281 wants to make glasses

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"I understand all this, and at the moment I still have some bronze utensils in my hand, which can be melted down and used to make copper cannons first.

However, I think it is safe to start with the three-pounder gun.

Tell me first, how far is the range of the three-pounder gun you cast, and what is the weight of the barrel? ”

Li Zixiao continued to ask.

"The bronze tools collected by the general are not necessarily usable, and the bronze used for casting cannons is bronze, and the proportion of copper and tin is required.

If you cast a three-pound cannon, use bronze to cast the cannon, and the cannon body is important to have 600 to 700 pounds, and if you change the weight, it should be about 400 to 500 catties.

The solid shells of the three-pounder cannon I cast can reach an effective range of 400 meters, and can reach a distance of 1,500 meters.

Of course, if you hit so far, there is no power at all, and of course you basically lose your accuracy.

If you use a scattershot, you can reach about 300 meters. ”

Li Ke pondered and replied to Li Zixiao.

After Li Zixiao listened to it, after a little conversion, he came to the conclusion that the range of this three-pounder copper cannon should be about 250 steps, and the scattered bullets can also hit about 250 steps.

In this way, the range of this kind of firing is far more than the Furlong cannons and tiger squat cannons that he is currently using in his hands.

Then Li Zixiao continued: "I understand all of this when you say this, all kinds of messy copper utensils must have different copper and tin contents, and there may even be lead.

You don't have to worry about this, I will arrange for someone to re-smelt those bronze artifacts to meet the requirements of casting cannons, and it will not affect your cannons.

A three-pounder gun weighs 500 pounds, which is acceptable, and if it can reach what you said, the effective range is at a distance of 400 meters, which is already very good.

Then you start with the three-pounder cannon, then the four-pounder cannon, and finally increase to the eight-pounder cannon, and we go from easy to difficult, step by step, so that it is safer. ”

"Okay, as long as the workshop provided by the general, after the craftsmen are in place, they can start work at any time."

Li Ke nodded excitedly and agreed.

Since Li Zixiao has provided him with enough manpower and material resources here, he can show his skills to the fullest and let Li Zixiao see his value.

At the same time, Li Ke also heard that Li Zixiao was really not a layman, and he actually knew a lot about casting cannons, so he didn't dare to fool Li Zixiao.

"I'll send you to another cottage of our White Dragon Army tomorrow, where my main firearms production workshop is located, and you will cast cannons there.

There is everything you need, raw materials, workshops, artisans etc. ”

Li Zixiao is an activist, he does what he says, never delays, and he urgently needs to enhance the long-range firepower of the White Dragon Army.

There is a big event this year, and Li Zixiao still wants to mix it up, so he will need more artillery.

"Obey the general's orders." Li Ke said seriously.

"Okay, you go down and rest, let's set off early tomorrow morning," Li Zixiao instructed Li Ke.

"Yes, General, retired."

Li Ke bowed to Li Zixiao again, and then turned to leave.

"Wait, this sword is back to you, this is yours."

Li Zixiao stopped Li Ke, who was about to leave, picked up the sword on the table and threw it to him.

As soon as Li Ke caught his saber, he was immediately overjoyed.

This sword was handed down by Li Ke's father, and Li Zixiao returned the sword to him, which made him extremely happy, and once again gave Li Zixiao a deep salute before leaving excitedly.

On the second day of the Lunar New Year in the eleventh year of Chongzhen (1638), he took Liu Chong's trap camp and pulled a batch of supplies sent to Baihu Village.

In addition, there are several carts of various bronze utensils, which are also sent to Baihu Village, and these useless bronzes are melted away for cannon casting.

Li Ke was also on the school field early, waiting for Li Zixiao's departure.

He had changed into a clean White Dragon Army uniform, and wore his Western-style saber around his waist, which was somewhat nondescript, which made people a little ridiculous after watching it.

But Li Ke didn't think so, he felt that his new outfit was very good, and he already saw himself as a member of the White Dragon Army at this time.

Standing on the side of the school field with his chest folded, watching the White Dragon Army's soldiers drill formation.

When Li Zixiao was ready to go, he passed by the school field and saw Li Ke watching intently, and the White Dragon Army was conducting a queue drill on the school field.

