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

Chapter 187

The shooting range next to the Shunxiangbao Gunsmith.

There was a loud bang of gunfire, and the smoke filled the air.

Everyone applauded, Wang Dou also nodded his head, he saw that when Lai Yuanlong tried the gun, the fire gun in his hand was ignited with flint, which is basically the same as the flintlock guns of later generations.He took the firecracker and looked at it carefully. The long matchlock on the firecracker in the past was no longer there. Instead, a piece of flint was clamped on the hammer of the firecracker. At the same time, there was a movable iron cover on the fire door to protect the ignition. , and a rough-grained fire sickle, which is used to rub against the flint that strikes to generate sparks.

Wang Dou couldn't put it down, and all the officers surrounded Wang Dou happily, Han Chao said: "My lord, with this self-generating firecracker, our army can fight in the wind and rain, and we don't need to carry matchlocks. It’s really like a tiger with wings added.”

Wang Dou nodded. The flintlock gunpowder bowl was covered by a cover, so it could fight in the wind and rain, and there was no need to carry an obstructive and dangerous matchlock. A large amount of equipment in the future would indeed greatly enhance the combat power of the Shunxiang Army.Moreover, this flintlock gunpowder has already used a new type of granular gunpowder developed by Li Daji, a gunpowder factory, which has greatly increased its range and power.

In the 14th year of Chongzhen, after Shunxiangbao used the new type of firecracker, the caliber was [-]mm, the gun weighed about nine catties, and the projectiles used were larger and heavier. Iron armor or armor inlaid with iron wool.Forty steps can break through their double-layer armor and shields.Now with this kind of granular gunpowder, Wang Dou reckoned that within a hundred steps, he could kill all Qing soldiers without armor or with a layer of armor, and within seventy steps, that is, within a hundred meters, he could break the armor on their bodies. Multiple layers of heavy armor.

The bows and arrows of the Qing soldiers only have a direct shooting range of about [-] steps. Only when they reach [-] steps can they have obvious lethality against the armored Ming army. In this way, the firepower of Shunxiang Fort can be said to be a big advantage. If their infantry charge, they can take three rounds of continuous shooting calmly.

Wang Dou caressed the flintlock for a long time, and asked Lai Yuanlong, "Ambassador Lai, what are the limitations of this self-generated firecracker?"

Wang Dou remembered that after the flintlock gun was developed in the early days, there were many problems. When he saw Lai Yuanlong shooting just now, it seemed that he needed a lot of force to pull the trigger to make the flint ignite. This made his center of gravity a little unstable and affected the aiming and shooting of the firearm .

Lai Yuanlong said: "To be honest, my lord, many parts of this self-generating firecracker are more complicated and difficult to manufacture. It is still said that it is still difficult to manufacture in large quantities, and the misfire rate of the firecracker is also relatively high."

Flintlock guns are of course simple for later generations, but for the late Ming Dynasty, the craftsmanship was complicated and the price was relatively high. At present, there are not a large number of relevant skilled craftsmen, so it is understandable that it is difficult to make a large number of them. Wang Dou is concerned about this flintlock gun. He asked, "What is the misfire rate of this gun?"

Lai Yuanlong said: "It is estimated to be around [-]%."

There are sighs from left and right. At present, the matchlock guns of Shunxiang Fort, when the weather is good on weekdays, only have a [-]% misfire rate in combat. After the gunpowder pool is equipped with a fire door device that can protect against wind and rain, the misfire rate is even reduced.The rate of blind fire of this automatic self-generating gun is as high as [-]%, what's the use of it?

Wang Dou pondered, because the early flintlock guns used mechanical ignition, the firing efficiency was indeed not high, and after gradually improving, the misfire rate was reduced to about [-]%.At present, flintlock guns are indeed unsatisfactory, and their reliability is far inferior to that of arquebus guns. However, flintlock guns represent the development direction of firearms for later generations, but they have many problems, and they have to invest a lot of money to develop and perfect them.

After the flintlock guns are perfected and the troops are equipped on a large scale, they can use bayonets. At present, the long matchlocks of matchlock guns are in the way, and of course it is impossible to use bayonets.

Wang Dou ordered Lai Yuanlong to continue to improve the flintlock gun and develop a reliable and perfect firing mechanism and safety mechanism. Then he looked at the gun barrel made by the Gunsmith.

Now there are less than [-] craftsmen in the Gunsmith Factory. Not long ago, [-] skilled craftsmen were assigned to the newly built armor factory.Since the gunsmith factory has set up one hundred hydraulic drilling machines, although the number of people is small, the speed of making guns has been greatly accelerated compared to before.

It is conservatively estimated that the current Shunxiangbao Gunsmith Factory can manufacture more than 400 gunfire guns a month, as long as the raw materials can keep up.After all, it takes at least four thousand catties of wrought iron to make one hundred firecrackers a month, and nearly twenty thousand catties of wrought iron to make four or five hundred firecrackers. I am afraid that the town of Xuanfu will not have Shun Township in a month. The fort uses a lot of iron materials.

In the current Huiyaobao Koujiagou Mining Plant, the number of miners has returned to more than 300, and the use of gunpowder has been vigorously exploited. The manpower in Baoan Prefecture has been used to the limit. The refugees don't need wages, they only need Wang Dou to feed them, which saves some costs.

With the increase in the demand for gunpowder, the number of workers in Li Daji Niguan Gunpowder Factory has also increased greatly, from more than 50 people to more than 100 people.

Lai Yuanlong is satisfied with the working efficiency of the hydraulic drilling machines in the Gunsmith Factory. One hundred hydraulic drilling machines can drill [-] gun tubes in a month, and only [-] people are needed to look after them. Compared with the previous manual efficiency, it can be said that it produces However, after using the hydraulic drilling machine, he discovered a problem, that is, the speed regulation of the drilling machine is a problem.

