nucmednet Chapter 241: Making Gunpowder
Chapter 241: Making Gunpowder
Zhang Xiaosi had witnessed the power of infantry artillery in Dingzhou County. Now seeing the gun in Chen Da's hand, he thought to himself that this gun was a bit like a small-caliber cannon.
"General Chen, you said a gun is useless without bullets, so why can't we make our own?"
Zhang Xiaosi frowned, his face full of confusion, and his eager eyes seemed to penetrate Chen Da.
Chen Da frowned, sighing helplessly and anxiously, "I can use this gun, but I can't make it. I know the formula for gunpowder, but there's something called a primer in this gun, and I really don't know how to make it."
After saying this, he kept shaking his head, his expression full of worry.
"Oh, can you let me take a look?" Zhang Xiaosi instantly became energetic, his eyes flashing with eagerness, and he couldn't wait to make a request.
At this time, Chen Da no longer regarded these people as outsiders. He immediately took out his rifle, took out the bullets inside, and handed them to Zhang Xiaosi.
"Look," Chen Da said, pointing to the bullet, "there's a projectile, gunpowder, and a primer inside. When this device strikes the primer, it creates a spark that ignites the gunpowder inside."
Chen Da's eyes were focused and solemn, but his mind was like a tangled mess as he kept thinking about how to make bullets.
"Oh?" Zhang Xiaosi blinked, and suddenly a light bulb went off in his head. He shouted excitedly, "I see. We can use flint here. Isn't that how we strike fire with flint on the grassland?"
He was so excited that he danced with joy, as if he had seen the hope of success.
Upon hearing this, Chen Da turned to look at Lu Yihou and said in surprise, "If that's true, then we can make this bullet ourselves!"
A bright smile instantly spread across Chen Da's face, and the spark of hope in his heart instantly turned into a raging fire.
Lu Yihou's face flushed with excitement, and he said excitedly: "Yes, General, if we can make bullets ourselves, then our combat effectiveness can be maintained for a long time, and we don't have to be so afraid of Zhao Sheng's army!" Lu Yihou's eyes were full of longing, as if victory was just before his eyes.
Chen Da shouted excitedly, "There's no time to lose. Xiao Si, go and prepare the necessary materials. Yi Hou, quickly gather the craftsmen. We'll start researching and manufacturing bullets right away!"
Chen Da's voice was quick and firm, and he was as anxious as an ant on a hot pan, unable to wait any longer.
Zhang Xiaosi and Lu Yihou took the order and left like the wind. Soon, they gathered all the materials and craftsmen.
Everyone gathered around a large table covered with various tools and collected materials. General Chen carefully disassembled the bullet and explained its structure and principles in detail to the craftsmen.
"Please see, everyone. The structure of this bullet may appear simple, but it is actually extremely sophisticated. We must precisely mix the gunpowder and ensure the sensitivity of the primer."
Chen Da's face was solemn, his forehead was covered with fine beads of sweat, and his heart was filled with anxiety and anticipation.
He was filled with anxiety, because Zhao Sheng's army was pressing forward step by step, and time was as short as a candle that was about to burn out; but he was also full of expectation, hoping that the craftsmen could develop usable bullets as soon as possible to increase their chances of resisting Zhao Sheng.
The craftsmen nodded one after another and then started a heated discussion.
An experienced craftsman spoke first, "General, in my opinion, the key is the ratio of gunpowder. We need to conduct repeated experiments to find the most appropriate ratio."
The old craftsman had a firm gaze and was full of confidence. He knew that he had a heavy responsibility on his shoulders and was determined to contribute his experience and wisdom to overcoming this difficult problem.
So they started their first round of attempts.
Mix the gunpowder according to the preliminary estimated ratio, carefully load it into the shell, and install the primer and projectile.
However, when test-fired, the bullets either failed to fire at all or had minimal power, far from achieving the desired effect.
Chen Da's brows knitted together, his anxiety growing stronger. He thought to himself, "This won't work. Zhao Sheng's army could arrive at any moment."
Chen Da's heartbeat was like a rapid drumbeat, and he seemed to be able to hear the urgent countdown.
The craftsmen fell into deep thought again, re-analyzing the reasons for their failure.
Another young craftsman stepped forward and said, "Perhaps our primer is not made finely enough, and it won't produce enough sparks when struck."
The young craftsman's face showed both nervousness and anxiety, as he longed for his idea to work and bring about a turnaround for everyone.
Everyone thought it made sense, and they devoted themselves to the work of improving the primer.
They tried different materials and production techniques, failed again and again, and started over again and again.
Every failure was like a heavy hammer hitting everyone's heart, making everyone feel even heavier, but the fire of hope in their hearts never went out.
Time passed quickly during the intense experiment. Everyone was exhausted, but no one gave up.
Chen Da kept encouraging himself in his heart: "I must succeed, I must hold on." Chen Da's eyes were bloodshot, but he always kept a close eye on every step.
Finally, in a test, the bullet was successfully fired and its power was significantly improved.
"Success!" Everyone cheered in unison. At this moment, everyone's face was filled with excitement and excitement, as if they had seen a ray of light in the darkness.
But Chen Da didn't dare to relax at all. He knew in his heart that this was far from enough. He said, "This is not good enough. It needs further optimization to ensure stability and consistency." There was a hint of fatigue in Chen Da's voice, but he remained firm.
The glimmer of joy that had just ignited was instantly extinguished by his words. Everyone knew that this was not the time to relax.
So they continued to engage in more detailed debugging work.
Everyone was concentrating, not daring to slack off in the slightest. However, at this moment, a terrible accident happened unexpectedly.
Due to negligence in operation, an error occurred in the process of mixing gunpowder, which instantly caused a violent explosion.
"Boom!" There was a loud bang, flames shot up into the sky, and thick smoke billowed. Chen Da was suddenly thrown to the ground by the powerful gust of air, his ears buzzing, and his vision was blurry.
When he regained consciousness, he saw a tragic scene.
The surrounding craftsmen and soldiers collapsed in pools of blood, some already dead, others groaning in agony. Chen Da's heart was filled with fear and self-blame. He stared wide-eyed, unable to believe what he saw. He cried out in a trembling voice, "How could this happen? It's all my fault!" Tears welled up in his eyes.
The survivors were also frightened out of their wits by this sudden disaster, and fear enveloped everyone like a haze.
Zhang Xiaosi's face was covered in blood. He trembled as he climbed to his feet, his eyes filled with fear and despair. He muttered to himself, "It's over, it's over. What should I do?"
Zhang Xiaosi's body kept shaking, as if he had lost his soul.
Lu Yihou looked at the wreckage on the ground, his body trembling constantly, and said in despair: "Can we still succeed? The price is too high..."
His voice was filled with despair and helplessness.
Chen Daqiang suppressed his grief, tried to calm himself down, and shouted, "Don't panic, everyone. We can't give up like this!"
But his voice was also trembling, and it was obvious that he was extremely panicked inside.
The other survivors looked at each other, some began to cry, and said tremblingly: "This is terrible, are we all going to die here?" The emotion of fear spread wildly among the crowd.