Liu Lao and others are now extremely interested in making artillery. Before Zhao Yuan told him these things, he probably never thought that this artillery could be made in this way.

It can be rear-loaded with ammunition, and the gunpowder can be wrapped and loaded from the back, etc. Of course, the only troublesome thing is the last locking device!

Zhao Yuan actually didn't know much about this locking device himself, so he could only give it to Liu Lao and others to conduct research based on the rough images and principles provided by Zhao Yuan. When making iron artillery, they were the first to do it.

It is a wooden model. Before the various parts of the artillery are completed in the wooden model, it will not be easy to build the artillery.

But the craftsmen in this workshop did not hesitate. If they want to forge a cannon made of purer steel, then the raw material cannot be cast iron. After it is cast and shaped, it must be hammered hard.

So according to Mr. Liu's plan, he first made an iron ingot, and then kept hammering it repeatedly. He tried to find a way to make the iron ingot into a steel ingot, then melted it into molten steel, and finally cast it into a gun barrel. With constant hammering, it became more powerful.

Fasten.

When Liu Lao and others were studying, Zhao Yuan was also staying nearby. He was not very clear about the locking mechanism of the artillery. The only thing he knew was how to operate the artillery after watching some videos and the like.

Liu Lao and others can only design the final locking device of the artillery according to the operating posture provided by them. Of course, this is simpler than the locking device of the subsequent artillery. After all, there is no need to arrange a firing pin or the like inside, only the tail of the artillery needs to be placed.

Just close it completely, and then you still need to use a fuse to ignite the propellant to make the artillery fire.

Although the firing method of the artillery does not seem to have changed much, it saves a lot of trouble. The firing speed of the artillery may be half as fast as before. This is already a great improvement.

In addition to the research on these artillery, on the other hand, the research on rockets has also begun. Compared with artillery, rockets are simpler, just a large sky-piercing monkey. As for the launch platform of the rocket, it is also very simple.

It's just a guide rail.

So in just over ten days, the rocket was manufactured, and about five rounds were produced together. In addition, the guide rail was also manufactured, and considering the convenience of transportation of the guide rail, Liu Lao and others found a way to install the guide rail on

Got into a car.

After completing all this, Mr. Liu and others excitedly came to Zhao Yuan with the finished product. After all, he was now a member of a thousand households. Of course, if there were any results, he would have to be allowed to participate in the experiment. Moreover, there was the sea in front of him, so he could do whatever he wanted.

emission.

Zhao Yuan did not refuse Mr. Liu's request, and the group of people came to the beach. After setting up the car, Mr. Liu asked someone to place the rocket on the guide rail, and everyone stayed away.

Mr. Liu took out the fire folder and was about to light the fire. Zhao Yuandao said, "I'll do it!"

Liu Laodao: "My lord, I have a rich body, how can I let you come? It's too dangerous!"

Zhao Yuandao: "It's precisely because of the danger that I came here to escape. No one can compare with me!"

With that said, he took Mr. Liu's fire certificate and said, "You old man, please stand back!"

Mr. Liu had no choice but to retreat. Zhao Yuan went to Huozhezi, but he was not in a hurry to light it. The entire rocket was just like what he told them at the beginning. It was only about three feet long. He laughed as hard as a bowl.

There are four X-shaped triangular tail fins on the back of the rocket. The outside of the entire rocket seems to be made of wood, and the outside is polished smooth and coated with a layer of tung oil.

Tung oil is an excellent drying vegetable oil. It has the characteristics of fast drying, light specific gravity, good gloss, strong adhesion, heat resistance, acid resistance, alkali resistance, anti-corrosion, anti-rust and other properties. It has a wide range of uses.

Because of this characteristic of tung oil, Liu Lao and others carefully applied a layer of tung oil when making it. After all, this is at the seaside, and the air is not generally humid. If it is too humid, the gunpowder will fail.

The tail of the rocket is also sealed with oil paper at this moment, and the oil paper needs to be punctured during launch to prevent an explosion.

Because it was a test launch, there was no target yet, and the entire rocket was pointed slightly upward.

Zhao Yuan lit the fuse and then quickly retreated. Everyone's eyes were focused on the rapidly burning fuse.

Finally, under almost everyone's attention, the fuse finally burned into the back. After a moment of command, a pillar of fire was ejected from the back of the rocket. In almost a moment, the rocket began to slide rapidly along the guide rail.

