Section 62 grenades

However, even a simplified version of the wooden-handled grenade needs a modern chemical industry as a basis in terms of raw materials. Therefore, despite the simplicity of the manufacturing process, the personnel of the weapons design team did not put it into production, but waited until the chemical industry began to take shape and the three acids and two bases were put into production.

A number of different chemicals are required to make grenades.

Black powder is used as explosive, thundermercury is used as a detonator initiator, potassium chlorate is used as pulling gunpowder, and red phosphorus is used as a friction agent.

Black powder and mine mercury were the first to be solved in the chemical sector. Red phosphorus was quickly solved after obtaining the supply of struvite from Dongsha Island - the matches produced by the Ministry of Light Industry were based on the solution of red phosphorus.

What Zuihou has to solve is potassium chlorate.

Potassium chlorate itself can be used as an explosive after mixing with organic matter, and it is very widely used in the Great Leap Forward, but this explosive is extremely unstable, easily combusted, and has limited military use. The Ministry of Chemical Industry wants to put into production this kind of thing, in addition to solving the explosives of grenades, there are also uses to solve civilian explosives.

Potassium chlorate is not difficult to manufacture, provided that there is sufficient power supply and chemicals capable of removing other ions from the crystallized mother liquor. It is similar to the production of caustic soda from electrolyzed table salt, which is produced by electrolytic salt solution. However, the electrolytic solution used for potassium chlorate is an acidic solution. It is necessary to mix hydrochloric acid and red alum in advance. After electrolysis, the mother liquor also needs to be mixed with soda ash, caustic soda, hydrochloric acid and other chemicals to neutralize and eliminate various impurities in order to crystallize potassium chlorate.

Because potassium chlorate itself is a sensitive chemical. Ji Huisi, who presided over the project, set up the workshop on an open ground that was not close on all sides. Wood structures are not used inside the plant - potassium chlorate can easily interact with organic matter such as wood and spontaneously combust. The current plant and equipment have improved a lot compared with the electrolytic salt manufacturing caustic soda, and there is no longer much "earthy" taste. Specialized equipment manufactured by various mechanical departments is gradually replacing substitutes that come in to make do.

The annual production capacity of the potassium chlorate plant, designed and built according to ready-made drawings, is 175 tons. After completion, it can not only meet the needs of the military industry, but also meet some civilian needs. Although it is not a problem to expand the current production capacity of potassium chlorate to 300 tons, or even 500 tons, Ji Huisi and Xu Yingjie feel that there is no need for this, and in terms of explosives, the next step is to march to the more powerful picric acid and TNT, and potassium chlorate is still used as a pulling gunpowder.

With potassium chlorate, military factories will be able to manufacture fire pipes in batches. With the firing tube, the soldiers no longer have to wrap a fire arquebus around their bodies when using grenades and explosives, and the artillerymen no longer have to carry an ignition rod to fight. Originally, the army had a great deal of complaints about the equipment of the grenadiers, because whether it was the crude grenades they carried on their backs or the slowly burning fire ropes, there was a great sense of insecurity - in fact, there were many accidents in the training of grenadiers. So much so that not the most daring soldier could not be a grenadier.

The fire pipe of the Lingao version is made of locally produced thin bamboo pipes, which are truncated according to a certain size, and a section should be with knots. The bamboo tube is dried after punching holes in the knots. Then it is equipped with a fire wire and a fire cap. The fire cap is made of cardboard, filled with gunpowder, and rubbed on the firing wire. In addition to potassium chlorate, gunpowder should be mixed with other materials in proportion. Lin Shenhe chose and glass powder. Both of these things can now be made through the Syndicate. As for friction medicine, it is made with a certain proportion of red phosphorus mixed with glass powder.

Install a fire pull handle at the top of the fire wire, and the whole fire pull tube is completed. The first batch of 50 fire tubes was tested one by one. None of them failed, and all of them ignited the fuse.

