Chapter 482: Tiger Squat Cannon

The next morning, under the leadership of Wei ~ Hongye, everyone came to the shooting range in the valley, and more than a dozen craftsmen had been waiting for a long time.

On the ground were three guns of different sizes, their swarthy bodies reflecting a faint glow in the sunlight.

"This is the Tiger Squat Cannon? Doesn't it look big? Du Dalei asked.

"These three runs are tiger squat guns, the length is forty centimeters, fifty centimeters, sixty centimeters, the caliber is the same, and the diameter is seventy millimeters." Wei ~ Hongye explained.

Everyone gathered around the three guns, watching carefully.

These three cannons are of different lengths, with 7 iron hoops around the body, and the cannon head is erected by two iron claws.

Wei ~ Hongye continued: "These three tiger squat cannons are cast from refined good steel, and they are very light, respectively thirty-eight catties, fifty-two catties, and sixty-five catties. This is very convenient for soldiers to carry.

In order to facilitate shooting, the cannon is placed in a fixed posture, much like the appearance of a tiger squatting, so it is named the tiger squatting cannon. It is suitable for combat areas that require firepower mobility, such as mountains, forests, and paddy fields.

Before firing, the cannon body must be fixed on the ground with a large iron nail, each launch can be loaded with 100 small lead or small stones weighing 5 money, and a large lead bullet or large stone bullet weighing 30 taels is used to press the top, and the large and small bullets fly out together when fired, the roar is like thunder, and the lethality and radiation range are very large, especially suitable for field warfare, bombarding the enemy's dense combat formation, and effectively suppressing its crazy offensive. ”

"Isn't this the tuba*?" Du Dalei asked.

You can understand that too. However, the power of the Tiger Squat Cannon is much more comparable. If it is used to bombard the enemy's dense formation, it is estimated that dozens of people can be killed with one shot. Wei ~ Hongye said with a smile.

"Hiss......" everyone took a breath of cool air.

Monk Taiqin, Liang Daguan, and Gao Yanei were all surprised.

Zhao Zizhong stroked the swarthy cannon body, "If this tiger squat cannon and arquebus form a mixed formation, it will be invincible in the field." Even in the face of the impact of the Khitan Iron Cavalry, it is estimated that it can be supported. Lao Wei, you are really amazing, in such a short period of time, you have made such a big killer. ”

Wei ~ Hongye smiled slightly: "This is nothing, in fact, casting artillery is easier than making arquebuses." If steel production can keep up, there will be no problem casting dozens of artillery pieces a month. ”

Gao Yanei couldn't help but feel excited in his heart, "Mr. Wei, can you let us see this artillery firing?" ”

"No problem, I'll show you a good show later."

Wei ~ Hongye let everyone disperse, so that the craftsmen could prepare the artillery before launching.

Gao Yanei excitedly pulled Du Dalei and ran to the side to ask questions, and Du Dalei's head was a few laps bigger.

After a while, several ox carts entered the valley. Then came the chirping of chickens and ducks, and the cries of goats and fat pigs.

Du Da Lei was happy: "It seems that Lao Wei wants to do live experiments and get so many chickens, ducks, live pigs, and live sheep." ”

Gao Yanei was a little puzzled: "What is a live experiment?" What are these chickens, ducks, pigs and sheep for? Do you want to barbecue here? ”

"Stupid, what kind of roast, Lao Wei wants to bombard these chickens, ducks, pigs and sheep with cannons, so that everyone can see the power of this cannon."

Gao Yanei realized at this time, and a spark of excitement appeared in his eyes.

"Haha, there's such a lively look, it's so right to come to Liuqiu this time! Mr. Wei really knows my heart! ”

Du Dalei looked at Gao Yanei with disdain, "You said that the second brother knows your heart?" Are you a dead glass? It's disgusting, you stay away from me in the future. ”

"What is glass? Why do you want me to stay away from you? Gao Yanei didn't understand again.

Du Dalei immediately stayed away from the second goods and helped the craftsmen to carry the chickens, ducks, live pigs, and live sheep from the ox carts.

The craftsmen tied the legs and feet of the chickens and ducks, and then tied them with ropes to wooden targets. Then he lifted the two big fat pigs, whose hooves were tied, out of the ox cart and placed them in front of the target.

Finally, five live sheep were taken down and tied to the target.

Chickens and ducks are desperately fluttering, live sheep are "bleating", and fat pigs are struggling and howling on the ground.

The craftsmen lifted out a tiger squat cannon with a length of fifty centimeters and placed it on the ground. They erected the head of the cannon with two iron claws, fixed the rear of the tiger squat cannon to the ground with large iron nails, and then began to add ammunition.

First put it in silk wrapped in silk*, then stuffed about 100 small stones weighing 5 yuan into the muzzle of the gun, and finally pressed it with a large stone bullet weighing 30 taels.

The craftsmen all retreated, and Zhao Zizhong and Wei ~ Hongye also retreated to more than 30 meters away with everyone.

A craftsman poked an iron drill into the fire door and stuffed the lead into the *bag. He fetched a torch from the side and lit the fuse.

He ran away quickly, and after a few seconds,

"Boom ......"

A deafening sound echoed through the valley, and a puff of white smoke came out of the muzzle of the Tiger Squat Cannon.

Gao Yanei sat on the ground, opened his mouth wide, and looked into the distance stupidly.

There were still a few chickens and ducks that were not dead, a few goats had fallen, and the fat pigs on the ground had not moved.

