In the autumn of the 11th year of the Apocalypse, the bilateral trade between China and Mongolia reached the most lively time, at this time, the Mongols transported a large amount of wool and leather to the border trade points for trading.

At the same time, the Mongols also sold a large number of cattle, sheep, horses, and a small amount of livestock such as camels to the Ming Dynasty. After these goods were exchanged for the Apocalypse Treasure Banknote, they directly purchased various commodities of the Ming Dynasty.

Apocalypse banknotes have become the currency of bilateral trade settlement, only when the Mongols still have a trade balance will go to the bank to exchange for silver dollars and take away, but the trade between the Mongols and the Ming is basically a trade deficit, and the 'foreign exchange' exported by the Mongols to the Ming every year is used to buy a large number of goods.

Tea, porcelain, cotton, brocade, silk, sugar, and steel products are the most demanded commodities by the Mongols, especially after the Mongols have obtained a large supply of steel products, the productivity has also increased a lot, and the Mongols will even buy grain from the Ming Dynasty.

Because the Mongols found that they raised sheep and bought grain through trade, they were able to feed a larger population, and the grain of the Ming Dynasty was not very expensive, but the wool was sold very well. The trade between the Ming and Mongolia did not make too exaggerated profits on ordinary goods.

This made the Mongols welcome bilateral trade, and in this way, the Mongols' needs were met and they did not easily provoke war.

The real unbalanced trade is still the military equipment exported by the Ming Dynasty to Mongolia, the price is still relatively expensive, but the production cost has long been reduced.

In the autumn of this year, the Ming Dynasty sold another 30,000 sets of cavalry equipment, and the Mongols smiled and got these 30,000 sets of cavalry equipment, and Mongolia has armed 80,000 elite cavalry.

Lin Dan Khan's ambition has soared, and he has so many elite cavalry. Mongolia can sweep through the countries. However, Lin Dan Khan still has some fears about Daming, that is, Daming's firearms are too sharp.

The last defeat still caused a relatively large psychological shadow to Lin Dan Khan, and at this time, the Ming army was one million, and it was more difficult to attack the Ming Pass. Although Lin Dan Khan's ambition is inflated, his ambition for Daming is no longer so strong. If the two sides can continue to trade like this, it is also a good model.

But Lin Dan Khan's ambitions for the Central Asian steppes were inflated. Previously, because of the warning of the Ming Dynasty, Lin Dan Khan gave up occupying the Central Asian steppe, but at this time, the military power was further enhanced, and Lin Dan Khan also began to swell, and he coveted the Central Asian steppe.

The trade with the Ming Dynasty ensured Mongolia's food supply problem, so that Mongolia did not have to worry about starving to death due to the disaster. As a result, Mongolia's population began to grow, and Mongolia needed to expand outward.

After the end of the trade, Lin Dan Khan immediately made plans for expansion in the following spring.

"Next year we will occupy those areas of Central Asia that the Ming Kingdom has not yet occupied. If the Ming people don't agree, we will take a tough attitude and see who can't hold it first. Lin Dan Khan decided that with the strength of Mongolia now, the Ming Dynasty will have to pay a great price if it wants to conquer Mongolia, even if the Ming Dynasty has 100,000 elite cavalry, it is still much stronger than the strength of Mongolia.

Lin Dan Khan, this is the hope that Daming will cast a rat bogey. Moreover, the Ming Dynasty only occupied a small part of Central Asia, and most of it was not yet occupied. The Mongols did not need to enter into a direct military conflict with the Ming Dynasty.

Lin Dan Khan also hopes that through such a military operation, he can find out the bottom line of the Ming Dynasty. If the Ming Dynasty has a tough attitude, it is a big deal to take a step back and continue to accumulate strength.

However, what Lin Dan Khan didn't know was that the black technology that the Emperor Ming studied at this time already had an eyebrow.

After some efforts and continuous improvements, the military factory has produced a firearm that can use gunpowder gas to complete a series of actions such as unlocking, unshelling, feeding ammunition, and relocking. Automatic continuous firing of a single-barreled gun was achieved and the recoil of the gun was reduced.

The core principles and construction of the design have been overcome, and the specific design is still being improved.

In response to the problem of overheating of the barrel, Zhu Youxiao asked the researchers to install a water-cooled sleeve on the barrel, and at the same time, canvas chain bullets were also applied.

