The first clear after the snow was sunny, and the sun shone on the snow, which was a little dazzling. The world was white and the whole world changed.

Zhang Ke and Du Zhongxiao rode on horseback, arrived at the hillside not far from the ranch, looked at the two piles of iron on the ground, and asked, "Zhijun, is that artillery? It's just two piles of iron. What's so strange? Although such a large iron committee is not common."

Du Zhongxiao said: "Let's fire two guns and take a look at them, okay?"

After saying that, he called Tao Shiqi and brought several gunners from yesterday to fill the cannons. He sent a team of soldiers to build two large piles of land more than two hundred steps away from the cannons.

Everything was ready, Du Zhongxiao said to Zhang Ji: "The cannons here can blow up the two mounds over there. It's just that the cannons are newly cast, and the gunners are unfamiliar with their operations, and occasionally they fail to hit. Only after practicing more in the future can you ensure that nine out of ten shots will be hit."

Zhang Ji built a pergola with his hand and looked at the mounds of soil in the distance. It was like a hill, particularly conspicuous in the snow under the sun. He shook his head: "What kind of cannon can be used to tie the two piles of soil? I saw it yesterday. The gunpowder Zhijun mentioned was nothing more than flame salt, and there was no such power."

"You will know after seeing it." Du Zhongxiao smiled and ordered his followers to go over and ask Tao Shiqi to fire.

Tao Shiqi was a little excited when he received the order. He rubbed his hands and directed the soldiers to fill gunpowder and fill it with projectiles, which made it strong. Du Zhongxiao liked to start with the simplest thing. The two cannons that started cast were not fancy, just two thick iron pipes, with two wheels added underneath. The cannon was not big, about one hundred kilograms, to facilitate transportation.

Everything was ready and put the medicine twists in it. Tao Shiqi covered his ears and ordered the soldiers who were raising the fire beside him to fire the cannon. The soldiers raised the torch and carefully lit the medicine twists. Several soldiers were away from the cannon cart and watched the medicine twists burn.

Du Zhongxiao said to Zhang Ji: "Be careful, the medicine will burn out, and then the gun will be fired."

Zhang Ji nodded silently at all this and did not speak. Soon, he heard a muffled sound, a burst of black smoke rose from the cannon, and a string of fire burst out from the muzzle. Zhang Ji didn't expect such a big move, so he was shocked.

Seeing the black smoke from the cannon dissipated, Zhang Ke was stunned: "Is this Yan Ni? - Did a big firework be set off?"

Du Zhongxiao pointed to the front and said, "Everyone watches the mound! This time I was shot accurately and leveled the mound with just one shot!"

Zhang Ke then turned around and looked at the two piles of soil piled up by the soldiers in front of him. At this moment, there was only one left, and the other had become a pile of loose soil.

"This - how is this possible?!" Black smoke just now, and Zhang Ke didn't notice that there was a shell flying out of the muzzle.

He rushed forward with Du Zhongxiao, and arrived at the mound of soil. Zhang Ji dismounted and checked. He saw a round iron bullet smashing deep into the soil. The surrounding soil rose as shallow as mud, and the huge mound disappeared.

Zhang Ke looked around and then carefully looked at the iron bullet. He saw that it was made of pig iron, dark and quite heavy.

After looking around and looking, Zhang Ke pointed to the iron bullet and said to Du Zhongxiao: "Is this what was fired from the cannon just now? So powerful!"

Du Zhongxiao said: "If the governor doesn't believe it, you can go near you and watch the soldiers load the bullets."

"Okay!" Zhang Ke didn't say anything, and brought his personal soldiers to Tao Shiqi.

Tao Shiqi sang No with his hands. Zhang Ji waved his hand and said, "You are tired, and have another shot!"

When Tao Shiqi saw Du Zhongxiao nodded, crossed his hands to respond, and directed the soldiers to reload the medicine and load the iron bullets.

