After several successive test firings, the craftsmen finally began to drill the largest of the several guns.

Compared to the previous God Machine Cannon, this cannon is far more than it is in terms of weight and size. The loaded solid iron bullets also weigh several times the shells of the God Machine Cannon. Due to its large size, it is also equipped with a simple light door and a front sight, and there are ear ears in the middle to adjust the angle.

After the previous rounds of cannon viewing, the officers present had become more and more expectant about the artillery and waited attentively.

It was still the same process as before, after the medicine bag and iron bullet were loaded, and the red-hot iron chisel was ignited. Then a deafening explosion sounded. With so much more gunpowder loaded, the roar became louder, almost like thunder on a thunderstorm. Even though the officers gradually got used to it, their faces still changed. The cattle used to test the power of the artillery in the distance could not help but mourn in the roar.

With a whistling sound, the cannonball flew out of the sky at a speed that was difficult to see with the naked eye, flew a distance of about 500 paces, and smashed a crater on the ground!

As the precise distance report came up, the officers boiled.

Although the previous Divine Machine Cannon could shoot more than 300 steps, it was loaded with a small projectile and had no decisive advantage over the bed crossbow. The big iron cannon in front of him, which weighed a thousand catties, was different, and the firing range was close to five hundred steps, which was far more than all the existing siege and defense weapons in the Eastern Continent. The range alone is enough to give it an unparalleled superiority.

"Bring up the fowl and the wooden men in iron armor."

After the first test shot, some craftsmen ordered the soldiers at the test range to act. Soon, the previously prepared cows, horses and other poultry, as well as wooden figures with leather armor, iron armor and even double armor, were placed on the wasteland of the test range at different distances.

As the soldiers who were handling the guns were cleaned and recharged, a new test shot began.

After struggling to make some adjustments to the artillery, the soldier in charge of observation used the simple method formulated by Chen Wu to calculate for a long time, and nodded to the comrade next to him.

Immediately, the roar exploded again.

Under the watchful eyes of the officers, the cannonball was discharged at a speed far exceeding that of the stone thrower, and smashed into the ...... with amazing kinetic energy on the wasteland.

Obviously, this kind of primary aiming, which is a target a few hundred paces away, can be considered lucky to hit within three or five rounds. The first shot unexpectedly missed, but what made the officers secretly frightened was that even if it missed, the shell landed only a dozen meters away from the position of the wooden man.

If it weren't for the chance, such a table would already be the accuracy of a distant stone thrower.

The following test launch proved this.

Probably because Chen Wu personally watched the cannon, and the shooter who operated the cannon was in a hurry to show Xiàn, the next observation was more cautious. With the cleaning and charging completed, the sight took a slight break from the original foundation, and only signaled again after a few moments.

With a loud explosion, the cannonball flew out again and landed diagonally behind the wooden man.

Although it was still a little worse, this time it was closer to the target than the first shot. All the officers understood that when this kind of large artillery was used, it would inevitably face a large group of enemies, and it would be a dense military formation. In the face of a large number of enemies, the landing point of the artillery is 10 meters or 8 meters away is nothing, and it can be regarded as a weapon that can be used to point and fight!

The test launches continued.

With constant minor adjustments, the shell finally hit the target accurately. Under the action of the huge projectile kinetic energy, the wooden man covered in iron armor was smashed to pieces in an instant. At such a distance, even the most powerful bed crossbow would lose momentum, let alone hurt people. But the cannon in front of him can easily bombard the wooden man who has penetrated the iron armor. Even, the projectile still did not lose its kinetic energy, and continued to smash a green cow backwards into a blur of flesh and blood, and then it deflected and fell to the ground and rolled out of the way.

Not to mention the officers, after checking the power with their own eyes, even Chen Wu's personal soldiers were stunned.

The power of the artillery is beyond their imagination!

There is such a destructive power at a distance of four or five hundred paces, if the distance is closer, and the muzzle of the artillery is lowered, wouldn't a single shell be able to sweep across a row of soldiers?

The range is longer, the accuracy is excellent, the power is huge, and the rate of fire is faster than that of a traditional stone thrower!

Some of the sharp-eyed officers were already trembling with excitement. His Royal Highness the King of Thailand's emphasis on artillery is indeed not without reason. Such a weapon is destined to change the pattern of war!

"Can its range be adjusted?"

After a brief moment of excitement and ecstasy, an officer asked this crucial question.

"Yes." The craftsman glanced at him and then explained: "The wedge under the guò can adjust the height of the muzzle. Supplemented by an appropriate increase or decrease in the amount of gunpowder in the cartridge, the firing range can be changed within a certain range -- the 500 paces just now should be the maximum firing range of this kind of artillery. Moreover, this adjustment process is not cumbersome. ”

"The range can also be adjusted!" The officer grew more and more excited.

