Cutting over the end of the Ming Dynasty: a dog-leg knife at the beginning

Chapter 419

The news of the fall of Yiling was like a blockbuster, triggering a major earthquake in Huguang official circles.

In all fairness, Yiling is not a big city with abundant products, on the contrary, it is relatively poor, and the big brothers don't pay much attention to its gains and losses, but the problem is that this is the throat of Sichuan, and once it falls It means that the waterway from Sichuan to and from Huguang has been cut off, and it also means that the Yiling Mine, which King Xiang worked so hard to get, is also lost.Tang Hui, governor of Huguang, scolded Huang Fuchun for being stupid and incompetent. While mobilizing troops to try to put out the flames of the uprising, he urgently reported to the Ministry of War, asking for troops to come over for support.There is no way, when Yiling rebelled, millions of refugees in Jingxiang Mountain rose up, and the entire Jingxiang became an erupting volcano. Huguang's scumbag army could not extinguish this volcano!

However, his suggestion to transfer Heluo's new army was rejected by the Huguang interest group before it came out.What a joke, who doesn't know where the new army of Heluo went and occupied, not only occupied the land, but also occupied the hearts of the people!If the Heluo new army is allowed to enter Huguang, how can they block the supply of important raw materials such as poison ivy and phosphate rock, and raise prices at will?How can they set up card charges as they please?No, no one can transfer the Heluo New Army over here!

When the ass replaces the head, no matter how absurd things seem absurd.

The news of Jingxiang's rebellion spread to Beijing, and Chongzhen was furious.Originally, there were a lot of things this year. After a year-long recuperation, Houjin had recovered from the heavy losses in the Battle of Daling River, and began to move around again. However, Shaanxi was still raining as always, and there were bandits one after another. After Cao Wenzhao , Hong Chengchou and other fierce men repeatedly suppressed and killed the rogues in Shaanxi. There were not many rogues in Shanxi, but smoke and fire were everywhere in Shanxi.It's all right now, and Huguang has also become chaotic!Huguang is Daming's granary, if Huguang is in chaos, the foundation of Daming will also be shaken!Chongzhen was furious and ordered the governor of Huguang to destroy the rebels within one month, otherwise he would hang on the treetops. At the same time, he proposed to transfer the new army of Heluo into Huguang to suppress the rebellion.The emperor is very relieved of the Heluo new army. This army is not only strong in combat power, but also has strict discipline. It has done nothing to the common people. It is much stronger than the Guanning army.However, this proposal was opposed by many cabinet ministers. They all agreed that the Central Plains is currently in crisis, and the elite of the Heluo New Army should be kept in the Nanyang Basin to block the way for the rogues to enter Nanyang through Wuguan. A small rebellion puts such precious power into lakes, mountains, forests and waters!Some ministers even suggested that Huang Taiji was chasing Lin Dan Khan, a difficult brother of the Ming Dynasty, and had already conquered all the Mongolian tribes. Xuanfu and the important town of Datong were likely to be attacked. Should some of the Heluo new army be transferred to Datong? To strengthen the frontier, just in case?

Chongzhen was quite embarrassed.The defenses of Xuanfu and Datong are useless. If Houjin breaks in from there, it will be a matter of minutes, but the Heluo new army has only so many troops. In the war, help him sweep away the rogues like the autumn wind sweeps away the fallen leaves!If some of the troops are transferred away, the strength will not be enough. What if bandits ravage the Central Plains?
Difficult, really difficult.

Yang Menglong didn't know that someone was thinking about him and his army. This idiot was admiring a freshly baked cannon with great interest.

This is a typical cannon in red, with a caliber of four inches. The front of the gun body is narrow and the rear is wide.The most important thing is that its barrel is divided into two layers. The cannon core is cast in bronze, and the outside is covered with a thick layer of wrought iron. This kind of iron-bodied copper-core cannon appeared for the first time in the Ming Dynasty.Smiling, he put his hand into the barrel of the gun, and as expected, he touched several rifling lines... Although it was still very rough, it was also a rifling line!These beautiful lines made him feel happy, and he asked cheerfully, "How did you get this?"

Shan Danyang, a cannon maker, said angrily: "Using high manganese steel as the knife head to carve it out bit by bit! I don't know what's wrong with you. You insist on making trouble with the barrel and carving a bunch of messy rifling inside! "

Yang Menglong smiled like a pistachio: "Okay, I've seen the cannon, and it's not bad, but I don't know how powerful it is... Show me a few shots!"

Shan Danyang weakly gestured to several gunners: "Let's start the test shooting."

The gunner responded with a cry and opened the breech breech. A powerful man carried a yellow date-shaped pellet and stuffed it into the breech, while the other took out a pack of gun cotton that had been packed long ago and poked it in with a stick. Called: "Okay!" Immediately someone closed the breech bolt, tightened it, and then inserted the fire tube into the fire hole, pierced the charge, and then ignited, "Boom!" Smoke and flames, the shells spun out along the rifling, screaming across the sky, white smoke filled the gun emplacement, and the momentum was frightening.Yang Menglong, Shan Danyang and other military experts picked up the binoculars early and stared at the distance.

The cannonball flew over the target and kept flying forward, flying a full five or six kilometers before falling reluctantly, turning into an orange fireball, the sound was like thunder, and the shrapnel was flying, which was extremely spectacular.Yang Menglong nodded slightly, as expected of a big killer piled with equal weight of silver, it's easy to use!
Soon, the person guarding the shooting range came over with a pile of broken shrapnel and reported: "A total of more than 350 pieces of shrapnel have been collected, and there are no ants within a radius of 15 meters!"

