Wan Yi's military newspaper arrived at the Chang'an base camp in early May of the third year of the Apocalypse, Xu Tianxiang's face changed after receiving the military report and the record of the use of incendiary bombs, and he pulled Yang Tiancheng and a few people to find Li Xuanqing.

"Tianxiang, what's wrong with your face? Who messed with you? Cen Tianshi saw Xu Tianxiang's face was very strange, and he put down the topic just now and asked.

"Your Majesty, Mr. Cen, the military report from Wan Yi in the northwest has been sent, Huqiu Pass defeated the 100,000 army of Wen Mo in the first battle, and successfully captured Huqiu Pass, and the Uighur reinforcements were also wiped out dozens of miles north of Huqiu Pass." Xu Tianxiang smiled bitterly and handed the battle report in his hand to Li Xuanqing and continued: "It's just that there was an accident. ”

"Accident?" Xu Tianxiang's words made Cen Tianshi feel strange, and said: "Nearly 200,000 enemies were annihilated in the first battle, but I am afraid that the main force of the Uighurs has almost been wiped out, what is the surprise of this?" This is a great event, not only the first victory, but also a complete victory. Could it be that our army suffered too many casualties? That's right, our 150,000 against 200,000 cavalry still have to conquer the Tiger Hill Pass Fortress, which is indeed very difficult, didn't you prepare a second wave of reinforcements for Qian Ning to train in Lingzhou? Just send it straight to the front line. ”

"It's an incendiary bomb." Li Xuanqing read the records of the military report and the incendiary bomb at a glance and nodded: "This battle can be won quickly because Wan Yi used the incendiary bomb. Huqiu Pass no longer exists, and all the rest of the 100,000 troops at the end of Wen were burned to death in the pass except for the 10,000 or 20,000 who escaped. The Uighur cavalry was similar, with nearly 10,000 people burned to death. When General Li Xuanqing handed the report to Cen Tian, he also gasped just now, completely unexpectedly that the cannonball mixed with phosphorus powder and magnesium powder developed by Qiao Xi and Mu Chen's laboratory was so powerful that it burned the entire city in one go.

"Huqiu Pass is located at the junction of the Hexi grassland and the desert, it already belongs to the desert climate, drought and little rain, there are basically not many fire extinguishing facilities in the pass, and the buildings are mostly wooden structures of the previous generation plus a small amount of masonry, so once this burns up, it is too late to rescue." Yang Tiancheng and Chen Fan next to him glanced at each other and said, "And at that time, Shi Jian was busy fighting and didn't expect that the fire would be out of control, but by the time he reacted, the Guan Nei had basically been burned to a white ground. As for the Uighur cavalry, it was located in an open area at that time, and Wan Yi was already on guard at that time, so there were not many of them really burning. ”

Yang Tiancheng's explanation also made Cen Tianshi, who had a big mouth on the side, nod, but even so, the power of this incendiary bomb is too great, as the saying goes, water and fire are ruthless, what is left if a fire burns in this terrain and climate? So then he asked: "I remember that there should be a lot of people and business travelers in the Tiger Hill Pass, right?" They're not going to be burned all by fire, are they? ”

"Wan Yi had already informed Xuan Yingwei to transfer some of our Han people before giving the order, and Shi Jian also rescued most of the people when the fire broke out, only a small number of people died in the sea of fire that had no time to evacuate, but the number would not be very large. In fact, when the Wen people chose to defend Tiger Hill Pass, they had already driven some people out of the city in order to make room for the Wen Mo army. Hu Xiaosi hurriedly explained with a dark face when he saw Cen Tian, "The lives of the people are worry-free for the time being, but this battle is equivalent to burning down all their families, so Wan Yi can't continue to march for the time being, and Zhao Si's cabinet will send people over to accept government affairs and post-disaster reconstruction matters as soon as possible, so as to free up their hands to continue to march to Ganzhou." ”

"Alas, this government affairs and post-disaster reconstruction are not a big problem, I will immediately arrange for government personnel to be stationed, and when the time comes, you will let Yang Yi send some National Guards to accompany him, stabilize the situation in advance, and then find a place to rebuild Huqiu Pass." But Tianxiang, have you ever thought that this fire will cause the after-effects of the fire will not be so easy to dissipate. Cen Tianshi immediately thought of the impact of this incident, and said: "I'm afraid that the relationship between the various ethnic groups in the northwest and my Datang will change more seriously from now on." ”

"There haven't been that many serious changes." Seeing that Cen Tianshi's words made everyone's faces extremely ugly, Li Xuanqing waved his hand and said, "Don't worry, maybe there will be good changes." It's just that what I didn't expect was that the power of this incendiary bomb was magnified so much in the northwest, but I am afraid that in the future, your General Staff will restrict the use of special artillery shells, otherwise if it breaks out again, I am afraid that it may not be as lucky as this time. ”

