Nanming Engineer

Chapter 373 Artillery Battalion
Ten bronze cannons with a dark red luster stood quietly in a corner of a huge shooting range in the Hanzhong Bingzhan Bureau.

With seven people as a team, a total of ten small teams stood silently behind the cannon, no one spoke, and they were silent as if they were integrated with the cannon.

If you take a closer look, you will see that these people are wearing white cloth robes with red borders. They don't wear armor, nor do they wear rattan armor that is inherent to the Kuizhou army.

It is said to be a cloth robe, but it doesn't look like it. The length of the double-breasted top is no longer than the thighs, with a row of copper buttons shining brightly. A belt around the waist is decorated with copper rivets. It is tied tightly around the waist. On the top, the lower body is a pair of white trousers with red trouser lines, black boots, and an iron eight-petal helmet on the head. The whole person looks a bit sci-fi, not like ordinary soldiers of the Ming army.

Standing at No. 1 of the first cannon, Yan Mingde, the head of the Kuizhou Army Bird Command, was obviously not used to this neat outfit. He always felt a little itchy all over his body. When he was looking at it, he secretly grabbed it.

Wang Huan didn't see Yan Mingde's small movements, his eyes were all on the ten cannons, and he was talking with Xu Erjue, Alfonso, and Du Luo with a smile.

"Sir, this military uniform is really an eye-opener for me. Is the uniform of the red-haired ghost really like this? Is it really safe without armor?" Xu Erjue was interested in the tight clothing of Yan Mingde and others, and said to Wang Huan.

"The artillerymen are at the far end of the battlefield, so they don't need to go into battle, and if the enemy really has heavy artillery that can hit them, that layer of iron is useless, so armor is better than nothing for them." Wang Huan In a good mood, he explained with a smile: "Besides, when the gunners shoot, they need to carry heavy shells, which consumes a lot of energy. Letting them wear armor is tantamount to increasing their physical burden. , isn’t it more reasonable to wipe out the enemy army as far away as possible than to wear armor on yourself?”

Alfonso and Du Luo listened carefully to Liu Erlang's translation, and after they understood it, the two chattered. Liu Erlang said to Xu Erjue: "This kind of military uniform is already very common in Obalo continent. Except for noble knights and cheap infantry, the musketeers and gunners over there no longer wore armor. When they saw the white military uniform designed by Lord Hou for the first time, they were also shocked, thinking that Lord Hou must have It is a genius who can rely on his own wisdom to achieve the achievements of generations of red-haired ghosts and create this artillery."

Amidst their conversation, Wang Huan raised his head and looked at the sky, with an incomparably profound expression on his face, showing his superior demeanor.

After pretending to be coercive for a while, Wang Huan turned his eyes to the cannon again, his expression became serious, and he said to Xu Erjue: "We can start testing the cannon."

Xu Erjue nodded in response, and called out to a master craftsman holding a red flag beside him. The master raised the red flag high in his hand, paused for a moment, and then swung it down violently.

Yan Mingde and the others kept staring at the red flag, and when the red flag moved, they immediately moved.

The skilled division of labor made them not feel in a hurry. Although it was the first time to fire a cannon, they had already practiced countless times in the military battle bureau with wooden cannon models. At this time, the real guy is used, except for a little excitement in the heart, there is no flustered action, everyone has their own clear responsibilities, those who move the shells move the shells, those who put the gunpowder packs put the powder packs, and those who push the shells into the chamber Holding a long push rod, the ignited cannon fires the iron rod wrapped in Huohuancloth, everything is so orderly, and there is meticulous rigor in the dazzling movements.

"The training is good." Wang Huan said in Portuguese with deep feeling, and looked at Douluo. These bird commanders were trained by him personally, and the transformation from bird commander to gunner was completed in just over ten days: "Mr. Douro has contributed a lot."

Douro smiled triumphantly, the red hair on his face was like a thin plush mask in the sun: "Thank you, Mr. Governor, for your praise. I am an excellent gunner in the Portuguese army, otherwise I wouldn't be a second lieutenant. These People are very hardworking and can be taught easily, but the disadvantage is that they are illiterate. Although they can't understand the translation of the artillery manual I compiled, they can memorize it by rote and engrave it in their minds one by one. With my patience Only by training can we achieve today’s results.”

Every word he said was a compliment to himself. Wang Huan laughed it off, picked up the artillery manual and looked at it. This is the original work of Douro, translated by Liu Erlang. In fact, it is a plagiarism of the Portuguese army artillery manual. The uncut ones are used as my own works.

