Chapter 62 Artillery (1)

On the evening of May 8, after the regular meeting of the day, the Executive Committee convened some relevant personnel to hold a small meeting. The content of this small meeting was to discuss the cannon casting plan proposed by the Military and Police Department, from the perspective of military needs and production.

We should consider both technical aspects and brainstorm to determine the future development plan of artillery weapons for Chuangzhong.

Discussions about making self-made artillery have never stopped since the day the Military and Police Department was established. Thanks to the influence of the big bomb doctrine pursued by the People's Liberation Army in later generations, keyboard military strategists discussed it on forums, at the dinner table, and in the office regardless of time.

Regardless of the location or occasion, they will express their opinions on the artillery development route that the Chuanghuang Army should adopt anytime and anywhere. In this heated discussion atmosphere, everyone has reached a consensus on one thing - artillery will definitely be used by the Chuanchuan Army to conquer cities and territories on land in the future.

It is one of the most important weapons to dominate the seven seas on water and ensure the smooth expansion of territories across political power.

However, due to the limitations of objective conditions after time travel, the matter of manufacturing artillery had to be temporarily shelved by the Executive Committee. Until recently, the Tiandu Iron Mine was put into operation and the ironmaking workshop was put into operation. This matter was once again discussed by the anxious military police.

The ministry has put it on the agenda.

The anxiety of the Military and Police Department is understandable. Currently, the only heavy weapons in the hands of the traversers are two PP89 60mm mortars, and the ammunition reserve of only 20 rounds makes the existence of these two small cannons even more difficult.

It's like a kind of self-consolation. When pirates attacked last time, the military and police had to use iron-shelled fishing boats to engage in hand-to-hand combat with their opponents at sea. In the end, they only won the battle by relying on the strong hulls. Although

The result was good, but it was a disaster for the majority of navalists who wanted to build a heavy artillery fleet.

Build artillery! Build more artillery! Build more large-caliber heavy artillery! This has become a hot topic discussed on the forum recently. Even pacifists like Gu Kai had to participate in it and were invited to serve as part of some half-baked troops.

I have translated the English military documents in the large database so that they can provide some useful information in the current debate about the advantages and disadvantages of front-loading guns and breech-loading guns.

Since manufacturing artillery requires a lot of materials and manpower, the Executive Committee also attaches great importance to this and decided to hold a special meeting to discuss this plan. In addition to all members of the Executive Committee, major members of the Military and Police Department were invited to attend the meeting.

, relevant personnel from the Ministry of Shipping, metallurgical technicians, machining technicians, and a number of military enthusiasts of varying levels. More than thirty people packed the small executive committee meeting room, plus these all-male men

A considerable number of them were smoking cigarettes. The smell of sweat was mixed with smoke in the conference room. The environment was even worse than the cement kiln, which is now known as the number one polluter.

The person in charge of presiding over the meeting was Tao Donglai. He first used a whiteboard pen to write a few lines of large characters on the whiteboard in front of the conference room.

1. Actual military needs

2. Technical implementation difficulty

3. Artillery tactics and organization

After finishing writing, Tao Donglai put down his pen, sat back in his seat, raised his finger and pointed at the whiteboard and said: "This is the agenda for today's discussion. Let's come one by one. The comrades who smoke should be a little more relaxed. Now this room is simply in trouble."

It looks like a fire, be careful and wait for someone to rush in and splash water."

After a burst of low laughter, several old smokers embarrassedly put out the cigarette butts in their hands.

"Let me talk about the first question on behalf of the Military and Police Department." Tao Donglai, as a veteran, also holds a concurrent position in the Military and Police Department. At this time, he became the spokesman of the Military and Police Department.

"I know there are many people who think that we should directly manufacture breech-loading rifled guns, and we should pursue large-caliber, long-range, and heavy-fire suppression effects. Putting aside the technical issues of gun manufacturing, I think first of all, we must pay attention to this era.

There is a clear understanding of the armed forces that may become our adversaries."

"What was the level of artillery in the 17th century? I think the people attending today have learned enough from various film and television works and related written materials. Black powder, muzzle-loading cannon, solid shells, no matter the artillery in this era

The design, manufacturing, and practical application of artillery techniques and tactics in the military are all still being explored based on existing experience and have not yet been standardized. Our advantage lies in our understanding of the development trends of various weapons technologies and military tactics.

Having a thorough understanding can help you avoid mistakes and avoid many detours during the exploration process.”

"Super-era artillery technology can indeed easily suppress the battlefield in this period, but is that level of technology really what we need now? I don't think so. Our current military needs mainly come from land and sea.

On the one hand, there are ship-mounted naval guns at sea, and on land there are coastal defense guns and infantry guns needed by future troops. What are the artillery tactics in naval battles in this era? It is to carry out counter-bombing at a distance of two hundred meters or even one hundred meters.

We cannot yet build large battleships based on pure firepower output, and it is difficult to gain an advantage in the number of naval guns. Therefore, our naval guns must pursue better accuracy and stronger destructive power.

