The craftsmen of the Ming Dynasty were still relatively smart, but they had not received systematic education since childhood, and all their knowledge came from masters or taught their fathers and grandparents. Therefore, it was difficult to achieve great success in the future. However, some easy things were still very easy. For example, a great craftsman named Xu Kuan thought about using iron to cast cannons.

After all, iron is much lower than copper. If the iron cast cannon is successful, the material cost alone can save a lot of money. You should know that in the Ming Dynasty, copper could be directly minted into coins for circulation. Thousands of kilograms of copper meant thousands of kilograms of coins. Therefore, using iron cast cannons is the most economical choice.

For this reason, Xu Kuan and his apprentices deliberately pinched dozens of more when making clay molds. Then, after the copper cannon was cast, he applied to Zhang Quan, the eunuch in charge of the superiors, to try to cast iron cannons. Zhang Quan was Zhang Yongzhi's godson and was in charge of military affairs. He also felt that casting iron cannons saves money than using copper, so he agreed to allocate iron materials and let Xu Kuan and others try it.

But this attempt was not ideal. There were only 3 artillery pieces cast in dozens of clay molds. Moreover, after multiple rounds of shooting, the bottom of the gun body became soft due to overheating, and two of them exploded, resulting in three gunners being killed on the spot and five others seriously injured. Fortunately, the Ming Dynasty did not regard the lower-level soldiers as humans, and no one cared about the deaths.

In the end, Xu Kuan realized that the iron casting cannon was more difficult, and if you want to be safe, you must thicken the cannon body, especially the thickness of the tail cannon body to avoid explosion.

However, it still takes a long way to go to come up with mature artillery and casting technology...

Malin didn't know what happened in the Ming Dynasty. In fact, the Beihai Kingdom had long had the ability to cast cannons with steel. For example, those heavy cannons were basically cast with low carbon steel.

However, in order to control technology, Marin did not let others know that his artillery was cast by iron, so he deliberately used copper cannons on the export artillery. It was nothing more than just raising the threshold for use.

You should know that using copper to cast cannons is not something that ordinary people can afford. After all, copper in Europe is more expensive and costly. Marin deliberately used copper to cast cannons to raise the equipment threshold for artillery - want to equip cannons? Do you have money to cast? When you hear that you have to use a lot of copper cannons, the poorer than the monarchs will give up immediately... Then, only the rich people can equip cannons on a large scale... Then, the only ones who need to focus on dealing with Marin are left with those rich opponents, and the difficulty will be reduced a lot...

In fact, this set was the most easy for the Americans in later generations. Why were Americans keen on advanced fighter jets and missiles in later generations? Because ordinary countries cannot do it... China in the 20th century could not play with electronic technology alone, let alone ordinary countries in Asia, Africa and Latin America.

Because everyone can't play, in the end, everyone can only spend a lot of money to buy advanced weapons with the United States...

But in fact, the whole world has been led by the United States - is it really necessary to equip advanced fighter jets with a cost of only 200 million US dollars per? Is it really necessary to use advanced missiles with a cost of 200 million US dollars per?

In fact, it is not necessary at all!

The United States deliberately advocates and raises technical standards, in fact, it is just to mislead countries - look, it should be done with a good weapon like me, everything else is rubbish...

But in fact, many times, those particularly advanced weapons are not necessary...

If it is a precise strike at a very long distance, it does require advanced weapons from very cutting-edge high-tech. But what if it is an ordinary regional friction? Do you need advanced missiles of millions or even tens of millions of dollars to be fired? There is no need for...

To give a simple example, two small poor countries in Africa fought each other due to border friction. Both countries are very small in size, let alone missiles, even with cannons, they can cover the entire territory of each other. At this time, is it necessary to use advanced cruise missiles with their own GPS satellite positioning? No need at all!

Conflicts between small countries like this do not require any advanced missiles or advanced fighter jets. Moreover, these two things are not affordable for ordinary countries - if you fight a few more times, the country will go bankrupt...

At this time, things like Katyusha rocket launcher are particularly suitable for regional conflicts - a brainless launch of a wave of rockets and finishing work... As for the cost... the cost of a Tomahawk missile is hundreds of thousands of dollars, while an ordinary rocket is only a few thousand dollars. If it is not a long-range strike, but a close-range conflict, a fool would use that kind of precision missile.

In fact, rockets are missiles that do not have electronic equipment such as guidance systems, and the other way around is OK. If it weren't for the special rockets like "Guardian" with a range of hundreds of kilometers, the cost of rockets is incredibly low. However, in frontal conflicts, the difference is not very big.

For example, when encountering a main enemy force cluster on the front battlefield, the effect of rockets and missiles carrying ordinary warheads is actually not very different. Unless it is used to accurately strike the enemy's command center, the difference can be revealed. If the enemy has vitality, it is definitely better to use rocket artillery. After all, the power is sufficient and it is cheap.