Li Xuanqing's words puzzled everyone for a while, Cen Tianshi smiled bitterly: "The emperor is really broad-hearted, the ethnic groups in the northwest are only afraid of being burned by this fire, and after that, our ruling base in the northwest has been separated from us, and the northwest is only afraid that it will take a lot of effort to be stable, so there are good changes?" ”

"Sir's idea is wrong, it has been nearly a hundred years since the tribes in the northwest broke away from the rule of our Tang Dynasty, but I am afraid that they have long forgotten the majesty of the Heavenly Khan's command of the world and the supreme force of the Han army through the Western Regions. In this case, there is no problem with the need for force to deter. Although a fire in Tiger Hill Pass will cause an uproar in the hearts of all tribes, its terrifying power and results will definitely make all tribes and tribes feel terrified, so that the deterrence of force will also be effective, as for the rest of the pacification. I can only say that the Tang Dynasty's rule over the Western Regions will become the norm in the future, and the Western Regions will not allow forces to break away from the Tang Dynasty's rule. Then for them, thunder, rain and dew are all Jun'en. Although Li Xuanqing's words were not complete, everyone present was not stupid, and basically understood what he meant instantly, this is to fight first The various ethnic groups were frightened, and when they saw the banner of the Tiance Army, their hearts trembled, and then they thought about how to appease, so that they could become the help and foundation of the Tang Dynasty's rule over the Western Regions under the threat of force and death.

"We are in the rear, and we don't know what the most tangible status of the ethnic groups in the northwest is now, but Wan Yi knows. Since he had thought about evacuating the people before using the incendiary bombs, it meant that he understood the reasoning. Therefore, the consequences and benefits of this must also be clearly considered. Li Xuanqing continued: "I'm sure that after this battle, the Tiance Army will encounter greater resistance than before, but it will be much easier for the construction of the rear. Those tribes could no longer afford to resist under the deterrence of such force, and would only obediently obey the arrangements of the cabinet. In this way, we will quickly stabilize the states, counties and regions we occupy, and relieve the pressure on Wan Yi and them. ”

"Then in that case, should we continue to supply incendiary bombs to Wan Yi?" Xu Tianxiang saw Li Xuanqing and asked, if according to Li Xuanqing's understanding, then the incendiary bomb is obviously the best weapon for the Tiance Army to deter the opponent, no matter what the opposite side is, there will be nothing left after a fire, and no matter how big the resistance is, it can't stop Wan Yi's footsteps.

"Forget about incendiary bombs, today's incendiary elastic performance is unstable, and it is easy to have accidents during transportation and storage, so let's wait. However, in order to strengthen the support for the firepower of the Western Expeditionary Group Army, more than 100,000 artillery pieces are too few, and we must find a way to double it. In addition, the General Staff Department should immediately draw up rules for the grading and use of such special artillery shells, so as to prevent the occurrence of injuries to the enemy that do not result in hurting oneself. Li Xuanqing shook his head, in fact, Li Xuanqing is not optimistic about this kind of incendiary bomb, the tragedy of Huqiu Pass is only an accident that will occur under certain conditions, and the incendiary bomb itself is a time bomb, if it is used on a large scale, I am afraid that sooner or later there will be problems. Now it is enough to let the equipment department stock up on technology, there is no need to equip the troops on a large scale.

"What does the emperor mean, will Wan Yi still use this kind of strength in the follow-up battle?" Cen Tianshi thought carefully about what Li Xuanqing said just now, although it was different from what he thought, but since ancient times, the method adopted for a small number of tribes and Han people is to suppress and appease two methods, similar to Li Xuanqing's theory is actually not without a market, I have not seen the Han generation, since Emperor Wu defeated the Xiongnu and exterminated the country, even if the Han Dynasty was divided into a pot of porridge later, the few tribes on the border are still obediently should pay tribute, should see the court? This is what Li Xuanqing said, after defeating and fearing the opponent, no matter how you move, the other party will not dare to have the slightest contempt.

"Yes, especially in Anxi, the Tiance Army must make all the tribes fearful before they can re-establish our rule in Anxi." Li Xuanqing said: "The cabinet should immediately arrange manpower to replace Wan Yi, so that he can put all his energy on front-line command." When necessary, some officials can be transferred from Hexi to accompany the army, and ensure that the occupation of a place will include a place in the territory of the Tang Dynasty. ”

"Your Majesty, rest assured, I will arrange this immediately, and I will not delay the battle on the front line." After Cen Tianshi figured it out, he no longer cared about the changes in the various ethnic groups in the northwest, anyway, as long as he was defeated, he would have a way to govern it, which was great and difficult. So after receiving the order, he and Xu Tianxiang immediately went to arrange for government officials and the National Guard to replace Wan Yi.

