Chapter 538 Firearms Ship Trial
Chapter 538 Firearms Ship Trial
After Zhang Liang took over the intelligence department, Jiangdu's intelligence did improve. It was not a matter of adding people and resources, but rather adjustments and optimizations in management. For example, the outlets that were too numerous in the past were concentrated and placed on current hot spots, such as Luoyang, Hebei, Shandong and other places. Intelligence points in places like Chang'an, Bashu, Hedong, Hexi, and Longyou were temporarily cancelled.
Of course, the effect was very good. The validity period of the intelligence Xiao Xia had was shortened to about two days. For example, when Zhang Xutuo's army captured Liyang Warehouse and wiped out Yu Gongli's army, Xiao Xia received a pigeon letter from Liyang County two days later.
But this information was not good news for Xiao Xia. Xiao Xia knew very well that once Liyang Warehouse was lost, the imperial army would have a firm foothold in Hebei, and the countdown for King Qi Yangling would begin.
In the official room, Liu Wenjing, Pei Wen'an, and Zhang Yunqiu were discussing countermeasures with Xiao Xia. Gao Jiong was not in Jiangdu at the moment, but was dredging the canal in Piling County and Wu County. The situation was very delicate now. Everyone knew that the emperor was likely to reduce the power of the King of Jin. The court officials were rather embarrassed and tried to remain silent. Gao Jiong was the first to be affected. He could only temporarily avoid it in the name of building a canal.
"Your Highness, how long do you think the King of Qi can hold on?" Pei Wen'an asked in a deep voice.
"No more than three months!"
Xiao Xia pondered for a moment and said, "Once the imperial army seizes Liyang Warehouse, the logistical support for hundreds of thousands of troops will be in place. What remains is to slowly shrink and surround Wei County, and then gradually compress from Wei County to Anyang County. In the end, Yang Guang will definitely surrender. After all, they are father and son. Yang Guang will only put him under house arrest, not kill him."
Zhang Yunqiu continued, "It is only Liyang Warehouse that has been lost. How does Your Highness know that Yang Ling's situation is very unfavorable?"
Xiao Xia smiled and said, "Actually, I have a reference, that is Luo Yi. He has more intelligence than us, and it is deeper than us. There are many unknown things we don't know, but he knows, such as the morale of Yang Ling's army, etc. I only need to look at his movements to know that Yang Ling's situation is not good. The latest intelligence I have is that Luo Yi's army has captured Qinghe County. He is working very hard and taking every step accurately according to the situation, which means that he is not optimistic about Yang Ling at all."
Liu Wenjing was silent for a moment and then said, "That is to say, at the latest in three months, the imperial court will attack us."
Xiao Xia said slowly: "They will definitely make trouble, but the intensity of their showdown against us may be reduced."
"What do you mean by that, Your Highness?"
"I just got a piece of news that the former crown prince Yang Yong escaped from Luoyang with his sons!"
Liu Wenjing was excited. "This is a big deal. It is very likely that it was done by the Guanlong nobles. Maybe they have already arrived in Chang'an. Your Highness, do you think Yang Yong will ascend the throne again in Chang'an?"
Xiao Xia smiled and said, "It's not likely, but it must have been done by the Guanlong nobles. They just want to push Yang Yong to the throne and control Guanlong. In this way, the soldiers and ministers from Guanlong may have a choice. The chaos it caused may even exceed the rebellion of Yang Liang and Yang Ling. At this time, if the court attacks me again, will they worry that I will join forces with Yang Yong?"
After a pause, Xiao Xia continued, "However, Yang Yong may not ascend the throne immediately. It is more likely that he will wait and see, digging into the emperor's corners little by little, and lure all the officials and soldiers back to Chang'an. The emperor will be in danger. Our chance lies in the degree of threat Yang Yong poses to the emperor."
Zhang Yunqiu pondered for a long time, "Your Highness, is it possible that after the emperor destroyed Qi Wang Yang Ling, the army did not return to Luoyang, but went directly south to Jiangdu."
Xiao Xia nodded. "From the fact that the emperor vetoed my purchase of land in Pengcheng County, Zhang Tongpan's statement is about half the possibility. That's why I'm now massively transferring wealth and materials to the South Bank!"
In the afternoon, Xiao Xia arrived at the Yangtze River by boat.
On the river, thousands of cargo ships loaded with grain, cloth, weapons, copper coins, timber, oil, coal, ore and other bulk goods shuttled back and forth, transporting a large amount of wealth and materials to the south bank.
It has been going on for a month, and the bulk commodities are almost shipped out. The next step is to transport military supplies to the south bank, including camp fences, tents, weapons and armor, war drums, flags, and other military supplies.
