Daming Military Empire

Chapter 126 Artillery First
If there were any major military operations in the Ming Dynasty in the past, at most it would be to hurry up and prepare food and grass, and then notify the relevant leading generals, check weapons and equipment, and train the soldiers diligently. When the date of the expedition arrives, gather the army and boost morale. You can go now.

It's different now. Zhu Cijiong has too much preparatory work to do, like artillery. Although he contributed a lot in the Liaodong victory not long ago, there are also many problems exposed.

First of all, the number is too small. The shells in this meeting are not as powerful as later generations. Compared with the explosive power of yellow powder, the gap between black powder and yellow powder is not ordinary. Don’t expect to blast a large bomb with a range of several meters. Pit, the blooming ammunition made of black powder can only injure the enemy within a few meters. In terms of destructive power, it is inferior to shot ammunition.

According to the current range and rate of fire of the artillery, when the cavalry on the opposite side charges, there is at most one round of shelling opportunities. Therefore, if the artillery wants to gain an overwhelming advantage in the confrontation with the cavalry, the number must be piled up. Dozens One cannon can only suppress a few thousand cavalry. Facing the [-] golden iron cavalry, at least [-] cannons must be prepared to suppress them so that they cannot hold their heads up.

Of course, there are flintlock guns after the artillery, but the penetration of the current flintlock guns is also far from the standard of later rifles due to gunpowder. If the opponents are all wearing armor, the flintlock guns are basically only I can ride a horse.

Lion Botu also needs to use all his strength, but he must not underestimate the enemy. The development of equipment generally chooses the focus according to the actual combat situation. It's a pig.By the way, could he be a pig?
It can be seen from the range and quantity of Houjin's current artillery that their smelting technology is actually quite good. It's just that during the Chongzhen Dynasty, they could beat the Ming Dynasty with light cavalry alone, and the Ming army's gunpowder weapons The poor quality of weapons made them look down on muskets and gunpowder from the bottom of their hearts, so they did not pay attention to the development of heavy cavalry and gunpowder weapons.

The situation on the battlefield is completely different now. Zhu Cijiong can be sure that after Hou Jin suffered this loss, he will definitely pay attention to gunpowder weapons. As for which direction they will develop, whether they focus on offensive development of heavy cavalry or defensive development of artillery, it is impossible to decide. Got it.

If field battles depend on quantity, then siege battles depend on range. After all, Houjin also has artillery, and it is a 4-inch howitzer. Daming's [-]-style howitzer can still bully them on flat ground. The advantage is gone, unless you build earthen platforms, but building so many earthen platforms every time you attack a city, not to mention wasting time, can you be sure that Houjin has no way to dismantle your platform at all?

Combining the needs of field battles and sieges, Zhu Cijiong decided that when he sent his troops to recover Liaodong next year, he would bring at least 520 Type [-] howitzers, [-] Type [-] howitzers and [-] Type [-] howitzers, and trial production The number of [-]-type howitzers or [-]-type howitzers with a longer range should preferably reach two hundred.

It’s almost November now, excluding the half-month rest period for Chinese New Year, and the thaw in Liaodong in March, there will be a total of more than three months in the middle, which is about 350 days. According to the current production speed of 520 cannons every seven days on average , A maximum of [-] cannons can be produced in [-] days, and this does not include the more difficult [-]-type howitzers or [-]-type howitzers. That is to say, the production speed of cannons must be at least doubled to meet the requirements.

As for the new flintlock guns, there is no problem. Since the Tianxiong Army and the Qin Army were equipped in June, nearly 15 new recruits in the Beijing Camp have been equipped. Equipped with flintlock guns, those produced after the next year are reserved for other troops.

Regarding the speed of artillery production, Zhu Cijiong is really not as familiar with Sun Yuanhua and the others now. It happened that he hadn’t gathered with a few of his cronies for a long time. Zhu Cijiong simply called them all to the Qianqing Palace, mainly to discuss artillery production. You can take the opportunity to get together.

Now his first few cronies are very serious, all of them are very busy people, if Zhu Cijiong doesn't call them into the palace, they will only be able to meet each other in the early court, and they don't even have a chance to talk to each other.

Like Xu Guangqi, he has to deal with the affairs of the cabinet, preside over the work of the Ministry of Rites, teach Zheng Chenggong, and develop telescopes. He is so busy all day long that his big disciple has basically been forgotten by him.

Like Sun Yuanhua, he has to preside over the work of the Ministry of War, the production and test firing of artillery, and the training of the artillerymen of the Beijing camp. He has no time to come to the palace to chat with the emperor.

There are also Bi Maokang and Wang Zheng, who are also very busy all day. Not only do they have to deal with official duties, but also help Song Yingxing manage the daily operation of the military factory. The size of Wang Gong’s factory is a large enterprise in modern times. , experiments, property, personnel, etc., if Song Yingxing is all on him, then he can't handle it even if he splits it in half.

Of course, no matter how busy these five people were, the emperor would not dare to delay when he summoned them, and they all rushed to Qianqing Palace in less than half an hour.

Zhu Cijiong deliberately found a spacious side hall, and set up two rows of grand master chairs and tea tables, letting them sit on the left and right, and answer the conversation while drinking tea.