As a result, the first heavy machine gun similar to the 'Maxim heavy machine gun' was finally successfully introduced. However, in many details, it is still different from the Makqin heavy machine gun, but it is similar in the core structure. The design is not fully mature, and this machine gun can break down from time to time, but the general design is no problem.

The size of the bullet is 7.62mm.

This heavy machine gun, manufactured by a military factory, can fire not only smokeless powder bullets, but also black powder bullets. However, the difference in power is relatively large, and the only advantage is that the corrosion of the barrel of the black powder bullet is not so serious. The corrosion resistance of the barrel materials used in military factories is still relatively poor, and the life of guns has not been greatly improved.

And the cost of using heavy machine guns is also relatively high, to put it bluntly, too many bullets are consumed. The production of the new pointed bullet is still a hand-assembled technology, and the cartridge case is made of copper, a canvas machine gun bullet has a total of 350 rounds, a few clicks, less than a minute to shoot, large-scale use, the cost is indeed a bit high.

However, when the heavy machine gun was unveiled, it shocked the military top brass.

During the demonstration at the shooting range, the heavy machine gun manufactured by the military factory directly broke a large tree, firing more than 500 rounds of ammunition in one minute.

The theoretical rate of fire of this thing has reached more than 600 rounds, and it can be fired in bursts or bursts. The effective range has reached 1,000 meters, and the bullet still has a certain lethality at a distance of 1,500 meters. It can even be used as a cannon to warp enemies from a distance, thus dealing with enemies hiding in trenches.

Although the consumption of bullets is a bit large, Zhu Youxiao deeply understands the horror of this thing on the battlefield, especially against the army of this era, which is dominated by cold weapons, because the army of this era uses cold weapons, it must adopt a dense formation, and if the formation is not dense enough, it will be dispersed, and others will form a local advantage in tactics.

The arrival of heavy machine guns on the battlefield is slaughter.

A group of high-ranking military officials looked at the lethality of this heavy machine gun and were speechless on the spot. After the shock was half loud, they exchanged heads and ears.

"It's a big killer!" Mao Yuanyi, a staff officer of the Command, said with emotion, and Wang Yining, a staff officer who had just been transferred to the Supreme Command, nodded and said: "The lethality is so terrifying, as long as there are so many in front of the battle, the enemy army will not be able to rush up at all." ”

"Your Majesty. With the advent of this heavy machine gun, the way of warfare in the future will inevitably be different. Perhaps the imperial court officers and soldiers will be able to defeat the enemy without too many troops in the future. Sun Chengzong said to Zhu Youxiao after a long time.

"What Aiqing said is good, now that the technology of my Daming firearms is advancing rapidly, the mode of war in the future will inevitably change dramatically." Zhu Youxiao nodded. "I want to set up an experimental division from the Praetorian Guard to practice new tactics, what does Aiqing think?"

"Your Majesty." Sun Chengzong supported. Nowadays, military factories have made breakthroughs in gunpowder technology and new equipment has been continuously developed, and the tactics of the past are indeed inappropriate.

Immediately, the formation of the experimental division was incorporated into the military's work plan, and after watching the shooting demonstration at the shooting range, Zhu Youxiao named this heavy machine gun the Tianqi 11 heavy machine gun, and ordered the military factory to finalize the production while continuing to improve it.

On the other hand. The new rifle developed by the military factory also quickly came to fruition, and after some comparison, one of six different designs was selected for production.

The selected bolt rifle can be loaded with 5 rounds and has an effective range of more than 800 meters, although the soldier cannot aim that far at the target. But for the enemy in a dense formation, shooting at such a distance is also easy to kill the target. The rifle chosen did not have a large reload, and the bullet had to be pressed into the magazine, and there was no magazine design. But it's better to be reliable and stable.

The rifle, which was also named the Apocalypse 11, was included in the list of new equipment produced by the military factory.

However, at this time, the metallurgical technology of the Ming Dynasty was not too good. So the barrel is not very durable, and the life of the gun is relatively low, which is a relatively big problem.

One step ahead is already an artifact, and the emergence of heavy machine guns has allowed Daming to lead the world for more than two hundred years.

In such a situation, Zhu Youxiao does not feel very urgent for the next technological improvement. Just let the following do the research, you don't have to be involved in it.

Soon more than 10,000 people were drawn from the Praetorian Guard and an experimental division was formed.

This unit belongs to the second-generation new army organized and trained by Zhu Youxiao, and there are great differences between the current new army in terms of establishment and tactics.

The biggest difference is that the second generation of the new army no longer uses phalanx tactics. Zhu Youxiao 'frantically' put forward the tactics of trench warfare.

