Hand grenades have a long history, hundreds of years ago, both the East and the West have attached great importance to it, many countries' elite troops are equipped with grenades, and specially trained grenadiers to throw grenades, however, in recent decades, with the rapid development of guns and the reduction of castle offensive and defensive battles, grenades have almost withdrawn from people's field of vision, no one pays attention. Pen "Fun" Pavilion www.biquge.info

After all, the throwing distance of a grenade is too short, under normal circumstances, it is only thirty or forty meters, and those who can throw fifty meters are already masters, not to mention the Mini gun, even the effective range of the rifle is often 100 meters and 200 meters, who will pay attention to grenades?

However, Yuanqi's military factory has a soft spot for grenades at the insistence of Yi Zhi, and the research and development of hand grenades has not stopped over the years, and no one knows better than Yi Zhixiang how big the role of hand grenades is on the battlefield, how widespread it is, how strong its lethality is, and with the rise of trenches, hand grenades will inevitably be widely used.

After the gunfire stopped, Tang Renhui asked people to open the boxes one by one, and Yi Zhizhi found that there were not only grenades, but also artillery shells, shells with tail fins - mortar shells, he was overjoyed, the mortar drum came out? Immediately stooping down to pick up a mortar shell and look at it carefully.

"With smokeless gunpowder and touch fuses, the biggest problem of mortars has finally been solved." Tang Renhui explained with a smile: "I heard that the big shopkeeper is coming, and they all hope that the big shopkeeper can observe the test firing situation, in order to further improve the ....... ”

When the two were talking, someone had already assembled three mortars with hands and feet, the gun body was cast steel, there was no rifling, it was a smoothbore gun, after all, the shell had to be loaded from the muzzle, and the smoothbore gun was conducive to loading, Yi Zhishu glanced at it and retracted his gaze, the mortar was designed by him, and it was the shells that restricted the mortar, not the mortar itself.

Easy to be contented with the interest was immediately raised, mortar infantry standard fire support weapons, can be called an indispensable weapon for the army, this thing is easy to load, high rate of fire, fierce firepower, good killing effect, and light weight, small size, strong mobility, can be carried on the back of a horse, hit and run, can quickly transfer the position, moreover, the mortar structure is simple, easy to operate, easy to mass production and equipment troops.

He immediately ordered: "After the rifle fire, test the mortar." ”

A series of explosions sounded one after another, and Yi Zhizhi and his party hid in a safe fortress and watched the test firing of the mortar with a telescope, and he focused on observing the firing of the mortar.

Although he knows the importance of mortars, he has never used this thing, at most he has browsed some pictures on the website, and some related introduction articles, not like pistols and rifles, which are really hands-on, and even disassembled, for mortars, he can only put forward rough ideas and designs, as for the details, it is up to them to explore.

As soon as the sound of the cannon stopped, Yi Zhixin said slowly: "The cannon body beats hard, the recoil is obvious, and the cushioning effect of the cannon hoop is not good, which directly affects the accuracy of the shelling, and the rate of fire is also slow, and only five rounds ....... are fired in one minute." ”

"The big shopkeeper." A middle-aged man in his forties said: "Steel is not good, and the barrel of the gun cannot withstand the high frequency of shelling...... ”

It's steel again, Yi Zhizhi was speechless for a while, indeed, the strength of the barrel steel is not enough, and the high-frequency shelling speed may directly lead to the explosion of the chamber and walk out of the fortress, some data was quickly reported, the firing range is 1,200 meters, the rate of fire is five rounds per minute, the net weight of the gun body is eighty catties, and the length of the tube is ......

Yi Zhishu pondered for a while before he said: "The effective range of the Type 1851 Mini gun equipped by the British army is only forty or fifty hundred meters, and the mortar is used as a fire suppression, so it is not necessary to have such a long distance for the time being, seven or eight hundred meters is enough, can the charge be reduced to reduce the barrel pressure and the recoil of the upper gun body?" ”

Actively reduce the power of mortars? A group of R&D personnel were a little surprised, and some couldn't help but say: "Big shopkeeper, the buffering effect is not good, and the strength of the gun barrel is not enough, so we should think of ways to improve ........" ”

Tang Renhui heard a little taste, and hurriedly interrupted the other party's words, "Does the big shopkeeper want to equip the troops with mortars as soon as possible?" ”

Yi Zhixiang glanced at him, "The advantage of the mortar is that it is flexible and flexible, eighty catties is too heavy, can the barrel of the gun be changed to a bronze .......?" ”

