Xiong Jing didn't know what Xiang Yan was thinking, and if he knew, he would definitely think he was crazy. Because of the limitations of saltpeter purification - the purification of saltpeter is not as simple as dissolution and crystallization, an important step in saltpeter purification is to add appropriate plant ash. The plant ash is potassium carbonate, and the carbonate in the potassium carbonate will replace the calcium nitrate and magnesium nitrate in the nitrate soil to form calcium carbonate and magnesium carbonate that sink in water; At the same time, the nitrate in potassium nitrate and magnesium nitrate combines with potassium ions in potassium carbonate to form a new potassium nitrate. In addition to calcium nitrate and magnesium nitrate, there are also sulfates and chlorides in nitrate, which can only be separated by multiple recrystallizations.

This is a scientific method, the ancient method is to add skin glue to boil, or add sugar, radish, fresh water to boil. But whether the nitrate cooked in this way is pure, and whether it can hit twenty or thirty miles away as the history books say, and erode dozens of miles in one shot, then only God knows, anyway, Guan Tianpei wrote in his recital:

'Personally surveyed the two forts of Dajiao and Shajiao, which are oblique to the east, and measure the width of the mouth of 1,113 zhang (1 Qingzhang = 3.2 meters), the gun position below 5,000 catties, the cannon and the distance, ranging from more than 100 zhang to 2300 zhang, the strength is still thin, and the cannon must be more than 6,000 catties to reach Cui Jian. The three-thousand-pound cannon was auditioned, and the cannon was only in the middle of the stream, and the end of the strong crossbow was useless......

According to the practice of the Qing Dynasty, (cannon) per 100 catties of medicine 4 taels, 3,000 catties of cannon medicine 12.5 catties (Qing Jin 596 grams, that is, 4.47 kilograms); also according to the practice of the Qing Dynasty, the weight ratio of artillery propellant to cannonball is 1:1 (Humen Shajiao Fort Tobacco Wharf, 6,000 catties of iron cannon engraved inscription: Daoguang 15th year of the summer month,...... 6,000 catties of cannons, 15 catties of food and medicine, made by Li Chenhuo and others of Chanshan Gunner), not the common 1:3 in modern Europe.

The angle of the artillery of the Shajiao Fort personally surveyed by Guan Tianpei is unknown, but it must not be five degrees, it must be greater than ten degrees or even more. With 4.47 kilograms of gunpowder, it obtained a range of 570 zhang (and the width of the mouth measured by Qi Gong, the governor of Liangguang, to more than 1,170 zhang, and the average of which was taken; 'the cannon was only in the middle stream', that is, 570 zhang, according to the Qing zhang, it was 1,824 meters). The standard of a 12-pounder gun (the whole 12-pounder gun weighs 2,000 kilograms) is only 1.13 kilograms of propellant that is a quarter of the charge of a 3,000-pound gun, and a 5.44-kilogram solid projectile that is 1.44 kilograms twice as high, and a range of 1,488 meters at an elevation angle of 5 degrees, and 1,911 meters when an elevation angle of 10 degrees.

With four times the propellant, the shell fired only 82% of the weight, and the range was barely equal to that of a twelve-pounder gun's 10 degrees of elevation. On closer inspection, the power of this gunpowder is better than that of gunpowder made by Zaofu (according to the last test, the power of gunpowder in Zaofu is only one-fifth of the power of modern gunpowder), but this good is limited. If we ignore the difference in the weight of the shell, it is only a quarter of the power of modern gunpowder.

Of course, there are many other factors that contribute to the fact that the gunpowder fired by the Shajiao Fort is so small, such as the dampness of the day, such as non-granulation (in fact, the granularity is also very limited, and the violent heat of granular gunpowder is 736.6 kcal/kg; The heat of powdered gunpowder is 620.9 kg/kg), such as the saltpeter sinking to the bottom of the charcoal floating surface during transportation, such as the rough inside of the gun chamber, the surface of the shell is not smooth, etc., but in any case, the gunpowder made of purified soil nitrate according to the traditional process is very limited, and only by purifying it according to scientific methods or simply using saltpeter without impurities can the gunpowder be the most powerful.

