The members of the committee arrived at the ordnance section, where a brand-new imitation Napoleonic cannon was placed in the clearing. Shen Daxing, www.biquge.info of the pen "Fun", Zhang Xin is discussing something with Ye Sunquan. Seeing the arrival of the various committee members, Shen Daxing hurriedly responded:

"Welcome the leaders to come, please give instructions to the work."

Zhang Guodong smiled: "Don't come to these vains, see how your cannon is." ”

Shen Daxing patted the cannon on the ground: "I just made it, a 12-pound imitation Napoleon cannon." ”

Han Wantao walked up and looked at it for a while, and said to Shen Daxing: "This cannon is a bit big, if this army is equipped, its mobility is not good, it is too heavy." ”

"This was not originally intended for your army, this is our naval battle group." Zeng Guangxian interjected.

"No way." Zhang Xin explained, "We don't have copper, we can only use iron, so we have to thicken the barrel, this thing can't be used in the army, now it can only be used on ships." ”

"Then what about our army, how can we call it an army without artillery." Han Wantao asked anxiously.

"Don't worry." Now the ordnance group belongs to the vertical leadership of the committee, and Shen Daxing didn't think so much when he spoke, "The army's 3-pounder gun is being developed, and we are going to use steel to drill the chamber directly." ”

"Isn't it not possible? Are you going to solve this soon? "Zhang Guodong is a little strange.

"You have to ask Xia Yang about this, he promised us." Shen Daxing looked at Xia Yang.

"I've urged the Bureau of Industry." Xia Yang said, "If you want a cannon instead of butter, let them quickly develop a water conservancy forging press." With that thing, you can have steel cannons. ”

"Let's not talk about the 3-pounder gun." Fan Qiuming interrupted everyone's conversation, "How about this, how far is the range, have you tested it?" ”

"It's been tested." After Shen Daxing finished speaking, he turned to Ye Sunquan again, "Old Ye, report the data to the leaders." ”

"Yes, Team Leader Shen." Ye Sunquan hurriedly took out a notebook from his clothes, "Imitation Napoleon 12-pounder gun, the gun body is 5 feet and one inch long, weighs 1440 catties, the whole cannon weighs 2580 catties, the shell weighs 11 catties, the propellant is 2 catties and 3 taels, the firing range of 5 degrees elevation angle is 1500 meters, the range of 10 degrees elevation angle is 1800 meters, and the flat fire is 1200 meters." A distance of 200 meters can pierce a foot-thick hardwood plank. After Ye Sunquan finished speaking, he wiped his sweat, just remembering the conversion of pounds and pounds of rice rulers took him several days, these old men are really weird, put a good zhang, the ruler is not used as a unit of measurement, and what kind of rice is not used. And what Napoleon is, so far Ye Sunquan has not figured out whether this Napoleon is eaten or used.

"Not bad." Listening to Ye Sunquan's figures, everyone felt that this cannon should be the most advanced in this era, Zeng Guangxian asked again, "How about the rate of fire, how many times can it be fired in a row." ”

"A skilled artilleryman can fire 3 shells in 2 minutes, and it's no problem to hit 7 or 8 times in a row, and any more will dissipate heat."

"How many people are needed to do it." Zeng Guangxian asked.

"If you are on a ship, the standard for one cannon is seven people." Zhang Xin replied.

The impromptu crossing meeting was held in the General Assembly Hall, and all the people except the expatriates participated in the conference, because the topic of the meeting was very important--- the expansion of the army.

"Members." Zhang Guodong sat on the rostrum, "I will first make a report to you on the current military situation. Our 30 gunboats have been finalized, after sea trials, the effect is not bad, this situation is known to everyone, at present our 2 iron ships have been unable to sail because of fuel problems, so the safety of the water in the future will have to rely on the 30 gunboats. We already have a gunboat launched, but there are no cannons yet. Of the 36 ships captured in the last battle, only 5 of them were assessed by shipyards and naval battle groups, and the rest needed to be dismantled. With the materials dismantled and the raw materials we purchased, 2 new Type 30 gunboats will be launched in 3 months. In terms of artillery, the 12-pounder imitation Napoleon gun has been finalized and produced, and it was officially named the 12-pounder naval gun. At present, the proposal of the Military Commission is to produce 25 to 30 guns, and first arm the three gunboats that are about to be launched and those that have already been launched, so as to form the Yulin Bay Navy. On the part of the Army. The CMC meant the expansion of the army battalion to four army companies, all armed with flintlock pistols and spears. ”

Speaking of this, Zhang Guodong happily added: "Members, the output of our flintlock pistols has reached 50 per month, which can fully meet the needs of the new army battalion within three months." At the same time, the army set up an artillery company, and the army's 3-pounder gun is currently being developed by the Industrial Bureau, and it is estimated that it will soon be produced. The current population of Yulin Bay has reached more than 6,000 people, plus the new prisoners of war, it has reached 8,000 people, and our conscription this time is a conscription within the whole Yazhou, not limited to Yulin Bay, so this expansion plan should be no problem in terms of number requirements. This is the case, the draft plan has been sent to you, and you can talk freely about it. ”

Lin Zhaolong poked Xu Lang, who was closing his eyes on the side: "Speak freely, don't you say a few words?" ”

Xu Lang didn't even open his eyes: "I'm not miserable enough, and said." In other words, I can't even stay in school anymore. ”

Xu Lang didn't care about Lin Zhaolong's snickering, but still closed his eyes and asked, "Why doesn't this expansion have anything to do with your marine platoon?" ”

"The Marine Platoon is taking the road of elite soldiers, and what I need is elite, not quantity." Lin Zhaolong replied with confidence.

