I want to be emperor

Chapter 312 Born to be shot in line
Zhu Xingfa did not expect that the cavalry pistol he strongly supported not only solved the problem of the weak combat effectiveness of the Chu army cavalry, but also promoted the research and development of the Suifa rifle, and even further promoted the development of queue shooting.

The flintlock research of the Great Chu Empire, in fact, the official research and development institution is the Firearms Research Institute under the Ministry of Industry. The predecessor of this firearms research is also the flintlock research group under the Xiangyang Arsenal, which has always been responsible for the research and development of flintlocks. .

But I didn't expect that the Firearms Research Institute did not produce mature and usable products. Instead, the independent cavalry pistol project team within Hantian Armory produced it.

At the same time, the cavalry pistol project team inside the Hantian Armory was improved based on the original spring wheel pistol. The name of this project has always been the spring wheel pistol... Even after it was developed, it was also called the wheel wheel pistol improved... ...not directly called a quick-fire pistol.

Even the firearms research room that was established didn't know that Hantian Factory had already produced a quick-fire pistol.

This, in fact, also exposed the problems of poor information communication and inadequate management among the research and development institutions under the Ministry of Industry and the various arsenals.

Luo Zhixue summoned Yuan Gaofeng, Shangshu of the Ministry of Industry and Minister of Counseling, Ding Gangyi, Supervisor of Hantian Arsenal, Lieutenant General Hu Hongzhuo, Minister of Ordnance Department, Wu Wenhua, director of the Firearms Research Institute in Wuchang, and others arrived.

A special discussion was held on the issue of quick-firing muskets.

However, a large group of people participating in the meeting were either generals or officials, and only Ding Gangyi and Wu Wenhua were playing with technology.

So this meeting is still centered on these two people.

At the very beginning of the meeting, Wu Wenhua from the Firearms Research Institute took a closer look at the Suifa cavalry pistol, and muttered to himself while looking at it: "It turns out that this is the case, and the design of the gun mechanism is quite simple. Why did dozens of us before I didn't expect to do this..."

Zhu Xingfa said: "Let's do research and development. Sometimes it's all about a little inspiration and some luck."
"Otherwise, it wouldn't be that we thought of using percussion ignition. When I first said that we were going to use percussion ignition, I didn't believe it. It's a lot of effort to hit it directly and shoot sparks. Ten catties!"

"But we tested it a few times later, and found that it is really feasible. The firing rate can reach about [-]%, but the processing precision of the bolt is a bit higher, and the requirements for the spring are also relatively high!"

"However, we have contacted Hantian Ironworks before. Although the springs they helped us produce are not good enough, they can still be used barely."

When Zhu Xingfa said it, he was half-truth and half-false...

He would not say that the reason why they were able to produce this quick-fire pistol so quickly was purely because the person who just passed the Military Intelligence Department last month bought a new type of percussion pistol from the barbarians at a high price from the coast. The suifa pistol is rumored to have originated from a barbarian country called France in the West.

After getting it back, Zhu Xingfa did not hesitate to have someone copy the design of the gun!
But there's no need to say that.

Even if he said it out, Zhu Xingfa could say with a cheeky face: Although we have borrowed a little, most of it is our own, and the quick-fire pistols we made are better than the quick-fire pistols of the barbarians...

The spring of the quick-fire pistol they bought back is not very good. It looks rough in workmanship, and there is an ignorant and backward handicraft atmosphere from top to bottom...Because of poor workmanship, the firing rate is only [-]%. After that, the firing rate was directly increased to more than [-]%.

In this way, a quick-fire pistol that is easy to fire, rain-proof, and has a firing rate that can barely reach the standard of the matchlock gun is made, which is perfect for cavalry.

Wu Wenhua ignored Zhu Xingfa, but continued to look at it on his own, and said while looking at it: "This design is already relatively perfect, and we can also slightly change the details of the gun mechanism later to make it more perfect." Be reasonable."

"Give me half a month, and I will be able to come up with the final design of the gun mechanism. For the design of the whole gun, we can directly use the existing matchlock gun, and the overall change will not be too big."

Speaking of this, Wu Wenhua looked around and said, "However, the final cost may not be low. After all, the flintlock gun has higher processing technology and more parts. Of course, these still depend on the opinion of the arsenal."

At this time, Luo Zhixue turned his attention to Ding Gangyi, the supervisor of the Hantian Arsenal, and Ding Gangyi immediately said: "Your Majesty, our Hantian Factory has already conducted production tests on the Suifei pistols for cavalry, because there are more parts and more processing. The accuracy is higher, because the production cost is also higher, and our preliminary quotation is 20 taels of silver!"

"This is mainly because the output is relatively low. We refit the production line and the cost of training workers is relatively high..."

At this time, Ding Gangyi glanced at everyone, especially Xu Zhixian, the powerful general of the army, and said, "Now we are going to make flintlock guns for infantry. The final price depends on how much the army buys!"

At this time, Xu Zhixian smiled: "As long as you can make it, the first order is [-] pieces!"

