Of course, at the meeting on November 11, Yang Zhen also carefully inquired about the production and storage of ammunition in Jinhai Town.

Unlike Wang Shoutang's answer, Pan Wenmao's answer made Yang Zhen very satisfied.

Although Jinhai Town's own supply of sulfur and saltpeter is still insufficient.

However, the sulfur previously delivered by the Council of Ministers of the Dutch East India Company has ensured that ammunition production in Jinhae Town has continued in recent months.

Not long ago, the large fleet that returned ahead of Yang Zhen and others brought back a large amount of supplies obtained from the eastward expedition to the Wonu Kingdom, including a huge amount of fine sulfur and saltpeter.

With this batch of sulfur, saltpeter and other materials seized or extorted, coupled with the subsequent delivery of such materials by the Dutch and the Tokugawa Shogunate, at least in the next year or two, Jinhai Town's ammunition production will no longer be

Problem.

Yang Zhen was naturally very happy about this.

However, the thing that made Yang Zhen most satisfied was when Pan Wenmao reported to him the new progress in transforming the cylindrical blasting barrel into a pointed cylindrical explosive shell, which was then used in the heavy Hongyi cannon.

Yang Zhen had assigned this matter before, but the heavy Hongyi cannons were very valuable to the people of Jinhai Town and were not in large quantities, so they did not dare to use them for testing easily.

In addition, the ammunition factory has just started in the production of explosive ammunition. The technology in all aspects is not mature and the confidence is insufficient.

Therefore, although Yang Zhen already knew the development direction of artillery and would give them some advice every time he went to the gun factory and ammunition factory to check the situation, Yang Zhen's own confidence could not be directly conveyed to Pan Wenmao and his colleagues.

My craftsmen.

After all, trying to make something like an explosive bomb is extremely dangerous in any era. If someone is not careful, someone will die. It is definitely a matter of life and death.

Therefore, for more than two years, although Yang Zhen often mentioned this matter, he did not give the ammunition factory a time limit to complete the production and testing tasks.

And Yang Zhen also knows that the cultivation of craftsmen and the accumulation of technology are all formed bit by bit. He just wants to encourage growth and develop by leaps and bounds, but he can't do it without a certain amount of accumulation.

Fortunately, the explosive shells used in sky cannons were on the right track, as well as the emergence of cylindrical and long-cylindrical blasting tubes, and their widespread use in the grenadier ranks, Yang Zhen saw the light of day.

Just before Yang Zhen left in early July, when he summoned Pan Wenmao and gave him various precautions, he once again proposed using the mature explosive barrel manufacturing technology to try to make pointed cylindrical explosive shells that could be used for Hongyi heavy artillery.

Imagine.

Now there is finally good news.

Pan Wenmao had already found Yang Shen and asked the veteran artillerymen selected by the artillery regiment to test it repeatedly.

The regulations they finally settled on were that the entire projectile was two feet and one inch long, with a maximum diameter of three and a half inches, and a total weight of twelve kilograms and three taels, which was lower than the weight of the solid round iron bullets used by the original Hongyi heavy artillery.

As for the power, Yang Zhen has not seen it personally, but judging from the descriptions of Pan Wenmao and others, it may be somewhat unsatisfactory, at least not exactly as Yang Zhen expected.

But when it came to the range, Pan Wenmao and others who personally participated in the test showed great confidence in front of Yang Zhen. He said that the range was longer than the original effective range of the Hongyi heavy artillery using solid iron projectiles. It could hit the maximum direct range in the plains and wilderness.

More than three miles.

The Ming system was more than three miles long, and when converted into the length unit that Yang Zhen was more accustomed to, the total was between 1,700 meters and 2,000 meters, or at least more than 1,700 meters.

Regarding this range data, Yang Zhen thought about it for a while and finally figured it out.

Because for a heavy artillery that uses solid bullets, its maximum range is not its effective range, and its effective range may even be far smaller than its maximum range.

For example, the Hongyi Heavy Artillery uses solid bullets to use the strong impact of the solid bullets after launch to hit city walls or obstacles to destroy the artillery target.

