Take the arsenal to Da Ming

Chapter 242 Cast Iron Cannon

Although Guan Ning's army was strong, Azig naturally didn't take it too seriously. His main focus was on Tang Ning's new army.

He knew that Tangning was waiting for an opportunity. Once the Eight Banners Army showed its weakness, Tangning would pounce on it like a wolf.

Therefore, we should not devote all our strength to deal with Guan Ning Army like Li Zicheng did back then.

But now I didn't expect that Wu Sangui would put all his troops in so resolutely not long after the beginning.

He didn't know whether it was Tangning's intention or Wu Sangui's own initiative to vote for loyalty, but he had to send troops to deal with it, because Wu Sangui's left wing was Shang Kexi's infantry.

At this time, it is already difficult for the Kexi Department to resist the infantry of the Guanning Army. If it is attacked by Guanning's iron cavalry again, it is bound to collapse quickly.

Azige didn't dare to watch Shang Kexi fight Guan Ning's army anymore, he had to keep Shang Kexi's army steady, once it collapsed, the consequences would be very serious.

So far, I can only believe that it is still gratifying.

Azige mobilized nearly [-] Manchurian Eight Banners infantry to support Shang Kexi's troops, and at the same time drove nearly [-] cavalry to deal with Wu Sangui's cavalry attack.

So far, Wu Sangui's Guanning Army has attracted more than [-] Qing troops, and the final strength available to Azig is only about [-].

The [-] people under Azig's personal control not only had to keep an eye on the situation on the battlefield where the fierce battle was taking place, but they also had to pay attention to Tangning's actions.

At the same time, Azig had to hide himself as much as possible, because he knew that he was very close to the camp of the new army. Once he was discovered, the powerful artillery of the new army might come at any time.

Although he is arrogant and fiery, he is not stupid. Boluo's fate is a clear example.

Tangning looked at Sun Kexian not far away and said, "Captain Sun, it's time for you to act."

Sun Kexian was about to answer the order, but he heard Sun Lin who was at the side say: "My lord, don't you wait any longer?"

Tangning knew what he meant, and immediately said, "The Guan Ning Army will still be useful in the future."

Sun Lin immediately understood, and without further words, Sun Kexian quickly responded to the order and immediately set off as a whole team.

In addition to Sun Kexian's nearly 2000 people, Lu Guangzu's nearly 5000 people accompanied him.

Lu Guangzu is under Zuo Menggeng's command, and his troops have been training for several months in Fujian according to the training method of the new army. Tang Ning has also updated his troops' weapons and equipment a lot, giving his troops a certain level of combat effectiveness and fighting will. promote.

Although Lu Guangzu had far more troops than Sun Kexian at this time, he still had to obey Sun Kexian's orders.

As soon as the new army moved, Azig naturally got the news immediately, and his expression suddenly became serious.

Although the new army only dispatched less than 5000 infantry, this time Azig did not dare to underestimate him, and immediately dispatched [-] cavalry to respond, leaving [-] as the final reserve team for emergency relief.

Only at this time did Azig deeply realize that his troops were stretched.

However, what surprised Azig was that the formation of the new army changed again, forming a formation that had never been seen before.

This is a phalanx, which is a very normal formation with a history of thousands of years, but the phalanx of the new army is obviously different. The biggest difference is that the middle of the phalanx is mostly empty.

If it was said that the lack of new troops made the middle of the phalanx empty, Azig naturally didn't believe it.

But now that Tangning had formed a hollow square formation, Azig dared not underestimate it any longer. There must be something unique about this formation.

Azig, who has always been fearless, had to remind the Mongolian army leader Ming Andari to pay more attention.

Ming Anda responded to the order and led five thousand cavalry into battle.

Sun Kexian set up three hollow square formations, in the shape of finished characters, separated from each other by about a few miles.

The hollow phalanx is not completely hollow, because some archers are arranged in the phalanx.

In front of the phalanx was the artillery accompanying the army. In addition to the twenty red-clothed cannons, there were more than eighty cannons for exterminating captives.

Before, the artillery of the new army was far away from the Qing army and hidden in the formation. The Qing army instinctively thought that the red cannons used by the new army were the same as those they used.

The same goes for the Tiger Crouch Cannon.

Now, the new army is advancing with artillery, and the distance is getting closer, and those who are interested will find that there seems to be something different.

Although the red-clothed cannons of the new army are very similar to the red-clothed cannons I have seen, they are obviously smaller and easier to transport. They can be pulled by a few mules and horses.

However, the power displayed by it is not weaker than the larger red cannon on its own side.

There is also the tiger crouching cannon, which is also a little different.Since the tiger crouching gun is much smaller in size, it can be difficult to see clearly from a long distance, but it is somewhat different from the tiger crouching gun in your own hand.

"Their craftsmen should have mastered better technology." Azig immediately determined this, which is not surprising.

Tang Ning already had advanced cannons in his hands, and had a lot of contact with foreigners. I heard that there are many foreign craftsmen in his arsenal. It is normal to make improvements to the red cannon and the tiger crouching cannon. There is no improvement. That's not normal.

In fact, how did he know that Tangning's arsenal improved the red cannon and the tiger crouching cannon not so much in the manufacturing process of the cannon, but mainly in the improvement of materials.

Because the current artillery, especially the artillery of the Qing army, is almost all copper cannons.

Even in the Ming Dynasty, the number of iron cannons was very small, and copper cannons were the main ones.

The reason for this is that the forged pig iron is too brittle and the wrought iron is too soft because the furnace temperature is not high, and it is difficult to grasp the melting point.

Even copper cannons are more expensive, but the technique is very mature and safer and more reliable.

In fact, at this time, let alone iron-making, Daming can even make steel. Steel-making technology is leading in the world, but the steel produced still has quite a few flaws.

As a later generation, Tangning knew that to obtain liquid steel, the temperature had to reach 1600 degrees.

But the current technology can only raise the temperature to 1300 degrees, a difference of several hundred degrees.

Although steel can also be obtained through subsequent processes, only in a liquid state can it be more convenient to handle impurities in steel and control the carbon content of steel.

At 1300 degrees, only semi-liquid steel can be obtained, so it becomes more difficult to remove impurities, resulting in relatively low output, and the produced steel is relatively low in quality.

It was also because of this that Daming's steelmaking method could not be widely popularized, nor could it be used in casting guns and cannons.

When Tang Ning planned to build an arsenal, he set out to improve the skills of steelmaking, hoping to produce better quality wrought iron and steel.

In "Tiangong Kaiwu", there is a detailed description of the skills of ironmaking and steelmaking. Song Yingxing is no stranger to ironmaking and steelmaking, and he also knows the difficulties in improving ironmaking and steelmaking skills.

First of all, the most important point must be temperature.

Therefore, Tangning discussed with Song Yingxing some principles of the crucible steelmaking method, converter steelmaking method, and open-hearth steelmaking method in later generations, and even improved the fuel and so on.

Song Yingxing is an expert in this area. He has proved many times in the past that many things Tangning said, even though they sound unbelievable, have been proven to be feasible in the end.

Therefore, Song Yingxing not only recorded a lot of what Tangning said, but also personally led the craftsmen and students to experiment and improve again and again.

Although it is impossible to make a qualitative leap in iron-making and steel-making skills in such a short period of time, it is indeed a step up from the original.

Tang Ning dared to say that the wrought iron produced by her iron factory is definitely the best in the world.

Therefore, the weapons used in the arsenal gradually became dominated by wrought iron. The red cannons under Tangning's command were cast iron cannons instead of copper cannons.

With a good start, it will be just around the corner to produce better quality steel in the future.

(End of this chapter)