"Okay, let's go to the equipment department and talk to Qin Yao by the way, he wants to sort out the types of artillery as soon as possible." Li Xuanqing stood up and led everyone out. Came to a building behind the Tiance Mansion.

Although the office building of the equipment department is arranged near Hexuanyingwei, Qin Yao belongs to the guy who stays in the subordinate factories and laboratories all the year round, and he finally returned to Chang'an recently, when Li Xuanqing and the others arrived at his office, he was still writing and drawing on the messy drawings on the wall, if it wasn't for Hu Xiaosi walking over and pulling this guy, he wouldn't know if Li Xuanqing walked to his side.

"Okay, don't be so polite, do it, there's something for you to do." Li Xuanqing didn't take into account that his office was almost turned into a laboratory, and after finding a place to sit down, he stopped his salute and said with a smile: "Hasn't your equipment department already classified artillery?" Take it and I'll take a look. He handed him the record of the incendiary bomb he had just received and said, "This is the record of the incendiary bomb sent by the Western Expeditionary Army." ”

"Your Majesty, I have done a good job of sorting artillery." Qin Yao took out a pile of information from his desk and handed it to Li Xuanqing and said: "Artillery is classified according to caliber and range, but there are overlaps and crossings on top of these two standards, so I haven't had time to report it for the time being." "In fact, Qin Yao is still very creative with artillery, and it is a miracle that he can actually make a cannonball and propellant separation equipment without his own guidance.

Li Xuanqing handed the information to Yang Tiancheng and continued: "Actually, you don't need to classify it according to the range, you can directly classify it according to the caliber. Your current artillery can't adjust the angle of fire in a wide range, and the length of the barrel can't be lengthened much because of steel technology, so it's most appropriate to classify it according to caliber. And the firing range of each type of artillery is certainly not uniform. ”

"You write here that it can be divided into small-caliber artillery and large-caliber artillery, is there also a medium-caliber one?" Yang Tiancheng looked at the general outline he wrote and asked, "And the naval guns and the army's artillery are not the same system, right?" ”

"Yes, Minister Yang. Naval artillery is a new system, because the weight and volume of naval artillery can be enlarged relatively speaking, and there is no need to consider too much mobility, so the classification of naval artillery can be cross-referenced except for the caliber and the army, and the other comparability is not too large. Qin Yao took Yang Tiancheng's words and said: "At present, the maximum caliber of artillery used by the army can reach 100 to 125 mm, but according to our calculations, if the steel smelting technology can be improved one step further, the caliber of our artillery can reach the 150 mm currently used by the navy, and the length of the body barrel will also increase." ”

"Have you made any progress on small-caliber artillery?" Li Xuanqing didn't pay much attention to the large caliber of artillery, anyway, according to the calculation of the latest caliber of artillery, it was more than enough for the army. There is no need to waste manpower and material resources before the steel technology meets the requirements, at most it can be developed in advance by the equipment department. On the contrary, Li Xuanqing felt that it was necessary to develop small-caliber artillery, and the artillery that could accompany the infantry charge was a supreme weapon of destruction no matter what era, especially under the condition that the Tiance Army was mainly equipped with breech guns, ensuring the density of firepower was undoubtedly of great significance.

Qin Yao said with a bitter face when he heard this: "There is not much progress at present, in fact, it is still the factor of steel, our current gun barrels are all cast, not only the yield is low but also the strength of the gun barrel is not enough, the casting of small caliber is more difficult, and the requirements for steel are no less than those of large caliber." Qin Yao's words also reminded Li Xuanqing that it seemed that the real development of small-caliber artillery in later generations was after the advent of seamless steel and stainless steel, right? Similar to the infantry artillery and mortars of later generations.

"I took the time to let the industrial group take care of this matter, and they have a good foundation in steel smelting technology. Now you find a way to cast a batch and send it to the Northwest Front to use it first. Li Xuanqing couldn't tell Qin Yaoming that this was the result of the failure of seamless steel, so he still planned to go back and discuss with Qiaoxi.

"You revise the classification of artillery, Chen Fan, you wait for Qin Yao's report to come out and officially carry out the army restructuring with Tiancheng, separate the artillery, organize several artillery battalions and artillery battalions, and then formulate an appropriate artillery ratio for each battalion." This time, Li Xuanqing was determined to take advantage of the fact that most of the country's armed forces were resting and recuperating to arrive at one time and bring over the military system of later generations in an all-round way.