When the development of the Minie rifle had just begun, the concept of a striker gun had already been proposed by Zuo Mengeng.
When the Minie rifle was equipped with troops on a large scale, Bi Maokang had already invested in the research and development of striker guns.
Today, more than ten years have passed.
Under Bi Maokang's perseverance in research, the striker gun could finally be manufactured on a large scale.
This is also the reason why Bi Maokang has been unknown in recent years, but he is still canonized as the Duke of Shao.
Only those at the top of the empire will understand the extent of this old man's contribution.
It's just that Bi Maokang is not very satisfied with the current research results.
Because as long as the spring is used more than two hundred times, its elasticity will decay and it will have to be replaced.
However, after so many years of research, constantly changing materials, constantly adjusting the proportions, and constantly studying the manufacturing process, this is the best result that he and his team have been able to produce.
But for Zuo Mengeng, these are not problems.
Although the spring has to be scrapped after two hundred uses, it seems to greatly increase the cost. But for the military, a musket can fire bullets two hundred times, which is really cost-effective.
As for the so-called cost issue, it is not a problem at all for today's empire.
The empire discovered several extremely large iron mines in Jilin, Luzon and other places, and the ores in them were of very high quality.
Up to 500,000 tons of iron ore are transported to the mainland from these two places every year, which greatly relieves the pressure on mineral resources during industrial development.
Naturally, it also fully meets the military's consumption.
And because it uses paper cartridges, the striker gun has to stop every eight bullets fired to clean the barrel to avoid clogging.
Can we conclude that a striker gun is inferior to a Miner rifle?
The great victory of the German army in the Battle of Bohemia was enough to prove that the striker gun crushed the Migne rifle.
Especially statistics, in fact, in a battle, few soldiers can shoot eight bullets in one breath.
Therefore, when striker guns could be manufactured and equipped on a large scale, Zuo Menggeng decisively ordered the arsenal to carry out technological upgrades.
Just as the empire began its war of unification, the first batch of 3,000 striker guns produced was equipped to the 5th Regiment of the 2nd Division.
The 5th Regiment, first come first served, became the first regiment-level unit in the army to be equipped with new muskets on a large scale.
As a result, during the Battle of Datong, the striker gun became very powerful.
Even though Haug had made sufficient preparations for defensive operations, and the various fortifications were even sufficient to deal with the artillery of the Wehrmacht. However, the Qing army was still unable to stand in the face of the strike of the striker guns.
After five days of fighting, Hauge had to give up Yangyuan and retreat to the Yunzhou area to reorganize his defense line.
But Hauge knew very well that such a defense was of little significance.
When the second division attacked again, he still couldn't stop it.
He could only roar helplessly.
"Ten days! I have been waiting in Datong for ten days. Where are Prince Ying and Prince Yu? When will they arrive?"
No one could answer, and everyone felt a little desperate.
Apparently, they all felt in their hearts that Azig and Dodo might never come.
When they thought that all the essence of the Manchu Qing Dynasty was about to be buried in the Central Plains, and that Guo Zuo would be destroyed, many people couldn't help feeling sad and crying bitterly.
"Master, three days at most. We can only wait for three more days at most. If Prince Ying and Prince Yu are not here by then, we will have to retreat first."
Fan Ji carefully reported the situation, fearing that Hauge would take it out on him.
Little did he know that at this time, Hauge no longer had the energy to punish his slaves.
Hauge knew the current situation clearly and knew that Fan Ji was right.
"My father has been fighting in the north and south for more than ten years, and the foundation he has worked so hard to build is ruined in one day? Even if we withdraw to Liaodong, what will happen?"
yes.
All the hundreds of thousands of Eight Banners troops were destroyed in the Central Plains. Even if they returned to Liaodong, they would only face an imperial encirclement and suppression situation.
Everyone understands that there will never be a second Salhu.
Duduo, who was still trekking hard in the Hengshan Mountains, could not hear Hauge's words of sorrow and indignation.
Azig in Shikou needs to take the lead in solving his own troubles.
"What did you say?"
Seeing Wu Keshan escaping back in embarrassment, Azige really wanted to draw his sword.
Damn the Mongols, you can never count on them at critical moments.
But Wu Keshan also had something to say.
"The Chinese army suddenly appeared and caught me off guard. My Mongolian warriors are only good at horse fighting and cannot fight in the mountains, so we had to withdraw."
During the desperate attack on Shikou, Azig arranged an easy task for Wu Keshan, considering that the Mongols had average infantry combat capabilities.
That is to be stationed in Xi County in the rear area.
There is a small road here in Xi County that can go directly north, from here to Shilou, and then over the mountains to Luliang.
From Luliang through the Luliang Mountains to Shuozhou, there is still hope to cross the Great Wall as long as we don't alert others.
As a result, with such a safe rear and solid city defenses, Wu Keshan actually lost Xi County.
Now Azig's 50,000 to 60,000 troops are all trapped in the narrow mountain road from Xi County to Shikou.
There is a blockade in front and enemy troops behind, and food and grass are about to be cut off.
When he thought of his situation, Azig's vision suddenly turned black and he fainted on the spot.
Who attacked Xi County?
It was Heiyunlong's 24th Division, and it also received help from the 25th Division.
After confirming that Azig would attack Shikou, the 24th Division and the 25th Division thought about how to join the battlefield.
Originally, according to Hei Yunlong's intention, the two divisions moved over and cooperated with the 26th Division to strengthen Shikou's defense.
But after Gu Zhiqi was injured and retreated from the front line, he received their letter and immediately made a bold plan.
He asked the 24th Division and the 25th Division not to care about the defense of Shikou, but to move forward from the existing positions, attack Xi County, and block Azig's retreat.
Although they were second-line security forces, as the war progressed, Gu Zhiqi's ambitions grew.
If these three security divisions were gathered together to eliminate Azig in the high mountains of western Shanxi, this would definitely be an extraordinary achievement.
As for the stone entrance on the front, after Zhang Sanming arrived, the Qing army was no longer able to break through it.
In the next two days, follow-up troops from the 26th Division arrived one after another, making the place even more impregnable.
The next focus is instead on whether Azig can be retained.
Hei Yunlong and Che Liliang, commander of the 25th Division, were also bold, and they were all fascinated by Gu Zhiqi's plan.
They acted decisively and headed towards Xi County as quickly as possible.
What made the two of them overjoyed was that the people guarding Xi County were actually Mongolians who didn't know how to defend the city.
The 24th Division and the 25th Division drove the Mongols off the city wall with a fierce artillery fire.
The infantry then boarded the city, and after a period of less intense street fighting, Wu Keshan ran away with the Mongolian troops whose losses were not very large, and informed Azig of the bad news.
Azig worked hard and suddenly crossed the Yellow River and came to Shanxi, hoping to cooperate with Duduo to rescue the siege.
What he didn't expect was that he was also surrounded now.