While the two were talking and laughing, Yan Mingde's high-pitched voice came from the shooting range.

"The cannon is ready!"

He stands tall and straight beside the cannon wheel, his white military uniform is very eye-catching beside the red cannon, the cannon wheel is almost as high as his body, the wooden and iron-clad wheels are extremely strong, and the axle is almost as thick as an ordinary person's thigh .

A igniter stood behind Yan Mingde holding a red-hot iron rod, ready to ignite at any time. The rest of the gunners were already hiding a few feet behind, covering their ears with their hands.

"B Pao is ready!"

"The C gun is ready!"

……

Shouts were heard one after another, and the gunners of the ten cannons stood in a straight line next to the cannon, standing solemnly like javelins, looking at the master craftsman holding the red flag, waiting for orders.

"fire!"

Accompanied by Xu Erjue's roar, the red flag fell, ten gunners waved their hands at the same time, and the firemen stepped forward together, and lit the fuse on the fire gate with iron rods.

Then the gunner and the igniter immediately jumped away quickly, squatted on the ground, and blocked their ears with cotton with both hands.

Wang Huan and others on the high platform also took out cotton balls and covered their ears with their hands.

The fuses burned quickly, and the ten cannons were fired almost at the same time. A muffled sound like thunder falling from the cannons blurted out from the barrels, blue smoke rose, and ten black iron bullets shot out like marbles, visible to the naked eye. The speed of flying hits the distance like flying.

Ten iron bullets hit the earth slope in the distance for the first time. The earth slope was very thick and sloped upwards. Ten black iron bullets like glutinous rice balls hit the thick soil, and there was another burst of loess churning. The sound of "dong, dong" was like It was as thick as hitting an iron plate. Most of the iron bullets sank into the soil. A few iron bullets bounced from the hard soil and landed on the slope. to the ground.

The rumble of the cannon continued for a long time, and when the dust settled and the smoke cleared, all the people rushed to the vicinity of the impact point to carefully observe the effect of the shelling.

Of the ten iron bullets, except for a few that were still stuck in the soil and could not be dug out, the others fell on the ground in front of the slope. The huge bullet crater on the slope was as big as a washbasin. The imprints on the soil slope are also extremely frightening. Thinking about what would happen if the iron bullet fell on a person, everyone felt chills in their backs.

"A ten-pound iron bullet, fired with a medium-sized charge, can shoot into the loess layer more than three feet away from one mile away. This distance, this power, is enough to completely defeat the large Francophone!" After measuring the crater with a ruler , Xu Erjue was overjoyed, waved the ruler and shouted: "The key is that the cannon is less than a thousand catties, and the big wheels are quick to carry. It is much faster to march and set up camp than a large Francophone. Hou Ye, this cannon is excellent."

The two red-haired ghosts also chattered. Their focus was on the medicine pack. According to them, the medium-sized yellow medicine pack did not realize the potential of this cannon. If it were replaced with a larger medicine pack, the range and power would be greatly improved. Both can be raised to another level, but the gun body may not be able to withstand a large amount of propellant for a long time, and can only be used in emergencies.

Wang Huan kept nodding his head. What he saw and heard with his own eyes made him sure that although the Napoleon cannon was somewhat inconsistent with the original, it was definitely a trial production success. In the future, in the Kuizhou army, Added another weapon to defeat the enemy.

"Sir, this cannon doesn't have a name yet. According to the court's practice, the cannon must be named after a general to show its power." Xu Erjue said with a smile: "Please give me a name by the Marquis."

Wang Huan possessed himself, grabbed a handful of stone fragments shattered by iron bullets from the ground, and threw them casually, and the stone fragments flew all over the sky. Strengthen my Han family's Shenwei, help me restore the rivers and mountains, call it the Shenwei Cannon!"

Yan Mingde and others surrounded the crowd, excited inexplicably, holding a magic weapon, why worry about being invincible; following Pinglianghou, why fear the tens of thousands of enemy troops.Fighting all the way from Sichuan to Shaanxi, as veterans in the army, they have long regarded Wang Huan as the god of war. Now that Wang Huan's name is certain, they immediately cheered, shouting in their mouths: "Shenwei Cannon! Shenwei Cannon! Lord Hou wins! Kuizhou Army Wanwan Win!"

The shouts are so loud that they can cover up the sun and the moon.

In the flying loess, the ten golden cannons with red tinge stand quietly, like ten sharp swords for slaying demons and demons, which have been refined a hundred times and will become the most important weapon in Wang Huan's Kuizhou army's assortment of weapons. part of it plays an important role.

(End of this chapter)