Chapter 386: Gatling Cannon

"President, please go this way..."

At a military base outside Beijing, Liu Huixue, dressed in a white coat, led Yan Guang into a reinforced concrete building.

"Is this it?"

"That's right."

Liu Huixue nodded.

Although Liu Huixue may not be the top weapons expert in the country, as the former supervisor of the Sichuan Arsenal, Liu Huixue still soared after the establishment of the Guoshe Government.

Therefore, after the establishment of the Guoshe government, Liu Huixue became the manager of the most important military base in the country. In this most important military base in the country, not only did the Type 15 and Type 16 tanks test, but also used to be the test flight base for new monoplane metal aircraft and twin-engine and four-engine bombers.

It can be said that there is no military base in the whole country that is more important than here.

Of course, this is also because there are really no good scientific research experts in China, otherwise, Yan Guang would not mind being promoted like Cai Yi and Jiang Baili, instead of continuing to reuse Liu Huixue.

"Please..."

"Hmm..."

When Yan Guang and Liu Huixue entered the building, the researchers and soldiers who had already lined up in the building to welcome him were all looking at him with adoration. In the eyes of these admirers, Yan Guang's lazy posture and raunchy appearance are so unfathomable.

Of course, the news about Yan Guang's election to become the third president also reached this military base, after all, a completely closed military base does not mean that it has cut off relations with the outside world, and the news will spread faster in this kind of military base.

However, in this era when the idea of imperial power is still very marketable, and even many ordinary people and even military and political officials and gentry and celebrities hope that Yan Guang will ascend the throne and become emperor, it does not affect Yan Guang's prestige too much.

In the final analysis, although the Kuomintang is nominally a revolutionary party, in reality it is somewhat like a combination of Beiyang and the Kuomintang, that is, the product of a mixture of interest groups and revolutionary groups. This situation became even more pronounced after the end of the Northern Expedition and the annexation of many members of the former Beiyang government into the Kuomintang, which was another reason why the opposition within the party was not great.

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After walking through a passage, what appeared in front of Yan Guang and the others was a huge underground weapon testing field. In the corner of the test site, there are many new weapons sent here by major weapons factories for testing and experimentation, and even the latest semi-automatic rifle, which has just produced a prototype.

However, the most conspicuous thing is a Gatling multi-barrel rotary cannon with 6 barrels.

After walking to the side of the cannon, Yan Guang carefully stroked the Gatling cannon that was shining with metal in the light with his hand, and said to Liu Hui on the side.

"Is this it?"

"That's right."

Liu Huixue nodded.

"According to your wishes, the President, we have improved the Gatling cannon, and now in front of you is the finalized model..."

A machine gun is an automatic firearm with a gun carriage or gun mount that enables bursts of fire. The world's first machine gun was designed in 1851 by a Belgian engineer named Varder (who had been a captain under Napoleon). The gun was used in the Franco-Prussian War of 1870 and 1871.

And the general opinion is that the ancestor of modern machine guns is the Gatling multi-barreled machine gun. In 1862, by the American Richard? Jaydan? Gatling invented that this gun had several barrels that could be rotated. In the early days of the Civil War, the Gatling gun developed by Gatling could fire 250 times per minute.

At the end of the 19th century, it was an important weapon for European countries to control and expand their colonies, and the improved Gatling gun had a maximum rate of fire of 1,200 rounds per minute, a staggering figure in 1882. But it also has a problem, its biggest weakness is that the shooter can't control himself on the battlefield due to excitement and red-eyedness, and will go crazy and turn the handle faster and faster, causing the machine gun to jam or burst. …,

From the day of its birth, the working principle of the Gatling rotary machine gun has determined that it has the advantages of being able to fire in bursts and have strong firepower, but it also has disadvantages such as large weight and poor mobility. In the military field, as with many other inventions, the Gatling rotary machine gun was a "premature baby" —————— military thought was not ready for its birth.

In 1862 there was no tactical need for a rotary machine gun, because at that time the army did not know how to effectively use a machine gun as a cannon, and the rotary machine gun could not be impressive. The idea of using machine guns as a close-quarters support weapon in infantry attacks was not demonstrated by the U.S. Army until 1898.

Unfortunately, while Gatling and other genius inventors continued to solve technical problems and strive to perfect their own inventions, they unconsciously dug a grave for their own inventions —————— laid a solid foundation for the development of automatic weapons.

Beginning in 1884, automatic weapons were invented using automatic principles such as tube retreat, air conduction, free bolt and semi-free bolt type. Compared to these single-barreled automatic weapons, the advantages of the Gatling rotary machine gun no longer exist, but the disadvantages are even more obvious. For example, the Gatling machine gun is quite large compared with automatic machine guns such as Maxim, and the corresponding transport vehicle has limited capacity and is not convenient for maneuvering. When 1903 Richard? Jordan? By the end of Gatling's long life, the multi-barreled hand-cranked machine gun had largely disappeared.

However, these shortcomings of the past are no longer a problem now.

