Persian Empire 1845

Chapter 115 New Weapons
Many people believed that Shah was preparing to take over Oman, since the country's wealth was enough to sustain the government for a while, and there was also a lot of arable land that could be used for large-scale farming.

A wide variety of agricultural products can not only generate revenue through exports, but also maintain price stability, ensuring that the spending of local residents is not affected, and their support for the government is naturally higher.

“Shah, I think we need a 4000-strong army to protect Somalia right now, and we also need to have more contact with Oman. If we can get British support, then annexation won’t be a problem.”

Rouhani offered his perspective, stating that annexing Oman would be as simple as eating. The only factor to consider is Britain's attitude; if Britain acquiesces or supports it, Oman's demise will be imminent.

"Indeed, we must take Britain's attitude into account. We need British technology to strengthen our navy, and we also need Britain to counter Russia."

The Iranian government has now realized that cooperating with Britain still allows them to exploit loopholes, while getting along with Russia only leads to their demise.

"Alright, we must colonize Somalia as soon as possible, and we don't have much time to let them slowly recoup their costs. We must achieve self-sufficiency by the second year."

Shah issued an order that Somalia must recoup its losses, regardless of the circumstances, as long as it does not place too much burden on the national treasury, and if necessary, contribute revenue to the local economy.

In short, Iran now needs to obtain funding from elsewhere for its future war with Russia, even if that money is stained with blood.

----------

In the Azerbaijani town of Basel, just 15 kilometers from the Russian border, Salami was there to inspect Iranian defenses and military training.

In order to counter Russia, the Iranian army has treated Russia as an enemy from the very beginning of its training, not only drawing lessons from the wars Russia has participated in, but also conducting large-scale training in the rear.

Faced with Russia's proud Cossack cavalry, Iran has no choice but to counter them with more advanced weaponry. And so, the new equipment produced at the Tabriz arms factory arrived there immediately for use.

"This... is it really a weapon? It looks a bit strange."

It's no wonder Salami said that, because the weapon in front of him was not only large, but also had multiple barrels tied together and a hand crank next to it. It didn't look like a proper weapon at all.

"General, this was personally researched and manufactured by them according to the Shah's requirements. They say it has a significantly improved rate of fire."

"Oh? Then demonstrate it and see. If it doesn't work, then I'll report to the Shah that they're not doing their job properly."

Upon hearing the general's words, the factory workers immediately began a demonstration. After a target was set up on the opposite side, one person turned the handle and fired. Rat-a-tat-tat-tat!!!
The crackling sounds severely assaulted everyone's ears, the sparks from the gun barrels stung their eyes, and the smell of gunpowder irritated their noses.

As the smoke cleared, everyone looked across and saw that the targets made of wood and boxes had been smashed into pieces.

Salami took a deep breath. This was nothing short of a massacre. If it were a human, there would probably be a large number of people dead.

"General, this gun of ours can fire 200 rounds per minute, and its design and manufacturing were entirely carried out by the military factory. Are you satisfied with it?"

What more could they want? Their army wants this. If the Russian army charges, they'll make sure the enemy doesn't return.

However, the drawbacks are also obvious. Due to its high rate of fire, the Gatling gun has significant recoil, which affects shooting stability and accuracy. Moreover, it is hand-cranked, and the tense atmosphere of the battlefield can cause the gunner to become overly nervous or excited, leading to unstable hand-cranking speed and causing the machine gun to jam or explode. Therefore, this poses a great test to the machine gunner's psychological qualities.

However, these problems were no problem for Salami; training a group of qualified machine gunners would solve most of them. Moreover, ordering large quantities of these would make the military factory very profitable, as it would consume a large amount of ammunition and required ample reserves.

The story of its invention is truly one of blood and tears. In 1847, Nasser al-Din, then Crown Prince, had already set up a research lab in the munitions factory. At that time, he set a goal: to design a gun that could fire a large number of bullets per minute. This stumped many people; even experts brought in from Europe thought it was impossible.

However, Nasserdin's offer was also very generous: £10 if the research was successful. Note that it's pounds, not riyals.

Now nobody said it was difficult, and everyone got to work. And no matter what project they proposed, they could basically get Naserdin's sponsorship. But there was one condition: no matter how many years you worked on it, you had to produce something. If it was just a scam to get money, sorry, you had to finish the project you proposed, even if it took forever, unless you returned all the money.

Regarding Nasserdin's request, the group began a collective brainstorming session. The idea of ​​firing 500 rounds per minute was a bit too far-fetched, and firing too many rounds would make the barrel very hot, perhaps even melting it.

However, they drew inspiration from newly manufactured British revolvers. Having multiple barrels could greatly reduce firing time. During the development process, they "bundled" multiple barrels together and rotated the cylinder by cranking a crank, allowing each barrel to complete loading, firing, and ejection actions in sequence, thus greatly shortening the interval between gun firings.

The shooter rotates the evenly spaced barrels by cranking a crank, and the loaded cartridges flow from the feed hopper into the locking slots behind each barrel. When the barrels reach a specific position, the firing pin fires the cartridge. When the barrels rotate to another position, the fired cartridge is ejected from the machine gun.

This powerful weapon, developed by Iran based on requirements from higher authorities and ideas from other regions, was named the Nadir Shah machine gun by the arms factory. Such a lethal weapon naturally attracted large orders from the military, along with the need to train machine gunners. So, money was still required.

The Shah also mandated substantial government investment in military technology research and development, with one-third of the education budget allocated to establishing military schools. Besides the Tabriz Military Academy, the Tehran Military Academy is under construction. The budget for weapons development comes not only from government grants but also from the royal family's annual contributions to science and technology. Coupled with scholarships and other honors, this often generates immense enthusiasm locally. However, ultimately, this is something mandated by higher authorities, and this alone has already exhausted everyone's mental capacity. Until a stable source of intellectuals is secured, everything must proceed slowly.

(End of this chapter)