"The soldiers of Donglu are wearing heavy armor. I have heard a little bit about this, but my soldiers are also wearing heavy armor. How much does this armor weigh?"
Chongzhen knew that Zu Dashou often reported that the Donglu armored soldiers were extremely powerful, even to the point where arrows could not penetrate them. After Wang Shi's soldiers did the same, he had some capital to compete.
"The total weight is about forty pounds!"
This is the lightest version. If it is any lighter, the defense will be significantly reduced. This version can ensure that the soldier's head and torso, as well as thighs and arms are not afraid of the clear bow used by the braid at close range. Shoot.
"It's so heavy, our soldiers are cumbersome and inconvenient to wear, and their movements are slow and clumsy. How can we attack Donglu?"
In Chongzhen's view, armor must not only be strong, but also light. Mobility cannot be given up because of defense, otherwise it will be a bunch of stupid turtles.
"Reporting to my father, it is extremely difficult for our army to win the battle now. The rest can only be planned slowly!"
First of all, positional warfare must be won, and mobile warfare must also be won.
Father!
You really think too much!
The purpose of equipping soldiers with such heavy armor is firstly to prevent braided bows and arrows from penetrating the armor. This can not only reduce combat casualties, but also enhance the self-confidence of our own soldiers.
The second is that once the losers are afraid of fighting, with such heavy armor on the body, it is not very convenient to put on and take off, and it is difficult to escape from the battlefield, which reduces the occurrence of large-scale collapse.
As long as you are wearing this outfit, the most labor-saving way is to stay on the battlefield without moving. Otherwise, whether you are advancing or retreating, you will be exhausted to death.
When Braid rushes over, he is throwing himself into a trap. The losers can just sit back and wait for him to catch him. If he doesn't knock down 1,800 enemies, he won't be able to afford this outfit.
At this moment, at that moment, they were able to fight Budaitu before, and they can fight now. If you don’t believe it, just come here and give it a try. If you lose, not only will your braids be left behind, but your scalp will also be left behind!
"..."
Chongzhen became sullen when he heard this. He was obviously very dissatisfied with such an answer, but he had no good way to deal with Donglu. Since this traitor wanted to do this, let him do it, and it would be a loss to Beiting. of silver.
"Father, as long as our army can win the battle, we can gradually reverse the situation and slowly push the front to the north until we can regain Shenyang and other places!"
If you can't win the battle, you can't relieve Jinzhou. Once Jinzhou is lost, the pressure will fall directly on Wu Sangui's Ningyuan City. This grandson is not as reliable as Zu Dashou. Once this happens, I'm afraid the situation will become worse. Even worse.
Therefore, as the prince's division, the short-term goal of the East Palace Guards is positional warfare, with the main purpose of relieving Jinzhou from the siege, and there must be no large-scale casualties.
A certain prince did not want to spend hundreds of taels of silver to train soldiers, only to lose half of them in one battle. The losers trained at such a high cost are not such disposable consumables.
"...You can just handle it yourself!"
It remains to be seen whether this method is feasible, and it is not advisable for Chongzhen to make a premature evaluation. If it succeeds, he will fall into the trap arranged by the traitor in advance.
After suffering several losses, Chongzhen had to be cautious. Even if he couldn't see the secret, he would not express his criticism easily.
"Just now you said you had a new type of musket. What is this?"
Since he couldn't take advantage of the armor, Chongzhen decided to take another look at the new gun, maybe he could find some flaws.
"It is a weapon that Erchen imitated from the fairy world. It does not need to be equipped with a match rope. It can be fired with a flint. The loading efficiency can be more than doubled. There was a similar weapon in our country before, but there is no such flintlock gun that is more suitable for soldiers. They use.”
The streamlined and slender appearance of the "Charleville 1777" flintlock musket is more like a work of art. Although the Ming Dynasty's version is only one meter and four meters long, its power is not inferior to the original version.
Without a bayonet, the total weight is about ten kilograms. Since a certain prince did not know what the actual combat situation would be, both the large-caliber and small-caliber versions were produced simultaneously.
The biggest problem at present is not the skill of the gun, but that the output is too low. Only about fifty qualified products are manufactured every day. If manufactured at this rate, it will only be more than 18,000 guns a year.
The establishment of the East Palace Guard alone is as high as 30,000, and there are other combat units waiting to be replenished with weapons. The annual output of at least 50,000 new guns must be achieved to basically meet the requirements of various ministries for replacement.
The gun factory is trying its best to produce, but it is far from the actual gap. The main reason is that there are too few senior technicians who are good at forging high-quality barrels.
Tens of thousands of craftsmen mobilized from the Nandu area have arrived in the capital one after another. It is expected that as they become familiar with the forging process standards, the output will more than double.