"It's not enough."

Chen Wu interjected at the right time and attracted everyone's attention: "According to my estimates, this cannon will continue to improve, and the firing range will be at least more than a thousand steps!" If we continue to increase the length and thickness of the barrel and increase the amount of charge, it will not be impossible for future artillery to shoot even 3,000 or 5,000 steps. ”

"More than a few thousand paces at range?"

Not to mention the officers, even the craftsman who cast this cannon with his own hands couldn't help but gasp. What would it be like for a weapon capable of firing a solid iron bullet for thousands of paces on the battlefield?

Many people can't even imagine that scene, but they are afraid that before the enemy approaches, they will be crushed by the artillery on their side, right?

"Such a divine weapon, far more powerful than that divine cannon, I don't know if His Royal Highness the King of Thailand has a name?" Someone couldn't help but ask.

The previous counterweight stone thrower, Chen Wu once gave it a title, called the Great General Stone Cannon. However, compared to real artillery, the counterweight stone throwing machine is much inferior. In the future, as the counterweight stone thrower is gradually eliminated, the original title will naturally be invalidated, and it will be given to this new heavy iron cannon - the general cannon!

Although it is only one word different from the original title, the meaning of the representation is very different.

While the generals were still discussing with joy, a new round of artillery tests continued. The water-soaked felt brushed over the hot chamber of the cannon once again stirred up the rising white gas, followed by charge, compacting, and reloading the shells. Just when the officers present thought that the next launch would be the same as before, an accident came.

Perhaps it was the previous test shots that overwhelmed the chamber, or it could be that the cartridge was overloaded, or some other problem, after the iron brazing ignited the cartridge, the chamber of the iron cannon exploded in a violent explosion under the shocked gaze of everyone. Several soldiers who were operating the cannon nearby were almost instantly hit by the explosion and the debris that were sputtered away. One person died on the spot, and two others were injured of varying severity and fell to the ground screaming.

Fortunately, because the officers who were watching the cannon were far enough away from Chen Wu, no one was affected by the accident.

"W-This?"

The unsuspecting officers were stunned, they did not understand for a moment what was happening. Why did it hurt his own people instead of a weapon that was supposed to kill the enemy?

Only the craftsmen and Chen Wu who were present understood that they had suffered a "bombing".

The previous firing process did not find any irregularities. The biggest possibility is that the method of casting artillery and the quality of iron are not good.

In this regard, Chen Wu did not feel strange at all, but only had some regrets. The previous few guns were tested all the way to the present, and he almost thought that these guns were close to actual combat. But now it seems that there are still many shortcomings. As for the craftsmen in charge of casting cannons, it is even more surprising, in the past few years of development and practice, there have been at least a dozen similar accidents, and the number of dead and injured artillery soldiers has exceeded double digits!

If it weren't for the high salaries in front of them and the promise of double pensions even if the family died, it would not be easy to recruit qualified gunners.

"There's such a thing as a bore?"

After figuring out the problem, the faces of the officers present were not very good. The previous excitement was like being poured a basin of cold water on the head. Only then did they understand why the artillery had shown considerable power, but it had never been put into actual combat, but was still continuously improving at the test firing range.

As they calmed down, these officers gradually found more shortcomings and deficiencies in artillery.

"The cost seems to be far higher than that of a stone thrower, and it seems that the process is more complicated, and it is difficult to manufacture on a large scale."

"The thousand-pound iron cannon may be bigger and heavier in the future, and the defense of the city is acceptable, how to carry it in the field battle?"

If the problem of portability and transportation cannot be solved, the actual combat value of artillery will be greatly reduced. As soon as this question was raised, all the officers pondered deeply. An officer with a superficial understanding of gunpowder asked a more important question: "When I look at this artillery, it seems that the cannon is used as a guide to drive the shells. What if the gunpowder gets wet, or if it rains? ”

The inability of artillery to fight in rainy weather is also a problem that cannot be ignored.

Several questions were raised one after another, and coupled with the tragedy of the bombing that had just occurred, the officers completely calmed down because of the excitement of suddenly seeing the epoch-making weapon. They realized that, at least for now, the weapons developed by His Royal Highness were far from as rosy as they seemed.

In the short term, I am afraid that the Songjiang Army will not be able to put this new weapon into actual combat and completely replace the traditional catapult!

Chen Wu knows this. Looking at his subordinates, who were suddenly a little depressed, he smiled and said concisely: "You don't have to be disappointed, the emergence of any new thing is not achieved overnight. From the appearance of the stone thrower to the present, it has taken hundreds of years. And this artillery, from the beginning of its development to the present is only a few years! With a little more time, the problems you have raised can be improved or avoided. ”

At that time, it will be the time when artillery, the king of war in the new era, will appear on the battlefield and sweep the world.