Li Xiaogong stood on a high platform on the shore against the sea breeze, watching a drill on the sea with a telescope. To be more precise, this was a shooting practice.
On one side were four gunboats and on the other side were fifty target ships.
These target boats are very simple, just a shell made of wood. There is a very simple small sail on the shell to allow it to move with the wind.
The mission goal is to sink all target ships within an hour.
It seems like a simple task, but it is not that easy to complete.
In order to make the exercise more realistic, Li Xiaogong deliberately chose to conduct it when the wind and waves were relatively strong, and also required that the shooting must be conducted fifty meters away.
Target boats can be big or small, and big boats are much more troublesome than small boats. On such shaky seas, it is not that difficult to hit a target boat several meters long from fifty meters away.
Unless they were baptized with cannonballs, Li Xiaogong had already thought of this and limited the number of cannonballs to force them to increase their hit rate.
"Boom, boom, boom..." The sound of cannons continued, and the target ships were sunk one by one, and the stands could not help but burst into cheers.
"It's so easy for gunboats to hit this kind of ship, and they have no power to fight back."
"Yeah, it didn't sink before we even got close."
"With gunboats, our Datang navy will be invincible in the world."
"Only three-quarters of an hour has passed, and two-thirds of the target ships have been destroyed. I will definitely pass this assessment."
"Yes, the prince must be very happy."
However, Li Xiaogong continued to watch the exercise calmly. All the ships that were sunk just now were big ships, and not a single small ship was moved.
The time for the real test of skills had just arrived, and he just wanted to see how these people dealt with the small boat.
Sure enough, when the big ship was sunk and only fifteen small boats were left, the difficulty skyrocketed.
The same number of shells were used as before, but the results were very little. Only four small boats were destroyed.
Time passed by minute by minute, and it seemed that there was only more than a quarter of an hour left. At this time, the people on the gunboat began to become anxious.
Three of the ships significantly increased their firing density, and the effect was indeed obvious, and six more ships were sunk.
But soon the density and frequency of their shooting slowed down and turned into sporadic shooting. Obviously, the number of artillery shells was insufficient.
But there are still six target ships on the sea intact, seeming to laugh at their low hit rate.
People on the stage also made sounds of regret.
"There are only six ships left. It would be nice if the hit rate was higher."
"The general's requirements are too strict. What can these six small boats do?"
"Yes, this kind of small boat is not enough to waste cannonballs. Just send a stern boat to run over it."
"It is said that this standard was not set by the county king, but was requested by the person who invented the gunboat."
"The person who invented the gunboat? Do you know who it is?"
"I don't know, I just heard what others said."
"Don't talk nonsense. This is the top secret of the Tang Dynasty. You want to die."
Hearing the whispers from people around him, Li Xiaogong didn't react at all.
The people who built the gunboats did give some training directions, such as increasing combat training in extreme weather, etc., but that was all.
The specific training methods were discovered bit by bit by him and others.
However, he had no intention of competing with the mysterious gunboat creator, and there was no need to do so if he couldn't compete.
Creating gunboats and using gunboats are completely different things. There is no possibility for everyone to compete for credit. Instead, they complement each other.
The more powerful the gunboat is, the more credit the person who uses it can achieve. And the greater the role the gunboat plays on the battlefield, the more credit the person who created the gunboat will receive.
He was actually very satisfied with this training. As everyone said, what could the remaining few small boats do after all the big ships were sunk.
Moreover, he knows more about the model of Datang's future fleet than others. Now these gunboats can only be used for training.
A truly complete fleet contains a variety of ships with different functions, such as battleships, destroyers, frigates, cruisers, etc.
When the real fleet is formed, these small ships will have their own dedicated ships to deal with them, instead of wasting artillery shells on bombing like now.
But for now, these are still secrets and cannot be told to others. And in order to prevent these people from becoming complacent, he did not show his true attitude.
How to conduct the exercise or how to conduct it.
The artillery shells were about to be used up, and there was not much time left. Everyone thought that this was the end of the exercise.
However, at this moment, a gunboat suddenly broke away from the large group and sailed towards the target ships.
When it was still far away from the target ship, it began to adjust its direction, drew an arc on the sea, and completed a lateral turn.
Aiming the black hole on the side of the ship at the target ship dozens of meters away.
"Beautiful." Everyone on the stage couldn't help but cheer for this turn.
