The next day, Yang Fan went to the banquet on time. Wanghailou is a very famous restaurant near Shichahai.
Yang Fan got off the four-wheeled carriage, and Zhang Geda stayed downstairs with his guards.
When Yang Fan got off the car, he saw Ma Xianglin and Zhang Fengyi greeting Yang Fan at the door of the restaurant.
"I've seen Uncle Dingyuan. My mother and Mr. Zhang are waiting in the basement upstairs." Ma Xianglin said.
Zhang Fengyi also smiled, cupped her hands, and said, "Brother Yang, my mother is here too, she is upstairs."
Yang Fan was not surprised that Zhang Fengyi's family was in the capital. He has received news that Zhang Wudian has been appointed governor of Suiyuan. And he holds the bachelor's degree of Dongge University.
In the future, I will have to work with Mr. Zhang. I heard that Liu Hongxun, the former cabinet veteran who was fooled by Chongzhen and was beaten to the end, will also go to Suiyuan.
Yang Fan went to the private room under their guidance. I saw both Qin and Zhang families there.
Yang Fan bowed his hands and greeted them. These two families are in-laws, and they are both coming to the imperial capital this time. In addition to doing business, it is estimated that Ma Xianglin and Zhang Fengyi are already old enough to get married.
This room is in the southeast corner of the pavilion and is an octagonal room. There are doors and windows on three sides, and there is a cloister outside. You can see the scenery of Shichahai. It is a very good private room.
It seems that General Qin is quite thoughtful.
After the guests and hosts were seated, Qin Liangyu introduced the people on her side. Mainly her brother's two sons, and her son's future daughter-in-law. Everyone in the Zhang family knows Yang Fan, so no introduction is needed.
Yang Fan secretly praised Qin Liangyu for being able to handle things, and asked Zhang Wudian to accompany him today.
If you ask Yang Fan for something, it's hard for Yang Fan to refuse. After all, Yang Fan and Qin Liangyu have no relationship and are relatively strangers. Zhang Wudian is both her in-laws and an old friend of Yang Fan, so it is very appropriate to invite him to accompany her. At the same time, it also avoids embarrassment and no topic.
Although it was the first banquet, with Zhang Wudian here, the atmosphere was still very lively.
Qin Liangyu was more concerned about the war in the northwest, so Yang Fan told her in detail. She listened very carefully.
I am particularly interested in issues such as the details of the battle and the tactics of the Mongols.
"I have led troops for more than thirty years. I fought against the Japanese in Korea, pacified Yang Yinglong in Bozhou, aided the Liao Dynasty three times, and fought against the Jiannu. In the past ten years, I have been pacifying the She'an Rebellion. I am also familiar with infantry tactics. The world I’ve probably seen tyrannical people. But from Uncle Dingyuan’s description, the Oirat people in the northwest are really powerful enemies.”
Yang Fan smiled and said: "The Oirat people can only be regarded as having a moderate fighting force in the northwest. Further west, there are Ottoman Turks, and the Tsarist Russians are even more powerful. Especially the Tsarist Russia. By the way, the Ming Dynasty called them the Rakshasa Kingdom, and I call them Maozi Kingdom. They have a group of nomadic tribes called Cossacks between the Volga River and the Ural River. They are brave and good at fighting and should not be underestimated."
Qin Liangyu couldn't help but ask: "Will the situation in the northwest be repeated again?"
"Don't worry about this. The northwest has long been settled. The Mongolian Mongols will not invade for ten years. Now that the threat to the north and northwest of the Ming Dynasty has been lifted, just focus on building slaves."
Qin Liangyu said: "The chaos in She'an has been raging for more than ten years. Now Sichuan has been pacified, and most of Guizhou has also been pacified. In one year next year, all the war in the south will be over. I, the Ming Dynasty, can also rest and recuperate. These years , fighting on the north and south fronts has done too much harm to the country."
Zhang Wudian also said: "I have finally made it through this year. Now the north and northwest have been pacified, and the southwest will be pacified soon. Your Majesty has also abolished the border troops and reduced the financial burden. These are good signs. As long as nothing happens in the Northeast, I will have a few years in the Ming Dynasty." We have a chance to take a breather, and now that the emperor is wise, there will definitely be a prosperous era of resurgence."
Yang Fan didn't speak. He knew clearly that although many things had changed because of him, Zhang Wudian was too optimistic. Because what finally led to the overthrow of the Ming Dynasty was the civil uprising.
Qin Liangyu said: "The Yan Yingyuan that Uncle Dingyuan mentioned is really a talent. His method of infantry fighting cavalry is of great reference value. However, the Tumuts and Yongxiebu tribe lack firearms. And Jiannu has many firearms. At that time, during the Battle of Hunhe, our white-armed soldiers killed and injured more than 3,000 Jiannu heavy cavalry and captured more than a dozen generals alive. In the end, they were still attacked by heavy artillery.
Collapse, more than half of them were killed or injured. "
Yang Fan nodded. He had studied the Battle of Hunhe River. The conclusion is that firearms can only be defeated with firearms, there is no better way. The destructive blow of heavy artillery to the car camp and the spear formation was the main reason for the defeat.