"There won't be much of a problem with this thing itself, it depends on the quality of the fuse. If it burns fast and slowly, it won't work. Panda said, "In the past, the fuses of explosives and grenades were exposed, and they burned fast and slowly. Now it is hidden in the wooden handle and cannot be seen at all. ”

"The quality problem of the fuse has long been solved." Xu Yingjie said, "Didn't you feel it when you did the blasting? ”

Panda smiled hesitantly, "Let's be honest." Your fuse is still problematic with quality control. It's not too perfect. ”

Jiang Ye was in charge of the manufacture of grenades. In order to simplify the process and save steel, the body of the grenade uses a cast iron casing. Prefabricated fragments are cast on the casing. Each cartridge case could hold approximately grams of black powder. It is also possible to reload other explosives, leaving room for upgrades.

The charge of this black powder can only be regarded as a "small offensive grenade" in modern warfare, but the explosive effect of throwing such an iron guy in ancient times is appalling enough.

The handles were made of ordinary miscellaneous wood - birch was theoretically best, but the traverser had very little of this wood in his hands, so he used other fine-grained wood instead. Hailin of the carpentry factory first asked the workers to cut the dried wood into round wooden rods with a diameter of * cm and a length of * cm, and then turned them into a bullet handle on a foot-operated carpentry lathe, and then drilled out the fuse with an auger.

Zuihou is a process in which the handle is steamed with paraffin, and this process is to prevent moisture from returning. Once the handle is rewetted, the fuse will fail, and the grenade will be useless.

"In the long run, a wooden-handled grenade is not the direction. The production process is complex, the weight is large, and the charge is small. After our pyrotechnic equipment and machining capabilities have reached the next level, it is better to switch to oval grenades. Lin Shenhe looked at the first batch of bullet handles from the woodworking factory and the shells from the foundry.

"Is this reload still black powder?" Jiang Ye asked.

"Yes, the Black Powder Grenade eliminates the need to reload the detonator. It can be detonated directly with a fire puller. Besides, we don't have the right safety explosives available. Lin Shenhe was a little regretful. The same shell can be loaded with TNT or even ammonium nitrate, and the killing effect is much better.

He casually inspected a few shells: the shells were cast with a well-proportioned thickness, and even the three screw holes at the lower end of the shells were beautifully made. couldn't help but praise:

"You made this shell beautiful?"

"Hehe, it's an old caster who made it. How's the craftsmanship? Jiang Ye said, "This kind of old handicraft craftsman has super hard work, plus our modern craftsmanship and equipment." It's a blessing for them. ”

"It's nice to be so beautiful when it's mass-produced. This is a consumable. One infantry with two would make eight thousand. ”

"Zhan Wuya is thinking about how to design a production line for shell casting, and it will not be a problem to produce 10,000 shells a month at that time."

"Now I'll reload the projectile, and you take a closer look." Lin Shenhe said to the personnel of the weapon design and industrial department who were present, "I have loaded old black powder shells in the United States......

"It's not the same thing." When Bai Yu heard this, he hurriedly came out to stop him, "It's better for me to come." I at least know how to pretend. ”

"I know what the book is about. But you certainly haven't refilled black powder yourself. ”

Lin Shenhe pulled the rope on the wall three times in a row. The indigenous attendants outside immediately rang a rapid gong, and then hung three red lanterns outside the weapons design lab - a warning that they were in a "very dangerous" state.

Everyone else in the house took refuge in the blast room next door. There are observations on the walls inlaid with thick tempered glass.

"All safe?"

"Security"

"I'm starting" Lin Shenhe took a deep breath and walked slowly to the table - in fact, this work was not very dangerous, but he had developed an attitude of treating all explosives and pyrotechnics with caution. These things could kill you at any time.

A cast-iron bullet case has been secured to a wooden table. Lin Shenhe opened a package of black powder wrapped in wax paper and poured it into a copper plate. He then used a wooden spoon to slowly load the fine-grained black powder into the cartridge case through a paper funnel, and tamped it with a wooden stick as he went.