"What do you think of the appearance of our White Dragon Army?"

Li Zixiao would be happy to listen to the opinion of this former Western mercenary on his army.

After all, the main formation used by the White Dragon Army's infantry at this time was improved by relying on the Western infantry formation that he had seen on the Internet in his previous life.

Li Ke said to Li Zixiao with some surprise: "Is there still a Westerner like me in the general's army?" ”

After Li Zixiao paused for a moment, he immediately understood what he meant, and said with a smile: "No, you are the first foreign devil I have seen." ”

Li Ke scratched his head in surprise and said, "That's strange, the formation practiced by the general's soldiers is very similar to the formation used by our Western countries.

The infantry combat is based on pikemen, with musketeers as an important means of attack, but with some shield hands, similar to our shield swordsmen.

In addition, in the arrangement of the formation and the conversion of the queue, it is very similar to the array that is commonly used by the armies of our Western countries.

This is the first time I've seen an army use this kind of formation.

I thought that under the general, there were Westerners like me who provided guidance to the general, and if not, I can only say that the general was a military genius. ”

"Go on."

When Li Zixiao heard this, Li Ke really still had some real material in his stomach, so he continued to ask Li Ke.

"The discipline of the general's soldiers is very good, and the generals are very obedient to orders, and they are the best of all the troops I have seen in your country."

When Li Ke said this, he couldn't help but think in his heart: Your other armies of the Ming Dynasty are no different from bandits at all.

The expression on Li Ke's face betrayed his inner thoughts, but Li Zixiao didn't delve into it.

Because he also knew that at this time, the guards everywhere in the Ming Dynasty had been completely rotten.

"In the past few years, I have seen many troops in your country, and to be honest, they are undisciplined, and sometimes they burn and loot, which is worse than bandits.

If the general faces the other armies of your country with the same strength, with the general's current army, he can already be invincible. ”

After Li Zixiao listened to Li Ke's words, he looked at the expression on his face and smiled slightly, knowing that this guy must have suffered from some soldiers.

"Our Ming Dynasty is now in an era of turmoil, and the imperial court guards are also overwhelmed and have long been decayed, but not all Ming armies are as unbearable as you have seen.

At this time, we still have a few elite divisions in the Ming Dynasty, but unfortunately only those elite troops are not enough to save the Ming Dynasty! ”

Li Zixiao shook his head and said with a wry smile.

"You go on."

"Yes, General. The general's formations are also different from our Western armies.

The number of musketeers in the general's army is too small, and the number of musketeers in our army is basically about half of the strength.

Among the general's soldiers, there were less than 20% of the musketeers, so the true power of the musketeers could not be brought into full play.

Also, the General's use of the Musketeers is different, and we concentrate the Musketeers in the four corners of the formation.

In this way, it will not affect the change of formation, and the enemy will be subjected to the fire of the musketeers from any direction.

The so-called 'three-stage strike' formation used by the general, although it is a frontal attack, is indeed extremely sharp.

I estimate that on the frontal side, it will be very difficult for anyone to break through the general's 'three-stage attack', unless there is a huge disparity in the strength of the two sides, and the other side fills it with human lives.

But in the same way, this formation of musketeers of the general also has great drawbacks.

If you are attacked from the flank, you will not have time to change your formation, and the flanks will be scattered by the enemy, and the general's phalanx will quickly collapse.

Of course, this also has to do with the fact that the number of musketeers in the general's army is too small to have a sufficient number of musketeers in all four corners of the formation, as we do. ”

Li Ke pointed to the generals who were in the school field and were practicing in the queue, and said to Li Zixiao.

Li Zixiao did absorb some knowledge of the infantry phalanx in the West, but in terms of details, he improved it according to the actual situation in China.

For a long time, he basically crossed the river by feeling the stones, and although he won many battles, it was the bandits and the guards who won.

But it turned out that the battle formation used by the White Dragon Army at this time was still more suitable for them so far.

Li Zixiao also did not completely intend to copy the Western infantry formation, and it was not credible to copy it, but he believed that 'practice is the only criterion for testing truth'.