Xiang Yan wanted to use gunpowder to deceive Xianyang City, which was not feasible in Xiong Jing's opinion. It is not feasible not because black powder cannot blow down the city wall - even after World War II, there were cases of using 6.2 tons of black powder to blow up a 37-meter city wall, which was 14 meters high and more than 20 meters thick [Note 7: "History of the People's Liberation Army 1945-1949 Volume I" Liu Tong p: 528. One of the reasons why it was not feasible to take underground tunnels for blasting was that he did not have so much gunpowder.

Although it is said in "Constructing the French Style" that the ratio of the bottom width, height and upper width of the city wall is 3:2:1, in fact, the ratio of the bottom width, city height and upper width of the Beijing city wall in the Yuan Dynasty is 4:2:1. That is, if the height of the city is 14 meters, then the width at the bottom of the wall is 28 meters, and the width at the top of the wall is only 7 meters.

From the pre-Qin period to the post-Qin period, many things were degenerate. The Weiyang Palace in the Han Dynasty is 4.6 square kilometers, the Changle Palace is 6.6 square kilometers, the Daming Palace in the Tang Dynasty is 3.3 square kilometers, and the Forbidden City in Beijing is only 0.73 square kilometers. Of course, this is the scale of the palace, and the construction of the wall may be due to the progress of technology, such as the city wall is covered with bricks, so that the ratio of the bottom width, the height of the city, and the width of the top is getting smaller and smaller.

In this era, the ratio of the width of the base, the height of the city, and the width of the top was 6:2:1. Xianyang Tianxia Xiongcheng, six versions of ramming, the height of the city is 7.2 zhang, to the circumference of the ruler, is 14.18 meters, the bottom width is three times the height of the city, that is, 21 zhang six feet, 42.55 meters. In addition, in order to prevent flooding, the city wall of this era has a slope protection at the foot of the wall, plus the internal and external slope protection, and the thickness of the city foundation is almost 60 meters.

6.2 tons of gunpowder exploded through Linfen, which was more than 20 meters thick at the base of the wall, and with the power of gunpowder at present, it is estimated that at least 30 tons or more of gunpowder would be needed to blow up Xianyang, which is 60 meters thick. According to the ratio, this is more than three tons of sulfur, and the last time Hu Tanshao only brought 127 kilograms of sulfur.

To blow up the Guancheng, which was built on the Yanshi Sein Mountain and is about 10 meters thick, Xiong Jing estimated that three tons of gunpowder would be needed. Three hundred kilograms of sulfur could still be brought, but if he were to get three tons of sulfur, it would be completely impossible. Unless he actually finds a sulphur mine, or the fleet finds a new source of sulphur in India, Seleucus, and Yingzhou.

If the lack of sulfur makes it impossible to blow up the Xianyang city wall, the other is a purely tactical problem.

A good cavalry does not fight on flat ground to enter Xianyang City, no matter how Xiong Jing thinks, it is not a good choice. Xianyang has a population of 600,000, not including the defenders and guards in the city, and there are 60,000 people per household. The Qin people are not Qi people, and under the strict Qin law, the Qin people have long become a war machine, and even if the combined column army that fell into street fighting in a strange city exchanged one life for two lives, it would only kill 60,000 Qin troops. Such an exchange ratio is simply not cost-effective. And when he attacked one by one, Zhao Zheng would have run away.

"If gunpowder can break through the ...... of Xianyang City" In the pungent smell of gunpowder smoke after the explosion, Xiang Yan was still crazy.

"If this can break through Xianyang City, the affairs of the world will be decided!" And he went crazy with it.

"There is not enough gunpowder, Xianyang City is sixty meters thick, and it cannot be exploded." Xiong Jing said, "The moat outside Xianyang City is fifteen zhang wide, how can our army cross the pond and dig a hole?" There are more than 100,000 Qin troops in the city, how can 30,000 cavalry win? ”

"In this case, this battle should be a pawn." He continued. "If there are 100,000 foot soldiers......"

