This mortar cannon, compared with the stone thrower, has its own advantages and disadvantages.

When the stone bullet is polished smooth and compliant, the range is a little farther, but the large stone thrower can project one or two hundred catties of stones, and there is no requirement for the shape.

And then it's more mobile and more labor-efficient.

But in the eyes of Wu Qian and Ma Guangzu, shooting far is the biggest advantage.

You can't beat me, but I can beat you up in the face, isn't it very cool.

Stone bullets are troublesome to make, so use pottery bullets, that is, burn mud balls into pottery balls, and after landing, they can be more effective in killing and injuring people.

As for the siege of the city, twenty pounds of cannonballs are really just an itch for the really strong city wall, and it is a big deal to replace it with iron bullets, if it is still not powerful enough, then the number will be made up, and there will be a hundred and ten gates, and I don't believe that there is a wall that cannot collapse.

The military thinking of the Song people does pay more attention to long-range strikes, and there seems to be nothing wrong with thinking so, if you ignore the cost of this mortar.

The bronze used to cast the cannon roughly contains eighty percent copper, one into tin, two points of zinc, these more than 300 catties of guys, if used to cast money, at least more than 100 yuan, if calculated according to the value of copper materials in the market, it is three or four hundred percent, which is only the cost of materials.

In the case that iron could not be used to reduce costs for the time being, Zhao Mengqi could only try to improve the cost performance of copper cannons.

"Chen Dagong, let's have a flowering bullet."

"Okay, Your Highness, wait a minute."

Chen Jinshan immediately got busy again, letting people start cleaning the gun chamber here, and letting people go to set up the shooting range there.

Later, everyone saw a group of soldiers carrying wooden stakes, leading sheep, and dragging pigs, to the vicinity of the stone bullet landing point just now.

They scattered dozens of wooden stakes and nailed them into the ground, tied pigs and sheep to them, and even put various armor on some of them.

This scene looked a little strange and funny, but Wu Qian and Ma Guangzu thought about it a little and guessed that this was to test the power of the weapon more intuitively, so they waited silently with interest.

Then they smelled a strong smell of urine in the smell of gunsmoke.

A craftsman was seen holding a long stick wrapped in a piece of cloth, dipping it into a wooden barrel filled with an unknown liquid, and then poking into the chamber of the gun, which had been cleaned of gunpowder residue, and began the piston movement.

was stabbed like this, and the muzzle of the cannon kept spraying white mist, and the thick smell of urine also came from here.

Seeing that everyone was puzzled, Zhao Mengqi explained, "This is horse urine, which cleans up the residual dirt in the barrel of the cannon and cools down the cannon body."

As for why he used horse urine, he actually didn't know very well, but vaguely remembered that this was done in the era of breech guns, and for this reason, he also specially equipped the island with more than 30 pack horses.

After cleaning the chamber, it is necessary to continue to cool the barrel with cold salt water, which squeaks and smokes again.

Wait until it has cooled down to the bottom, then put it into a raw silk powder pack, and then fill it with the so-called flowering bullets.

The body of the projectile is a round ball, fixed on a wooden butt, which can better seal the barrel, and can insulate and buffer, prevent the propellant from detonating the shell in advance, and can also strengthen the flight stability of the shell to a certain extent, and slightly improve the accuracy.

At the front end of the warhead, a woodpipe time-delay fuse is inserted, which is filled with hard gunpowder and can burn at a steady rate.

This fuze is very primitive, and the accident rate failure rate is quite high, but who made Zhao Mengqi not understand science and can't make a collision fuze.

He knew about thunder mercury, but he didn't know how to get it out, and he hated that he didn't learn mathematics, physics and chemistry well, so he could only spend money for people to try, and only God knows if he could make it.

When everything was ready, the craftsmen withdrew to the pit behind the concrete wall, leaving two people at the mortar gun.

"Your Highness, you are ready to launch at any time." Chen Jinshan looked a little more nervous than before.

"Let's launch."

Zhao Mengqi nodded, although the time has taken a little long, but it is still in the exploration stage, and it is gradually improved.

Chen Jinshan ordered, "The warhead ignites!"

A craftsman pokes into the chamber of a cannon with a red-hot iron drill

Immediately withdrawn, shouting, "Success!"

Immediately, another craftsman lit the arquebus, and the two craftsmen ran away.

This time, the arquebus was shorter, and when the craftsman ran to the tunnel, the mortar roared.

I don't know if it's an illusion, Zhao Mengqi felt that the shadow flying out of the muzzle of the cannon was faster than just now.

