Ming Dynasty: Ask Zhu Yuanzhang to abdicate at the beginning

Chapter 134 The nature of war, the death of Concubine Lu!

Times have changed!

That simple sentence created a huge storm in the hearts of everyone present.

Zhu Di, Lan Yu and other military generals and nobles, many of whom were among the best generals in the Ming Dynasty.

However, due to the limitations of the times, they could not understand what the emergence of the flintlock rifle meant at that moment.

This is one of the most important weapons that symbolizes mankind's transition from the cold weapon era to the hot weapon era.

It can even be said to be the watershed between hot weapons and cold weapons.

Of course, it is not enough to just produce one or two guns, large-scale production is also required.

Historically, this has been an extremely slow process.

It took hundreds of years.

The emergence of Zhu Yunhuan compressed this historical process into a very short period of time.

The historical change seemed to be completed in an instant.

Everyone was deeply shocked and confused...

Why does the thing in His Royal Highness the Prince of Wu's hand look like a musket and also emit sparks, but it is not ignited by fire?
They are very curious about this.

Zhu Yunhuan did not keep the secret and simply explained to the generals and nobles the principles of the flintlock rifle and its related performance data.

Range, rate of fire, ease of use, etc.

Finally, they were asked to take turns to test fire the guns themselves.

In fact, the lethality of the flintlock rifle was not much improved compared to the bows and arrows of this era.

In fact, for those who are particularly strong and can pull particularly hard bows, the power of the bow and arrow is even greater.

However, the flintlock could fire much faster than the bow and arrow.

The difference may not be big in daily use, but when long-term continuous shooting is required, it is completely different.

Once a person exerts too much force, the muscles will easily become fatigued. After shooting a certain number of arrows, the fingers and arms that pull the strings can no longer bear it, and they must take time to rest and wait for them to slowly recover.

In a high-intensity war, this difference can be fatal.

Secondly, becoming an excellent archer requires a long period of training and development.

This is not something that everyone can do.

But raising the gun and aiming is too easy.

Zhu Yunhuan briefly explained how to aim, how to keep three points in a straight line, etc., and the generals and nobles picked up their guns and started shooting, and many of them were able to hit the target.

It's like a sharpshooter who has been trained for a long time.

This was the biggest advantage of early firearms.

Even if they are old people, children, or women, as long as they are given a gun and taught how to aim and shoot, they can use it normally.

But if you give them a bow and arrow, they can only sigh helplessly.

Wearing armor, fighting with bows and arrows, swords and spears, the physical fitness of soldiers is very high.

Physically strong soldiers often play a vital role.

The old, weak and disabled soldiers will only hinder the army.

But once guns are used, the entire logic of war changes.

In front of the gun, all are equal.

No matter you are a strong man who can lift 300 kilograms of stone, or a weak scholar who can't even tie a chicken.

It only takes one bullet to kill you!
When the two sides were facing each other, there was no difference between a weak scholar holding a gun and a strong man holding a gun.

In a sense, as long as the guns are distributed and the soldiers are told how to use them, a group of old, weak and disabled soldiers can immediately be transformed into a strong army capable of fighting against the elite.

As long as this group of old, weak and disabled soldiers has enough courage and morale.

In addition, as generals commanding troops in battle, they also discovered another advantage of guns.

That is, soldiers can be arranged in a denser formation.

When drawing the bow and shooting arrows, the distance between soldiers must be kept wide.

Otherwise, they will hinder each other.

Guns don't have this problem, and soldiers can stand very close together.

This also means that within the same unit area, the projectiles that can be fired will be denser than a rain of arrows.

It will also be more difficult for the opponent to rush over.

That's right!

This is also the reason why after the popularization of guns in early history, European countries generally used the "line shooting" tactic in which soldiers stood in dense lines.

No one is a fool.

This seemingly stupid tactic is exactly the experience slowly summarized from the bloody lessons in wars.

Whichever side has a denser formation and can concentrate firepower better will have a greater advantage in the war.

Thus, the intensive "line-up shooting" tactic came into being.

This tactic was completely eliminated until the advent of machine guns.

"Teacher, how much does this gun cost, and how many can be made?"

Someone asked hurriedly.

Everyone's eyes turned over at once.

This is what they care about most.

Good things are good things, but the most important thing is, can they be equipped in large quantities?
Historically, after the West entered the era of hot weapons, the guns made in China at the same time were not bad.

Both Kangxi and Qianlong had very good firearms.

They are also well aware of the power of these things.

However, they were only kept in the palace as toys for the emperor and princes to play with or occasionally use when hunting.

Although a small number of troops were equipped with it, they were crudely made bird guns with extremely poor performance, and the performance of the gunpowder was even worse. In many cases, they had to be put aside and not used at all.

The most important reason is that the emperor felt that the manufacturing and using costs of firearms were too high.

Gunpowder is also expensive.

In comparison, it is much cheaper to have soldiers charge with swords and spears, fight with bows and arrows, and use their flesh and blood.

The lives of cattle and horses are worthless!

If the soldiers die, they die. We can just recruit another batch.

Dying on the battlefield is the fate of soldiers and their mission.

How can we let soldiers use expensive guns and gunpowder just to reduce the number of casualties?
The court can’t afford it!
Therefore, firearms have never been popular in the military.