Hearing the order of 16 pieces, Ding Gangyi immediately showed a smile: "If there are [-] pieces, then the problem is simple. If the output is more, the cost of some research and development and production lines will be diluted. If there are [-] pieces, we will It can be priced at around [-] taels for the army.”

Xu Zhixian shook his head slightly: "The [-] pieces I mentioned is the first batch of orders!"

"That is to say, there will be a second batch and a third batch later..."

"We now have an army of more than 20, and we are preparing to have one of the Suifu rifles. By then, this will be an order of more than 20."

"So, you don't have to worry about no orders, at least 20 pieces. The premise is that you lower the price. Now the price is more than three times that of the matchlock gun, which is too expensive!"

Ding Gangyi thought for a moment after hearing this: "If the army is determined to change its equipment in an all-round way, our arsenal will cooperate no matter what, and it must be that the larger the output, the cheaper the price, but how much the specific price can be achieved, I still have to Go back and discuss with the factory before you can give the army an answer!"

Xu Zhixian said: "This is the best!"

Xu Zhixian was not worried that the lion on Ding Gangyi's side would open his mouth, otherwise, even if Ding Gangyi opened his mouth, His Majesty would not agree.

The arsenal and even the entire Ministry of Industry, in the final analysis, still exist for the military to supply weapons.

Although the financial budget and independent financial positions are now adopted, the relationship between the military and several arsenals is still close.

Luo Zhixue said at this time: "Since this is the case, there is no need to delay. Turn around and cooperate more with the Firearms Research Institute and the Hantian Factory to try to produce infantry flintlock guns as soon as possible. The Hantian Factory can start the production of quick-fire pistols. Accumulate experience, train workers, and quickly put into production after the infantry version is out."

"The Eastward Campaign is imminent, and the quick-fire rifle may not be used for a while, but try to get a batch of quick-fire pistols first and equip the cavalry first."

Xu Zhixian, Yuan Gaofeng, Ding Gangyi, Wu Wenhua and others immediately said in unison: "Observe the order!"

After the meeting ended, Luo Zhixue took the sample gun of the quick-fire pistol away.

He's going to put the gun away.

Although the workmanship of this gun is actually very ordinary, far less exquisite than the two spring wheel pistols he collected before, but this gun has greater practical and historical significance.

This is the first percussion-type quick-fire gun that can be mass-produced in the history of China. It is much more important than the flashy wheel pistol that can only be used as a collectible and cannot be popularized on a large scale.

In the next few days, Luo Zhixue continued to discuss with Xu Zhixian and other generals about the equipment of the flintlock.

The equipment of the flintlock not only means that the musketeers have changed a type of rifle, but even their tactics have been changed.

Once flintlock guns are equipped on a large scale, it means that the Chu army must establish a brand-new organization and tactical system from beginning to end, so that the tactical role of this new weapon can be maximized.

In this regard, Xu Zhixian and others proposed to establish an experimental force to test new tactics and new tactics.

For this, Luo Zhixue quickly approved it, so the army quickly mobilized elites from various units to set up the temporary fifth mixed battalion.

The purpose of this provisional formation of the Fifth Mixed Battalion is very simple, that is to explore and test the new formation and new tactics after the replacement of the flintlock, laying the foundation for the subsequent large-scale replacement of the troops.

For this reason, Hantian Armory will employ a group of senior craftsmen in advance to produce a batch of muskets for this mixed battalion by hand, so as to meet the needs of the battalion for live ammunition drills.

The preliminary establishment of the temporary fifth mixed battalion is also different from all other Chu army units.

First of all, the infantry in this mixed battalion are all musketeers, and there are no infantry units such as swordsmen, spearmen, and archers.

There are initially six musket posts, and each musket post has 120 line infantry!

These 120 line-up musketeers did not come blindly, but were made according to the needs of the queue.

If it is a three-row formation, there are 40 people in each row. If you want to strengthen the thickness of the formation, you can also adopt a four-row formation with 30 people in each row.

When necessary, two formations can also be formed to strengthen firepower, so each formation has 60 people.

If you want to prevent cavalry from forming a phalanx, you can form a four-sided hollow phalanx, each side has [-] soldiers, and each side can list a standard three-row formation to resist the impact of cavalry.

For these 120 people, more changes in the formation can be made to meet different needs.

In addition to the 120 line musketeers, there will also be officers and messengers, cooks, grooms, etc., adding up to more than 130 people at one post.

Six gun posts, plus battalion officers, messengers, medical soldiers, heavy soldiers, repair craftsmen, grooms, coachmen, cooks and other personnel, there are about 880 people.

This number is about 200 more than the current main infantry battalion.

In addition, in this mixed battalion, an additional field artillery post was incorporated, with two 120-jin field artillery and two [-]-jin field artillery, and a [-]-man cavalry post.

However, the artillery and cavalry are purely to cooperate with this brand new infantry battalion for various tactical exercises.

The Fifth Mixed Battalion is temporarily organized, and since its establishment, it has been lined up to be shot!
(End of this chapter)