In this process, when its kinetic energy is exhausted, or when it reaches the end of the crossbow, although its impact point is at the maximum range, the impact it causes is no longer within its effective range.

However, if explosive bullets were used in a similar situation, the results would be different.

How far away the impact point of the explosive bullet is, how far is its effective range. In other words, for the explosive bullet, the maximum range is its effective range.

After Yang Zhen understood this truth, he no longer struggled with the issue of the range of the pointed cylindrical shells used in the Hongyi heavy artillery.

Because no matter what, this range is sufficient for now.

What he needs right now is a heavy artillery that can suppress the heavy artillery of General Qinglu Tianyou.

As long as its range can fully cover the range of General Tianyou's heavy artillery, it is enough.

All that's left is to solve the problem of its power.

Correspondingly, from the descriptions of Pan Wenmao and others, Yang Zhen probably also knew what the problem was that restricted the power of this new type of blooming bullet.

The key issue is actually the proportion between the self-weight of the cartridge case and the amount of powder charged.

If you want the explosion to be powerful, you must have a thin skin and a large filling, and a large enough charge. This is the way to go.

However, thin skin and large fillings also have the risk of thin skin and large fillings, and this risk is that the inside of the food will explode.

The bore pressure of the Hongyi heavy artillery is very high. When the bore pressure is high, the temperature inside the bore is high, and the muzzle flame is relatively fierce. At this time, the shell is thin and the explosive charge is large, and it is likely to be pushed out of the cannon.

Blooms early before mouth.

However, if the cartridge case is too thick and has a small amount of powder, it may be safe, but the explosion effect will be limited after being delivered to the destination, and it will not have the desired killing effect.

To put it bluntly, this is to find the best balance between your own safety and killing the enemy.

The search for this balance point requires more specifications of ammunition and more frequent tests.

Therefore, at the end of the interview, in addition to arranging the ammunition factory to customize ammunition for the gun carrying team, Yang Zhen told Pan Wenmao to further arrange manpower and continue to test more charges for the Hongyi heavy artillery.

Flowering bomb.

Of course, Yang Zhen did not forget to tell him to recruit and train new workers as soon as possible, continue to expand the scale of production, and speed up the production and reserve process of ammunition.

Regarding guns, ammunition and other things, Yang Zhen was afraid that he would not have enough reserves, and he would never have too much.

Although the scope of the small-scale mobilization order issued on November 11, the 14th year of Chongzhen, was not subsequently expanded, the generals in Jinhai Town and the generals in Denglai Town, which Yang Zhen also led, did not receive the news.

However, the key figures present at the meeting that day immediately devoted themselves to full-scale war preparations the day after the meeting.

For Yang Zhen, the comprehensive mobilization of Jinhai Town and Denglai Town should start when making a decision and then taking action.

The best time is when the imperial court's decree is issued and you follow the decree.

At that time, after receiving the official decree from the imperial court, he will call for the righteousness of the northern expedition to the Qing Dynasty and the restoration of Liaodong, and integrate his own troops with those gathered in western Liaoning. Then the matter will be almost half done.

Yang Zhen also thought that since the soldiers and horses in western Liaoning were unreliable, he would completely rely on his own soldiers and horses to go to the Northern Expedition. When the time came, he would do it himself, and he could even ignore what the court thought and did.

However, during the long journey back across the sea, he thought a lot, and after much deliberation, he finally thought that the conquest of the East and the Ping Lu should be done together with the imperial court and the soldiers and horses of western Liaoning.

First, if you don't involve the imperial court and don't act in the name of the imperial court, the power of people from all walks of life in Jinhai and Denglai Town may not be able to truly become a rope.

Secondly, without the pressure exerted by the imperial court, once war breaks out, the various troops currently assembled in western Liaoning may not really be willing to send troops to cooperate with them.

Furthermore, although the imperial court said that its current finances were extremely difficult and it could be said that it was almost on the verge of collapse, a skinny camel was bigger than a horse. In the original history, for the last decisive battle, hundreds of thousands of elites from the nine sides were recruited.

