I want to be emperor

Chapter 688
In fact, the Han 457 rear-loading rifle is another niche product from the Hantian Arsenal: the Han 45 rifled flintlock.

This thing is very simple, that is, two rifling lines are engraved on the basis of the 13-year-old flintlock gun, and it still uses the front loading and flint firing method.

The advantages are high accuracy and long range, but the disadvantage is that the loading is very complicated, and it may not be loaded in the actual combat for several minutes... If you use this kind of rifle to fight face-to-face with an army using a sudden-fire rifle, you will die miserably. of.

Therefore, although the military also purchased a batch, they were not allocated to ordinary soldiers, but only to soldiers with particularly good marksmanship and some elite skirmishers, mainly for long-distance hunting and killing.

More often, they often kill the enemy's officers before the formation!
It has the meaning of a sniper rifle for later generations!
The army did not even grant an official firearm number, that is, a year number, to such small-scale firearms.

Not every kind of military equipment can get an official year number. After all, the number of years is limited, and there are many types of weapons. If every kind of military equipment adopts an official year number, it will look very messy and there will be a lot A certain year-style rifle, artillery and the like.

Therefore, the military only grants official year numbers to some equipment with relatively large scale and representative weapons and equipment, while other ordinary equipment generally adopts manufacturer numbers.

This is the difference between the 13-year flintlock, the 22-year percussion gun and the Han 45 rifle.

The Han 457 rear-loading rifle is based on the Han 45 rifle and modified to a tail-end screw lock, becoming a rear-loading rifle.

The rate of fire of this thing is very fast. After special training, the shooter can achieve a rate of fire of about five or six rounds per minute, which is more than twice that of the traditional smoothbore front-loading gun. As for the front-loading rifle, it is even more incomparable. It takes a few minutes for that thing to be fired once.

But the Han 457 rifle is still of no practical value... because this thing leaks too much air, when shooting, if the shooter dares to lower his head and aim, it can directly burn the shooter's eyes blind!

Moreover, because of the serious air leakage, the power of the projectile is also seriously insufficient, and the kinetic energy of the exit is directly less than two-thirds of that of the front-loading gun.

The most important thing is that while this thing has serious flaws, it is also very expensive... just processing the rifle is already very expensive, and the thread locking mechanism is also required, and the production cost can directly soar to more than 100 yuan a piece.

Therefore, the guards of this thing only throw away a small amount of experimental equipment, and this thing has no actual combat value.

However, front-loading rifles like the Han 45 front-loading rifles, although niche, still have a certain market.

Although it is difficult to load, the army still purchased a lot. In addition to the Han 45 rifle, it also purchased the Tian 12 rifle produced by Tianjin Arsenal. This is also a front-loading rifle, but the rifle is different from the Han 45 rifle.

These front-loading rifles are issued to soldiers with good marksmanship, and are mainly used for long-distance accurate shooting!

At the same time, many dignitaries in the country also like to use this thing when hunting...

For hunting, accuracy is enough, and there is no need to consider the problem of reloading speed... Besides, reloading can also be done by followers.

Therefore, currently in the Great Chu Empire, rear-loading guns are not very good, and front-loading rifles are only a small amount of equipment because of their high cost and difficulty in loading.

The main standard equipment for military use is still the seemingly silly smoothbore flintlock instead of the front-loading rifle.

As for the breech-loading rifle, this thing is even more unreliable.

Only the Guards have been very keen on it. Over the years, they have never given up on breech-loading rifles. Now that they have a new technology of flash caps, they want to use this thing to make a breech-loading rifle. .

Not only did the guards not give up, but Hantian Armory also didn't give up...

The Hantian Armory has also been fighting breech-loading rifles for almost ten years, and their obsession with breech-loading rifles is as deep as that of the Guards.

That's why the two companies were able to get together to develop breech-loading rifles, purely because they were congenial in breech-loading rifles.

No, after the Guards gave out a research and development contract for a new breech-loading rifle, Hantian Arsenal accepted it, and then they were going to continue smashing the breech-loading rifle.

