Traveling through the late Ming Dynasty to promote Chinese civilization

Chapter 252 The Ultimate Weapon of the Smoothbore Cannon Era

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Liu Ye was getting a little dizzy from Liang Xiaoming's explanation, so he interrupted Liang Xiaoming's long-winded explanation of technical principles: "Mingzi, you know I don't know much about this, so speak plainly."

Liang Xiaoming blinked: "To put it simply: due to the maximum load limit of warships, the cannons on warships cannot be too heavy. Solid shot has a limited weight, which can penetrate the hull but is difficult to sink the enemy; if explosive shells are used instead, mortars cannot be used in naval warfare, caron guns have too short a range, and cannons have too high a chamber pressure and are afraid of exploding. Moreover, in the black powder era, if explosive shells do not penetrate into the hull and explode, it's just like setting off fireworks... So we created a hybrid, using the principle of mortars, plus a barrel length between that of howitzers and cannons, to find a balance between penetration and exploding..."

Liu Ye frowned: "You can make it even simpler, just get to the point."

"It's already very simple and straightforward!" Liang Xiaoming protested with a wave of his hand, then explained, "It's the butt of a mortar, the barrel of a cannon, specifically designed to fire explosive shells. Its characteristic is that it can penetrate the hull of a ship from a relatively long distance before exploding. Do you understand?"

"Why didn't you just say it like that earlier? Why did you have to make it so complicated?" Liu Ye asked happily. "This kind of cannon sounds really powerful. How exactly is it better than our current Caron cannon and long-barreled cannon?"

"All that effort was for nothing, you didn't listen at all!" Liang Xiaoming rolled his eyes. "The Caron cannon is short and lightweight, allowing for mass deployment, and it has a large caliber and a high rate of fire. Its drawbacks are also obvious: firstly, its range is too short, and against heavily armed opponents—like the Dutch—casualties would skyrocket; secondly, its attack effectiveness is limited. Gravel is highly effective at killing deck personnel, and while close-range solid shot can breach the hull, its damage is limited beyond killing a few people in its trajectory..."

Liu Ye interrupted him: "That's not necessarily true. Gao Jie told me that during the Battle of Liaoluo Bay, the solid shot from the Caron cannon once penetrated the gun deck of the Dutch warship. If it was lucky enough to be detonated by a gunpowder barrel, it could sink the ship."

“You said it yourself, it was luck. And of the 13 Dutch ships, only two were unlucky enough to be hit by such concentrated fire. The chance factor is too great, and this tactic has no practical value in combat,” Liang Xiaoming continued. “Let me finish, don’t interrupt. Cannons have a longer range and greater penetration than carons, and they can fire from a relatively safer distance, but their actual effectiveness is mediocre. There are countless examples in naval battles of warships riddled with bullets yet still thriving. In fact, until the 18th century, the final solution to naval battles was still forced landings or boarding maneuvers to seize ships.”

"If that's the case, then cannons are meaningless?" Liu Ye asked, somewhat disappointed.

"That's not entirely true. Increasing the caliber of cannons was an effective solution. If a 12-pounder couldn't sink it, then go for an 18-pounder, a 24-pounder. In the 18th century, battleships even had 48-pounder cannons. Being hit by such a shell would be fatal, if not fatal. If it were Zheng Zhilong's small boat, it would fall apart after a few shots..." Liang Xiaoming said. "But endlessly increasing the caliber like this isn't the best solution. A 24-pounder cannon already weighs close to three tons, and a 48-pounder cannon weighs nearly six tons. How many of these behemoths can an ordinary warship carry? The load capacity of a sailing warship is ultimately limited. Overly heavy cannons would slow down the ship, causing it to draft too deep and making it more prone to running aground..."

Liu Ye shook his head: "This approach won't work. What's the use of relying solely on heavy artillery if we abandon mobility? Even if a sumo wrestler is heavy, he might not be able to beat a nimble boxer."