Trench + barbed wire + machine gun = insurmountable!

The basic equipment of the soldier was also changed to a Type 11 rifle, plus a bayonet, and a number of grenades. At the same time, it is equipped with a steel helmet and a sapper shovel.

In terms of military uniforms, there have also been changes.

The red military uniform was replaced by the green military uniform, making it easier for the soldiers to hide, and the red military uniform was too conspicuous on the battlefield.

One step in the reform is also the officer's uniform, which is no longer different from ordinary soldiers, but uses armbands to distinguish military ranks, so as to prevent officers from being accurately hit by enemy sharpshooters because they are too conspicuous on the battlefield.

At the same time, the soldiers were equipped with leather boots and belts, all of which were made of high-quality cowhide, and when the ammunition was exhausted, leather boots and belts could be used to satisfy hunger. And the soldiers who put on military boots also look heroic and handsome.

As for the steel helmet, it is dispensable, after all, there are no fragments in the artillery of this year, and they are mainly solid bullets. However, there are bows and arrows, stray arrows and the like in these years, and it is not completely useless to be equipped with steel helmets, anyway, Zhu Youxiao is a step in the reform in place, as for the promotion, whether to copy it, then it depends on the situation.

In the design of military uniforms, Zhu Youxiao copied a large number of German military uniforms, but in this era, this is original. Military uniforms are divided into summer clothes and winter clothes, winter clothes are windbreaker styles, and the styles are also very good-looking.

The style of this army is definitely not the immediate sense of this era.

At the same time, an experimental division of 10,000 people, each company is equipped with a heavy machine gun, and the establishment of three regiments in a division will have 27 heavy machine guns, and at the same time, a special machine gun battalion has been set up, equipped with 27 heavy machine guns, adding up to a total of 54 heavy machine guns.

This experimenter is absolutely insane, and does not give the enemy any chance on the battlefield at all. It's not just the luxurious equipment, but the most important thing is the trench tactics.

With the addition of barbed wire, it would have been not so difficult for the enemy to break through. But if it is equipped with crossfire formed by machine guns, it will be too perverted. The enemy wants to destroy the barbed wire, and it will have to pay a huge price. Moreover, in the era when the enemy's individual firepower was very scummy, a small number of enemy troops breaking through the barbed wire did not pose any threat at all, and what threat could an enemy soldier with flintlock pistols or bows and arrows pose if he climbed over the barbed wire?

The most frustrating thing is that Zhu Youxiao proposed the tactic of crossfire, the effect of machine guns alone will not be so terrifying, but the crossfire network on the battlefield against those densely formed enemies will definitely turn the battlefield into a slaughterhouse.

Such a new army is indeed relatively expensive in terms of armament costs, and the most expensive thing is that the consumption of bullets is relatively large, after all, the industry of the Ming Dynasty has just entered the era of steam engines, and the productivity is not particularly strong. And every soldier has a new rifle, and the ammunition consumed for training is not a small amount, and once it is expanded to the scale of the armed forces of more than one million people, the military expenditure on training alone will be a lot of money.

At the same time, an infantry division is equipped with 54 heavy machine guns, which is definitely a luxury configuration, and there is no financial burden on an experimental division, but if it is expanded, it will be a bit unbearable.

Zhu Youxiao, who planned to personally conquer Mongolia, devoted most of his energy to the formation and training of the second-generation new army. As long as the experimenters are trained, the next military reform will be easy.

Zhu Youxiao, who has a big killing weapon in his hand, can be described as extremely calm at this time. The threat of the Mongols was not taken into account at all. Zhu Youxiao, who was a little tired in the capital, began to actively prepare for the next royal expedition.

Zhu Youxiao wants to travel, after so many years, he has not traveled to Beijing once, and the last time he personally conquered Mongolia, he was still a little worried. Moreover, the internal situation was not stable at that time, and it was impossible to leave Beijing for too long.

Now that the northern provinces have completed their reforms, the internal situation has become relatively stable. At the same time, Zhu Youxiao also completed the centralization of power in the New Deal area, especially the military centralization.

After the stabilization of the north, it was impossible for the peasant army to appear again, and the southern provinces, although they had not yet been completed, did not pose much military threat.

At this stage, Zhu Youxiao's pressure is finally not so great. Therefore, Zhu Youxiao planned to travel comfortably to the grassland, and at the same time brush up his achievements and prestige, and compete with the former Qin Emperor and Han Wu. (To be continued.) )