Emperor Ming Dynasty

Chapter 811

Jingxi, Haidian Indigo Factory.

During the Yongle period, the land here was low and the water was clear. The palace sent laborers to plant large tracts of Polygonum indigo, mountain indigo and Woad indigo.

Now here, it has become the resident of Artillery Town.

The sound of the rumbling cannon was heard, and the royal driver entered the camp. The military officers in the town were all dressed in official uniforms, and they knelt down in front of the red felt strips and performed the three-kneeling and nine-kowtow salute of the monarchs and ministers: "Minister, please respect the emperor's peace, long live, long live, long live! "

"Zhen'an." Because he came here officially to inspect the guns, the emperor was wearing a full set of court clothes, and a little eunuch followed slowly behind him holding the middle knot: "Get up."

"Thank you, Your Majesty."

"How big is this place?"

"Responding to Your Majesty's words, Artillery Town is ten miles long from north to south, and five miles wide from east to west."

"It's not very big." The emperor turned around and greeted: "Is it possible to test the cannon here?"

The one who answered him was Chen Dong, the chief soldier of the Artillery Town.

He was born in the emperor's pro-army, and spent most of his time defending the emperor before the Northern Expedition, and then he was gradually released to make meritorious service.

Although the title is only an earl, in terms of the relationship, it can even be compared to those dukes.

The drills of infantry and cavalry naturally have the previous rules. The emperor can only check the gaps and make up for the omissions, and let him run by himself.

The artillerymen are different, they are handled in a way that combines Chinese and Western techniques.

For example, ask Western missionaries to teach.

Because artillerymen learn a lot, such as orbital parabola, elevation angle, mathematics and so on.

In this way, the training efficiency of artillerymen is extremely high, and a qualified artilleryman can be obtained within one or two years of effort, and he can fight wherever he wants.

At the end of the Ming Dynasty, the Ming court spent a lot of effort to hire those Portuguese artillery. Otherwise, it would be a problem to use the red artillery.

Kong Youde and the other three took the Denglai Firearms Battalion to seek refuge in the Qing Dynasty. There were not only a large number of cannon-casting craftsmen, but also advanced artillery. This is the origin of the title of King Sanshun.

Now, after a series of collations, and because of the literacy rate in the military schools, the literacy rate has greatly increased, and the artillery book-"Artillery Guidelines" was born.

To clarify why, there are 44 pictures in the explanation, and arithmetic such as mathematics and geometry are added, which greatly improves the training time of artillery.

Not only the Five Armed Forces Governor's Mansion, but even the embassy were notified to observe the artillery this time.

Let's go to the Martial Arts Field. The emperor waved his hand and walked straight ahead: "Look at the power of the British artillery before making a decision." "

"Rong Chen is leading the way for the emperor." Chen Dong hurriedly walked ahead with a serious face.

A group of people led like stars holding the moon and followed the emperor to the cannon field not far from Zhuanjie Street. The preparations have already been made here. On the dragon platform with a height of three feet and six feet in the martial arts arena, dragon flags are fluttering, and there is a dragon flag in the middle. Huang Wei, the throne is placed inside.

On the open space not far from the martial arts arena, there were a few black iron guys, short and short, entrenched on the ground like a few iron lions.

It had been wiped beforehand, and the barrel was tied with red satin, which looked mighty and majestic. There were several wooden boxes beside the cannon, which contained shells, and the soldiers in liveries knelt down on the ground.

The emperor went over to inspect it himself. He didn't understand it very well, but Chen Dong stepped forward wisely and explained to him from the side:

"Your Majesty, this is a rifled gun. It can fire the four-pound shell that Xiyi said, and it can shoot at a range of [-] to [-] paces."

Its cannon body is made of iron-core copper skin, about 2.2 meters long, with a barrel diameter of about 110 mm and a weight of about [-] jin. It is a light cannon and is usually mounted on a two-wheeled gun cart.

There are "stars" and "dou" directly above the muzzle and bottom for aiming.

The two big wheels, about one meter in diameter, were wrapped in iron sheets, looking ferocious and indifferent.

This kind of light artillery is specially researched for grassland field battles in the southwest and northwest.

Without him, the bulky red-clothed cannon weighed two to three thousand catties, and there were more than a dozen mules and horses just pulling it, so it was not suitable for field combat at all.

However, the power of the Franc machine gun was not enough. Naturally, the Ordnance Department began to study the reduced version of the red-clothed artillery, so as to adapt to the field battle of the army.

It must have the lightness of the Fran machine gun and the power of the red cannon, which is difficult for the craftsmen.

However, since ancient times, China has not lacked smart craftsmen, and soon someone developed rifled guns and applied them.

Then it is step by step to reduce the weight and increase the power, and this artillery has been achieved.

Here, the artillerymen opened the magazines.

The emperor walked over to have a look, and the cannonballs were still the same as they are today, pure solid bullets.

There is even a mold on the side. If the shells are exhausted in the field, it can be made with stones on the spot, which is convenient.

"Your Majesty, you see, this is shotgun—"

Chen Dong hurriedly shouted, and Zhu Yixi walked away in three steps at a time.

Shotguns are different from solid bullets, more like half olives, no longer round, with many things wrapped in iron sheets, the main purpose is for greater lethality.

Solid ammunition is more suitable for densely arrayed troops and siege warfare, while shotgun ammunition pursues killing and covering more places in a larger range, thus creating victory.

For example, in the northwest region, where the cavalry were scattered all over the place in such a vast area, solid bullets could not deter them at all, and only shotgun bullets were powerful.

When fighting in Gansu, Suiyuan, and Liaodong, troops often reported this situation.

The deterrence of the Ming court was only within the range of the artillery.

Once there is no gunpowder, guns, and artillery become decorations.

In the vast Northeast, the pressure of logistical supplies is extremely heavy, which restrains the rampant army, so the need for a lighter artillery with less logistical pressure has become the main appeal of the army.

As for the range, it is not as strictly controlled as the siege, and it is enough to radiate the entire battlefield.

Therefore, after a year and a half of research, this light artillery has gone through several experiments and presented it to the emperor.

Four hundred catties, with a range of [-] paces, only one mule is needed, and it can be pulled around. When necessary, a few soldiers can push the gun, which is very suitable for hilly and mountainous areas.

Not to mention, it is also quite suitable to carry it for thousands of miles.

The civil and military people who followed took a tentative look, and because they didn't understand the situation, they could only shake their heads in admiration.

And those Western ambassadors were amazed again and again.

Even in Europe, this is a leading gun, quite advanced.

After turning around, the crowd surrounded the emperor and sat down among the yellow tents on the stage of the martial arts arena.

The emperor sat in the middle, took the binoculars handed over by Chen Dong, and looked out from his eyes: "How far is the target from here?"

On the hillside in front of him, there is a temporary wooden village, small and exquisite, with flags hanging, very conspicuous.

"There are about five hundred steps, just within the shooting range." Chen Dong said softly.

The emperor nodded slightly: "Then let's start."

(End of this chapter)