Li Xuan was quite satisfied with the performance of this artillery that weighed 1,300 catties, and began to think about how to use this kind of artillery reasonably and efficiently on the battlefield.

Because of its heavy weight, this kind of artillery is obviously unable to move quickly in the southwest of the country, which is full of mountains and hills, which also means that this kind of artillery cannot accompany the troops for a long time to carry out rapid maneuvering, and it is difficult to participate in some sudden battles.

In this case, the battlefield that can use this kind of artillery can only be a preset battlefield, such as the siege of the city and defensive operations, and some large-scale field strategic decisive battles can also be used.

In this case, this kind of artillery cannot and cannot be dispersed, and must be concentrated and then transported with a large number of logistical forces.

Therefore, this kind of artillery, to a certain extent, is not suitable for strengthening a certain infantry regiment to fight alone, but is more suitable for large-scale operations, directly belonging to the artillery battalion, and then belonging to the division and brigade level of the command under the operation.

Just when Li Xuan began to think about how to use this heavy cannon weighing 1,300 catties and firing nine-pound shells, the test of this heavy cannon was still going on.

It's just that the test is no longer a normal parameter, but a limit test, such as a high-intensity rapid-fire, without pause in between, and continuous firing.

After intensive rapid-fire, the charge began to be gradually increased, and the test firing of the extreme range of the strong charge was carried out.

The results of this extreme test were not surprising, and the prototype gun showed subtle cracks in the barrel after several successive high-intensity shots, especially after the last few extreme tests with a strong charge.

And after the crack in the barrel, it is basically announced that the gun has been scrapped, and if you continue to test fire, it will be completely blown up in a few times.

However, it was expected that this prototype gun would have been tested continuously until it was scrapped, and if it was not tested to the limit, it would have been impossible to specify the control manual of the gun and establish a safe operating range.

And even if this cannon is scrapped, at most it will lose some labor, and this cannon barrel can be recast.

If there is a mistake in the manufacturing process and the barrel becomes a scrap, then the bronze will be recast, and it is impossible to say that it will be scrapped and thrown away, otherwise, the cost of the gun will not be a few hundred taels, but several thousand taels.

After the prototype gun has completed the limit test, and the data obtained from these limit tests have developed a safe operation manual, then the sample gun has completed its mission, and the subsequent barrel that has been scrapped will be recast, and it will not be long before it can become a brand-new nine-pounder gun and appear in the artillery combat sequence of the Datang New Army.

After watching the test firing of this sample cannon, Li Xuan quickly issued a formal order to the artillery workshop of the Ministry of Industry: let the Ministry of Industry build six of these thousand-pound heavy guns first!

These six thousand-pound heavy guns will form a thousand-pound heavy artillery team, which will be under the jurisdiction of the artillery battalion.

And these thousand-pound heavy artillery and the 800-pound artillery in the artillery battalion together constitute the main force of the Tang artillery.

In the future, this artillery battalion will be a heavy field artillery battalion composed of 18 six-pounder guns and six 9-pounder guns, and this artillery battalion will provide strategic artillery support for all current and future Datang New Army.

At present, apart from the five 500-kilogram artillery pieces that have been strengthened to the First Infantry Corps and the Second Infantry Regiment, the current artillery battalion is actually an empty shelf, with a total of three 800-pound artillery pieces at present, and one of them is still an old artillery piece that has been there for a long time.

Because during this period of time, among the two artillery workshops of the Ministry of Industry, the artillery workshop in Zhengtai County has been fully converted to produce 150 kg of shotgun battalion guns, as well as the development and design of short-barreled shotguns with larger caliber and greater power.

The craftsmen who have experience and ability to make long-barreled cannons have been transferred to the artillery workshop in Xingquan Fucheng and began to produce 800 jin and 1,000 jin cannons in full production.

If the artillery battalion wants to get a full number of cannons, I'm afraid it will have to wait a long time!

The expansion of the artillery unit is only a part of the expansion of the new army of the Tang Dynasty, and the expansion of the infantry is obviously more important than the expansion of artillery.

After determining the plan to set up a thousand-pound heavy artillery team, Li Xuan also formally approved the plan to establish the Fifth Infantry Regiment, and the new commander of the Fifth Infantry Regiment was Zhou Yibao, the deputy battalion commander of Li Xuan's personal guard and the deputy director of the Operations Department of the Privy Council, and awarded Zhou Yibao the rank of lieutenant colonel.

Li Xuan's task to Zhou Yibao can be said to be beyond many people's expectations, because although this Zhou Yibao was also born in the early Guards, he was transferred to Li Xuan's side as a personal guard very early, and successively served as the platoon leader and captain of the personal guards.

A month ago, the pro-guard team was expanded into the pro-guard battalion, and many people thought that he would naturally become the battalion commander of the pro-guard battalion, but they didn't expect that Li Xuan transferred Bai Yunqi over and served as the battalion commander of the pro-guard battalion, this Zhou Yibao only served as a deputy battalion commander, and at the same time, Li Xuan also arranged a part-time job for him as a deputy director of the combat department.

At that time, many people just couldn't understand Li Xuan's arrangement for Zhou Yibao, but how could they know that Li Xuan had long wanted to release this personal guard who had been with him for more than a year to be the main general.

Promoting this Zhou Yibao to be the commander of the Fifth Infantry Regiment is not just because of his excellent ability, in fact, his ability is very mediocre, purely in terms of ability, the commanders of many infantry battalions are better than him, but who makes him a close person who follows Li Xuan every day.

Li Xuan used to be able to entrust his personal safety to this Zhou Yibao, but now that he has been promoted to be the head of a regiment, it is no exception to control the army.

As for the lack of experience and qualifications, it is not a problem, this Zhou Yibao was the deputy commander of the guard battalion before, and because of Bai Yunqi's lack of ability, in fact, he is in charge of the affairs of the more than 400 people in the guard battalion.

And in the second Lanjiang Campaign, he also took the pro-guards at that time to fight, this is an experienced and capable officer.

What's more, the Fifth Infantry Regiment is a newly built unit, there is no airborne, and then there will be a group of capable people under his command to stir up trouble, as long as Zhou Yibao sets up the Fifth Infantry Regiment, then there will be no problems such as immovable command.

After Lieutenant Colonel Zhou Yibao accepted the appointment, he soon went to Liping Province with several other officers of the Fifth Infantry Regiment.