Yang Menglong held his chin and chuckled: "The radius is 15 meters... If the shot just now had landed in the large square formation, it would have killed seven or eighty people, right?"

Dan Danyang snorted: "Can shells of 300 taels of silver be used well? I said, my lord, it is enough for the cannon to fire solid shells. Why do you spend so much money on such high-explosive shells? Again. The fuze is propellant and a copper shell, all of which don’t cost money?” Pointing to another shell that has not been fired, he said angrily, “There is no such prodigal as you! The gun cotton used as propellant, The ingeniously designed fuze and the special high-explosive gunpowder loaded inside are all money! Even the shells are worth a lot! The money to make such a shell can make a hundred solid lead bullets!" He kicked the barrel again, "Also, why did you make it so heavy? Even a camel can't pull it!"

Yang Menglong's cannon is indeed a bit too much.First of all, the caliber is frighteningly large, four inches——120mm, which can be called insane in this era, and the length of the barrel is as insane as the caliber. The barrels of cannons in this era are generally short, reaching twenty The double diameter is amazing, but this cannon is good, it is directly thrown to 28 times the diameter!Such a long barrel means that it must withstand extremely high chamber pressure, which poses a severe challenge to the barrel material and casting process. Even a master cannon maker like Dan Danyang is very troubled by this!This is not counted, because it adopts the rear-loaded launch method, its structure is much more complicated than that of the front-loaded smoothbore gun!As for the cannonballs... Eggy Yang expressed that he was powerless to complain.This product uses a jujube-shaped projectile. A metal disc-shaped fuze is installed on the head of the projectile. There is a fuse inside the fuze. When the propellant is fired, the explosive gas will ignite the fuze, and the projectile flies out at high speed. After a few seconds to more than ten seconds, the fuse burns out, detonating the collodion in the fuze, thereby detonating the collodion loaded inside the shell, causing fatal injuries.He admitted that such a design is indeed ingenious, and the power of such shells is indeed insane, but these are all money!The money for such a gun is enough to build three or four muzzle-loading muskets, and the cost of one shell is enough to buy a hundred solid lead bullets. Besides, this gun weighs three tons. It takes four camels to pull it on the concrete road, and it can't be moved outside Nanyang. No matter how strong a camel is, it can't be pulled. It's a ghost!

Well, maybe it can be installed on the city wall and used to defend the city... The problem is, due to the rapid expansion of the city, Nanyang's city wall has already been taken down!

Faced with Shan Danyang's accusation, Yang Menglong didn't care, and signaled the gunner to continue firing.So, the gunner opened fire on a small forest, firing five shells in a row, which made Dan Danyang feel so distressed that his heart trembled... In the blink of an eye, 500 taels of silver flew out, what a prodigal, what a prodigal!Of course, after seeing the trees in the grove being swept down in clumps and the trees flying all over the sky, he felt a little more balanced. Although this thing is expensive, it seems to be worth it!
Yang Menglong took out his ears. Shooting a cannon was really a chore. Not to mention the person who fired the cannon, even he who was watching from the side had his ears buzzing.But he was very excited. He finally got the breech-loaded rifled gun!Although it is terrifyingly expensive, it is still cost-effective. As long as it can be manufactured in large quantities, the cost can definitely be reduced.He smiled and said to Dan Danyang: "Don't be so arrogant. Of course it is impossible for the infantry to use such a big and heavy thing, but it can be used by the navy. Wouldn't it be enough to install it on a warship?"

Dan Danyang snorted: "What's the use of giving it to the navy! Can the navy go to land to fight Jian slaves!?"

Yang Menglong let out an "uh" and didn't know how to say it.People these days don't have the slightest idea of ​​the navy. How should he explain the importance of the navy to them?Forget it, the concept is different, no matter how you explain it, it is useless, so I have to use facts to prove it.He reached out and touched the barrel, yo, it's a little hot.He said: "The heat dissipation is still not good, Dandanyang..."

Shan Danyang was in great pain: "Shan Danyang!"

Yang Menglong said: "Oh, Shan Danyang, the iron-body copper-core cannon is just like this. It is difficult to make major improvements. You leave the improvements to your deputy and start developing the steel cannon."

Dan Danyang wailed: "Isn't it true that the iron-bodied copper-core cannon has just been made and you don't like it? Also, how do you ask me to carve the rifling of the steel cannon!"

Yang Menglong shrugged and said, "That's your business. I don't care. Anyway, just get the steel cannon out for me. By the way, you have to find a way to make a mechanism installed at the tail of the cannon. Once the cannon is fired, The rope will trigger the mechanism and explode the propellant pack, which will save trouble."

Dan Danyang's eyes were red, and he let out a roar: "If you don't give me a problem, you will die!"

Yang Menglong smiled: "I won't let you do it for nothing...I declare that I am very satisfied with your results, and I will give you bonuses tomorrow...Also, I will separate your department to specialize in the production of iron body copper Heart cannon!"

Dan Danyang snorted: "That's about the same... By the way, my lord, how many iron-bodied copper-core cannons are you going to order?"

Yang Menglong said: "First get me twenty doors to play with!"

First get me twenty doors to play with!

Shan Danyang almost vomited blood, boss, do you know how expensive this thing is!
(End of this chapter)