Du Dalei rushed out with a "whoosh" and quickly ran towards the target.

He ran around the target and saw that the ground was covered with animal blood, and there were several blood holes in the bodies of two fat pigs and five goats, and blood was flowing.

Most of the chickens and ducks were killed, a few were beaten to pieces by the cannons, and only three chickens and ducks survived, constantly fluttering.

"Wow, the power of this tiger squat cannon is too vicious!"

Du Dalei turned around and shouted, everyone ran over, and everyone looked at this bloody scene in shock.

Liang Daguan swallowed, "Xiao Zhao, this is the power of artillery?" It's scary! ”

Zhao Zizhong poked the fat pig on the ground with his finger, "Yes, this is the power of *." As soon as these muskets and cannons come out, there will be no force in the world that can threaten us. ”

Tai Qin pulled Du Dalei aside and asked in a low voice, "Lord Du Shi, tell me, when did this tiger squat cannon appear?" ”

Du Dalei looked at no one around, and whispered: "Four hundred years later, during the founding period of Zhu Yuanzhang, Taizu of the Ming Dynasty, the army was equipped with a large number of firearms, and made great contributions in the war of sweeping away the heroes and the Northern Expedition to Mengyuan. In the thirteenth year of Hongwu, it was stipulated that every 100 households in the army should have 10 firecrackers, 20 sword players, 30 archers, and 40 gunners. Of these, 10 percent of the staff, armed with firearms, are armed with firearms.

When Zhu Di, the ancestor of the Ming Dynasty, was the son of Zhu Yuanzhang in power, he formed the world's earliest new army specially equipped with firearms - the Shenji Battalion. This is about a hundred years before the creation of musketeers in Europe in Spain at the beginning of the 16th century. As soon as the Shenji Battalion was formed, it fought a life-and-death battle with the Tatar and Warat cavalry nomadic in the Mongolian steppe.

The rulers of the Ming Dynasty attached great importance to firearms and constantly promoted various firearms in the army. During the Ming Dynasty, the proportion of soldiers using firearms in the military establishment increased from 10 percent in the early Ming Dynasty to about one-third. In the Jiajing period of the Ming Dynasty, some infantry battalions in the Ming army used firearms to account for 50 percent of the establishment. This kind of infantry battalion is stationed in the area of the Great Wall in Jibei, and the leader is Qi Jiguang, a famous general in Chinese history.

Qi Jiguang, born more than 500 years later, is a native of Shandong, born in Jiangmen, passed the martial arts examination, and began his career as a horseman. At that time, the coastal areas were constantly harassed by the Japanese invaders, and Qi Jiguang successively supported the coastal defense of Shandong, Zhejiang, Fujian and other regions, and won the victory of pacifying the Japanese plagues along the southeast coast, and built an invincible 'Qi army'. Later, Qi Jiguang moved to the Great Wall, and the prime minister Jizhou, Changping, Liaodong, Baoding and other towns defended against the Mongol nobles who often went south to loot and maintain the peace of the territory.

In the early Ming Dynasty, the firearms equipped by the Ming army were mainly domestic, including handcuffs, bowl guns, etc., and in the middle and late Ming Dynasty, there were many advanced firearms imported from foreign countries, and the Ming army was equipped on a large scale. For example, the firearms equipped in Qi Jiguang's army mainly include the invincible general, the Franco, and the bird. Among them, the Franc machine is a firearm produced in Europe, and the Ming people imitated a variety of models, and the invincible general is one of them.

The Tiger Squat Cannon is a cannon created to make up for the shortcomings of some foreign firearms, which can be regarded as winning glory for domestic firearms. Initially, when Qi Jiguang was fighting against the Japanese on the southeast coast, he found that the use of the bird gun and the Franc machine was not satisfactory, "although the bird gun is accurate, the force is small, it is difficult to resist the brigade, it is difficult to defend the danger, it is difficult to show the might", "the Franc machine is heavier, it is more difficult to move on the bar", so the plan is to create a firearm that is more powerful than the bird gun and can defend against the enemy of the brigade, which is the famous 'tiger squat cannon'. This kind of cannon is lighter than a bird's gun, more easy to carry, more mobile in field battles, and controllable in defense.

Qi Jiguang transformed the old cannons, such as the bowl cannon and the poisonous tiger cannon, into a new cannon, which is the tiger squat cannon.

The 'bowl mouth cannon' has a small belly and a large mouth, a short length and a small charge, and the cannon is heavy, weak and unusable. So Qi Jiguang transformed the unusable bowl cannon into a tiger squat cannon.

There is also the 'poisonous tiger cannon', which is so bad that it must be placed dozens of steps away from the military horse barracks. Now add a new law, called 'tiger squat', that is, it can be issued in the industry. The so-called new method is to add claw nails, front and rear hoops and other materials to the cannon to make the cannon more usable.

This is the origin of the tiger squat cannon, monk, don't tell anyone about it. ”

Tai Qin said solemnly: "Don't worry, I won't say it." ”

At this time, Gao Yanei got up from the ground and ran to Du Dalei's side in a leisurely manner.

"Lao Du, this artillery is too scary. Can you talk to Mr. Zhao and Mr. Wei, and let me have a few shots to play? ”

"Is your brain funny? Just like the bear you just now, you were so scared that you almost peed your pants, and you want to shoot a gun? You're such a big tease! Du Dalei scoffed.