Well, breech-loading rifles to be exact.

After all, for the current people, in fact, the biggest advantage of rear loading compared to front loading is that it can be loaded quickly, and the second is the ability to use rifles to make guns more accurate and have a longer range.

Everyone likes rifled rifles, but everyone knows that front-loading rifles are difficult to load and can only be used on special occasions or as a collection.

Front-loading has no future, and rear-loading is the only solution.

But how to solve a series of technical problems in the aftermarket solution is a very big challenge for the industrial circles of the Great Chu Empire.

With the current basic technical level of the Great Chu Empire, especially the level of finishing, they want to produce a usable breech-loading rifle.

enough...

Not to mention that the Guards and the Hantian Armory are still obsessed with breech-loading rifles, and it is said that after the Army received the first batch of 22-year-style percussion guns, they conducted some tests and then distributed them directly to the Fusang area. A practical test was carried out.

The army of the Great Chu Empire is huge, and the places where it is stationed are all over the world, in all kinds of areas, so it is easy to conduct corresponding actual combat tests.

It happened that the military was fighting in Fusang, and the army also sent thousands of people to cooperate with the navy.

Therefore, the first batch of more than 1000 22-year-style percussion guns were packaged and loaded onto military transport ships. Together with other transport ships transporting supplies, they were escorted by several naval frigates and cruisers from Shanghai Songjiang Navy. The base set sail and headed east.

They first arrived at Jeju Island. The Great Chu Empire had completely militarized Jeju Island in the early years. At the beginning, it was mainly to prevent external influences and cultivate excellent war horses here. The province's shipping needs, so Jeju Island has become a supply point for passing merchant ships.

, and established the Ryukyu Mansion for direct rule. This place was also an important supply base for the Great Chu Empire when it left the Pacific Ocean.

It is also an important port of passage for ships from the south of the empire to Fusang.

After the transport fleet was replenished in Ryukyu, it continued to set off and went straight to Tsushima Island.

Before the Great Chu Empire had sent a fleet and thousands of marines to Fusang, they first arrived at Busan Port to rest and replenish personnel and supplies.

Later, they used the excuse of the Japanese daimyo clan who controlled Tsushima Island, that is, Tsushima Fu Chufan said that they violated the trade agreement between the two sides, smuggled and transported contraband, and asked to be stationed on Tsushima Island to search for evidence.

Before the Zong family could react and thought there was some misunderstanding, the Imperial Navy fleet had already arrived at Tsushima Island and made a forced landing.

After a simple battle, Tsushima Island was directly controlled.

At this time, Tsushima Island has become the outpost and the most important supply base for the Great Chu Empire to enter the Fusang area.

The destination of this supply fleet is also Tsushima Island.

When the transport fleet arrived at Tsushima Island, in addition to bringing in a large amount of supplies, it also brought thousands of army soldiers from Busan Port.

These army soldiers belonged to the No.40 Fifth Division of the Great Chu Empire Army. Even officers and soldiers will learn the Japanese language, understand some customs of Fusang, and learn about the geographical features of the Fusang Islands.

This force is a combat force specially prepared by the army for the direction of Fusang.

Although the empire did not have a strategic plan to attack Fusang in the early years, the army was unable to make corresponding preparations. Whether it was to defend against Fusang's invasion or to fight directly in the future, once the empire had a need, the army could directly attack Fusang. Go up.

Therefore, there will be No. 40 Fifth Division, a combat force specially prepared for the Fusang battle.

It is not just the 45th Division that is dedicated to Fusang. In fact, the Great Chu Empire Army will have a number of specialized units to deal with different enemies or potential enemies. Several first-class divisions were prepared for the Nanyang region in the early days.

Now there are mountain jungle troops facing Myanmar and Bangladesh in the southwest.

In the Qingkang area, there is also a special plateau mountain force, which is prepared for the direction of India.

For different enemies or potential enemies, adopt different equipment and tactics, and use this to form very targeted special forces, which is what the Army often does.

