What is just surprising is that the Qianlong Emperor actually agreed to allow the embassy guards to conduct a fire and gun drill at a horse walking ground in Chengde Villa. Although the emperor himself will not come to watch, several important Manchu ministers such as He Shen and Fukangan, as well as princes and envoys from Siam and Burma will participate in this drill.

After getting the news, Magalny said to Wickham: "Captain Wickham, tomorrow's drill will be entrusted to you, you must be in the best condition." Wickham didn't care, he wasn't optimistic that the Qing government would pay for the smoothbore gun, but Margarny, the boss, insisted on doing it, and his subordinate just did it.

The next morning, a team of guards from Chengde Mountain Villa carried the large wooden box containing Beth's rifle to the British mission, including the matching paper shell ammunition. However, the two field guns were not delivered, and He Shen explained that the movement of the artillery was too big for fear of disturbing Qianlong and his old man.

Wickham shrugged his shoulders and said that it didn't matter, anyway, none of his subordinates knew how to play with artillery, and to operate these cannons, he had to go to the fleet and hire a few sailors, which was very troublesome.

The weapons of the Thirty-Man Guards were confiscated after entering the city of Beijing, and the eyes of the soldiers lit up when they saw the weapons, and they happily took their rifles and carefully maintained them.

Jones Smith looked enviously at his companion next to him, and asked Wickham in a curtled manner: "Sir, my arm is almost in good condition, and it is absolutely no problem to shoot, do you think I can participate in this drill?" In order to enhance his persuasive power, Smith also wheeled his arm hard, and the movements were a little funny.

It's not that Jones Smith likes the military, it's that Wickham has been urging him to read these days, which makes him a big old man who strikes iron a little unable to sit still, so he wants to take this opportunity to go out and have fun, and avoid the trouble of memorizing words.

Wickham was a little happy in his heart, but he still deliberately lowered his face: "Smith, you honestly stay in the courtyard for me to memorize the dictionary, don't go anywhere!" ”

Jones Smith's right arm shoulder blade could no longer withstand the recoil of the smoothbore gun, and this was also for his good. Jones Smith saw that Wickham looked firm and knew that this matter was non-negotiable, so he went back to memorize the dictionary with a bitter face.

After the thirty-man guard was formed, Wickham led this platoon of men and horses to the racecourse under the leadership of two low-ranking officers of the Qing army. In order to show his face in front of the Manchu Qing ministers, Magalni specially changed a new military uniform for the guards, and as soon as the neat and gorgeous red military uniform appeared, it attracted the frequent attention of the Qing officials in the villa.

Wickham also wore an officer uniform trimmed with gold trim, white gloves, and a command knife hanging from his waist, which looked very handsome and mighty with his tall figure. Wickham is very proud of this, he was just an ordinary-looking person in his previous life, but now he has such a handsome and straight body, and he is even more handsome in uniform.

The racecourse of Chengde Mountain Villa is very huge, the size of a dozen football fields, and can fully accommodate an army of five or six thousand people. When Wickham came here with his men, Lord Magalny had already been waiting there with He Shen and the others, accompanied by some people dressed in Southeast Asian costumes, presumably princes and envoys from small countries such as Siam and Burma.

Wickham drew his saber and walked in front of Magalny, stood still and gave a military salute, and shouted: "Your Excellency Lord Magalny, the troops have been assembled, please instruct!" This frightened those Manchu officials, and they didn't know what these Yingyi were doing.

Magalny nodded in satisfaction and replied, "Captain Wickham, please start the drill." ”

"Yes!" Wickham returned to the front of the group, raised his command knife and ordered, "March!" (Forward)"

The British army was lined up in groups of ten, in a total of three rows, and after hearing Wickham's order, this small line of formations slowly advanced. At this time, although there was no military band playing military music to adjust the pace, because of the small formation, the whole drill team walked quite neatly.

The target of the troops was a pre-placed scarecrow two hundred yards away, draped in three layers of heavy armor to test the penetration of the muskets.

When the British army advanced about thirty paces, Fukangan, an experienced military general, could no longer hold back on his face, and his face was full of horror: "I didn't expect your English soldiers to be so skilled in the matter of the array, and the array is still tightly organized after advancing dozens of steps, which can be called a strong army!" ”

According to Qi Jiguang's record in the training record, the Qi family army had to stop and queue after every ten steps during the battle, otherwise the military formation would fall into chaos. The British army did not mess up at all after advancing a distance of thirty paces, and the pace of each soldier was as precise as a clock, and it is conceivable how great the impact this had on the Manchu ministers.

This is the gap between the armies of the Middle Ages and the armies of modern times! The army in the era of cold weapons pays attention to individual bravery, while the modern army talks about teamwork, like a close-knit killing machine!

When he was only a hundred yards away from the target, Wickham suddenly raised his command knife and shouted, "Halt! The whole queue stopped, as if there was an invisible wall ahead.

"Portarms!" Wickham ordered, the ten rifles in the first row were raised to the ground, the muzzles of the black holes pointed straight at the target in front of them.

"Fire!"

With Wickham's order, the sound of gunfire like fried beans "snapped", and the smoke from the launch of black, fire, and powder rose up, and the battlefield was filled with smoke.

However, because of the distance, the power of this salvo was much smaller, and the buckshot only left a shallow mark on the scarecrow's armor, and none of them could penetrate it.

