Chapter 68: Karen Naval Artillery Infantry Edition

If it is a field battle, Marin ’s 20,000 troops, Lübeck and Hamburg ’s 10,000 troops can completely abuse the Danes. However, what is certain is that after seeing so many enemy troops, the other party will definitely choose to retreat into the castle and die.

Last attack on Jever Castle, a thick oak door, so many Cohorn mortars actually blasted for more than a day, making Marin very dissatisfied. In fact, although the Cohorn mortar has less charge and saves gunpowder, the impact force of the shells is also insufficient, which is entirely due to the impact force brought by the weight. Therefore, Marin looks forward to more powerful artillery.

For example, the famous "Hongyi Cannon", that is, the 18-pound British Koufeilin cannon, was powerful when it bombarded the city wall. Although the shells were not as heavy as the Cohorn mortars, the impact was definitely greater than the opponent's. Why? Because the charge is different ...

The Cohorn mortar, although the shell weighs 24 pounds, can charge up to 255 grams. Even if the purity of gunpowder is not high, it only uses 280 grams, which is more than half a pound.

The Hongyi cannon, with a shell weight of 18 pounds, can be loaded with up to 6 pounds of gunpowder according to the principle of 1 to 3. Therefore, although the caliber is not as large as that of Cohen's artillery, the speed at which the artillery pops out of the bore is far faster than that of Cohen's artillery. Bombing the oak door with a red cannon is definitely much more efficient than Cohorn's shelling.

But the biggest problem is that the Hongyi Cannon is too heavy, weighing 2 tons. Such a heavy gun body, plus the gun mount, is very heavy. In general, it is difficult for a horse to pull the artillery car carrying the Hongyi cannon. Even if it is pulled, the snail crawls and often needs to rest. Therefore, in ancient times, to transport Hongyi cannon on land, not only did the horses pulling the cart need more than one horse, but also a large number of civilians had to be dispatched. Because, when the carriage is going uphill, it can't go uphill by dragging two or three tons of heavy objects. It must send a dozen or so men to pull back and forth ...

So, as long as you go with the Hongyi Cannon, do not want to march quickly ...

And Marin ’s military thought is fast, preferably a blitzkrieg, and the other party is too late to react, similar to the German military thought during World War II. However, because of the lack of siege weapons, it is difficult to do so quickly. It's okay to bypass the opponent's fortress, but it's easy to be cut off by the enemy forces in the fortress, which is very dangerous.

Through the last shelling of Jeffre, Marin was able to tell. Although the Cohorn mortar is much more capable of siege than the three-pound gun and the six-pound gun, it is just like that. Even if equipped with a large number of Cohorn mortars, it will take a few days to deal with the general fortress.

Therefore, Marin is particularly eager to obtain a heavy artillery that is convenient for transportation and more powerful than Cohorn's artillery, used for siege.

Ordinarily, this kind of thinking should come from extravagant hope, but Marin's extravagant hope came true ...

It turned out that Marin had previously arranged the casting gun factory to develop the Karen naval gun, which required the barrel length to be shortened in order to reduce the weight of the gun body without changing the caliber. In this way, the gun body is shorter, and the ammunition loading can be accelerated. The lower the weight, the easier the transportation and resetting.

Originally, Marin intended the craftsmen to cast a standard Karen gun with an export diameter of 32 pounds and a total weight of 771.8 kilograms. However, after so long, the craftsmen are still very conservative. It is only now that a transitional Karen gun with a total weight of 750 kilograms and a caliber of 18 pounds has been produced.

Marin was very dissatisfied with the progress of the research and development of the Karen naval gun when he visited the foundry factory. However, after seeing the development progress and data, he came up with a new idea ...

"Karu (cannon craftsman, apprentice of Old John, formerly your blacksmith in Texel Island), you said you have now made a 750 kg, 18-pound Karen cannon?" Marin asked seriously.

Karu, the chief engineer of the Second Foundry Factory, nodded affirmatively:

"Yes, Lord Earl, we have developed an 18-pound Karen cannon with a total weight of 750 kg!"

