The Ming Dynasty began from Sarhu

Chapter 451: We need a war, a big war
In the winter of the first year of Wuding, when the Hongguang emperor and his ministers were hesitating about the second northern expedition, the army and people of Da Qi were fully preparing for war, ready to fight a big war.

All the farmers' associations and chambers of commerce in Shandong were mobilized, and more than five million people tried their best to push this war machine forward.

Emperor Wuding demanded that everyone in the Great Qi State contribute to the upcoming war in Liaodong.

The emperor's target was not just Dudu and his Manchurian Eight Banners. Dudu, the traitor, was bound to die, and his death was to be glorious and epic. Besides the Manchurian Eight Banners, Liu Zhaosun would not allow the Russians who had come all the way from Moscow to die to return to Russia safely. At least one or two legs would have to be left behind.

Li Sanguang, a disciple of Xu Xiake, left one of his arms in a Cossacks' iron pot on Sakhalin Island. The Cossacks cooked his arm until it was well-cooked and enjoyed a feast for their taste buds.

After hearing about this, Emperor Wu Ding decided to remove one leg from all the Russian prisoners on the battlefield.

If he had the chance, he would cut off the Tsar's arms and throw him to the wolves to be eaten. This was the emperor's latest invention of punishment - the wolf execution.

As for the profiteers of the East India Company who participated in the Qi-Qing War and tried to fish in troubled waters, there is no need for soldiers to take action. That is the navy's business. I believe Wu Aheng will make clear arrangements for these red-haired foreigners.

The cavalry battalion was expanded to 5,000 horsemen. In early December, the emperor issued an edict requiring that every family of four in each of the six prefectures and counties must send one person to serve in government. Those who failed the combat assessment could serve as auxiliary soldiers or enter the workshop to drill gun barrels and weave armor. In short, every family must send one person.

The furnace in the workshop was kept burning day and night, and workers worked in three shifts to drill gun barrels and carve rifling. Even children and pregnant women had to go into the workshop to work.

The polishing of Minié bullets requires a large amount of labor and is a labor-intensive production activity.

After five years of repeated trials and polishing in the workshop, the Minié bullet first achieved a breakthrough in the Linqing workshop.

This invention made it possible for rifled guns to completely overtake smoothbore guns.

By engraving grooves into the inner wall of the barrel, the projectile rotates at high speed after leaving the barrel. The gunpowder exerts a huge thrust on the projectile in the axial direction, forcing the projectile to embed radially into the negative grooves of the barrel, while being counter-embedded by the positive grooves. The projectile is rigidly constrained and forced to follow the trajectory of the rifling, rotating as it advances, which gives the projectile its initial posture when leaving the barrel. The diameter of the cylindrical portion of the Minié bullet is smaller than the caliber of the barrel, allowing it to be loaded smoothly from the muzzle. Because the projectile is made of lead and has a concave cavity at the bottom, it is easily heated and expanded by the impact of the gunpowder gases. The conical bottom expands the bullet and then bites into the rifling, acting as a centering and airtight seal.

The primer placed on the firing anvil ignites the propellant through the fire transfer channel inside the anvil, avoiding interference with ignition caused by rain, humidity, strong winds and other factors.

From matchlock rifles to flintlock rifles, and from flintlock rifles to percussion rifles, the workshops continuously updated the production of firearms, with major progress every three years.

In the era of line executions, the output speed of flintlock or matchlock rifles was far more important than accuracy. The theoretical firing rate of the Kaiyuan Type 25 flintlock rifle was 5 rounds per minute, but it was still the maximum speed for a skilled musketeer. At a firing distance of steps, after the fourth shot was fired, the two sides would often close to within ten steps and start hand-to-hand combat.

The advent of the Minié bullet shifted the dynamic balance axis toward the trajectory tangent, greatly enhancing projectile stability and allowing conical bullets to achieve accuracy and range unattainable with spherical bullets. By increasing reload speed and accuracy, the Minié bullet significantly enhanced the combat effectiveness of rifled rifles.

However, the first batch of Minié bullets produced by the workshop also had some unsolvable problems. They could only be made of very soft lead, the bullet was easy to expand, and the bullet was soft, and would immediately deform after hitting the target. Although it was extremely powerful, its penetration was too weak, and it was not very effective against lightly armored or unarmored enemies. When encountering heavy armor, spherical projectiles had to be used.

~~~~~
Military camps in Linqing, Dengzhou and Jinan urgently expanded their forces. Every day, the fourteen battalion headquarters of the Imperial Guards were crowded with peasant boatmen who came from various counties and prefectures to enlist in the army.

The purpose of the new military expansion plan is to allow easy admission and strict exit. The previous standards in "Jixiao Xinshu" and "Lianbing Shiji" have been abandoned. As long as they are not spies sent by the Qing Dynasty and the Southern Ming Dynasty (this possibility is extremely low), as long as they are young and middle-aged and determined to join the army, they are all allowed to join the Guards.

Although there is no threshold for joining the army, it is not easy to stay. The training for new recruits is so harsh that it is said that people are exhausted to death every day.