The No.40 Fifth Division is a unit created by the army to fight against Fusang. The officers and non-commissioned officers in this unit are relatively familiar with the situation in Fusang, and many of them are real Wa Guotong.

With such a force, when the empire decided to make trouble in Fusang, they would naturally not forget them, and had already decided to let them participate in the Fusang war.

During the Battle of Tsushima before, because the scale was too small, and it was mainly a sea-crossing and landing operation, the navy was given full coverage. The 40th Regiment under the No.178 Fifth Division of the Army was used as the second batch of reinforcements The troops came.

However, after the 178th regiment arrived in the Tsushima Strait, one of the infantry battalions was ordered to replace it with a brand new rifle.

This is a freshly released 22-year-style percussion gun that has not yet been put into actual combat.

After getting this rifle, the soldiers of the 178st Battalion of the [-]th Regiment conducted simple adaptive training, and the training progress was pretty good.

After all, compared with the 13-year-style flintlock gun, this thing only has a change in the structure of the gun mechanism, and everything else is exactly the same.

Although the difference in the structure of the gun mechanism has led to a slight change in the loading procedure, it does not mean that it has become more complicated, but it has become simpler, and several steps have been omitted.

Therefore, in actual operation, it is simpler and more convenient to use than a flintlock gun.

Therefore, the soldiers adapted very quickly when undergoing modification training.

And when the soldiers of the 178st Battalion of the [-]th Regiment were undergoing adaptive training to fully adapt to the new rifle as soon as possible, the officials of the Department of Ethics and Education of the Great Chu Empire were not idle.

They issued an ultimatum to the Edo shogunate, asking the Jianghu shogunate to cooperate with the empire in the search for the remnants of the Ma Zong family, and to cooperate with the imperial army to land in other territories of the Zong family to arrest them.

What is said that the empire will crack down on the smuggling trade, tax evasion, infringement of the interests of the empire's tariffs, and the Zong clan who disrupt the normal business environment. If the Edo shogunate dares to cover up the remnants of the Zong clan, it will definitely usher in a severe blow from the empire.

In short, it was a threat to force the Tokugawa family to give up resistance.

Of course, in fact, if the Tokugawa family refuses to accept and insists on resisting, it will not change the outcome, it will just expand the scale of the war slightly.

But it is absolutely impossible for the empire to spit out Tsushima, nor for the empire to give up a series of follow-up plans.

The Great Chu Empire still has many plans in the future, the most important of which is to obtain a foothold on the Fusang Islands, which can be used as a foothold for military trade.

This kind of foothold is not just as simple as a leased land and a trading post. In fact, if the land is leased, the Great Chu Empire already has an area in Nagasaki Port controlled by the Tokugawa family, and there are hundreds of imperial soldiers stationed in Nagasaki. .

The foothold that the Great Chu Empire wants is not just a colony, but a piece of territory directly under it, and then it can use this piece of territory directly under it to conduct direct trade with other daimyos in Fusang, instead of going through the Tokugawa family as before. .

To put it bluntly, the Great Chu Empire actually wanted to get rid of the second-tier businessmen of the Tokugawa family and do business directly with those daimyos.

The purpose of doing this is to obtain economic benefits, but the main purpose is to stir up the internal situation in Fusang and make them mess up first.

A powerful central government, internally stable, and Fusang, which developed common sense of industrialization because of its contact with the Great Chu Empire, is not a good Fusang!

Therefore, the Great Chu Empire plans to divide and rule Fusang first, and then discuss whether to annex or not, but let them fight first...it will be easy after the fight.

The most important thing is that you can make more money by fighting.

You must know that the major commodities exported by the Great Chu Empire, besides textiles, are arms!

Although the textiles in Fusang are also selling well, those damn Fusang people actually got a new type of manual loom. Although the scale is small, if they do nothing and wait for them to develop slowly, it will be a big threat.

As for arms, although the Tokugawa family in Fuso has purchased a lot of arms from the empire over the years, there has been no large-scale war in Fuso, and the weapons are not consumed.

Moreover, Fusang people can also make large-scale self-made matchlock guns. The bird guns in the late Ming Dynasty are imitated Fusang matchlock guns.