Yang Fan said: "There are not many good ways. The main reason is that the troops of the General Qin Army are all infantry. The Sichuan people are short in stature, and the Sichuan horses are also relatively thin. The cavalry cannot wear heavy armor, so the cavalry cannot defeat the slaves. And the infantry Although the spear array can be used to deal with cavalry, when the opponent has a large number of firearms, the spear array is not reliable."
Qin Liangyu also had a headache for Jiannu and asked, "Uncle Dingyuan has wiped out the Zhenglan Banner. Is there any good way to do it?"
Yang Fan said: "There is no way. I have stronger firearms than them, better horses than them, and armor is lighter and stronger than them. I have more people than them, so I won. If General Qin's soldiers and horses, there is only one way that may work. It makes sense."
Qin Liangyu asked hurriedly: "What method is it?"
She knew that in the future they would have to fight against the slaves, and this method was very important to her.
"When encountering heavy artillery, either rush forward and kill the artillerymen regardless of casualties. Or retreat immediately and don't be reluctant to fight. You can't stay where you are and be beaten passively. Only by preserving yourself can you destroy the enemy."
Yang Fan thought for a while and said: "Southwest is a poor place with insufficient financial resources to purchase an artillery unit. In the final analysis, the only opponent of artillery is artillery. Small-caliber artillery on the battlefield cannot beat large-caliber artillery. Rate of fire Low artillery cannot defeat artillery with a high rate of fire. Field artillery that is light and can move with the army is the decisive force on the battlefield."
"I have a workaround here. I can make a leather cannon that is very light and cheap, but has a very short lifespan. After about twenty or thirty shots, the barrel will be scrapped. But its performance is not much worse than that of a copper cannon. .With the same caliber, the weight is much lighter than the copper-iron cannon."
As soon as Yang Fan spoke, Zhang Wudian and Qin Liangyu's eyes lit up. There was such a good artillery in the world.
Iron is much cheaper than bronze. The casting cost of an iron cannon is only a quarter of that of a bronze cannon.
And if leather can be used, the cost will be incredibly cheap.
Moreover, Shizhu is a mountainous area with abundant animals. There’s no shortage of leather, there’s all kinds of leather there.
This cannon was invented by Gustav II of Sweden. Use thin copper or iron sheets to forge them into a barrel, and then wrap reinforced leather strips around the barrel. Boiling the leather with vinegar can greatly enhance its toughness and strength. This principle is the same as the later British method of wrapping red-hot steel wire around artillery pieces and shrinking the barrel to automatically tighten it after cooling.
In addition to the leather strip layer, several iron hoops are added to enhance the strength. The iron hoop is covered with several layers of leather. Finally, a fire door was drilled into the rear of the gun. In this way, a leather cannon is completed.
Before Yang Fan came, he estimated that this thing would be helpful to Qin Liangyu, so he connected a printer to his mobile phone and printed out all the information on a set of Gustav leather cannons. It is equipped with color pictures, and the production method of this artillery is introduced in detail with pictures and texts.
Yang Fan has done some research and found that with the current technical strength and financial resources of Shizhu, it is completely possible to build it and it is affordable.
Gustavus created the "Leather Cannon" in order to bring the artillery to the battlefield and improve the mobility of the artillery. In fact, this kind of cannon is not entirely made of leather, but is made of copper core iron hoops covered with leather. It fires 3-pound shells and weighs about 74 kilograms. This weight can already be distributed to infantry and used mobilely on the front line.
Yang Fan introduced: "The leather cannon uses a fixed charge package and can fire solid shells, shotshells and chain shells (the main shells are shotshells). Its weight is only one-third of the cast iron artillery of the same caliber. One horse or two The soldiers can then move around. Although the Sichuan horses are short, two horses are enough."
"But this kind of artillery cannot withstand high chamber pressure (which is why it uses shotgun shells), has poor performance, and has a very short barrel life. It can only fire twenty or thirty rounds. If there is more leather, it will leak or explode. It is loaded. Therefore, it is a one-time use and can be thrown away after a battle. If the battle lasts for a long time, you should prepare more barrels."
Qin Liangyu had never seen such exquisite prints. This book is in octavo, coated paper, and printed in color. Beautifully bound. thick
It has over a hundred pages. It introduces the performance, advantages and disadvantages of this artillery in detail. and manufacturing methods, processes and procedures.
The more Qin Liangyu looked at it, the brighter his eyes became. This weapon was simply tailor-made for her.
Its range is comparable to that of a copper-haired cannon, and it weighs less than 150 kilograms. The key is that it's cheap. Just use iron sheet and copper sheet, which can be forged into a gun barrel.
As for it can only be launched twenty or thirty times. That's enough.
In this day and age, if you fire twenty or thirty rounds at a time, the bronze cannon will overheat. A battle usually ends with less than twenty or thirty rounds from a single artillery gun.
"However, this thing is no match for the red cannon. Don't use it against the red cannon. You will suffer big losses."