Even Li Xiaogong couldn't help but nod slightly. This boat operator was definitely a master. At the same time, he also became curious, what does this boat want to do?
Others on the stage also became curious.
"What does it want to do?"
"Hey, it seems that this gunboat didn't fire just now. It should still have cannonballs."
"It's true what you said. It doesn't want to be a lone hero, does it?"
"Stop talking and keep watching."
While everyone was discussing, "Boom, boom, boom..." the gunboat opened fire, and about seven or eight cannons fired at one of the target ships at the same time.
"Boom..." The target ship broke into pieces and was sunk.
After completing the first attack, the gunboat did not rush to launch a second attack, but adjusted its hull and opened fire again.
"Boom..." After seven or eight shells, another target ship was destroyed.
"Okay." Two target ships were destroyed in succession, and everyone on the stage couldn't help but cheer. At the same time, they couldn't help but look forward to seeing how many ships it could sink.
"Boom..." Another round of fire was fired, but unfortunately this time it didn't hit the target.
"Oh..." Everyone in the stands couldn't help but sigh with regret.
Then……
"Boom..." This round of shelling hit the target accurately again.
There is only half a quarter of an hour left, and there are only three target ships left. Can it really create a miracle? People on the stage are looking forward to it.
"Boom..." Another target ship was sunk.
"Two ships, only two ships left."
"Come on, fire quickly."
The people on the stage began to worry about them.
The gunboat didn't seem to be in a hurry at all. It adjusted its hull slowly and launched a new round of bombardment after more than two minutes.
"Boom..." The target was accurately hit again, and only the last ship was left.
And the incense that counts time has only its last bit left and can be extinguished at any time.
Li Xiaogong couldn't help but stand up from the big chair and looked closely at the gunboats and target ships through the binoculars.
The gunboat was still unhurried, adjusting its hull in the sea breeze to bring it closer to the target ship. At the moment when the incense fell...
"Boom..." More than twenty cannons fired in volley, and the huge roar floated into everyone's ears along the sea breeze.
Everyone had no time to pay attention to the sound, and their eyes were fixed on the target ship.
"Boom..." It should be that multiple cannonballs hit it at the same time, and the target ship turned into debris all over the sky.
"Okay..." Li Xiaogong couldn't help but shouted.
"Great, it did it, it really did."
"Six hits out of seven shots. It turns out that the accuracy of gunboats can really be so high."
"How did they do it in such a big storm?"
After being happy, everyone aroused the same curiosity. How did they do it?
Li Xiaogong said happily: "Call the captain of that ship over to me."
Immediately, a messenger waved a flag to convey the order.
The concept of semaphores was proposed by Chen Jingke, but he only knew that there were semaphores, but did not know the specific actions.
After Li Shimin sent someone to study it, he came up with a set of semaphore movements. Although it was relatively crude, it was enough to convey various commands.
Half an hour later, the four gunboats returned to the dock and parked, and the four captains came to the stage together.
Li Xiaogong asked directly: "Who is the captain of the last ship?"
A middle-aged man in his thirties came out and said: "I see you, General. I am a subordinate."
Li Xiaogong looked this man up and down, and found that although his face was slightly darkened by the sun, he could not hide his handsomeness, and his expression was calm and composed, not at all nervous about the commander-in-chief and general.
My heart moved: "Are you a scholar?"
The man said: "Yes, I was appointed as the Prime Minister of Xianyang County by His Majesty at the beginning of Zhenguan Dynasty. It is a pity that I failed to make achievements and failed to live up to the divine grace."
"Last year, the imperial court recruited naval forces. My subordinates thought they had read a few military books, so they tried to sign up, and luckily became the captain of a gunboat..."
Everyone couldn't help but be surprised that he was actually the county magistrate appointed by His Majesty himself? But why hasn't he been promoted in more than ten years?
Li Xiaogong was the person who had the most contact with Li Shimin, and he immediately thought of a possibility.
This person was probably appointed as an official because he did something well and was seen by the emperor.
It's just that the emperor forgot about it after all the busy schedules. Without anyone to promote him, he could only languish in the position of county magistrate.
Later, I guess I couldn't stand it any longer, so I joined the Navy. But talent is talent, and you can make your mark wherever you go.
Li Xiaogong thought more. Although the emperor had forgotten this person, he was an official appointed by him after all. This relationship could be put to good use.
This man's ability was evident from the last bombardment. If he reused him, he could not only gain a talent but also please the emperor.