Too big? Not suitable for infantry use? It's okay, then don't use it for infantry.

At the end of the First World War, there was no doubt that the threat from the air to the ground forces was becoming more and more serious. In the face of the threat from the air, the only thing that the ground forces can use to defend themselves is anti-aircraft artillery or machine guns capable of firing anti-aircraft.

Of course, like the ground forces, the ships of the naval forces also face such problems.

Moreover, the threat faced by the Navy is even greater than that of the Army.

However, most of the machine guns of this period were only about 7 mm, so there was naturally no problem in dealing with infantry without protective measures, but it was somewhat powerless to deal with general armored targets and threats from the air.

It is also for this reason that new anti-aircraft weapons are constantly being developed.

For example, Germany once developed a 77-mm anti-aircraft gun, and the Nationalist government also developed a 30-mm machine gun for equipping ships.

It's just that the 30 mm caliber machine gun is still a little weak in terms of firepower after all...

It was at this time that Yan Guang turned his attention to Gatling in the United States...

The earliest hand-cranked Gatling guns did have the problem of being too large, but this problem was obviously not a problem for the Navy.

Not to mention anything else, the small boats of several hundred tons in later generations can still be equipped with 6-barreled Gatling guns, and it is impossible for giant ships of more than 10,000 tons in this era to be equipped with them, right?

Especially after using the electric motor as the power system, instead of the hand-cranked way in the past, the multi-barreled Gatling cannon has a qualitative transcendence over the general automatic machine gun, and this qualitative transcendence is enough to make people forget the shortcomings of the Gatling cannon in terms of size.

“…………… With a rate of fire of several thousand rounds, it's no problem to tear a target to shreds in an instant..."

Although the manually operated Gatling cannon is certainly not as good as the Phalanx, 730 or Russian Kashtan equipped with warships in later generations, the Gatling needs to intercept the target is not the anti-ship missile of later generations.

During this period, the air force's naval strikes were mainly carried out by dropping aerial bombs or torpedoes, which also made it necessary for enemy planes to fly above the warships or at very close range. To deal with this offensive method, the manually operated close defense gun is sufficient, and the high rate of fire of the close defense gun itself can also make up for the shortcomings of the lack of accuracy of the machine gun itself......,

"Not only to shred the target, but if equipped on a special towed vehicle, this new type of close defense gun can provide even ground forces with a certain degree of field air defense capabilities..."

"Ground forces ..."

Looking at the six 30mm barrels in front of him, the Gatling cannon with a total length of almost three meters, Yan Guang smiled bitterly.

"It's not easy to build a vehicle equipped with this cannon..."

That's right, at least not in the last few years.

Whether it is nearly three meters long in length, or six or seven tons in weight, it is not a small burden for the current towed vehicle, so it is better to use it as a special anti-aircraft gun for ships in a short period of time ...

However, in addition to the 30mm caliber Gatling cannon that Yan Guang personally requested, Liu Huixue and others are currently manufacturing 8mm caliber, 12.7mm caliber and 20mm caliber cannons.

In particular, the 12.7mm cannon, like the 30mm cannon, will be combined into the Navy's standard close defense equipment. At the same time, the three calibers of 8mm, 12.7mm and 20mm are smaller than the 30mm Gatling gun, and there is also the possibility of equipping army and even air force fighters...

"So, President, do you want to do a test launch now?"

Yan Guanglai was for this purpose, so he nodded after hearing Liu Huixue's words.

"Okay, let me see it with my own eyes..."

After getting Yan Guang's permission, Liu Huixue took Yan Guang and the others to the side of the shooting range, and then waited for the staff to equip the Gatling gun, which was originally used for display, to a special gun carriage.

Because the crew had already made preparations, the entire installation work took only more than ten minutes, and after more than ten minutes, the nearly three-meter-long, six-seven-ton six-barreled Gatling gun was ready to fire.

The target a kilometer away from the Gatling gun was a suspended Fokker that had been retired from the Wehrmacht Air Force but was still in service in other European countries—————— of course, the plane was hoisted after the fuel had been emptied.

"Fire!"

As Liu Huixue's voice echoed through the range, the staff member operating the cannon pulled the trigger, which served as the motor button.

The moment the crew pulled the trigger, the Gatling cannon spun slowly at first, but in less than a second, the speed of the cannon barrel was already spinning like a spinning top...

"Dada

In just a few seconds, I am afraid that nearly a thousand shells have been vented.

However, when the cannon made a "click" sound, Yan Guang also heard a sound like the barrel rotation of a chainsaw sawing wood.

As for that Fokker as a target? In the first seconds of cannon fire, it was already in pieces.

Although it is only the test results of the cannon itself, and if you want to go on the ship, you need to conduct another test on the ship, but the results in front of you are already very satisfactory to Yan Guang.

"Okay, you can continue the experiment, I'm looking forward to your results..."

"Thank you, President..."

