The Song Dynasty on the Sand Table

Chapter 351 Be More Generous This Time

Outsiders couldn't possibly understand the trickery Yue Wenxuan and Li Tiezhu were putting on.

Or rather, even if Qin Hui could tell that the two were acting, he could only pretend not to.

He can only look at "static" workshops now.

The workshop was filled with a large number of craftsmen, each with a ruler on their table.

This was Yue Wenxuan's requirement, called "a unified standard." Every blacksmith's musket must be measured with this unified standard to ensure that the items they made were the same in size.

Of course, handmade items can never be made with exactly the same precision.

Even with a ruler, there will still be some differences that are difficult to detect with the naked eye.

But it doesn't matter, it's much better than letting them fight randomly.

As for the products machined by Wilkinson's boring machine, there is absolutely no difference in size; everything visible to the naked eye and everything invisible to the naked eye are exactly the same.

Yue Wenxuan led Qin Hui and his entourage through the workshop at a very fast pace.

It was enough to only show Qin Hui the "scale".

After coming out, Qin Hui was already in a panic. Seeing so many craftsmen working at the same time, he guessed that the production speed of firearms would not be too slow.

If others mine quickly enough and produce enough molten iron, then a large number of craftsmen can work simultaneously.

This is an advantage brought about by advanced mining and smelting technologies!

Even if the Jin and Southern Song dynasties had that many artisans, they couldn't have them work at the same time because they didn't have enough iron.

Yue Wenxuan was pondering to himself that scaring him like this was definitely not enough. This guy had been in the Jin Kingdom for several years. He couldn't become afraid of me after just a few days here and watching a few shows. Where else could he put his efforts?
Just as he was thinking this, a messenger galloped over: "Report! Li Cheng, the bandit general of the pseudo-Qi state, has led his army to invade Yizhou."

Yue Wenxuan was overjoyed: Damn, that's perfect! I'm going to give Li Cheng a nickname in the martial arts world, "Timely Rain Li Gongming".

The messenger continued, "The Imperial Privy Council has dispatched General Zhang Yong, the Right Upper Guard General, to intercept them. General Zhang is preparing to depart."

Yue Wenxuan winked and said, "There's going to be some excitement. Tell Zhang Yong I want to go watch too."

The messenger understood and quickly withdrew.

After Qin Hui and his entourage went to the restroom and were no longer by Yue Wenxuan's side, he came to Yue Wenxuan again: "Young Master Yue, it seems you had something to say just now."

Yue Wenxuan said, "Tell Zhang Yong that we will spare no expense in this battle, using gunpowder and bullets. Let's go all out and use all available firearms to give Li Chengyi a shock, and at the same time, give Qin Hui a good beating."

The messenger flew away as fast as he could.

When Qin Hui and his entourage returned from the restroom, they saw Yue Wenxuan with a smile on his face: "Lord Qin, you've come at a really bad time. Just as a battle is about to break out, let's go watch it together."

Qin Hui was eager to see more so he could report back to his Jin father, so he readily agreed.

So the group left Tiebao City and headed south.

Within two days, they joined forces with Zhang Yong's troops.

Zhang Yong had already been notified in advance by the messenger that the True Lord was coming, and that he was bringing a strange Lord Qin with him, telling him not to be stingy with ammunition in this battle and to fight a spectacular fight.

As a veteran of the Northern Song army and one of the earliest captains of the Mandarin Duck Formation trained by Qi Jiguang, Zhang Yong was one of the people who knew Zhenjun best. As soon as he heard the news, he understood that Lord Qin was definitely not a respectable person, and Zhenjun was definitely trying to make an example of him.

Of course, we can't be polite!

Zhang Yong immediately activated all the firearms units under his command.

He himself led a regular musket squad.

Zhang Dashu led the heavy firearms battalion.

Zhang Wa'er led the Second Battalion of Scattered Soldiers.

The members of the Zhangjia Village Mandarin Duck Squad from back then have all grown into capable non-commissioned officers. Just then, Wang Hong arrived with a group of bald auxiliary soldiers, carrying a large number of boxes.

Upon opening the box, one finds it filled with packaged bullets.

There are three types of bullets: one for ordinary smoothbore muskets, one for rifled guns, and a large bullet specifically for heavy muskets.

Wang Hong rubbed his bald head as he shouted, "Battalion commander, come and collect your ammunition! Damn it, regular soldiers, don't push your way in... only the battalion commander comes here..."

Zhang Wazi ran up to him and said, "I've come to collect bullets for the Second Militia Battalion."

Wang Hong nodded, waved his hand, and his men carried over five boxes, placing them in front of Zhang Wazi.

Zhang Wazi's face immediately broke into a wide smile: "You're so generous this time, giving our battalion five boxes?"

Wang Hong lowered his voice: "The True Lord has personally given the order: this time, don't hold back on bullets, fire as much as you want."

Zhang Wazi was overjoyed: "Go ahead and shoot! You can use up all five boxes of bullets?"

Wang Hong: "Of course! How could the True Lord be lying?"

Zhang Wazi's face was beaming with joy.

Zhang Dashu also squeezed out from the side: "Mine, I'm here to get heavy musket bullets too."

Wang Hong then brought out eight more boxes: "These are yours."

Zhang Dashu grinned broadly: "Eight boxes? Hahahaha!"

Battalions came one after another to collect their ammunition, and the news began to spread like wildfire throughout the army.

"General Zhang has ordered that there is no need to conserve ammunition in this battle."

Wow? Really?

"Really! Our wagon formation only has four musketeers, and they were given fifty rounds of ammunition. Each of them could fire ten rounds and still have some left over. Normally, they wouldn't be issued so many!"

"General Zhang is a veteran of the army. It is said that he survived the poorest and most difficult time for the Jimo rebels, so he has always been very frugal. Last time, someone wasted a few bullets during practice and was punished by General Zhang. Why has he suddenly become so generous this time?"

"I heard it was an instruction from the True Lord!"

Wow? Really?

"If the True Lord hadn't spoken up, would General Zhang, who's notoriously stingy, have ordered a full-scale attack?"

"This, this is true."

"Hahaha, I can fight without restraint, it's so damn fun."

The soldiers gathered around their battalion commander, who then directed the commanders of each vehicle formation to distribute ammunition.

correct……

As the proportion of musketeers increased, independent musketeer units began to appear in the Northern Song army.

The entire unit consisted of musketeers; there were no other types of soldiers.

During combat, they were only responsible for forming square formations and taking turns firing. They were no longer responsible for other miscellaneous tasks, such as blocking enemy cavalry from approaching. These tasks were left to other wagon formations. They only needed to line up, fire, reload, and fire again. They didn't care about anything else.

Amidst a scene of joy and harmony!
Yue Wenxuan arrived with Qin Hui.

This was the first time Qin Hui had seen the large army of the Northern Song Dynasty up close.

Looking around, one is immediately startled. The composition of the Northern Song army is completely different from that of the Jin and Southern Song armies. The Northern Song army has a much higher proportion of firearm soldiers. Soldiers carrying muskets are everywhere in the army, accounting for at least 40% of the total force.

(End of this chapter)