I don’t know how many soldiers Ferdinand IV will send when Lao Tang writes a letter to Emperor Lanni. Maybe he will send mercenaries who are beyond his control, who cannot be digested by the empire, who may rebel and surrender to the enemy at any time, and paint them all over the place. It is the golden oriental pie.
If you adopt the attitude of giving it a try and cutting the price by half, you can transport 5,000 soldiers. If there is a large-scale clearance, you may transport tens of thousands or tens of thousands of soldiers. This is equivalent to asking your friends in the East to spend money to raise them for him. With these combat-effective troops, we will find a way to transfer them back in a few years.
Or just use a price that is not too high, half sell and half give it to yourself. Ten thousand imperial mercenaries can be exchanged for 500,000 taels of silver. That’s relatively easy to make money. If it’s more than 1 million taels, then you can have an interview. It’s more cost-effective to rent. Some, after all, the "small eastern landowners" don't have much surplus food at home.
Yaoji's plan is to let the foreign aid force gather 50,000 people on its own. Regardless of whether it is an alliance of two, three or four countries, it must at least reach this size. If it is too small, even if the individual combat effectiveness is not inferior to that of a big braid, if you want to defeat the emperor It is also very difficult for the main field force of more than 100,000 chickens.
Achieving consecutive battles and wins in the early stage is almost an impossible task. If you can avoid collapsing directly when facing the front, it is considered a success. The coder's money of so much money has not been wasted.
This is mainly because the Qing army has very strong field assault capabilities, and its mobility and resistance to strikes are much higher than those of the Ming army. The high morale generated when facing their defeated generals also allows them to withstand a relatively high casualty rate.
If you want to defeat Braid, you must be able to defeat it head-on. Otherwise, even if you can kill thousands of opponents in one battle, it will be a draw at most. Huang Taiji can completely bear this loss.
In order to cause greater casualties to the braids, the first thing to consider is to increase the range, accuracy and rate of fire of firearms.
The most famous individual weapon in the 16th century was the "Mushket" musket, a matchlock gun weighing about 8-11 kilograms, with an effective range of about 100 meters and a maximum range of 250 meters.
Using this weapon as a reference, the Ming Dynasty's "Lumi Gun" is the Ming version of the "Mushket" musket.
"Rumi" is the translation of "Ottoman" at that time, and "Rumi gun" is the Ming version of Turkish matchlock gun.
This weapon was the result of improvements made by Zhao Shizhen, a light weapons expert in the late Ming Dynasty, after consulting the Ottoman envoy Dosima.
It is much lighter than the "Mushket" musket, has an effective range of one hundred steps, and a maximum range of up to four hundred steps.
There is a finger-long fan-shaped dagger hidden at the end of the gun stock, which can be used for close combat that is better than nothing.
Compared with the "Japanese Bird Gun", the "Rumi Gun" is unmatched in terms of range and power, including cost.
The cost of a "Lumi Gun" is more than half that of a "Japanese Bird Gun", and the latter's effective range can reach more than 80 steps, which is about 120 meters, and its accuracy at close range is similar.
Under the premise that the imperial court's finances were tight and the Ming army needed to install large quantities of fire blunderbuss, bird blunderbuss was undoubtedly a better choice, and the same was true for the actual production and procurement.
Since the Qi Jiajun was equipped with a large number of blunderbuss, this light weapon has occupied a dominant position among the infantry firearms of the Ming Army.
The blunderbuss has three advantages. First, the aiming system. The blunderbuss has a crosshair on the muzzle and a rear sight on the gun body, making it easy to train soldiers and aim at the target. Second, it is lighter in weight and is more suitable for use by Ming army soldiers who are not strong enough. Third, the production cost is low, and the price of "Lumi Gun" with a length of more than 1.8 meters cannot be significantly reduced.
Taking into consideration many aspects, the small size, light weight and low cost bird gun is the first choice weapon for improvement.
"My dear, I have seen past battle reports. As a soldier's weapon, the blunderbuss is like a stick in close combat and cannot cause much damage to the enemy. I plan to install a bayonet on the blunderbuss. What do you think, my dear?"
Yaoji asked Yang Jinchao to bring a blunderbuss, and then tied a dagger or dagger about one foot long to the front end of the gun body near the muzzle. After fixing it, he stood on the seat next to him and displayed it.
"The binding is only temporary. In the future, an iron slot will be installed on the gun body to facilitate the fixation of the bayonet. I think that with the bayonet, the gun will be like a Western-style spear in close combat. In this way, the musketeers will You can shoot from a distance, and you can fight if you are close.”
