Late Yuan Dynasty: I am the true emperor

Chapter 165: Gun Test (Part )

A notice about the gunpowder test in the city was quickly posted. Many ordinary people these days didn't know what a firearm looked like, so it was necessary to notify them in advance to avoid causing unnecessary panic or rumors.

At the Marshal's Mansion, more and more people gathered around Lu Jin, including the four battalion officers of the 1st regiment, plus the new arrivals Guo Xing, Zheng Yulin, Xu Da, Yang Huan from the training battalion, Ye Sheng, Shen Ren, Lu Qianhou, Zhang Long from the cavalry regiment, and all the generals who could come came.

The civil officials were mainly Xu Jichuan from the Construction Department, Qin Xuesi from the Gunpowder Department, the craftsmen responsible for casting cannons, and Li Shanchang and Feng Guoyong who came to watch the fun.

Seeing that most people had arrived, Lu Jin called everyone to go to the training ground.

Yang Huan immediately went out excitedly and commanded a group of soldiers under his command, a group of teenagers, to drag the cannon out of the courtyard of the training camp.

As soon as this thing came out, everyone looked over and saw a black iron pipe, narrow in the front and thick in the back, about four or five feet long and as thick as a human thigh, mounted on a strange two-wheeled vehicle.

Behind this car there is another two-wheeled cart with a large wooden box, and there is a towing device in the middle. The two carts are hung together and can be towed by a team of horses at the same time. The six-pound cannon in front of us and the ammunition cart are pulled by a total of four horses, which is quite flexible.

When Xu Da saw this strange firearm, he suddenly understood something, so he came to Lu Jin and asked, "Is this new type of military formation that the Marshal mentioned related to this artillery? I have asked other battalion officers before. When our regiment fought Kang Maocai before, we used carts to cover our approach. After we got close, the archers would shoot densely within ten steps. After the enemy formation was broken, we would use guns to fight hand-to-hand.

“But I also heard that the Marshal wants to use this to replace the tactic of using chariots to force the enemy. Then how can we defeat the enemy’s main formation before the infantry engages? Is it relying on this artillery?

"This thing needs several horses to drag it, and several people to serve it. If there are too many, it may not be able to be deployed. If there are too few, it may not be of much use. The previous tactics were very good, why do we have to change the formation completely?"

Lu Jin looked at the six-pound cannon and felt very conflicted. He kept thinking about which caliber to mass-produce. Cannons of different calibers had different combat efficiency, costs, and production difficulties. Also, how to deploy them on the battlefield were all problems.

Especially for medium-caliber army field guns, there are three options: four pounds, six pounds, and eight pounds. Which one should you choose?
Hearing Xu Da's question, Lu Jin thought about it and did not answer directly, but asked back.

"If our army and the enemy army are in battle formation at the same time, and the two armies are two miles apart, and our army holds its line without moving, waiting for the enemy army to attack, and the enemy's front line is advancing like a wall, and they have to maintain their formation, how long will it take for them to reach our front line?"

"This"

Xu Da was confused when he heard this. Isn't this just marching two miles in formation? Since he came to Luzhou, he has also been undergoing basic training under Zhu Shou's command. He still knows the formation training of the Shengwu Army. With regular training, he can almost calculate the time it takes to march two miles in formation, but how to express this?

At that time in China, the concept of particularly precise time was still relatively abstract. Things like a breath, a stick of incense, a cup of tea, these could not be accurately expressed. There was a timekeeping device called a clepsydra, but it was different from the modern timekeeping device. In ancient times, a day was generally divided into 12 ke. But it goes without saying that hours cannot be divided evenly by , so there must be a decimal point.

One ke at that time is about 14.5 minutes, which is not much different from the current 96 ke in a day.

Xu Da thought for a moment before saying, "If it's a well-trained army, it will probably only take a quarter of an hour at most. If it's faster, I'm afraid it will take two-thirds of a quarter of an hour to reach the front."

Lu Jin nodded. This was similar to what he calculated. Running a thousand meters would take three to five minutes, and walking a thousand meters while wearing armor, holding weapons, and walking in a line for a thousand meters would take at least ten minutes.

If you walk slowly, fifteen minutes is possible.

Lu Jin then said, "Then do you know how far this cannon can fire, and how many people it can kill with one shot?"

"I don't know." Xu Da shook his head. He really wanted to learn some real skills from Lu Jin.

So Lu Jin said, "This cannon can fire at least two miles away. Unlike a catapult, it can be aimed accurately and can at least hit a house two miles away. If it is used to bombard the enemy, one shot can kill at least three to five people."

"Only three or five people?!"

Guo Xing scratched his head when he heard this. This cannon looked quite complicated, requiring so many horses and manpower, and could only kill three to five people with one firing. He wondered why the Marshal valued this thing so much.

Lu Jin said to the new generals, "You all know there are 24 hours in a day, right?"

