I want to be emperor

Chapter 310 Flintlock Pistol
In the conference room of the palace, Lieutenant General Xu Zhixian, Chief of Staff, Wang Xiazi, Director of the Cavalry and Commander of the First Cavalry Brigade, and Zhu Xingfa, Deputy Director of the Cavalry, stood in front of Luo Zhixue.

At this time Xu Zhixian said: "As we all know, we lack horses, and we lack well-trained elite cavalry!"

"From the beginning of the Funiu Mountain to the present, we have accumulated a total of less than [-] elite cavalry. We also lost some in the early battles, and some were assigned to various divisions to serve as the backbone of scout cavalry. The rest Most of them are concentrated in the [-]st Cavalry Brigade, with a total of three regiments and nine outposts, with a total force of no more than [-] cavalry."

"Only relying on the one thousand and one hundred cavalry is unable to compete with the large number of frontier cavalry of the Ming army. According to the information we have collected, there are frontier cavalry led by Wu Sangui in Runing Mansion. They have at least three thousand cavalry; Ru There is also a cavalry of about [-] cavalry under the command of Zuo Liangyu on the front line of the state. In addition, there is a cavalry of about [-] cavalry on the front line of Jiangbei, and there is also a cavalry of [-] that is said to be transferred from Beizhili, Shandong and other places to deploy in Jiujiang. Line!"

"Once we start the eastward campaign, the Ming army is very likely to mobilize Wu Sangui's troops from the Runing Mansion to go south. The total strength of this frontier army is about 1, of which [-] are fine cavalry."

"That is to say, after we develop the Eastward Campaign, we will most likely face elite cavalry with a scale of at least [-] to [-] cavalry."

"We have all dealt with these cavalry. They are all elite cavalry capable of riding and shooting, and they are not weak."

"We only have the [-]st Cavalry Brigade, and we may not be able to fight against it."

"As for the cavalry of our divisions, to be honest, it's hard to be a big task!"

When Xu Zhixian said this, Wang Xiazi also interjected: "It's not that I, Old Wang, magnify the words and really pull out to fight. The first cavalry brigade just pulls out a cavalry post, and can defeat any of our divisional cavalry regiments." , if you fight smoothly, you can even wipe them out..."

"The [-]st Cavalry Brigade is all single-rider and double-horse. They can ride on horseback and shoot, and they can also charge in formation. However, the cavalry regiments belonging to each division lack the ability to ride and shoot, and it is very difficult to charge in formation!"

Zhu Xingfa, deputy director of the cavalry, also said: "In a fight, the cavalry of the [-]st Cavalry Brigade can take advantage of the horses, use the advantages of cavalry and archery, repeatedly adopt cavalry and archery operations, and gradually encroach on hunting. rush ahead!"

"The cavalry of the divisional cavalry regiment will not have any chance of winning against the elite cavalry!"

Luo Zhixue listened to what they said without interjecting, but continued to wait.

Sure enough, after Xu Zhixian glanced at Wang Xiazi and Zhu Xingfa, he immediately said: "However, the lack of war horses and professional cavalry is an objective fact of our existence, and this cannot be solved in a short time, even if we have already obtained from Shaanxi and other places through secret channels. It is impossible to reverse this disadvantage in a short time by purchasing some war horses in the direction, and recruiting cavalry with excellent riding and archery skills from the civilian population!"

"After discussing with the ministers and others, it can be regarded as finding a method that is not a solution."

"Assign muskets to the existing divisional cavalry!"

At this time, Xu Zhixian glanced at Zhu Xingfa and said, "Your Majesty, Deputy Director Zhu proposed the Musketeer Cavalry. Let him tell you about the Musketeer Cavalry's thinking."

Luo Zhixue nodded slightly, then turned his gaze to Zhu Xingfa.

At this time, Zhu Xingfa took a step forward, opened a large notebook in his hand, and said at the same time: "Our divisions belong to cavalry regiments. Whether it is the cavalry regiments of the main division or the cavalry regiments of the garrison division, most of the cavalry have not passed the long-term training. Time-consuming cavalry training, their riding and archery skills are limited, and it is difficult for them to accurately shoot arrows on a warhorse that is running at high speed and bumps."

"If our divisional cavalry use bows, they can't be accurate, and they need to stop to shoot arrows. Well, the same is true for infantry bows."

"And once the cavalry stops, it will be dangerous!"

"At the same time, the enemy's elite cavalry are generally wearing armor. If the divisional cavalry use bows and arrows, they need to be able to break through the armor at a relatively short distance, and if they stop shooting arrows, it will be difficult to resist the enemy's large-scale cavalry shooting and even the impact."

"Since cavalry and shooting can't work, then we simply give up the dead end of salvo and let them switch to muskets!"

"We asked the arsenal to try to produce a batch of muskets with shorter barrels. Although the power and accuracy have dropped slightly, they are still at a usable level."

"If we use matchlock guns, our cavalry can become musketeer cavalry. When necessary, we can dismount and form a formation, and fight directly with matchlock guns. With the bayonet on the matchlock guns, we can also effectively resist the impact of enemy cavalry formation!"

"In my vision, this kind of musketeer cavalry can cooperate with the [-]st Cavalry Brigade in combat and provide fire support to the [-]st Cavalry Brigade."