A perfect parabola streaked through the air, and the cannonball crashed into the herd of pigs and sheep, stirring up smoke and dust, and after three or five breaths, it erupted into a dazzling fire.

The thunder was more intense than when it was launched, and everyone felt the ground tremble slightly under their feet, and their eyes were even more shocked by the sight of the shooting range in the distance.

In the smoke of the flames, large and small pieces splattered into the air, and then rained down.

Some pigs and sheep who were far away from the explosion point screamed in panic and struggled to run, perhaps some of the wooden stakes were shaken loose, but there were actually a few large pigs who fled from the place and dragged the wooden stakes into the woods.

Zhao Mengqi was happy, "Remember to tie your hooves next time, otherwise you will lose hundreds of catties of meat."

"Your Highness is sorry for your subordinates' negligence." Shi Cheng seriously pleaded guilty.

"Punish you for what? Will you eat a few bites of meat less for dinner?" Zhao Mengqi teased and patted him on the shoulder, "However, although this is a trivial matter, it should indeed be taken seriously, only by learning lessons and correcting mistakes again and again can we become more and more perfect and stronger."

By the way, the education was beaten, and it can be regarded as the contribution value of the pigs that ran away.

The test shot went smoothly, which made Chen Jinshan feel a lot more relaxed, and when he saw that King Yan was easy-going, he grinned and said, "Actually, don't worry, this island is such a big place, those pigs can't run anywhere, don't we also have dozens of hunting dogs, if you really want to find it, it won't take much effort."

The hounds on the island are actually used as police dogs to prevent the living from sneaking in.

When the smoke cleared, a group of soldiers walked into the shooting range and began to check the effect and record the data.

Zhao Mengqi looked around, "Let's go and have a look."

Wu Qian and Ma Guangzu couldn't hide their excitement at the moment, they had long wanted to see the explosion scene up close, how could they disagree.

After everyone walked in slowly, they were shocked and excited to see the messy scene.

At the center of the explosion was a round pit five or six feet in diameter, which was full of fresh soil and appeared very clean, and the outer circle was radial burn marks, and some charred wooden stakes fell to the ground, and some of them were still burning with fires and smoking.

Some of the wooden stakes outside were still standing, some of the unbroken ropes were still tied to the stumps of varying degrees, and two or three still alive pigs fell to the ground, snorting weakly.

Outside the radius of one zhang, there are many pigs and sheep that survived, many of them are injured, but they are roughly complete, two zhang away, most of the pigs and sheep are still alive, and there are still stumps and broken meat scattered on the ground.

This effect is due to the low flight speed of the shell, which does not penetrate too much into the ground, so that the shrapnel flies out at a relatively flat angle.

If you deal with a cavalry group, the killing range can be expanded a little.

Zhao Mengqi estimated that it was probably the killing radius of a 75-millimeter grenade in later generations, and it could be used.

He felt that it was just a matter of compromise, but Wu Qian and Ma Guangzu were so shocked that their scalps were numb.

Ma Guangzu crouched on the edge of the crater, looking over at a dead pig in iron armor.

I don't know whether to say that the pig's luck is good or bad, anyway, it was not hit by shrapnel, its limbs are intact, and the armor on its body is not seriously damaged, but it is a little deformed and charred.

Lifting the iron armor, it actually emitted a hot smell with the aroma of barbecue, which made Ma Guangzu almost unable to parry.

Wu Qian was on the other side, also looking at an ironclad pig.

He found a thumb-sized hole in the iron armor, and when he opened it, there was a fist-sized hole on the pig's body, and the flesh and blood were blurred, and it was miserable.

The two old men were shocked beyond words, Mu Ran looked up, happened to look at each other across the pit, and both found the horror in each other's eyes.

Wu Qian muttered, "This flowering bullet is so powerful! The iron armor is like nothing in front of it, and on the battlefield, is it invincible!?" br>

He'd seen the power of "fried eggs" before,

But right now this cannonball is more than ten times stronger than that.

Ma Guangzu was shocked, and a red light appeared in his eyes, "God bless the Great Song, with this artifact, who in the world can be defeated!?"

Then he became a little nervous, "This thing is in hand, and the Tartars don't want to invade my borders again!" No, no, even if he doesn't come, I will also go, the ancestral homeland, the old land of the Han and Tang Dynasties, all have to be taken back! I want to play the official family and make it with all my might, even if I do my best to make it, I will not hesitate to do it!"

Zhao Mengqi smiled bitterly, and shook Ma Guangzu's shoulder, "Ma Xiang! Horses!"

