After returning to Imagawa Hall, Imagawa Yoshimoto kept thinking about the 400 iron cannons he bought for 20,000 yuan. I bought it on a whim because Takeda Harunobu strongly recommended it. But you have to use it after buying it, but currently, it seems that except for the time when defending the city, these iron cannons are far inferior to bows and arrows in other situations - but the Imagawa family currently has no chance to defend the city. Should these iron cannons be given away? To the Matsudaira family?
However, 20,000 sticks is a lot less than a lot, and it is nothing to think of as 400 fire sticks thrown into the warehouse to eat ashes - Imagawa Yoshimoto thought about it and then forgot about it, and fell asleep peacefully. Until the next morning, Taiyuan Xuezhai woke him up early in the morning.
"Old man?" Imagawa Yoshimoto muttered as he got out of the bed, tucked Ginkgo into bed, and then opened the door, "What's the matter, shouting outside so early."
"When did you buy those things called "iron cannons"? Why didn't you tell me about them?" Taiyuan Xue Zhai couldn't wait any longer and pulled Imagawa Yoshimoto out and asked hurriedly. road.
"When I was in Sakai Town, I didn't spend much money, so I didn't tell you." Imagawa Yoshimoto thought that Taiyuan Xuezhai was here to punish him for his extravagance and waste, so he immediately started to prevaricate, "I was wrong, I was wrong. It’s not okay yet.”
"No, you did a good job. That thing is very powerful. If it can be deployed in the army, it can be regarded as a magic weapon!" But Taiyuan Xue Zhai's eyes lit up with excitement, and he pulled Imagawa Yoshimoto towards it. Go to the dojo in Imagawakan Honmaru. When I arrived at the place, I discovered that nearly a hundred people had already gathered in the dojo. Important Hatamoto officials such as Himura Umoha, Akai Kuroko, Matsui Munanobu, Osawa Motoin, and Umeyama Clan High School had all arrived. More than twenty Hatakemotos were busy. Wear the moving equipment and conduct the test.
"What are you doing? Why do you all get up so early?" Imagawa Yoshimoto rubbed his eyes in surprise.
"Master Yukisai found a good treasure and called us all to attend the visit." Himura Hiroyuki also showed a wry smile and raised his finger to point at Sano Shinbei and other Hatamoto who were testing the iron cannon in the dojo.
"Good boy, come here!" Before Imagawa Yoshimoto and Himura Umoha could say a few words, he was pulled to the target area on the dojo by Taiyuan Xuezhai. There, there were wooden boards, cloth armor and a pair of serious iron armor hanging as targets - the common thing was that each target had several large holes drilled in it.
"You are also an expert in archery yourself, don't you understand the meaning of this power?" Taiyuan Xuezai walked to the target area and stood there, pointing at Sano Shinbei who was about to shoot fifty steps away, "At this distance, ordinary Bows and arrows can't penetrate anything. A master may be able to shoot through cloth armor, but that's just to injure people. If it doesn't hit the vital point, it can't effectively kill. But the iron cannon you bought, as long as it hits, one shot will kill a person. Human life. Although this southern barbarian is not well-educated, he does have some tricks up his sleeve when it comes to tinkering with weapons."
"The problem is that his rate of fire is too slow. Unless he is defending a city, there is no chance of shooting, and there is no way to cover friendly forces from behind." Imagawa Yoshimoto also understands the advantages of the iron cannon, but it is the fatal flaw that makes it useless. It is very likely to appear on the battlefield.
"That's what you have to find a way to overcome! With such a strong lethality, there is no reason not to formulate special tactics for it. Find a way to use its strengths and avoid its weaknesses, and overcome and hide the disadvantages of the iron cannon. This is your next mission!" Taiyuan Xuezhai He hit Yoshimoto Imagawa hard twice on the chest and said, "You have been weird since you were a child. It's not difficult to come up with some weird ideas!"
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Therefore, Imagawa Yoshimoto followed Sano Shinbei to learn the process and techniques of firing iron cannons, while immersing himself in studying how to make iron cannons effective on the battlefield.
The biggest problem with the iron cannon is that after firing the first round in the field, if the enemy launches a charge on the battlefield, the iron gunner will not have time to reload to fire the second round, and has to retreat to the back of the formation - and then lose the opportunity again. Opportunity to fire. No matter how much the reloading speed of the iron cannon is increased, it will only change from one round of shooting to two rounds at most, and there is still no ability to sustain output.
Unless the fighting area has a large number of rolling hills, slopes, and mountains, it can provide shooting angles for the retreating iron gunners to attack past their own troops. But if the place where the battle takes place does not have these terrains, then the iron gunner is destined to be a passer-by on the battlefield.
The final analysis is that the reloading is too slow. After you finish reloading, the enemy has already run to you.
What if I run faster than the enemy?
? ——Imagawa Yoshimoto had a sudden idea.
If I equip the iron gunner with horses to ensure that the enemy cannot catch up with me, won't I always be able to shoot on flat ground? When the opponent is chasing you, keep the distance, and when the opponent retreats, catch up - equivalent to an enhanced version of the mounted archer.
