A small soldier of the frontier army in the late Ming Dynasty

Chapter 140 The Power of Firearms
"put!"

A deafening volley of firecrackers rang out, followed by a thick cloud of white smoke.

The loud noise of the firecracker and the scorching flame of the projectile surprised Lu Xiangsheng and the others behind him. Looking ahead, the thick wooden plank erected fifty steps away had already been smashed into pieces. This kind of power can be seen Ji Shiwei and the others all looked pale.

In front of Wang Dou, a group of firecrackers in the Han Dynasty sentry was shooting in three layers, with the front two rows squatting and the back row standing.At this time, it was the back row that was shooting. After shooting, they took out a fixed paper cartridge ammunition from the oil-packed ammunition pouch on their backs, and quickly reloaded the ammunition again.

"put!"

"put!"

"put!"

"put!"

The deafening volley sounded after another, and after the group of firecrackers fired three rounds of firecrackers in sequence, the thick wooden board erected in front was gone, and the choking smell of gunpowder smoke permeated everywhere, making it difficult to see ahead.

After a long time, Lu Xiangsheng coughed, and Ji Shiwei beside him turned pale, and East Route Counselor Zhang Guowei and East Route guerrilla Mao Bin were also dumbfounded.There were also security guards guarding Li Yi'an and the others, their faces full of disbelief.Their army is also equipped with a large number of firearms, such as bird guns and three-eyed guns, but none of them has such power as Wang Dou.

"The fruit is sharp!"

After a long time, Lu Xiangsheng said something, took the firecracker from a firecracker soldier and watched it carefully.

He fondled the black and thick gun body fondly, as if he had discovered something, and said, "This is a bird gun."

Obviously, what Lu Xiangsheng is holding is a bird's gun. Although the body of the gun is slightly shorter and the muzzle is slightly larger, it is undoubtedly a bird's gun.

Wang Doudao: "Reporting to the governor, it is indeed a blunderbuss, but it is just a little improvement for the humble position."

He said: "Slaves often wear two or even three layers of heavy armor. The bullets are too small to break through the heavy armor they wear."

Lu Xiangsheng nodded, and said: "The muzzle is big, and the gun is filled with more seeds, so the power is indeed increased, but the range must be shorter. If the slaves charge up, so what?"

Wang Dou said: "Firearms can only stop the enemy. To repel the slaves, you need to rely on the determination of the soldiers to die and the daily practice of skills."

Lu Xiangsheng nodded with emotion. Now the Ming army already has various more advanced firearms, such as Lumi blunderbuss, self-generating blunderbuss, etc., but they do not have much advantage against the Qing soldiers. Except for the quality problem, it is because the soldiers No courage to fight in close quarters.

Strictly speaking, the improved blunderbuss in Wang Dou's hands is only ordinary, an old technology decades ago in Ming Dynasty, but it is very powerful, making it unforgettable.In addition, their soldiers have the spirit of daring to fight, and it is only natural that they can repel the Qing soldiers.

He said: "Your sergeant shot calmly and quickly just now, it must be the result of daily training, right?"

Just now Lu Xiangsheng saw that Wang Dou used the three-layer shooting tactic, but it is not surprising that the three-layer firearm shooting tactic is commonly used in the Ming army now.Lu Xiangsheng was not even surprised by the custom-packed ammunition in paper tubes. Most of Ming's firearms soldiers used gunpowder and projectiles in quantitative packages, but one used bamboo tubes and the other packed gunpowder and projectiles together. However, this idea can be used for reference.

Wang Doudao: "Exactly, the use of fixed ammunition in Fort Shun is one of them. The most important thing is the rigorous training of the soldiers on weekdays. If you practice a lot, you will be able to take it easy in battle."

Lu Xiangsheng nodded. According to his estimation, the three-round firing speed of Shunxiang Fort's gunfire soldiers just now, if in the field, if the enemy's infantry charged into the formation, they would not be able to get close at all, and they would be defeated by the fierce gunfire.However, this requires rigorous training to overcome the fear of the battlefield, to achieve fast reloading, and to exert the maximum power of firearms.

He pondered for a while, and said: "Just now I saw that your sergeant shoots calmly, without worrying about the danger of explosion. The governor watched it carefully, and it is indeed excellent. Is there any skilled craftsman in your fort?"

Although the body of the blunderbuss in Lu Xiangsheng's hand was very hot, and the muzzle was still emitting light smoke, there was no danger of the barrel exploding. The shooting just now proved this point.

Seeing what Lu Xiangsheng said, many eyes looked at Wang Dou. There are many bird guns in each army, but the sergeants are generally unwilling to use them. Gun, it seems that there is no such worry.They also wanted to hear Wang Dou explain why.

Wang Doudao: "There are no skilled craftsmen in a humble job. Now the craftsmen in Shunbao are all the craftsmen left over from the past. In fact, it is very simple to make excellent firearms. You only need to supervise the craftsmen on weekdays and severely punish craftsmen who make unqualified firearms. Those who work hard will be rewarded." Punish the lazy and ensure sufficient supply of raw materials.”

The firecrackers of Shunxiang Fort are indeed not advanced weapons, nor do they have any technical content. As long as the generals of each fort put their minds to it, they can actually create firecrackers like Shunxiang Fort.So Wang Dou had nothing to hide.

Wang Dou said it simply, but Lu Xiangsheng thought a lot. After a long time, he sighed.

He said to Wang Dou, "Wang Dou, would you like to give this bird gun to Ben Du?"

