Steel Dynasty - Chapter 397

[Chapter 397 Review]

In the square in front of the Chengqing Palace, the ministers formed a crescent shape and surrounded Luo Xin and his party in the middle.

Xiao Wenxuan and Xiao Ming stood in the middle of the crescent shape.

Seeing Luo Xin taking out long stick-like weapons one after another from the wooden box, Xiao Wenxuan looked surprised. He said to Xiao Ming: “Ming’er, is this a musket?”

“Yes, father. , This is the musket used in the Battle of Jizhou. It is actually very simple to say, it is just a reduction of the artillery. “

The ten muskets Xiao Ming brought this time were all matchlock guns, and there was a match rope in the position of the gun. .

During combat, the matchlock needs to be lit before firing, and this is the disadvantage of the matchlock gun.

Because firing requires a match rope, gunners often carry a match rope several meters long on themselves.

When the weather is humid, it is extremely difficult to light a match rope. Generally, during combat, musketeers will light both ends of the match rope so that they can fire a second shot at any time. However, a match rope will not burn for long, and it is easy to burn the match rope. During the siege, it could not be used because there was no match rope.

Another disadvantage is that lit match ropes are easily discovered at night, which makes it difficult to carry out sneak attacks at night.

Overall, it was the many drawbacks of the matchlock that led to the rapid elimination of the matchlock after the emergence of the flintlock.

Now Xiao Ming is preparing to sell matchlock guns because he is confident in the advantages of matchlock guns over flintlock guns.

“Well, it does seem like the artillery has shrunk. Ming’er, you are so smart. Doesn’t this mean that every soldier now has an artillery gun in his hand?” Xiao Wenxuan laughed, extremely happy.

Due to the lack of horses, it was difficult for Dayu to defeat the barbarians in the wild. The emergence of this new weapon immediately gave Xiao Wenxuan hope.

These days, he attaches great importance to the firearms camp, and now that a new type of weapon is on line, he is naturally very excited.

Xiao Ming echoed with a smile: “Although it is a shrunken artillery, its power will be reduced a lot.”

At this time, Luo Xin had handed over all ten matchlock guns to the soldiers. These soldiers had already practiced matchlock guns in Qingzhou. The firing process is very simple, so after getting the matchlock gun, I loaded it very skillfully and just waited for firing.

When he was ready, Xiao Ming winked at Luo Xin.

“Launch!” Luo Xin shouted at this time.

After receiving the order, the soldier immediately lit the match and used the match to ignite the gunpowder in the gunpowder pool. With the sound of a gunshot, a burst of white smoke came out.

Although Xiao Wenxuan was prepared, he was still startled by the movement of the matchlock gun, as were the ministers, some of whom were even frightened to the point of shaking.

“Oh, the noise of this musket is really loud.”

“Yeah, but why didn’t any of the targets get hit?”

“…”

After the matchlock gun was fired, the ministers began to whisper.

In the court today, no one jumped out to accuse Xiao Ming. One reason was that Xiao Ming had made so much contribution this time, and finding fault at this time was tantamount to making himself uncomfortable.

Secondly, Xiao Ming holds Shanhaiguan in his hands, which means that Xiao Ming holds the safety of the north. He is in a high position at this time, and what he fears is that he will be defeated by Xiao Ming’s army. After all, Xiao Ming now has this ability.

The most important thing is this new weapon, the musket. They represent the interests of different noble families in the Chongqing Kingdom, but no one wants to offend Xiao Ming, because they are also eager to get this weapon.

The ministers’ discussion reached Xiao Wenxuan’s ears. Xiao Wenxuan was also a little embarrassed. He said to Xiao Ming: “Ming’er, why didn’t you hit any of the targets?”

“Father, this musket relies on intensive shooting, which is natural with bows and arrows. “

It’s quite different. In fact, the accuracy of a musket is inferior to that of a bow and arrow,” Xiao Ming said lightly.

During the exchange of hot and cold weapons, muskets were criticized by the army at that time for their unstable performance. Qi Jiguang, a general of the Ming Dynasty, once described in detail the funny situation of muskets in the army: either soldiers had lead bullets in their mouths and forgot to reload them, or soldiers carelessly used them. If the lead bullet is swallowed, or the soldier holds the gun incorrectly, causing the ammunition to slip out of the barrel, even the shooting accuracy will be poor.

So many problems eventually led to the Qi Army’s squad being equipped with only two blunderbuss, and the rest were still cold weapons.

Therefore, even if he brought the matchlock gun this time, it was still a question whether the generals of the Forbidden Army would like it after a demonstration.

“A bow and arrow are not as good as anything, so what’s the use of this matchlock gun?”

After Xiao Ming’s words came out, a general suddenly said.

The other ministers had the same idea. If it weren’t for the fact that Xiao Ming relied on muskets to defeat the barbarians, they would be even more disdainful.

Luo Quan said loudly at this time: “Your Majesty, a single musket is indeed not as practical as a bow and arrow on the battlefield, but the last general has seen His Royal Highness King Qi’s musketry team. Thousands of people form a column to ride and shoot. The muskets will produce huge power.” , and a qualified archer needs years of training, but even if an ordinary citizen can kill the barbarian cavalry with a musket, the barbarians do not lack horses, and what Great Yu does not lack is soldiers.”

Xiao Wenxuan looked at the blank .

Bullseye, he swept the musket again. Luo Quan said exactly what he was thinking. The advantage of the barbarians was their war horses and skilled archers. This was the disadvantage of the Chongqing Kingdom.

But muskets can make up for this disadvantage. He asked again: “Ming’er, what’s the power and range of this musket?”

“The range is not that of bows and arrows. It is much more powerful than bows and arrows and can penetrate the barbarians ninety steps away.” Armor.” Xiao Ming said.

For him, the purpose of bringing his matchlock this time was to promote this weapon and achieve arms sales.

This time the north is stabilized, and now a certificate of nomination has been signed. Regardless of whether the certificate of nomination is useful or not, the princes should be more honest for the time being.

After marrying Fei Yue’er back, he will basically not come to Chang’an again. After that, he will fully manage his fiefdom and completely make up for the technological gap with the West.

Therefore, when he came to Chang’an this time, he was looking for money, one for a trade agreement and the other for arms sales.

As long as these two things are achieved, he can continue to make profits and use the money to upgrade the fiefdom’s industry.

“More powerful than bows and arrows?” Xiao Wenxuan was a little tempted by Xiao Ming’s words.

He pondered for a moment and then said: “In this case, it is better to equip a batch of muskets first, just like artillery. This time, it is better to equip the firearms battalion with 5,000 muskets.”

The last purchase of artillery had cost millions. Two pieces of silver, it will definitely cost a lot to continue purchasing muskets now.

Therefore, Xiao Wenxuan does not want to purchase too much at once, lest the ministers make irresponsible remarks. After all, the firearms camp that has been established at a huge cost is just a decoration and has no real achievements on the battlefield.

Moreover, the accuracy of the musket did make him somewhat doubtful of the musket’s combat effectiveness.

(End of chapter)