."

"But at the same time, we must also realize that this era still lacks accurate artillery sighting systems and fire control systems. Relying on visual correction for artillery fire at a distance of more than two thousand meters at sea is basically a waste of ammunition. The shipbuilding technology we have at hand is enough

Let the speed of our warships be far ahead in this era, so as long as the effective range of our naval guns is more than twice that of the same generation of naval guns, it will be enough to gain an advantage in naval battles. I personally think that this reasonable effective range is within one thousand meters.

, within this range, there is actually no need to equip a breech-loading rifled gun that is difficult to produce..."

Tao Donglai was about to continue speaking when he saw Yue Zhiyun raising his hand and nodded to indicate that he could speak.

Yue Zhiyun stood up and said: "First of all, I agree with Mr. Tao's view on the effective range of naval guns. The British Royal Navy's shooting regulations in the 19th century also clearly stipulated that the maximum shooting distance of 24-pound guns is 400 yards, which means that it is not

To a distance of 400 meters, an excessive range is actually an unnecessary waste of performance for naval warfare in this era."

"But when designing the artillery, we must also consider the carrying capacity of the ship. For example, a 12-pound front-loading artillery with a caliber of 70mm may seem small, and the gun body is only four or five hundred kilograms, but it really needs to be equipped on the ship.

, the displacement of the ship must reach a certain standard, otherwise the cabin cannot provide enough artillery combat space. As for the tonnage required to use the 12-pounder gun, our Shipping Department believes that it must at least reach the level of the Haicang ship in Victory Port.

times, that is, a displacement of about 300 tons is enough. I don’t think a ship of this tonnage can be built within this year.”

"If a breech-loading rifled gun is used, the situation is different. According to the data I found in a large database, if the 12-pound breech-loading gun uses conical shells, not only the effective range will be much greater than that of the front-loading gun, but also

The accuracy and destructive power far exceed that of artillery of the same caliber. The well-documented armor-piercing power within the effective range is equivalent to a 24-pound front-loading artillery shell. If we can create a barrel-retractable breech-loading gun, then even Haicang

Ships can be directly equipped with 12-pound guns."

"Let me interrupt!" Bai Kesi from the Ministry of Industry raised his hand: "The mechanical structure of hydraulic retraction will only remain on paper for a long time in the future. You can temporarily ignore it when designing naval guns.

Tube-repulsed artillery."

"Isn't it possible to use springs instead of hydraulics for retraction?" A half-hearted military fan said in the crowd.

"Theoretically, it's possible, but first we have to make a spring." Baikes explained patiently: "Considering the strength of the material, we have to use special spring steel to make this kind of cannon retraction spring, but this kind of spring steel is the most

We have to wait until we mine the manganese ore in Damao before we can build it. Moreover, the spring-type brake has a very small buffering capacity, so it was quickly eliminated in history. Instead of considering spring brakes, it is better to consider building a cannon.

It is more practical to directly attach the muzzle brake."

"Muzzle brakes will not work on naval guns of this era." Yan Chujie of the Military and Police Department shook his head and retorted: "Muzzle brakes will affect the accuracy and aiming of artillery shooting. With our current gun-making technology, it is impossible to make

That thing is not worth the loss, so it is better to use the back-off technology. We also have many mature technologies that have been tested over time and are available."

Seeing that the order was about to lose order and turn into chaos, Tao Donglai quickly knocked on the table to signal everyone to calm down: "Have you ever thought that breech-loading rifled cannon can be built, but what about the problem of shells and fuses? Industry

Does the department have any solution now?"

Bai Kesi shook his head and said: "A small amount of cannonballs can be made, and the projectile body can be slowly turned out with a lathe, but it is difficult to mass-produce it. The process flow is completely different. You must know that there is special equipment for making cannonballs and bullets, and a set of

There are dozens of pieces of equipment in the production line, and it is difficult to replicate it under our current conditions. This is still a solid armor-piercing projectile, and if it is a grenade, it also involves the manufacturing of fuses, which our industrial sector cannot solve."

"We can copy the oldest breech-loading cannon." Someone from the Shipping Department shouted again, and it turned out to be Xie Chun, who was engaged in shipping management. No one knew how he came to participate in this discussion.

"The oldest breech-loading cannon shells are cast iron coated with lead, and still use black powder as the propellant. There is no primer. The breech-loading cannons in the 19th century basically have this structure. Is there no problem in making a cast iron projectile and black powder?

"It seems that Xie Chun was not aimless and was prepared beforehand.

But someone immediately refuted his statement: "Aren't you talking about the Armstrong cannon that embarrassed the Qing army in the Second Opium War? If we cannot solve the adhesion problem of the lead skin, lead fragments will be released when the cannon is fired.

Splashing in a short distance in front of the muzzle may cause harm to our soldiers. This is a real situation that has occurred in history. For this reason, the British returned to the front-loaded cannon and took a detour for a while."
Chapter completed!