Wang Dou hurriedly said: "The governor is willing to accept this firecracker, it is the honor of Shunbao, so just take it."

Only the firecracker soldier showed a regretful expression in his eyes. The firecracker in the hands of the Shunxiang castle firecracker is the lifeblood of every firecracker, but then he received a reward of five taels of silver, yes Lu Xiangsheng rewarded him.

Lu Xiangsheng handed the blunderbuss to Chen An, who was beside him. Chen An fondled the blunderbuss. Lu guerrilla Mao Bin was also poking around.

Chen An suddenly saluted Wang Dou: "Wang Qianhu, I don't understand something, I hope you can advise me."

For Lu Xiangsheng, a confidant general, Wang Dou didn't dare to neglect, he hurriedly said: "General, please speak, I dare not take advice."

Chen Andao: "The fruit of a certain Guanshun Fort's blunderbuss is excellent and sharp, and there is no hidden danger of bombing. I don't know if it will be like the other blunderbusses in combat, with the disadvantages of misfiring and failure to fire?"

Bird guns, that is, front-loading matchlock guns, generally have the problem of misfiring. The main reason is that the ignition powder of Huomen is easy to be blown away by the wind or wet by rain, especially in the north of Daming, where there are often strong winds. , the misfire rate of bird guns in combat is higher.

The "Bing Lu" in the 34th year of Wanli once said: "Three-eyed guns and bird-billed guns, the bird's beak is more used in the south but less in the north, and the three-eyed gun is more used in the north but less in the south. Why is this? The north is cold and windy. The bird's beak must be hit by hand, and it is not easy to use force. Once the fire door is opened and the wind is very strong, the letter medicine will be blown away first, and the fire door will be easily broken by pushing the letter. This three-eyed blunderbuss has three blunderbusses in one shot, and each blunderbuss holds two or three lead balls, and waits for the enemy to aim and fire within thirty steps. The blunderbuss are used to replace the saps, and the captives have iron helmets and iron armor. Although the sharp blades cannot penetrate, they can only be struck with this blunderbuss, so it is different from the northern bird blunderbuss and the three-eyed blunderbuss."

It is easy to explode the chamber, and it is easy to misfire, so it is reasonable that the bird blunderbuss is not as popular as the three-eyed blunderbuss in the north of the Ming Dynasty.Even the firecrackers of Shunxiang Fort, no matter how well-made they are, the misfiring rate of the firecrackers on weekdays can reach [-]%.This was still fighting against the Qing soldiers in summer. If it was autumn and winter, the power of the firecrackers in the hands of the Shunxiang army would be greatly weakened.

Thinking of this problem, Wang Dou was also in a daze, remembering that Zhao Shizhen, an arms expert in history, had invented a Xuanyuan blunderbuss, which seemed to be able to solve this problem, but he hadn't seen the real thing himself, and he didn't know whether it was reliable or not.

At the current stage, Wang Dou is unable to solve this problem.

He said honestly: "Yes, my firecrackers in Shunbao have a misfiring rate of up to [-]% on weekdays."

Chen An was greatly disappointed, and said: "If the firecracker can't be fired with dumb fire, what should we do when the bandits get close?

Wang Dou said: "There is no other way, maybe rely on soldiers to fight hand to hand."

Chen An sighed and stopped asking.

……

Next, Lu Xiangsheng watched the skill performance of the Wangdou spearmen. He saw that many sergeants could stab various targets on the human-shaped wooden handles with their spears from twenty steps away. was deeply impressed.

If the less courageous enemy army sees the spearmen of Shun Township Fort rushing so aggressively, it will be three points shorter in momentum first, and it may be difficult to block their one-shot attack.Ji Shiwei's face was a little pale, and the generals and guerrillas in the East Road also felt that the soldiers of Shun Xiangbao were too murderous.

Lu Xiangsheng asked, Wang Dou's assessment of martial arts is divided into three grades and nine grades based on Qi Shuai's actual training records. According to Wang Dou, the highest grade of skills for the sergeants in Shunxiang Fort is the upper middle grade. There are many sergeants waiting, whether they are armored warriors in the military book or strong soldiers in Shunxiang Fort.

Hearing this, Lu Xiangsheng was silent, thinking more and more about the issue of the head, but he didn't say anything, just said: "Wang Dou, you gather all the soldiers and civilians in the fort, and the governor will personally give them comfort."

……

Wang Dou asked Lin Daofu to recruit the soldiers and civilians inside and outside the fort. During the recruitment process, Lu Xiangsheng did not enter the fort. He just walked along the outside of the fort. Seeing Lu Xiangsheng's interest, listening to Wang Dou's explanation, he nodded with great interest. He also saw the traces of the battlefield outside the south gate, with large blood spots, which showed the tragedy of the time.

Seeing this situation, not to mention the surprise of the security guard Li Yi'an and others, they knew that Shun Township Fort had gone through a tragic offensive and defensive battle, but they didn't expect it to be so tragic.Huailong Bingbei Dao Ji Shiwei and Donglu General, Guerrilla and others were also speechless.

Outside the south gate, Wang Doulue briefly talked about the offensive and defensive battles at that time. He focused on the people who died under Shunxiang Fort. At the foot of Busan, Beiqian built graves for them and built a temple."

Lu Xiangsheng closed his eyes slowly, and finally he said: "Wang Dou, take me to watch. For those soldiers and civilians who died in battle, I will personally offer incense to them."

(End of this chapter)