"No way!" A R&D person denied it without thinking about it, "Mountain howitzers can use bronze barrels, mortars can't!" The rate of fire of the mortar is high, even if the charge is reduced, the barrel must be cast steel, and the bronze barrel cannot withstand the continuous shelling of high frequencies, and is easy to heat and deform. ”

Hearing this, Yi Zhishu lost interest at all, it seems that it is impossible for mortars to equip troops in the short term! Bai Huan was overjoyed and groaned slightly, before he said: "First solve the buffer of the cannon hoop and minimize the recoil during shelling, otherwise, it will not only affect the shooting accuracy, but also the shooting speed." ”

Yi Zhizhi had his own independent courtyard in the ordnance factory, he did not return to Shanghai, and lived in the independent courtyard, he dared to let Seng Lingqin lead the army to annex the Gurkha, Zhemengxiong, Brookpa, and even recover Ladakh, curb the British ambitions for Tibet, dare to drive the Taiping army into Burma, and suppress the British expansion of Southeast Asia from both directions, the confidence lies in the overwhelming weapon of Yuanqi!

However, when he realized that Britain and France might join forces with Spain, the Netherlands, and Russia, he was still a little apprehensive in his heart, even if he could keep the Citi country neutral through diplomacy, even if Russia was greatly damaged in Crimea and could not afford to send troops, and there was also a coalition of Britain, France, Spain, and the Netherlands.

Although the Baoshan rifle and the fixed metal-shelled bullet can completely crush the British army's 1851 mini-gun, once the difference in strength is huge, he does not have the slightest certainty, there is no sea dominance, the coalition forces can rely on the mobility advantage of the fleet, can concentrate superior forces, and choose the battlefield as they like.

First Raven. This is not what the British did, the Qing army that could fight with 20,000 troops had no power to fight back, besides, after being fooled once, the British would never be fooled into the river again, he was sure that the main battlefield would definitely not be the southeast coast, but Luzon and Java!

Nowadays, who does not know that Yuanqi has invested a huge amount of manpower, material and financial resources in the two provinces of Nanyang, and who does not know that the two provinces of Nanyang are now important rubber producing areas in the world!

If the troops were able to install a large number of mortars, the chances of winning this battle would be much higher, and now they are stuck in steel! He was really unwilling.

After dinner, Yi Zhishu left Tang Renhui behind, lit a cigarette, and said straightforwardly: "It is possible that this year, or next year, the Qing Dynasty will face a large-scale foreign invasion ........" ”

Tang Renhui had faintly expected it before, listening to this, he couldn't help but be overjoyed, the outbreak of war is definitely a great thing for the ordnance factory, although Yi Zhizhi has always attached great importance to the ordnance factory, but if war breaks out, it will be more important!

He hurriedly said tentatively: "The big shopkeeper is going to expand the scale of the ordnance factory?" ”

Yi Zhishu said slowly: "The whole metal bullet must be put into production as soon as possible, and the monthly output must reach at least 50,000 rounds, and preferably 100,000 rounds." ”

"It's not a difficult thing, it's just to increase the number of machines and manpower." Tang Renhui said: "However, once the manpower is increased too much, the possibility of leakage will also increase, in addition, the bullet head and the raw material of the bullet case are brass, one copper consumption is very large, and the other is very costly. ”

Hearing this, Yi Zhizhi smiled, "Those R&D personnel didn't tell you?" Lead warheads are easy to hang lead residue on the rifling, and they are also easy to disintegrate under high bore pressure, so copper will not, and copper is also corrosion-resistant and not easy to rust. However, lead bullet also has advantages, you can consider copper-clad lead, as for copper, there are enough stored in recent years, although used. ”

He said the atmosphere, Yuan Qi has indeed stored a lot of copper materials through commerce and trade over the years, Yunnan copper, Japanese copper, Chilean copper in the Americas, Luzon in Nanyang, Java South copper, he is not worried about the consumption of copper at all, the reason why he advocates the use of copper to clad lead in warheads, one is to reduce costs, and the other is because lead is heavier than copper, softer than copper, and more lethal.