Now that the time is not so urgent, Zhu Cijiong is not in a hurry to talk about serious matters, but instead picks up things that they are more interested in and asks a few casually.

He first asked Xu Guangqi: "Master, how is the scope for the flintlock gun made?"

Xu Guangqi stroked his beard and replied with great interest: "This lens barrel is quite simple. It is cast with a sand mold, and then clamped on a lathe for a few knives before it comes out. The lens is a bit troublesome. It is too small and it is difficult to grind it by hand. I am discussing with Mr. Wang to design a special grinder to grind the lens."

Zhu Cijiong nodded and said: "Well, if this scope is really made, it will use a lot, and it's time to design a bed to grind the lens."

He turned his head and asked Bi Maokang again: "Meng Hou, how is that revolver made?"

Bi Maokang praised sincerely: "Your Majesty is really amazing. He can even come up with such an exquisite pistol. The sample has already been made, and it can really fire continuously. It's just that the runner is a bit too difficult to process. If it is to be mass-produced, I'm afraid it will be a pistol. It is necessary to design a special lathe to process the runner."

After chatting a few words to calm the atmosphere, it's almost time to talk about the business, Zhu Cijiong straightened his face, and said with a little seriousness: "Well, wait for now, I came to you this time mainly to talk about the artillery, I have decided to lead an army to recover Liaodong in the spring of next year. At that time, at least [-] artillery pieces of various types will be needed, which will definitely not be possible with the current output. If you have any good ideas, please come up with them and discuss them."

When everyone heard that Liaodong was going to be recovered, they all showed excitement, but when they heard that [-] artillery pieces were needed, everyone couldn't help being surprised, and then they all looked at Sun Yuanhua in unison, because the production of this artillery has always been He is in charge.

Sun Yuanhua thought for a while, and replied methodically: "It took more than three months to make [-] cannons. The bed for processing is enough, but the casting is a bit slow. Fortunately, the craftsmen who make clay molds are now skilled. , as long as a hundred more people are recruited to help them. There is another problem, casting cannons consumes too much material, and the iron ore may not be available."

When Zhu Cijiong heard this, he couldn't help showing joy. The iron ore is not a problem for him at all, as long as the casting progress can catch up.He slapped his hands and asked excitedly: "How much iron ore is there now, and how much is lacking? Needless to say, the problem of recruiting, recruiting two hundred is fine,"

Sun Yuanhua heard the words and began to calculate: "If a cannon is calculated at a thousand catties, eight hundred cannons are 80 catties, and iron ore is calculated in half, and it needs 160 million catties. Now Wang Gong Factory has about 50 catties. There will be no catties of iron ore until the Chinese New Year, and the mining side can mine up to 20 catties a month, and 60 catties in three months, which is about 50 catties."

50 catties is only more than 20 tons, which is really not a big deal in modern times. Let alone iron ore, even if it is steel, any steel shop owner can send it to you immediately, but it was not possible in Daming. Mining is still purely manual, unless people are used to pile it.

But Zhu Cijiong has a better solution. He said confidently: "Well, this is no problem. Don't count it at one thousand catties, but at two thousand catties. I will buy you 200 million catties of iron ore. After the New Year we'll be there."

Sun Yuanhua couldn't help but asked curiously: "Forgive me for being bold, is there any place in the Ming Dynasty where I can buy iron ore?"

Zhu Cijiong said with a sinister smile: "Da Ming must have no place to buy it. Don't we have a friendly ally? They have a lot of iron ore. It just so happens that they still owe me tens of millions. Let them send some iron ore to pay for it." Billing should be fine."

At this time Xu Guangqi couldn't help but said: "The emperor is talking about Frangji?"

Zhu Cijiong nodded and said: "Well, I prefer to call them Portugal, and I won't call them Frangji in the future. They are not Frangji, and Flangji is another country."

Xu Guangqi hurriedly cupped his hands and said: "I have made a slip of the tongue, slip of the tongue, I am used to it, please forgive me, Your Majesty."

Zhu Cijiong waved his hand to indicate that he was okay, and then continued to say to Sun Yuanhua: "Chuyang, can we build 520-type howitzers or [-]-type howitzers now?"

Sun Yuanhua showed distress and said: "This one can be built, but the success rate is too low. I guess the 520-type howitzer can be stronger, but there can be at most ten qualified ones out of fifty. The [-]-type howitzer It is estimated that the success rate is lower. I have tried these two kinds of cannons, but they are too heavy. If you don’t pay attention to them when pouring them, they will be useless.”

Zhu Cijiong gritted his teeth and made a decision: "If you can achieve success, if you can't, recruit more people. Let's make [-]-style howitzers and howitzers. Make [-] guns, [-]-style, [-]-style and [-]-style. Make two hundred doors like this. It doesn’t matter if you spend a little more time at home. If there are too few artillery pieces, I’m afraid it won’t be able to suppress Jiannu’s ferocity. The artillery suppressed them, and the soldiers in front suffered heavy casualties."

Upon hearing this, Sun Yuanhua nodded solemnly and said, "Your Majesty, rest assured, even if only a few of the fifty cannons can be completed, I will make all the cannons on time."

(End of this chapter)