Chapter 416

The structure of mortar shells is similar to that of shrapnel used in the catapult, but there are differences in caliber and charge.

At the beginning, in order to make mortars hit further, all mortars used non flooded powder as propellant. The warhead is not filled with dangerous bitter non acid explosive, but continues to use black powder as explosive.

However, the difference between 55mm mortar shell and barrel grenade is that the propellant of mortar shell is integrated with the projectile body, which is in the propellant tube under the projectile body, rather than separated from the combat part like barrel grenade.

Since the propellant is separated from the combat part, its manufacture is naturally much simpler. And to combine the two, the production difficulty is increased many times.

The four alchemists developed mortars a long time ago, but the real mortar shells were developed more than a month ago.

After all, the combination of propellant and warhead, the cap at the bottom of the propellant tube, the propellant, the explosive in the warhead, the primary explosive at the top of the warhead, and the impact pin cap should all be integrated into a projectile body, plus the four balance tails at the tail. With the level of processing technology in this era, the difficulty of production can be imagined.

So now the mortar shells used by the explosive bear brigade are almost all handmade.

Hundreds of craftsmen worked hard for more than a month to produce just over 300 qualified mortar shells. In the previous experiments and training of eye skipping method, 100 shells were consumed.

In other words, although the explosive bear brigade has brought out all 20 55mm mortars this time, it really needs to be used. One mortar can shoot ten shells at most

But even ten shells are absolutely invincible in this era.

The charge of the warhead of 55mm mortar shell is twice as large as that of the grenade used for the catapult, reaching 400g.

Four hundred grams of black powder plus a handful of iron sand, its explosive power is extremely terrible. At the beginning of the test, if such a mortar shell exploded on the flat ground, then the killing radius could reach 12 meters! This kind of power is twice as powerful as the catapult!

The most important thing is that the longest effective range of the 55mm catapult is not only 6700 meters, but 2600 meters!

What does that mean? It's very simple. If you give enough ammunition to the mortar, in principle, a 55mm mortar can defeat the whole catapult force. If you can't hit others with your catapult, you will be blind no matter how many of them are. However, the mortar of others can rely on four times more effective range. Flying a kite alone can kill the catapult force with a range of only 670m

It's no exaggeration to say that this 55mm mortar made by stone bear with four alchemists is absolutely the top military level of this era!

This mortar shell, which is a collection of more than 200 years' memory and experience of the stone bear and the hard work of four alchemists for several months, was put into the barrel by the loader from the muzzle. The loader immediately flashed aside, then squatted down with his back to the muzzle, and his head dropped down. This posture can protect the eardrum of the loading hand and prevent the eardrum from being damaged by the explosion of sound when launching.

And the aiming hand and ammunition hand are squatting in the same position, but they also need to hold the mortar bracket to prevent the muzzle from jumping at the moment of firing.

The shell slides down the gun barrel. When the fire cap at the bottom of the gun barrel hits the bulge at the bottom of the gun barrel, the fire cap is instantly activated, and then the non flooded powder in the gun barrel is ignited.

Accompanied by a deep explosion, a flame accompanied by shells from the muzzle of the gun, the next moment, the sky immediately sounded a strange whistling sound. It was the screech of mortar shells as they cut through the air.

Most of the soldiers of the explosive bear brigade have heard this sound, and they have heard it more than once, so most of the soldiers of the explosive bear brigade look up at the black spot in the sky, looking forward to the explosion.

However, the French in the residential areas are confused. They can't imagine why there is such a sound in the clear sky.

Well, not to mention that the voice sounds a little sharp, but it's very nice

But it's this beautiful voice in the French ears, but it's exactly the roar of death!

In a short period of more than three seconds, this sharp whistling across the sky more than one thousand meters long, and then, with everyone's attention, this mortar shell, which was used for actual combat for the first time in the world, exploded less than 20 meters away from the stone wall!

After a flash of dazzling light, there was a huge explosion, followed by the rising black clouds.

Although the impact point of the first gun was about 20 meters away from the stone wall, the stone bear who had been watching through the telescope nodded with satisfaction.

This shows that the training of the aiming hand is very effective.

What makes the stone bear smile is that although the impact point is about 20 meters away from the stone wall, a Frenchman standing on the stone wall is still very unlucky to be hit by a piece of projectile fragments. So the hapless devil fell from the stone wall

Although the theoretical damage radius of 55mm mortar shell is 12M, the warhead is filled with 400g black powder after all, not to mention a handful of iron sand filled by the stone bear

The explosive power of 400 grams of black powder is still great. Some fragments or iron sand can often fly tens of meters away. It's estimated that the hapless guy was hit by a fragment.

If the fragment is very small and it is better to hit the limbs, the biggest possibility is direct amputation. But if the fragment is a little bigger, and still hit the trunk or head, then this unfortunate guy will end up with only one death!

I'm kidding. It's a shell. It's not a lead shot from a musket. Before and during the fight against Kerry and Powhatan people, after the shrapnel launched by the catapult exploded, if a matchbox sized fragment hit the target's neck, it could directly cut off the head!

Stone bear didn't care where the unfortunate guy was shot, because with the explosion, the French on the stone wall suddenly rioted. The thirty or so Frenchmen who just showed their heads on the stone wall suddenly disappeared. Then the two defensive guns began to move. It seemed that the Frenchmen realized that they were wrong and wanted to fight back with guns.

But is that possible? On one side are big, stupid and thick guns, and on the other side are smart mortars. How can they compare?

Just as the French artillery had moved a little, the sightseer had finished the new calculation again. It's no joke to use a precious shell to locate the target. If the second shell can't find the target again, Kuang Niu can directly throw the aiming hand on the stone wall as a shell

So, just ten seconds later, the sharp whistling sound cut across the sky again