Huang Qi saw that the emperor was pondering there, and saw the worried expressions of the people in the Ordnance Research Institute, and asked cautiously: "

Your Majesty, do you think there are any problems? ”

Li Su raised his head, looked at the craftsmen, and said: "Nothing, you have done a good job, notify the Ministry of Industry, mass production." ”

The director of the Weapons Research Institute still asked with some anxiety: "Your Majesty, is there anything else we need to improve?" ”

Li Su said: "I saw that the speed at which the shooter reloaded the ammunition was too slow, and the power of the firearm could not be brought into play. However, I've already figured out a solution. ”

The equipment of the soldiers of the Ming army was to carry a gourd, which contained gunpowder, and when loading, gunpowder was poured into it from the mouth of the gun, and the amount of gunpowder was based on experience.

Loading gunpowder is a technical difficulty, because if there is too much gunpowder, it is easy to explode, and the firing range cannot be guaranteed.

After pouring the gunpowder, it is necessary to use a general strip to compact, then to fill the projectile, and then to use a general strip to compact, the procedure is cumbersome, which greatly affects the speed of shooting.

Li Su said: "You calculate the amount of gunpowder, and then make a paper barrel, and make a medicine barrel according to the same amount of medicine. This ensures that each bullet can be pushed with the same amount of medicine, and it is much more convenient to reload.

When launching, puncture the paper tube with a wire and insert a twist, and that's it. ”

The craftsmen of the institute were greatly impressed, and the director of the institute said: "Your Majesty, this is really a good way, in the same case of charge, it is not only easy to fill, but also greatly convenient to carry."

Also, the same charge, which facilitates the soldiers to master the experience of shooting. That's a lot to do. ”

With firearms, Li Su began to study and improve the establishment of the troops and enhance their combat effectiveness.

Ancient warfare, a single cavalry operation and a single infantry operation, were undesirable.

Cavalry is highly mobile and capable of field warfare, but it has its weaknesses, such as fighting in the mountains, jungles, and attacking cities, and street battles, which are not as good as infantry.

The main weakness of the infantry was poor mobility.

There is also a big problem with the coordination of cavalry and infantry, and the infantry will greatly drag down the speed of the cavalry.

Li Su put forward a new idea, that is, to improve the mobility of the infantry.

The Tang Dynasty now owned the Western Regions, the Grasslands, and the Southwest Regions, covering all types of horses, and the number was endless.

With this condition, Li Su proposed to establish a horse infantry.

Horse infantry, as the name suggests, is an infantry on horseback. They all rode on horseback when they marched, and when they were fighting, they were to dismount from their horses and fight on foot.

This type of infantry is also called packhorse infantry.

The new infantry division is composed of three infantry regiments, a fire regiment, a hoplite battalion, and other subordinate units, with a total strength of 18,000 troops.

The division is equipped with 26,000 horses and 1,600 vehicles of various kinds. The new packhorse infantry division, in terms of marching speed, can basically keep up with the marching speed of cavalry units. The overall combat effectiveness of the Tang Army units has been improved.

The cavalry division also added a fire regiment with a Shenwei artillery battalion, a three-eyed fire gun battalion, and a flying thunder artillery battalion. The total number of troops has also reached 18,000.

The General Staff Headquarters decided to build 42 new-style cavalry divisions and 36 new-style infantry divisions within three years as the scale of the field army maintained by Datang in peacetime.

After 8 months.

Tai Chi Hall, Li Su's office.

The head of the overseas intelligence bureau reported on the changes in the political situation in the Arab Empire.

Khalid, the great general of the Arab Empire, concluded his expedition in the Tang Dynasty and returned to Damascus.

After reporting to the caliph the results of his expedition to the Tang Dynasty, he proposed the idea of imposing an imperial system, and then a centralized system and counties.

The caliph has long wanted to implement the imperial system and ascend to the throne of the emperor, but has always suffered from the lack of a theoretical basis. Khalid's expedition report provided him with an excuse.

The caliph sought out his cronies and actively promoted the imperial system, which aroused the opposition of Elder Derlamb.

Elder Delamb was the most likely person to succeed the current caliph, and the imposition of an imperial and hereditary system would be tantamount to depriving him of his status.

Two months earlier, Elder Delamb had assassinated the caliph and staged a coup d'état in Damascus to seize the caliph's office.

Hemar fled to Greece, where he raised an army and confronted Dramb.

Khalid was persecuted by Delamb for supporting the former caliph to implement the imperial system, and he raised troops in Tehran in the name of supporting Harold, who had already rushed back to Tehran.

At this time, the Tang army, under the command of Xue Rengui and Gao Xianzhi, swept across the entire Southeast Asian and South Asian continents, destroyed 74 countries in these regions, and incorporated them all into the territory of the Tang Dynasty.

The Navy also occupied the countries around the Strait of Malacca. Datang's territory has expanded to 23.4 million square kilometers, with a population of 120 million.

Hou Junji said: "Your Majesty, haven't you always been worried that the Arab Empire will become the most powerful enemy of the Tang Dynasty, and now, they have civil strife, this is a good time for us to march." ”

Wei Zheng disagreed, he said: "Your Majesty, the Tang Dynasty has been fighting for many years, and the newly conquered Tubo and other dozens of countries, the newly increased population has exceeded the original population of the Tang Dynasty, such a large place, so many people, all need to be managed and digested."

For a period of three years, we will not expand to the outside world for the time being, and concentrate on doing a good job in domestic construction. ”

Li Jing said: "The minister supports Wei Zheng's opinion, and Datang should rest and recuperate."

Now, the Arab Empire is in a civil war, even if they can complete the unification, the national strength will be greatly consumed, when the time comes, the Tang Dynasty will solve the internal troubles, improve the construction of the Tang Army, and then send troops to solve the problem of the Arabs, which will be more beneficial to the Tang Dynasty. ”

Hou Junji said: "That can't let the Arabs fight a civil war in peace, you have to add some chaos to them." ”

Gao Jingming, Huang Furui and others all supported Wei Zheng's opinion.

Li Su said: "In this way, in civil affairs, Tubo will be handed over to Chu Suiliang for management, Southeast Asia will transfer Zhang Xuansu to manage, and South Asia will send Changsun Wuji to manage." The military was handed over to Xue Rengui to be in charge, and he made every effort to complete the construction of political power.

As for the Arabs, the Soviet side is in charge of the whole situation.

The reorganized armies of the countries of Southeast Asia and South Asia, which now total 3 million people, are difficult to manage if they remain there.

Send 2 million men to Persia and attack the Arab Empire in the name of Persia. ”

Wei Zheng agreed with this opinion, after all, the reorganization of 3 million troops to stay in the local area is a big hidden danger, and sending them to Persia to fight the Arabs is a good solution. He agreed, and everyone had no opinion.

Hou Junji said: "Your Majesty, the minister asked to carry out this task, you see, Su Dingfang is still in charge of such a large place in the Western Regions, and he will go to Persia to fight the Arabs, so leave this matter to the minister." ”

Hou Junji was really bored with the days of working in the imperial court, and he was still willing to lead troops to fight.

Li Su thought for a while and said: "Since this is the case, then Hou Junji will go to Persia and serve as the commander-in-chief of the Persian Volunteer Army, with Gao Xianzhi as the deputy commander-in-chief, and be responsible for commanding the war against the Arabs." ”

In the evening, Li Su returned to the East Palace, and Haitang came to him with a worried face.