It was already late at night, but the door of Wenjia Workshop, which usually fell silent after sunset, was still full of people.

There is no other reason: the recruitment work of the regimental training recruitment office is too hot!

On the lintel of the gate, two huge lanterns were hung high, and dozens of large candles the size of a baby's arm were lit on both sides of the door, all of which were illuminated within a radius of 50 meters. Under the light were crowded figures, hundreds of men were still waiting in a long line for inquiries and registration, and the long line was still endless! Not only that, but many people are rushing from all corners of Yangguan Town, converging in front of the not spacious Qiaojiang Street and the not very imposing Wenjia Workshop, hoping to try their luck.

The staff on duty at the Wenjia Workshop in front of the desk in the registration office have changed one after another, but the number of people who come to apply seems to be endless and endless. The most troublesome thing is that although there are many people who come to apply, there are very few people who can meet the requirements! The two basic items of physical fitness and age alone have excluded more than 60% of the people, plus the following includes body surface scar examination, hearing examination, vision examination and cultural level screening...... There are very few people who can stand out!

However, the problem of recruiting soldiers is not the most headache for all of you.

No, at this time, in the conference room of the headquarters of Wenjia Workshop--- Shopkeeper Wen specially vacated his tea room and transformed it into a meeting place for various departments of the workshop--- and it was still brightly lit. The five traversers were all gathered at the table to discuss another important issue about the newly formed regimental training: what kind of artillery should this unit equip with?

"Didn't we equip our troops with 12-pounder Napoleonic guns by default? I think the copper reserves in our storehouse are enough to support the casting of the guns needed by at least five artillery batteries! ”

"In that case, why are we still having this meeting now?"

Lan Wang couldn't stop grumbling. Not long ago, after discussing the issue of firearms, he spent the rest of the day supervising the recruitment and placing a small group of recruits who chose to enter the camp immediately.

"Ah, I said Young Master Lan, everyone is very busy today, and you are not the only one who hit the back of the head!" Huang Huan, Young Master Huang, came back. In his opinion, everyone here is not as miserable as him--- but he has come here from the wind and dust from the south bank of the river, and he is tired and tired!

Seeing that everyone was quite resentful, Wen Tongxin, the host of the recollection, hurriedly stood up and took control of the scene: "Considering the time problem, let's try to keep today's meeting as brief as possible." We are now faced with a problem: the 12-pounder Napoleon gun may not work! “

"The reason is simple: we can't get a horse that can meet the requirements of artillery towing!"

Upon hearing this, everyone was stunned.

"As you know, the Napoleonic cannon was simple, reliable, and ferocious, and was known as the 'Artifact of Passage'. But even if it had so many advantages, its gun weight was more than 1,200 pounds! Director Wen began to explain again using his much-criticized set of imperial unit weights and measures, "if you add the gun carriage and ammunition wagon...... I'm afraid it's going to be two tons up! “

"You know, during the Civil War, a standard 12-pounder gun needed at least 8 heavy horses to tow, and each gun crew had to prepare at least 6 spare horses! Not only that, but these horses must also be well trained and tuned, hard-working, rough-fed, and not afraid of cannons! If an artillery company is equipped with 4 guns, think about it, we can't even meet the needs of a single artillery towing with the available livestock on hand now! “

The crowd was depressed. However, the remaining four people had to admit that what Director Wen said made sense.

"So you mean, we're going to have lighter guns?" Li Changting asked tentatively.

"That's right, my suggestion is that we should settle for the next best thing and equip the M1841 12-pounder field howitzer!" Director Wen took out a few drawn drawings under the table and put them in front of everyone, "This thing was actually outdated when the Civil War broke out, but this thing is better than the simple casting mold, and the cannon body is actually a copper cast hollow cylinder with slightly inconsistent thickness before and after; Not only that, but the original barrel of this cannon weighed only about 780 pounds, and if it was cast from the copper of the original plane, it would weigh about 700 pounds. Combined with the lightweight hardwood gun mount, the full weight of the battle is less than 1200 pounds, which is less than the weight of a 12-pound Napoleon gun! “

Wen Tongxin began to spit again as he spoke: "We can accept such a weight, and it is not a problem to drag it with a smaller animal with less pulling strength, two donkeys or two oxen can pull the gun cart around, at least there is no problem with short-distance maneuvering!" The most important thing is that when our artillery enters the position, the artillery crew can push the artillery to the designated firing position only by relying on its own strength, without the need for additional manpower--- which is undoubtedly important! “

"Slow, slow! First, if we want to lose weight, why don't we use a 6-pounder gun? I remember that the British used the cavalry artillery 6-pounder gun throughout the first half of the 19th century with a body of 650 pounds, which was not a little lighter than this 12-pounder howitzer? Second, if our artillery is all equipped with howitzers, will our spherical grenades be reliable? A 6-pound solid bullet can still be used as a bowling ball, and a dozen kills through kinetic energy are a line, but a blasting grenade filled with black ~ gunpowder is a large artillery battle at best! If it sounds good, it's a shock bomb, and if it sounds bad, it's a firecracker! When exploding, the shock wave is weak, the shrapnel is less generated, and the shrapnel cannot be dispersed, these ammunition performance problems will inevitably greatly reduce the lethality of our howitzers! “

"On the question of why the all-color howitzer should be used, I took into account the terrain around Yangguan Town." Director Wen replied, "Most of the surrounding areas of our city are hills and low mountains, with a humid climate, dense forests, and relatively soft land, and there are large wetlands and tidal flats near the river. This kind of environment has a very negative impact on the ricochet strike efficiency of the solid bullet, you must know that the solid iron ball can only bounce up and hurt people on the flat and open ground with good shooting range and relatively hard land, and exert its due power! The grenade is different, because our spherical grenade uses a time fuse, the length of the fuse can be set to make the grenade explode in the air, and the limitations when used in the terrain around Yangguan Town will naturally be smaller. What's more, we can also make howitzers to meet the needs of the enemy's soft targets on open ground--- due to the difference in gun caliber and bullet weight, the howitzer of a 12-pounder gun can be loaded with more than 40 bullets, but the howitzer of a 6-pounder gun can't even be loaded with 30 bullets, and the difference in power is huge! The same is true for the lethal effectiveness of shotguns, with 6-pounder guns being far inferior to 12-pounder guns. “

"On behalf of the Ministry of Chemical Industry, I would like to say a few words." Li Changting interjected, "I agree with Lao Wen's opinion, the first reason is because the howitzer is more reliable to use. Although the howitzer sacrifices its range in order to meet the needs of firing blasting shells, its ~ projectile charge is small! The small charge and low chamber pressure mean that the risk of exploding the chamber is also low. Another reason is the production of blasting grenades--- I hereby make a military order, if my chemical laboratory can't make a more powerful explosive ~ explosive ~ charge for loading blasting grenades before the artillery becomes an army, I will give all the research funds for the next year to Lao Wen's mechanical department! There is no basis for my words, I ask for a document! “

Li Changting used his decisive statement, which surprised everyone, to end all the controversy about the selection of artillery tonight.