Li Xuan's task to the Ministry of Industry is to produce at least 100,000 pieces per year!

With the scale of the Tang Army, Navy, and Guards, and considering the number of troops needed after the unification of China, it is very necessary to keep more than 500,000 flintlock guns, and such a huge number of stocks, even if it is fully produced with the output of the existing arsenal, it will take more than ten years!

It would take ten years to be able to assemble so many muskets, which is almost unimaginable for a vast empire.

And even if the production is expanded to 100,000 per year, it will have to be fully produced for five consecutive years, which is actually not enough.

Under extreme conditions, Li Xuan estimated that the output would reach more than 200,000 pieces a year, which would barely meet the status of the Tang Empire!

Of course, the above production is the wartime limit production, and in peacetime, the consumption of guns is not large, mainly normal replacement, and this production is naturally not high there.

However, production in peacetime is generally acceptable, but there must be a basis for a significant increase in ordnance production in a short period of time during wartime.

Therefore, at present, the expansion of the major arsenals under the Ministry of Industry has never stopped, and its output is more than a month every month, and it is only a matter of time before the annual output of 100,000 pieces is produced, and this time will not be too long, and it may be achieved within a year or two.

But this is all for the future, for now, let alone the annual production of 100,000 pieces, even flintlock pistols want to be redressed on a large scale is an unrealistic problem.

According to the most optimistic estimates, it will be only next year that the army will be able to start large-scale equipment with flintlock pistols, and the production by the end of this year will be taken by the Guards.

However, the absence of flintlock pistols does not mean that the army will not fight!

As the weather gets colder and colder, according to the news, it has begun to snow in Beizhili, and it will not take long to estimate that Shandong and Henan are also about to enter the severe cold weather, the third army seized the last time to launch a fierce offensive in a row, with Huai'an as a few points, the soldiers were divided into two roads, all the way to Fengyang Mansion, all the way to Xuzhou.

By the time Xuzhou also began to snow, the red dragon sword flag of the Third Army was already floating on the city of Xuzhou Mansion!

Even Fengyang Mansion also fell into the hands of the Third Army, and after the Longxing Land of the Zhu Ming Dynasty fell into the hands of the Tang Army, it is rumored that it caused a big wave in the north, but Emperor Zhengde, who had already gone to the front line in Shandong to supervise the war, did not react much, but only symbolically punished a few relevant officials, and it was over.

Because at this time, everyone knows that it is a matter of time before Fengyang falls, Zhengde wants to be angry, he should be angry when Yangzhou falls, and he is only angry now, it is too late.

Emperor Zhengde, who is now in Shandong, is dedicated to training military warfare and integrating armies from all over the country, that is, he is preparing to fight to the death with the Tang army in the north.

After taking Fengyang and Xuzhou, the offensive of the Third Army, which had lasted for several months, finally came to an end, because at this time, the northern land had begun to snow heavily, and even part of the canal section was frozen, and the transportation of materials was extremely inconvenient.

At the same time, the Third Army, which has been fighting for several months, also needs a certain amount of time to rest!

The Third Army, which has been fighting for several months, has accumulated more than 8,000 casualties, which may not be a big number for the Ming army, but for the Tang Army, the losses are already relatively large, and the Third Army has a total of less than 60,000 people.

That is, in the past few months, the rear has continued to replenish the strength of the Third Army, but even so, the total number of shortages in the various units of the Third Army is still about three or four thousand.

And more importantly, the ammunition is already consumed, and if you need to continue to launch a large-scale offensive, you need to hoard ammunition.

The Third Army stopped moving, but it didn't mean that the Datang Army had stopped fighting!

The Third Army stopped the large-scale offensive, which was already within the predetermined plan of the Privy Council, so when the Third Army stopped large-scale operations, the Privy Council had already officially launched the Battle of Anqing.

The Battle of Anqing was naturally the core of conquering Anqing City, but the battle was not only in Anqing City, but all over the middle reaches of the Yangtze River from Jiujiang to Jinling City.

The Second Army, which was responsible for operations in the region, launched the battle of crossing the river in Wuhu and Chizhou at the same time!

In order to cover the smooth crossing of the Yangtze River by the army, the Yangtze River Fleet of the Navy also made great efforts to press on all the Yangtze River fleets that could be used, directly blocking the Anqing Fort, and preventing the Ming Army's naval divisions from going down the river to sabotage the army's crossing of the river.

The Ming Army's naval divisions also launched a battle, but they were all resisted by the Yangtze River Fleet, and in this naval battle, the second-class inland river warships in the Datang Navy played a huge role!

More than 30 B-class civil war warships became the core and main force of this defensive operation, and with the support of 78 Sou A-class warships, they successfully blocked the breakthrough of the Ming Army's naval division, and the results were not small.