The sales of the empire's arms in Fusang are not good, and those related to the domestic defense industry have long wanted to make them fight so that they can sell more weapons and equipment.

Therefore, the strategy of the Great Chu Empire in Fusang this time is very simple. First seize a place as a foothold, and then use this foothold to infiltrate and control the interior of Fusang, and take appropriate and necessary measures to increase the sales of weapons and destroy their industries. potential and more.

Based on these requirements, after the Great Chu Empire took Tsushima Island, it did not stop but continued to go south.

A few days later, the Chu Imperial Navy landed on Iki Island and directly killed a small number of the Matsuura family's garrison troops on the island. The excuse was that their Matsuura family and the Tsushima Zong family colluded with each other and participated in a smuggling case against the empire.

This makes many Fusang people very speechless...Emotional smuggling is a big basket, anyone can put it in it, right?

But it doesn't matter if the excuse is true or not, and it doesn't matter whether others believe it or not. The important thing is that the Chu army took Iki Island again, and then they are going to continue south and land directly on Hirado Island on Kyushu Island.

Hirado Island, this place is rather special, it is one of the ports of Fusang for foreign trade. During the Ming Dynasty, this place was already a famous commercial port.

It is worth mentioning that Zheng Sen, Lieutenant Colonel of the Great Chu Empire Navy, the admiral of the Imperial Navy, is the son of retired Zheng Zhilong. He was born on Hirado Island and returned to China with his father after several years of growing up.

Zheng Zhilong led his troops to submit to the empire and served in the navy for more than ten years. Zheng Sen was also influenced by his father. He studied hard in his youth and was admitted to the Naval Academy with honors, thus becoming a member of the Navy of the Great Chu Empire. a member of

After serving for many years, he was awarded the rank of lieutenant colonel because he participated in many naval battles.

Now 32-year-old Zheng Sen has become one of the rookie officers in the Imperial Navy. After all, 32-year-old lieutenant colonels are not too many in the Great Chu Imperial Navy.

There are no large-scale foreign maritime wars. Although the navy performs many tasks, many of them are routine patrols and deterrence tasks. For most naval officers, these are just hard work, and it is not easy to get credit.

Zheng Sen was lucky. When he just graduated, he encountered the Nanyang Grand Strategy. He participated in the battle against the capture of Malacca and made some contributions. That's why he was promoted a little faster in the early stage.

This step is fast, step by step, so that he can surpass a group of classmates at the same time and become a lieutenant colonel of the navy.

As a rookie officer of the navy, Zheng Sen also participated in the battle of landing on Hirado Island as the captain of the cruiser Tieling.

And when he watched his warships and friendly warships shelling the port of Hirado Island and covering the landing of a large number of marines, he couldn't help sighing.

The people in the Department of Feudal Affairs became more and more lazy. This time, they didn't even bother to find a decent excuse for defeating Hirado Island. They just said that there was a remnant of the Ma Zong family and killed them.

But sigh, sigh, in fact, they can also understand the thoughts of those in the Department of Fan Affairs: Any excuse is the same anyway, why bother to make up a seemingly reasonable excuse, just say one and it's over.

You don't have to run around and talk to the Tokugawa family of the Edo shogunate.

It's better to find an excuse for yourself casually like now, and then drink tea on the side while watching the navy fight.

A large number of Chu army fleets rushed to Hirado Island, directly dumbfounding the local Fusang people, even the Tokugawa family on the island.

Didn't it mean that Tsushima Zongshi should be taught a lesson and then plot the Tsushima Strait?After repeated consideration, the Tokugawa family recognized it with a pinch of their noses due to the situation.

Later, it was said that the Matsuura family who governed Iki Island and the Zong family participated in smuggling together, and then directly took Iki Island, and the Tokugawa family was required to cooperate in the search for members of the Matsuura family.

Although the Tokugawa family was very angry about this, they could only preserve the Matsuura family as much as possible. As for the loss of Iki Island, there was no other way.

