Emperor Ming Dynasty, Zhu Cixiang, the most filial son in the world, is really going to return to Beijing. He brought with him his father, Emperor Chongzhen, and his mother, Queen Zhou Shang, as well as his good brother Zhu Cihuan, King of Chongqing, as well as a few accompanying cabinet ministers and the staff of the Generalissimo's Mansion.
The group of people, escorted by two newly built Xiaoling Guards Fusiliers Regiments, a newly built Xiaoling Guards Forbidden Forces Lancers Regiment and a guard battalion, headed northward along the old route of the Grand Canal.
Clearing the way in front of and guarding the rear of the northbound Imperial Battalion were two infantry regiments that were no longer equipped with long rifles and all combat infantry were equipped with flintlock muskets.
The flintlocks equipped by the soldiers of these two regiments are called Hongxing Seventh Year Type. The total length without bayonet is five feet three inches, the barrel length is three feet seven and a half inches, it weighs eight pounds and four taels, and its caliber is five points. Eight centimeters, the projectile weighs six cents and five cents (paper-wrapped bullets will be issued), and the length of the attached sleeve bayonet reaches two feet four inches. With the bayonet installed, the total length of the Hongxing Seven Year Style reaches seven A three-inch ruler (the bayonet is mounted on the barrel, so there is overlap between the two).
In Zhu Cixiang's opinion, this flintlock musket is not an advanced weapon at all, and its power is not very good. The effective range during training (shooting a huge wooden target 10 feet wide and 6 feet high) is only one hundred steps - one hundred steps. The hit rate is about 20%. This "hundred-step hit rate" is of little significance in queuing to kill, because the battlefield environment interferes with the soldiers too much. If the distance is shortened by half, the hit rate will be reduced by half.
However, this hit rate is not without reference value in combat operations, such as when shooting masters are sent to shoot black guns, when fusiliers are guarding a bastion, or when half-kneeling behind a sandbag fortification to fire a gun. At that time, the hit rate of 100 steps could not reach 20%, so it was not a big problem to hit it in half.
Since there are various modes of fighting, not just queuing to kill, the value of the flintlock musket in actual combat is still very great. Therefore, when Zhu Cixiang left Beijing and went south eleven years ago, he was thinking about establishing a new army with flintlock muskets as the standard equipment of infantry.
Unexpectedly, Emperor Zhu only had two experimental fusiliers regiments eleven years later in the eighth year of Hongxing. This seemingly simple flintlock gun is really not easy to make with high quality and quantity. This thing is now a handicraft! It is a purely handmade thing, and there is no way to break down the process of making a musket too finely so that assembly line production can be used to improve efficiency.
Because the most time-consuming part to build is the barrel. In addition to packaging, oiling and other chores, it is just a rolling iron pipe and drilling the inner chamber, a total of two processes. There is no need for a high-end assembly line. The most common blacksmith workshop is also divided into two groups of people. However, these two processes are still "the craftsmanship of old masters" until now, and there is no way to standardize them. There is no way to even use a hydraulic hammer and a hydraulic drilling machine, so you can only use it by hand - the current hydraulic hammer can only be used to process thick wrought iron sheets, not finishing. The hydraulic drilling machine is too powerful and difficult to control. It can only be used to drill the cannon bore, not the gun bore.
Therefore, the production of flintlock guns is very slow. It may take ten years to completely replace the matchlock gun!
However, for Zhu Cixiang, who personally conquered Beijing, having 8,000 to 10,000 flintlock muskets (some equipped with black spearmen) was enough.
Because this Northern Expedition was originally a show to show the might of the Ming Dynasty!
The Xiaoling Guard Lancers, whose number is smaller than that of the Fusiliers, are also the protagonists of this show. This cavalry regiment has now expanded to four battalions, with the number of soldiers reaching 2,000, all of which are one man, one horse and one mule. configuration. Horses are folding horses or Arabian horses, and mules are tall and strong mules. All the cavalry were equipped with black simple plate armor and were now arranged in two columns, marching on the left and right of the imperial camp.
The third protagonist of this "Beijing Show" is heading north by sea. It is a siege artillery battalion equipped with eight 48-pound bronze smoothbore cannons. They are all treasures ordered by Zhu Cihong from the Netherlands - now the Ming Dynasty The arsenal of China could only cast 24-pound bronze smoothbore cannons at most, and could not make 48-pound cannons and larger 64-pound cannons, so it imported eight 48-pound cannons for show.