Zhang Ke looked very carefully on the side, for fear of missing a little. The range and power of the cannon were far beyond his expectations. With such power, Du Zhongxiao said that the person who was the one who was in the middle of the battle was not casually said. On the battlefield, a shot was over, and several rows of people were defeated.

After the reloading was completed, the medicine was fixed, and Tao Shiqi crossed his hands to Zhang Ke: "Please issue an order!"

Zhang Ke looked at it, thought about the procedure for firing the cannon just now, and said loudly: "Let the cannon!"

The soldier holding a torch went forward and bent over, lit the medicine twist, and took a few steps back. Tao Shiqi whispered to Zhang Ji: "The chief magistrate, the sound of the cannon is earth-shaking, and it hurts people. The chief magistrate can cover his ears."

Zhang Ke waved his hand impatiently. He has been in battle for twenty years and has been on the battlefield. He has never seen any scene before, so he is afraid of big disturbances?

At this moment, the medicine was burning out, and a muffled sound was heard. Accompanied by the strong smell of gunpowder, the black smoke rose and a string of fire spit out from the muzzle.

Zhang Ke didn't expect that the movement was so loud that his feet were a little unstable. He had seen a big scene and was not shocked, but just looked at the muzzle. Unfortunately, he was just looking at a black shadow in the fire. How could he really see the shadow of the shell?

When I turned around and looked at the mound in the distance, I saw that some of the top had been cut off, and the entire mound was not broken up like before.

After looking at Du Zhongxiao not far away, Zhang Ke said in a deep voice: "This shot is a bit bad, not as powerful as before."

Du Zhongxiao smiled and said, "The reloaded gunpowder is the same, how powerful can it be? This shot is a bit high."

Zhang Ji did not comment and went to the mound to check with Du Zhongxiao. When he got closer, he saw clearly that he had hit high indeed. The shells cut from the upper part of the mound and hit the snow in front, and fell into the soil deeply. Zhang Ji looked back and forth carefully and confirmed that the power was comparable to last time, and then said to Du Zhongxiao: "Zhijun said it was good, this time he hit a little high."

After saying that, he stood in the snow, looked at the place where the cannons were, looked at the mounds, and then looked at the distance, and said to Du Zhongxiao for a long time, "This cannon is so powerful! Two hundred steps away, it is better than the Eight Niu Crossbow. The bed crossbow requires several or even dozens of people to pull it open, but this cannon only needs several people to load it, and it will be fired without human effort. When defending the city, if there are dozens of cannons on the city wall, many large armies will be able to attack and be dispersed! Zhijun, some cannons, what is the point of defending Tanglong Town!"

With the power of the initial artillery, the power of the first artillery is not much stronger than that of a large bed crossbow. However, a bed crossbow requires dozens of people to operate, and it occupies a huge area, so it cannot be arranged in the small city at all. The artillery is different, and it occupies less space. It can also be installed on the walls of the small city. Moreover, only a few people can operate each, and the firepower density is greater than that of the bed crossbow. Not to mention, in terms of cost, artillery is far cheaper than the bed crossbow.

The iron-made gun barrel and cast iron bullets made of pig iron seem to cost a lot of iron, but compared with the crossbow, the cost is not worth mentioning at all. Therefore, Du Zhongxiao has doubts about the cost of using artillery and always feels that it is too much. In Zhang Ji's eyes, this is not a problem. Fighting war is just a cost. Zhang Ji has been in the army for 20 years and knows it well. Using such a little iron, with such great power, is cheaper than bows and crossbows.

After looking at it, Zhang Ji turned around and asked Du Zhongxiao: "Zhijun, how long does it take to build dozens of such artillery?"

Du Zhongxiao said: "The guns are forged with cooked iron. Not far away, we have hydraulic hammers, and there are always two or three gates a day. However, the volcanic army does not store much iron, so they have to make artillery, guns, and agricultural tools, which are some shortcomings."
Chapter completed!