The soldiers sent by the defense of the country on November 18, the news reached Ganfu in late November, and it was the beginning of December to Chenling, with an interval of half a month, so the news of the war was learned in Chenling, and the battle situation on the day of receiving the news was not the situation at the beginning of the war, but the news that came one after another after that was not incomprehensible, as of December 10, there was no news of the frontal breakthrough of the defense in the northwest.

Since it is a heavy army gathering thunder strike, it is impossible to break the signs of the eldest grandson's army for one or twenty days, and with the temperament of defending the country, if it breaks the main force of the eldest grandson, it is bound to boast to intimidate the princes, but now there is not, people can't help but start to suspect that the eldest grandson has been so calm since the beginning of the war, is it really blind?

On this day, at the artillery range outside Yongxing City, Gong Liangxiu's face was ugly, he held the telescope in disbelief and was silent, silently looking at the dust and smoke rising twenty miles away, and his heart was almost desperate. Bai Liyan was very proud, and said with a flying eyebrow:

"Brother Gongliang, how is this cannon?"

Gongliang Xiu was stunned and said:

"The firing range of the cannon of General Tianwei of the eldest grandson country is only six or seven miles, and now this cannon will send thirty-six catties of projectiles to twenty miles, it is really a magic cannon in the world! But you should also know that although this cannon is far away, it is useless if it cannot hit the target. ”

"This is naturally known to the Hou, so the range of twenty miles is not practical, and it can be used to attack cities or large army camps, but it is not good if it is used to attack a single small target. Therefore, this gun has both near and far targets, which can not only field battles, but also attack fortified positions, which is very convenient.

In addition, Brother Gongliang has ever discovered that our military artillery no longer needs to clean the chamber, and even ignition is saved, and now it is easy to fire 10 to 12 shells in an instant, or more than 100 shells in an hour. ”

"Hiss......" Gongliang Xiu was shocked when he heard the news, and his eyes were like a drum: "How is this possible, shouldn't the remnants of the black powder be taken out of the cannon chamber when the black powder burns out?" ”

"What Brother Gongliang said is good, but our army already has a new type of gunpowder, there is no slag after firing, and it needs to be cleaned up simply after dozens of consecutive shots, so the rate of fire will be several times that of other princes. And this is still a 36-pound cannon, if it is a 6-catty, 12-catty, 18-catty, or 24-catty cannon, the rate of fire is faster. ”

The 36-pound cannon is a long-barreled cannon produced by Bailiyan [Note 1], with an extreme firing range of up to 20 miles, which has both the advantages of range and firepower. In view of the poor effectiveness of small-caliber guns, the production of the Type 645 six-pound gun was discontinued after the production sample.

Concentrate resources on the production of 12, 18, and 24 jin 3 types of 645 artillery, and 36 jin cannon long-barreled guns have their own technical problems, and the output is not very large.

In addition, 72 catties and 108 catties of heavy fortress guns and cannons were also produced, which were used for the use of batteries in conjunction with other types of artillery, which could theoretically block all areas within a radius of 26 miles. The infantry artillery was all made of metal axle turrets to facilitate horse traction.

In order to maintain strict secrecy, the equipment of smokeless gunpowder was temporarily only used by the armament battalion, and there had been a stockpile of reserves for the past few years, and there was no concern about the supply of other artillery in wartime.

The artillery drills that Gongliangxiu watched fired only solid projectiles, and if they were to use shrapnel shells, fragmentation shells, and explosive shells, the dense barrage would form a lethal net that would be enough to overcome the accuracy problem of the breech guns.

Seeing such a miracle cannon, Gongliang Xiu was about to move, and asked:

"Can this cannon be sold?"

"Not for the time being, until the new artillery comes out, it will not be sold."

Gongliang Xiu twitched his cheeks when he heard the news, and rolled his eyes:

"It's only been a few years, and you can still build even more powerful new cannons!"

"What, Brother Gongliang doesn't believe it?"

Bailiyan's eyes were playful, and Gongliang Xiu was half-convinced:

"Twenty miles of land is already the best in the world, what else do you want?"

"Hehe......" Baili Yanfu smiled, did not respond positively, and then said something else: "Even if Benhou has an accidental sale, I'm afraid it won't be something that Brother Gongliang can bear." ”

"How much is that?"

"One hundred and fifty thousand silver."

"Ten, one hundred and fifty thousand!" Gongliang Xiu was stunned and taken aback, and hurriedly said, "Why don't you go and grab it!" ”

"150,000 inches of silver is too expensive, and Ben Hou doesn't mind Brother Gongliang spending 180,000 Singapore dollars to buy it. Besides, compared to the 23-pound cannon of Changsun Guo back then, which sold for 150,000 inches of silver, it could only shoot three miles, and Benhou's 36-pound cannon could shoot 20 miles, so it was quite cost-effective. ”

The cost of a 36-pound cannon is about 60,000 inches of silver, and it is necessary to pay a 20 percent discount to buy it with gold and silver Tongbao. The cost of 60,000 yuan, selling 150,000 yuan is actually quite cheap, and the cost performance is extremely high, and 150,000 yuan is really not a loss.

The Gongliang clan has limited funds to intercept every year, and even if Bailiyan has been transfused for many years, even if he has private wealth, he can't afford to buy twenty thirty-six-pound cannons. For this reason, Gongliang Xiu bargained:

"Can't it be cheaper?"

"It's not cheap now, and in the future, the production of craftsmanship will increase, and it may be cheaper, and I have no plans to sell it in the short term." Besides, our army has not yet fully purchased new artillery, so where there is spare power for export, let's wait a few years. ”

"It's a good means to wait until you have overwhelmed the princes, and then sell them to others to kill each other."

"You can't say it so ugly, you can make it yourself if you have the ability."

