Liu Fan's mood was not very good for a few days after this incident, but such days did not last for a few days before being dispersed by a sudden good news. Liu Fan, www.biquge.info of the pen "Fun", received news from Sun Yuanhua that the research of flintlock pistols had made a breakthrough and large-scale production was possible.

After getting the news, Liu Fan was overjoyed and couldn't wait to rush to the Shihe Arsenal to watch. In fact, the flintlock pistol was invented by the Frenchman Mahan as early as 1610, that is, more than 20 years ago in the 38th year of Wanli. Daming's firearms expert Bi Maokang also developed Daming's own flintlock pistol at the beginning of this year. It can be said that in today's world, the production technology of flintlock pistols is very mature, and a large number of armies in Europe are equipped with flintlock pistols.

As a traverser, how could Liu Fan not know the benefits of flintlock pistols? The reason why he did not manufacture a large number of flintlock pistols together but chose relatively backward arquebuses was also out of helplessness. That's because the technology of Daming to make flintlock pistols is not yet mature.

As we all know, the principle of flintlock pistol is actually very simple, that is, replace the fire rope with a piece of flint, and use the spark generated by the flint hitting the steel to ignite the gunpowder in the chamber. This principle is not worth mentioning, as a traverser, Liu Fan only needs to tell Sun Yuanhua the working principle, with Sun Yuanhua's talent, it is actually very simple to develop a flintlock pistol.

However, the difficulty is that the Ming Dynasty now lacks sufficient technical reserves to mass-produce and manufacture the main spring of the most critical flintlock firing device. Without the power of this most important main spring, the flint could not be fired for the purpose of ignition. Liu Fan also once ordered the craftsmen to make a batch of flintlock pistols, but they often broke down because the springs were not up to standard. Either the reed is broken, or the spring is not elastic enough to fire, resulting in a dumb fire.

The flintlock pistols manufactured by the Stone River Arsenal have a high probability of being dumb fired, and the use of such a flintlock pistol with frequent failures is undoubtedly a joke on the lives of the soldiers. Although the flintlock pistol has many advantages such as not being afraid of wind and rain, easy operation, and fast shooting speed, it is also blind if it cannot be used. If there is a big war, the flintlock pistol will lead to serious consequences because it cannot fire, and it will be too late for Liu Fan to cry.

Therefore, Liu Fancai reluctantly gave up the more advanced flintlock pistol and turned to the more ancient and practical arquebus. But with the current turn of the war, the arquebus alone could not defeat the powerful Houjin cavalry. The arquebus can barely cope with the rogue, but if it is against the large-scale cavalry of Houjin, it is obviously a little weak. Therefore, Liu Fan has not given up the research on flintlock pistols, and after nearly two years of research, good news has finally come.

Hurriedly came to the south of the city where the Shihe Arsenal was located, Liu Fan directly entered the production workshop to find Sun Yuanhua, and asked anxiously, "How is the senior brother?" I've heard that there has been a breakthrough in flintlock pistols, is that true? ”

Sun Yuanhua stroked his beard and smiled: "Jimin, are you here?" Hehe, yes, the flintlock pistol was indeed developed. Look, this is our new flintlock pistol! Sun Yuanhua said as he took a musket from the craftsman on the side and handed it to Liu Fan, looking at Liu Fan with a smile on his face, his expression was full of complacency.

Liu Fan took the flintlock pistol in Sun Yuanhua's hand, weighed it, and estimated that the gun weighed about a dozen catties, with a length of about one meter, three or four. The entire barrel was made of fine steel, except for which the rest was replaced with fir wood. Caressing the cold body of the gun, Liu Fan couldn't help but say, "Senior brother, can you introduce me to this flintlock pistol?" ”

Sun Yuanhua said happily: "Of course, this flintlock pistol is the hard work of our arsenal for a year and a half. This gun is a combination of Western flintlock pistols, revolver muskets and my Ming bird's guns three excellent muskets in one. The firing device of this gun is mainly composed of four parts, namely the powder pool, the main spring, the buckle spring and the hammer, and the hammer is equipped with a flint on the head. When firing, simply pull the trigger, and the flint will hit the snap spring, scraping off the iron particles to form sparks. The impact of the striking iron abruptly pushed the snap spring back, revealing the gunpowder in the powder pool. The gunpowder in the powder pool is then ignited, and the flame quickly travels through the small hole in the barrel to the barrel, igniting the gunpowder in the barrel. Then shoot the projectile. This eliminates a lot of tedious steps. We only need to reload gunpowder and projectiles to fire. ”

Sun Yuanhua paused slightly, and waited until Liu Fan almost understood before continuing: "The main reason why we always failed in the past was that the power of the reed was insufficient to ignite the gunpowder in the powder pool. This issue has now been solved with improvements. Speaking of which, thanks to the craftsmen recruited by Weixian this time, if they hadn't brought advanced technology, we would not have been able to overcome this problem in such a short time. ”

"Craftsmen from Weixian? I'll reward them later. Liu Fan was overjoyed and said, "Now let's talk about this flintlock pistol first!" What are its chances of firing? Will it be dumb when used? ”

Sun Yuanhua shook his head and said, "I can't say that there is no at all, but we experimented with it, and the chance of dumb fire is very small." As long as you use it properly, there will be no problems! ”

"That's great, how about we go outside and try this flintlock pistol?" Liu Fan said a little impatiently, and pulled Sun Yuanhua outside.

Sun Yuanhua's strength was no match for Liu Fan, and he also understood Liu Fan's urgent mood now, so he did not object. In desperation, he had to be dragged all the way by Liu Fan to a vacant place outside the workshop. After Liu Fan stopped, Sun Yuanhua rubbed his arm and complained dissatisfiedly, "Jimin, can't you slow down!" My old bones can't stand your toss! Besides, what's the use of you just running here? Will you use this gun? ”

"Uh," Liu Fan touched his nose in embarrassment and said, "No!" ”

Rolling his eyes fiercely, Sun Yuanhua looked at Liu Fan with contempt and said, "Then you can't afford to open it?" ”

Knowing that he was at a loss, Liu Fan had no choice but to take a step back, get out of the way and return the flintlock pistol in his hand to Sun Yuanhua. After receiving the flintlock pistol, Sun Yuanhua handed it over to a personal soldier beside him and explained in detail the steps of using the flintlock pistol.

After the soldier understood, he walked to the target he had just set up with a flintlock pistol, and then skillfully bit the tail end of the fixed cartridge with his teeth, then poured the gunpowder in the cartridge into the powder pool, and then quickly took out the projectile from the cloth bag and put it into the barrel, pulled out the strip and poked it solid, and put it back into the strip. Aim, shoot. The whole action is done in one go. Liu Fan roughly estimated that it only took twenty or thirty seconds for this pro-soldier to start charging and shoot until he opened fire. This means that a well-trained soldier can shoot twice a minute with this new flintlock pistol. It is more than three times higher than the rate of fire of an arquebus that shoots two rounds in three minutes. (To be continued.) )