These people have lived in the south of the Yangtze River for generations, and of course they are not willing to settle in the north where wars are frequent. However, if the government decrees that they want to save their heads, they must obey the court's orders.
Including their families, there were nearly 100,000 men, women, and children. Fortunately, the Grand Canal ordered by the prodigal Emperor Yang of Sui could transport people, otherwise the long journey north would have been very difficult.
Even the soldiers of the East Palace Guards can only use bird guns for shooting training for the time being. Firstly, the production of new guns is low, and secondly, it is impossible for these rookies to practice with high-priced new guns.
However, the Japanese special envoy Yokoyama Takuya was very efficient in his work. Driven by tens of thousands of taels of silver, a thousand bird guns were quickly shipped. Naturally, they were all new guns that had never been used.
The second batch of 1,000 guns has just arrived in the capital. From the workmanship and symbols on the guns, it can be seen that they were not produced by his family, but purchased. However, the quality is not bad, and it is completely comparable to the bird guns made in the Ming Dynasty. .
It turned out that the contract signed between a certain prince and the Japanese country was for a period of five years, and he purchased 10,000 "iron cannons" every year, half of which belonged to Takuya Yokoyama.
But the current situation is that there are more people than guns. The order quantity involved in the contract must be revised and increased to 40,000 guns per year. The time limit and purchase price remain unchanged, and the total number is as high as 200,000 guns. It is definitely a huge sum. Ordered.
Of course, the performance of the "iron cannon" produced by the Japanese country is not as good as that of its own new flintlock muskets, but the advantage is that the quantity is large and the supply is sufficient. Otherwise, if we rely on this small amount of output, we can only let the scoundrels go into battle with second-hand goods to kill the enemy. .
If the initial cooperation between the two parties is happy, a certain prince may even authorize the Hengshan family to produce a new flintlock musket developed by him.
After comparing the weapons produced by both sides, a certain prince discovered that the craftsmanship of the Japanese country was by no means inferior to that of the Ming Dynasty, and the forging level of its craftsmen must have reached a very high level.
Now that there is enough silver and copper mines can be mined in the "Northland", the production capacity of the Japanese country can be used to upgrade weapons for the King's Division.
If the arsenals of both sides were operating at full capacity, they could produce at least 50,000 to 70,000 qualified new flintlock muskets in a combined year, and they could complete the replacement of 300,000 Ming troops in about five years.
Three hundred thousand is the size of the front-line combat force that the court can currently afford. It is expected to cost about 15 million taels of silver. Adding some scraps, the total military expenditure is around 18 million taels.
This is based on the background that the annual income of the imperial court is 25 million taels of silver. If the annual income of the northern and southern imperial courts reaches 3,000 to 40 million taels of silver, military expenditures can be increased appropriately.
In a short period of time, even if the total annual revenue of the imperial court can increase by leaps and bounds, a certain prince has no intention of further expanding his army. The main reason is that there is not enough food to eat, and there is really no surplus food to feed the extra bastards.
If you have surplus food, you might as well hire Japanese soldiers and European mercenaries to fight for you. These people have high combat effectiveness. They are greedy for money and are willing to fight tooth and nail. The actual cost-effectiveness ratio is far higher than that of the Ming army.
"Yeah! Not bad. I wonder what the output is?"
Chongzhen felt that this gun was very exquisite. Not only did he see it, he also took it and played with it himself. He was very impressed with both the appearance and the feel.
"Currently, the craftsmen are short of manpower and can only make fifty guns per day. However, I have transferred craftsmen from the south and arrived in the capital recently. I believe that the output will gradually increase. If my father feels that this gun is still attractive, I would like to I present two of them for my father’s hunting purposes.”
You can't say "send". If you want to send, you can only say "xian". This way, the dumper's face will be justified, and the mouth of the second-rate emperor can be blocked with a new gun, so as not to complain again after arriving in Nandu. The craftsmen were all taken away by themselves.
"...Yeah! That's good!"
Chongzhen wanted to refuse, but he really liked this elegant new gun. Since the traitor offered it to him, he decided to let him go.
Since he succeeded to the throne, in the past twelve years, Chongzhen not only has not left the capital, he has not even set foot in the imperial city. He took advantage of the opportunity of moving to the southern capital to visit the mountains and sights.
With this new gun, it doesn't matter whether you hunt or not. Hanging it in a conspicuous place can also play a decorative role. It can also be pleasing to the eye when you have free time.
"Father, why don't you try shooting at a nearby shooting range!"
Seeing that the dumpster seemed to have ignored the craftsman's matter, his purpose of giving the gift was achieved. A certain prince immediately spoke up to prevent the second-rate emperor from complaining that he had not enjoyed the fun.
"...Oh? That's a good idea! I want to see how accurate this new gun is!"
