Picturesque Rivers and Mountains in the Red Chamber

Chapter 336 5.18 "Army Firearms" is really ready to enter
Volume [-]

5.18 "Army Firearms" is really ready to enter
"Hahaha, Ziyang is so late!" A few days later, on a ship in the center of the Yangtze River with five hundred materials in hand, Xue Xun laughed and greeted Zhou Yang who had just boarded the ship, "I have known for a long time that you are a What I could do, but I didn’t expect it to be so powerful. The eight major salt merchants in Yangzhou are world-famous, and you took down three of them in just over a month!"

"Second uncle is serious." Zhou Yang smiled and cupped his hands, and waved his hands to signal Li Xiong and Li Hu behind him to follow the sailors on board to go elsewhere, and then followed Xue Xun into the living room, "Although the salt merchant is not famous, his strength It's indeed not bad, but to say how difficult it is to deal with is to flatter them. No matter how big the backer is, it must be able to play its role.

This time the Bao family and the Wang family joined forces and killed Mr. Lin's wife and only son. It's not just a "bad rule" that can be explained clearly. I was able to lead troops into Yangzhou only after receiving an order. Because the backers of the salt merchants have been restrained, even under such conditions, the impeachment of Mr. Lin may be enough to make food in the palace. "

"Is this so?" Menlin, I can no longer be like this now, spending most of my time on the island and not even daring to go home too much."

"What, is it possible that with all the roads in the capital, there are still people who dare to reach out to a business?" Zhou Yang frowned suddenly.

"It's easy for outsiders to talk about, but not all problems can be solved by the relationship in the capital!" Xue Xun said with a wry smile, "Not to mention the outside world, even in Jinling City, there are more than one family that can make the old man three points."

"Zhen family?" Zhou Yang asked helplessly. Jinling City was the capital of the founding period of the Zhou Dynasty. Although it has lost its glory, many families still stay here. However, most of these powerful families know how to maintain their power. Being low-key, the only ones who can give Xue Xun such a headache are basically the Zhen family.

"Okay, let's not talk about them for now." Xue Xun changed the topic impatiently, then knocked on the table and said, "Here, bring the things over - Ziyang, I really didn't expect that the original match rope The gun was slightly improved, just by replacing the match rope with flint impact, and it actually made the fire blunderbuss so easy to use."

"Congratulations to the second uncle!" Zhou Yang said with a smile and cupped his hands.

"Boy, you are still pretending at this time. I have it here, how can I miss yours?" Xue Xun laughed and stood up and hammered Zhou Yang before taking the newly issued flintlock gun from the servant Said, "Basically, except for replacing the original match rope with flint impact and replacing it with a steel piece with greater elasticity, the other changes are very small.

However, in addition to the gun itself, I also added a hook seat to the front end of the handguard according to your tips to facilitate the installation of the bayonet you 'designed', especially the function of disassembling the tenon. The great craftsmen who usually have high standards in the industry were full of praise and said that with this, they can throw away things like steel knives and spears from now on. "

Zhou Yang smiled and nodded. He took the freshly made flintlock gun from his hand and looked carefully. The caliber was about six feet (fourteen millimeters). The barrel was shortened again, but it was also two and a half feet (nearly six hundred millimeters). After being equipped with a gun stock, a flintlock and other structures, the total length is close to five feet and the weight is about eight kilograms. Normal people can adapt to the operation with a little training.

The whole gun is black and shiny, and its appearance is somewhat similar to the bolt-action rifles used in World War II in real history. The handguard extends to not far from the muzzle, and a tenon seat is installed on the front end of the handguard; the handguard is not a one-piece structure. Instead, it is processed separately from the gun stock, obviously to reduce the difficulty of the process; the entire gun only has fine iron and wood, without any unnecessary decoration.

The total length of the bayonet is slightly more than two feet (half a meter). The cross-section of the blade is basically an acute-angled triangle. The width decreases straightly from the handle to the front, and is finally formed into a bevel shape to form the tip. It only has a blood groove on one side to reduce weight, and the back of the blade is thick. , obviously to increase the strength when the material is only fine iron; the final fusiliator is similar to the real brown bass, except that the elastic parts are replaced by steel leaf springs.

Zhou Yang looked at the bayonet again, and slowly put the hanging ring on the barrel. Then he aligned the bayonet holder with the latch and pressed hard. It clicked into place, which made him frown. He pressed the latch again. After removing the bayonet from the tenon, the disassembly and assembly feel is obviously much harder than that of modern firearms, or not smooth enough. This is obviously because the steel leaf spring is not as suitable as the spring.

