Go back to the Ming Dynasty to be a thousand households

Chapter 314 The Birth of the Bayonet
The views of Sun Xiaobao and Jiang Dazhong aroused the approval of some military officers, but others expressed different views.

"Although the self-generated firecrackers are powerful, there is no killer team guard. If a fierce enemy rushes to the battle, how can the firecrackers fight the enemy? No matter what, the firecrackers are no match for swords and shields and spearmen in hand-to-hand combat!"

"My Shanxi town is close to the captives, and the captives are erratic. They only attack from the wings and the rear. If there is no killer team to protect them, they only rely on firearms. I am worried about my humble position!"

"Although the self-generated firearms are powerful, the company has used them in our fort until now, and the company has less than [-] rods in stock. The rest of the battalions don't have such sharp firearms. How can we fight?"

All the generals were chattering, just discussing the pros and cons.

Huang Laifu is also pondering, according to the experience of the previous battle beyond the Great Wall, the Korean War and the trend of later generations, if all the soldiers of the first battalion are equipped with flintlock guns, with the loading speed and power of flintlock guns, most of the time there is no need to cold fire. Weapon hand guards are not impossible.

After all, the main opponents of Ming Dynasty now are the backward nomads. Under the powerful firepower, these enemies often collapse under the bombardment of flintlocks before they get close to the army formation.

However, hand-to-hand combat is still necessary in some cases, such as the battle after breaking into the fort, or when the ammunition cannot be fired in rainy weather, and there are melees for some reasons.In addition, the nomads mostly attack with cavalry, and they are fast. If they can endure casualties and rush to the front of the army, they also need to use cold weapons to fight.

Therefore, if you want to use flintlock muskets to form a battalion, in addition to strengthening the bombardment ability of long-range artillery, you also need to equip a melee weapon-bayonet!

With the bayonet, just like the musketeers are also spearmen, the fusiliers can consider fighting without the protection of spearmen and sword and shield soldiers!
Of course, including Huang Laifu's army, even the sergeants in the towns of Daming have no experience in using bayonets, so they need to reset the course training.

Although Zhao Shizhen, who is currently in the capital, has imitated a batch of Lumi blunderbuss that people from the Western Regions paid tribute to, and installed a steel blade on the barrel, which can be used as a saber in close combat, and this new type of Lumi blunderbuss has already been installed Some sergeants from the Beijing camp.

However, it is obvious that this method of warfare is different from the bayonet warfare of later generations, and is rather messy, unable to form a system and power.

In this regard, Huang Laifu has some experience and relevant information, but if he wants to retrain, it will not happen overnight.

When Huang Laifu was pondering, Jiang Dazhong also pondered in the face of the rebuttals of some officers, and suddenly his eyes lit up, and said: "The self-generated firecrackers are sharp, and there are few enemies who dare to rush forward to fight melee. It can also be equipped with a short spear, which can be used on the gun barrel during combat, so, wouldn’t it be the advantage of both the fire gun and the sword shield?”

Everyone was thinking about Jiang Dazhong's proposal and imagining the situation at that time.

Huang Laifu patted the desk next to him with one hand, approving: "Da Zhong's suggestion is very good. Putting a short spear on the gun barrel, it is indeed a combination of fire gun and sword shield in battle! But we don't have to use short spears , you can make a special knife, put it on the gun barrel when you are fighting, and you can take it off when you don’t need it! In this way, the combat is more powerful in the system!"

"This kind of knife, I named it the bayonet! With the bayonet, the musketeers may not need the guards of sword and shield soldiers when fighting!"

Huang Laifu also saw everyone's doubts. He didn't know whether this kind of bayonet could be used in actual combat. He said: "Of course! Whether the bayonet is practical and whether it can be used with firecrackers, we will practice after the real thing comes out!"

Huang Laifu made a final decision, and the rest naturally had nothing to say.Several people were whispering about the future effect of the bayonet.

Next, Huang Laifu said to Liu Tianlu, director of the Wuzhaibao Weapons Bureau: "Director Liu, I will give you the drawings related to the bayonet at that time, and I will leave the manufacturing of the related objects to you!"

Liu Tianlu stood up, cupped his hands and said, "I obey my orders, please rest assured, my lord, as long as there are blueprints, I will definitely make him!"

Huang Laifu nodded, remembering that some general said that there are less than [-] flintlocks in Wuzhai Fort, which is far from meeting the needs of each battalion. In the past two years, how many self-generating guns have been produced in the Wuzhaibao military factory?"

Liu Tianlu said with a distressed expression: "My lord governor, my Wuzhaibao military factory now has more than [-] craftsmen of various colors. Since it also needs to produce waist knives, spears, armor, etc., in the past two years, the self-generated firecrackers have been jointly manufactured. More than three thousand doors!"

Huang Laifu murmured, saying that this kind of flintlock, including the ones used in his own army, and even the goods in stock, there are only more than [-] types. Right now, there are three battalions of soldiers in his direct line. If all the flintlocks are equipped with flintlocks, it is indeed It is far from enough, not to mention that there is still a wide range of external needs.

Historically, the flintlock of the Ming Dynasty was called the self-generated firecracker. It was successfully invented by Bi Maokang in the eighth year of Chongzhen in the history of the Ming Dynasty. Due to the arrival of Huang Laifu, it had already appeared in the history of the Ming Dynasty in advance.

During the Korean War, the power of Wuzhai Fort's flintlock guns was well-known in the Ming Dynasty.Not to mention the military fortresses of the towns, even the Ministry of Industry, also intends to buy flintlocks from him.The Wuzhai Fort firecracker has become the brand of Wuzhai Fort just like the waterwheel in those days.

