Developing rocket shells

  Shang Wen returned to his residence and first submitted a memorial. He ordered the people under Meng Tian to deliver it to the King of Qin. Then Shang Wen began to study the fire arrow.

  Shang Wen felt that researching rocket projectiles had a certain level of difficulty. Firstly, the material was quite difficult to resolve. Although wood had been considered as the preferred material, the nozzle and mouth could not be made of wood. When using gunpowder as the propellant, high-temperature burning would easily decompose the rocket's body, causing it to deviate when flying towards its target. This was a situation that he did not want to see happen.

  It seems that iron still needs to be used. Only the ductility of iron meets current requirements. However, iron must be forged to be thin and light. This is the only requirement.

  Thinking of this, Shang Wen started to draw the nozzle and mouth. In order to save the difficulty of processing, Shang Wen directly combined the two together, while planning the size at the same time.

  The larger fire arrow uses a diameter of one foot, the smaller one is one-third of that. The nozzle is designed like a funnel. At the bottom of the funnel-shaped part, the opening for the one-foot (diameter) is one-third of an inch, and similarly for the one-third foot (diameter). That's all. This indicates the size. Then write down the precautions. Call someone to go to the blacksmith to forge it. When leaving, repeatedly warn that it must be light and thin.

  The nozzle has been designed. Next is the projectile body. Considering it as a whole, Shang Wen also designed many specifications for the projectile body, which can be roughly divided into two categories: large rocket projectiles and small rocket projectiles. The larger ones can be launched from a launch pad, while the smaller ones can be carried on one's shoulder.

  The large rocket shell design needs to be a bit longer. But how much larger, depends on the overall assembly balance. And the trajectory after launch. Also, the movement track. These are all original data, and must be measured. Think about testing. Shang Wen just felt that it was impossible, without any measuring instruments. Even time, only had an hourglass. This thing is useless.

  To get the first-hand data, Shang Wen only needs to design more projectiles. Three feet, four feet, and five feet, as well as one zhang (a unit of length). In order to facilitate future production, Shang Wen adopted a technique that combines half-throwing and empty-locking, finally using card locks to synthesize. This technique is not too difficult for Chinese carpenters. In the middle, Shang Wen deliberately left some blind spots, which are the positions of packaging propellant and warhead. Since all are lacking, Shang Wen must solve them himself.

  Similarly, after finishing the design, hand it over to others for processing. Meng Tian came in with breakfast and seemed to have been busy all night. It's also very tiring, but the problem hasn't been solved yet. Shang Wen was holding a dry pancake in one hand and looking at the drawing with the other. Whether or not to make some changes. Meng Tian entered the room, took a look, didn't say anything, and left. Because he had already gotten used to it. Every day, Shang Wen was always this busy.

  Warhead department. To detonate the warhead, we have to consider its weight, at this time, everything must be combined in one piece. And also the way of detonation. What kind of method should be adopted? Shang Wen sat on the bed, one hand kept tapping the table to gain inspiration.

  Suddenly, he heavily slapped the table with a loud bang. This thing was studied by Shang Wen in elementary school, but it required materials. Shang Wen immediately made out a list. The most important thing was silver nitrate. This thing can be extracted from salt. Extracted from alkali land. After ordering his subordinates, Shang Wen began to consider another way of detonation. Shang Wen felt that relying on the loud bang was not reliable, so another very simple way of detonation was to draw out a fuse from the propellant. The length of this was difficult to grasp. If it was too short, it would explode before reaching the distance, and if it was too long, it would fall to the ground without exploding. This could be experimented with multiple times.

  Another way is to use the self-invented hand grenade device. The main thing is that the sealing property must be improved. Shangwen found that the first few batches of hand grenades had dud problems due to sealing issues. This is not a joke. With the paper already available, just add wax or oil and you can develop wax paper, and the problem can basically be solved. Next is to prepare materials.

  Shang Wen listed a large pile of things on a piece of paper and started grabbing the medicine according to the list. The people who went to buy materials for making the projectile components had all returned. It was only then that Shang Wen realized he had been busy for an entire morning.

  After lunch, Shangwen began to assemble the shell. Processed a piece of oil paper, as candles are still scarce goods, only oil paper can be used.

  After a short nap, it was already evening when he woke up. The workers had dug out a stone of sandy soil from the salt alkali land. Shang Wen solved the problem of silver salt. Boiling. Filtering. Boiling again. Filtering and crystallizing. Salt can be extracted, but Shang Wen made an unexpected discovery, a small amount of sodium carbonate. Then boil again. Filter and crystallize, still nothing was gained. Shang Wen began to consider other ways of explosion.

  Give up extracting silver salt, start assembling the projectile. Fill with gunpowder. With oil paper. Shang Wen easily separates the warhead and propellant. And. To prevent moisture. Intentionally wrapped in oil paper. Simply connect the fuse. A rocket projectile is basically formed. This is a fuse between the propulsion unit and the warhead. The impact type will be redesigned.

  The design of the hand grenade's fuse was borrowed from a lighter. Later, in the design, it gradually improved and became a hand grenade. At first, it was just an embryo. Considering the impact effect of rocket shells, Shangwen decided to give it a try. This time, Shangwen adopted a double insurance explosion method to avoid the rocket shell hitting the ground without exploding. That is, two iron rings were installed on the flint rod and then used in parallel, with two acting rods jointly detonating the warhead. Shangwen's separate design became the prototype of modern fuses.

  After finishing all this, it was already late at night. Shang Wen let out a sigh of relief and only then did he realize how tired he really was. This kind of work that didn't care about one's life was truly unacceptable. The only thing he didn't know was whether the Great Qin Empire would give him compensation or not.

  Take a look at the rest, it's all assembly work. Shang Wen simply packed up and instructed Meng Tian's men to keep a close eye on things. He then went to his bedroom, lay down and fell asleep. He was really too tired.

  In a dream, the brain is still constantly sorting out the results of the day. And those unexpected discoveries. The situations that have already been tested. Data that should be recorded. These constant flashes.

  Shang Wen felt someone pushing him. He woke up dazed and confused, only to find Meng Tian standing in front of him with a frightened look on his face. After he calmed down, he finally heard clearly: "Sir, you're finally awake. We thought you were possessed by a demon. You kept muttering something under your breath. It scared us half to death."

  Shang Wenzai felt that he was indeed very tired. He waved his hand to indicate that everything was fine. Let everyone disperse and get up. Continue loading the projectile. These things were handed over to subordinates. Shang Wen was worried. After all, this was a trial product, not a finished product. Meng Tian looked at Shang Wen, wanting to speak but hesitating, and didn't say anything.

  Two days later, the rocket projectile began testing. The princess unexpectedly received news and also came. Shang Wen felt his scalp numb.