On the first day of August in the second year of Chongzhen, since the beginning of July, another continuous heavy rain has lasted for many days, not far from the front position of the city, in a courtyard courtyard that seems to be very common in the militia, dozens of militiamen who are thirteen or fourteen years old, and those who are in their early thirties gather together to rest idlely. The militia fighters, poorly equipped and clothed, felt a little lost, and were rarely silent. No one is like the other teams at this time to tell some yellow jokes to set off the atmosphere, or play leaf plays, etc., all of them are somewhat taciturn people.

At this time, Xiao Xuan came to the outside of the courtyard and was somewhat surprised and whispered to Zhou Dayong: "Only such a little person? ”

Zhou Dayong also felt that there were a little too few people, but he seemed to have followed the instructions seriously, so he had to answer: "The gossip and strange words are more than too smart or too short-tempered, those who are over the age of thirteen and thirty-five, and those who are obviously war-weary or too obviously traumatic on the battlefield are eliminated before gathering, and those in the team who are too different to communicate with each other are also sent out." These people are also pinyin writing without problems. As a result, only these thirty-six of the more than 200 people who barely passed the test of volunteering for the battle... ”

"Did you record the people you excluded?" Xiao Xuan asked with some concern.

"All the people who volunteered to participate in the war have a record, and every link has a special record," Zhou Dayong replied with some rejoicing.

Xiao Xuan calmed down carefully, thinking that he was not simply selecting soldiers, but the backbone of the new-style army. If you can really achieve your intentions, it is still barely enough. However, if individualism and even self-consciousness are too strong, and they cannot do what they are asked to do, they still have to face too many variables.

When the men in the courtyard saw a seventeen or eighteen-year-old boy who did not seem to be very old walking in, his face was shiny, he was wearing a neat and well-fitting blue cloth regular uniform, and a blue octagonal hat, and they knew that he must have a certain position in the army. At least it is not uncommon for people above the commander of the militia to come out of the teaching brigade. At first, people were a little excited, but after a while, many people began to realize something, and began to be a little silent again.

"When they saw me come in, the comrades seemed a little unhappy, what were you worried about?" It's not the first day of leadership work, and Xiao Xuan at this time is at least familiar with teaching his subordinates as a superior.

The silence was not as long as expected, but it was quickly broken. After all, those who can emerge from such a rigor as the trials of the volunteer camp are simple and introverted, but there is no shortage of brave and bold and outspoken people.

"Report to the Chief... Oh no, chief, I. Oh... I... When I saw a chief come in, I knew it was on a combat mission. But when I think of those previous battles, there are too many comrades-in-arms who have paid fearless sacrifices... I think. Such fearless sacrifices are of little value to the realization of an ideal society. It is often said in books that killing one is enough, and killing two earns one. But that kind of play,Fundamentally。。。 I can't earn it at all... ”

When someone said this, the people in the courtyard were also a little excited: "Yes! In fact, many people are not necessarily worse than us, and it is precisely because they do not see this meaning and hope that they choose to leave... ”

"We don't ask for too good equipment, even if we have a few decent shields, not that kind of bed board to make...

Xiao Xuan didn't say anything, but waited for the people in the entire courtyard to calm down completely, and barely made any sound before he said, "Comrades, don't worry, this kind of thing won't happen to you in the future." Now that you have passed the test, you must make the most of your value ... ”

As he said this, Xiao Xuan motioned to the door of the courtyard, and the sixteen officers and soldiers of the Teaching Brigade carried eight boxes that seemed to be heavy with a unique cargo single rack. Seeing the curious looks of the soldiers in the courtyard, Xiao Xuan quipped, "Do you think it's gold and silver treasures?" Then you are thinking wrongly, the time has not yet come to test you with wealth and wealth, hehe. ”

When the first box was opened, some unique firecrackers that were shoulder-high were revealed. This unique firearm is about three feet long just by the length of the barrel, although it is lower than the bird's gun, but it is much longer than the teaching firearm that some people have seen, and there are rare two side-by-side barrels, and the caliber is estimated to be about half an inch. What's more, the double-barreled gun is also mounted on top of the three-edged bayonet of the card mount type, and there seems to be no arquebus or anything like that on the whole gun.

"This is a new yuan rifle, in order to make it. It has been started since the Battle of Qingyuan Nanyuan last year. Don't underestimate such a seemingly uncomplicated thing, it took a total of 500 craftsmen with the best craftsmanship and more than 200 of the best helpers to produce 200 pieces in the end. This is not counting the cost of importing the finest steel and even the cost of smelting, the cost of each of these all-steel double-barreled flintlock pistols with a bayonet is not much inferior to that of a copper general cannon of three or five hundred catties, including management costs... ”

Of course, Xiao Xuan didn't say anything. Because the concept of a new type of army began very early, and the relevant preparations actually began very early. It is difficult for Xiao Xuan to determine whether the combat methods that have been outstanding in modern history will be out of shape if the situation changes. After all, the decisive factor in cold weapon confrontation training is too great, if the three-legged cat encounters an elite soldier who really understands martial arts, even if there is a tenfold advantage in courage and will, it will be easily offset by the opponent's training advantage. The way of fighting must be according to the routines that you are familiar with.

Thinking about it, to create something that meets the needs of modern tactics to the lowest standard, even the Western muskets and bayonets of the eighteenth century level are simply beyond the Eastern manufacturing processes and conditions of this era, and this is not something that can be solved by a change in management compared to the craftsmen of the Ming Dynasty. The final means is to use the runner at any cost and the "as long as the effort is deep, the iron rod is sharpened into a needle" type of stacking craftsmen to overcome some technical problems. Tang Ruowang and others, who had been ignored for a long time, also participated in the whole process in order to show themselves, so they didn't know whether they spent ten times or dozens of times more than ordinary shotguns, and finally made this kind of excellent steel musket. While the double-barreled tank can meet the effective power, the total weight of the entire rifle, including the bayonet, is controlled within four kilograms. This is something that many Western firearms of the eighteenth century could not do.

(End of chapter)