"What a gun!" Zhou Yang couldn't help but say in admiration. In any case, the birth of this flintlock gun also means that his "military firearms" can truly enter. Only a flintlock gun with a bayonet can truly replace it. Cold weapons have become the absolute mainstay in the army, and the original matchlock gun cannot.

Because it is fired with open flames, the arquebus gunners must keep a distance of about one meter to ensure safety when fighting, so they cannot form a sufficient density. Even if they are equipped with bayonets, they are not enough to form a "gun formation" and can only be like bows and crossbows. , providing suppressive firepower for cold weapon troops and unable to carry out combat missions independently.The flintlock gun is different, and the advantage of flint hitting and firing allows the flintlock gunners to line up in a "crowded" density, forming a dense barrage in front of the enemy; once the bayonet is installed, the full length of more than six feet It is basically equivalent to a short spear, which is enough for the shooter to no longer need to carry any additional cold weapons.

In this way, an array of hundreds, thousands or even tens of thousands of fusiliers can create overwhelming firepower and tear apart any target within a hundred steps. This does not include the necessary artillery support; even if it is attacked by the enemy At close range, they can also fight with bayonets, and well-trained fusiliers can also charge with bayonets.

"Of course it's a good gun!" Xue Xun laughed and picked up another flintlock gun, loaded it with his own hands, aimed it out the window, and fired with a "bang" sound. "Now the nearly two thousand guards on the island have all changed their uniforms. From now on, If you need it, just send a message to the island, and I can give you the troops and horses you have in Daye in less than two months!"

"It's too slow." Zhou Yang smiled slightly at Xue Xun's surprised expression, "I already received the news when I left Yangzhou. I don't have to come back when I go to Beijing this time. The Beijing camp will arrange for me a fourth-grade We are really short of troops. At least three thousand households of troops and horses, and three thousand flintlock muskets are definitely not enough. One year is too long to replace them."

"You - okay, okay, okay, hahaha!" Even in Xue Xun's city, the corners of his mouth were trembling at this time. It took him a long time to react, "Don't worry Ziyang, I will organize the manpower when I get back. According to what you said Yes, we will work in three shifts to produce at full capacity, and we will ensure that all employees will change their costumes before the end of the year."

"Second uncle, don't forget, it's not just a rifle." Zhou Yang quickly reminded.

"Don't worry, even if I forget to eat now, I will never forget the cannon!" Xue Xun laughed and pulled Zhou Yang out, then walked along the stairs to the lower deck, pointed to several new cannons on the gun emplacement and said, "See Isn't it? This is the "ten catty field gun" you mentioned repeatedly. Unfortunately, it weighs too much, and it is nearly three thousand catties including the gun mount.

It's definitely not possible to expect horses to run around. There is absolutely no problem in mounting it on a ship. We have tried it. This three-thousand-jin artillery is absolutely inferior to the five-thousand-jin general's cannon on the head of the capital. I have already Give those red-haired ghosts a reward. If they can reduce the weight of the cannon to a little more than two thousand catties, I will give them 1000 taels per person! "

"It's okay, take your time!" Zhou Yang smiled and looked at it. This cargo ship, which cost about [-] materials, had six gun positions on each side under the deck. It was obviously designed according to the standard of "armed merchant ship", or in other words, The Xue family and his son have not yet built a "special-purpose battleship." "Speaking of which, if it is used on a ship, this cannon is still a bit small."

"You have to eat your food one bite at a time." Xue Xun obviously didn't want to continue, "On the contrary, the infantry cannon we have been using before, the craftsmen on the island have just improved it. The wheels of the gun carriage use the 'roller rod bearings' you mentioned. , now you just need to find an animal at random, as long as you make sure to feed it well, you can pull it for as long as you like, no problem!"

"That's fine." Zhou Yang smiled slightly, not expecting to convince the Xue family and his son to develop special warships in one step. "In the future, I will need at least six artillery units in hand. Plus other needs, a hundred infantry cannons are indispensable. Plus I don’t need to worry about the [-] flintlock muskets, leather armors, military uniforms, etc. I’ll have someone deliver them to my uncle if I need as much silver as I need.”

“What are you talking about?” The production on my island is not enough; but I have another news that I believe you are more interested in. Just a few days ago, Zhu'er finally got in touch with the Dongping Palace!"

"These old guys, every one of them talks nicer than the last, and it's really suffocating to do things." Zhou Yang shook his head speechlessly. When he took office in Daye Qianhu, this group of people said they could help solve the war horse problem. Now, He was so promoted that he finally struck up a conversation, "Okay, my second uncle will help me get three hundred horses first, so I can finally make up two hundred cavalry households."

"That's fine!"

"Second uncle, don't worry!"

(End of this chapter)