"But I'm a little worried that if so many muskets are obtained by the Mongols, will they be copied soon, even if they are not as good as those we make, if there are enough of them, it will greatly weaken our advantage." Wennan really thought about it comprehensively, not only seeing the problems on the battlefield and between countries, but also thinking about the technical level. Although he is not a technician, he can't even talk about understanding.

"No, muskets are not like artillery, as long as you find the right metal recipe and gunpowder recipe, you can make it. It has higher and more refined requirements for the industrial base, even if the Great Song Dynasty wants to imitate the musket, it is difficult to make it, and it is barely made, and the low yield will also make them unable to bear the high manufacturing price. As for whether the captured guns will be used by the Mongol army, I think they can think so, and they can try, but nothing good will come of it. Again, there is not enough industrial base, they can't even make qualified lead bullets and projectiles, let alone reeds for replacement, and those muskets will soon become waste, it is better to carry a short spear. ”

For Wen Nan's worries, Hong Tao felt that it was superfluous. Wen Nan didn't know the advantages and disadvantages of muskets, but he knew it well. Formed musketeers are very dependent on logistical supplies and formations, which is why musketeers cannot rush forward and pursue the enemy too much. Without strong enough manufacturing capacity and rigorous training, the combat effectiveness of holding a musket will decline.

As for whether the Mongol Empire could imitate this flintlock front-loading smoothbore gun, the answer is yes. This thing is not too high-end technology, but the ancients did not have this kind of mature thinking, and now they have seen the sharpness of the musketeers with their own eyes, and have obtained samples of muskets, as long as they want to imitate, it is not difficult at all. However, it does not mean that it can form combat effectiveness, and the speed is too slow and the yield is too low to build the barrel by hand, so the cost is artificially inflated, to an unbearable level.

The musketeers thus made not only could not improve the combat effectiveness of the Mongol army, but also dragged down and greatly wasted their limited resources. After losing plunder, the main source of finance, the Mongol Empire did not have the capital to compete with the Southern Song Dynasty again, and no matter how good the musket was, they had to give up.

Just like the warlords in the Republic of China, many guns can be copied in China, but the barrels and barrels must be imported, and the process is not fine enough, and they have to import finished products from abroad in large quantities, and they can repair and repair them themselves, even if they are warlords who are very good at living and have a very strategic vision. According to the reason, there is only one, basic industry and chemical industry are not strong. In this case, giving you advanced weapons is not to help you, but to harm you.

Of course, it was not useless to capture so many muskets. These muskets allowed the Mongol army to become more familiar with its specific performance, thus providing a sufficient reference for later battles. Soon the Mongol army would find a way to deal with the musketeers, and the musketeers would no longer be a weapon that could be won by surprise, and the war would be more difficult to fight.

In fact, what should be more worried is that the dozen or so deck guns converted into land artillery can be fired as long as the Mongol army stuffs gunpowder. Due to the quality of the projectile, at most it is slower to reload, less range and less powerful, and it is not suitable for cavalry to fight quickly, but it is still effective for defending the city. At least in the future, the Southern Song Dynasty army will not be able to rely on these small cannons to suppress the enemy from a distance, both sides have it, spraying each other.

Similarly, there is no need to worry that the Mongols will copy this deck gun in large quantities, because it is cast with a wrought iron shell wrapped in a steel core, whether it is the smelting and heat treatment technology of the steel core or the wrought iron shell, it is not something that the Mongol Empire can play, and it is impossible to imitate it, not even a rough imitation. If the top brass of the Mongol Empire had a twitch in their heads and wanted to copy this small cannon in large quantities, Hong Tao would be too happy. This is another equipment competition, not to mention that wrought iron is cheaper than copper, but it can still make the Mongol Empire unbearable.

Moreover, land artillery is not like naval artillery, it doesn't matter how many hundred catties or a few hundred catties are less, as long as they can be loaded on the ship. The land artillery is to move with the troops, and there is no point in exceeding five hundred catties. According to the road conditions of this era, even if you install the rubber tires of later generations, you can still lie down anytime and anywhere. That is, an infantry-based army like the Southern Song Dynasty could barely take these big guys and go slowly, and replace them with Mongolian cavalry, which could kill them in a hurry.

"In this way, I can rest assured, let Zheng Qingzhi go in a hurry first, and I will rest for two months first. How could they go back on their word, they originally said that they would rely on our staff officers to command the new army to fight, and they have also achieved very good results, if they had held out for two months, they might have already captured Bianjing! After listening to Hong Tao's explanation, Wen Nan was completely relieved. Since it will not have any impact on the empire, there is no need to worry, delaying it is also a very important part of diplomatic means, and now it should be the Great Song Dynasty that is in a hurry.

