dare to urge, you know, even Wang Song ignored the twists and turns of the Jingshi, not to mention the persuasion of his own soldiers.

It wasn't until Wang Song led a group of generals to rush to Hebei non-stop that everyone knew that Wang Song had another secret.

At the gate of the iron workshop, Lin Tianyou and others were already waiting. Seeing Wang Song appear, Lin Tianyou greeted him with a smile.

"Xianggong, the villain does not disgrace his mission!"

Lin Tianyou's voice trembled with a hint of trembling, and he said loudly: "Xianggong, the artillery can already hit 300 steps away, and the wooden plate is cracked, which can be said to be earth-shattering and crying ghosts and gods." The villain is waiting for the public to congratulate!"

Wang Song's heart was shocked, and he involuntarily stepped forward, grabbed Lin Tianyou's arm, and said loudly: "Brother Lin, well done!" Lead the way in front of the head, and the official wants to see what is going on!"

Zhang Xian and Niu Gao glanced at each other, and each breathed a sigh of relief, it turned out that Xiang Gong was waiting for a new firearm.

In the courtyard, there are dozens of small cannons, the shape is simple, there is no tiger head artwork on it, but it is the muzzle of the cannon, which makes people shudder.

Wang Song took a closer look and nodded, this should be very close to the small cannon of later generations.

"Xianggong, this cannon is the artillery you want!"

Master Hu introduced on the side: "Xianggong, the body of this cannon weighs 36 pounds, and the body of the cannon is two feet long. Loaded with eight taels of gunpowder, it can fire 100 iron bullets weighing five coins, which is dexterous and lightweight, and easy to carry. ”

Niu Gao stepped forward, picked up a small cannon with one hand, and said with a smile: "This small cannon can be used as a weapon."

"Brother Niu, this thing is much more powerful than weapons!"

Lin Tianyou said with a smile: "This is a big killer weapon in the army, you will know in a while."

Wang Song nodded at the skeptical Niu Gao, then turned his head and asked, "Brother Lin, two masters, have you all tried the cannon?"

Everyone nodded, and Lin Tianyou stepped forward and said: "Back to Xianggong, all the artillery has been tried, and it has been fired hundreds of times, so now I will wait for Xianggong to come and see the results before I dare to make it officially."

The production of artillery is very rigorous, and it is a matter of life and death for soldiers and the success or failure of the war, so there can be no quality problems with artillery on the battlefield. Especially in the face of the fierce and vicious Jurchen cavalry, who come and go like the wind, they can't make the slightest mistake.

The life span of an iron cannon is around 600-700 rounds of shells, and that of a bronze cannon is 1,000 rounds. During the test gun, not only about 100 rounds must be fired every day, but after firing, it is also necessary to soak in cold water. For seven or eight consecutive days and more than ten days of test firing, there was no problem before it was passed.

Wang Song These are all methods obtained from later generations, and Lin Tianyou and others are also tested in strict accordance with his testing methods. Everyone knows that this is not trivial, so they don't dare to be sloppy at all.

On the site of the test artillery, there was a post at three steps and a sentry at five steps, and the soldiers of the loyal army could be seen everywhere.

Lin Tianyou said: "Xianggong, the villain has tried a few times recently, and the firing range of the small cannon is about 300 steps. The villain immediately demonstrated it to Xianggong. ”

One step in the Song Dynasty is equivalent to two steps in later generations, basically around 1.2 meters, and 300 steps is 360 meters, which is already a great improvement compared to the 100-meter range at the beginning.

Lin Tianyou personally stepped forward, took a few soldiers and began to load ammunition, adjust the angle to a flat angle, and when everything was ready, Lin Tianyou immediately lit the artillery.

Lin Tianyou tried firing six or seven times in a row, and the effective distance of direct shooting was about 200 steps, and the distance of 45 degrees was the farthest, and the range reached about 320 steps. The cannon barrel did not heat up or show any abnormalities.

