nucmednet Chapter 100 Napoleon's Cannon and the Red Barbarian Cannon (Part 2)
Chapter 100 Napoleon's Cannon and the Red Barbarian Cannon (Part 2)
??
Although Liang Xiaoming's converted figures differed from the actual data, Sun Yuanhua was still deeply shocked.
Although Ming Dynasty craftsmen were able to imitate the appearance of the Hongyi cannon, they did not understand its essence, and the cannons they made were naturally unsatisfactory. The Hongyi cannon that he and his mentor Xu Guangqi painstakingly created had a similar caliber to the cannon in front of them, but its length reached 10 feet, and in order to prevent the barrel from exploding, the cannon wall was thickened, and the cannon body alone weighed 4,000 catties.
The cannon's barrel was too long and its turning was too inflexible; its weight made it difficult to transport. This meant such a cannon was only suitable for defending and attacking cities, and was unsuitable for field battles. Regarding its range, although scholars often described it as "spreading for tens of miles," Sun Yuanhua knew very well that its truly useful range was less than three miles; beyond that, it was just a bang, and where the cannonball would end up was unknown. The cannon before him, however, was only half the length and weight of the Hongyi cannon, extremely lightweight and maneuverable, perfectly suited for field battles—the cannon of his dreams.
The only thing he wasn't sure about was how heavy the cannonballs could fire. Liang Xiaoming told him, "It can fire 12-pound... 10-jin (5 catties) shells."
A common Hongyi cannon could only fire 10 jin (5 catties) of cannonballs. To put that into perspective, a Hongyi cannon that was one zhang (3.3 meters) long and weighed four thousand jin (2000 kg) had roughly the same cannonball power as this cannon that was about half a zhang (3.3 meters) long and weighed one thousand jin (5000 kg). Sun Yuanhua couldn't help but lament that all the hard work he and his mentor had put in for so many years had been in vain.
Unaware of his inner thoughts, Liang Xiaoming added insult to injury: "The muzzle velocity of this cannon can reach 439 meters per second... uh, that means the cannonball can travel three or four hundred paces in the time it takes to take a breath, while the speed of the Hongyi cannon is less than half that..." Fearing Sun Yuanhua wouldn't understand the significance of muzzle velocity, he gestured to explain, "The faster the velocity, the greater the cannon's power..."
Sun Yuanhua nodded with a grim expression. He naturally understood the principle that the faster the speed, the greater the destructive power. Arrows fired from powerful bows and crossbows were far faster and more powerful than those from ordinary bows, and the same was true for cannons. In that case, the cumbersome Hongyi cannons were not as powerful as this cannon.
He sighed deeply, "Truly, there are always people more capable than you. This young man's ability to create such a marvelous weapon leaves me in awe. Compared to him, the Hongyi cannons are utterly useless. In all my years in Dengzhou, I've been casting cannons and training troops, thinking I've built a strong army for the court. Now it seems I was just a frog in a well, wasting the court's money and resources. Even if Kong Youde and Li Jiucheng hadn't rebelled, the firearms of the new Dengzhou army would still be far inferior to Brother Liu's cannons. And all that effort I put into pacifying the rebels..."
Liu Ye said, “Lord Sun, there’s no need to belittle yourself. Compared to other officials in the court who are just sitting on their laurels, you’ve already done a remarkable job by introducing the cannon-casting techniques of the Franks and hiring them to teach cannon handling skills. It’s just that the court and the public are short-sighted and don’t value firearms. If we could train more new armies equipped with modern firearms, why would we have to worry about the Tartars not retreating or the bandits not being wiped out?”
Sun Yuanhua was hit where it hurt, and clapped his hands and said, "What you said makes sense. It's a pity that apart from my mentor and me, no one in the court or the public pays attention to firearms, which has led to the Liaodong war losing ground time and time again, and the bandits on the Shaanxi border becoming too big to be controlled."
Seeing his reaction, Liu Ye decided to strike while the iron was hot and take him to the shooting range to observe, hoping to dissuade him from returning to the capital. He gave orders for the guards to prepare for live-fire exercises with 12-pound mountain grenades and rifles.
When everyone arrived at the firing range, two 12-pound mountain howitzers were already ready. Sun Yuanhua's eyes lit up when he saw the two small cannons. He went up to examine them and stroked them, and he was very fond of their smooth walls and small size.
"This small cannon is so smoothly polished and so lightweight. It must be used for field battles between two armies?"
“Lord Sun, the cannons we just saw were used for large-scale battles. These smaller cannons, because they are flexible, mobile, and easy to carry, can be used by small units to fight while moving,” Liang Xiaoming said.
"Oh? This little cannon is light and easy to use, but I wonder how powerful it is?"
Liu Ye signaled the gunner to test fire. The gunner took out a fixed solid shot, loaded it into the barrel, pushed the shot to the bottom with the push rod, then inserted the fuse with the match cord into the ignition port, punctured the cloth-covered propellant charge, adjusted the muzzle position, aimed at a circular mound of earth 500 meters ahead, two meters high and two meters in diameter, and then lit the match cord.
As Sun Yuanhua and the others watched in hushed silence, the fuse protruding from the cannon barrel burned out, and sparks flew from the touch hole. A few seconds later, a deafening roar erupted as the shell accurately struck its target. The mound exploded, sending clumps of earth and debris flying everywhere in a spectacular display of force—to create the effect, some gunpowder had been pre-buried in the mound, which ignited rapidly upon impact with the hot solid shot, creating an explosion in the enclosed space—Sun Yuanhua's mouth gaped open, remaining agape for a long time.
After a long while, he finally reacted and sighed, "Such a small cannon can actually shoot so far and so accurately, and its power is sufficient. If the imperial court had cannons of such a large and small size, how could the Liaodong Tartars and bandits be a match for it?"
Determined to completely impress him, Liu Ye said leisurely, "Having cannons alone is not enough. I would like to invite Lord Sun to observe the muskets!"
Twenty guards, one crouching and one standing, lined up in two rows, skillfully loading, tamping, and leveling the bullets in one smooth motion. They pulled the triggers, and gunshots rang out, filling the air with smoke. The entire process took only about twenty seconds.
Sun Yuanhua stroked his beard and nodded. He couldn't quite make out the difference between this gun and the arquebuses used by the Ming army, but in terms of reloading speed alone, it could be considered elite. However, this made him quite doubtful whether Liu Ye was truly the merchant he claimed to be.
Inside Dengzhou City, he witnessed the hand-to-hand combat skills of Liu Ye's men, and now he saw the superior quality of their muskets. If casting cannons could be sold to the government, then what about these arquebusiers? It's not unusual for a merchant to hire bodyguards, but possessing arquebuses is already a taboo for the government. What are his true intentions?
Before he could think further, the twenty team members began another round of firing, only twenty seconds after the first shot. Sun Yuanhua was stunned. The soldiers' muskets were all lit with matchlocks, and the loading speed was extremely slow. When facing an enemy charge, they could often only fire once, and their muskets were only good for burning. He had never heard of a musket that could fire repeatedly in such a short time.
By the time the third volley began, he was nearly collapsing to the ground. At that rate of fire, let alone infantry, it would be enough to wreak havoc on any cavalry charge. With thousands upon thousands of such musketeers, the Liaodong Tartars' mounted archery would be no threat.