Zuihou, he used a wooden stick to press out of the detonator chamber in the middle. Then he connected the rope and the pipe. Pick up a bullet handle and load the fire-pulling device into the handle, one section leads out the fire-pulling rope, and the other section exposes a fire-pulling pipe.

In order to fix the firearm in the handle, Lin Shenhe stuffed pieces of paper into the gap. The melted asphalt is then injected with a small spoon. After cooling, the handle is complete.

Zuihou, he mounted the cartridge case on a screw press with a steel screen, and slowly pressed the handle into the cartridge case. The two are then fastened with three screws.

zuihou, he applied a layer of asphalt to the joints.

"OK, that's it." Lin Shenhe finally sighed and said.

At the time of formal production, it is also pasted with moisture-proof wax paper, and then screwed on the grenade cover. Now it's a pure shiyan product, and these don't need it.

"It's too slow to assemble...... Jiang Ye said.

"When the bullet handle is actually produced, of course, it has to be manufactured in a separate workshop." Bai Yu said, "Only when the finished product is assembled, can it be put together." Once you are proficient, the speed of assembly will not be slow. ”

"How's the kill?"

"Very poor." Lin Shenhe said, "A grenade made of this size, even if it is loaded with TNT, can only be regarded as an offensive grenade in the eyes of the US military, and the TNT charge of the M26A1 is three times that of it." At the beginning, the U.S. troops on the Korean battlefield simply called the wooden-handled grenade a shock grenade. Now we have black powder, needless to say. ”

At the moment the grenade was transported to the shooting range, and a grenadier squad was already on standby here under the leadership of You Tiger.

Lin Shenhe first detonated a few grenades randomly in situ and tested the delay speed: the delay speed of this grenade is about 4~5 seconds. Then, the test of live ammunition throwing began.

Although the grenadiers were never armed with wooden-handled grenades, it was not uncommon for them to be thrown with trainer rounds. So you don't need to start retraining and just start throwing live ammunition.

In order to fully demonstrate to them the difference of this new weapon, You Tiger first threw two. Both detonated accurately. Then, they switched to grenadiers, and each person threw five copies.

Fifty-one of the sixty pre-produced grenades detonated, nine failed. The success rate is quite high. The average grenadier can throw a grenade up to 60 meters away in a standing position. This distance was almost already the effective range of the arquebus.

The thought of the enemy's arquebusiers being hit by countless grenades as soon as they reached the effective range was about to collapse on either way.

It's a bit lackluster in terms of lethal power, with an effective killing distance of less than 10 meters. Moreover, the degree of fragmentation of cast iron shells is not ideal - the explosive power of black powder is still too weak.

"It's already good. At least it became a fragment, and it didn't blow up in half. Bai Yu said, "The level of our military industry is much stronger than that of the old military industry in the base area." Moreover, the enemy attacks on foot in a dense formation, and the killing effect is not too bad. ”

This grenade was put into full-scale production under the number of the Type 5. The training team began grenade throwing training for all army officers and grenadiers of the infantry battalions. For the time being, grenades are only equipped with grenadiers, and when the batch is large, it will be equipped with the entire army.

Lin Shenhe immediately asked people to make a batch of paper fire tubes, which were prepared for artillery.

"With this, the artillery will not be able to use the arquebus and the ignition rod." Lin Shenhe told Zhang Bolin, "Directly plug the fire hose into the ignition hole, connect the fire rope and pull it." ”

This is not a big improvement, but it is a small improvement. But Lin Shenhe's mission is not over yet. He will also be responsible for a comprehensive inspection and improvement of the Army's field artillery units - particularly in the area of ammunition.

Because the war was imminent, He Ming had already ordered the immediate transfer of some personnel and equipment of the artillery training team to build three new field artillery companies to cooperate with the infantry in combat. Two of them were a 12-pounder cannon battery and one was a 24-pounder howitzer battery.