Because these eight artillery pieces were too heavy, they could not go overland by foot. They had to be transported by water to Tianjin, and then taken to Tongzhou by canal.
However, 48-pound guns are not needed to attack the city of Beijing - because Emperor Zhu opened a sandbag golden finger himself, heavy artillery firing solid bullets is of little use in siege warfare. The fortifications built with sandbags can withstand the siege of later generations. What use can the solid bullets fired by cannons and bronze smoothbore cannons have? At best, it's just about shooting the gate tower and destroying some targets in the city.
The greatest threat to the impregnable Beijing Castle is, of course, the Emperor of Heaven, Zhu Cizhong himself, riding an Arabian horse and riding alongside Emperor Chongzhen!
"I respectfully welcome His Majesty the Emperor, His Majesty the Emperor. Long live my emperor, long live, long live..."
Outside Tianjin Wei Ling Fort, on the official road that has been paved with stones, a group of generals wearing black breastplates, plate armor, and red cloaks and a large number of civil servants from Hebei Province gathered in Tianjin. Standing still, we bowed to Zhu Cixiang and Emperor Chongzhen who were coming on horseback, and shouted long live the mountain.
"Long live Long live Long live......"
After the officials finished shouting "Long Live the Mountain", in the wilderness on both sides of the official road, countless Ming army officers and soldiers lined up neatly, fully armored and holding weapons, also shouted in unison, "Long Live the Mountain!"
Farther away from the official road, there were many ordinary people holding teapots. There were more than 100,000 men and women, all stretching their necks, as if they wanted to catch a glimpse of the Emperor of Heaven and the Emperor!
Under the supervision of the Heavenly Soldiers, they all came spontaneously to the outside of Tianjin Acropolis to greet the emperor's carriage. They were all fellow villagers from Hejian Prefecture... They had been waiting for Master Wang every month. I know the good people of Ming Dynasty!
Seeing Master Wang's current appearance, everyone was surprised, envious and regretful!
The beggar king has only been away for eleven years, how come he has become a rich man when he comes back? Is there gold and silver in the south of the Yangtze River? If I had known that Jiangnan was so good, I should have followed the prince to become the king's master! Staying in Beizhili for so many years, I really don’t know how much hardship I endured... I shed tears just thinking about it!
Emperor Chongzhen is also crying now, so many royal masters! It's not just on paper, but it's actually in front of you. They have excellent armor and well-trained soldiers. You can tell at a glance that they are elite. This kind of Master Wang had only been seen in dreams when Chongzhen was in power, and now he actually appeared in front of him alive... It's a pity that the king to whom this Master Wang was loyal has been replaced!
"Shi Kefa, Yan Yingyuan comes forward!"
Tian Yuchen, the eunuch who followed Emperor Zhu northward, shouted loudly at this time.
Shi Kefa, the governor of Pingjin, and Yan Yingyuan, the admiral of Pingjin, both immediately stepped forward and reached the horses of Emperor Zhu and Emperor Chongzhen.
The 200,000 Ming army now gathered in Tianjin are controlled by these two men!
"Where are the king's troops now?" Zhu Cixiang asked on horseback.
According to the plan of the Generalissimo's Office, the army besieging Beijing was divided into two groups: east and west. The army of the west route marched through the Monan grassland, collecting soldiers and horses from the two banners of Tumote and the eight banners of Chahar in Guihua City, and then entered the fortress from Juyong Pass, and The East Route Army from Tianjin met outside Beijing. Surrounded Emperor Shunzhi in Beijing!
"Your Majesty," Shi Kefa replied, "His Royal Highness the King of Dai and the troops led by Har and Lin Khan have now arrived at Zhangjiakou Fort. His Highness the King of Dai is gathering the Mongolian tribes outside Zhangjiakou and is waiting for His Majesty to send angels to express condolences and rewards. Then we can enter the fortress in a big way."
"Lao Wu!" Zhu Cixiang called back.
"My brother is here." Zhu Cihuan, the king of Chongqing, responded quickly.
Zhu Cihong said: "Fifth brother, please take a trip to Zhangjiakou on my behalf!"
