1627 Rise of the South China Sea

Chapter 76

"You probably need this." Tom Wang handed Luo Shengdong a strange little object.

Luo Shengdong took it and put it on his face according to Tom Wang's instructions, and found that the eyes were covered by a transparent layer.

"This way you don't have to close your eyes when you wait to shoot." Tom Wang explained to him patiently.

Luo Shengdong suddenly realized, and suddenly felt that the practicality of the Haihan people was really strong.In order to avoid gunpowder splashing and burning the eyes when firing, the musketeers of this era closed their eyes and fired at the last moment of firing.In order to hit a slightly farther target with such a shooting method, it obviously requires a large degree of luck.

When Luo Shengdong first enlisted in the army, he was assigned as a bird and gun soldier and received systematic training.Although the fire gun in hand is different from the bird gun and Lumi gun currently equipped by the Ming army, the general structure of the gun body is the same, and Luo Shengdong will not have any obstacles to operate it.

Luo Shengdong first cleaned the medicine introduction hole and medicine introduction pot in the middle of the gun.This place is very easy to be blocked by gunpowder residue. If you are not careful, the launch will fail due to the inability to ignite.

Then Luo Shengdong picked up the medicine and poured it into the medicine pot carefully, then closed the lid, and gently blew away the medicine scattered outside the medicine pot.Then take the vial marked "Propellant" and pour the propellant from the muzzle into the barrel.Luo Shengdong noticed that the gunpowder used by the Haihan people was not in the form of powder, but in the form of tiny particles.According to the normal operating procedures, the gun can be loaded with as much gunpowder as the lead, and the weight of the gunpowder should be the same as the weight of the bullet.But Luo Shengdong didn't understand the difference in performance between this gunpowder and the gunpowder he used before. Out of prudence, he reduced the usual weight a little.

Luo Shengdong picked up a lead bullet from the small dish on the table and put it into the muzzle of the gun.Just based on the weight he felt in his hand, Luo Shengdong was almost certain that the caliber of the matchlock gun made by Haihan should be the same as the bird gun equipped by the Ming army.

Luo Shengdong stretched into the barrel of the gun with a clear rod, rammed the projectile and propellant, then lit the match with a lighter, fixed the match to the match clamp on the gun body, leveled the match gun, and aimed it at a hundred paces away. Target.The target was newly replaced by Tom Wang just now. It was a wooden board with several layers of concentric circles painted with white paint. Even if it was placed a hundred paces away, Luo Shengdong could see it very clearly.

Luo Shengdong held the matchlock stably, pulled the trigger, and at the same time the matchlock fell, the lid of the pot was opened, and the burning gunpowder emitted a dazzling white light, and then he felt a shock in his hand, and the bullet should have been fired.But at the same time the arquebus was fired, the white smoke caused by the burning of gunpowder blocked Luo Shengdong's sight, so he couldn't see the results of his shooting for a while.

Luo Shengdong was not in a hurry to see if he hit the target. After seeking the consent of Tom Wang and others, he tried five more rounds before putting down the matchlock reluctantly.

"How?" Tao Donglai asked with interest.As one of the future customers in the arms business, Luo Shengdong's experience in use is obviously very important, which is the reference for the relevant departments to improve the arquebus process in the future.

Luo Shengdong pondered for a while and said, "This fire gun is slightly heavier than the bird gun that our Ming army is equipped with, but the gun body is extremely stable when shooting. It must be the effect of this wooden handle against the shoulder."

The biggest difference between this arquebus made by Chuanzhong and the bird gun used by the Ming army is the butt on the rear of the gun.Although the bird gun also has a structure similar to the stock, it is more suitable for holding it under the armpit, so that the stability when firing is naturally not much better.In fact, this strange posture of holding a gun did not seem strange at the time, because when shooting, you couldn't open your eyes to aim, so the height of the gun did not need to be the same as the head.The arquebus of the traversal uses the butt design of a modern rifle. When firing, the butt rests on the shoulder, and most of the recoil is removed by the body, and the stability is naturally superior.

Luo Shengdong continued: "I purposely reduced the amount of gunpowder when I loaded it, but the explosive power seems to be better than that of a bird gun. Presumably this gunpowder is also uniquely made."

Tao Donglai nodded lightly with a smile on his face. Of course, the future arms trade will not only sell guns, but the ammunition must also be sold together.In order for the weapons sold to have normal power in use, they must be paired with the special gunpowder made by Chuanzhong.This kind of collocation design is not only to make more money, but also to prevent problems before they happen. Even if potential enemies buy weapons that pass through the crowd through certain channels, they have to be controlled by others on the issue of ammunition.The effect of this restriction will become more pronounced after the introduction of fixed-load rifles and artillery in a few years.

