When the Saint comes, she does not collect food

Chapter 1193 Sleeve-Type Bayonet
Another round of military reforms?

The high monks and sages looked at each other in bewilderment. In fact, the Holy Alliance had undergone three rounds of military reforms since its establishment.

The military reforms began with the change from the wagon fort tactics to the Morris phalanx, then the artillery-induced reforms, and finally the breech-loading spring-loaded guns.

Every military reform is a major reshuffling and test of the military's power structure.

The first two military reforms were alright, but the military reform of 1454 forced a large number of veterans and officers to retire, and corps commanders and battle group commanders at all levels were severely punished.

Many of the original heroic corps were disbanded and reorganized. If they failed the retraining, even if they were heroic veterans, they had to retire.

That time, at least half of the meritorious veterans were forced to retire.

If it weren't for the generous treatment offered by the Holy Alliance, and the prestige of the Holy Grandson himself, they would have already caused trouble.

These people either went back to their hometowns to open workshops or went to the Shattered Stone Plains and Roaring Corridor to become instructors.

Is it that time of year again?
But only five years have passed.

Isn't this change a bit too hasty?

"Does it really have to be changed now?" Even the battle leaders who were watching the commotion were dumbfounded by this news, as they had never heard of it before.

“Even my mother couldn’t stop me, I said it,” Horn replied firmly.

As the leader of the military reform, the exorcist chief Hakuto took the lead and said, "This is to adapt to the tactics and methods of the new era. Don't be a counter-trend."

"Don't put too much pressure on yourselves." Horn looked at the several battle leaders who were sweating profusely and comforted them. "The more you modify it, the stronger it becomes. Besides, this is a minor modification, so it won't eliminate too many people."

The battle leaders were then slightly relieved.

One of them simply raised his hand and asked, "Your Majesty, what is the theme of this military reform?"

The key to solving a problem is to find the key problem.

The corps commander had clearly asked the most crucial question: what is the key to this military reform?
"It's very simple. As I just mentioned, we will reduce the number of spearmen again, to a quarter or even a fifth, and then convert all the clockwork musketeers into musketeers."

Saint Sun's remarks clearly sparked discussion among the several battle commanders present.

"Gunslingers? What are those?"

"Should we reduce the proportion of spearmen again? What then should we do when facing knights?"

"Are you stupid? You'd be shot down by our clockwork gun before you even got there."

"What if light cavalry launch a surprise attack on the flank?"

"What are our cavalrymen doing?"

"First, you can't expect every moment to be perfect. Second, you can't make decisions for your opponent."

"Alright, stop arguing." Horn coughed. "Let's have Haimoting give the demonstration."

Haimoting stood up, her leather boots making a soft sound as she stepped onto the bluestone pavement.

The once skinny thief is now dressed in a fitted dark gray armorer uniform, with the cuffs and trouser legs tightly bound.

She had a tool bag with gears hanging from her waist, and her hair was tied back with a copper hairpin, revealing her smooth forehead.

She strode to the long table, picked up a breech-loading Canned Dewclaw, and then took a metal object out of her tool bag.

It was a semi-circular sleeve with a narrow, long bayonet at the top.

The end of this sleeve also has a Z-shaped hollow groove that fits perfectly with the small latch on the side of the gun barrel.

"Please look, everyone." Haimoting's voice was clear and bright, without the slightest hint of stage fright.

She aligned the sleeve with the front end of the barrel of the spring-loaded gun, passed one end of the slotted end through the latch, turned it, and pushed it forward.

With a soft click, the slide was firmly locked onto the barrel, and the bayonet extended along the barrel, aligning perfectly with the gun barrel.

The whole process takes less than three seconds, even faster than reloading.

“This is a slide bayonet.” She raised the gun to show everyone the connection point. “The latch can hold the slide in place, so it won’t wobble when shooting or slashing.”

Previously, we used insert-type bayonets, which had to be inserted through the muzzle of the gun. Once the bayonet was attached, we couldn't fire the Holy Wind.

But this one is different; it can be loaded and fired normally even with a bayonet attached.

As soon as she finished speaking, a corps commander stood up from the audience: "Ms. Haimoting, I have a question. Will attaching the bayonet to the barrel affect the accuracy of the gun? After all, it adds weight and changes the center of gravity." This corps commander was from the Salamander Squad, and most of his soldiers were new recruits. His biggest concern was that the equipment modifications would affect actual combat.

Instead of answering directly, Haimoting walked to the firing position, placed the wind-up pistol with a bayonet on the standard firing rack, and aimed it at the target 100 meters away.

