Gao Mo's comments about firearms made Gao Pragmatic feel uncomfortable and helpless.
There are actually many types of firearms in the Ming Dynasty, and the level of development is not bad. However, because the military household system has long been in ruins, the various firearms made by military household craftsmen always look quite good when the samples are produced and presented to Shangguan for review. However, once the equipment is mass-produced, the quality is extremely worrying, and "it hurts yourself before it hurts others."
If this situation is compared to future generations, it means that it has no technical advantages, but due to extremely poor production management systems, it is impossible to form real combat effectiveness. Fortunately, there is no Yuan Da fooling around now. Although the development of firearms in the Ming Dynasty is progressing in parallel and has not found the best route, at least it has not gone astray yet. When Yuan Dahuan came to power to take charge of Liaodong's military affairs, that's when a pig-like operation really started.
Yuan Chonghuan has a famous saying, "Rely on a strong city and use cannons." Especially after he tasted the sweetness of the Ningyuan battle, he never tired of it and firmly believed that it was the truth. But in fact, with a little bit of thinking, you will know that in terms of defending the city, is it really necessary to use Hongyi cannon?
In China's war history of at least two thousand years, there are countless examples of successful city defenses. Let's not talk about the distant ones. During the founding of the Ming Dynasty, Zhu Yuanzhang's nephew and general Zhu Wenzheng faced Chen Youliang's 600,000 troops, successfully defended the city for three months, and won the victory in the defense of Hongdu.
On the other hand, if you face an army that mainly uses cold weapons like boar skin, and you must use red cannons to defend it, isn't there something wrong with the defender's own abilities? What's more, how long will it take to guard Ningyuan?
Two days!
Starting from Yuan Da's deception, Ming Dynasty used the most powerful red cannon at the time to fight against Hou Jin. Many people in later generations talked about it, making it seem like a wise strategy and tactics. However, in Gao Pragmatic's view, the fact is exactly the opposite. , which itself is a huge strategic mistake.
At that time, the red cannon was obviously a heavy artillery. Anyone with a little military literacy knows that the role of heavy artillery in siege is far greater than in defending the city. Could it be that the German army built the Great Bell Tower super cannon to defend the city? of?
As for defending the city, if the opponent does not have heavy artillery, as long as it is properly arranged, it can be defended even without the use of artillery at all. On the contrary, for the siege party, once there are astonishingly powerful cannons, the city that originally seemed unconquerable becomes hopeful of being conquered.
For example: Marshal Manstein, the famous German general in World War II and one of the "Armored Three", was able to conquer the supposedly infallible Sevastopol Fortress, in addition to his outstanding personal military command capabilities and the superb tactical literacy of the German army at that time. In addition, can the heavy artillery unit that has gathered together and is known as the most powerful fortress artillery group in history be ignored?
As a "latecomer", although Gao Pragmatic did not have a military background, he also knew that firearms were produced in response to the needs of war and were also developed due to the stimulation of war. The Ming Dynasty was different from Europe because the war environments they faced were different and the opponents they faced were also different.
The main enemies faced by the Ming Dynasty have always been the nomadic hunting people in the north whose civilization is far behind itself. Therefore, the Ming Dynasty's battle needs are mainly field battles and city defense, and almost never sieges and naval battles. One thing that can be imagined is that when the other party's civilization level lags far behind his own, if Ming himself does not use a certain firearm, then the other party will have no way to know and use this firearm - neither knowing nor using it. Yes, let alone manufacturing?
The war in the West at this time was a battle between different countries at the same level of civilization. Everyone was a farming and settled nation. To fight a war, they had to conquer fortresses and fortified cities, and they all needed naval artillery battles. So they It's a race between different countries.
This difference in situation led to the fact that the firearms that the Ming Dynasty needed to focus on developing and the firearms that the West needed to focus on developing were completely different types. To put it simply, the war needs of the two sides were different.
What does Ming Dynasty need? It is the kind of firearm that is light and flexible, easy to transport, easy to manufacture, suitable for defense, and conducive to field combat. It does not excessively pursue accuracy and the ability to destroy solid targets, but has a large killing area, strong deterrent effect, and a large impact on humans and animals. Because of this It can offset the advantages of northern nomadic cavalry and bows.
And what about the West during this period? Due to the needs of sieges and naval battles, the firearms that focused on development were naturally cannons with great destructive power against solid objects, long range, and high accuracy.
Therefore, before the Ming Dynasty introduced the red cannon, the focus of its own firearms development had always been bombs, landmines, water mines, rockets launched over a large area, muskets, small artillery, multi-barreled muskets, poison gas bombs, smoke bombs and the like. In particular, the Ming Dynasty's design and manufacturing of bombs, mines, rockets, multi-barreled muskets, etc., with its sophisticated technology, rich imagination, and wide variety, could completely surpass the West at that time, and in some aspects were even far ahead.
All in all, Gao Pragmatic's point of view is very clear: just because the Ming Dynasty's heavy artillery is not as good as the West's, it does not mean that the Ming Dynasty's firearms are not as good as the West's. The difference in technological development between the two is caused by the different war situations faced by both sides.
And now, since the Ming Dynasty has the existence of Gao Pragmatic, a cheater, and of course he knows that Western bandits will come from the east sooner or later in the future, once his plan to save the Ming Dynasty is successful in the first half, the opponent of the Ming Dynasty at that time will be replaced by For Westerners, strong ships and huge cannons must also be developed.
In Gao Pragmatic's view, the development of the Ming Dynasty's firearms must be both important and important, because the Ming Dynasty in his mind and the China in his mind should be tigers on land and dragons in the sea!
Land power and sea power, no one can be missing!
Of course, he will not ignore the fact that there are too many models of Daming firearms. To find seven or eight or more weapons with similar effects in an army is a pure logistical disaster. He will definitely find ways to avoid this in the future.
However, for now, these things can only be laid quietly, but cannot be done openly. As for the people under his command, he must slowly exert influence to make them accept firearms, fall in love with firearms, and become proficient in firearms.
Gao Jingshi knew that Gao Mo was proficient in martial arts and didn't like firearms much, and he was in his forties. His views might not be changed in a short time, but since his son Gao Zong was already interested in firearms, It’s very strong, why can’t I start from him?
So Gao pragmatic said without hesitation: "Since he is your son, he should naturally work for me. If nothing else, just say that you and your son are separated from each other. Isn't it right? Which room in our Gao family is he in right now? "
Gao Mo suddenly became happy when Gao Mo pragmatically said this, his face flushed and he said, "Quinzi is in our sixth room."
Gao Pingshi laughed and said, "Then his matter should be the best to handle. I will also edit a letter for my mother later and take care of it."
If the eldest son asks his mother for a servant, isn't that just talking?
