————West of Wuhun City, Engineering Division Branch.
The Engineering Division branch is located in the western part of Wuhun City, a sparsely populated area with ample space, so there is no need to worry about gunpowder explosions endangering innocent people or destroying important buildings.
Inside the branch office, five men dressed in specially made uniforms stared at the blueprints in their hands, muttering to themselves.
"Tsk tsk tsk, this part is so ingenious..."
"Rifling, what is this...?"
"My precious baby..."
"Cannonballs..."
"..."
These five were the master craftsmen assigned to Murong Huai by Qian Daoliu. Initially, they were somewhat dissatisfied that they were given another task at such a crucial time in shipbuilding, but now, after seeing the blueprints for the Hongyi cannons drawn by Murong Huai, all their dissatisfaction vanished, replaced by excitement and eagerness.
Murong Huai sat in the main seat, with the Lion Douluo beside him and Tu Zhen standing behind him. Looking at the five of them, Murong Huai said:
"Masters, I wonder if these parts can be manufactured?"
Hearing Murong Huai's words, the group nodded, and the leading grandmaster cupped his hands and said:
"May I ask, Your Highness, what exactly is this object? We have never heard of it before!"
"This thing is called the Hongyi Cannon, and it belongs to the category of firearms," Murong Huai explained simply, but the group still looked completely bewildered.
"Hmm... you wouldn't understand even if I explained the details now. Let's build it first, and I'll tell you later!" Murong Huai rubbed his head.
"Yes, Your Highness, we can make these things within ten days." The group nodded and then began to divide the work.
As master craftsmen, their skills were indeed excellent, probably equivalent to a level six or seven fitter in their previous lives, and their techniques were proficient.
Seeing this, Murong Huai nodded, and then ordered people to protect the entire workshop.
"I wonder what level this Red Barbarian Cannon would reach if it were placed in a soul tool."
...,
Ten days later, a message was sent to Murong Huai from the workshop, saying that the Hongyi cannons had been completed.
Upon hearing the news, Murong Huai immediately took a carriage to the workshop in the west of the city, where everyone carried out the completed Hongyi cannons.
The cannon barrel is about 3 meters long, with a caliber of 110-130 millimeters. The barrel wall gradually thickens from the muzzle to the breech, and the dark muzzle is extremely imposing.
"Good, good. Where are the shells? Have they been made yet?"
"Your Highness, time is tight. We've only made five shells: two solid shells and three hollow shells," a master craftsman replied, bowing respectfully.
"Alright, once it's made, take it out and test it out on the plains outside the city." Upon hearing this, Murong Huai nodded and ordered everyone to take the Hongyi cannons to the plains outside the city for testing.
Upon hearing Murong Huai's words, five or six guards entered, covered the cannon, and pushed it forward. Seeing this, Murong Huai murmured:
"It seems the cannon is too heavy and inconvenient to move around. It needs to be improved by making it detachable to increase mobility."
...,
An hour later, on the plains outside Wuhun City.
"Good, this will do. Let's try loading a solid shot first!"
Upon hearing Murong Huai's words, the master craftsmen immediately began their work, loading a solid shot and having one of them light the fuse with a torch.
Boom!!!
With a deafening roar, to everyone's astonishment, the iron bullet streaked across the sky like a meteor, tracing a long, drawn-out arc.
With a loud bang, the shell slammed into the ground 800 meters away, sending clumps of dirt flying like rain. A deep crater was created in the ground. The group arrived at the spot where the shell had landed, and Murong Huai nodded slightly.
"Not bad, you were able to reach about 800 meters on your first test, very good."
Upon seeing this, the master craftsmen were all astonished. "Eight hundred meters! Even catapults on the battlefield can only launch stones about five hundred meters. This Hongyi cannon can actually launch iron projectiles more than eight hundred meters away! My God!!!"
"If this were to hit enemy tanks or warships..."
"Breaking through the city gates is a piece of cake..."
"..."
The group was extremely excited, and even the Lion Douluo standing to the side was somewhat surprised. Seeing this, Murong Huai asked:
"Elder Lion, how powerful do you think this solid shot is?"
Upon hearing this, the lion thought for a moment, looked at the deep pit in the ground, and said:
"Its power is roughly equivalent to a Soul King's full-force attack; it's a devastating weapon for sieges."
"A Soul King…" Murong Huai nodded after hearing the lion's analysis, and then said:
"Load the next hollow-point bullet with gunpowder and fire again!"
"It is His Highness the Holy Son."
The men returned to the firing point, loaded the hollow-point projectiles with the appropriate amount of gunpowder, and then pushed them into the breech. The gunpowder loading was complete.
"With the addition of gunpowder, its power should be greatly enhanced."
"put!!"
The fuse was lit, and as it sank in, the cannon roared to life.
Boom!!!
The cannon seemed to spew out a giant fireball, which shot out, arced through the air, and finally landed a kilometer away.
The moment it landed, the black powder inside the shell exploded with a deafening roar, instantly blasting trenches into the ground within a radius of about five meters.
"pretty!"
"It's a success..."
"..."
The master craftsmen were overjoyed, and the lion, seeing this, analyzed:
"Holy Son, the explosive power of this cannonball is about the same as that of a high-level Soul King's self-destruction."
Murong Huai nodded, then called for another shot. The men quickly loaded the cannonball, lit the fuse, and waited for the cannon to fire.
However, after the first shot was fired, the cannon trembled violently, followed by an ominous tearing sound. Murong Huai's expression changed drastically; he sensed something was wrong. The cannon barrel had split open, and scorching fragments flew towards the crowd like the Grim Reaper's scythe.
"Oh no, the cannonball has exploded! Get out of the way!" Murong Huai shouted sharply. Seeing this, Lion Douluo reacted quickly and set up a defense in an instant, protecting everyone and keeping the damage from the cannonball out.
After the smoke cleared, Murong Huai personally went to inspect the cannon. Inside the wrecked barrel lay unexploded shells, their internal structure clearly visible—a shell encased in thin sheet metal, with an excessively large internal cavity causing uneven pressure during the explosion. He grabbed a handful of gunpowder ash, rubbed it between his fingers…
"The cannon's material has a high carbon content. When the fuse ignites the shell, it also ignites the carbon, causing a pressure imbalance and resulting in a barrel explosion. Furthermore, the shell material is too hard, affecting the gunpowder's power." Murong Huai then turned to the others and asked.
"You asked what materials were used to cast the Hongyi cannons?"
"Your Highness, the cannon is made entirely of refined iron..." a craftsman replied.
Upon hearing this, Murong Huai shook his head.
"Iron is too hard and has a high carbon content, making it very prone to barrel explosions during combat. We need to change to a different material..."
"This… but Your Highness, our iron-making technique can only produce refined iron at best, and that's not much better than refined iron. Better metals are difficult to forge and are also very rare."
Murong Huai thought about it carefully and suddenly had an idea.
I've got it!
"The iron core and copper body technology uses steel for the inner layer with low carbon content, iron concentrate for the middle layer to withstand pressure, and copper sleeve for the outer layer to prevent cracking, forming a 'steel frame and iron body' structure. The tube wall is thin, lightweight, and low-cost, which greatly reduces the rate of tube bursting."
END of the chapter ---
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