This Is a Great Weapon of Mass Destruction (Please Vote and Subscribe)

The 12-pounder had a bore diameter of 121 millimeters. This figure was calculated from the diameter of a 12-pound lead ball, but Luo Chong was using iron balls, so an iron ball was lighter at the same volume, weighing roughly ten jin. (Twelve pounds was approximately 10.8 jin, but we'll count it as ten jin here.)

Following Luo Chong's orders, Big Strength carried another fifteen-jin powder charge over from a nearby crate and stuffed it into the cannon's barrel. He rammed the charge to the bottom with a rammer, then loaded an iron ball.

After aiming at the target and pouring in the priming powder, everything was ready. Luo Chong swung the command flag in his hand.

With a thunderous boom even louder than the previous one, a cloud of white smoke mixed with flames blasted from the muzzle. The cannon also lurched backward under the recoil. This was what Luo Chong found most unacceptable. After every shot, merely resetting the cannon and readjusting its aim wasted a great deal of time.

In Luo Chong's eyes, the two characters backward seemed branded onto the gleaming barrel. Yet in everyone else's eyes, this was already a weapon worthy of the gods, because the second shot had traveled farther.

As soon as the cannon fired, someone immediately went to inspect the impact point and the damage without waiting for Luo Chong's order.

With the elevation unchanged at five degrees and the powder charge increased by half, it would have defied all reason if the shell did not fly farther. Sure enough, the final measurements showed that the first impact point of this shot had already reached an astonishing 1,850 meters—farther than the previous shot's final impact point. This time, the farthest impact point had reached the absurd distance of 2,280 meters.

After