It is especially suitable for field combat, bombarding the enemy's dense combat formations and stifling their charges.

Despite the fact that this lightweight gun had a thinner barrel and a range inferior to that made of bronze, it had completely surpassed the pine cannon and reached two hundred meters, exceeding the range of the bow and arrow.

Of course, because of the limitations of production technology and the difficulty of building wrought iron, it will take some time for the Tiger Squat Cannon to equip a large number of troops, so as to eliminate the pine artillery.

If it is cast in bronze, because the bronze texture is tough and not easy to burst, and the ancient Chinese bronze smelting and casting industry has a long history, the technical level is at its peak, it can be molded as a whole, and the starting point is higher.

However, the cost problem is difficult for Meng Jiucheng to solve, copper is expensive and scarce, and it is difficult to obtain a large number of raw materials. As for wrought iron, some of which are produced at home, can also be purchased from the Southern Song Dynasty.

Therefore, bronze cannons are also casting, mainly to master the process and improve proficiency. It's just that due to the small number, the troops will not be equipped in a short time.

And Meng Jiucheng also wanted to use this as a secret weapon and use it in key battles, so as to inflict heavy losses on strong enemies.

Just as there is now the ability to make muskets, the barrel of which can be made from wrought iron. But Meng Jiucheng did not come up with drawings, nor did he assign such a production task to the arsenal.

Science and technology have been ahead of nearly a dynasty (metal barreled firearms only appeared in the Yuan Dynasty), Meng Jiucheng felt that it was more than enough to deal with the current enemy, and there was no need to rush to tap all the resources and potential for development.

Of course, as the habitual thinking of a traverser, Meng Jiucheng always hopes to make a breakthrough in weapons and equipment, so that the war can be carried out according to his own ideas as much as possible.

To put it bluntly, it is opportunistic.

Iron cannon and steel cannon are certainly the direction of development, but to smelt steel that meets the requirements of hardness and toughness, it is by no means possible overnight.

Frying steel? Blast furnace steelmaking? Top blowing converter? Forget it, these unreliable ideas are put on the shelf first, and there is not so much free time to do this.

Next to the arsenal, there are a group of backbone soldiers such as Qian Bangchen, who are responsible for researching and testing new artillery, recording data, and formulating operating specifications.

Now, they are skillfully operating and showing it to Meng Jiucheng.

The gunners meticulously inspected the gun, first using a metal needle to check that the door at the end of the barrel was clear, then adjusting the barrel of the gun in place and fixing the barrel with a wooden wedge.

Next, they loaded the gunpowder wrapped in linen into the barrel and slightly compacted the bag with a round wooden block attached to a push rod made of a long handle.

After this work was completed, the gunner checked the appearance of the fuse again, and after confirming that there was no damage, carefully inserted the fuse into the shell.

Then, the two gunners hooked the fused shell to the pit near the fuse chamber with a "hook" similar to a fire tong, and slowly loaded the shell into the barrel.

The reason for this is that the primitive time-delay fuze, which is extremely rudimentary, relies on the high-temperature gunpowder gas generated by the combustion of the propellant when the gun is fired to ignite the slow-burning gunpowder filled in the fuse in order to work.

In order to prevent the high-pressure gunpowder gas from blowing directly into the inside of the projectile body along the hole in the middle of the fuze and igniting the charge and causing the bore to explode, it is necessary to ensure that the fuze is pointed in the direction of the muzzle when loading the shell.

After all the reloading was done, the gunners inspected the guns again, then pierced through the fire door with a long awl, punctured the linen used to wrap the gunpowder, and inserted a fire rope into the fire door.

The fire rope was lit, sparkling and sinking into the fire door.

With a roar, the cannonball burst out of the chamber and flew into the distance in the smoke of gunpowder. Because it was daytime, the sparks from the fuse were barely visible, but the white smoke from the tail could be seen.

The cannonball landed on the ground, and a cloud of smoke and dust could be seen in the distance, and—

Understandably, in order to avoid accidents in which shells explode in the air, gunners generally install fuses with long explosion delays, some of which can be as long as a minute.

Meng Jiucheng narrowed his eyes, observed the error of the impact point, and measured the distance in a decent manner, nearly a thousand meters, and the range was terrifying.

Moreover, it is much safer in this way, and with the cover of earth barriers, even if you bombard the enemy on the head of the city, you will not suffer.

"Yongcai, come here, come here." Meng Jiucheng felt quite satisfied, so he stretched out his hand and called Qian Bangchen.

Qian Bangchen was staring into the distance, waiting for the loud noise, and being reminded by other gunners, he ran a few steps and came to Meng Jiucheng.

"Marshal, this, the delay is a bit long, that-" Qian Bangchen wanted to explain with some shame, but Meng Jiucheng had already interrupted him with a smile and a wave of his hand.

"Safety first." Meng Jiucheng said with a smile: "After all, it's just a demonstration, I only look at the error and distance of the shot." What about those two-"

Boom, a loud bang erupted, and a large cloud of smoke rose in the distance, and shrapnel, rubble, and dust flew up.

Meng Jiucheng was stunned for a moment, turned his face to look, smiled and chuckled, and then said: "I am still quite satisfied with these two points." Well, that's not bad either. You must continue to work hard, strive for excellence in artillery handling and shooting, and train more excellent artillery for our army. ”

"The marshal can rest assured that his humble position and subordinates will definitely live up to the marshal's expectations." A stone fell to the ground in Qian Bangchen's heart, and his face became relaxed.

"It seems that there is room for improvement in the airtightness of this shell." Meng Jiucheng pondered and added: "Is it possible to make some special linen covers, leaving only the place where the shells are fused." Well, you guys can give it a try. ”

Qian Bangchen thought for a while, nodded and said, "This is an experiment, and the results will be reported to the marshal soon." ”

Meng Jiucheng comforted several of the gunners who participated in the exercise, and then turned around and left the test site accompanied by Cai Mingyang, the director of the arsenal.

As a scholar, Cai Mingyang can work in this arsenal, which is very rare. Of course, Meng Jiucheng also gave him a very high salary, and his level was equivalent to the history of a state's assassination.

"The Meteor Cannon can cast six guns a day, plus one day of grinding and trimming, which is the output of three guns per day." Cai Mingyang reported to Meng Jiucheng as he walked, "The cannonballs are a little more troublesome, and about thirty can be made in a day." ”

Although they tried to recruit craftsmen and apprentices as much as possible, they were still understaffed.

It will take two or three months for the production to make a breakthrough, that is, after those apprentices have matured.

Meng Jiucheng knew that Cai Ming was able to make the arsenal reach this level, and in addition to his own strong support, his efforts were also indispensable. Therefore, he praised Cai Mingyang again and again, sweeping away Cai Mingyang's somewhat uneasy psychology.