"Huh? What is the matter with Your Highness?" Ma Guangzu is still immersed in his imagination.

Zhao Mengqi had no choice but to stretch out his hand and gesture in front of his eyes, "This mortar cannon will cost at least five hundred times, one flowering bullet, three times."

"So expensive!?" Ma Guangzu was stunned, and explained to himself, "Actually, it's okay, it's just the cost of a cavalry......

Zhao Mengqi scratched his head, "It can't be counted like this, this cannonball is a consumable, and there will be no more if it is hit, and when it comes to actual combat, the effect is definitely not so good, except for the first one or two surprises to find the opportunity to be able to do it, the enemy will definitely find a way to deal with it, and maybe, the enemy will steal it and deal with us in turn."

When Ma Guangzu heard this, he gradually came back to his senses and realized that he was too excited and too serious.

"Your Highness is right, a weapon is a weapon after all, and it may be able to gain an advantage, but it may not necessarily determine the victory......

As he spoke, Ma Guangzu seemed to think of something again, "Anyway, this thing is related to the fortune of the country, and it is too unstable to be guarded by more than 300 soldiers, no, no, it is not safe to put it here, if it is stolen by a female cadre, it will be a monstrous disaster for my dynasty!"

Zhao Mengqi shrugged his shoulders, "Then where do you say to put it, there are more female cadres in Lin'an than anywhere, you can't put it in the palace, if this thing goes off... Tsk, my father is going to take a dirt plane."

Although I don't know what the earth plane is, the general meaning of King Yan's words is still not difficult to understand, so not only Ma Guangzu, but even Wu Qian's face began to twitch, this highness, really dare to say anything.

Seeing the ugly faces of the two old ministers, Zhao Mengqi couldn't help but sneer, "Actually, you two don't have to worry about security measures, the guards on this island are only the last line of defense, Xishan Island is still stationed with the Fenghua Navy, and there are always naval ships patrolling on the lake, and the new weapons will be kept secret as much as possible before they are put into actual combat."

Indeed, now the research of artillery is only a reserve technology, and only when the time is ripe and can be mass-produced, Zhao Mengqi will put it into the battlefield, and the most important thing is ***, this is the top secret of the top secret.

After listening to the explanation, the two old men's faces improved a little, and Ma Guangzu thought for a moment, "With this thing, many ordnance is actually no longer than reproduction, especially old-fashioned firearms, otherwise it will be a complete waste of money, food and raw materials."

"I asked Ma Xiang to come and see, and I also have this meaning, I suggest that after Ma Xiang arrives, stop Jiankang's firearms workshop and move it to Pingjiang Mansion, and I will set up a special military base to facilitate unified management and security." Zhao Mengqi pushed the boat down the water.

Ma Guangzu nodded slightly, "Your Highness's suggestion, the old minister will consider it carefully, after all, other ordnance may also have to be changed, and this matter is related to the supply of various armies, and it is widely implicated, and it needs a reason that can not attract the attention of others."

Zhao Mengqi was not in a hurry about this, and said, "After watching the mortar cannon, let's take a look at another one."

Subsequently, the soldiers cleaned up the dead and wounded pigs, sheep and stumps, leaving them intact to continue to be used as targets.

The group returned to the firing site and turned their gaze to the other cannon that had been pushed back again.

This cannon is much longer than the mortar cannon, lying on a hardwood gun carriage, the gun carriage is equipped with two iron wheels, which can be dragged by oxen and horses, and when arranged, the trailer can be unfolded as a support, a little bit like the "Italian cannon" used by Li Yunlong.

Of course, the gun body is much more clumsy, and the gun carriage is also very clumsy, so it can only be said to be slightly similar.

It is still Chen Jinshan who introduced, "This cannon is tentatively named "straight cannon", three feet long, weighs 427 catties, can fire a pound of heavy iron bullets, can also fire scattered bullets, the range is 270 zhang, the accuracy is controllable, according to the assumption, the iron bullet is mainly used to attack the enemy's large equipment, such as stone artillery, ballista, shield

carts, ladders, etc., and scattershots are used to attack enemy cavalry, especially heavy mounted cavalry in dense arrays."

In fact, if in the field, when the opponent's cavalry is about to charge the battle, there is a high probability that there is a problem with your own defense, and it is estimated that there is only a chance to fire a cannon with this artillery to hit the cavalry, because more than 200 people rushed over in an instant, and a cannon is just a matter of doing their best.

Of course, how to use weapons depends on the ideas of the battlefield commander.

Zhao Mengqi decided, "Let's try scattering first."