Since the opening of the iron mold method, since September of the thirteenth year of Chongzhen, the Yongning City Cannon Foundry has been able to produce five Hongyi cannons every month, of course, these are all small and medium-sized cannons that hit five catties and three catties of cannons, and the firing range is more than two miles and nearly two miles respectively. Pen @ fun @ pavilion wWw. ｂｉｑUｇE。 ｉｎｆｏ

Until June of the fifteenth year of Chongzhen, after the opening of the Zhencheng Artillery Foundry, the army already had 140 Hongyi cannons, five heavy cannons with more than 10 catties of guns, and 30 heavy mortars with 20 catties of guns, all with a range of three or four miles.

With the continuous proficiency of gunsmiths and the continuous addition of craftsmen, if the three gunhouses are started at the same time, 20 light and heavy Hongyi cannons can be cast every month.

Of course, casting does not mean that they all have to be cast, because there are other types of artillery to be cast in the army, so in addition to these 200 small and medium-sized Hongyi cannons and 50 Hongyi heavy cannons, the artillery factory also cast 100 heavy mortar guns.

There are also 100 cannon guns of the great general Franc and 500 cannon of the small and medium-sized Franc.

The maximum range of these Franc machines is one mile, and not all of them are cast in the artillery factory, and many of them are collected from all over the Ming Dynasty.

There are not many other artillery in the Ming Dynasty, that is, there is no shortage of Franc machines, from the three years of Jiajing to imitate them, and now in the Chongzhen period, the casting of all kinds of Franc machine guns is afraid of no less than 10,000 pieces.

However, Wang Dou felt that there were 100 big Buddha Lang machines, and 500 small and medium-sized Buddha Lang machines were enough, and in the future, it would still have the Hongyi cannon with the advantage of range.

Zhao Xuan's current artillery battalion can be described as extremely huge, it is time to divide the battalion, if the Hongyi cannon and mortar cannon can be doubled by next year, it must be divided.

Finally, there is the Zhou's rocket that Wang Dou is concerned about.

After Wang Dou drew a rocket diagram in November last year, Zhou Xianglu and others got a great inspiration, the main technical problem of the iron arrow body is that there is a certain difficulty in winding the pipe, and finally their solution is to use a hydraulic forging machine, in the case of a stable water source, the disadvantages of the thickness of the iron body can be greatly solved.

Although in the end there is still room for improvement in the accuracy of the rockets they made. However, Wang Dou thinks it is enough.

The rockets deal with enemy camps and military formations, all of which are huge targets, and they don't need too high accuracy, as long as they don't fly to where they are or even fly back with a little wind like the Divine Fire Crow.

Finally, the problems of booster charge, head explosion and fuse were solved. In May, Zhou's rocket was built on a large scale, and Wang Dou saw several physical launches and was quite satisfied.

The rocket is about one meter long, has a slender body, a pointed head, a diameter of more than ten centimeters, weighs about 30 catties, and contains seven catties of gunpowder. There are many small holes in the tail and three inclined stabilizing spiral plates, which are quite close to the style of later rocket missiles.

At that time, Wang Dou forgot to mention the problem of the launcher, but Zhou Xianglu and others had solved it, but they used a semicircular long chute and a bipod in front.

The semicircular chute was about a meter long, larger in diameter than a rocket, and made of hardwood, which was very smooth. Not far from the tail there is a thick iron-clad baffle with a round hole in the middle of the baffle. Just expose the three spiral plates and ignition hole lines at the end of the arrow, and hold the entire arrow body.

The bipod can be moved forward and backward or even stowed away for easy transport, and the bipod can be used to adjust the rocket launch height.

After looking at the launch tank, Wang Dou sighed with emotion, the wisdom of the ancient people should not be underestimated, this launch tank style. How close is it to the mortars of later generations?

The rocket weighs 30 pounds, and the launch trough also weighs no more than a few dozen pounds, and the soldiers can carry it on their shoulders, which is convenient and flexible, and if they use vehicles, mules and horses to carry them. You can transport more at once.

