Schroeder, chief of staff of the corps, and others hollowed out their minds to set up a "simulated combat scenario":

In an area of 55 meters longitudinally and 65 meters horizontally, 250 skirmisher bunkers were dug, and each bunker hid a soldier and a humanoid target. There is no obvious pattern in the distribution of foxholes, but they are generally from far to near, from dense to sparse.

These 250 skirmish bunkers are used to simulate the following actual combat scenario: In a 65-meter-wide strip, an enemy unit of 50 men will charge at our position, and see if a Gatling machine gun can effectively contain the attack of 50 enemy troops within a "charging distance" of 55 meters.

The specific method is as follows: The soldiers in the foxhole, from far to near, raise the humanoid target in turn to simulate the enemy's attack -- that is, on average, five humanoid targets in the vertical direction simulate the charging route of an enemy soldier.

The soldiers in the foxhole, you must remember not to take the lead, otherwise, you will become a "human target".

A row of targets in the farthest part was erected - this meant that the enemy troops attacking our position had begun to charge.

"Gatling Type II" roared.

In the telescope, debris flies on a human-shaped target.

Interestingly, these humanoid targets will constantly move up, down, left and right -- this is a dodge and maneuver of the enemy, and a limited simulation is done to increase the "realism of the battlefield".

During the whole process, the "ammunition supply hopper" was replaced twice, and after the shooting, the third "ammunition supply hopper", and two magazines remained unused. The "Ammunition Hopper II" consisted of twelve long magazines, each with a capacity of 30 rounds. The total ammunition capacity is 360 rounds. In other words. A total of about 1,000 rounds were fired.

The "Ammunition Hopper II" was very heavy. Two people must cooperate to disassemble normally, if you want to speed up the replacement, you have to disassemble two people, two people installed. In other words, the combination of "Gatling II" and "Ammunition Hopper II" must be operated by at least five people to maximize its power.

Count a little bit. A total of 121 humanoid targets were shot.

It can be roughly assumed that the "casualty rate" of the "enemy army" exceeded 40 percent.

Attacking is not the same as defending, and theoretically, there is no army in the world that has a casualty rate of more than 40 percent and does not stop the offensive.

The "Demonstration of Deterrence Capability Against the Enemy" proved that a single "Gatling II" machine gun was more than enough to repel an attacking force of 50 men. No matter how many or thirty of the enemy were, it would be difficult to break through the Gatling guns.

And if you really go to the battlefield, you can't have only one Gatling on the battlefield. There will also be a certain number of single-shot or repeating rifles in the firepower of the defensive block.

A real battlefield. Compared to the "actual combat scenario" set up by the demo, of course, it will not be exactly the same. The target can't be maneuvered over a large area, but a real person can. However, if it is a real person, it may be more clumsy and sluggish than the target. The setting of the target introduced the concept of the straggler tactics of the Xuan army, and in this era, the infantry tactics of the Western powers, queuing up to shoot are still the mainstream.

Therefore, it can be considered that the results of the demonstration basically faithfully reflect the power of the "Gatling Rapid Fire Weapon".

After a series of demonstrations, Guan Zhuofan expressed satisfaction with the quality and effectiveness of the "Gatling Rapid-Fire Weapon" and believed that it could be considered for finalization and production.

Gatlin's face was like a red sun, and it was simply radiant.

He trembled slightly with excitement.

"I hope," Mr. Kwan said, "that by this time next year, this weapon will be massively installed in my troops." ”

"Yes! Your Royal Highness, I will not let you down! ”

"However, the name 'continuous rapid-fire weapons' ......"

Gatlin was stunned for a moment, but he reacted quickly: "Your Royal Highness, you will definitely be able to give it a more appropriate and beautiful name. ”

Well, it's very sensible.

"'Rapid-fire weapons' is a good name, but it's a little more complicated for the average soldier...... Well, so let's do it, since it's mechanically driven, how about we call it a 'machinegun'? Of course, the prefix 'Gatling' should be preceded. ”

“‘machinegun’…… Ah, very appropriately, Your Highness, let's call it 'machinegun'! ”

The term "machine gun" was born in this way.

*

*

Two days later, the "American delegation to China" arrived in Tianjin.

However, they did not immediately arrive at Dagu Pass and board the ship to go south.

Guan Zhuofan took a large group of American friends to Beitang, another port more than 20 miles north of Dagu.

Beitang's reputation is far less than that of Dagu, what important things can this obscure small port attract King Xuan Jun and the entire "American delegation to China"?

Some.

What?