I gave it a try when I thought of it - so Imagawa Yoshimoto brought Himura Umoha, Akai Kuroko and other followers to the outskirts of Imagawakan. He got on the horse with the loaded iron cannon, imitated the archery skills, and used his four hooves to fly into the air. He pulled the trigger at the right moment - but the bullet that was fired showed no sign of hitting the target and flew to an unknown destination.
But Imagawa Yoshimoto's seated horse seemed to be frightened by the roar. He stood up with a roar and kept jumping and tossing, almost throwing Imagawa Yoshimoto off his horse. Imagawa Yoshimoto hugged the horse's neck tightly and tried his best to get close to the horse's back, and finally managed not to fall to the ground.
Kira Weisei on the side burst into laughter when he saw this, and kept patting Hayasaka Nao and Targami Kentaro on the shoulders, making it seem like the three of them were laughing at Imagawa Yoshimoto, making Hayasaka Nao and Targami Kentaro very embarrassed. .
"It's not quite accurate." Imagawa Yoshimoto also laughed a little awkwardly, but he still didn't lose heart. "It should be a matter of proficiency. I can just practice more."
So Imagawa Yoshimoto lowered his head to load the iron cannon, but he couldn't load it well on the bumpy horseback. Either the gunpowder was spilled, the flint fell, or the matchlock failed to light. Moreover, both hands must be used for loading, which means that the horse's reins cannot be manipulated, and the horse is a little unruly when sitting down-maybe because it has just been frightened.
"This won't work." Imagawa Yoshimoto quickly gave up his previous idea, "Humans can endure the roar, but horses can't, and loading on the horse is too troublesome. Maybe you can become proficient in loading with more practice, but horses can't. The problem of being frightened will probably never be solved.”
"Is there an iron cannon of better quality that makes less noise?" Imagawa Yoshimoto then reined in his horse and asked Sano Shinbei in front of the horse.
"As for your highness, no, what I sell to you is still the highest quality Tanegashima."
"Then there's nothing we can do..." Imagawa Yoshimoto felt a headache. After struggling for a long time, he came up with an idea, "Or, shoot at the enemy first, charge the enemy, then ride a horse to keep the distance, and then try again after reaching a safe distance. Dismount and shoot?"
"What if the enemy is a cavalry that is chasing after him?" Akai Kurotaka immediately seized the opportunity to argue with Imagawa Yoshimoto.
"Well... then use bows and arrows to attack. If we are retreating, the power of turning around and shooting will be much greater than the forward shooting of the pursuing party. After chasing for a certain distance, they will be unable to pursue." Imagawa Yoshimoto pinched his chin. I thought of a way to deal with it.
"You have to carry a bow and arrow, and you have to carry this iron rod. It has to be much heavier than others. How can you outrun others?" Akai Kuroko continued to ask.
"Well... Then wear light armor instead of heavy armor. Light armor is enough to protect against arrows. As long as you don't rush into the formation, you can do it without heavy armor." Imagawa Yoshimoto originally wanted to just wear the formation haori, but he felt that That was too much. I was worried that something would happen if a stray arrow attacked, so I took a step back and put on light armor. "We will keep fighting while retreating. When the enemy stops chasing us, we will have time to use iron cannons to fight back." .If you keep chasing, use a bow and arrow."
"It's like flying a kite." Imagawa Yoshimoto recalled the experience of flying a kite with an iron cannon with Takeda Harunobu in Sakai Town last year. He stretched out his hand and made a few kite-flying gestures. "Always keep a distance from the enemy."
"Damn it, Your Highness, I'm a fucking samurai, not an oiran who refuses to welcome you back." Akai Kurotaka sneered at Imagawa Yoshimoto's suggestion, and even swore, "A samurai must be equipped with heavy armor and famous swords. Those who charge into battle! Our horse warriors are all the best among the best. We have honed our kung fu in half a lifetime of fighting. Now you want us to abandon these and fly kites with those foreign fire sticks?"
"Half-way to become a monk... Oh no, it's hard for me to understand your samurai baggage as a half-way monk." Imagawa Yoshimoto showed a wry smile to Akai Kurotaka, then turned to Himura Umoha and said: "Himura, what is your intention? Can you accept it? ?”
"If it is His Highness's order, I will definitely accept it. Not to mention, even Akai-sama, although he curses fiercely, will definitely accept it in the end." Himura Hiroyuki glanced at the person next to him with a smile. Akai Kurokugao, Akai Kurokugao gave a blank look in return, but Himura Umoha was still minding his own business and offered a tall hat: "After all,
How could a warrior like him, who was so dedicated to his duty, disobey orders? It's just that warriors also have their own dignity and can't be ashamed. "
"Wouldn't it be nice if a lot of people could die less by fighting like this? Compared with the so-called dignity, wouldn't it be nice if more of our subordinates could return home alive to reunite with their families without having to watch a whole family cry and cry? ?" Imagawa Yoshimoto turned over and dismounted, and without any explanation put the iron cannon in Akai Heigao's hand: "This is my order, the horsemen will start practicing iron cannon shooting from today."