~~~~~
While the army was frantically recruiting troops, the navy was also not idle. During the twelfth lunar month, many parts of the Bohai Bay were frozen, and the East India Company's aid to the Qing Dynasty had not stopped. Wu Aheng led the remaining thirteen warships of the Liaodong Fleet to guard the Bohai Bay. The navy engaged in a fierce naval battle with the East India Company fleets of four countries on the Liaohai waterway. The two sides were evenly matched, but the transportation of artillery supplies to southern Liaoning had been greatly reduced.

On the seventh day of the twelfth lunar month, the day before Emperor Wu Ding's birthday, Meng Jinbao led the Weiyuan and captured a French sailor in battle.

According to a captured French sailor, the Qing army's Eight Banners had captured all the city forts except Shenyang, and the outer forts of Shenyang had all fallen by mid-November. The sailor was unaware of Qing casualties. After being severely tortured and nearly to death by Zhang Dong, the sailor was eventually buried alive by Daming Lake, where the emperor had a French plane tree planted.

In December, the fourteen Guards armies went on a rampage, increasing their strength from 45,000 in November to 65,000. The newly recruited soldiers underwent rigorous daily training, with the intensity even greater than in Kaiyuan, reaching an alarming two-day drill schedule. Some were exhausted to death daily.
On the 23rd day of the 12th lunar month of the first year of Wuding, the lunar New Year's Eve, at the bank of Daming Lake at the west gate of Jinan.

The cold wind was biting, like a knife blowing on people's faces. The instructor raised the loudspeaker, and thousands of farmers and refugees below suddenly quieted down and looked over here in unison.

"Join the Imperial Guards and you'll receive three taels of silver and one dan of rice every month. If you die in battle, you'll receive a silver pension. Join the Imperial Guards and you'll be soldiers of the Great Qi for the rest of your lives!"

Three taels of silver were enough to feed a family of four for a month. The offer was very tempting, and everyone was talking to each other.

"His Majesty, by grace, is recruiting five hundred soldiers today. Those who pass the test should report to the battalion commander!"

The so-called test is long-distance running and weightlifting, running around Daming Lake and lifting a 100-pound sandbag.

The emperor did not want to train long-distance running champions and weightlifting champions, but there must be a standard for selecting soldiers. Since Qi Jiguang's method was too troublesome, he would be more direct. Endurance and physical strength were the standards, and it was also an effective way to test willpower.

On the 27th day of the twelfth lunar month, Emperor Wuding visited Qiu County to review military training matters, and the county magistrate Lu Xiangsheng accompanied him.

The emperor and his minister stood in front of the recruit camp. As the county magistrate, Lu Xiangsheng had no power to interfere with the local recruitment and training of soldiers. The recruitment and training of soldiers in each county was the responsibility of the officers stationed in the county.

He looked at the crowds of people in front of the military camp. Many old, weak and sick people were running breathlessly and might die suddenly in the next second.

Lu Xiangsheng hesitated for a long time before saying, "Your Majesty, I have something to say, but I don't know whether I should say it or not."

"Don't talk about it."

Emperor Wu Ding waved his hand, and Lu Xiangsheng was speechless. He was stunned for a moment before he spoke:

"Your Majesty, I see these newly recruited soldiers. Many of them can barely stand, but they are staggering, let alone riding horses and carrying spears. Moreover, it is now the middle of winter, Wendeng is at the extreme frontier, and the wind and snow are biting and freezing. I am wearing a heavy fur coat, but I still feel cold. These soldiers are thinly dressed, weak, and even hungry. Running like this will cost their lives..."

Emperor Wu Ding laughed as if he had heard a very funny joke, and then he said:

"Everyone has to die. The Jiannu are killing people in Liaodong, and bandits are blocking Shanhaiguan. The country is in danger, and men should die on the battlefield. I don't have that much food and grass to give them. In troubled times, being alive is good enough. If you want to live, you have to work hard. I don't support idle people."

Lu Xiangsheng was stunned.

High-intensity exercise can cause sudden death.

After running less than two miles, some old, weak and sick people fell to the ground, trembling all over, gasping for breath, and could no longer stand up.

Liu Zhaosun looked at the person squirming on the ground without any pity.

"When you chase the Jiannu in the future, you must run faster! If you can't even run this short distance, what use are you!!"

Emperor Wu Ding's voice was hoarse, and the icy air poured into his lungs, choking him and causing him to cough loudly and shed crocodile tears.

(End of this chapter)