Under the cover of the navy, the main force of the Second Army successfully crossed the river, and then went all the way to Anqing and surrounded the city, while the other way went west to Luzhou Capital.

The westward march to Luzhou was the Seventh Infantry Division of the Second Army, and there was also a temporary brigade of the Guards!

The temporary brigade of the Guards Army was not the units of the Guards Army that had been sent to Jiangbei to cooperate with the Third Army, and the units of the Guards Army that were fighting with the Third Army.

The current Guards Provisional Brigade is a temporary unit composed of various units drawn from other units in the Guards, and is specially designed to cooperate with the operation.

And the three infantry battalions inside are also the first to change their equipment, and they are also the only batch of troops in all the Tang Dynasty Divisions that have fully changed their flintlock guns!

Therefore, this Guards Provisional Brigade is not the same as that of the 7th Infantry Division, and the biggest difference is that they do not have a large number of spearmen, and the infantry is almost all musketeers.

However, it is still unknown how much the combat effectiveness of the Guards will be improved for the time being, because the full replacement of flintlock pistols and the preparation of new types of troops have not been fought in actual combat before, and this is the first time.

Near Lujiang County, in the south of Luzhou Prefecture, a group of more than 100 soldiers of the Guards was marching in the cold wind!

The Guards Provisional Brigade was preparing to capture Lujiang County, and now, as a peripheral reconnaissance force, they were advancing west to reconnoiter the few roads that the follow-up army would pass by, so as to avoid the Ming army from ambushing in these places.

They braved the cold wind to advance, although the wind was not strong, but it was still very biting, and the sky was overcast, it seemed that they wanted to rain, it rained in the winter, this kind of thing is not funny, if they get wet, even if the soldiers of the Guards are in good health, but they will inevitably be injured.

So one of the captains of the guards who led the team looked at the sky, it was already approaching evening, and it seemed that it would rain tonight, if the camp was not prepared in advance, I am afraid that it would be difficult today, and then looked at the surrounding terrain, and immediately said: "Go to the village in front, we will go there tonight!" ”

After the order was given, the more than 100 Guards soldiers in black uniforms continued on the road with flintlock pistols on their backs, and it was not long before they approached a small village in front of them.

The village ahead was not large, estimated to be only a few dozen households, but as they approached, the captain who led the team raised his hand on horseback and signaled the troops to stop advancing.

His intuition told him that something was not right in the village ahead because he didn't see the villagers in the farmland outside the village!

Immediately, he took out a telescope, as the commander of the forward unit, he was given an additional telescope, otherwise, even in the Guards, only a few officers such as battalion commanders, regiment commanders, and regimental chiefs of staff could get telescopes.

After observing the village in front of him with a telescope, although he didn't see any enemy troops, he didn't find anything, which made him even more alert.

He immediately waved his hand, and then said, "Scout ride to see the situation, pay attention to safety!" ”

Immediately, the two soldiers behind him just turned over and got on their horses and approached at high speed to watch the situation, of course, they didn't run directly into the village stupidly, but ran around the periphery to watch.

And at this moment, a burst of gunfire suddenly sounded in the village, hitting one of the cavalrymen, scaring the scout half to death, and he turned around and quickly broke away.

Sure enough, there was an ambush!

After the captain of the Guards came to a preliminary judgment, he immediately ordered: "Formation, defensive formation!" ”

When he gave the order, hundreds of Ming soldiers ran out of the village more than 100 meters away, and these Ming soldiers not only numbered more than 500 people, but half of them were holding muskets, and they were in a tight formation!

As soon as he looked at these people, the captain of the Guards immediately judged that this was a thief army in the Ming army, and it was also a battalion of thieves.

Now in the vicinity of Anqing Mansion and Luzhou Mansion, the only Ming army that can have this kind of standard establishment and arquebus equipment is the thief army under the command of Yu Dayou.

This army, just like Zhang Yue's supervision, is already an old opponent of the Tang Army, and the Tang Army has collected a lot of information on their establishment, general situation and even the main generals.

The Ming Army's thief army and Zhang Yue's superintendent, its establishment is almost completely copied from the Tang Army, although the name is a little different, but basically follow the basic establishment of the Tang Dynasty's platoon, team, battalion, and regiment.

The Ming army on the opposite side rushed over, trying to launch a forced attack with the advantage of troops, if it was a normal time, it was an ordinary Tang Army unit, I am afraid it would be in danger.

But today, they are facing the Guards, and they are the Guards who have completed the redress!

When the Ming army rushed over, the guards of this team had already quickly listed three rows of standard horizontal formations, and then began to shoot!