After the Pegasus sergeant retreated, Fukangan said to Ma Garni with a playful smile: "Lord Ma, the powerful fire and gun in your mouth are nothing more than that, if you meet my Eight Banners Iron Horse, you can break the formation with just one charge." I think that your army might as well replace its muskets with long spears when they go back, so that they can still block the onslaught of cavalry. ”

Magalny didn't want to drink the unpleasant trouble of the Manchu officials, so he didn't say it directly, but just smiled and motioned everyone to look down. In fact, in the era of smoothbore guns, it was impossible for infantry with the same number to fight against cavalry, because in the era when tanks were not yet powerful on the battlefield, cavalry was the most mobile and impactful type of troops.

However, the financial resources and energy spent on arming and training one cavalry can completely arm five or six infantry more, so three infantry to kill one cavalry is earned. Moreover, the infantry formed a hollow approach, with their bayonets on the periphery and continuous firepower on the inner perimeter, was enough to leave a profound lesson for the cavalry.

Wickham ordered the array to advance to a distance of seventy yards and shoot again, this time the effect was much better, the hit rate was at least forty percent or more, and the straw men were even staggered by the huge kinetic energy of the lead bullets, and the three layers of heavy armor had been pierced by one layer. By the time the array advanced to forty yards to shoot, the armor of the scarecrow in front of it had been completely shattered, and if it was a real samurai, it would have been dead no longer dead.

The smoke of gunpowder even shrouded the British array, which seemed hazy and unreal, the Manchu officials were already dumbfounded, the most elite troops of the Qing army were wearing three layers of heavy armor, such a defense still could not stop the fire and gun shooting, how terrifying should this power be!

Wickham didn't care what the expressions of the spectators were, he was frowning and pinching his nose, and the strong smell of gunsmoke made his throat itch. This is the virtue of the era of black, fire, and medicine, and not only will a large amount of medicine residue remain in the barrel of the gun, but also produce dense smoke, which will drastically reduce the visibility of the battlefield. This situation will not be improved until the large-scale application of maroon gunpowder and smokeless gunpowder.

After the demonstration, Wickham strode up to the crowd and shouted to Magalny, "Your Excellency, the drill is over, please instruct you." ”

Margarny replied, "Good work, Captain Wickham." ”

Then, Margarny turned his head to He Shen and said, "Lord He, the power of these muskets is okay, if your army is equipped with these weapons, the combat effectiveness will at least double several times." ”

Before He Shen could speak, Fu Kangan, who came back to his senses, said unhappily: "Although the power of this fire and spear salvo is huge, the time interval between each shot is too long, if it is against the cavalry, I am afraid that before the cavalry can be fired a second time, the cavalry will have already killed him, and then the fire and gun will not become a burning stick?" ”

In fact, Wickham still hopes that the Qing government can change its backward concept and equip a large number of guns and guns, so that the tragedy of the Opium War may be avoided: "My lord, this fire and spearmen are not without the power of a battle when they encounter the cavalry, and the hollow phalanx composed of hundreds of fire and spearmen armed with bayonets can completely block the charge of the cavalry." ”

Magalni also stood up at the right time and said, "Two adults, this is indeed the truth. At that time, tens of thousands of cavalry of the Indian princes also suffered heavy losses in the face of the attack on a dozen or so hollow phalanxes composed of thousands of infantry in our country. If your country needs it, we can call in 20,000 rifles at any time, and the price is naturally the most favorable. ”

Fu Kang'an's expression was already a little impatient, and he frowned and said, "How can the barbarian cavalry compare to my Eight Banners Iron Cavalry?" The fire and spear array you mentioned can stop the barbarian cavalry, but I'm afraid it can't stop the iron hooves of my Qing Dynasty! Besides, I am in the Heavenly Empire, and I can't make anything, so why buy from your country, Master Ma will not mention this matter again in the future. ”

Fukang Anrong Ma has long been accustomed to the inherent tactics all his life, and he is determined to make any military changes from the bottom of his heart. Moreover, firearms have always been a very taboo topic in the Qing Dynasty, and if he dared to propose the replacement of equipment in front of Emperor Qianlong, it would inevitably cause the emperor's dissatisfaction. So Fukangan didn't think about it, so he rejected Magalny's proposal, and his tone was very serious.

Seeing that He Shen and Fukangan looked disappreciative, Wickham's newly heated heart quickly cooled down again, the thinking of this Manchurian aristocrat is no longer something that can be described by arrogance, can it be that the humiliation suffered by the Chinese nation in the future cannot be avoided? Wickham felt a deep sense of powerlessness that the wheels of history did not turn however they wanted, as in the time travel novel.

Ma Garni finally knew the attitude of the high-ranking officials of the Qing Dynasty towards fire and guns, and realized that he could not do this business, so he put out the idea of sales. To his surprise, however, the little prince of Siam and the Burmese envoys were very interested in the British muskets and expressed their intention to purchase them from Magalny.

Siam and Burma had been in contact with Europeans since the 16th century, and had a deep understanding of the Europeans' naval gunnery. They bought a lot of muskets from the Dutch and Portuguese, and their performance on the battlefield was also very impressive. Now that the British mission is willing to sell the "Beth" rifle, the standard weapon of the British army, they are naturally willing to pay for it.

In particular, given the feud between Myanmar and Siam, both sides need to strengthen their respective military capabilities.

The British also had the intention of stumbling Burma and Siam to the death so that they could benefit from them. So Magalni smiled and agreed, and told the envoys of the two countries that they could go to Calcutta and talk to the Indian governor if they needed it.

The Burmese and Siamese envoys, having received assurances from Magalny, walked away satisfied.