During the first test, Mr. Liu and others had no idea how long it would take for the rocket to slide on the guide rail before it could fly, so the guide rail was set to be a full foot long.

"call!"

A sharp sound sounded. After the rocket left the guide rail, it did not fall down. Instead, it flew straight into the sky, bringing out a black smoke in the sky.

After flying a few hundred meters away, there was a loud bang and it exploded into a ball of fire in the air.

"good!"

The people present cheered in unison. The distance was close to three to four hundred meters, which was beyond the range of ordinary bows and arrows. In other words, if they were to attack the enemy, they could launch and hit the enemy beyond the range of their bows and arrows. And it looked like

Judging from the smoke trajectory ejected by the rocket, it is basically a straight line.

The first test was successful, which was completely beyond Zhao Yuan's medical treatment. As for the route of travel being basically straight, this can be considered as meeting the requirements. After all, Zhao Yuan never thought of this from the initial shot.

How high can the accuracy of rockets be? At this time, fighting is all about hand-to-hand combat. The enemy rushes up in a black mass. You only need to use rockets to shoot the warheads into the enemy's camp. After the explosion, they rely on the iron slag and the like inside to hurt people.

, as for how much it can be injured, it all depends on luck.

The success of the first shot immediately boosted the confidence of everyone present, so immediately after the second shot was launched, without exception, all five methods were fired together, with a range of more than 300 meters.

Seeing this, Mr. Liu excitedly said to Zhao Yuan: "Master Qianhu, what do you think?"

Zhao Yuan thought for a while and said: "Now I think there are several areas that need improvement. The first is the guide rail. Find a way to install bamboo shoots in the guide rail. The bamboo shoots have two functions. The first is to fix this

The rocket, after putting it up, will not fall or move whether it is lying flat or tilted downwards. Secondly, it cannot affect the smooth launch and accuracy of the rocket. Secondly, it is the problem of the rocket.

, Now our rocket has a range of about one hundred feet, which is already very far. However, on the battlefield, I cannot specify that this rocket can only shoot one hundred feet. What if the enemy is fifty feet or twenty feet away? Is it so close?

Our rocket cannot be used at such a distance? At that time, it is very likely that the rocket will be shot out and hit the ground, but the powder inside has not been burned out yet, and there is no way to ignite the fuse in front of the charge. At that time, the rocket will be on the ground.

If it flies around but doesn't explode, wouldn't this rocket be a very useless weapon?"

Mr. Liu and others looked at each other a little when they heard this. You, Yang Qianhu, didn't come up with this rocket. How come this thing was made and turned into a useless weapon?

The sea breeze blew, and the scene was silent. The joy of the successful experiment suddenly disappeared.

Zhao Yuan said with a smile: "Please don't misunderstand me. This rocket can be launched and exploded. The fact that it has such a long range shows one thing. This rocket is feasible as a weapon. Now it is like a sculpture. There are already

Once the embryo is obtained, the next step will be a perfect process, so I have the following ideas here, and I would like Mr. Liu to listen to them and see if they work!"

Mr. Liu was shocked when he heard this. After these days of contact, he knew that the Qianhu master in front of him had many strange things in his mind, and it was impossible for him to know these things.

Zhao Yuandao: "First, the launch rail of the rocket can be reused, but after the rocket is manufactured, it must be transported to the soldiers for use. There will inevitably be vibrations and jitters during transportation, and the tail fin on the rocket is directly

It is related to the accuracy of rocket shooting. If it is damaged, it may cause the rocket to miss after launch. Therefore, I suggest that the four tail fins be designed to be disassembled and assembled. For example, several grooves are designed at the tail of the missile body for transportation.

Take off the tail fin when entering the combat state, and just quickly insert the tail fin into it when entering the combat state. How about doing this? It's like a bamboo shoot stuck."

Mr. Liu thought about it carefully and said: "Our rocket is originally made of wood, and it is easy to handle. This should be no problem!"

Zhao Yuan nodded and said: "Then the second point is the problem mentioned just now, which is that the rocket launch distance is too close and cannot detonate in time. Well, can you give me some gunpowder?"