The water flow is often unstable, which makes the drilling speed of the drilling machine unstable. If it is too slow, the tool will break, and if it is too fast, the tool will be overheated and lost, and it will easily cause the gun tube to be scrapped. The work efficiency is improved, but the distance between the tool and the gun tube The scrap rate has also been greatly improved.

How could Wang Dou understand this question?He doesn't study mechanics, he can only ask Lai Yuanlong to study more, at least all kinds of wear and tear should be included in the cost.In short, he will continue to use the technical advantages of the hydraulic drilling machine.

……

In the past few months, Lai Yuanlong and Li Maosen have also perfected the hydraulic forging machine. There are some problems with making gun barrels, but it is feasible to make armor.

This ancient armor has never been easy to make. The peak of Chinese armor is the stepman armor of the Northern Song Dynasty. It is composed of more than 800 armor leaves. These iron armor leaves are connected with leather strips or nails. , There are many processes such as fine grinding, and masks must be made, and leather must be wrapped around the neckline, cuffs, etc. to prevent the clothes and skin from being hurt.It takes many craftsmen several months to make a pair of armor.

At the same time, it was also very difficult to make chain mail in the West. It took several months to make a pair of chain mail. After the rise of Western plate armor, it took a month to make ordinary plate armor.

The craftsmen of Shunxiangbao could make [-] sets of iron armor a month, and at the peak, they had made [-] sets of iron armor.Now the Shunxiangbao Armor Factory has more than [-] craftsmen. Lai Yuanlong suggested to Wang Dou that if ten such hydraulic forging machines are set up, the armor leaves made by the craftsmen of the armor factory alone in a month, including piercing, fine grinding, Including leather and casting helmets, it is very easy to produce sixty sets of armor in one month.

The reason why Lai Yuanlong only suggested setting up ten hydraulic forging machines was because the supply of iron materials could not keep up, and it would be a waste to build them.After all, 3000 pairs of well-made armor, using the same fine iron as the bird's gun, requires at least more than [-] catties of wrought iron a month, and [-] sets of armor require nearly [-] catties of wrought iron.Shun Xiangbao needs other iron materials to make waist knives and long spears.

Huiyaobao Koujiagou Mining Plant needs to supply more than 3 catties of wrought iron every month, and it has already exerted its strength.It is really powerless to ask them to increase the supply.Wang Dou's money and food were also a bit behind.

The matter was decided in this way. In the busy schedule, the time soon came to the end of November in the tenth year of Chongzhen.

At the end of the month, the central government finally decided on the establishment of a garrison in Baoanzhou City and the appointment of Wang Dou as the garrison officer. Good? Wang Dou has made meritorious service to the country, virtuous and capable guards, since there is a shortage of local capital officials, and I heard that the Xuanzhen inspector recommended him, I hope Wang Dou can defend the area."

In the ninth year of Chongzhen, Xuanfu Town East Road beheaded level 280, especially Wang Dou beheaded level [-]. His bravery in battle left a deep impression on Emperor Chongzhen. At that time, he pointed to Wang Dou's name and asked Others: "Who is this Wang Dou, so brave?"

What's more, it was the memorial proposal of Xuanda Governor Lu Xiangsheng, and he personally recommended Wang Dou to defend Baoan Prefecture. Emperor Chongzhen always valued Lu Xiangsheng's favor, and seeing the endless disputes in the Ministry of War, he came out to speak.

Since the emperor Jinkou agreed, Wang Dou's appointment as the guard of Baoan Prefecture was decided accordingly.

Soon, the official documents of the Ministry of War came down, and Wang Dou was promoted to be the commander of the security guards and served as the garrison officer of Baoanzhou City. In the hands of Wang Dou.

Lu Xiangsheng, the governor of Xuanda, was naturally relieved when the official documents came down, and everyone in Xuanzhen knew that a new star was born in the political arena. , I don't know how many people are jealous and jealous, feeling that this kid has a good official luck.

Regardless of jealousy and jealousy, there is an endless stream of congratulatory people. The people under Wang Dou are naturally happy, and the Lord is promoted.

Amidst the joy, Wang Dou was also packing his luggage, preparing to go to Beijing to take over his post, and to receive his official uniform and other things.Guarding is not as good as ethics, defense and other official positions. You need to report to the capital in person, and you can only officially confirm your position after passing the assessment of the Ministry of War's Military Selection and Cleaning Department.If you are lucky, you may even be summoned by the emperor.

Wang Dou was going to go out for a while, and he planned to take Xie Yike to the capital. He would hand over the civil affairs of Zhoucheng to Feng Dachang and others, and hand over military affairs to Han Chao and others. Regarding their ability and loyalty, Wang Dou still respected them. Relieved.

After explaining the matter, he stared at the map in the meeting hall for a long time, lost in thought. Up to now, all the affairs were carried out according to his own plan, but it will soon be 11 years of Chongzhen, thinking about the war next year...

He couldn't help turning his eyes to Julu, and then stopped at Mashuikou, which is 160 miles south of Baoan Prefecture and has always been the main road from Baoding Prefecture to Baoding Prefecture.

When he was contemplating, a servant girl came over and reported to Wang Dou that his wife had invited him.

Seeing Xie Xiuniang, Xie Xiuniang said: "My lord, just now the young lady from the prefecture came here and said that she has something important to ask for your help."

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Old White Bull:
Sigh, I still can't get up to write in the morning, so let's continue to update at night.

There is another chapter tonight.

(End of this chapter)