Song Yi

Chapter 456
Du Wenhao smiled wryly, took a muzzle-loading flintlock gun, poured gunpowder into the barrel, wrapped the iron bullet with deerskin soaked in fat, stuffed it into the barrel, poked it in with a cleaning rod and pestle it tightly, and then fixed the gun On the launch pad, he tied the rope and came to the back of the bunker. This time he asked the others to squat down while he lay down on the bunker to observe.

As soon as the string was pulled, there was a bang.

Hearing this sound, Du Wenhao was happy again, and hurried over to see that the human-shaped target in front of the muzzle was still clean, and the projectile landed two or three steps away from the muzzle. ——Obviously, the amount of charge is too small and the power is not enough.

Du Wenhao only knew the firing principle of the flintlock gun, but he didn't know the amount of charge. He was afraid of exploding the chamber, so the amount of charge was relatively small.

After Du Wenhao reloaded the gunpowder again, he plugged the bullet again and fired another shot. This time the gunpowder charge was too much, and there was a bang, and the barrel exploded again.

Two guns exploded in succession. It seems that the material of the barrel is unqualified.Asked: "What material is this gun made of?"

The blacksmith said, "It's iron."

"Although the iron is hard enough, it is too brittle and easy to burst. It will be replaced with brass or bronze in the future."

"Yes!" The blacksmith hurriedly agreed.

Du Wenhao took the last gun, and because of the material used to explode the barrel as a reference, this time the charge was somewhere in between.

The two explosions just blew the barrel. Du Wenhao found that the power of the gunpowder was too small to form an explosive flying force, so he didn't bother to hide behind the bunker and stood a few steps away from the gun to pull the rope.Wang Runxue and several craftsmen stood behind him, looking at him curiously.

Du Wenhao turned his head and smiled, and when he pulled the rope, he heard a loud bang, and a plume of black smoke came out from the muzzle of the gun, which quickly dissipated.

On the chest of the human-shaped target fifty steps away, there was a small black spot!

"Success!" Du Wenhao yelled happily, and ran over to check the human-shaped target, only to see the thumb-sized iron bullet lightly dotted on the human-shaped target.Although the penetration was not deep, it was enough to make him excited.

Wang Runxue and the others looked at each other in blank dismay. This was the first time they had seen a firearm that used gunpowder as the power to launch projectiles, but its power was far inferior to that of a crossbow. At this distance, a bow and arrow could easily pierce through this human-shaped target.But this strange firearm can only scratch the surface of the humanoid target superficially.They don't know what Du Wenhao's experiment is for such a complicated thing that is not as good as a bow and crossbow.

Du Wenhao was also dissatisfied with the power of the gun. He guessed that the gunpowder was not enough, so he increased the amount of the gunpowder and tried again. As a result, the chamber exploded again!
To prevent bombing, one is to replace pig iron with materials with good toughness, and the other is to use metal shells, which can increase air tightness and reduce the possibility of bombing.

Du Wenhao asked for a pen and paper again, and drew a metal shell casing. He didn't know how to make the thunder mercury in the fuze, so he still used a flint to ignite the fire, which would lose part of the airtightness.But there is no way.

Although the test could not be considered a success, it has achieved its main purpose, that is, after this test, Li Hong and the others have learned the principle of firearm firing from real objects, laying the foundation for further improving the manufacture of guns and cannons.

Du Wenhao asked the craftsman to separate the burst barrel, and found that the inner wall of the barrel had not been polished, so he called the craftsman, pointed to the inner wall and said: "The inner wall of the barrel must be polished smooth, the smoother the bullet resistance, the smaller the projectile fired. The farther it will be. In addition, we are using iron bullets, which are too heavy, so we need to use lighter metals and replace them with lead bullets in the future.”

Li Hong hurriedly agreed.Du Wenhao designed a detachable bayonet at the lower part of the muzzle.They were asked to change the charge and other designs by themselves. The purpose of the experiment was that the lead bullets fired could penetrate the wooden humanoid target fifty steps away, and continuous shooting would not explode the chamber.

On the way back, Wang Runxue said, "Master, did you invent this thing to startle horses?"

Du Wenhao was taken aback: "Shocked horse?"

"Yeah, I heard that the sound is so loud, dozens of times louder than a war drum. If the enemy's horses on the battlefield heard such a loud sound, they would definitely panic."

Du Wenhao smiled wryly: "This is a shooting weapon, which fires metal projectiles, just like a bow and crossbow. But what you said about scaring the horses can be regarded as an additional function of it. It also has a certain effect on dealing with the impact of the horses."

"However, just now I saw that the power of the shot projectile is far inferior to that of a crossbow."

"The experiment has not been successful yet, and the power after success in the future will definitely be much stronger than the sharpest crossbow. Take your time, and you will know later."

"Oh." Wang Runxue nodded, "By the way, how are you preparing for the military exercises?"

"It's almost the beginning of the beginning of autumn."

"Can I participate?"

"Of course you want to participate. You also need to help me check whether their drills meet the requirements of the Art of War, and propose further rectification plans."

"Let me give an opinion, I don't know!"

"You are familiar with military books, why don't you know? You need to help me find out what they did wrong, so I can rectify it."