In the military books of the Ming Dynasty, relatively complete records of the gunpowder formulas of the Ming Dynasty include "Fire Dragon Artifact Formation", "Wu Bian", "Bing Lu", "Wu Bei Zhi", "Fire Dragon Scripture", "Xifa Shen Ji", "

"Fire Dragon Control" and so on, and others such as "New Book of Jixiao", "City Guard Strategy", etc. also have sporadic records of the types of gunpowder. Add up these fragmentary gunpowder formulas, except for the gunpowder of the Song Dynasty, Western gunpowder

In addition to the varieties and formulas, as well as the content repeated in different military books, there are about 90 kinds. These gunpowder varieties can be roughly divided into two categories, one is the propellant for matchlocks, artillery, and fire portal guns, and the other is explosive gunpowder

, spray gunpowder, burn gunpowder, etc.

Among these two categories of gunpowder varieties, the advancement of black powder formulas in the Ming Dynasty is closely related to external influences. The gunpowder used for firing cannot be mixed with other ingredients except nitrate, sulfur, and charcoal, so as to ensure a high gunpowder content.

, has a fast burning rate, significantly improving the range and power of artillery and matchlocks. This is different from the traditional burning and explosive gunpowder used in the Ming Dynasty. Although Europe came into contact with gunpowder manufacturing technology relatively late, it developed rapidly. In the 14th century, it was already

Later, it came to occupy a leading position in the world, and its results greatly helped the development of gunpowder production techniques in the Ming Dynasty with the arrival of European explorers from the East.

The earliest record in the Ming Dynasty involving the spread of European propellant formulas to the East comes from "Cao Hai Tu Bian". In Volume 13 of it, when talking about bird-bill guns, there is such a record: "In the 27th year of Jiajing, the imperial censor Zhu Wan sent the capital to the capital.

He commanded Lu Borong to destroy Shuangyu, and won the chieftain who was good at muskets. He ordered Ma Xian, a righteous soldier, to make weapons, and Li Huai made medicine. Because of his reputation, his craftsmanship was even better than that of Xifan." It can be seen that the Ming people at that time not only learned how to make bird muskets.

, and also imitated the Portuguese gunpowder and achieved great results.

In other words, there are actually two kinds of gunpowder used by Liu Lao and others in this small rocket. One is the gunpowder that is hit at the back for spraying, and the front is used for explosion. What are the formulas of the two kinds of gunpowder?

There are some differences.

Liu Lao and others didn't know what Zhao Yuan meant, so they prepared some gunpowder for him. Zhao Yuan just took out a gunpowder, which was about the size of a match head, put it in the iron block, and then took out the tip with only a match.

The chisel is as big as the head. During the process of cutting the mountain, the chisel has been ground flat and pressed on top of the gunpowder. Then a hammer gently taps the other end of the chisel.

"bite!"

There was a soft sound, and then there was an explosion sound from under the chisel, and then there was a flash of fire and a trace of smoke.

Mr. Liu and others had no idea what Zhao Yuan's intentions were, so they looked a little baffled.

Zhao Yuan immediately asked for paper and pen, and immediately started drawing, saying: "According to my idea, I will design a device called a lead-like device in front of the warhead. The function of this device is actually the same as what I just did.

Likewise, a small explosion on impact produces sparks that detonate other gunpowders."

Mr. Liu was surprised and said: "Master Qianhu, you mean to use gunpowder explosion to detonate too much gunpowder?"

Zhao Yuandao: "Yes, there is no problem at all, but the way of detonation is somewhat different from the way we use fuses to detonate. This way of detonation is impact."

As he said that, he picked up the pen and started drawing on the picture. What he drew was actually similar to the invisible one later, but it was much simpler. It was mainly divided into two parts. The front was a fan-shaped iron part, and the bottom was

A firing pin the size of a match head, and there is a hollow in the corresponding part of the projectile. The bottom of the hole is also a piece of iron. There are small holes around the iron piece, and the gunpowder used for impact is stored here.

.

After roughly drawing it, Zhao Yuan continued: "In this way, the explosive in our projectile will be divided into two layers. The first layer is a small amount, close to the head. This kind will explode upon impact.

, is the most powerful one at the back, relying on a full range of gunpowder to detonate. The bottom of this groove, which is a grain of rice away from the bottom patch, must be sealed with oil paper to ensure that the firing pin above can break through this layer of paper during impact, but
Chapter completed!