As a result of the final launch, the range of the rocket reached as much as five or six miles, and the accuracy was quite high, and the rocket flew steadily.

Wang Dou was very satisfied with this result, no firearm could fly so far at this time, and his own rocket was the only one.

And this is just a light rocket, Zhou Xianglu and others are still working on heavy rockets.

Wang Dou has seen the heavy rocket in kind, the rocket is about two meters long, weighs sixty or seventy pounds, and uses a gun cart when firing, there are three slots inside, three rockets can be placed at the same time, and the rear uses a crank and screw similar to the Hongyi cannon to adjust the height of the arrow cart.

As a result of the final launch, the maximum range of the rocket reached more than ten miles.

Wang Dou is already considering the formation of a special rocket battalion, compared with the artillery rocket advantage is obvious, not to mention the fast launch speed, the manufacturing process is not complicated, there is no fire gun heating and explosion of the bore, etc., after the installation of the spiral plate, the problem of poor accuracy has also been effectively solved.

The most important thing is that the rocket is light and flexible, not to mention the light rocket, that is, the heavy rocket is full in the three arrow car slots, which is only equivalent to the weight of a light gun.

Rockets can also be used for a variety of purposes using different warheads, incendiary bombs, poison bombs, ash bombs, and explosive bombs. Not to mention the first three kinds of shells, the Ming army's mortar artillery and Shenhuo Flying Crow rockets are widely used, and only the explosive flowering bomb is not easy to solve.

It's not a matter of power, the amount of black powder has reached a certain level, and the power is not small, with the charge of Zhou's rocket, it is enough to blow the arrow into pieces after exploding.

The key is the fuse, to correspond to the flight time of the rocket, and then arrive at the specified place to explode, which is very sophisticated in the fuze technology of the Duhufu Military Factory, obviously there is no ability to solve this problem at present, which requires a long time of research.

However, Wang Dou was already satisfied, his scientific and technological strength had greatly surpassed this era, he could imagine the effect of the rocket being launched into the enemy camp of the enemy formation, the raindrops of rockets fell, raging fire, and the poisonous gas spread to white ash.

In this era, military formations are very emphasized, and the slightest commotion can even cause the danger of total collapse, and few armies can stand the hail of rockets falling.

The Ministry of Military Affairs reported that large-scale production of Zhou's rockets began in May, and so far, there are 1,500 light rockets in stock, with a monthly production capacity of 500 rockets. There are 60 heavy rockets and a monthly production capacity of 20, Wang Dou believes that there are still fewer and more manpower should be invested.

The power of rockets lies in their large-scale use, Wang Dou remembers that when Congreve attacked Copenhagen, the capital of Denmark, he launched 25,000 rockets in one go, almost razing the entire city to the ground and burning it into a sea of fire.

He was looking forward to the day when the company camp would be burned.

……

Zhong Susu always hoped to have the opportunity to go out hunting and play with Wang Dou, but after the establishment of the Metropolitan Protectorate, there were many things, and Wang Dou did not have this time to spare, and it was not until the beginning of August that the matter came to an end.

On this day, at the invitation of Zhong Susu, Wang Dou readily agreed. He also wanted to relax, so he went out of the city with Zhong Susu under the protection of the guard battalion.

At this time, it is the most beautiful time of the Saiwai, the golden grassland scenery, the birch trees and larches that are gradually turning golden in color, and many herders on the grassland are controlling horses, grazing cattle and sheep and collecting pasture. Some riverside lakes. The golden wheat fields are endless, and many happy soldiers and civilians are busy harvesting.

Wheat was planted in all the places that could be planted earlier, but now it is harvest season, and those crops such as rape, soybeans, and flax are also growing well, and it is harvest season.

Looking at the scenery in front of him, Wang Dou was in a happier mood, the land is still being cultivated, and next year Mai Lang will be boundless.

The endless stream of caravans along the way shows that this land is radiating great vitality and vitality.

Zhong Susu is also in a very good mood. She is not wearing a crown hat today, with a scarf tied in her hair bun, felt boots on her feet, and a cloak tied over her clothes, which has her own charm. She had prepared carefully for this safari, not to mention the guns she had brought.

