In 1872, the Imperial Navy was in the midst of the highest rate of development in history, with one battleship per year in service, and the armored cruisers that complemented the battleships also began to enter service.

This greatly improved the Imperial Navy's ability to fight a strategic decisive battle.

The most obvious reflection of the rapid development of the Imperial Navy was the reaction of the British.

Since 1870, the British have successively increased the strength of the East India Fleet, so that the East India Fleet has become the third largest sub-fleet in the British Royal Navy after the Home Fleet and the Mediterranean Fleet, with more than 10 large ironclad ships of more than 5,000 tons, two of which are 10,000-ton ironclad ships.

The rapid development of China's naval strength has, to a certain extent, also affected the development of the world's navy, especially the development of the British navy.

Historically, during the period from 1870 to 1880, the British were opposed by the domestic cabinet and other factors, and the development of the British Royal Navy was reduced to the lowest level in history, not to mention maintaining the service rate of three or four large ironclad ships a year, and in some years there was even none.

However, now, although the British were inertia by history and inevitably reduced the speed of naval development, they were much higher than the same period in history, building a number of warships that were not originally in history, and these extra warships were basically used to fill the East India Fleet.

But on the other hand, because of the stimulation of the Chinese Empire, the strength of the British Royal Navy in the seventies was even stronger than in history!

The strength of the British Royal Navy has become more powerful, which has also stimulated other countries around the world, such as the old rivals of the British Navy, the French and the Russians. In addition, Italy, Austria-Hungary and even Ottoman Turkey were forced to increase naval investment in order to maintain that the disadvantage at sea would not expand to an unacceptable level.

The Rise of the Chinese Empire. The impact on the world is no longer a butterfly fanning its wings, but like a storm. The original historical trajectory has been completely washed away.

At a time when the Royal Navy of the Chinese Empire was developing steadily and rapidly, the Imperial Army did not stop the pace of development.

After the glory of the early sixties, the Imperial Royal Army did not rest on its laurels, and in the mid-sixties began to massively replace the 1864 Linde rifle with metal bullets, and at the same time, the new military establishment reform vigorously promoted by Lin Zhe was also implemented.

The system of one division, two brigades and four regiments has become the latest standard establishment of the Imperial Royal Army, and the reform of the establishment of the Imperial Army has also greatly affected the development of the world's armies.

Although the international influence of the Chinese empire is still third-rate, it is at most a little stronger than that of the United States. However, its military reform has always attracted widespread international attention.

When the 1864 rifle entered service, it directly prompted countries around the world to develop and serve metal breech-loading rifles on a large scale, and Prussia entered large-scale service with the Mauser 1871 rifle a year earlier than in history.

The rifle had several important features that were very similar to the Linde 1864 rifle, first the metal bullets and then the 11 mm caliber.

In addition to the Germans, the British were also in service with metal bullet breech-loading rifles almost a year earlier than in history, namely the Martini-Henry MKI. rifle.

The Russians, having suffered losses from the Linde 1864 rifle in Central Asia and Siberia in the sixties, also entered service with the Berdan rifle.

In the field of rear-loading rifles alone, the Imperial Army has led the world trend for two consecutive times.

However, the Imperial Army was naturally not satisfied with the Linde 1864 rifle, and the Imperial Army noticed the dense rate of fire of the Winchester M1866 repeating rifle. It is to begin the development of repeating rifles, and a variety of detailed design schemes have been proposed and tested.

When the army's report on the repeating rifle was presented to Lin Zhe, Lin Zhe was very interested.

Even if he is not a military enthusiast, Lin Zhe also knows that the rifles of this later generation have magazines. Now it is time to see that the military is working on this repeating rifle and say that there are already a variety of samples ready for testing.

Lin Zhe's reaction was unexpected by the military, and Lin Zhe said that he would personally participate in the test of the candidate rifle.

This kind of thing is a rare time for the Army. The last time Lin Zhe participated in the army's ordnance activities, it was last year's finalized service ceremony for rear-loading artillery.

Affected by the Franco-Prussian War. In 1871, the Imperial Army also followed the trend of the world and began mass service of steel breech-loading rifled guns.