Hundreds of thousands of taels of salary, millions of dan of grain and grass, and tens of thousands of war horses were invested.

Not to mention giving half of these food, wages, mules, horses, livestock, etc. to yourself, even if you only give yourself a third evenly, that is still a big supplement!

Because Qinglu was not the shogunate of the Hening Kingdom or the Wonu Kingdom, once the war between the two sides started, Yang Zhen was not sure when the fighting would last.

Calculated based on the days when Huang Taiji, the puppet emperor of the Qing Dynasty, returned to the west in the original time and space, once Yang Zhen launched the war in the spring of the 15th year of Chongzhen, there would be almost a year and a half from the start of the war to the sudden death of Huang Taiji in the original time and space.

During this year and a half, Yang Zhen had to consider not only the huge material consumption of the army, but also the rush production of guns, ammunition, and warships.

The money, food and supplies required are absolutely astronomical.

Although Yang Zhen crossed the sea and conquered the Wonu Kingdom this time, he brought back a large amount of money, food and supplies for the upcoming war, and it also opened up new sources of food and supplies.

But once the war started and Tokugawa Iemitsu refused to pay back their debts, I really had no way to deal with them for a while.

Although the chance of this happening is very small, it can be said to be extremely slim, but Yang Zhen had to consider this in advance.

Therefore, Yang Zhen also held the attitude that the more the merrier, the more money, supplies, and friendly troops that might come from the imperial court.

However, in order to obtain as much food, salary and material support as possible, Yang Zhen could not reveal his intentions in advance.

After all, sending troops to the Northern Expedition was one of the few bargaining chips he had when facing the imperial court.

He wanted to use the all-out Northern Expedition to clear the Qing Dynasty as a bargaining chip to exchange something with the imperial court in the capital.

And before getting what he wants in exchange, Yang Zhen's trump card cannot be revealed in advance.

Therefore, after the small-scale meeting on November 11th, the participants only concentrated on preparations, and no one dared to spread the news that Yang Zhen was determined to conduct a northern expedition to the Qing Dynasty after the beginning of the next spring.

However, the tasks that should be assigned were assigned the next day, and just a few days later, a military competition took place in full swing among the troops in the second town of Jinhai and Denglai.

The news that Governor Jinhai Boyang wanted to select sharpshooters from the entire army to serve as the personal guards of the general town soon spread throughout Jinhai, and came to the sentries of various regiments in the second town.

Becoming a member of Yang Zhen's personal guard is also a considerable incentive for many low-level soldiers in Jinhai and Denglai Towns.

It even has a certain appeal to middle and low-level military attachés who already have the rank of Commander-in-Chief or Commander-in-Chief.

After all, there are precedents for Yang Zhenzhong's use of personal soldiers, such as Yang Zhan'ao, Yan Shengsan, Guo Xiaowu and others earlier, and more recently, Xu Tingxuan, Ma Keqing and others.

Among these people, except for Xu Tingxuan, who had a father who was a commander in chief as a backer, all the others had a difficult background.

Each of these people is a living role model to the lower-level soldiers under various regiment camps in Jinhai and Denglai Second Town.

As the saying goes, the power of role models is infinite.

As soon as the news spread that the Assistant Camp Affairs Office of the General Town Government would select 300 sharpshooters from various regiments and camps in the second town to serve as Jin Haibo's personal guards, everyone who thought they had two skills wanted to give it a try.

In this way, the competition to select sharpshooters quickly evolved into a heated training exercise for the sentinels of various regiments.

And not only the musketeers enthusiastically signed up to participate in the competition, but also other arms, such as some cavalrymen, grenadiers, and gunners who had used muskets, were also enthusiastic.

The reason why such a situation occurs is that the general town government has selected a large number of guard members, so the opportunity is not small.

Secondly, it is because many army sergeants have been idle for several months. Gambling and prostitution are prohibited in Yang Zhen's army. Drinking is only allowed during New Years and holidays. In addition to the usual running, queuing, bombing and various construction activities every day,
To be continued...