Although the "Guardian" rocket with a range of two or three hundred kilometers in later generations cost as much as US$100,000 per, if it is an ordinary rocket with no extended range and no electronic equipment upgrade, the cost is scary. Marin remembers that he once heard that when he clashed with Yuehou in the last century, the cost of a 109 rocket was only more than one hundred yuan...

Of course, at that time, everyone's salary was low, and the average monthly salary was only a few dozen yuan. But a rocket was equivalent to the salary of an ordinary person for one or two months. In the future, it would only cost a few thousand yuan.

Think about it, on the front battlefield, hundreds of thousands of troops are confronting each other. Is it cost-effective to use a few missiles worth millions of dollars to bombard the enemy, or is it cost-effective to use a few hundred rockets at the same value?

This chapter is not over, please click on the next page to continue reading! Although the battle is indispensable for the showdown of cutting-edge weapons, in fact, in the battle, the ones that really become the main force are the ones that are low-cost and energy-producing large-power weapons that are the most popular.

Just like in World War II, why did the German army lose to the Soviet Union later? The German Tiger tanks were indeed very good, but the Soviet army did not compete with you for technology, so we should compare the quantity... Although the T34 is not as powerful as the Tiger tank, it is easy to produce, low cost, and large output! You can send hundreds of Tiger tanks, and I can send thousands of T34s to beat you to death...

The F22 fighter jet, which seems to be extremely advanced and cost $290 million, is certainly powerful. But in fact, it may not be invincible. Not to mention anything else, it is possible to get rid of a batch of low-cost drones to fight it in the air. How cheap is the drone? Even if dozens of drones are lost in exchange for shooting down one F22, it is a big profit. In short, I can afford to lose, but you can't afford to lose. If it really doesn't work, I can still use low-cost, powerful missiles to destroy your airport, leaving you nowhere to land, and even doom with the airport...

Therefore, sometimes, weapons that seem to be a little behind but have low costs and are suitable for mass production can better determine the outcome of the battlefield.

Because, on the battlefield, weapons will always be depleted. If you only equip a few advanced weapons, your combat effectiveness will be destroyed once something goes wrong. Even if you lose a few weapons that are behind, you won’t feel distressed. Moreover, people are large in size and are not afraid of losses...

Of course, advanced weapons are still needed. The best way to use advanced weapons and energy-produced secondary weapons is to use them together. In other words, advanced weapons are used to deal with advanced weapons. And those mass-produced weapons are the main force that truly kills and damages the enemy.

But when a large-scale war really happens, low-cost, mass-produced weapons are the first choice. At that time, you will find that many expensive and unpractical parts of fighter jets and missiles will be dismantled, and the entire weapon will become simple and efficient. After all, the ability to "regeneration" is the most important indicator in war.

...

Therefore, the main force of war is often not the most advanced weapons, but the things produced by secondary level advanced but energy. Of course, some of the most advanced weapons are also needed to deal with the enemy's most advanced weapons. In this way, war is easy to fight.

As for the technical competition of fighter jets held in later generations, to put it bluntly, it is to raise the threshold and fool fools. I won’t play technical competitions with you for ordinary weapons. I specialize in nuclear bombs. Do you have F22? I have nuclear bombs! Do you have F35? I have nuclear bombs! Do you have B2? I have nuclear bombs! I can scare you to death with just one move...

Moreover, Russia became poor later and could not afford technical competitions. Therefore, using such almost rogue means, the Americans who deliberately provoked the competition had no temper. After all, developing nuclear bombs alone costs less money and has good results...

...

In short, Marin is now focusing on promoting copper cannons, not because of bad iron cannons, but to raise the threshold - if you want to engage in an arms race with me, do you have the money to buy so much copper?

In this way, most poor monarchs and poor princes in Europe were forced to withdraw from the artillery equipment competition, and only rich powers were left to participate.

In addition, the iron mold casting cannon method made by Marin is very suitable for rapid casting of copper cannons, which can be mass-produced quickly and is very convenient. When war is needed, the production can be exploded at any time, so that the opponent cannon washing the floor...

But in the Ming Dynasty, because they were very concerned about the cost and the craftsmen were a little clever, it was normal for them to build iron cannons by themselves.

In fact, Marin, a person who read history, knew that the Ming Dynasty first learned to cast copper cannons with the Portuguese in Macau, and then developed iron cannons themselves. Later, the Macau Bugalao Casting Cannon Factory specially hired Chinese-born gun craftsmen to learn from the Ming Dynasty with iron cannons. Before that, the Portuguese had always used copper cannons.

The red cannons sold to the Ming Dynasty by the Portuguese in the late Ming Dynasty were not built by themselves, but the 18-pound Koufeilin long cannon salvaged from sunken British warships. After all, Britain had abundant coal and iron resources, but lacked copper, so it was forced to develop iron-cast cannons in the 16th century.
Chapter completed!