Soon, some militiamen from the recruit battalion retrieved the target that Luo Shengdong was aiming at. Luo Shengdong was surprised to find that several holes had been pierced by bullets in this one-inch-thick wooden board. At this distance The bullet can still maintain such power, which has greatly surpassed the bird gun, and it must be the effect of the unique gunpowder.It is difficult for the bird guns in the Ming army to hit the target at a distance of a hundred paces, and only a few well-made Lumi guns can do it.And even if it hits, it is difficult to have the power to penetrate the target.The arquebuses of the Haihans can directly penetrate an inch thick wooden board at this distance, so at least the power of breaking cotton armor is maintained.In order to penetrate the cotton armor, the general bird gun probably has to shorten this distance.

"Six rounds and three hits, the marksmanship is quite accurate." Tom Wang expressed his appreciation for Luo Shengdong's marksmanship accuracy.

"I'm laughing at me for neglecting to practice!" Luo Shengdong clasped his fists in a complacent gesture.

Qi Jiguang's "New Book of Jixiao" has clear requirements for the accuracy of bird gun shooting: "Eighty steps are used to stand five feet high and two feet wide. ." The diameter of the target that passed through the trees just now is at most two feet in diameter, and Luo Shengdong can maintain a [-]% hit rate at a distance of [-] steps, plus he is using this kind of matchlock gun for the first time, the result is indeed Not easy.In fact, when the military and police department tried to shoot before, because they were not very comfortable with the shooting method, many people hit one out of five shots, and no one could hit the full score at this distance.

"The accuracy of this fire gun is comparable to that of Lu Mi's gun, and its power is superior. It must be quite difficult to build, right?" Luo Shengdong probed cautiously.

Since Luo Shengdong is interested in taking the initiative to ask questions, Tao Donglai is naturally willing to answer his questions: "I know that the bird guns used by the Ming army are very difficult to build, and it often takes skilled craftsmen a month to build a bird gun. Done. But our arquebus is not so troublesome, different jobs produce different parts, and it only takes a skilled worker about a day to assemble a gun.”

Luo Shengdong's eyes widened immediately. He didn't know whether what Tao Donglai said was true, but if the Haihan people could really shorten the production time of this kind of fire gun to one day, that would be a great thing.Let’s not talk about the cost, the speed of this equipment is that the Ming army can never keep up, and it is rare to change the equipment once in decades. You must know that the bird guns and Lu Mi guns currently equipped by the Yazhou defenders, there are quite a few Some of them are old things from the Wanli period, which can be used to scare people in peacetime, but it is difficult to use them in actual combat during wartime, because no one knows whether the rusted cannon will explode when it is fired.If it weren't for this, the last time Luo Shengdong led a sneak attack on the Chuanzhong, they would not have been hit with a [-]-[-] casualty ratio.

Of course, Tao Donglai's statement is actually watery, because if Chuanzhong wants to manufacture firearms on a large scale, it will definitely take the form of separate processing of parts and then assembly in an assembly line, and this so-called "one day" is actually based on the cost of In terms of working hours, the actual time required is more than this number.But even so, the industrialized manufacturing method will leave its counterparts in the Ming Dynasty far behind in terms of production efficiency, and correspondingly, there is a huge gap in manufacturing costs.

According to the "Shen Qipu" written by Zhao Shizhen, a firearms expert in the Ming Dynasty, "The value of the blunderbuss is only the cost of one person's settlement and one month's food." According to the price calculation at that time, the settlement cost of a soldier varies from region to region, about Between five and ten taels.The Lumi gun with higher precision is more sophisticated and complex, so the cost is almost doubled.According to what Luo Shengdong learned from his father, during the Wanli period, the purchase price of these Lumi blunderbuss distributed to the frontier army by the imperial court was around 20 taels of silver, and the bird blunderbuss were all around [-] taels of silver.Despite the high price, Daming still gritted his teeth and widely equipped the troops with individual firearms mainly bird guns.

Luo Shengdong was now familiar with Chuan Zhong, so he told a little about what he knew.After listening to Tao Donglai, he asked Wang Tom: "How about, how much advantage can our products have in terms of cost?"

Tom Wang shook his head and said, "It's useless for you to ask me, I'm just engaged in technology, not cost management. I only know that our arquebus will definitely be lower than the price that Mr. Luo said, but as for how much lower, you have to Go ask the person in charge of the project."

Luo Shengdong shook his head and said, "No need to bother, this fire cannon is excellent, but even if the price is low, Yazhou Water Village has no right to buy it on its own. The replacement of ordnance must at least be reported to Qiongzhou Fucheng."

Tao Donglai let out a sigh, shook his head and sighed, "Bureaucracy hurts people!"

However, this arquebus is still in the trial production stage. Even if it starts to be produced in small batches, it will definitely be equipped with the militia first.As for the export of arms, it is unlikely in the short term, at least until the technical department has made a flintlock gun with a higher technical content to ensure that there is a technological generation gap between its own arms and the arms exported.Therefore, Tao Donglai is not too worried about the export of arms. Since Luo Shengdong has indicated that there are still difficulties, it is better to take it step by step.

(End of this chapter)