But Li Zixiao still attached great importance to Li Ke's comments and said: "Li Ke, what you said is good.

At present, there are indeed relatively few musketeers in our White Dragon Army, because at the moment we have just gained a firm foothold, the production of new bird guns is speeding up, and the training of bird guns is also accelerating.

I believe that in a few months, I will have more bird guns in my hands, and strive to make the number of bird guns in the army account for four or fifty percent. ”

"Alright, with all that said, they're all set, it's time for us to go."

Li Zixiao saw that Liu Chong had completed the preparations with the soldiers of the 'trapped camp' and was ready to go, and said to Li Ke.

Li Zixiao turned around and left, and Li Ke got on his horse to follow.

On the way to Baihu Village, the two had another conversation.

Li Ke found that Li Zixiao attached great importance to the application of artillery, and repeatedly mentioned the coordination of artillery, infantry and cavalry.

Li Zixiao believes that artillery must follow the infantry and even cavalry to act together, rather than just letting the artillery be fixed and bombarding the enemy.

And Li Ke is also a little rigid in terms of tactics, and his thinking can't keep up with Li Zixiao's thinking.

After all, he belonged to a low-level officer of a mercenary army, and his experience in tactics was not very rich, so when faced with Li Zixiao's leaping forward thinking, he was a little unable to keep up.

"Do you have telescopes in the armies of your Western countries now?"

On the way, Li Zixiao suddenly remembered a very important thing and asked Li Ke.

"Telescopes? What is that, I haven't heard of. Rick shook his head.

Li Zixiao thought about it carefully, the invention of the telescope was roughly the West in this era, and he couldn't remember exactly which year it was invented by whom.

But he can be sure that by this time in the West the sightglasses have appeared.

However, it should still be a new thing at this time, and it may not have been widely used in Europe yet.

Li Ke, a low-level officer who used to be a mercenary, has a low status, and it is estimated that he will not see such advanced things, which is a very normal thing.

During this time, Li Zixiao has been thinking about building a telescope.

If you want to make a telescope, the most important thing is to solve the problem of the lens.

Glass was the material used to make telescopes in later generations, but now he has no place to make such things.

Even Western glass is estimated to have not appeared at this time, and Huaxia can only be called glass, I am afraid that only colored glass.

And the glass is a kind of thing, in general, it will have color, and the manufacturing process is only known to the royal craftsmen.

If you want to solve the problem of glass, I am afraid it is not easy.

It's a pity that Li Zixiao only knows the raw materials of glass, and how to make glass, he is also black-eyed.

If you arrange people to test the firing of glass, it will not take a year or two to make it, and I am afraid it will be difficult to succeed in manufacturing.

And if you want to reach the level of optical glass used in telescope lenses, I don't know when.

If the opponent can be discovered on the battlefield earlier than the enemy, then it can even play a very crucial role in the victory or defeat of the war.

Li Zixiao very much hoped to obtain a telescope so that he and his White Dragon Army could gain more advantages when fighting the enemy in the future.

It is impossible to make glass for lenses in a short period of time.

So what can be done to solve the problem of making materials for telescopes? Li Zixiao sat on the back of the horse and fell silent.

Suddenly, Li Zixiao suddenly thought of something, pulled the reins of the horse, stopped, and showed joy in his eyes.

Li Ke, who was riding a horse next to him, was also stunned when he saw Li Zixiao stop, and Quartz leaned over and asked, "General, what's wrong?" ”

"Quartz, you send someone back to the cottage Dong Xiang to ask, in our warehouse, there is no very transparent crystal, if there is, let him pick it out and keep it, I will be useful when I come back."

Then pass on my order, let the old master find some skilled jade masons, and then arrange for them to go to the cottage, and wait for me to come back to be useful. ”

Li Zixiao had already thought of a way at this time, and he had nowhere to get the glass now.

But there is one thing that can replace glass and make the lens of a telescope, and that is the crystal produced in nature.

This thing is not rare, there are many places in China that produce this thing, and rich families sometimes collect this thing, and there are many of them now.

So he planned to find a jade mason to purchase some crystal stones and polish them into lenses to make telescopes.

In this way, you can acquire the advanced 'weapon' of the telescope in a relatively short time.