"Then... let me try." Wang Runxue nodded.

A few days later, the beginning of autumn finally arrived.

Before this, Du Wenhao didn't go around the various barracks and let them practice by themselves.Early in the morning, Du Wenhao was dressed in military uniform, riding a bay red horse, carrying a rotten silver gun and a bow and arrow. Wang Runxue also wore a war robe and rode a white dragon colt, looking heroic.

Du Wenhao took Wang Runxue and the guards to Sanya first.

Under the flagpole on the side of the gate of the Sanya, there is also a general, riding a black-painted charcoal horse, wearing an armored battle robe, and hanging on the side of the saddle is a simple sword.He was looking at Du Wenhao with a smile.It was Zhao Lan, the eldest princess of Qin.

Du Wenhao glanced at Wang Runxue next to him with a guilty conscience.But Wang Runxue shook the reins and rode the horse over first: "Sister Zhao Lan! Why are you here?"

Zhao Lan was more than ten years older than Wang Runxue. When she got married, Wang Runxue was still young. Later, her husband was executed for collaborating with the enemy. Zhao Lan became a widow and returned to the palace. Wang Runxue was the daughter of the prime minister and often played with Zhao Lan. I made a close friend in my boudoir.

Zhao Lan glanced at Du Wenhao and said, "I heard from my mother that General Du is going to conduct a military exercise today. I like the excitement. I told my mother that I came here to have a look. What about you? What's the matter? You are the wife of the general." And the leader of the guard?"

"I can be a guard with my three-legged cat skill. I'm also here to watch the excitement. Just like you!"

Du Wenhao looked at the two women and said: "Mao's time is coming soon, I'm going in to raise the tent and become a general, so you can wait for me outside."

The two girls said in unison: "No! We are going too!"

"Okay then! Let's go!" Du Wenhao was too lazy to talk, "But you have to be behind the screen to raise the tent, and you can't come out."

"Row!"

There is a military field in the backyard of the Sanya, and a large tent is set up in the middle. Although this is in the capital city, there is no need to set up a large tent here, but Du Wenhao just pays attention to the atmosphere, and specially asked his subordinates to set up a standard tent. The large tent of the army in the march.

At this moment, more than a dozen army commanders and envoys have already lined up and waited here.

Du Wenhao stepped into the tent of the Chinese army, sat down in the middle, and glanced at the military attorney next to him: "What time is it?"

"It's almost time."

"Are they all there?"

The military attorney smiled a little embarrassedly: "There are still two."

Du Wenhao's face sank: "Two short? What are you doing?"

"I don't know, I should wait and see."

"Wait? I am the dignified Lord of the Town, inspected in all three government offices, and one of the eight governors. Who else in the army is so arrogant to let me wait for him? - Beat the drum to raise the account! This general wants to order!"

Outside the big tent, the sound of war drums shook the heavens and the earth.

Once the drums are beaten, those who don't arrive will be late.

After beating the drums, no one came.Du Wenhao sneered, opened the roster on the table, and began to roll names one by one.

After counting the list, the two generals did not show up. He closed the list, stood up and said, "Everyone, follow me to the military training ground outside the city!"

All the generals clasped their fists and agreed, turned around and got on their horses, and followed Du Wenhao to the outside of the city.

As soon as he arrived at the gate of the city, he heard the urgent sound of horseshoes behind him. He quickly came to Du Wenhao's side, and said with a loud grin: "General, I'm sorry, the future is late."

Du Wenhao reined in the horse's head, did not turn around, and said coldly: "Do you know that the o'clock has not arrived, what should you do?"

"This...hehe, please forgive me, General. I drank two more drinks with Lord Cao last night, so I came late. I won't dare to do it again next time!"

"Drink with Prince Cao?"

"Yeah, it was Lord Cao's birthday yesterday. So I drank a few more glasses. Hehe, in the past, the last general was never late. Please forgive me this time."

Du Wenhao turned around slowly: "Originally, it's okay to forgive you. Now that we're not marching and fighting, we don't have to be too strict..."

The loud voice grinned: "Isn't it? The general is still reasonable. Please let the last general be the host tonight and hold a banquet for the general to apologize! How about it?"

Du Wenhao said coldly: "I haven't finished talking, so don't be happy. ——It's okay to go around you, but it's my first time to raise my account today. I won't punish you if you are late. After that, everyone will follow suit." , How can I convince the public? ——Military Lawyer, what should I do if I haven't arrived yet?"

"Stick thirty in normal times, cut in wartime!"

"Okay!" Du Wenhao stared at the general with a loud voice and said, "You should be glad that you're not in the Huanqing Military Strategy Division, otherwise, the head on your neck will be lost! Come! Thirty sticks!"

This time Du Wenhao led a military law team specially responsible for enforcing military laws.Agreeing in unison, five or six soldiers came up and dragged the general off his horse in a hurry.

The general was shocked and begged for mercy, but was pushed to the ground by the military law soldiers, and he was about to beat him with his staff.

The general with a loud voice became anxious, and said sharply: "General, please bypass me for a while for Prince Cao's sake."

Du Wenhao wondered: "Look at Prince Cao's face? What's your relationship with Prince Cao?"

"Lord Cao is my brother-in-law!"

(End of this chapter)