Guo Chenggui and other craftsmen studied the electric (manual) milling and drilling dual-purpose machine tools and diesel generators in the military base for more than a year, and even Zhao Hunt himself studied the technical data left by the black gun gang for a period of time in his spare time (mainly during the period in the mountain), and then turned the information into Song characters and handed it over to Guo Chenggui and other masters for study. Guo Chenggui has been experimenting with many operations, although he has been using manual, but he has gradually gained experience in electric operation.

At the end of May, on the third day of Zhao Lie's return to Wan'an Military City, after a group of craftsmen nervously and carefully debugged and prepared, with the sound of a machine, an electric machine tool of the 21st century was slowly started in the ancient era.

Although there were some small twists and turns in the process, and several steel plates were washed out, it was generally smooth. WHEN THE TRACK OF THE MACHINE TOOL WAS SLOWLY TRANSMITTED, AND A STEEL PLATE UP TO 10 MM THICK, 5 M LONG, AND 50 CM WIDE APPEARED IN FRONT OF ME, ALL THE CRAFTSMEN WHO HELD THEIR BREATH CHEERED IN UNISON, ALMOST SHATTERING THE ARTILLERY RESEARCH ROOM.

At this point, the first puzzle is solved.

Zhao Lie asked the craftsman to weigh it, and the weight of this steel plate was four hundred and twelve catties. Zhao Lie nodded, of course he wouldn't get a five-meter-long cannon, the breech gun is too long and not conducive to loading, which will affect the firing speed. The Hongyi cannon of the Ming Dynasty was only more than three meters long, and according to the parameters of the British Kou Feilin cannon, the caliber of his cannon was equivalent to 24 pounds, and the length of the barrel was 380CM. In this way, the weight of the barrel can be reduced to about 350 catties, and with the cannon tail fire door cover, 400 catties is the sky. And the Hongyi cannon of the same caliber in the Ming Dynasty weighed no less than 5,000 catties - this gap is really a world of difference.

With the same power and the same range, the Hongyi cannon can only defend the city, and if this steel cannon is completed, it can be used in the field with the army and dominate the world. It's a little exciting to think about, but it's not yet time to get excited, the barrel material is solved, but a bigger problem is in front of you: how to get a gun body that is no less than a seamless steel pipe?

There's only one way – welding.

With the welding technology of this era, it is so difficult to make a seamless steel pipe. The great Song masters came up with a lot of methods.

First, the steel plate was burned red, rolled into a tube, and beaten densely. It looks like there are no gaps on the outside, but it's okay to stuff the gunpowder test and fill the half-tube of explosives. When the whole steel pipe is filled with explosives, it explodes into the sky with a bang. The steel pipe fell to the ground, and the pipe was fine, but the weld was cracked by the huge chamber pressure, and this solution failed.

Then another craftsman came up with the idea of adding three thick iron hoops to the barrel and adding a barrel-shaped buckle to the tail of the gun. Tested again, this time it was much better, the steel pipe filled with explosives blew up in the air, landed undamaged, and was preliminarily qualified. But in the subsequent test gun, only eighteen solid iron bullets were fired, and the barrel cracked again. Despite his careful efforts, the gunners were inevitably injured.

Finally, after the craftsmen brainstormed and repeatedly studied, two methods were adopted: one is reverse cross-superimposed consolidation. That is, the steel plate does not need to be processed 10MM thick, only 5MM can be processed. FIRST, A PIECE OF 5MM THICK IS HEATED AND ROLLED, AND THEN WELDED DENSELY BY MOLTEN STEEL POURING WELDING METHOD TO FORM A GUN BARREL. THEN WRAP THE SECOND 5MM THICK STEEL PLATE AROUND THE GUN BARREL, REVERSE HEATING AND ROLL AND WELD IT TIGHTLY. THE BARREL OBTAINED IN THIS WAY IS ALSO 10MM THICK, BUT THE WELDING SEAL IS DIVIDED INTO TWO PLACES, THE DIRECTION IS OPPOSITE, AND THE COMPRESSION RESISTANCE IS GREATLY ENHANCED. On this basis, at the muzzle, the front middle and middle sections of the body tube, add three iron hoops, and the barrel-shaped buckle of the fire door at the end of the gun.