The artillery training team was organized in accordance with the US military establishment during the Civil War in accordance with Lin Shenhe's suggestion. The Army's original four standard guns have also been reduced to three. The 6-pounder M1841 gun was quickly eliminated in practical training. The artillerymen found that the M1841 had a maximum range of only 1,400 meters, weighed two-thirds of the weight of the M1857, and fired shells that weighed only half as much.

Such a cost-effective weapon is not welcome in the standardization and economy of the crossing group. Army artillery soon all M1841 was eliminated. Now the M1857 12-pounder cannon has become the absolute main equipment of artillery.

Half of the personnel of the three newly formed artillery companies were drawn from the artillery training team and half from the infantry.

In terms of the artillery capacity of the crossing group, it was not a problem to equip 20 artillery batteries, but the number of horses and trained gunners was insufficient, and not only three companies were formed, but each company also had only four guns - normally six guns.

Each company was divided into three platoons. Two of the platoons are artillery platoons, and each platoon consists of a third platoon called a "transport platoon", which is also known as a "substitute for livestock and pawns". The third platoon was a large platoon of more than 100 men, all made up of infantry, which was used to draw artillery on the march. In battle, it can be used as a cover force for the artillery company, and can also be used to help the artillery reset and move, and can also be used as an ammunition hand when necessary.

According to the Union Army establishment during the Civil War, each artillery company had to have at least 110 horses, and now it is replaced by 100 soldiers. Even if all the staff are equipped with purple electric trolleys, the carrying capacity of one trolley is always limited. Zhang Bolin said: If there were no horses to transport ammunition, the number of "substitute cattle losers" in the artillery company would have to be increased by 200.

Fortunately, there are mechanized means of transport for the crossing group. Since this is a "national war", I will no longer be stingy with motorcycle hours. The Planning Institute temporarily reinforced each artillery company with two four-wheel drive agricultural vehicles to carry the heaviest ammunition -- 200 rounds per gun, according to the Union Army's strength during the Civil War.

Agricultural vehicles plus manpower-towed Napoleonic guns, this is the strange equipment of the field artillery battery of the Fubo army.

The 12-pounder Napoleon gun of the field artillery battery has undergone partial refinement by the Ministry of Machine Industry. Originally, Jiang Ye and others wanted to install a simple re-entry device -- for the gunners who had withdrawn their guns, the reset and re-aiming of the guns after firing were very physically demanding. However, Shiyan found that the limitations of the materials were too great. So Jiang Ye and the others had no choice but to retreat and increase the direction machine.

There were only simple pitching devices on the Napoleonic guns, and there were no directional adjustment devices. The need to change the direction of fire can only be solved by moving the gun mount. This is definitely not an easy job for a gun weighing almost half a ton. If there is a steering machine, even if it can only be adjusted at a small angle, it will have a great advantage in actual combat.

This improvement was finally successful after a series of shiyans, at the cost of an increase in the weight of the gun. In order to reduce the weight of the whole gun. Jiang Ye cooperated with Li Chiqi and Jiang Muzhi of the vehicle factory to develop a new gun carriage.

"I don't think we need to be too retro, we use all wooden frames - the strength of the wood itself is limited, and the materials used to ensure the durability of the gun carriage must be heavy. I remember deliberately using dense hardwoods. Jiang Muzhi studied the artillery mount for a long time, "How about switching to an all-metal artillery mount?" This can lead to significant weight loss. ”

"Wooden wheels are still used?"

"For the time being, we're going to use wooden wheels -- we don't have rubber. However, the axle is fitted with ball bearings. Now even the trolleys use ball bearings, and there is no reason why our gun trucks should not use them. Jiang Muzhi said, "In this way, the gun carriage is much easier to tow. ”

After the improvement of materials, the gun carriage, even with the addition of the direction machine, the full weight of the entire gun was controlled within half a ton.

The 12-pounder cannon with the new gun mount was then subjected to range testing - which proved to be effective for the steering machine, but the steering machine lacked a directional locking mechanism, which would deflect the body barrel under recoil when firing. This was followed by a 50-kilometer march test. The new turret performed better than the old turret in terms of agility and towing performance, but the inferior ball bearings caused several repairs.