After a pause, he continued: "Secrecy ......, once the war breaks out, it cannot be kept secret at all, but at least until the middle and late stages of the war, the workers involved in the manufacture of firearms and bullets are temporarily closed management and are not allowed to leave the factory." ”

Although the bullet is small, the process is complex, the process is many, and the scale of production is expanded, with a monthly output of 50,000 to 100,000 rounds, and at least hundreds of workers are needed, and they are not allowed to leave the factory, which is really not a small pressure, but Tang Renhui is very clear that the research and development of the whole metal bullet has spent a lot of effort, so he immediately nodded and said: "Don't worry, the big shopkeeper must be properly arranged to ensure that there will be no leaks." ”

Yi Zhizhi nodded and said: "Mortars will also need to be installed in large quantities in the future, although they are not perfect yet, but they must be prepared, once the supply of steel is sufficient, they must be able to produce in large quantities at any time, in addition, grenades are also at full power and full production." ”

The next morning, Yi Zhizu was visiting the bullet production process and process in the bullet production workshop, and Tang Renhui hurried over and reported softly: "Secretary Lin said that there is something important and he is anxious to see you." ”

It is obviously a matter of urgency to let Lin Meilian come from Shanghai, and it will not be a trivial matter, Yi Zhixiang hurriedly walked out of the workshop and out of the gate, only to find that Yan Shikuan was also here, and his face was excited, obviously what a good thing is, he couldn't help but smile, "What a good thing, it is worth chasing after Baoshan?" ”

"Somebody came back from New York with a piece of good news......." Yan Shikuan walked out as he spoke, and when Yi Zhizhi came up with him, he lowered his voice and said, "It's about steelmaking........" ”

Steelmaking! Yi Zhizhi raised his eyebrows, this is really if he wants to doze off, someone will send a pillow, he has been worried about not being able to break through the bottleneck of steelmaking technology during this time, and someone actually brought back steelmaking technology from the United States, which simply made him overjoyed!

He hurriedly asked, "What about people?" ”

"Outside the gate, you can't get in."

Yi Zhizhi was anxious, so he ran straight to the gate, and when he came out of the gate of the ordnance factory, a middle-aged man in his early thirties wearing a long shirt and cutting a flat head quickly greeted him, bowed down and said, "My subordinates have seen the big shopkeeper." ”

Yi Zhizu glanced at him and said, "The shopkeeper of the New York branch of Yuanqi Bank? ”

"Yes, below is the fourth shopkeeper of the New York branch, Li Yunzhi."

There was a duty room at the gate of the ordnance factory, and Yi Zhizhi was not polite, so he went straight into the duty room and drove the people inside, and Li Yunzhi followed up before he said: "Tell me in detail." ”

Yuanqi New York Branch is not only responsible for expanding banking business in Citigroup, but also responsible for collecting intelligence and mining talents, of course, these things can only be carried out secretly, Yuanqi has always attached great importance to steelmaking technology, and the New York Branch has not been less in contact with Citigroup's large and small ironworks, steel mills, and ironworks, and secretly offered a high reward of 10,000 silver dollars for breakthrough steelmaking technology.

After briefly explaining the situation, Li Yunzhi continued: "At the end of last year, someone took the initiative to contact us, saying that he had mastered a breakthrough steelmaking technology and wanted to take our bounty. ”

It's that simple? Yi Zhixiang couldn't believe it, he didn't know anything about steelmaking, Li Yunzhi continued: "We paid five thousand silver dollars first, and once it is confirmed that it is indeed feasible, we will pay the balance." ”

Five thousand silver dollars in one sentence? Yan Shikuan listened, "Aren't you afraid of being deceived?" ”

"That man was originally the owner of an ironworks, lost his gambling, owed a large gambling debt, and was still a loan shark ......."

Before he finished speaking, Yi Zhizhi felt that there was a play, and immediately got up and said, "Let's go, go to Wusong Iron and Steel Factory to try." ”

When the R&D personnel of Wusong Iron and Steel Plant, who specializes in steelmaking technology, heard the method brought by Li Yunzhi, they all shook their heads like rattles, and a technician from Citigroup led by him said in an affirmative tone: "Impossible!" Without fuel, just wind, the molten iron will soon solidify, let alone be made into steel! ”

Hearing this, Li Yunzhi's face was a little ugly, Yi Zhizhi glanced at him, and said, "There are more than ten large and small blast furnaces in the steel plant, find the smallest blast furnace to try." ”

Seeing that Yi Zhizhi insisted, the personnel of the R&D Institute did not use any blast furnace, and directly used a crucible to melt the pig iron into molten iron, and then went to the fire, and used a blower to blow the molten iron, the situation was beyond everyone's expectations, the molten iron not only did not solidify, but reacted very violently, rising smoke, and the temperature also increased significantly, which lasted for more than a quarter of an hour before calming down, and a layer of impurities floated on the molten iron.

Seeing this situation, everyone was dumbfounded, not waiting for the molten iron to solidify, just looking at the impurities floating on it, the experienced R&D institute personnel were excited, kept communicating, waiting for the molten iron to solidify, as soon as the test was tested, the R&D institute immediately erupted into a burst of cheers.