The artisans of the Second Artillery Factory were mostly serf artisans sent by Marin on Texel Island to learn artillery with Old John. Marin has taught Rodman internal mold cooling technology to them, but not to Old John's First Foundry Factory. Therefore, the passing rate of finished heavy artillery of the second foundry factory is much higher than that of the first foundry factory. Moreover, Marin also believed in the serf craftsmen of the Second Foundry Factory.

It's just that because these craftsmen are serf-born, they have no culture, and their IQ is not high. Marin asked them to improve the artillery and develop the Karen gun. It is only now that the 18-pound Karen cannon has been produced. The progress is slow, and it is still far from the target of 32 pounds.

Even for an 18-pound Karen gun, the data is wrong. Because, after playing the big sailing game, Marin clearly remembered that the British standard 32-pound Karen gun should weigh 771.8 kg and 1.219 meters in length ...

However, the craftsman of the second foundry factory produced an 18-pound Karen gun that actually weighed 750 kg, which shows that the technical level is still limited. You know, the steel they use is low-carbon steel, not wrought iron. Although the carbon content is not well controlled. But whether it is medium carbon steel or low carbon steel, the quality is much better than wrought iron, which is more suitable for casting guns.

Marin also lost some confidence in the artillery craftsmen from these serfs. Fortunately, he has implemented education for all, and even the villages have fully promoted the artisan school. In the future, when the students in these artisan schools grow up, Marin intends to let them completely replace these serf artisans who are purely experienced and low in education, and become the main force of the cannon.

But anyway, the 18-pound Karen gun ...

"Yes, Karu, if these 18-pound Karen guns were fitted with gun mounts and converted into infantry guns, shouldn't it be a problem?"

Marin suddenly opened his brain—Since the Karen gun is not heavy, the caliber is large, and it is powerful, why can't it be converted into an infantry gun and be used to attack the city? At least, its power is much stronger than Cohorn's shelling and running. After all, it was a straight-line bombardment, easy to aim, and great kinetic energy ...

Karu thought about it and replied:

"It should be no problem. Lord Earl, if you put an 18-pound Karen gun on a gun mount, the total weight will probably exceed 1 ton. If you use a carriage to pull it, you can only walk on a flat road, otherwise, it will be difficult to transport. , The speed will not be fast, unless you use two horse-drawn carriages to keep up with the march of large troops ... "

"This is no problem, as long as you take it to siege, it is worthwhile to waste some animal power ..." Marin can completely imagine ~ www.wuxiaspot.com ~ using the Karen artillery infantry version to bombard the city gates, which is not only powerful Cohorn mortars are large and aiming is much easier. Because, the gunner just needs to aim directly through the mountain behind the barrel ...

As for the transportation of artillery, it is a difficult problem. Because, you can't guarantee that the gun car will definitely walk on the flat road. If you encounter rough roads or swamps, heavy artillery transportation is indeed difficult.

Therefore, Malinte specifically advised that the wheels of the gun mount should be made wider to disperse the pressure and prevent the gun car from getting stuck in the dirt.

As for the horses pulling the cart, Marin temporarily intends to use two horses and one infantry version of the Karen gun. Thinking of the issue of pulling power, Marin suddenly remembered the Hercules among horses-Sharma of England.

Sharma is the world's heaviest horse, with a tall body and a shoulder height of more than 2 meters. Moreover, the strength is huge, a single horse can pull 5 tons of beer. Of course, that's on modern flat roads. There were no smooth asphalt and cement roads in this era. Therefore, its shipping capacity will be greatly reduced. But in any case, the "Hercules" in a horse like Sharma, there is no problem with a single horse drawn by a gun car with a total weight of one or two tons.

It's just that Sharma's breed has not yet been finalized. Therefore, Marin needs to send people to Britain to carefully look for this tall variety. After finding this giant breed, Marin will order large-scale introduction, and specially cultivated into a high-level pull horse responsible for pulling heavy artillery to facilitate the march of artillery troops.

In addition, when renovating the existing dozens of 18-pound Karen guns, Malint specifically asked Karu to paint the shells of all artillery with copper paint to deceive others. Let others think that these heavy artillery are all copper. What's so special about my artillery? OK, you also make one, one gun and one ton of copper, to see if you have the financial resources ...