How can an empire be tested for its metallurgical and forging skills unmatched in the world? The method used by the Ming Empire to prove itself was to build a heavy artillery that could not be produced in the whole world. Crush the same type of competitors in other countries with its unprecedented caliber, and then proudly prove to the world that the technology of the Ming Empire is leading in the world.

This giant cannon is a super cannon comparable to the weight of a destroyer, the Yongle cannon! The Chiyou company, which produced this kind of artillery, proved its unparalleled scientific and technological accumulation with this means, and also used its own way to defend the dignity of the Ming Empire for nearly 500 years.

It's not just Japan that studies secret weapons, but the treasures of the Ming Empire are more powerful and terrifying. In 1821, during the reign of Emperor Zhu Changle, the first Yongle cannon was built, and a total of 5 were built successively, which was used to demonstrate the strength and wealth of the Ming Empire.

Moreover, compared with the Amaterasu cannon used by Japan in the Liaodong Peninsula and the sneak attack on the Ming Empire, the caliber of this artillery is only a pitiful 350 mm in order to pursue the firing range; In addition to being inferior to the Amaterasu cannon in terms of range, the rest of the performance indicators of the Yongle cannon of the Ming Empire are several times stronger.

Under the auspices of Zhu Changle, in 1821, the Chiyou company did its best to finally make this unprecedented super-heavy cannon, because of design problems, the final caliber was set on a nondescript 810 mm, in fact, the original use was 800 mm, as a result, because of rifling and post-processing technology problems, the caliber expanded to 810, which is not an integer number.

From the analysis that this kind of artillery was used to name it after the era name of Zhu Di, the ancestor of the Ming Empire, we can know that Zhu Changle and the military of the Ming Empire attached great importance and love to it. When the first artillery was built and put into service, Zhu Changle himself and Ge Tianzhang, the secretary of the Ministry of War, attended the acceptance ceremony of this cannon, which was purchased by the military of the Ming Empire for 11 million gold coins, becoming the world's largest breech loading gun so far.

Its barrel is 35 meters long, the total length of the gun in combat condition reached a staggering 62 meters, the height was more than 12 meters, and the total weight was 1790 tons. It is more than ten times the size of the Amaterasu, the largest Japanese artillery. The construction of this kind of artillery was a huge challenge for the entire country to forge and weld casting, and in the end, the Chiyou company completed the task and let the world re-understand the technical level of the Ming Empire.

Such a huge behemoth would have encountered great difficulties in assembly, transportation and firing tests. When the artillery was built, a special shell loading crane had to be redesigned to ensure smooth loading of ammunition.

Even on both sides of this dedicated loader, two universal hoisting devices are prepared in case of emergency. Because the ammunition is so huge, even pushing the shell into the chamber is done mechanically, after all, manpower is so helpless and small in front of this huge cannon.

In order to transport the artillery to a possible battlefield, Chiyou had to hire a special train design company to design five special transportation trains for this kind of cannon. Because of the height and weight, most of the bridges along the way could not bear such a heavy weight, and the caves could not be crossed, so the trains had to make long detours and move slowly on the plains with few bends to send artillery to the areas of engagement.

After many hardships, these trains carrying cannons to the predetermined shelling position, first using three huge cranes to lift the base of the artillery, placing it on the five parallel rails, and then using the same method to install the gun carriage, barrel and loading mechanism, this project is no different from the construction of a huge steel fortress, if not more complicated.

All the work was commanded by an artillery general of the Ming Empire, and about 1,800 well-trained soldiers who specialized in operating this artillery gun, and they fought together for a full 15 days to basically complete it. When completed, the cannon was taller than a five-story building, and it was one of the few weapons on land that could be described as majestic.

In order to defend these cannons, it is necessary to use hounds and patrols, and to deploy anti-aircraft fire in the vicinity, and one cannon needs more than 1,000 people to guard and guard, and the outer guard positions even extend 5 kilometers away.

Of course, all this hard work was done for one goal, a terrible target -- after the cannon was assembled, it could hit a high-explosive warhead weighing a whole five and a half tons at a time with incomparably high explosive accuracy to a target more than 30 kilometers away. This is the most powerful artillery in the history of mankind, capable of destroying all the stationary targets already known, and even underground bunkers buried 20 meters deep cannot withstand its thunderous blows.

The huge shells gave the gun incredible destructive power, and when using a high-explosive warhead, the impact of the impact of the explosion on the touch could create a crater about the size of a football field - a circular crater with an area of about ten acres. This may be one of the most destructive weapons before nuclear weapons, at least not yet.

On the outskirts of Tai'an, on a section of railroad tracks that had just been built, such Yongle cannons were being assembled by soldiers with cranes and various tools, and the iconic giant barrel had already revealed a hideous face.

"At this time, what does the military department think about getting this thing to the front line at a time of labor and money?" Guo Xing, the commander of the 2nd Army of the New Army, who was in charge of the nearby garrison, used his white gloves to block the somewhat dazzling sunlight, and complained to the chief of staff who followed behind: "Replace it with 100 150 mm heavy guns, I can beat the rebels on the opposite side into a hornet's nest!" ”

"Don't talk nonsense!" While following Guo Xing on the rugged road, the chief of staff replied to his commander's words: "I heard that the order to transport this thing to the front line was personally ordered by His Majesty the Emperor......

"Hi...... When I didn't say anything. Your Majesty's decision is not for us to question...... Ha ha. Guo Xing smiled bitterly, and then continued to walk forward: "If it weren't for the smooth sea transportation, I really don't know if the basic ammunition in our hands would have been reduced because of the transportation of this big guy." ”

"Probably not, after all, at this time, the possibility of the Japanese Navy making another sortie is not great." The chief of staff smiled and dispelled Guo Xing's concerns: "I heard that just a few days ago, the warship of our East China Sea Division was ordered to go north. ”――

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