Chapter 36: Long range, high precision—this cannon is number one in the world!

When foreign guests come, we definitely can't eat in the cafeteria; we have to go to the biggest restaurant in Ha Cheng!

The school's main leaders all went along to eat, Qin Miao made an excuse to stay behind, and he frantically typed on the Z80 computer; fortunately he remembered the various parameters of the 155mm howitzer shells from later generations, otherwise... he would have been clueless!

After finishing writing the program, Qin Miao felt his stomach was flat with hunger; when the machine tool started up, he walked over to the nearby table and picked up the meat bun that had long gone cold.

"Student Qin Miao, you've worked hard." Professor Yuan said: "We made quite a bit of money this time; how do you plan to distribute it?"

"Me? I don't have that authority; naturally it should be turned over to the school for unified distribution."

"That won't do; we still have a R&D project! What do you think, developing this truck cannon would require how much money?"

"Professor Yuan, such a large piece of meat, our Mechanical Department can't eat it all at once; this truck cannon needs mechanical devices, also electronic devices, and even a computer; developing this project into a university-level research project would be best."

Only then did Professor Yuan realize he had been solely focused on the project, overlooking other matters; this Qin Miao is impressive, handling himself well in society.

Thud thud thud…

Just then, footsteps sounded outside.

Qin Miao turned his head, looked toward the doorway, then his face changed; he hurriedly put down the bun and ran out in three strides.

"Zhu Lao, you… why are you running?!"

With one arm, it's not easy to keep balance, yet he still has to run!

"Ah, Qin Miao, are you all right? Did that Dr. Bu'er Boshi give you trouble? Ah, it's all my fault, all my fault!"

"What are you blaming me for? Zhu Lao, who leaked the secret to Dr. Bu'er Boshi? I ought to thank him!"

Upon learning that Dr. Bu'er Boshi had come to Ha Gong Da to cause trouble for Qin Miao, Zhu Lao was extremely anxious, even using connections to ask the Air Force for help, sending him and several other supervising leaders over; however… it was still too late, and no one knew how much grievance Qin Miao had suffered.

After getting out of the car, the school leaders were nowhere to be found; after wandering around and finding no one, Zhu Lao rushed to this experimental workshop, and indeed, Qin Miao was still here!

But… what's going on?

"What are you thanking him for?"

"Dr. Bu'er Boshi gave us money!"

What?

The several leaders following behind Zhu Lao were all stunned.

"Explain in detail?"

After Dr. Bu'er Boshi arrived, he humbly asked me for advice, and I gave him some pointers… Qin Miao had just wanted to show off, but then he thought it was a bit pretentious; in front of Zhu Lao, he had to stay low-key.

"Nothing much, he just took a liking to our product and paid for some technology."

"Product?"

At that moment, Zhu Lao saw the gun barrel over nine meters long on the ground, and the shells being machined on the CNC machine tool; he took a deep breath and said: "You've made a 52-caliber 155mm cannon?"

"Yes, we know the country is poor, and we didn't feel right asking superiors for help, so we raised our own funds and fabricated such a barrel; we planned to test it after production, and if the results were good, we'd report success to the superiors… the teachers of our Mechanical Department all contributed their salaries."

"The faculty and students of Ha Gong Da are truly great!" A leader spoke up afterward: "I never expected that, without a project approval, you could still self-fund R&D! This money can't be left to you! Submit a report, state how much you spent, and we'll reimburse you!"

"No need, we've already obtained a sum of money from Dr. Bu'er Boshi, enough to fund us for a while; we know the country is undergoing reform, military funds are scarce, and saving the military even a little helps."

Those fine words made Professor Yuan nod repeatedly; this kid Qin Miao is stronger than me! I only know how to handle projects, not relationships!

"How far can this cannon fire?" Zhu Lao asked.

"I don't know yet, but I estimate that firing base-bleed shells, the range should be about thirty kilometers; however, that's not important—the key is accuracy, and long range shouldn't mean poor accuracy…"

Thirty kilometers! Based on the 66-type howitzer, the range nearly doubles—how is that not important?

All the leaders present widened their eyes: "Ha Gong Da, you've developed a big killer for our military! Hurry up and prepare for test firing!"

The next afternoon, the largest range of the Shenyang Military Region.

The gun carriage is that of the original 66-type howitzer; anyway, the caliber only increased by three millimeters, and length doesn't matter.

Several hundred officers came, a dark mass of people; Professor Yuan stood beside the cannon, personally stroking the long barrel, his eyes full of excitement.

"Good, really great! I never expected Ha Gong Da could not only make shells but also build a big cannon! This is the largest-caliber, most powerful howitzer in our country!"

"Everyone, if you're ready, please fire! Ten rounds, rapid fire!" Dr. Bu'er Boshi said somewhat impatiently.

"Xiao Deyuan!"

"Here!"

"Maximum range, ten rounds, rapid fire!"

"Yes!"

Xiao Deyuan personally pulled the cannon's lanyard, watching as the battalion chief under him had loaded the shell, while the flag bearer beside him dropped the flag and he pulled hard.

Boom!

Good heavens, that sound is truly loud! It almost burst my eardrums!

No flame visible at the muzzle, but black smoke could be seen, rapidly expanding into a conical gas mass several meters in diameter; at the tip of the cone, the projectile shot forth, like a demon emerging.

The hot shell casing was ejected, and then the second shell was rammed in.

Boom!

Boom!

After ten shots, Xiao Deyuan only saw others with their mouths open, not knowing what they were saying.

The 212 drove off in a puff of smoke.

Ten kilometers, twenty kilometers, thirty kilometers!

Base-bleed shell, range thirty kilometers and eight hundred thirty-five meters!

Dr. Bu'er Boshi got out of the car, looking at the shell tails embedded in the soil, his expression complex.

"Get the marker out!"

It's similar to the line marker used on the dirt playground, actually just a big funnel; you pour a bag of white lime on top, and as you push it, the lime falls down, forming a marking line.

Dr. Bu'er Boshi personally operated the marker, drawing a circle on the ground that enclosed all ten shell tips, then he took a tape measure and began measuring the circle.

"Eighty-three meters!" Dr. Bu'er Boshi looked at the tape measure's end, his expression complex: "On a thirty-kilometer range, the circumferential error is under a hundred meters! This accuracy is number one in the world!"

The high-explosive shell of the 155mm howitzer explodes, with a dense fragmentation lethal radius of sixty meters and a maximum lethal radius of over three hundred meters! Now, at maximum range, this shell's error is less than one hundred meters—that absolutely means you can hit wherever you want to hit!

The GC45 howitzer, at this range, already has a circular error of over two hundred meters! And when using date-core bombs, striking at a distance of forty kilometers, the circular error reaches as high as five hundred meters!

Bu'er Boshi's face was full of shock: "Your Ha Gong Da's cannon is number one in the world!"