The weather today is sunny and cloudless. The sun is shining brightly in the sky and it is extremely hot.

On the school field, a small iron cannon was placed there, with three gunners standing behind it. Next to the gunner, on one side was gunpowder in a jar, and on the other side were cannonballs in a willow box. The cannonballs were all iron bullets, and they didn’t look big.

Song Yan said: "These small iron cannons mainly shoot shotguns. Shotguns can hurt people within a hundred steps and are most powerful at fifty steps. If you don't use shotguns but use solid bullets, they can shoot two hundred steps."

Niu Gao, who just arrived today, asked: "What is shotgun? What is live ammunition?"

Song Yan said: "The shotgun is just a lot of small iron bullets, shot out together. The live bullet is just one big iron bullet."

Niu Gao asked again: "What's the difference?"

Song Yan said: "Although each iron bullet is less powerful and has a shorter range, it can shoot a large area. Although the live ammunition has a longer range and is more powerful, there is only one bullet and it cannot cover a large area."

Niu Gao and Shao Ling nodded together.

Seeing that everything was ready, Song Yan crossed his arms to Wang Xiao and said, "Zhenfu, get ready! We will fire three kinds of cannons today. A small cannon, a medium cannon, and a large cannon. The small cannon tried shotgun shells and live ammunition, and the medium cannon

And the cannons only tested live ammunition. First they bombarded the mounds of earth, and then they blasted rows of wooden piles."

Wang Xiaolie said: "Okay. I asked you to replace the wooden piles with wooden figures made of wooden boards. I wonder if they have been replaced?"

Song Yan said: "It has been replaced. It is roughly made to look like a human being, but I don't know how effective it is."

Wang Xiaolie nodded and said nothing. There is no use in looking like a human being. Wang Xiaolie meant to use wooden boards to imitate human bodies so that their strength is similar to humans. This can test the power of the cannon. Song Huo didn't know

Do you understand what you mean?

Seeing that no one had any objections, Song Yan took out a whistle and blew it loudly: "Try a shotgun! Test a shot!"

The three gunners over there agreed. The gunner in the middle took out his whistle and blew it too.

The extensive use of whistles happened after Wang Xiaolie reformed the military system. The commanders below the capital no longer used flags and drums, but used copper whistles. The length of the whistle, and how many times it was blown, had a fixed meaning. In addition, standardized

In military language, the whistle can be used to completely convey the command of the head.

The three gunners squatted down. One added gunpowder to the gun, and the other loaded shells into the barrel. The main gunner in the middle quickly adjusted his aim. After loading the gunpowder, the gunner on the left quickly picked up the red-hot iron bar behind him.

Song Yan said: "Small cannons are ignited by iron bars, unlike large and medium cannons, which require a special fuse."

Several people nodded together. Except for Wang Xiaolie, the others didn't know what Song Yan's words meant, but it was difficult to ask.

After adjusting the gun mount, the main gunner waved his hand suddenly. The gunner on the left stretched out a red-hot iron bar and inserted it into the ignition hole on the gun barrel.

Then I heard a muffled sound, and thick black smoke came out of the barrel. In the black smoke, I couldn't see the iron bullets at all. I saw hundreds of rows of wooden stakes about a hundred paces in front of the cannon, swaying and making noises.

.

When the smoke cleared, Song Yan stepped forward and said, "Please come to the front and watch."

Wang Ruohai said: "The way it looked just now, it should be quite powerful a hundred steps away. At this distance, it is stronger than a crossbow."

While talking, several people walked to the wooden pile.

These wooden piles are made of several boards spliced ​​together to imitate the appearance of an individual. The main purpose is to allow visitors to have an intuitive impression of what it will look like when these cannonballs hit a person. For professionals,

Speaking of which, it's of no use.

There are three rows of wooden stakes. In the front row, 70% of them were pierced by iron bullets. In the second row, a small half were still scarred.

Gujia

After looking at it carefully, Li Yanxian couldn't help but be stunned: "If it hits a person, how can he still be alive? Look at it like this, even wearing iron armor is useless. When the two armies are facing each other, how can the enemy attack if there are several cannons in front?

"

Wang Ruohai nodded: "That's what everyone said. After watching it today, I realized that the power of artillery is far beyond what we thought before."

Niu Gao said: "What everyone just said is absolutely true. If there is a row of artillery in front of the formation, who can attack it? The Jin people are accustomed to wearing heavy armor to charge into the formation. Facing such artillery, what is the use of heavy armor?"

Wang Xiaolie said: "Although the power of artillery is great, it cannot be overestimated. Firstly, artillery is very expensive and not many can be made. Secondly, when a war begins, artillery becomes even more expensive. Gunpowder and projectiles are both expensive.

Another thing, after firing one shot, you have to wait for a while before firing the second shot. As long as you are not afraid of killing people, the enemy can always rush forward. And artillery is different from bows and crossbows. After using it, the barrel will heat up and fire more shots.

Once it’s gone, it can’t be used anymore.”

Li Yanxian said: "Is there such a thing? How many cannons can be fired in that day?"

Wang Xiaolie said: "There are no clear figures yet. Once Song Yan and others try it for a longer time, we will have rough figures."

How many shells an artillery can fire continuously depends on the rate of fire, cooling conditions, and weather conditions. It is difficult to get an accurate value at once. Only through practice can we have a rough number.

Everyone came back. Li Yanxian said: "The smallest cannon is already so powerful, wouldn't the big cannon be even more amazing?"

Song Yan said: "Cannons can be used to attack cities, but their power is not comparable to small cannons."

Everyone discussed for a while. The small cannon was pulled down, the middle cannon was pulled over, and they were rearranged.

Following an order, the cannon opened fire. The sound made the small cannon fire louder, shocking several people. The damage to the wooden stakes placed 400 steps away was even more serious. One shot penetrated the fourth row and the fifth row.

Both the platoon and the sixth platoon were damaged.

Looking at the wooden stakes, several people were silent. If the power of the small cannon just now shocked everyone, being hit by the cannon was more than just a shock. No one spoke anymore and silently returned to their original positions, watching Song Yan command and prepare the cannon.

After the cannon was loaded, Wang Xiaolie said: "The sound of the cannon is too loud, so you should plug your ears. Otherwise, it will be an earth-shattering feeling when you listen to it for the first time. If you don't do it well, you won't be able to hear the sound for most of the day."

Li Yanxian said: "The sound of this cannon must be heard with one's own ears. If you block your ears today, what will you do in the future?"

The rest of the people nodded together and agreed with Li Yanxian.

Wang Xiaolie had no choice but to stop persuading everyone.

When the fuse burned out, an earth-shattering sound was heard. As black smoke came out, an iron bullet flew out. Standing behind, several people could clearly see the projectile moving forward, as if it was unhappy.

After reaching 600 steps, the projectiles were blurred and unclear. You could vaguely see the wooden piles crackling and falling down.

When I quickly arrived at the wooden piles, I saw that all ten rows of wooden piles had been punched through, and the iron bullets hit the mud behind them.

Several people stood in front of the wooden pile, stunned and speechless for a moment.

After a long time, Li Yanxian said: "With such great power, if one shot is fired, wouldn't it penetrate the entire military formation?"

Wang Xiaolie nodded: "That's almost it."

Niu Gao said: "This - this, we have this kind of cannon, and the enemy can't even form a formation."

Wang Xiaolie said: "Why can't you form an array? It's just that in the past, to defend against arrows and crossbows, the array had to be one or two hundred steps away. Now to defend against artillery, the array has to be a thousand steps away. It's just that when fighting, you have to move forward a thousand steps.

The way of playing is different.”
Chapter completed!