After hearing this proposal, Chongzhen thought for a moment and agreed. Although it was not as exciting as hunting, it was also a pleasure for a man to be able to use a musket.
A certain prince thought to himself: If you have never used a gun, then don't mention the accuracy. Otherwise, others will see you and make a big joke. If you don't miss the target, you will be lucky.
Accompanied by a group of people, Chongzhen quickly arrived at the shooting range. There was a one-foot-square target twenty steps away, with a red dot painted on the center to facilitate the shooter's standard.
Only recruits here who have never even touched a gun can shoot targets at this distance. With a little training, they usually start at thirty steps, then fifty steps, seventy steps, and one hundred steps.
Because the scapegoat is the emperor, he doesn't need to understand the entire loading and cleaning process at all. There are dedicated people responsible for all additional processes. He only needs the standard target, pulls the trigger and everything is done.
"Pa~!"
As a burst of green smoke came out of the muzzle, the "imperial bullet" flew into the distance in an instant, flying very far, so far that it flew behind the huge target...
Chongzhen was looking forward to it at first, but later no one reported that he had hit the target. He also realized that he had missed the target, which was a little embarrassing. However, there was no way to remedy this, so he could only change the gun angrily. , conduct a second test launch.
A certain prince was watching from the side, wondering if he should give the dumpster a musket with a scope installed. Not to mention hitting the center of the circle, it could help the dumper hit the target easily.
If this is just a "bang bang bang" attack on a bird, the people around him will be stunned for a long time. How can it be embarrassing for the father who blames the blame?
Fortunately, the second-rate emperor looked at it for a moment and hit the target with his second shot.
Although it only hit the edge of the target, it was indeed a hit.
"Hit the target!"
A soldier loudly reported this happy event, and a group of servants were relieved and immediately ran into joy. If Banzai missed again, their mood would be extremely bad.
"Congratulations to my father, my father indeed has a talent for shooting. If he practices diligently, he will definitely achieve something!"
Fortunately, no one was standing near the target, otherwise he might be blamed. No matter in any aspect, this guy is too great a threat to our side.
"...You don't need to compliment me. I have never been exposed to muskets. I am already very relieved to have achieved such results!"
Chongzhen said this, but he was thinking in his heart that when he arrived in Nandu, if he had nothing to do, he could really practice this new gun. If he could gain something while hunting, it would be really refreshing.
Now that the results have been achieved, it is the wisest move to stop when things are good. Chongzhen does not want to get "one out of three", and "one out of two" is the best result in his opinion.
Chongzhen walked around the camp again and felt that the inspection was almost complete. This place had become the territory of the traitor again. It would be useless for him to stay longer, so he ordered to drive back to the imperial city.
"Okay, you are the first batch of students of this Palace! Although you have different backgrounds, I will treat you all equally, especially in terms of training, and will not take into account your background. After three months, Only this palace will teach you true talents and practical knowledge. Before that, you must work hard here to hone your will. Otherwise, on the battlefield, you will only be the grandson of Donglu! Many people in the Ming Dynasty are afraid of Donglu , I am very strange about this. Mingren and Donglu both carry one head on two shoulders. How come they are so afraid of being so virtuous when they meet? Only a grandson would be so cowardly when he sees his grandfather! Wait, Whether you want to be a grandson or a grandfather, there is no need to tell me now, you will know in three months!"
After sending off the blame-dumping father, a certain prince summoned all his students and gave them some instructions to avoid second-guessing the incident.
Arranged according to birth age, they are Wan Li, Gan Hui, Zhang Huangyan, Huang Ting, Zeng Ying, Li Yuanyin, Zheng Chenggong, and Zheng Shengying. There are eight students in each class, and they are organized into one class.
The squad leader and deputy squad leader are people who were transferred from the Yongwei Camp to the East Palace Guards. They are also their instructors. They have been training for three months and can be considered as apprentices to train students. Now they eat and live with these people and take good care of these new recruits.
"Zhou Yuji has already told me about your situation and achievements. I am confident that you two will lead the team. There is no need to worry about the issue of children, as long as they are neither dead nor disabled. Among these people are Confucian scholars, princes, There is recklessness, but here, there are only ordinary soldiers, regardless of high or low. Others learn and practice their skills, and they learn and practice their skills, without exception. If someone violates military regulations, he will also be imprisoned. .As for other matters, you can report them to Zhou Yuji."
That being said, a certain prince believed that these two instructors had their own sense of control, and Zhou Yuji would also give them corresponding instructions and would not train people to death, which would offend people.
A certain prince would be satisfied if he could reach 70% of the standard for ordinary recruits. The key is to let the students in this period understand the importance of discipline and will, and develop good habits that can benefit them throughout their lives.
