Sword of Light: Humanoid Self-Propelled Artillery

Chapter 311 The Largest Caliber Cannon

Without specialized drilling tools, it would be impossible to drill a hole more than ten meters deep in hard rock.

However, this 406mm shell did just that. Its extremely high speed, combined with its hard shell and nearly one ton of weight, easily created a crater more than ten meters deep in the rocky mountain.

So, taking advantage of the few hours before dawn, Wang Gensheng led his men to the crater created by the artillery shell above the water gate bridge.

That's right, Wang Gensheng was planning to turn this unexploded dud into a bomb that could blow up the mountain.

Wang Gensheng had just used his mental power to examine the inside of the bomb. The reason it didn't explode was because the impact fuse malfunctioned.

That's why the shell didn't explode when it hit the ground. Instead, it burrowed more than ten meters into the ground due to its kinetic energy, and then stopped because it ran out of energy.

Of course, detonating this bomb won't be easy, because some of the rocks and soil around the opening have already collapsed.

Therefore, the soil must be cleared away first before the 406mm or 155mm shell used for detonation or catastrophic detonation can be placed inside.

Indeed, unlike the 155mm shell which was detonated by a grenade, the 406mm shell had a much thicker casing than the 155mm shell.

Therefore, the few dozen grams of explosive in a hand grenade are simply insufficient to meet the requirements for the 406mm artillery shell to detonate.

Therefore, the only option was to first use a hand grenade to detonate the 155mm grenade, and then use the 155mm grenade to detonate the shells of the 406mm naval gun.

After working for more than two hours, they finally cleared the rubble and mud from the pit, and Li Xiu finally saw the true appearance of the 406mm shell. Of course, this was only the appearance of the tail of the shell.

However, the large diameter also shocked Li Xiu, who then said to Wang Gensheng:

"This shell must be the largest caliber shell in the world! Is there any shell bigger than this?"

Hearing this, Wang Gensheng nodded and said:

"Yes! There are three other cannons with a caliber larger than this 406mm! However, the largest caliber shell is somewhat like a mortar, and its name is the David Cannon, with a caliber of 914mm!"

Indeed, this US heavy mortar, nicknamed "Little David," was not designed for a single building or bunker, but rather for destroying fortified defensive systems like the Siegfried Line.

As the Allied forces landed on the continent of Seanes and opened a second front, intelligence indicated that the Germans were constructing multiple reinforced concrete defensive lines along the Atlantic coast and the Rhine River. The Siegfried Line was one of them, which not only included minefields, anti-tank trenches, and obstacles such as dragon teeth, but also planned to deploy numerous reinforced concrete bunkers.

After reviewing their available equipment, the Allies realized that breaking through the Siegfried Line would involve enormous manpower and time costs, a price they could not afford. Even more worrying was the possibility that the prolonged campaign could give the German forces valuable breathing room and regrouping opportunities, thus impacting the overall course of the war. Faced with this dilemma, the Allies decided to take action, while the U.S. military began developing new heavy artillery to meet this challenge.

In its initial design, this new heavy artillery piece was envisioned not only to possess astonishing destructive power but also to be easily assembled and disassembled quickly. At nightfall, it was to rapidly deploy to its designated position and assemble, then launch a deadly attack on targets up to six to seven kilometers away. As dawn broke, the artillery piece would need to be disassembled and withdrawn from its position in a short time to avoid potential enemy air counterattacks.

With these considerations in mind, in May 1944, the military issued an order requiring the manufacturing company to develop a satisfactory heavy artillery piece within just six months. In order to efficiently respond to the army's urgent needs and save valuable time, the designers decided to draw on the design concepts of mortars.

Then, in October 1944, the company successfully completed the design of the heavy artillery. The barrel of this mortar weighed 65.3 tons, the caliber was as wide as 914 mm, and the gun mount weighed 72.56 tons.

What is even more remarkable is that the projectile it fires weighs as much as 1.7 tons. The gun is equipped with a robust chassis measuring 4.8 meters long, 2.7 meters wide, and 3 meters high, as well as precision instruments for elevation and azimuth aiming.

In its design, the designers cleverly employed a three-stage quenching method, increasing the barrel strength from the originally planned 65,000 pounds per square inch to 95,000 pounds per square inch. This significantly improved the range, reaching an astonishing 8,700 meters, far exceeding the military's expectations. Furthermore, the gun requires only about 970 kilograms of propellant when firing a shell weighing approximately 1.7 tons, a remarkable level of efficiency.

After a series of rigorous tests, the Little David gun was finally successfully developed. This heavy gun demonstrated astonishing destructive power; the craters at its test site were comparable in size to an apartment building, and it could even easily level a nine-square-meter area of ​​thick concrete slabs. The Allies were overjoyed and quickly put it into production, soon producing a Little David gun.

However, when the Allies were ready to deploy the defenses, they were surprised to find that the formidable line they had envisioned was not actually fully completed. Many of the fortifications along the Siegfried Line were either still under construction or had failed to meet the intended design standards. This allowed the Allies to advance unimpeded, making heavy artillery clearly unnecessary at this point.

However, without testing and application in this area, the US military turned its attention to the Pacific theater. There, the Japanese had already constructed strong fortifications on various islands, preparing for a fierce resistance against the US military.

Therefore, it seems that the Little David heavy artillery still has its uses. Consequently, the US military has developed a plan to transport the Little David and its skilled operators to the Pacific theater, ready for immediate deployment.

However, just as the US military was ready to use the Little David heavy artillery, the Japanese, who had originally planned to fight to the death, decisively chose to surrender unconditionally after two mushroom clouds rose.

This unexpected turn of events instantly reversed the entire situation, and the tense preparations for the Pacific War came to an abrupt halt.

Therefore, the Little David heavy gun ended its short mission before it even had a chance to fire a single shot. It was then transported to a museum to display the glory it once brought.

However, just as Wang Gensheng was reminiscing about how it was a pity that the Japanese hadn't experienced the power of the Little David Gun, Li Xiu heard Wang Gensheng say that the Little David Gun's caliber was actually over 900 millimeters.

He was immediately shocked and said:

"With such a large caliber, how heavy must the shell be! Even if it's not ten tons, it must be at least five or six tons! One shot like that could destroy a small village!"

(End of this chapter)