The better the performance of the gun, the more expensive it is, and the less likely the army will use it. The cheap bird guns and inferior gunpowder were not effective after the soldiers used them, and they gradually became less interested in using them.

This creates a vicious cycle.

The emperor was reluctant to promote well-made firearms on a large scale.

After using the crappy guns, the soldiers felt that guns were not as useful as bows and arrows.

The development of military equipment has since stagnated in cold weapons.

Hearing his words, Zhu Yunxun smiled and said, "Don't worry, the cost of this gun is very low."

"I have ordered the Ming Manufacturing Bureau to produce 10,000 guns as the first batch."

"The army will soon be equipped."

"The performance of this gun can be further improved. In the future, we will be able to produce a gun with a longer range, greater power, and higher bullet accuracy."

"By then, all armies in the entire Ming Dynasty will be equipped with guns."

Kangxi, Qianlong and others regarded guns as toys of the emperor and exquisite handicrafts, so the cost was naturally outrageously high.

But the gun he wanted to make was an industrial product produced on a large scale using an assembly line.

The manufacturing costs of the two are completely different.

call!
call!
call!
After hearing Zhu Yunhuan's words, the generals' breathing became heavy.

Experienced generals have keenly realized that once this thing becomes popular on a large scale, the tactics and deployment of the Ming army will become completely different.

A new era is really coming!
"Your Highness... Teacher, since there are 10,000 guns in the first batch, can you take a batch and give it to my personal army?"

Lan Yu couldn't wait to make his request.

In an instant, as if a powder keg had been ignited, all the generals and nobles started shouting.

"Teacher, I want my personal soldiers too!"

"Teacher, I want it!"

"Teacher, I want it too!"

……

"What are you arguing about?" Zhu Yunhuan glanced at them and then stopped talking.

"What do you want and what do I want? Are the troops you use as imperial troops your private armed forces?"

"I have my own arrangements on how to equip the guns."

“It’s useless for anyone who wants it.”

"I brought this thing here today so that you can get familiar with it."

"Also, I will explain to you how to use guns to deploy troops and command them in battle!"

"So that when large-scale equipment is deployed in the future, you will still be at a loss as to what to do."

Even the simplest tactic of firing squad was the result of countless bloodshed.

Teaching them would save the Ming army from taking decades of detours.

In addition, we also teach them to understand the nature of war and look at war from a higher perspective.

Don’t be fooled by the fact that many of these people are veterans who have fought on the battlefield for many years.

But in fact, this group of rough guys still have a very superficial understanding of war.

What they are best at is how to charge into battle, how to inspire the courage of soldiers, how to organize their own soldiers, how to discover the enemy's strengths and weaknesses by observing the military formation, etc.

These are certainly useful and are also very awesome skills.

But there are also obvious shortcomings.

He has a poor understanding of war and particularly enjoys showing off his personal bravery.

Zhu Yunhuan cleared his throat and spoke loudly: "War is the continuation of politics, and war serves politics."

“War is a means to achieve political ends.”

"The ultimate goal of war is not to defeat or destroy the enemy, but to achieve political goals!"

“Political interests are the goal of war, so the decision-making criteria for war actions is not to annihilate or defeat the enemy, but to weigh the interests.”

“Only a war that achieves its political goals can be called a true victory.”

“Otherwise, even if you win every battle, if the final result is completely contrary to your political goal, then victory is still a defeat!”

……

"The most taboo thing in the use of troops is to show off one's personal bravery."

"What we need to do is not to defeat the enemy with fewer troops to show our bravery and ability in fighting, but to concentrate our absolute superior forces as much as possible to destroy the enemy."

……

"When using guns in combat, the most commonly used method of deploying troops is as follows..."

Zhu Yunhuan talked eloquently, from the nature of war to specific tactics and strategies.

All the generals in the audience were fascinated by what they heard.

I originally thought that the King of Wu was just a teenager. Even if he had some talent, how could he know how to lead troops in battle?
However, they did not expect that Zhu Yunhuan first took out the "divine weapon" that shocked them, and then talked about the war, which made them feel like the military saint had returned to the world.

Regardless of whether the King of Wu could really lead troops to fight, at least his ability to "talk about war on paper" made the generals with rich battle experience present ashamed.

How can a bunch of rough guys understand so many theories?
But after listening to Zhu Yunhuan's words and thinking about them carefully based on his past experience in commanding troops in battle, he felt that what the King of Wu said was extremely reasonable and hit the nail on the head.

I will never dare to underestimate Zhu Yunhuan again.

I just feel that King Wu’s knowledge is as vast as the ocean, which makes people admire him.

The day's course was completed quickly.

That night, Zhu Yunhuan stayed at the Ming Military Academy.

Have dinner with a group of military generals and nobles.

The next morning, when he was about to go to class, a eunuch from the palace came hurriedly to summon him.

"Empress Lu died of illness last night!"

Zhu Yunhuan was stunned.

Although he had already heard Yao Guangxiao's report, he was still somewhat unsure about how Zhu Yuanzhang would deal with Concubine Lu.

Only the old monk was confident about this and concluded that Zhu would kill Concubine Lu.

When he heard the news, everything was exactly as the evil monk had expected.

After a brief moment of daze, Zhu Yunxun cried out "Wow" and started crying.