On the target, the iron bullets shattered the wooden planks with a thickness of inches, ranging from 200 steps to more than 300 steps, and the broken planks were scattered on the ground and everywhere, some of which had been completely broken and had no appearance.

Niu Gao's face is like earth, if this cannon hits a person, it will be repaid, I am afraid that it will not be smashed into a meat patty!

He couldn't help but open his mouth, and then he believed Lin Dayou's words just now.

"Brother Lin, where are you artillery, it is simply a weapon to kill, a devil who kills people, if the cavalry encounters it, it will not be killed or wounded, and the corpses are everywhere. If you add the earth-shattering thunder, this ...... It is enough to change the situation on the battlefield, and it is really a weapon of the country!"

Yes, it's really a weapon of the country!

Wang Song nodded heavily, and let out a long breath, don't look at this is just a small cannon, a small step for the moon, a big step for human beings, with this small cannon, it will be much easier to build all kinds of cannons.

"God bless, everyone, you have built artillery and used it on the battlefield, it will make us die a lot less brothers, great merit, thousands of brothers of the loyal and righteous army, thank you very much!"

Not only did he die many soldiers, facing the most elite Western Route Army of the Jurchens, without firearms in hand, Wang Song was always unsure.

"Xianggong has tormented the villain!"

Lin Tianyou hurriedly gave in, and the craftsmen behind him fell to their knees.

"If it weren't for Xianggong making gunpowder and giving the villains patterns, how would the villains make artillery! Xianggong has given the villain so long, and the villain has finally completed it, which is really worthy of Xianggong!"

Although Lin Tianyou said this, he was very happy in his heart.

"Let's get up, the artillery is caused, and everyone will be rewarded, so everyone is waiting to receive the silver!"

The craftsmen cheered, but Wang Song's words made their joy stop in mid-air.

"In addition to the production of ammunition, there is also the casting of artillery, and 300 such guns must be built in a month, and the shells must be able to hit more than three or four hundred times. The Hedong Army is about to go to battle, and it must not be sloppy! ”

He hesitated for a moment, then continued:

"Hedong artillery is well built, and another 300 guns and 100 guns will be built to supply to the Hebei Loyal and Righteous Army."

Lin Tianyou, Master Hu and others looked at each other, all of them had a difficult face.

Niu Gao shook his head secretly, Wang Song still couldn't be ruthless, you know, these cannons were given to the army of the two rivers for free, Wang Song did this, and he didn't know whether it was a blessing or a curse.

Lin Tianyou said: "Xianggong, a lot of shells have been made, but now I need hundreds of artillery pieces in the short term, I'm afraid I can't catch up with the time."

Wang Song nodded and said, "Of course it is not possible to use the mud fan to cast the cannon, let's use other methods."

Lin Tianyou couldn't help but be stunned, scratched his head and said: "Xianggong, if you don't use a clay fan to make a cannon, can you still use an iron fan to cast a cannon?"

All the iron production in the iron mill is either Shafan or Iron Fan, Lin Tianyou uses clay fan to produce cannon samples, and he naturally thinks that he will use clay fan to cast cannons.

Master Hu touched his head, then slapped his thigh heavily, and said loudly: "Don't use the mud fan, use the iron fan, the iron fan bronze cannon, the iron fan iron cannon, how did the villain not think of it!"

Iron mold to make artillery, the cycle is short, can also be reused, the size of the cannon produced is consistent, reducing the honeycomb and other defects, shells can also be produced on a large scale, which is more conducive to the large-scale production of the troops!

However, the shortcomings of iron mold casting cannons are also very obvious, that is, the iron cannon products of iron mold casting cannons are very white. Due to the rapid cooling rate, although the iron is relatively smooth, almost all of the iron generated is white, resulting in increased brittleness and reduced gun performance.

In order to increase the tensile strength of the gun breech, it can only be solved by stacking the mass by quantity, that is, by increasing the wall thickness, but the increase in the weight of the cannon also leads to field problems such as unchanged operation.

What Wang Song needs is artillery that can be used in the field, not a big iron lump to defend the city.