Yaoji believes that once the Ming army engages in close combat with Braid, the musketeers will simply be a unit that kills the opponent. It is certain that a stick cannot beat a knife, and it is impossible to penetrate Braid's armored heavy infantry from a long distance.
No matter how rubbish the weapons are, it is impossible for Yaoji to cancel all the musketeers and return the Ming army to the era of pure cold weapons. That would be more primitive than the opposite Qing army, and it would be even more impossible to defeat the opponent.
What's even more deceiving is that because every battle involves losing troops and generals, the army's planned muskets are too short, and the Ming Dynasty imports more than 5,000 muskets from Japan every year...
After hearing this suggestion, Lao Tang, as an industry insider, thought it was feasible and said, "Your Highness, can I go over to have a look and try it out?"
Generally speaking, troops from various European countries will be equipped with musketeers and spearmen. The former is responsible for long-range shooting, and the latter is responsible for close combat tasks. If necessary, there will also be some sword and shield soldiers mixed in.
The fatal weakness of the Musketeers is that they cannot fight in close combat, so they need other arms to protect them.
Lao Tang doesn’t know much about the recent situation in Europe, but it was roughly the same five to ten years ago, and it probably won’t improve much now.
"Of course, my dear, please do. If this is a trial, I will ask the Chief Superintendent to bring half a fan of pork as a target!"
Yaoji asked two little eunuchs to get the pork. One person probably couldn't carry it. Using pork as a target can be roughly equivalent to the human body in a naked state. If it is armored, it will need to add a layer of iron or several layers of leather armor. .
Then he deliberately kept a certain distance from Lao Tang. Yaoji was not afraid of Lao Tang's retaliation, but he was afraid that the dagger was not tied tightly. If it fell apart when he stabbed with force, it would be useless if it fell on him.
There was no gunpowder in the gun, and Yaoji was accompanied by eight internal masters arranged by the eunuch Li Fengxiang. They could stab the king with a foot-long dagger. This armed warlock was not that powerful.
Lao Tang carefully checked the fixation of the dagger, and felt relieved that it was relatively secure. The dagger was sharpened to a sharp point, and under the sunlight, the blade released a frightening light.
To install an auxiliary weapon, Yaoji does not plan to build it behind closed doors. He must first seek the opinions of experts in the industry. Even if he is correct, there will be flaws in the details. It is better to correct it in time than to remake it.
Although he is nearly fifty, Lao Tang is still relatively strong due to his race and diet. After picking up the weapon, the blunderbuss looks like it has been shrunk by a warlock's spell.
"Pfft~!"
Lao Tang pushed his arms forward with force, and the dagger at the front of the gun pierced the skin with little resistance, and was mostly submerged in the pork. The waiters present were startled and couldn't help but gasp.
This thing was really terrifying. It could easily be inserted over half a foot long. It was like stabbing yourself with a knife. The stab was very deep. If it were a human being, it would be extremely painful.
Then there was nothing more, because Lao Tang's dagger was stuck in the bone, and it took a long time to pull it out.
"……Um!"
Sure enough, practice will lead to many unexpected problems. Yaoji has thought about the length, shape, weight of the bayonet, and even the bayonet installed on the gun body, but he has never thought about what to do if it is stuck by the enemy's bones or armor. good.
More experiments will be needed in the future to avoid embarrassment after installation. Although the chance of getting stuck is very low, it is still a problem, and I can't think of any good solutions for a while. The only option was to let the soldier kick the opponent and pull out the bayonet.
Lao Tang stabbed twice more. When he pulled it out, the same situation as the first time did not happen, so he hesitated and handed the gun back to the waiter. Then he went over to check the wound condition and carefully inserted his finger to measure the depth. .
"Your Highness, this bayonet is very powerful. It will definitely hurt the enemy. If it hits a vital part, it may kill him with one blow!"
If the enemy doesn't wear armor, just stab him with a bayonet and you can almost draw blood. It's hard to say if he wears armor, but it won't make it easier for the enemy.
As for the bayonet, a weapon mounted on a musket, Lao Tang still recognized and supported its role through personal testing.
He had seen the tail blade of the "Lumi Gun" before. In comparison, the bayonet attached to the muzzle obviously caused much greater damage to the enemy than the tail blade.
With bayonets, infantrymen will no longer be afraid of close combat. Any part of the enemy that a foot-long thing penetrates will weaken its combat ability.