It's pitiful to say the least, although there are more than [-] craftsmen of various kinds in the Military Weapons Bureau of the Ministry of Industry of the Ming Dynasty, but they only make [-] pieces of waist sabers and armor, and [-] pieces of guns every year.Due to the embarrassing craftsmanship of the Ming Dynasty, many of the weapons they made were even worse.

With the excellent firearms and armor of Wuzhai Fort, many military towns hope to buy from Wuzhai Fort, even the Ministry of Industry is no exception.This is of course due to the good management system of the Wuzhaibao Arms Bureau, so the quality is definitely first-class.

The external market demand is extensive, but it is a pity that there is no mechanized manufacturing at present, and it is all handmade. Therefore, even with the efficiency of the Wuzhaibao Military Factory, the production of weapons is also slow, especially in the manufacture of firearms.

A flintlock gun is no more difficult to make than an arquebus gun. There are only more than [-] parts for a gun. With the level of craftsmen in the Ming Dynasty, it can be made completely. Unfortunately, based on the current technology evaluation of the Ming Dynasty, flintlock guns and arquebus guns Similarly, mass production is very difficult.

According to the traditional manual method, it takes at least one month for a craftsman to make a flintlock or matchlock.The biggest bottleneck lies in the drilling of the barrel. It may take up to a month to drill a barrel, which greatly delays the formation of the gun.

Or invent a hydraulic deep drilling machine in the future, which can speed up the drilling of the barrel, and reduce the production time of a firecracker to one to two weeks... But there is no way right now, at this time, the low carbon steel drill bit of the Ming Dynasty is too hard. Low and unusable.

In the future, it will be made into high-carbon steel boring tools. I don't know when it will be. The only solution may be to increase the scale of the military factory and the number of craftsmen.

In fact, in Huang Laifu's opinion, if the power of firecrackers comes up, it may be cheaper to develop an army with hot weapons in the future than an army with pure cold weapons or a combination of hot and cold weapons.

After all, the cost of making a matchlock now is less than four taels of silver, and the same goes for a flintlock.As for the big swords, iron shields, bows and crossbows right now, they cost a dozen taels or dozens of taels of silver at every turn.Especially armor, etc., even if it reaches hundreds of taels of silver, it is very normal.

Moreover, the manufacture of bows, arrows, crossbows, etc. is very difficult. After all the costs are calculated, it is much more expensive than firecrackers and iron pellets.

When the power of your own army increases in the future, you will not need cold weapons or armor. Even with a large number of field artillery, you will still be able to save yourself a lot of money.

After all the calculations, it might be cheaper to fully develop the hot weapon army!Huang Laifu thought to himself.

Therefore, he calculated that the manufacture of the flintlock would require large quantities.

……

When Huang Laifu was pondering, the hall was quiet. Obviously, everyone understood the difficulty. Finally, Huang Laifu raised his head and said to Liu Tianlu: "I also understand the difficulty of the military factory, but making self-generating firecrackers is of great significance to our Wuzhaibao army. , need to focus on it!"

"How about this, now I have a lot of inventory such as waist knives, spears, armor, etc. in Wuzhai Fortress, so the production of these weapons can be slowed down, and the main goal is to focus on the production of self-generating firecrackers. You can focus on how to do it. My request is that no matter how the military factory is, after one year, it needs to produce [-] self-igniting guns and [-] bayonets, and the quality must be strictly guaranteed!"

Liu Tianlu had a bitter look on his face at regular intervals, and Huang Laifu said again: "Considering that our military factory will soon be making guns, and the demand is getting bigger and bigger, so the scale of this factory must be expanded, and the number of craftsmen needs to reach more than [-]. Special funds will be allocated, and you, Director Liu, will be fully responsible for the construction of the military factory and the recruitment of relevant personnel!"

Hearing this, Liu Tianlu was overjoyed.

……

Five days later, Wuzhaibao Military Factory.

With the expansion of the Wuzhaibao military factory, the location of the factory has already been moved to the north of the city. The guards here are heavily guarded and the territory is vast, just like a small military fort.

At this time, in the military factory, the heat is soaring, and the sound of clanging can be heard endlessly.After years of operation, many excellent craftsmen from Daming have gathered here. Wuzhaibao’s generous treatment of military craftsmen and a good incentive system have attracted a steady stream of craftsmen from all over the world to come to Wuzhaibao. inside the factory.

The current Wuzhaibao Military Factory, even though the number of people is slightly inferior to the Ministry of Industry's Military Weapons Bureau and the Inner Palace's Military Warfare Bureau, it far surpasses them in terms of the quantity and quality of weapons produced each year.

However, when it comes to excellent military craftsmen, Wuzhaibao Military Factory is actually not as good as the above two places. In fact, Huang Laifu has tried his best to attract talents in these years, especially Zhao Shizhen, an expert in the invention of firearms in Wanli, and even Huang Laifu. object of desire.This guy improved the Lumi blunderbuss and invented the Thunderbolt blunderbuss and Lightning blunderbuss. He is a great military talent.

Very early on, when this guy was still an eighth-rank official in the Honglu Temple in the capital, Huang Laifu tried to win him over. Unfortunately, no matter what Huang Laifu said, this guy just didn't want to come to Wuzhai Fort. Huang Laifu invited him Several times, he was indifferent, and finally Huang Laifu became angry and ignored him.

But even if the talents are not as good, Wuzhaibao wins because of its excellent system. Even if the talents are not as good as the above two places, the output and quality of weapons are beyond their reach.All kinds of weapons produced in the Wuzhaibao military factory have become synonymous with high-quality goods.

Accompanied by all the generals, Huang Laifu came to the military factory today because Liu Tianlu had already manufactured the bayonet he needed.There are also two new weapons.

(End of this chapter)