Ding Shoutie was stunned at first when he heard this, and wanted to ask, but after thinking about it carefully, he felt that his general's idea was right, so he immediately turned around to find Feng Wensheng. Pen & Fun & Pavilion www.biquge.info

Because of its soft texture, it has a silvery-white luster after being made, and the shape is beautiful and the price is only one-third of silver, which began to become popular in the Yongle period of the Ming Dynasty. Mainly produced in Yunnan, Guangdong, Shandong, Fujian and other places, Liaodong Town because of the sea across the sea with Shandong, so there are a lot of tin ware.

Most of the people use tin to make bowls, plates, wine pots, candlesticks and other objects, and the land around Pingyu Fort is fertile, and the water of the Pu River can be used for irrigation. The people in the fort were quite well-off, and when Feng Wensheng saw Ziren opening his mouth, he immediately sent people to collect them everywhere and found all kinds of tin ware of about six catties.

On the one hand, Ziren ordered people to dissolve these tin tools and cast them into tin balls, and on the other hand, Ding Shoutie and the accompanying military craftsmen asked them to knead the clay into clay balls of the same size as tin balls. After drying, the mud balls are placed in the mold of the artillery shells carried by the army, and a layer of lead shells of different thicknesses is poured according to the size of the mold, and then used as cannonballs after a little grinding.

After Tie Wei, who was born as a military craftsman, could see it, he also brought these people to help everyone work together, and it didn't take long to make these cannonballs with clay and lead shells.

Ziren then went up to the city with these shells, and the Mongol Tartars had built a mound of earth more than one person high, and while stepping up the pile, they hid behind the mound and kept firing arrows to harass the city. Fortunately, curtains were erected in the city, except for a few gaps and gun emplacements for observation, and the soldiers immediately retreated behind the curtains to hide when they saw the Tartars firing arrows.

Most of the arrows fired by the Mongol Tartars were blocked by the curtain, and even if the few arrows penetrated the curtain, the momentum was greatly affected, and they could not penetrate the armor of the soldiers. However, watching the earthen forts under the city continue to increase, the soldiers gradually felt a trace of pressure in their hearts.

Seeing this, Ziren called Lei Zhenwei and said loudly: "Quickly order someone to raise the muzzle of the Tiger Squat Cannon and replace it with the mud bullet made in this hurry." ”

"How do you kill an enemy with a mud bullet? And there's a mound of dirt in the way. Lei Zhenwei didn't know the reason, and after muttering a few words in his heart, he immediately rushed to prepare.

The Tiger Squat Cannon is actually a smoothbore 'mortar cannon' with a short barrel, a large firing angle and a low muzzle velocity.

Under the cover of the rattan player, the tiger squat cannon was set up in a short time, Ziren took out a clay bullet first, ordered someone to reload, and lit the fire door with his own hands.

Listening to the sound of a cannon, the mud shell flew out of the cannon muzzle and rushed straight into the sky, who knew that when it first began to fall, the outer layer of the wrapped lead shell gradually shattered, and the body disintegrated in the air, and the mud heart that lost its wrap smashed into many pieces on the ground.

"The lead shell is too thin." After Ziren whispered, he commanded his subordinates to reload.

As the second shell was fired, the mud bullet arced through the air and slammed into the ground in front of the mound, bouncing off the ground intact and stopping after a few bounces.

"The lead shell is too thick, and the charge is not enough, come again!"

While Ziren was constantly trying to shoot, the Mongolian Tartars, who were working hard behind the earthen wall, also began to mumble in their hearts. "Commander, what exactly is the plan of the Ming people?" A centurion asked, looking at Shadow, who was in charge of commanding the fort.

Ying Ke was also confused about this, and he couldn't help but lose his identity and replied angrily: "Do your job well, what are Mingren's plans to do with you!" As long as we build the earthen fort, we can suppress the guns of the Ming people in the city, and after the city is broken, we can cross the river and plunder. Speaking of this, he seemed to remember something, and after a pause, he continued: "You take ten archers and shoot the gunners of the Ming people with arrows, and don't let them be too arrogant. ”

The centurion was ordered to immediately go down to select the archers, and when they were ready, they were about to draw their bows and arrows, when another cannon rang out.

Immediately afterward, a cannonball was seen flying into the air and gradually falling, crossing the mound and smashing into the Tartar herd. However, the speed of the cannonball was not high, and the Mongols got up to dodge, only the fragments that flew out after the cannonball broke after hitting the ground wounded several Tartars, causing a stir in the Tartars.

Although there was a mound of earth blocking his vision, he heard the screams in the Tartar array and the lead flying in the air, and Ziren knew that it was done.

He then ordered someone to imitate the thickness of the lead shell of the shell just now, and prepared to pour the solder balls. Because the melting point of tin (232 °C) is much lower than that of lead (327 °C), in order to prevent the melting of solder balls and the mixing of lead water when pouring lead shells, Ziren deliberately coats a protective shell made of fine sand mud and water on the outside of the solder balls, which plays a fixed role.

At this time, seeing the puzzled eyes of Ding Shoutie, Tie Weineng and others, Ziren opened his mouth to explain: "Although the tiger squat cannon can kill the enemy by raising and curving, because the trajectory is curved, the bullet speed is low, and it is easy for the Tartar to dodge after being on guard. Under the premise that the lead shell does not melt, the solder balls inside are heated and burned, and the lead shell cracks after the cannonball hits the ground, and the hot tin liquid splashes out to burn the dog tartars.

At this time, Ziren paused for a moment, glanced at a few tin balls cast, and continued: "However, because the stock of tin in the fort is limited after all, and the thickness of this lead shell is quite exquisite, too thick cannonballs cannot break after they land, and too thin to withstand the pressure generated when gunpowder burns will crack in advance, so I deliberately took this clay bullet for test firing first." ”

Just when everyone admired Ziren's sudden idea, Tie Weineng saw the doorway, and reminded him with good words: "The general's method is very good, but this tin heart is much heavier than the clay heart, and the amount of gunpowder required for firing will inevitably increase by a few percent, and the lead shell will become soft after heating, just in case, this shell is still a little thicker." ”

Ziren felt that this made a lot of sense, and immediately asked everyone to act according to Tie Weineng's advice, and his heart was greatly rejoiced to have such a capable person.

After the sandwich bullet was poured, Ziren ordered Ding Shoutie to clamp the shell with iron pliers. Inevitably, the pliers scalded the iron, and people deliberately wrapped strips of soaked cloth around the handles.

Ding Shoutie took the cannonball to the fire and roasted it, and shook it a few times from time to time to confirm whether the tin core was melting.

At the same time, Lei Zhenwei was responsible for adjusting the charge of the Tiger Squat Cannon. After loading, the hot shells ignited the gunpowder in advance, covered with a thick layer of sand to insulate the gunpowder, and then stuffed a wooden horse as a seal.

After making preparations, Ding Shoutie also burned the tin core, and carefully put the sandwich shell into the muzzle under the cover of the shieldman. After the cannonball slipped to the bottom of the barrel, Ziren quickly picked up the red-hot iron hook and stretched it out to the fire door. (To be continued.) )