Just imagine, if this person has made great achievements, the emperor will definitely be very happy when he inquires about his origin and finds out that he has such a connection.
Thinking of this, his attitude became more kind and asked: "What is your name? Where do you come from?"
The man said respectfully: "My subordinate Liu Rengui, Weishi of Bianzhou."
Li Xiaogong thought for a moment and said, "Do you know that the Bianzhou Wei family has Liu family after Emperor Zhang of the Han Dynasty?"
Liu Rengui replied: "I dare not hide this from the general. My subordinate is the queen of the Liu family."
Everyone couldn't help but glance at him.
Li Xiaogong smiled and said: "That is also the queen of a famous family. I wonder who else is there in the family?"
Liu Ren's track: "Only my wife and three useless children are guarding the tomb of their parents in their hometown."
Li Xiaogong felt even more relieved, patted him on the shoulder and said: "It's out of the bag. I believe that with your talent, you will be able to stand out one day."
Liu Rengui said with an unchanged expression: "General Xie praised me for your compliments. My subordinates only want to serve the country and do not dare to ask for anything else."
Seeing that he was so steady and neither humble nor arrogant, Li Xiaogong admired him even more and said: "The Tang Dynasty will never treat its meritorious officials badly. If you keep your duty, you will be able to get ahead."
Then he asked: "How did you achieve six hits in seven rounds of shooting?"
Liu Rengui replied: "Nothing but familiarity with my hands and practicing diligently..."
Although he said he was modest, he actually explained it very clearly. After all, how could he be willing to miss such a good performance opportunity?
"Although the wind and waves are strong, they are relatively stable. As long as you master the rules and shoot at the right time, you can increase your hit rate..."
He introduced in detail his calculation method, the size of the wind and waves, the flight speed of the cannonball, the distance of the target, etc.
Everyone who heard it was confused, but they thought it was very clever.
Including Li Xiaogong, he actually didn't understand it at all, but the more he did, the more he was surprised by the other party's erudition.
Halfway through, he couldn't help but ask: "Did you sum up these methods?"
Liu Rengui shook his head and said: "No, mainly because of the inspiration I got from Wang Yue Tan..."
"Every issue of Wangyue Tan will explain some knowledge of geophysics, and one of them is about bows and arrows..."
"I just thought that bows and arrows shoot out arrows, and artillery shoots out shells. The rules should be similar..."
"So after some calculations and live ammunition firing, I finally figured out some rules. If you fire according to these rules, the hit rate will be much improved."
Everyone couldn't help showing shocked expressions, even the three captains next to him who were filled with envy.
While everyone was still firing based on experience, he had already found the rules and applied them to the drill. It was really amazing.
Li Xiaogong thought: "Wang Yue Tan, is it a book similar to Di Bao founded by Zixiaoguan?"
Liu Ren track: "It's exactly this book."
Li Xiaogong nodded and said: "I see, it's not surprising that it is related to Zixiao Temple. But the fact that you can think about artillery from bows and arrows shows that your ability is extraordinary."
"I wonder if you are willing to dedicate this method to the imperial court? Don't worry, I won't ask for your things in vain. I will explain this to the saint and ask for your credit."
Liu Rengui's face was filled with joy, but he still remained humble and said: "If the general needs it, my subordinates are willing to contribute this method."
"It's just that this method originated from Zixiaoguan's Wangyue Tan, so I don't dare to take credit for it."
Li Xiaogong said: "There is no need to belittle yourself. I said that the Tang Dynasty would never treat its meritorious officials badly. The credit that is yours is yours, and no one can take it away."
Liu Rengui saluted and said, "Thank you, General."
Everyone around knew that Liu Rengui was about to board the Zhongnan Shortcut, and they all congratulated him.
The three neglected captains also put aside their jealousy and quickly congratulated him. After all, they had to learn the art of firing guns from him, so they didn't dare to be jealous.
This was the end of an exercise, which was perfect.
Liu Rengui wrote down various calculation formulas for cannons overnight.
For example, the amount of charge, the shooting angle, the wind speed, the weight of the shell...how far the final launch can hit the target, etc.
Li Xiaogong personally led people to conduct experiments to verify the feasibility of these formulas.
Then he ordered everyone to study and wrote a memorial to Li Shimin.
In this memorial, he did not hide anything and explained everything clearly. He focused on Liu Rengui's contribution and asked for credit for him.