A small hole was exposed in the center of each of the ten targets. The targets were three layers of wood and were the same size as ordinary archer training targets. Gundam walked closer, touched the target, looked at the bullet holes carefully, and sighed secretly. .With his sharpshooting ability that he has cultivated for decades, he can hit the target with perfect accuracy from a distance of 60 meters. However, the penetrating power is far less powerful than that of a musket.
I saw Gundam looking at it in particular detail: "Gao Aiqing, you are my famous marksman. Please evaluate the power of this musket."
"Return to your majesty. I am not as powerful as a musket."
"Well, manpower is indeed inferior to equipment at this time. But this is not the biggest advantage of muskets."
"Your Majesty, please clear up my doubts."
"Gao Aiqing, I'm here to ask you. It will take several years to reach the level of a marksman like you."
"Your Majesty, I am not very qualified. It must have taken about six years."
"Well, Li Aiqing, Xia Aiqing, and Lu Aiqing. You three are all famous generals in our court. Please tell me how long it takes to train an archer."
The three of them said in unison: "Your Majesty, it will take at least two years."
I nodded and said: "Yes. Soldiers with good qualifications can master the basic essentials of shooting within two years. If you want to reach the realm of Gao Aiqing's marksmanship, it will take more than five years. However, our opponents have been with bows and arrows since they were young. When I grew up, most of them had practiced archery for more than ten years when they joined the Mongolian army. Our soldiers could not catch up with the Mongolians in terms of bow and arrow proficiency. In addition, the Mongols were originally a horse race. This was doomed for me. North Korean soldiers are bound to be at a disadvantage in field battles. Muskets will change everything. It only takes two or three months to train a qualified musketeer. This is why I am confident that we can create a Song Dynasty army that surpasses the Mongols. .”
"Only two or three months?"
"Of course. Among test shooters, the fastest record is one month and seven days. He can hit ten out of ten shots at sixty meters."
Xia Gui thought for a while and asked: "Your Majesty, with such firearms, wouldn't it be possible to train a large number of musketeers very quickly? Why did Your Majesty decide to launch the Northern Expedition three years later?"
"Xia Aiqing, I have said that firearms are an inevitable trend in future wars. But in the early days, the current muskets still have many shortcomings. For example, due to the complex manufacturing process of muskets, production is slow. The firing speed is not as good as that of skilled archers. Affected by the weather, etc. These will restrict the use of muskets. Okay, dear friends, let's take a look at the second type of firearm: throwing bombs."
Wen Tianxiang received my instruction and said: "Your Majesty and all the gentlemen, please move back thirty meters."
Ten grenades were accurately thrown at the target in front. As the grenades landed, an explosion sounded immediately, accompanied by bursts of smoke. After a while, the smoke dissipated. The original ten targets no longer existed, leaving only The next few pieces of debris fell scattered on the uneven ground.
"I named this kind of grenade. It means the thunder emitted from the hand."
This time, even Li Tingzhi was greatly impressed. He couldn't help but praise: "It's amazing."
I smiled: "Let's continue to look at the third firearm. Song Rui. Test the gun."
"Yes, Your Majesty."
Wen Tianxiang took us in a different direction and walked to more than 300 meters away from Luoshi Mountain. Yun Bofei pointed to a small artillery next to him and said: "Your Majesty, gentlemen, this is the latest artillery developed by the Gunpowder Department. It is used to fire ammunition.
Artillery. Not a trebuchet in the traditional sense."
The gun is mounted on a two-wheeled vehicle. The gun body is about 2 meters long and has a caliber of nearly 10 centimeters. The entire gun body is made of fine steel. The gun is composed of a barrel, a medicine chamber, a gun tail and other parts.
There are two square holes at the tail, which can be used to install trunnions. From the appearance alone, this is indeed a cannon.
I was also very excited: "Okay. Try it quickly."
Yun Bofei said: "Your Majesty, please stay away."
Wen Tianxiang forced me to stand twenty meters away. I knew he was afraid that the cannon would explode and hurt us. You must know that the ammunition of a cannon is not comparable to that of musket projectiles and projectiles.
I looked from a distance and saw that Yun Bofei also had a nervous look on his face, but he could not hide the joy from his heart. Although the artillery had been tested repeatedly, due to its large amount of ammunition, it would explode once the gun was fired.
This is no joke. So Yun Bofei didn't dare to be careless at all.
"Wait a minute," I said suddenly. "Yun Aiqing, come here and let Peng Chong take command. I have something to tell you."
Yun Bofei hurriedly exchanged a few words with Peng Chong and came to me: "Your Majesty, please give me instructions."
"Yun Aiqing, please explain the principle of this artillery to all the adults."
Yun Bofei was stunned for a moment. Perhaps he guessed that my intention was to worry about the cannon exploding. He felt grateful in his heart and said, "Yes, Your Majesty."
Wen Tianxiang took out more than a dozen rags from his arms and said: "Your Majesty, gentlemen, first plug your ears with rags."
At this time, Peng Chong beside the artillery had already begun to give orders: "Everyone, get ready. Load ammunition."
Two big men carried a huge cannonball and loaded it into the front chamber of the artillery.
"Load gunpowder."
"Adjust the angle of the gun body to a half angle (45 degrees). The target is at the white spot on the back mountain." Peng Chong was obviously very familiar with the operating steps of the artillery. He ordered step by step in an orderly manner.
"Light the fuse."
"Light the propellant charge."
"Prepare. Put."
Only a bang was heard. The artillery shell flew out of the artillery barrel and hit the target on the back mountain in a parabola shape. In the blink of an eye, the artillery shell landed about five meters to the left of the white spot on the back mountain. Then there was an explosion. Huge.
The sound seemed to shake the sky. A burst of black smoke instantly covered the target to the left and right.