Once the emperor decided to use military force against him, the Huai River would not be able to stop the imperial army. He did not want Jiangdu to become a battlefield. He wanted to place the warships on the Yangtze River, so all kinds of money, property and important personnel had to be evacuated.
"Your Highness, be ready!" an officer from the Arms Department whispered.
Xiao Xia nodded, "We can start now!"
Today, firearms are being tested on the river. This test is very important, so of course Xiao Xia has to participate in person. Behind him are more than a dozen generals including Luo Shixin, Pei Xingyan, You Junda, Wang Junkuo, Sun Lei, etc. They have also heard of the power of firearms for a long time and want to see it for themselves, so Xiao Xia simply brings them along this time.
Wang Pu, the judge of the Military Equipment Department, smiled and said to all the generals, "Everyone, today is the first surface test of firearms. Our firearms are divided into two directions, one is combustion and the other is explosion. We will test both directions today. We will start with the combustion test. If you are interested, you can join us." Everyone was delighted and raised their hands to participate. Each person was given a bow and ten rockets. The rocket was a gunpowder cylinder tied to an arrow shaft with a fuse. Due to the strong wind on the river, it was impossible to use a fire starter to ignite the fire. Instead, a charcoal stove was used. On the burning honeycomb coal, a light touch of the fuse would ignite it.
At this time, a target ship of 2,000 shi appeared. All the people on the ship evacuated in small boats, and the large ship slowly approached the target ship.
"You can fire freely!" At the commander's command, everyone lit the tinder, and when the tinder burned to the red line, they shot arrows together. One gunpowder arrow after another was shot at the target ship. The gunpowder turned into a ball of fire in the air and landed on the target ship fifty steps away. Soon, the sails and ropes caught fire.
The combustion calorific value of gunpowder is very high, and each arrow can continue to burn for half a minute. In just a moment, the deck of the target ship began to burn and thick smoke rose.
At this time, Luo Shixin said to Xiao Xia: "Your Highness, I feel that rockets will be more effective in attacking the enemy camp, but not so effective against ships. I'm telling you the truth!"
Xiao Xia nodded. He understood Luo Shixin's feelings. The burning effect was still not enough. The key was that it was easily extinguished when it fell on the deck. However, it was useful for the sails. If the opponent's large ship was powered by sails, then it would have a certain effect and all the sails could be burned.
"Prepare to test the explosive fire mine!"
Following a shout from the commander, the soldiers pushed up three large crossbows. They were not catapults, but they could shoot stones horizontally. They were characterized by accuracy, but a short range, and could throw a twenty-pound stone sixty steps away.
The soldier lit the fuse, and at a command, three porcelain fire mines were fired at the same time, landing accurately on the opposite ship and exploding with a bang, blowing a hole in the deck and sending iron nails flying everywhere.
Five rounds of fifteen porcelain mines were fired in succession, leaving the deck riddled with holes, but the ship did not sink.
The point of the surface test was to sink the ship, but neither the rocket nor the fire mine could do that, making the test a failure.
But Luo Shixin and the others' eyes lit up. They all thought of the effect of fire bombs falling on the enemy troops attacking the city, with poisoned iron nails flying everywhere. The killing effect was much more powerful than arrows.
Wang Pu and Shao Fa, the master of firearms, stepped forward, and Shao Fa said in shame, "Your Highness, our fire mines are still not effective in naval battles."
"Is Iron Fire Thunder still not working?"
Shao Fa said ashamedly: "I and the craftsmen have tried countless times, but it still can't explode. I don't know if it's because of the iron shell or the gunpowder!"
Xiao Xia thought for a moment and said to him, "Add more sulfur to the formula and use less charcoal. I guess cotton wool is also charcoal. If you add charcoal, you will have two parts of charcoal. Too much charcoal will weaken the explosive power. Use only cotton wool, dry it and grind it into powder. Eliminate the charcoal and add more sulfur, 70% saltpeter, 2.5% sulfur, and 1/2% cotton wool powder. Add more charcoal when forging the iron shell. This way it will be more brittle and easy to break. Try a few more times!"
"I'll remember this!"
Shao Fafa bowed and suddenly remembered something, "Your Highness, if we grind the green vitriol into powder, will it be effective?"
Xiao Xia was startled. Green vitriol is iron sulfate! It is used to treat skin diseases. Xiao Xia asked curiously, "Where does the green vitriol come from?"
"The supplies that Yongjia County brought back last time included a large amount of white alum and green alum."
How could Yongjia County have so much alum? Xiao Xia pondered for a moment and suddenly remembered, isn't Wenzhou the alum capital of the world?
Iron sulfate, sulfuric acid! Xiao Xia's eyes lit up, and he seemed to have thought of something.
(End of this chapter)