Gongliang cultivates qi, where does he not know how many catties and taels he has, and in the past few years, Gongliang has invested a lot in making copper cannons, but he has never made a cannon with a range of more than ten miles.

"Well, since you are not sincere, it is no good to say more. I don't sell artillery, but it's okay to sell some new gunpowder. ”

"The new smokeless gunpowder is powerful, your artillery may not be able to stand it, Ben Hou does not recommend that my brother buy it now. However, you can give more grenades to your brother, and the price is easy to say. ”

"How much is that?" Gongliang Xiu asked.

"One hundred thousand."

"Ten...... Lakh! Gongliang Xiu was shocked: "You are not joking!" ”

"What are you lying about, how long do you think 100,000 can be used, the soldiers guarding the city are as few as one or two thousand, and as many as tens of thousands, and each person uses three, which is tens of thousands, where can 100,000 be consumed."

Hand grenades are used for garrison and positional warfare with excellent effect, and the siege is still very frequent, subject to artillery and siege equipment, grenades in hand are undoubtedly the magic weapon to defeat the enemy. Even if the walls were blown up, as long as the gap was held, grenades were still an effective means of driving and killing the enemy, and the siege battle entered a new chapter.

In recent years, we have seen the princes of various countries competing to manufacture explosive hot weapons, similar to holding and throwing explosive weapons in an endless stream, but they are still limited by the power of black powder, the effect is relatively average, and it also ignites.

The Yongxing grenade was improved with a stamped thin steel shell, a wax paper seal, and a small amount of ammonium nitrate mixed with smokeless gunpowder to increase its power.

Ammonium nitrate is a kind of explosive that is more abrupt than the safety explosive TNT, but the detonation difficulty is lower than TNT, and it is not easy to detonate under normal impact, friction or static electricity, and even as a nitrogen fertilizer, ammonium nitrate has always been a widely used fertilizer.

Of course, it is naturally better if trinitrotoluene TNT can be used, but the reaction of trinitrotoluene is too complex, and the preparation is far more complex than ammonium nitrate.

Soon after the Black Turban Rebellion was put down, the export of arms to Zhiguo was temporarily halted and never sold. However, the Gongliang clan secretly bought some for counterinsurgency and reserves, but the total amount was not much, and this time it sold 100,000 in one go, and Gongliang Xiu naturally didn't believe it.

In view of the wide range of role of hand grenades, throwing is only a way to use, and can also be used as trip mines and cluster bombs, once the war is consumed, four years ago the Xianjun began to produce the finalized standard wooden handle grenades, one million have been stockpiled one after another, 100,000 is really not much.

Gongliangxiu was about to return to China, and Bai Liyan set up a banquet in the annex of Wang Juncheng that night for him to practice.

With the departure of the Mooney mission, the enthusiasm for trading that had lasted for half a year continued to subside, and the Central Plains became more chaotic and incomprehensible.

The war started for more than a month, and by mid-to-late December, there was still no definite news of the breakthrough of the defense of the country or the defeat of the eldest grandson, and the strict blockade of the battlefield made it difficult for intelligence personnel from all sides to enter the core area to understand the more detailed situation, and the time ushered in the first month of 647 in the day by day.

This year, as always, King Xian has adhered to the practice of not fiefdom and only rewarding since the Yongxing Reform, but this year there are some new tricks.

At the New Year's banquet, the government decree on the use of money tickets was officially promulgated, and it was published in the newspaper to inform the foreign envoys, and then all the cash rewards of that year were changed to money tickets, and the news caused a sensation in the whole city for a while.

On the fifth day of the first lunar month, Jiang Rong took Fang and Xiang's two daughters home for the New Year, Jiang Min's condition has improved greatly in the past six months, and Bailiyan bought Mooney Hydelweiss flowers at a bid and also took them to Guangxin, which is very helpful for the treatment of stroke.

The battle was still unclear during the first month, Chai Xiang was still as calm as ever, but Lu Jia was obviously restless, and Bai Liyan began to suspect that Wei Guo's attack must have been frustrated.

But to make him believe that the stinky salted fish of the eldest grandson Bujun turned over overnight, it is incredible, at least under the huge advantage of white phosphorus in the country, it is not easy for the eldest grandson to gain an undefeated foothold.

Soon after, news came from the Jin Kingdom, which made Baili Yanzhen start to suspect that something had happened to the eldest grandson.

Ma Zhongning, the envoy of the Jin State in the Xian State, met with the King of Xian on the 16th day of the first month and asked the Xian State to open the Beihai port for the Jin State and the Changsun Navy to dock and replenish.

To say that this matter is strange, at the moment the fight between Wei Guo and the eldest grandson is hot, the Jin State neither expressed whether to fulfill the covenant, nor did it tear up the covenant, and suddenly mobilized the naval army to assemble, which has to be reminiscent of Fan Tao's plan to uphold Gong Shukuo's plan and inbred the method of landing east and west across the sea.

In the early years, Gong Shukuo proposed to take advantage of the weakness of the Central Plains and the rise of the Jin State, kill Baili Yan in the name of sending funerals, and use the naval army to transport infantry to the garrison of Qi State, and then operate it, which can lay the foundation for the future development of the Xihai battlefield.

Now the defense of the country is strong, the Jin State uses the Xian and Zhi countries as a barrier, so that the Wei State and the Central Plains princes are entangled, and the Jin State takes advantage of the situation to move the division of the country, and the Wei State will have a great future to attack the Wei State from behind. And as long as they did not send troops, they nominally maintained a neutral posture without fighting, and also avoided getting involved in a head-on decisive battle with the main force of the country.

Things have developed so far, it has exceeded Bailiyan's previous expectations, and the choice of Jin Guo is quite slippery, which undoubtedly makes Xianguo in a dilemma.