Next, Liu Huixue also introduced a lot of information about the Gatling cannon to Yan Guang, such as the length of the cannon itself of more than two meters and seven tons, and the theoretical maximum rate of fire of 5,000 rounds per minute...

In the end, Yan Guang even sat on the test seat, pulled the trigger and experienced the power of a machine gun himself.

With Yan Guang's experience, the Fokker target aircraft in the base's inventory are also missing one again.

Liu Huixue and the others didn't care about wasting a target plane, because in the past, the base had conducted dozens of test launches, and several times even tested the ability of the cannon to face multiple targets at the same time, and in these dozens of tests, the base had not only obtained enough information, but also wasted more than 100 Fokker planes, so Liu Huixue and others did not feel a pity at all for wasting one more plane. …,

"It's really a good cannon..."

After operating it once and experiencing the thrill of destroying everything and shattering everything, Yan Guang gave high praise to this Gatling cannon that had just been finalized.

Although this cannon is not yet at the level of the later Phalanx, 730 or Kashtan, it is at least sufficient for this period.

Not to mention that there was still plenty of time before the Second World War to improve it...

"It's worth the trip..."

After jumping down from the cannon's seat, looking back at the Gatling cannon that was covered in metallic luster, Yan Guang nodded with satisfaction.

However, just as Yan Guang was about to test shoot a few semi-automatic rifle samples, Yue Chang suddenly ran into Yan Guang's ear and whispered a few words that made Yan Guang's expression change.

"What?"

——————————

1923 may have been a good year for Yan Guang.

Because in this year, the three oil fields discovered in the Middle East the previous year had brought nearly 100 million pounds of income to China, coupled with the more than 1,000 tons of gold that General Kolchak kindly sponsored to Yan Guang, so that the Nationalist government was extremely financially rich.

According to the latest data of the Ministry of Finance in 1922, in 1922 alone, the revenue of the Commune government had reached more than 3 billion silver dollars, second only to the 914 million pounds sterling in Britain and the 4.42 billion dollars in the United States.

This is more than twice as much as Japan's fiscal revenue in the same year.

Moreover, since the income from oil fields and gold is the additional income of the Nationalist Government, the finances of the Nationalist Government can no longer be described as generous, and Yan Guang's dream of motorized troops and mechanized troops can finally be realized.

At the same time, the 12-year free and compulsory education has also begun to spread to some smaller towns and villages, and according to the third five-year plan recently issued by the national government, in addition to catching up with the United States in industry, the most important thing is to extend free and compulsory education to all small and medium-sized cities in the country within five years.

When this goal is achieved, free and compulsory education will be extended to towns and rural areas.

It's just that after obtaining tens of millions of yuan in funds, although Zhang Lan, the Minister of Education, is full of confidence, Yan Guang, Xu Shichang and others are not as confident as Zhang Lan.

Not to mention anything else, even if the funds are enough, where can I find so many teachers?

Even if we arrange all high school students and college students across the country now, I'm afraid it won't be enough, right?

In Yan Guang's view, if you want to meet the compulsory education in small and medium-sized cities, I am afraid it will take ten or twenty years, as for the whole country or something...

"Wish I could live to that day..."

In addition to the financial aspect, Yan Guangguo was also very satisfied in other aspects.

For example, the addition of Secretary No. 5 and Secretary No. 6 has allowed Yan Guang to realize his wish to rest only on Sundays, as well as technological advances.

For example, Liu Huixue's latest Gatling cannon is one of the advances.

Yan Guang can be said to be extremely satisfied with the power of the 6-barreled 30mm Gatling gun, and the admirals of the Navy have also expressed their agreement after visiting it in person.

As for the generals of the army and the air force, they are not very interested in the 30mm caliber Gatling gun, after all, for them, the six- or seven-ton Gatling gun is too big.

On the contrary, the two calibers of 8mm and 12.7mm have aroused strong interest in the army and air force.

The former can be lifted even by a single soldier (unless you are the governor, of course, unless you are the governor), since soldiers can lift it, let alone install it on an off-road vehicle or truck, as for the latter...

The Air Force is thinking about how to install it for the Air Force's fighters.

In the case of a monoplane fighter, I am afraid that it will not be able to be installed in a short time, after all, when equipped with a single-barreled automatic machine gun, the monoplane can completely use a machine gun fire coordinator to avoid the problem of machine gun bullets hitting the blades.

But the Gatling gun had six barrels...

I really don't know how to coordinate this.

As for mounting to the wing? Although the 8mm and 12.7mm Gatling guns do not weigh six or seven tons like the 30mm Gatling guns, they are not something that the wings of a monoplane can easily withstand...

So far, the only more realistic solution is bombers.

The bomber itself also needs a certain amount of self-defense force, such as the tail or fuselage turret, etc., if the Gatling gun can be used as a guard weapon, it can undoubtedly enhance the survivability of the bomber.

"What a good year..."

However, in 1923, it was a dark year for the Kuomintang.

Because after the death of Huang Xing in 1916, another of their leaders died in 1923...

"Sun Yat-sen..."

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