The barrel is formed, that is, the test gun. Zhao Lie returned to Wan'an Army this time, just in time to test the artillery, and at the same time listen to the report on the artillery.

Because Zhao Lie's requirements for steel cannons not only can be fired, but also need to move quickly, the manufacture of the gun carriage also made the craftsmen quite painstaking, and finally built a two-wheeled gun carriage.

THE WALL PANEL OF THE GUN BODY IS A 95MM THICK WHOLE PLATE, THE TWO ENDS AND THE UPPER PART ARE COVERED WITH IRON SHEETS, AND THE BODY PART IS SET UP WITH "WOODEN BEAMS", "IRON BEAMS", "IRON RINGS", "IRON HOOPS" ACCORDING TO DIFFERENT STRESS CONDITIONS AND STRUCTURAL NEEDS, AND DIFFERENT STRUCTURES SUCH AS "SINGLE TENON", "DOUBLE TENON", "OUTHEAD BOLT TENON" AND SO ON.

The gun wheels are not only larger than the wheels of the old carriages, but also much wider and thicker. The structure of "eight rims and sixteen spokes" is adopted, and the visible and invisible parts of the wheel are all connected by mortise and tenon joints. The spokes are all made of transparent tenons, and the weight of the whole gun reaches the ground in accordance with the principle of "standing wooden jacks" to ensure stability. Iron hoops, iron tiles, and iron nails are all available on the wheels. THE BEARINGS INLAID ON BOTH SIDES OF THE HUB ARE ALSO MADE OF 10MM THICK IRON PLATES TO PREVENT WEAR. "Iron keys" are also installed on the axles in positions corresponding to the bearings to increase wear resistance and reduce friction.

A small artillery carriage can be seen that the craftsmen are ingenious and ingenious.

Zhao Lie looked at the ten-to-one model of the steel cannon car, and took it all by himself, and was very satisfied.

According to estimates, the barrel of the gun weighed 400 catties, and the gun wagon was almost 300 catties. Even in the case of complex terrain, the gun carriage can be separated, disassembled and transported. If necessary, even a few people can trek through mountains and rivers with one shoulder, which is the advantage of steel cannons.

Guo Chenggui finished his report, and the preparations for the test gun outside were also done.

Under the guidance of the craftsmen and the martial arts team, Zhao Lie came to a flat field in the back mountain, which was the shooting range of the iron house. It was originally a sloping area, but it was later bulldozed to make a shooting range. Every newly produced breech-loading gun and flintlock pistol must be tested here first, and only after passing the test can it be put into storage.

Zhao Lie was behind the cover of this shooting range, looking at the steel cannon that was fixed on the stone platform hundreds of zhang away, and with a muffled sound, a hot iron ball was shot. The iron ball flew out of Rich, landed and tumbled, sweeping the rows of targets to pieces. As long as it is on the rolling route of the iron ball, even if it is a target as thick as a sea bowl, it will not be able to block a blow.

Watching everyone in the bunker, even if they are hundreds of feet away, they can feel the terrifying power.

The martial arts team members all turned pale, if this is an array army, I am afraid that only one iron ball can penetrate the entire army formation from beginning to end, it is really terrifying.

As the gunners, with the assistance of the gunsmiths, continued to increase the amount of ammunition, the range became longer and farther, and finally they overtook many targets and smashed the tail of the "military formation" two miles away.

Twenty guns in such a row, although each cannon needs to be cleared, five cannons have to be cooled with a wet cloth, but basically uninterrupted, the excellent heat dissipation performance of the steel cannon is greatly reflected here, compared with the Ming Dynasty cannon to play seven or eight cannons have to stop for an hour to dissipate heat, basically withdraw from the battlefield much stronger.

When Zhao Lie got the report that there was no damage to the barrel, he laughed and patted the dust that was shaken off his body: "Okay! From now on, you will build me such a cannon until all the steel is exhausted, or the diesel fuel is exhausted! ”

Zhao Lie thought for a while, and added: "Well, you can also develop a smaller gun, with a shorter barrel but a larger caliber, which is used to fire shotguns...... That's right, just like the shotguns we use, with a thousand bullets in one hit, whoever comes will die! ”