She quickly unscrewed the spring, took a deep breath, and pulled the trigger.

"Bang!" The gunshot was still crisp, and the bayonet only wobbled slightly when it was fired, without deviating.

Everyone looked at the target, where the steel bullet had hit the previous bullet hole, about half a finger's width off.

“Accuracy is almost unaffected.” Haimoting put down the gun and showed everyone the connection between the barrel and the bayonet. “We’ve kept the weight of the bayonet to less than half a pound, so the center of gravity shifts very little. A skilled gunner can get used to it with a little practice.”

"This is much more reliable than before."

"That's not too difficult. We just need to let the pikemen practice their guns more."

The battle commanders went from surprise to approval, but Monica suddenly spoke up: "Are you trying to make the musketeers both archers and spearmen?"

“Yeah,” Horn shrugged. “Anyway, under the suppression of the wind, very few can actually make it to the front lines by charging.”

Previously, they were all musketeers with almost no defensive or counter-attacking capabilities. Now, by adding some counter-attacking ability, they can withstand charging cavalry.

In fact, the technology of protruding sleeve bayonets has existed for a long time.

With the significant advancements in steelmaking technology brought about by the lightning furnace, steel production increased substantially, and the problem of bayonet metal materials was also solved.

The only problem that is difficult to solve is actually the accuracy of the sleeve.

The accuracy of the sleeve here refers to its ability to fit relatively securely onto the gun barrel, so as not to affect firing or fall off during a bayonet attack.

Normally, the best solution would be a spiral-twisted sleeve bayonet, but that would be too costly to mass-produce.

The current Holy Alliance isn't unable to afford it, but rather it has to make choices. Wasting a lot of production capacity for just one spiral sleeve is simply not worthwhile.

This is not a problem that can be solved overnight. With the emergence of a large number of mechanical engineers and processing workshops in the next ten years of the Holy Alliance, spiral sleeves will soon appear and become widespread.

Since the spiral sleeve could not do it, the mechanical sages put forward a new suggestion: to use a high-precision sleeve instead.

Horn recalled that some gunsmiths on the spot thought it was pointless, as the purpose was to reduce unnecessary waste, but the result was that it would lead to even more waste of production capacity.

However, Haimoting, the Holy Alliance's foremost sage of firearms, offered a different opinion.

Rather than saying it's an improvement in sleeve precision, it's more accurate to say that Shenglian has taken advantage of the standardization trend.

The accuracy requirement for the sleeve depends not on the sleeve itself, but on the standardization of the barrel.

Once the standardization of the gun barrel is completed, manufacturing sleeves for the gun barrel will be a natural progression.

Ironically, Horn began promoting standardized parts in the 1940s, but it wasn't until the late 1950s that the standardization of gun barrels was initially completed.

Previously, due to the characteristics of the spring barrel, slight differences in the quality and precision of the gun barrels produced by various workshops did not have any impact.

It looks perfectly standard to the naked eye, but the sleeve is only able to fit by the smallest bit, so sometimes it can fit and sometimes it can't.

Normally, it would have taken a long time to bridge this tiny gap, but fortunately, the great sage Leonardo DiCaprio invented the precision lathe.

With the added power of a clockwork mechanism, this precision sleeve could finally be mass-produced.

Haimoting then added, "We also designed a matching bayonet sheath that can be hung on the musketeer's waist and can be taken off at any time when not in use."

Furthermore, the barrel caliber is compatible with the latest breech-loading Canned Dew, eliminating the need to manufacture separate bayonets for different guns and reducing logistical burden.

The battle commanders below the stage were completely relieved.

The Shadow Ravens' Chapter Leader, "Phoenix" Theromis, simply asked, "Your Majesty, when will the samples be delivered?"
Our unit is going to the Shattered Stone Plains for a rotation next week, and we'd like to take some samples with us to test them in actual combat.

“Starting next week, the Ordnance Department will distribute them according to the combat group organization,” Horn said with a smile. “But remember to record the data during actual combat and report it back to the Ordnance Department so we can make adjustments based on the actual combat situation.”

After the Privy Council monks finished writing the last stroke, they couldn't help but look up at Horn: "In this way, we have a better chance of dealing with the Royal Court's northern army."

“It’s not just the Northern Route Army.” Horn gazed at the distant mechanical workshop, his eyes growing deep. “Serfaye’s attempt to imitate the Holy Alliance has chosen the wrong target.”

This reform of the musketeers is just the beginning.

Following his gaze, everyone saw the spire of the mechanical workshop and heard a series of booming sounds.

(End of this chapter)