But this does not mean that he has to give up. Training musketeers is not Zhu Youxiao's sudden idea, nor is it a wild idea.
This musketeer cavalry has a great background and has been trained and used by most countries in the world.
Moreover, some countries in Europe already have musketeers on an institutional scale, and they have already shown great success in wars.
Their musketeers also used front-loading smoothbore flintlocks and were equipped with three to five revolving muskets.
As the Ming Dynasty was a major country in the use of firearms, it was natural that it also had this branch of arms. However, because of its small scale, the emperor and powerful courtiers did not pay much attention to it, so it was rarely known.
The first musketry cavalry of the Ming Dynasty was formed by Qi Jiguang and was born in the Qi family army.
Because the musketeers of the Qi Army did not have advanced flintlocks, they were equipped with muskets and matchlocks. In order to make up for the lack of firepower, the cavalry would also carry bows and arrows, and use a combination of hot and cold weapons.
From this we can see that Qi Jiguang truly lived up to his reputation as a famous general.
In Zhu Youxiao's heart, Qi Jiguang can be said to be the most outstanding general in the feudal dynasty. Even in later generations, no one can compare with him.
Although those famous generals who sealed the wolf in Xu and swallowed the stone were famous throughout the ages, they only proved that their military level and leadership ability were far superior to ordinary people. They did not rely on their own efforts to change things like Qi Jiguang.
To sum it up simply in one sentence, they have abilities that Qi Jiguang has, but they don’t have the abilities that Qi Jiguang has. Qi Jiguang can adapt at any time and quickly transform weapons and tactics that completely restrain the enemy, but those famous generals cannot do that.
They only know how to fight, that's the difference.
Since the formation of the army, the Qi Army has fought in various places in the north and south for decades, annihilating the Japanese pirates in the south, conquering Mongolia in the north, and entering the DPRK to fight against the Japanese. In these decades, they have won hundreds of battles without a single defeat.
As many as 150,000 enemy troops of all types were annihilated, while the number of Qi's troops killed in the battle was only a few hundred, less than a thousand. Such a battle loss ratio has never been seen before or since.
If you want Zhu Youxiao to evaluate Qi Jiguang, you have to borrow Li Zhi's famous saying about Emperor Taizu, which is actually a famous general from all over the world.
China's firearms and gunpowder were the first to be developed and used. Since the musketry cavalry existed in the Ming Dynasty, why are they not famous?
And why hasn’t it been vigorously developed and continued?
This must be attributed to Kang Mazi, the chief of the Manchu Qing Dynasty who was praised to heaven.
During the Qing Dynasty, when Mazi was fighting against the Junggar Khanate, he was beaten so hard by the musketeers of the Junggar Khanate that he couldn't find his mother. Mazi even doubted his life for a while, how could he be so strong? As a result, he was scarred for life.
This is also the reason why Mazi hates firearms so much and even bans them completely. After all, people have been hanged and beaten, and they are afraid of these things until they die. From this perspective, it seems understandable.
Judging from this point of view, Brother Ma is truly worthy of being the Shit King of the ages, and he is fully worthy of his name.
…
Following Qi Jiajun's example, Zhu Youxiao did not intend to completely imitate Europe. Moreover, the structure of the musket was extremely complex, the cost was very high, the production requirements were extremely high, and the use was also very troublesome.
Moreover, its maintenance cost is also extremely high, especially it must be kept clean at all times, because as long as there is a little pollution on the steel wheel of the rotary gun, it is likely to cause misfire.
No matter from any point of view, it is neither necessary nor possible for him to manufacture revolvers in large quantities.
When the arsenal has fully mastered the flintlock gun and the technology matures, he can directly develop the Crash-type flintlock handgun. This is the pinnacle of current handgun technology and can be used in the army.
For now, just use primitive handguns, which can completely deal with the Mongols and Jiannu with backward equipment.
According to his idea, each of his musketry cavalry is equipped with two divine weapons and four-hand guns, so that they can deal with them no matter how far or near they are.
The distance of the hand gun is not far, and the effective range is more than thirty meters, but the accuracy is only a short step to twenty meters.
Therefore, the function of the hand gun is to prevent the enemy from rushing forward, and the main reason is to rely on the divine weapon.
He was also specially equipped with a storage bag for carrying gunpowder on horseback. This storage bag was sewn with animal skin and cotton and could prevent leakage and moisture.
Moreover, the tactics must also be completely changed. The musketeers no longer charge into battle and fight in close quarters like traditional cavalry, but as a highly mobile firearms unit, they find the enemy's weaknesses and carry out long-range strikes to cooperate with other main forces.
In this aspect, he learned from the fighting methods of the Mongolian army during the Genghis Khan period.
At that time, they were mainly light cavalry. They relied on the long range of bows and crossbows and adopted kite tactics. This was also the main reason why the Mongolian army was invincible.
He has also completely changed the loading method of the Shenwu Gun, and no longer uses the old loading method before.
Use linen cloth soaked in grease to wrap the projectiles and load them directly into the bore. This reduces friction and is more than twice as fast as the previous loading method.
The range of the Shenwu Gun has been completely determined after repeated tests. The basic range can reach 120 meters, and the armor-piercing range is close to 80 meters. Except for the heavy bows used by infantry, the Shenwu Gun is not inferior to any bow and arrow.
The armor-piercing range of eighty meters is much stronger than the crossbows used by cavalry.
Although the musketeers used thermal weapons, in this era, armor was still indispensable and a must-have.
Because whether they were Mongols or Jiannu, they all used crossbows and did not even have firearms. Armor could play a great role and have a very good protective effect.
After the generals patiently listened to the emperor's answer, they all suddenly realized that his Majesty had already prepared to build musketeers.
If it is true, as His Majesty said, that there is absolutely no problem in giving up mounted archery and switching to fire guns, it will greatly reduce the training time of sergeants. The sergeants will not have to work hard to train their arm strength to draw the bow every day. This is really killing two birds with one stone.
"Li Wensheng, I will give you one hundred divine weapons. Select one hundred cavalrymen from the elite cavalry camp. Train them well and master the essence of them as soon as possible. When I have enough divine weapons in the future, I will organize them on a large scale. They will
The batches are the future instructors."
Li Wensheng immediately raised his hands and shouted:
"Your Majesty, I will obey the decree. You can rest assured that I will not disgrace the sacred mandate."
Li Wensheng's views and mentality have completely changed, and he has begun to look forward to what this musketeer cavalry is like.
"Chen Guang, I will leave all these two hundred divine weapons to you. You can select a group of good shooters in the Shenji Camp and let them train and use them. I may not be able to use them one day."
"I obey the decree!"
Chen Guang really loves this Shenwu Gun. With it, the firepower of their Shenji Battalion will be greatly enhanced.
It was a rare visit to the military camp for Zhu Youxiao, so he naturally wanted to inspect it carefully and experience the military situation.
Because of the generous treatment of the Yulin Army, the expansion work went smoothly. As soon as the news of recruitment was released, the recruitment office in the city was packed to the brim, and the general in charge of recruitment had to wait until midnight every day to finish the matter.
But now that the recruitment work has long ended, and the new recruits have been trained in a decent manner, Zhu Youxiao feels extremely comfortable and has doubled his sense of security.