Even though we covered our ears with cotton balls, we could still hear the loud noise.
The mountain wind blew by. It took a long time for the smoke to gradually dissipate.
I took out the rag and suddenly thought, weren't the small cotton balls plugging the ears? Cotton was introduced from abroad more than ten years ago. Could it be that it has not been popularized yet?
"Your Majesty, this is..." Lu Wende also took out a piece of cloth and asked in surprise.
I looked at the four generals who looked like they were stupid and laughed loudly: "This is artillery, a type of firearm."
Yun Bofei said happily: "Your Majesty, the artillery test firing was successful."
"Okay, Wen Zhang. Let's go and take a look at the situation near the target. My dear friends, if you are interested, you can go and take a look."
As soon as he finished speaking, all the four commanders followed Wen Zhang and walked quickly to the white spot on the back mountain.
"Your Majesty, although the test of this artillery was successful, it is still far from the parameters set by Your Majesty. Just at this range, it cannot reach one mile."
"No rush. Yun Aiqing. Just do it step by step."
"Yes, Your Majesty."
"By the way. Gunpowder is a dangerous product. Song Rui, Yun Aiqing, you must pay attention to safety. No matter who you are, you must strictly follow the safety procedures established. It is better to stop for three minutes than to rush for a second. This is important. You have to remember it."
"Yes. Please keep this in mind."
"Let's go. Go to the house and wait for them."
Wen Zhang and the four commanders all looked happy when they returned to the room. Xia Guixian said: "Your Majesty, please give me ten artillery guns on the Huainan West Road."
"Ten. Xia Aiqing. Do you know how much silver this cannon cost me? Let me tell you. This cannon cost me a full six thousand taels of silver. Not counting ammunition and labor costs." My face darkened. Then he laughed loudly and said, "But after three years, I promise to give you at least fifty gates in the Luzhou Theater."
Xia Gui suddenly felt cold after hearing my first sentence. Six thousand taels of silver plus cannon shells, labor and other expenses are not even tens of thousands taels. But my next sentence made him excited again: "Your Majesty, as long as your Majesty gives me Luzhou Fifty cannons, fifty thousand grenades, and fifty thousand muskets in the war zone. I promise to bring Kublai Khan’s head.”
When I heard this, I thought to myself, no wonder everyone said that Xia Gui had to negotiate terms before going to war. I looked at Xia Gui with a half-smile and said, "Xia Aiqing, if you didn't have these firearms, wouldn't you stop fighting for me? Yes. Otherwise, Kublai Khan’s head would not have been brought.”
Xia Gui's expression was stern. He didn't dare to refute. He said cautiously: "Ah, Your Majesty, that's not what I meant."
Li Tingzhi said hurriedly: "Your Majesty, Mr. Xia did not mean this. Just now, the ministers and others saw the effect of the artillery attack. Mr. Xia was too excited. Now he is talking nonsense."
Xia Gui glanced at Li Tingzhi gratefully and said: "Yes. Yes. Your Majesty, forgive me."
"Really? I'll pretend I didn't hear you this time. You all should sit down."
"Thank you, Your Majesty."
"Dear dear friends, the three types of firearms you see today are the beginning of my research and development of firearms. They are also the most basic types of firearms."
Wen Zhang's eyes widened and he said: "Your Majesty, you can't. This is the elementary level. What else will follow? Could it be that you can fly in the sky or swim in the water?"
"Haha. Wen Zhang. Your master, Taoist Master, said you are talented and intelligent. He was indeed right."
Naturally, Wen Zhang didn't know that I was praising him. He hurriedly said: "Your Majesty, I just said it casually. It cannot be taken seriously. It cannot be taken seriously."
"Yes. Your Majesty, Wen Zhang is young and speaks openly. Your Majesty, don't blame me." Wen Tianxiang also thought that I was blaming Wen Zhang for talking nonsense, so he quickly explained.
I secretly laughed and said: "Song Rui and Wen Zhang are right. Yun Aiqing, especially those of you who are engaged in research, must be like Wen Zhang. First of all, you must dare to think. Think that ordinary people dare not think. Only then can you be ordinary people. Something I dare not do. In the future, maybe there will be equipment that can fly in the sky or swim in the water."
"Yes. I, the minister, will be taught."
"Well, that's it. Let's get down to business. Generals, what do you think of these firearms?"
Li Tingzhi said: "Your Majesty, I can use the word shocking to describe it. Once our soldiers are equipped with these firearms, I think they can compete with the Mongolian cavalry in the wild. And even if the opponent has a city to guard it, they will be defeated by this." Artillery tore apart.”
Xia Guidao: "Master Li, you are too conservative. What is confrontation? In my opinion, I, Lao Xia, will definitely beat the arrogant Mongolian cavalry until they can't find their direction. They will be screaming everywhere looking for their mother."
Gundam said happily: "Haha. Mr. Xia, Your Majesty is here. Don't talk nonsense."
"No problem. Continue."
Gundam said: "Your Majesty, firearms have not yet been applied to the battlefield. How powerful the actual combat effect can be remains to be tested. I believe that the decisive factor on the battlefield is people, not weapons. Therefore, no matter how advanced firearms are, .Army training is the most important thing. However, I hope your majesty can distribute these weapons to our Sichuan officers and soldiers."
"Well, what Gao Aiqing said makes sense. Our army will be equipped by then. Gao Aiqing doesn't have to worry about this. Lu Aiqing, you can also tell me."
Among the four people, Lu Wende knew that he had the longest relationship with me, so he was the last one to speak almost every time: "Your Majesty, like Mr. Li, I feel that there are really no suitable words except the word "shock". The DPRK has His Majesty’s divine power and such firearms. Why worry about Mongolia not being destroyed?”