"I'm afraid I can't rest yet, the Great Song Dynasty is more confused, but the Northern Expedition still has to go on, if it fails again this time, they may not be able to muster up the courage to try again in the next few decades." I have a suggestion, you listen to it first, and if you think it is appropriate, take it to the Council of Ministers and discuss it with everyone. Although Hong Tao has not yet received a detailed battle report, and he has not personally had any contact with the Great Song Dynasty, he understands the thinking patterns of those people in the Great Song Dynasty better.

These people were not so much in the Northern Expedition as they were in the continuation of the political struggle. If the main battle faction fails this time, it will definitely lose power in the imperial court, and it will definitely be the main peace faction that will replace them, and these people will definitely find a way to negotiate peace with the Mongol Empire, which is not in the interests of the Jinhe Empire.

If the Southern Song Dynasty court had waved an olive branch to the Mongol Empire at this time, the Mongol Empire would definitely not pretend to be invisible, and they themselves were in turmoil, and they didn't want to fight with the Southern Song Dynasty at all. Let's not talk about what results can be obtained from the peace talks between the Southern Song Dynasty and the Mongol Empire, so that these two great powers can develop peacefully, and who will sell the weapons of the empire to? How many of the surrounding small countries can afford such expensive equipment?

In addition to the issue of arms sales, it was not in the interest of the Jinhe Empire to allow the Mongol Empire to occupy the Yellow River Valley for a long time. The Mongol Empire is a wolf, and now it is only seriously injured, and it must not give them time to heal from its injuries, and it must not be said that it will kill it while it is sick, but also take the opportunity to drive it back to its hometown, don't occupy the good place of the Central Plains, and if you want to recuperate, you can go to the bitter cold land in the north to slowly recuperate.

But if you want to drive the Mongols back, the Jinhe Empire can't do it, there are not so many soldiers, and even if you do, you can't do this loss-making deal with all your might. Help is help, in addition to friendship, the main thing is interests, even if Hong Tao is willing to help, Wen Nan is willing to help, are others willing to help? Relying on an executive order to force the empire to bleed itself to help the Great Song Dynasty? Let the people of the empire use their own money to help other countries? Are they happy or not?

Therefore, we have to coax the Great Song Dynasty to continue the Northern Expedition and let them send troops and people. It's okay if you're frustrated, the empire will help you solve your difficulties. It's okay to be a little scared, the empire has your back! That's it! All in all, in a word, you can't count on others to replace your own affairs, and defeating the enemy can make a cowardly court a little more courageous, and it can also inject some blood into this cowardly culture.

"Your Majesty, please speak!" Wen Nan took out a small notebook again, padded it on his knees, and prepared to record.

"I suggest that the empire provide a loan for the Great Song court, but you can't give them money directly, and you can't let them touch this money, otherwise you won't give much. Directly use this money to help them buy 3,000 sets of muskets and 20 land guns, and the ammunition Zhenzhou's gunpowder factory can not produce it itself? That's saving! I heard that there were still several thousand recruits who had been trained but did not have weapons and equipment, and it just so happened that by giving them muskets and artillery, they could save even the training of new recruits, and they could be pulled up by conducting a few live-fire exercises. ”

"In addition, twenty additional officers will be sent to help them command the new army to fight, and provide hundreds of pack horses, I estimate that after such a big defeat, those people in the Great Song Dynasty will have to stop for a while, and will not interfere in the command of the new army again, now the new army is a hot potato, they are all waiting to see Zheng Qingzhi's jokes." The Zheng Qing faction can't be hit too hard, compared to others, the bottom line of these main battle factions is a little higher, and keeping them in the Great Song Dynasty will be beneficial to the empire. ”

"Although the new army was defeated this time, I think that although they were defeated, they were still honored, at least the whole army did not surrender, and they held out for more than ten days when they were surrounded by the whole army, which is very rare. This matter must be vigorously promoted, not in the Empire, but in the Great Song Dynasty. Let every Song person know that the soldiers on the front line did not eat for nothing, they fought to the last moment, did not become deserters, they were heroes of the country and deserved to be respected. The defeat was not their responsibility, nor was it the incompetence of the muskets, but the blind command of someone in the court. This kind of thing happens again and again, and the people have the right to know what the cause is. ”

"This time, there is no need to care about the face of the Great Song Dynasty, the Ministry of Supervision and the Propaganda Department can mobilize all the resources under their control to create a momentum. Even if there is a loss because of this, it doesn't matter, these two departments are used for this, and we will rebuild if they lose it, I want to see who the Great Song Dynasty should remove this time. By the way, Meng Hui must be saved, defeat is not his responsibility, and it is not as good as him to change the command. "Hong Tao is ready to attack the Great Song Dynasty, the previous few years of the maritime strike proved that his influence on the Great Song Dynasty is indeed there, and it is fundamental, this time he wants to test how big the impact on the Great Song Dynasty over the years, is it only in the maritime merchant class.

(To be continued.) )