Chapter 624 Siege Mortar, an Indestructible Weapon!
"The Lord God has given me an indestructible artifact! The cannon has exploded. The barrel has exploded."
A group of crows flew across the sky, leaving behind a cheery "quacking" sound. Shulot was sitting under the ceiling of the big tent, holding the letter from the foundry master, his face turning purple. After a while, he calmed down, took a deep breath, and read on patiently again.
"Your Majesty, more than two years ago, you left many fragmentary and unclear divine revelations, and mentioned short and thick mortars specially used for siege."
"It's fragmentary and unclear." Seeing such a straightforward comment, Shulot raised his eyebrows and clenched his hands.
However, this is also true. Many times, the so-called "divine revelation" is just that he puts forward the correct technical direction in an impression and then describes the shape of creation. As for how to implement it and what the technical details are, it is up to the professional master craftsmen to slowly explore and solve the difficulties one by one.
In this process, the improvement in the abilities of master craftsmen is obvious. Just like Tiripi, who was exploring cannon casting. He had been casting cannons for many years and had accumulated a lot of experience. He was even able to independently research and manufacture mortars.
".You said that the length of the barrel determines the range, the caliber determines the power, and the weight of the gun body affects maneuverability. For heavy artillery for sieges, the larger the caliber, the better, but the range is second. Of course, the weight of the siege artillery can be increased. , as long as you can move it, it won’t be a problem even if it’s slower.”
"Based on this idea, I designed a new siege mortar. Its length is about one and a half meters, its caliber is between seven and eight inches, it is loaded with 30 kilograms of stone bullets, and its weight is more than 800 kilograms."
Seeing this, Shulot thought hard and started making calculations.
The bronze cannon, which is one and a half meters long, has a caliber between seven and eight inches, that is, 22-26 centimeters. A stone bullet with a closed mouth is about a stone ball with a radius of 6-6.5 cm and a volume of about 1000 cubic centimeters. According to the standard density of stone, 2.8 grams per cubic centimeter, the mouth-opening bullet is indeed around thirty kilograms. A stone bullet of this weight, converted into pounds, would be a full 33 pounds! And if it is replaced by a closed iron ball with a density of 2-3 times, the power will be
"Well, the iron bullets widely used in Europe are still too luxurious for the current alliance. On the contrary, the alliance has enough manpower to polish stone bullets. After the stone bullets hit the city wall, there will be shattering splash damage , more suitable for the current alliance."
Shulot pondered for a moment, then estimated the shape of the bronze cannon on the papyrus paper.
Bronze is three times denser than standard rock, about 8.4 grams per cubic centimeter. The 800-pound bronze cannon is about 50,000 cubic centimeters. According to the calculation formula of a hollow cylinder, the internal diameter is 12-13 cm and the length is 1.5 meters, then the external diameter is
"An outer diameter of 24-25 centimeters? A cannon with a wall thickness of 6 centimeters?"
Thinking of this, Shulot's face showed surprise. Such a short, short and thick artillery is simply...
"It's just a lump of bronze! There is still a lot of room for improvement in the kingdom's cannon-casting technology! Phew. With the current technology, the only option is to be stupid, big, black, and try your best to increase the power. "
Shulot held the pen and stared at the bronze cannon he drew. After a while, he put a "tick" at the bottom. Then he looked at the letter again.
"Your Majesty, the difficulty of casting this kind of stubby artillery is much easier than that of long-barreled artillery. Although it took the artillery casting bureau a year or two to build the first one. But with this template, it can be built this year Three. No, five! Please wait and see, even if I risk my life and exhaust my apprentices, I will build enough siege cannons for you!"
The forthright cannon-forging master made a written promise, which may not be reliable, but it will definitely cost human life. Then, in a tone that was half excited and half frightened, he described the details of the test cannon.
"During the first test of the artillery, we used five kilograms of gunpowder and fired it at the forty-five-degree angle specified by His Majesty. The range of the thirty kilograms of stone bullets was approximately one hundred steps, and they hit a half-pound in the soil where they landed. The second test of the cannon was in a deep pit of 10 meters, and ten kilograms of gunpowder were added. It landed in the woods more than 200 steps and broke down several big trees! Your Majesty, this range is enough to bombard the city wall without having to use it. Worry about the crossbows at the top of the city!"
Seeing this, Shulot's eyes flashed. According to the parabolic formula, the range of a cannonball is related to the square of the muzzle velocity and is affected by air resistance. The kinetic energy imparted by the combustion of ten pounds of gunpowder is about twice that of five pounds of gunpowder. No, taking into account the possibility of incomplete combustion, it should be less than twice. The kinetic energy is proportional to the square of the initial velocity, that is, proportional to the range, and then counts the air resistance.
"If the range of five kilograms of gunpowder is less than a hundred steps, then ten kilograms of gunpowder will definitely not be able to reach a range of more than two hundred steps. Tiripi, my casting master, you are patting your chest and talking nonsense again! Moreover, like this The range, even for a mortar, is a bit small, and the air tightness during firing needs to be strengthened.”
Hulot picked up his pen and was about to write down a reply to the admonishment. But after pondering for a moment, he put down the pen again and did not write any criticism.
The last paragraph of the letter contains the details of the explosion of the artillery. There are only a few simple sentences.
"Blessed by the Lord God! This kind of mortar is so powerful that it is like the Thunder of the Lord God. It smashes all the wood and stone, and even the city wall cannot withstand it! The craftsmen of the Cannon Foundry Bureau and the Gunpowder Department are very excited, and everyone unanimously decided to test the range of the cannon. The upper limit. Director Talea also nodded in agreement and provided a new type of gunpowder."
"But I underestimated the power of the new gunpowder and added a full fifteen kilograms. This caused the chamber to explode and two gunners were killed. I have already provided compensation to their families. Your Majesty, please Show mercy and forgive my ignorant mistakes!”
Seeing this, Shulot lowered his eyes slightly. Although Tiripi's barrel exploded and people died, such an outstanding cannon-casting master should still be greatly encouraged and generously rewarded. Of course, this will have to wait until the new mortars really arrive at the front line and show their power to destroy cities and destroy countries!
"Your Majesty, when this letter reaches you, the new batch of mortar clay molds should already be drying in the shade. This time, I will thicken the walls of the cannon again and increase the weight to one thousand kilograms. Tighten the copper hoops on the outside! And with such reinforcement, this kind of siege cannon will definitely be able to fire heavier stone bullets, load more gunpowder, and shoot to a farther distance! They are given by the Lord God and inspired by His Highness! , an indestructible artifact!”
"Huh? A thousand-pound mortar."
Hulot picked up his pen and did some calculations. With the addition of two hundred kilograms, the wall thickness of the artillery has increased by 1 centimeter, and the toughness will be further improved.
"Ha! Tiripi, my cannon-forging master, you are on the road of stupidity, and you will never look back."
Shulot laughed dumbly. Then, he began to calculate that when shooting in a 45-degree parabola, the height of the shell would be about half of the range. And if you can fire 33-pound stone bullets to a hill more than a hundred steps away and more than a hundred steps high, then the White Snake Hill City in front of you will be dangerous and difficult to attack.
"Huh! If there is such a heavy artillery, all the countries and cities in the world will be like weak girls in front of the kingdom's legions, no longer able to stop them!"
Shulot looked sternly and put down the letter. He stood up, walked out of the tent, climbed to the watchtower in the camp, and looked at the northeastern sky. There, a solid hill city was already huddled in its shell like a tortoise waiting to be slaughtered. At this moment, a group of warriors from the kingdom were escorting two really weak girls into the camp slowly.