Everyone nodded when they heard this, especially the veterans, who were already familiar with the coach's habit of using hours.

Although the newcomers were not used to the hours, they understood the concept. There were twelve hours in a day, and each hour was divided into a beginning and a middle. For example, the beginning of noon was eleven o'clock, and the middle of noon was twelve o'clock.

Seeing everyone nod, Lu Jin continued, "If we divide each hour into sixty minutes, and sixty minutes into four quarters, then based on this time, if the cannon in front of you is handed over to a skilled gunner to fire, it can be fired three times in one minute, and each shot can kill three to five people.

"Let's say we kill four with one shot. The distance is two miles, and it will take the enemy at least ten minutes to walk to our front. Doesn't that mean we can fire thirty shots before the enemy arrives?
"Each shot killed four people. How many people are there if thirty shots? One hundred and twenty people!

"What if we put ten cannons in front of the battle line? The enemy would have suffered thousands of casualties before they even reach our battle line! Especially those at the front, they are all elite troops of the enemy. Thousands of them have died before the battle even begins. Do you think the enemy can still reach us under the fire?"

The generals opened their mouths in shock when they heard this. According to Lu Jin, this was just a very simple arithmetic problem, but it seemed useless. One shot could only kill three to five people, but after ten minutes of accumulation, it could kill hundreds of people!

What a terrifying killing efficiency! Doesn't this mean that each cannon is equivalent to a general who can kill hundreds of people? !

Guo Xing scratched his head when he heard this and couldn't help but exclaimed, "Wow, if that's the case, this cannon is pretty powerful."

Xu Da imagined the scene. Since Lu Jin was so confident in this new type of firearm, he would definitely not place only ten guns in front of the battle line. If he placed dozens of guns, and each gun killed a hundred people, then before the enemy rushed to the battle line, thousands of people would have been killed or injured.
Xu Da could not help but shook his head. There was absolutely no army in the world that could endure thousands of casualties before even starting the battle and still continue to attack the enemy's formation.

He couldn't help but complain, "If this artillery is really as powerful as the commander said, the enemy army might not even be able to walk two miles before they collapse."

"Yes, so we have to cooperate with the new infantry and cavalry, and take the initiative to pursue and fight after the enemy is defeated by artillery fire." Lu Jin said affirmatively.

"Marshal, is this cannon really that powerful?" Feng Guoyong was quite excited when he heard Lu Jin's introduction. He had read many military books and was very interested in military affairs, but this Marshal Lu Jin had a family tradition and many wonderful ideas, which opened his eyes. It was said that Gongshu Ban was the first to build a ladder and a battering ram, and also built a hook for water battles. The direct descendant of the Gongshu family seemed to be no less capable, and could actually create something like a new cannon.

Seeing Feng Guoyong's disbelief, as well as the disbelief of other generals, Lu Jin did not explain much, but just smiled and said, "We'll know after we try it later."

Li Shanchang didn't know much about military strategy. He was mainly responsible for the food, wages and finances of the Shengwu Army. When he heard that the artillery was so useful, he would definitely make more of them. In this case, whether he could afford it and how many he could make were very crucial.

So he immediately asked, "May I ask, Marshal, how much material and gunpowder does this cannon use? Can we afford it?"

Lu Jin did not answer, but said directly to Xu Jichuan, "Manager Xu, you are in charge of construction matters, and you know the situation of the ironworks. Come and tell the secretary about it."

"Reporting to the Marshal and the Secretary, our Feixi Iron Works now has five furnaces in operation, producing 13,000 to 14,000 kilograms of iron every day. The cannon in front of us weighs no more than 800 kilograms, including all the iron bullets. If we calculate it as 800 kilograms per cannon, the iron produced every day can build at least 15 cannons."

As soon as Xu Jichuan finished speaking, everyone gasped.

Wow, if one cannon is considered a powerful general who can kill a hundred people, then fifteen powerful generals can be produced in one day!
It is said that it is easy to get thousands of soldiers but difficult to get a good general. When it comes to Lu Jin, even brave generals have become mass-produced.

"What about medicine?" When Li Shanchang heard about the output of iron materials, he asked about gunpowder.

No one else knew this, only Lu Jin knew exactly how much gunpowder to use. He said immediately, "If you want to use this cannon to fire two miles, then the gunpowder you use must be 50% or 30% of the weight of the shell. A six-jin shell will require two or three jin of gunpowder for one shot."

"I see. Then it seems that we don't need too much. We should make more."

Lu Jin nodded and said, "I have roughly calculated it a long time ago. If we calculate it based on one gun per squad, a battalion can be equipped with more than 60 guns. The combination of large and small guns, and the appropriate distance, the closer the enemy rushes, the more deaths. Ten thousand people to such a battalion is the most appropriate ratio."

