Li Yan took advantage of the time to set up the plank, and came to the place where the sub-guns were charged at the back of the side. I saw several soldiers cooperating and filling the set up Zi Gong with a medicine spoon. The power of gunpowder was still being tested, and the dosing charge he hoped for had not yet been formed. Now it is a pound of charge, and it is still slowly increasing, if it is loaded too much at once, there will be a danger of exploding.

After the soldier loaded the gunpowder, he picked up a cylindrical cannonball of the same caliber as the Zigong wrapped in linen cloth and put it in, and then pressed it down twice with the feeding pestle.

Li Yan went over and picked up a cannonball next to him, and there were projectiles on the side that stood out, just like grapes, so it was also called grape shells. The bottom of the grape shell is also wrapped with a log chip, which is used to seal the chamber and provide forward power to all the projectiles. The wrapped linen cloth can also make the projectile a whole before it is discharged, which can make the projectile fly farther. The flammable linen cloth can be burned by the flame point of the gunpowder after flying out, and then the projectile will disperse and fly towards the enemy, causing a large amount of damage to the enemy.

"How many projectiles are there?" Li Yan asked. Wrapped in it was a projectile cast for the three-eyed gun, and in order to simplify logistics support in the future, no smaller projectile was cast.

The soldier replied, "Forty." ”

Li Yan felt that it was a little less, forty pieces, and if the surface that flew out was too large, the killing effect on the enemy would not be obvious. But the caliber of this Frankie cannon is only two inches, and the sub-cannon is only more than a foot long, and no amount of projectiles can fit it.

At this time, Wang Renjie came over to report and said that the plank had been erected.

"Let's go, reload, let's see the power of this grapeshot." Li Yan ordered.

He went with the artillerymen, who put the child into the mother and boarded the gap between the child and the mother.

The planks were erected at a distance of eighty paces, six feet high, several planks side by side, three zhang wide, and in the middle there was a red circle the size of a foot. Frankie has a crosshair and a door, and the center of the circle is the aiming position.

After everything was ready, Li Yan ordered the launch.

After the "boom" sound, the wooden wall eighty paces away immediately shattered and collapsed.

The crowd immediately cheered, and the power was so impressive. If the two-inch-thick planks are broken, then the infantry and cavalry, whether armored or unarmoured, will be the ones who stand in the way and die.

Li Yan felt okay, even if there were only forty projectiles, they could form a three-zhang striking surface. In the future, if we can make artillery with a larger caliber, we will be able to put more projectiles, and the impact surface will be larger. This kind of power, even if you can't pierce the heavy armor, if you are hit like this, you will suffer internal injuries.

"Yes, you continue to experiment," Li Yan nodded, "Record all the data, and I'll look at it later." ”

"Yes!" Wang Renjie agreed. He's in charge here.

Li Yan added: "Also, I will get you some silk, which you can use to make grape bullets." Also hit some close-range targets, thirty paces, twenty paces. Silk burns quickly, and the dispersion area at close range may be larger, so that it can cause more damage to enemies at close range. ”

"Silk? Isn't it too wasteful? Wang Renjie reminded.

Li Yan said with a smile: "Fighting a war is originally a matter of costing money, and this consumption is nothing. As long as you can win, capture, or collect the enemy's things, and other gains, enough to offset the loss of the war. It would be nice if there was still a surplus. ”

"Oh, my subordinates have written it down." Wang Renjie nodded in agreement. Although he didn't know how to make other gains from fighting, he still chose to believe. Because that's how they came here, and basically every time they fought with the thieves, they were always able to collect a lot of gold, silver, and grain.

Li Yan returned to his home in the county seat, and he was now thinking about how to make it easier to make a projectile for the firecracker. There's always an idea swirling in my head these days, which is to drip the melted lead from a high place out of a suitable leak, let the lead droplets solidify as it falls, and then fall into the pool below, and naturally get a round lead bullet.

However, there are several difficulties in this, one is the height, which should be high enough. If the lead does not solidify in the air, the shape cannot be maintained. There is also a suitable leak pipe, so that the amount of melted lead dripping can form a lead bullet with the required diameter. This has to be tried many times, and it is no less difficult than making lead bullets from molds. But as long as the experiment is successful, it will be much easier to make lead bullets in the future, and the cost will be much smaller.

Li Yan struggled for a long time before finally deciding to give it a try. However, the method of making lead bullets from molds must continue now, and cannons and guns cannot be left without lead bullet tests. And to make a tower high enough, this still has to be done by the carpenter, anyway, now they have nothing else to do except for the trial production of the gun carriage.

Li Yan called Blacksmith Zhou and Master Huang over, drew a schematic diagram, and asked them to make a tower and a leaky pipe respectively. Master Huang didn't have any problems there, they were good at building wooden towers. Although the height of six or seven zhang required by Li Yan is somewhat high, it can be built on the ground first and then erected.

However, Blacksmith Zhou was a little reluctant. He said, "Childe, why are you doing this? It's not that you can't make lead pills now, what's the use of wasting so much energy? ”

Li Yan explained: "The lead bullet made by the current mold is not round enough and smooth enough, which will waste a lot of manpower and material resources to polish and process, and it cannot achieve the best effect. If this experiment is successful, it will be as simple as melting the lead on a high platform, dripping it into the water, and then it will be ready to use. Moreover, mass production is possible. ”

"How are the cannonballs made?" Blacksmith Zhou asked.

Li Yan shook his head and said, "The cannonball is too big, you can't use this method, you still have to use molds to make it." ”

"And how thin should this leak be?" Blacksmith Zhou frowned and asked, "Isn't it embarrassing to let the lead liquid drip down drop by drop, and it must conform to the diameter we want?" ”

Li Yan encouraged: "You guys try slowly." After Master Huang and the others set up the high platform, they will be able to actually test it. ”

"What about the pipes? Do I get the gun tube first or do I get this lead bullet leak tube first? Blacksmith Zhou asked.

Li Yan thought for a moment and said, "Let's get the gun first." You have to get a qualified gun out first, and accumulate some experience for your apprentices. We've got to have a gun first, and then we've got buckshot. ”

"Well, as long as you give me enough time." Blacksmith Zhou said.

Li Yan smiled: "Not only do you have time, but you also have rewards." After you get the gun pipe and the lead bullet leak pipe out, I will give you the media, so that those young men who are not married can find the lady. ”

Blacksmith Zhou said with a smile: "If that's the case, those boys are going to work hard this time, you really have a way." ”