"Chairman Zhang." One of the traversers stood up, "There is a clause in the expansion plan to absorb captured pirates into the navy, is this okay, what if those pirates rebel?" ”

"I'll answer that." Zeng Guangxian preemptively said, "After the establishment of the navy, the quota of each ship is 110 people, 3 ships plus land logistics personnel, the number of the navy is planned to be 400 people, but we don't have so many people who can sail ships, let alone 30 gunboats, I am afraid it will be too late to train from scratch, so we must absorb pirates, they have experience." As for the rebellion you mentioned, we will not have more than 30 pirates per ship, a ratio of 1 to 3, and they will not have any major problems. ”

Xu Lang still closed his eyes and hugged his arms and asked Lin Zhaolong: "This is the establishment of the navy, Zeng Guangxian's military rank should be mentioned." ”

"Mentioned, the Military Commission is ready to award him the rank of major, the same as Jiang Beiming and Han Wantao."

"You're still a lieutenant?"

"Whether the Marine Platoon has been expanded or not, I will not change."

Xu Lang did not speak again.

After voting, the expansion plan was successfully passed. The Army was expanded to 4 army companies, each with 3 platoons and a direct guard squad with a total of 100 men, plus an artillery company with 90 men, planned to be equipped with 6 3-pounder guns, and a 60-man baggage team, for a total of 550 men. The number of the navy was set at 380 people, and with Lin Zhaolong's marines, the armed force of Yulin Bay reached 1,000 people, not counting Liu Guannan's 50-man patrol house.

Wang Hua came back from Qiongzhou, and the news he brought back was that there was no problem with Qiongzhou's accounts, and Zhao Zhiruo's redemption fee was taken out of personal assets by Sun Tianhao and others, and it was deducted when dividends were distributed at the end of the year. The committee sent another person to Qiongzhou, this person is named Zhong Kai, who was a veterinarian in pharmaceutical research and development before the crossing. After Han Wantao expanded the army, he made another request to the Military Commission to form a cavalry unit, but now there is not a single horse in Yulin Bay, so the committee decided to send Zhong Kai, who was born as a veterinarian, to Qiongzhou to explore the road first to see if he could buy a horse.

The news that Yulin Bay was going to expand the militia was spread throughout Yazhou, and Chen Mincheng personally went to Yulin Bay. The last time they went to Lingshui to suppress bandits, they actually crossed the border, and the Wanzhou side took the lawsuit to Wu Tingyun, the prefect of Qiongzhou, and repeatedly claimed that the Yulin Bay militia crossed the border without Wanzhou's consent and was a place of serious harassment. 200 taels of silver were sent, and Wu Tingyun temporarily suppressed the matter. But this time, Yulin Bay has to expand the militia group, and this Wang Kezong can't sit still, so he hurriedly sent Chen Mincheng to find out.

Although Liu Jun, who was in Yazhou, explained to Chen Mincheng in advance what was going on with the change of office in Yulin Bay, Chen Mincheng was still taken aback after arriving at Yulin Bay, except for Zhang Guodong and Jiang Beiming, the rest of the people who greeted him last time were gone. This made Chen Mincheng secretly speculate whether something big had happened in Yulin Bay. In the end, the committee had no choice but to invite Lu Tianxiang over, which made Chen Mincheng feel a little relieved, and it turned out to be the first assistant minister.

This time, a total of more than 500 recruits were recruited, and more than 2,000 people signed up, not only the youth of the entire Yazhou signed up in batches, but even some half-grown children came over to ask to join the Yulin Bay militia group. Because in addition to Yulinwan's military salary of 2 yuan per month, there is a more important thing that attracts them, new military uniforms. Since Liu Guannan designed a new police uniform, Han Wantao has been surrounded by some soldiers every day, and strongly asked the army to change its uniforms. The Military Commission solicited opinions again, and finally decided to adopt an imitation Beiyang-style military uniform, with a standing collar, a red collar badge, and vertical epaulettes, with only belts below non-commissioned officers, shoulder straps above lieutenants, leggings and leather shoes underneath, and wicker helmets on their heads.

The Bureau of Industry received a new task to develop the bust of the French cuirassiers. This is an era of mixed hot and cold BING, and it is a great loss to fight at close range without armor, but the cuirassiers of later generations weighed 16 pounds, which was too heavy for infantry. At present, in addition to a 10-pound flintlock pistol, the army's individual equipment also has a single knife for close combat, as well as paper fixed ammunition and projectiles, and the bayonet has not yet been made. In addition, there are water bags, supplies and other miscellaneous things, which add up to more than 20 catties of weight, if you wear this 16 catties of cuirass, I am afraid that you will not be able to run. Therefore, the committee ordered to minimize the weight of the cuirass and to equip the spearmen first, since these soldiers did not carry flintlock pistols and ammunition, and could reduce their weight by more than 10 catties.