Zhu Shou thought about it after hearing this. He originally had five battalions, and now three more battalions were coming, which added up to about 7,000 to 8,000 people. This was probably the source of soldiers for the artillery battalion that the Marshal mentioned.

If the reform is carried out in this way, should a force of 7,000 to 8,000 people be considered a regiment or a division?

When everyone finally arrived at the training ground, Lu Jin found a position and asked Yang Huan to put down the cannon, and then asked Zhu Shou to arrange the shooting range, set up wooden signs and earth piles, and also the carriages as shooting targets.

Everyone gathered around the artillery. Yang Huan was temporarily the artillery commander, and a team of soldiers from the training camp followed. Lu Jin also saw Lan Yu, who was only 12 years old. The boy was also holding a fire fork and standing aside excitedly.

"Marshal, how do we operate this artillery?"

"Start by disassembling the vehicles. Park the cannon on the position, and the ammunition cart should be parked ten steps behind. The horses should be untied from the ammunition cart. It takes at least four people to operate a cannon, and a gunner, which makes five people. There are seven people left. Four people will guard the ammunition cart and deliver ammunition, and three people will guard the horses."

Lu Jin arranged everything in an orderly manner. Each of the twelve men in a cannon squad had his own duties. Yang Huan, as the cannon commander, immediately began to act. Lu Jin's adopted son Lu Pojun looked after the horses. Yang Huan personally served as the cannon commander and began to practice according to what Lu Jin had taught him in previous classes.

At least four people are needed to operate a cannon, namely a chamber cleaner, a loader, a igniter holding a firing fork, and a person responsible for aiming and adjusting the cannon. First, the chamber cleaner and load the ammunition, then aim and adjust. After adjustment, the gunner who is aiming must cover the vent with his hand to prevent the gunpowder from being blown away by the wind. After the squad leader gives the order to fire, the gunner retreats to the side and rear, and the igniter steps forward to ignite the cannon with a fork stick wrapped with a fuse.

Lu Jin had taught the entire artillery operation process in advance, and the students in the training camp had also practiced with wooden models, but this was the first time they were actually practicing, so the process was inevitably a little hectic.

The first time Lu Jin tested the artillery, he said he would try to hit a target one thousand meters away. In the distance there was a chariot used as the target. Although the chariots of the Shengwu Army were not small, it was still difficult to aim at them from a distance of two miles.

After the first cleaning, Lu Jin picked up the detailed data manual of the cannon and ordered to try it with three pounds of gunpowder first.

The six-pound cannon in front of us has a caliber of 90 mm and a barrel length of 156 meters. If the butt ball is included, it is almost 790 centimeters. It weighs 16 kilograms and has a caliber ratio of , which is a typical cannon size.

Historically, European artillery and cannons are generally 14 times the caliber, using gunpowder that is one-third the weight of the bullet, and combined with different elevation angles, they can hit suitable targets. The -caliber cannon that Lu Jin chose is longer than the average cannon.

The famous Napoleon cannon in later generations was generally only 12 times the caliber, and the barrel was not very long, especially the 12-pound Napoleon, which was not the same thing as the 12-pound Napoleon mountain howitzer.

The 12-pound mountain howitzer has a caliber ratio of only six. It uses gunpowder that is one-third the weight of the bullet and has an elevation angle of ten degrees to fire a solid bullet at a distance of five or six hundred meters.

The advantage of this short barrel is that it allows for the opportunity to fire larger-caliber shells with a lighter gun body. However, such a short barrel has some advantages in firing solid bullets in the mountains, but when firing solid bullets on flat ground, it cannot compare to those long-barreled artillery, and it is better to use it to fire shrapnel or shotgun shells.

The reason why Lu Jin asked them to make the 16-caliber six-pound cannon so long was that he wanted to use the least amount of gunpowder and achieve the longest range under limited weight. If you want to increase the range, the longer the caliber, the better.

A group of generals were watching the artillery operation. They saw one man first poke at the barrel with a long stick with an iron hook, then dig out the barrel. Another man took a wooden stick wrapped in felt and wiped it. Finally, a makeshift powder bag was put in, and the powder bag was pushed to the bottom with a ramrod. Then the iron bullet was loaded and continued to be pushed in to press it tightly.

Then Yang Huan took out a strange object, which looked like a ruler, and inserted one end into the muzzle of the gun. The part exposed outside had an arc-shaped ruler with scales on it. There was also a plumb line on the ruler, which just marked a number on the ruler.

Yang Huan immediately asked, "Marshal, the target is estimated to be 1000 meters away, and the charge is half full, what elevation angle should be used?"

Lu Jin thought about it and decided that since the caliber was so large, there was no need to raise the elevation too high. He said, "Let's start with an elevation of five degrees, increasing by one degree at a time. Fire a few shots until you hit the target. It's a good opportunity to measure the firing table today."

"Yes."

Yang Huan agreed and immediately began to direct the gunners to adjust the elevation angle.

(End of this chapter)