Originally thought that the Great Chu Empire should be satisfied after seizing these two islands. They were thinking of talking to the people of the Great Chu Empire's Domain Affairs Department, trying to understand this matter as much as possible, and signing a formal armistice treaty or something. .

But I didn't expect that the appetite of the Great Chu Empire had not been satisfied, and it would directly aim at Hirado Island.

Hirado Island, this island actually belongs to Nagasaki under the direct control of the Tokugawa family. This island has been an important international port for Fuso's trade with China and North Korea since ancient times.

In the first 100 years, there was an inseparable connection with Japanese pirates and pirates. During the Ming Dynasty, Wang Zhi, Zheng Zhilong and other great pirates all had their roots in Hirado Island.

This situation lasted until the rise of the Great Chu Empire, and after Zheng Zhilong led his troops to submit to the empire, Hirado Island returned to calm, and then became one of the important ports for trade with China.

For such an important place, the Tokugawa family naturally tended to directly govern it.

But now, these people from the state of Chu actually came directly to the door, saying that there are remnants of the Zong family on the island, and they went to the island to encircle and suppress the remnants of the Zong family...

There is a fart Zong family remnant on the island. If you want to find the Zong family remnant, you can go to Hizen Kingdom and other other Zong family sites to find it. What do you do if you find my Tokugawa family site.

It's a pity that the Great Chu Empire didn't bother to respond to their protests, let alone listen to their excuses. Anyway, they were all here, and it was absolutely impossible to just evacuate like this.

The reason why the Great Chu Empire came to attack Hirado Island was not because this place belonged to Tokugawa or other famous names, but simply because this place itself was a Fuso foreign trade port with relatively good port conditions and a good business environment. Many trading companies in the empire have already set up commercial offices here to conduct trade. The Great Chu Empire actually has a leased land here, has set up a feudal embassy, ​​and has an embassy guard of more than [-] people.

Therefore, if you lay down here directly, it will save worry and effort as a base for advancing to the Fusang Islands.

As for the Tokugawa family, they just happened to hit each other.

No matter who controls the island, the Great Chu Empire is ready to take it down.

Therefore, as the Chu army began to land, and the Tokugawa family saw that verbal protests were useless, and Hirado Island was indeed important, so even if they didn't want to fight in their hearts, they didn't dare to fight, but they had no choice but to resist one two.

It's just that this kind of resistance has no practical significance. Some of their small sampans were directly destroyed by the Chu army's warships.

And when hundreds of marines landed one after another and launched an attack on the port fort and other places from the ground, the port fort on Hirado Island also fell.

In the next few days, a large number of Chu troops landed one after another, and with the cooperation of the embassy guards on the original island and the guards of some merchants, they swept across the entire Hirado Island, completely bringing Hirado Island under control.

During this process, the 22-year percussion gun also participated in actual combat for the first time with the participation of the first battalion of the 178th Infantry Regiment, and the excellent performance of the percussion gun was fully reflected. The relevant actual combat report, along with other battle reports, the passenger flying clipper communication ship braved the wind and waves to return home.

The day after the battle report was sent back to the country, various military and political offices of the Great Chu Empire on Hirado Island, such as the Fusang Governor's Office, the Hirado County Office, the Fusang Affairs Office of the Ministry of Ethics and Education, and the Fusang Garrison Command of the Great Chu Empire Army The military and political offices at all levels, such as the No.40 Fifth Division Command of the Great Chu Empire Army, and the Pacific Fleet Command of the Great Chu Empire Navy, were established in such a grandiose manner.

This made the Tokugawa family on the Edo shogunate dumbfounded... What's the matter, the Fuso Governor's Office has come out?Is this going to annex my big Fuso completely?

This frightened the Tokugawa family to death. On the one hand, they quickly sent people to Hirado Island to inquire about the news, and on the other hand, they were forced to actively mobilize troops to fight.

It doesn't matter if you lose an island, even if you lose Hirado Island.

But if the Great Chu Empire wanted to annex Fusang completely, then even if the Tokugawa family knew they couldn't resist, they would have to grit their teeth and resist.

(End of this chapter)