"And then enter the city from Upper County?" Xiong Jing asked rhetorically. "How do you know that the Qin army can't send troops back to Xianyang in time? More than 1,700 miles, it takes at least 20 days for the foot soldiers to reach Xianyang. The foot soldiers have not yet arrived in Xianyang, and the Qin army has arrived in Xianyang. ”

Entering Qin from Shangjun was a strategy that had been vetoed, except for the reluctance of the Three Kingdoms to make a big move. The speed of the Qin army's reinforcements was also an important reason. The Battle of Huayang, the Qin army relied on the boat for 1,200 li to leave Xianyang and arrive at Huayang in only eight days, and now, on the other hand, it is estimated that the time to return to Xianyang from the front line of Zhao State will not exceed fifteen days.

Even though the Chu warships intercepted the Qin army on the Yellow River and forced it to abandon the boat and walk, the Qin army in the direction of Jingcheng only had to travel 300 miles to get on a boat at Jinyang (present-day Taiyuan) and go south along the Fenshui. Xianyang to Huayang is a smooth water, Jinyang to Xianyang, and only the last 300 miles of the Yellow River to Weishui is retrograde.

It is equivalent to saying that it is also a distance of more than 1,700 miles, and the Hezhong army walked the whole way, and the Qin army walked 300 miles, 300 miles against the water, and 1,100 miles down the river. The Hezhong Army has a first-mover advantage, but because of Feixun, the Qin Army's reaction is not much slower. And the most important thing is that the supply of the combined column army must rely on grabbing, and it is also necessary to conquer passes, such as Meridian Ridge and Fuyuan Pass; And the Qin army was a completely internal march.

Xiong Jing remembered the disadvantages of the strategy of entering Qin from Shangjun, and he shook his head again and emphasized: "The army from Shangjun to Qin cannot reach Xianyang. And the gunpowder was insufficient, and the Xianyang city wall could not be blown up. ”

Under the temptation of gunpowder, Xiang Yan and Li He were a little abnormal, but Xiang Yan calmed down first, he understood that the goal could not be blindly expanded. He said, "Dare to ask the king, why is there not enough gunpowder?" ”

"There is nothing needed for gunpowder, and the Chu State has nothing." Xiong Jing explained. "It needs to be shipped from another country."

The gunpowder turned out to be dispensed, Xiang Yan was a little awake, and he asked, "Can there be geometry?" ”

"No, I don't know." Xiong Jing said, but in order to reassure him, he said: "However, we will be able to break through the Yan Clan's Seguan City." ”

"Yes." Xiang Yan replied solemnly, "The minister is willing to fight Qin with the king." ”

"Good!" Xiong Jing laughed, spending half a ton of gunpowder, Xiang Yan nodded as expected.

"However, the minister asks the king not to stay away from the shogunate of the minister." Thinking of the battle of the chasm, Xiong Jing once went out to meet the enemy alone, Xiang Yan was very worried that something would happen to him, so he said again: "And you must not attack the enemy without authorization." ”

"No." Xiong Jing also nodded solemnly, "Don't attack the enemy without permission, don't just ......."

The king likes one of the concubines of the king of Qin. Because of Li, many people already know about this matter in the Chu State. Xiang Yan was noncommittal about Xiong Jing's hobby, he only hoped that Xiong Jing would not have an accident, let alone act without authorization.

"Gunpowder is of great use, and please buy more of what you need." Xiang Yan's topic returned to the gunpowder itself, and he now had a hunch that the appearance of this weapon would change the war itself.

"I also want to buy more, but there are few in other countries, so what can I do?" Xiong Jing smiled bitterly. A lot of things are impressive to say, but it's another thing to actually do. It's just that the sulphur really can't be transported by Hu Tansuo, and the Sogdian merchant is very cunning, and the more important you say, the more he will increase the price and reduce the amount. When the spring of next year begins, someone should be sent to Yingzhou to look for it, and when they see the volcano, they will climb the mountain, and they will not believe that they will not find sulfur.

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