The newly built artillery is of course more advanced and more powerful, but not all the old artillery is discarded and can still be used.
For example, the falconet, due to its airtightness, has a disadvantage in range, but its rate of fire is an advantage. At close range, it can still do quite a bit of damage with shotgun shells.
Therefore, many old artillery pieces, equipped with gun mounts and gun carriages to improve mobility, could still contribute to the victory of the Ming army.
Zhu Youxiao also knew that the production volume mentioned by Sun Yuanhua was relatively conservative. After all, there were at least six or seven hundred craftsmen who cast cannons. Could all of them be put into the manufacture of just one cannon?
Zhu Youxiao knew a little about the process of casting a cannon, including mold making, pouring, quenching, annealing, polishing, etc., but it was impossible to complete it all in one day.
Therefore, it must be that multiple artillery pieces or multiple processes are started together, and the final output is calculated on a monthly basis.
Of course, details were unimportant; Zhu Youxiao wanted results. He could accept the output Sun Yuanhua reported, as long as it didn't delay the Liaodong campaign.
The emperor seemed satisfied, and Sun Yuanhua secretly let out a long sigh. He had indeed been conservative in his production report, and if the emperor raised the requirements, he could also increase it appropriately.
Moreover, if the reported output is low, wouldn’t it please the Emperor even more if we exceed the target by the end of the month?
But if I exaggerate too much and fail to complete it in time, wouldn’t that be the crime of deceiving the emperor?
Zhu Youxiao did not ask any more questions, but took a piece of paper, drew on it for a while, and smiled as he ordered Sun Yuanhua to come forward and take a look.
Standing in front of the imperial desk, Sun Yuanhua stared intently at the picture drawn by the emperor.
Zhu Youxiao pointed and explained, "Today, while I was loading the artillery, I suddenly had an idea and came up with this thing. It can be called a bullet butt, and it may help to increase the power of the artillery..."
Muzzle-loading smoothbore cannonballs all have one thing in common: they are smaller than the muzzle. This might be nonsense, as even if the shells are larger than the muzzle, they can't fit in!
However, if the gap between the shell and the barrel is too large, the propellant gas will leak out more. If the airtightness is not good, it will definitely affect the range of the shell.
In addition, too much clearance will also cause a problem, that is, the accuracy of artillery shooting.
Think about it, the cannonball sways in the barrel, and under the push of the gunpowder gas, it moves forward with bumps and bumps. The moment it flies out of the muzzle, it will jump.
Don't underestimate this slight deviation. The longer the range, the greater the deviation from the target. There is a saying that goes something like this: if the muzzle is off by a millimeter, the target will be off by a foot.
Zhu Youxiao had not paid much attention to this issue before, nor had he observed the artillery at close range, let alone loaded the shells himself.
Today it was a spur of the moment decision, but it sparked his inspiration, or rather, it evoked memories deep in his mind.
Therefore, this was not Zhu Youxiao's invention, but a picture that he had glanced at on the Internet in his previous life and whose memory was not very clear.
The so-called bullet buttress is actually very simple. It is just a round thick wooden board added to the back of the spherical shell. Then the two are fixed together to form a new type of shell.
Don't underestimate this extremely simple bullet butt. It can effectively seal the leakage of gunpowder gas and also act as a buffer for hollow grenades.
The less gunpowder gas leaks, the more thrust the shell receives and the longer the range; at the same time, the coordination accuracy between the shell and the barrel is improved, ensuring the accuracy of the artillery bombardment as much as possible.
If the iron cannonballs are not made accurately, it will be very difficult to polish them; wooden boards are much easier to repair.
"Long live." Sun Yuanhua looked at the diagram and thought for a moment, then asked uncertainly, "Will the shells fixed together like this roll in the air, affecting accuracy?"
Zhu Youxiao chuckled and said, "Sun Qing, you can go and give it a try. I don't think that kind of situation will happen."
For artillery shells equipped with wooden sabots, the center of gravity is forward because the density of iron is greater than that of wood.
You can imagine badminton or chicken feather shuttlecock. The heavy head and light tail make the flight stable, but it does not fly in the air in fancy somersaults.
As he spoke, Zhu Youxiao took the quill pen and drew another simple pattern.
"This thick plank can act as a buffer. I believe that the Ming Dynasty's heavy artillery shells don't have to be cast into thick-walled hollow spheres."
Zhu Youxiao paused for a moment, his pen twitching. Perhaps he felt that it was difficult to explain the picture clearly, so he stopped again and continued, "Wait until I make a sample, and Sun Qing will be able to understand it. Then you can make it and test it."
Since it is called a heavy mortar, the shells it fires don’t have to be spherical, it should look like a mortar shell!
If the sabot still cannot keep the shell stable in flight, Zhu Youxiao thinks that adding small wings (tail fins) will definitely solve the problem.
As the top carpenter of the Ming Dynasty, making a wooden mortar shell is so easy!
Zhu Youxiao believed that making a cylindrical, thin-walled shell with a buttress and tail fins was not only simpler and easier than casting a thick-walled hollow iron ball, but it could also hold more gunpowder and iron scrap, thus increasing the damage caused by the explosion.
Although Sun Yuanhua didn't quite understand, he knew that almost everything the emperor had him try had been successful. So, he accepted the order and prepared to do the experiment as soon as he got back.
Zhu Youxiao asked some other questions about the weapons and gunpowder bureau before letting Sun Yuanhua leave.
………………
Although war was a top priority, Zhu Youxiao's main focus was not on it.
This is the benefit of knowing people and assigning them to the right positions. With Xiong Tingbi, Yuan Keli, and Mao Wenlong at the front, and so many loyal and brave generals fighting in the front, he only needs to ensure the logistics of food, wages, weapons, etc., and occasionally give some guidance, and he can basically guarantee the final victory of Ping Liao.
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