Out of the city, she smiled and said to Wang Dou: "General, the last general knows that there are a lot of yellow sheep prey in Lingzhao Temple. Why don't we go over there? ”

Wang Dou laughed and said, "Everything is subject to Brother Zhong's arrangement. ”

The horses galloped on the vast grassland, and the group galloped quickly. Zhong Susu sometimes ran with Wang Dou, and sometimes ran in front of him, cheering. Seeing that Zhong Xiancai was shouting, all the guards looked at each other, and they had to follow and protect silently.

Everyone arrived near Lingzhao Temple, where there was a large area of mangroves. It's as red as fire. There are many pine, cypress, cypress, cedar and other trees on the hillside everywhere, the flowing spring whimpers, the pine wind shouts, and the big green mountains in the distance are full of long, and the sky is reckless. Majestic and majestic.

There are many lakes and seas in this area, there are mountains and rivers, and there are a lot of prey, and from time to time I see flocks of yellow sheep floating by.

Zhong Susu took out a large bundle of guns and gave half of them to Wang Dou, she fired first, aiming at a running yellow sheep, and knocked the yellow sheep down with a bang.

Wang Dou praised: "General Zhong is good marksmanship!" ”

He looked at the gun in his hand, and it was the same as the one he saw that day, and the gun in his hand was very fine, and it could be described as the best of the riding guns.

He also aimed at an animal like a deer and a sheep, and then pulled the trigger, and with a bang, the animal whimpered and fell to the ground.

Zhong Susu shouted with joy: "The general is mighty!" ”

The guards around him wanted to applaud, but they couldn't shout when they saw this situation.

With the sound of the firecracker, Wang Dou and Zhong Susu continued to shoot and hunt prey in the forest, by the lake, and on the hillside, especially Zhong Susu kept chasing the prey, running forward and backward, shouting, and his face turned red with excitement.

Nearly noon, the two of them had shot dozens of yellow sheep, mountain hares, and squirrels, and the harvest was abundant, and they were only busy with the guards who were loading next to them.

In the end, Wang Dou handed the horse gun in his hand to the guards beside him, dismounted at a small lake, looked at the lake and let out a long sigh, feeling very happy, worthy of the trip.

Zhong Susu ran over and said in a loud voice: "The general is tired?" ”

She was about to dismount, but with a cry, she stumbled and fell from her horse.

Wang Dou shouted, "Be careful! ”

took a step forward and just caught Zhong Susu.

Zhong Susu's face instantly flushed, and the pink color extended to the root of her ears and neck, she quickly stood up and said in a low voice: "Thank you, General." ”

Wang Dou smiled and said, "Be careful, it's not a trivial matter to lose your footing immediately." ”

Zhong Susu snorted, his voice was soft, shy and timid, how could he still look like General Zhong in the past?

The guards watched cordially, they were all speechless, and some whispered in the distance: "You said that General Zhong is really ......"

"You and I know it, you don't have to say it...... It's been so many years, so as not to be embarrassed......"

Zhong Tiaoyang had been standing silently on the side, looking at the appearance of the guards, he coughed and said softly: "What are you looking at?" Be vigilant. ”

At noon, everyone had a sumptuous barbecue feast, Zhong Susu waited diligently, glanced at Wang Dou from time to time, his eyes were gentle, and his heart seemed to have a thousand thoughts flowing, and he had a lot to say, but in the end he didn't say it.

In the afternoon, everyone was about to pack up and set off, when suddenly a fast horse came and was welcomed in front of Zhong Tiaoyang, and after only a few words, Zhong Tiaoyang's face changed. He took a copy of the newspaper, hurriedly came to Wang Dou, and said with a solemn expression: "General, the epidemic has been discovered in Yingzhou, and there is a fear of a major epidemic in the whole territory of Shanxi. ”

"What?"

Wang Dou took the newspaper and watched it, and sighed secretly in his heart for a long time: "Are you still here?" (To be continued.) )