"Ai Qing's words are reasonable, but I believe that there are still many improvements to the bayonet, such as length, weight, and installation methods that need to be solved urgently!"
According to the style, bayonets include American dagger type, Russian hunting knife type, German dagger type, and a certain three-edged bloodletting type.
If you want to replace spearmen with musketeers and turn all infantry units into muskets, then the longer the muskets equipped with bayonets are naturally, the better, so that they can deal with cavalry.
The German dagger type is very good, such as the 1860 type or the one on the 98K rifle, which can effectively supplement the length of the blunderbuss.
"Your Highness, I have something unclear. Why don't you integrate the bayonet and the musket? This way you don't have to worry about installing the bayonet!"
Lao Tang is a semi-scientific researcher who pursues a one-stop solution. If one weapon can solve a problem, there is no need to put two pieces together.
This is equivalent to installing an iron pipe on a trumpet's spear to fire. Lao Tang's idea is not much different from the "mini fire spear".
"I thought about this, but gave up. Because once the bayonet is installed on the musket, the tip of the knife will reflect the light and form a bright spot. The enemy a hundred meters away is just a small dot. After the bayonet is installed, , our soldiers can no longer see the enemy when aiming, they can only see the bright spot on the tip of the knife! Aiqing can use this gun to look at the ornaments on the eaves in the distance as aiming."
Anyone who has fired a gun will know this principle. An enemy 100 meters away is about the size of a sesame seed. It is already very difficult to aim. If the tip of the knife reflects light again, whether it can hit the target is basically a gamble on luck. .
Unless the enemy has advanced to a distance that can be knocked down by raising a gun, military commanders from various countries will generally not order soldiers to install bayonets before close combat. Installing them becomes "aiding the enemy."
Regarding the prince's explanation, Lao Tang was dubious at first, but after an experiment, he discovered that he could not see anything clearly, so he was casually convinced: "I see, your highness is wise, and I admire you very much!"
From this point of view, the prince is also an expert in the field of firearms. Without personal verification, he would never have explained it so thoroughly.
There are only so many improvements to the close combat of muskets. If you want to increase the combat effectiveness, without significantly increasing investment, let the soldiers grab a handful of sand or lime and sprinkle it on the opposite side...
"I have another way to increase the firepower of muskets, which is to use double barrels!"
The most famous double-barreled gun is the double-barreled hunting gun, such as the one used for flying saucer in the Olympics. The most obvious advantage is that the firepower of the first fire will be doubled.
Taking into account the subsequent reloading time, the double-barreled version is actually almost the same as the single-barreled musket in terms of projection volume. The emphasis is on the first wave of burst flow.
Generally speaking, if Huang Taiji had not drunk too much, the Qing army would not use cavalry to attack the Ming army's infantry squares. Instead, they would use solid and durable heavy armored infantry to serve as the attacking force.
The effective range of bird cannons is about 120 meters, but the Ming army basically does not wait until the enemy enters the effective range before firing. It usually chooses the maximum range of about 400 meters and shoots at an elevation angle.
In this way, you can reload ammunition as many times as possible. Although the extreme shooting method may not cause much damage to the enemy, it can embolden yourself. What if you shoot two or three more times and kill dozens of pigtails...
Assuming that the two sides are 400 meters apart, it takes two minutes for the heavy armored infantry of the Qing army armed with cold weapons to cover a distance of 350 meters.
In two minutes, the Ming army could reload the gun three times, plus four shots for the first time.
If the double-barreled version is used, the total energy supply is five shots, which is equivalent to a 25% increase in firepower projection.
If the braid runs slowly and the movement speed is only two meters per second, it will take 175 seconds. Calculated as 180 seconds, if the Ming army is fast, it can almost load twice more ammunition.
In this way, the firepower projection of the double-barreled version is only 16.7% higher than that of the single-barreled version, but the cost is nearly half higher, which is equivalent to the manufacturing cost of the "Lumi Gun".
Moreover, because the double-barreled version has an extra barrel, it will obviously weigh more and be more inconvenient for soldiers to carry and lift, so Yaoji is still hesitating.
Upgrading the matchlock to a flintlock gun is a must, and installing a bayonet is a certainty, but whether to adopt a double-barreled version still requires multiple arguments.
At least grab a braid and do a field test to see how fast the armored soldiers of the "Qing King's Division" can run!
If it's about two minutes long, the double-barreled version makes sense.
If the time limit is higher than this, the low-cost single-tube version should be used.
The question is, how can we catch a lively armored soldier? ? ?