"At the same time, it can also perform combat missions alone, conduct high-speed maneuvers on the battlefield, force the enemy to change formation, conduct short-distance pursuit and interception operations, etc.!"
"In addition, although it is equipped with a musket, it is still equipped with a saber. Although the ability to charge the battle is not good, it can maintain the ability to charge the battle to a certain extent!"

"However, the most important thing for the Musketeers proposed by the minister is not to cooperate with the infantry, nor is it to cooperate with the first cavalry brigade, but to cooperate with another type of Musketeers!"

Speaking of this, Zhu Xingfa paused for a while, then opened the report in his hand, and said to a picture of a cavalry on it: "Pistol cavalry!"

"This kind of pistol cavalry is matched with musketeer cavalry!"

Pistols?Hearing this word, Luo Zhixue immediately became interested. Luo Zhixue had thought about forming a pistol cavalry before, but it never took shape.

The main reason is that when Luo Zhixue wanted to engage pistol cavalry at the beginning, the spring wheel pistols used by the cavalry were not available for a while, and then the cavalry and archery cavalry led by Wang Xiazi was extremely powerful and the effect was very good, which made Luo Zhixue once It tends to develop cavalry and archery cavalry first, and then directly develop pistol cavalry after the flintlock is produced.

So Luo Zhixue said: "Has a practical spring wheel pistol been made?"

At this time, Zhu Xingfa immediately said: "Hantian Armory has already produced the first batch of pistols. We have tested them. Although there are still some problems of high cost and high failure rate, they are already usable!"

"Your Majesty has brought a sample gun here, and it is kept by the guards outside the hall. Your Majesty, please take a look!"

Although Zhu Xingfa is the deputy director of the cavalry, it is naturally impossible for him to come in with a pistol, even if there is no bullet.

Before coming here, it was handed over to the guards guarding the door for safekeeping.

Luo Zhixue immediately nodded slightly, and ordered the guards to bring in the muskets.

The musket was packed in a small wooden box. Looking at the wooden box, Luo Zhixue thought it was an expensive handicraft specially made by his subordinates, just like the previous spring wheel pistol...

The spring wheel pistol seems to be awesome, but the craftsmanship is too complicated and the cost is huge. If it is exhausted, it can only be equipped with a few elite cavalry, or simply used by senior generals for self-defense or simply stored.

Because the cost is very high, the significance of collection is greater than the significance of actual combat, so the spring wheel pistols of this year are also gold-plated and exquisitely carved.

Luo Zhixue himself owns two of these spring wheel pistols, not to mention gold-plated and inlaid with gemstones... This thing is a handicraft!

It is naturally unrealistic to equip such a spring wheel pistol on a large scale.

The high cost is secondary. The key point is that the processing precision of this thing is too high, and it relies heavily on the manual production of experienced craftsmen, so it is difficult to mass-produce it with machines.

If Zhu Xingfa just took out this kind of pistol to fool people, then Luo Zhixue would get mad on the spot.

But when I opened the wooden box, I found that the pistol inside didn't have exquisite patterns, nor did it have any gold plating, and it looked a little rough at first glance.

And it is this roughness that represents its identity as a mass-produced musket.

As far as the processing accuracy of the machinery and equipment of the Hantian Armory under the Great Chu Empire was concerned, it was impossible to produce too precise. Mass-produced muskets were often far inferior to those hand-made muskets.

After picking it up, Luo Zhixue found that this pistol was different from the two spring wheel pistols in his collection.

This gun, it doesn't have steel wheels...

The spring wheel pistol, that is, the spring wheel pistol that appeared in Europe in the last century, its biggest feature is that it has a steel wheel, and the entire firing mechanism is very similar to the flint lighters of later generations.

But this pistol in my hand has no steel wheel.

Take a closer look, this gun uses a hammer to hit the bolt.

At this time, Zhu Xingfa also introduced: "Your Majesty, this pistol is an improvement based on the previous wheel-wheel pistol, and we also refer to the flintlock you mentioned, Your Majesty."

"The designers of Hantian Armory abandoned the previous steel wheel structure and replaced it with a hammer, so that the design of the entire gun can be greatly simplified. Although the cost is still relatively high, compared to the high cost of cavalry , a slightly more expensive pistol is completely acceptable!"

Luo Zhixue looked at this pistol and didn't know what to say. In his opinion, this thing was exactly the flintlock he knew!

He asked the people below to work on flintlock guns all day long, but the person who researched and designed the quick-fire rifle didn't make it, and the cavalry made a pistol, but they did?
Luo Zhixue said: "Is this the triggering mechanism of a quick-fire gun? It can also be used on infantry muskets, right?"

But Zhu Xingfa showed embarrassment and said: "This..."

"Although the cost of our musket is lower than that of previous pistols, it is still much more expensive than infantry muskets. The cost of each musket is about 20 taels. The main reason is to ensure the firing rate. Many parts are very delicate and need to be used. Precision machinery and experienced craftsmen for production."

20 two one...

This price is too expensive in the eyes of Zhu Xingfa and even Xu Zhixian. When Xu Zhixian heard this price, he just shook his head: "20 taels is too expensive, 20 sticks is 200 taels, and [-] sticks is [-] million..."

But Luo Zhixue at the side shook his head: "20 taels, not expensive!"

(End of this chapter)