The first railway in China in this time and space.

This railway, which runs from Qiaotoutun in Kaiping Town, Luanzhou, Yongping Prefecture in the north to Beitang in the south, is 186 miles long -- just last week, Beitang Station had just been completed.

The name "Qiaotoutun", because it is not enough "Yaxun", has been named "Tangshan" by order. There is a hill in "Qiaotoutun", whose real name is "Dacheng Mountain", and Emperor Taizong of the Tang Dynasty gave the surname of Tang, so it is also called "Tangshan". Guan Zhuofan changed "Qiaotoutun" to "Tangshan" because of this.

The reason why a small village has to change its name is because this place is the core of the Kaiping Mining Bureau.

This railway was named "Karatsu Railway".

As soon as Guan Zhuofan made the decision to set up the Kaiping Mining Bureau, he began to plan and survey the "Tangjin Railway" -- of course, "quietly entering the village, and not shooting guns."

At that time, the "railway conference" held at the Prime Minister's National Affairs Yamen had not yet been held.

As soon as the "Railway Conference" ended, the railway became an established national policy, and the "Tangjin Railway" immediately started construction.

The reason for the construction of the "Tangjin Railway" is that this railway will serve as a special line for the Kaiping Mining Bureau to transport coal, and the Kaiping Mining Bureau will officially put into operation around July and August this year, and the "Tangjin Railway" must be completed before the Kaiping Mining Bureau is officially put into operation.

The Kaiping area, centered on Qiaotoutun, is rich in high-quality coal mines, but it is located in the inland plain, and there are no decent rivers nearby, so it is necessary to build a coal transportation channel to the seaport.

In the original time and space, Li Hongzhang played, please allow to build a railway from Kaiping to Lutai, with a total length of 90 miles. The coal produced by the Kaiping Mining Bureau is planned to be transported to Lutai by rail, and then changed to a ship to go to sea along the Ji Canal to Beitang.

The imperial court did not allow it.

Li Hongzhang had no choice but to dig an artificial river from Lutai to Kaiping, trying to connect Kaiping and Lutai with waterways.

This "coal river" was dug to Xugezhuang, because the terrain was uplifted, and it was no longer possible to advance, Li Hongzhang played again, and asked for permission to build a railway from Kaiping to Xugezhuang -- only 24 miles.

If this railway is not built, the coal of the Kaiping Mining Bureau will not be able to be transported; In addition, Li Hongzhang claimed that this was actually an "express road" -- instead of locomotives, mules and horses were used to pull the carriages.

The court had no choice but to pinch its nose and agree.

In the original time and space, China's first official railway, the Tangxu Railway, was born.

It was the seventh year of Guangxu, that is, in 1881.

Now, in the fifth year of Tongzhi, that is, in 1866, the birth of China's first railway, a full fifteen years earlier.

In addition, the total length of the Tangjin Railway is one hundred and eighty-six miles, which is almost eight times that of the Tangxu Railway.

By the way, the Kaiping Mining Bureau, China's first large-scale modern coal mine, was put into operation 15 years earlier than the original time and space.

It's really a change of world.

Beitang is not the end of the "Tangjin Railway", it will continue to extend southward to Dagu. Then, turn to the northwest and go straight to Beijing under the name of "Beijing-Tianjin Railway".

When planning the Tangjin Railway, Tang Tingshu had a plan to lay narrow gauge in order to save costs, but Guan Zhuofan resolutely denied it. He instructed Tang Tingshu that the Tangjin Railway was not only for the Kaiping Mining Bureau, but that it must become part of China's vast railway network in the future, specifically the "Jingfeng Line". Therefore, standard rails must be used.

After Guan Zhuofan and Vice President Johnson jointly presided over the "ribbon-cutting" ceremony of the Tangjin Railway, they will board China's first train with the "American delegation to China" and go to Tangshan, 186 miles away, to visit the Kaiping Mining Bureau, where the "first phase of the project" has been basically completed. Vice President Xuanjun Wang will once again preside over a "ribbon-cutting" ceremony -- the "ribbon-cutting" ceremony of the Kaiping Mining Bureau.

After returning to Dagu, King Xuanjun and Vice President Yue will "cooperate" for the third time and jointly lay the first road nail of the "Beijing-Tianjin Railway".

After that, the construction of the Beijing-Tianjin railway will officially begin.

The whistle sounded, the colorful flags were displayed, and Guan Zhuofan's heart was surging: China's industrialization and modernization have taken a solid step!

And it's going to get faster and faster!

*(To be continued......)