Among them, the 75-mm steel rear-loading field gun developed by the Huguang Weapons Company received an order from the military. It was used as the army's first standard rear-loading field gun, and was finalized as the '14-year 75mm field gun'.

The cannon is also referred to as the 14-year-old field gun, with a caliber of 75 millimeters, a barrel length of 23 times the caliber, a weight of 850 kilograms, a projectile weight of 4.6 kilograms, a muzzle velocity of 460 meters per second, and a maximum effective firing range of 6,000 meters.

This performance is much higher than the minimum requirements put forward by the military, which initially required that the minimum weight should not exceed 900 kilograms, and the firing range must reach 5,500 meters. However, the design of Huguang Weapons Company has greatly improved this data.

With a weight of 850 kilograms, plus a range of 6,000 meters, its weight is not only capable of normal maneuvering in the case of mules and horses, but its range of 6,000 meters is enough to compare those field guns of more than 80 millimeters or even 90 millimeters.

These performance advantages also allowed the Huguang Weapons Company to surpass the domestic ordnance industry boss Royal Arms Company and the Northern Weapons Company in one fell swoop, and directly determined the military's main field artillery order, and there was not even any suspense in the entire bidding process.

When this gun was in service, Lin Zhe watched the test firing at the shooting range outside Nanjing.

The performance of this gun is in no way inferior to the best rear-loading field guns in the world, and it will not lag behind in the seventies.

When he first watched the test firing, Lin Zhe also watched several other types of artillery in service with the military during the same period, including for the Imperial Army. No less important than a light howitzer of a divisional field artillery. It is commonly known as 'mountain artillery' among many people in the army.

The empire is first and foremost a vast territory, and its intended area of operations is covered by a variety of terrains. In most of the southwestern regions of the country and Southeast Asia, the terrain is complex, and it is difficult to use heavy artillery. As a result, the Empire had a huge demand for some lightweight artillery.

It was the Northern Arms Company that won the order for mountain artillery from the artillery regiment of the military division, and they designed the '14-year 75-mm light howitzer', referred to as the 14-year mountain gun.

The weight of the gun is 75 millimeters, the length of the barrel is 11 times the caliber, its weight is only 250 kilograms, the weight of the projectile is relatively light, only 3.5 kilograms, the muzzle velocity of the gun is 250 meters per second, the range of fire up and down is negative octave, plus 30 degrees, and the maximum effective firing range is 3,300 meters.

Its weight is almost the limit that the army can accept. However, the weight and range of the projectile are somewhat higher than those required by the army, and the weight of the projectile represents the power of the explosion, not to mention the importance of the range.

And the biggest feature of this artillery is not the above data, but that this gun can be quickly disassembled, and when necessary, it can be quickly disassembled into multiple parts, and can be transported by mules and horses or simply by manpower for maneuvering in complex terrain.

This also means that even in mountainous areas, troops can be quickly supported by 75 mm guns.

This was very important for the Imperial Army, which was scheduled to operate in a large number of complex terrains.

In addition to the field and mountain artillery of these two divisional artillery regiments. The Imperial Army is also ready to enter service with other rear-loading guns, after all, it is impossible for the army to only have divisional artillery, and other artillery also needs it.

For example, in order to supplement the shortage of divisional artillery regiments, the support firepower of units below the infantry regiment level was strengthened. Instead of the previous four-pounder infantry gun, the Army is also preparing to develop and equip a light howitzer with a caliber of 60 mm to 70 mm, which is expected to be lighter. It's simple enough to allow units like infantry regiments to carry artillery directly for mobility.

Then in addition to divisional artillery, the Imperial Army had a large number of separate artillery units. These independent artillery units are generally reinforced to the corps level, or used in offensive operations. As a result, artillery will be equipped with a larger caliber, longer range and greater power.

For example, the Imperial Army is more interested in the heavy field guns of the two classes of 90 mm to 100 mm and 120 mm, and in addition to the six-inch class, that is, about 150 mm heavy field guns and howitzers, there are predetermined research and development and equipment plans.

And there were also larger caliber artillery, such as 200 mm or even 280 mm howitzers or mortars, and the Imperial Army did not relax.

However, it will take some time for these guns to be developed and put into service, and the Imperial Army does not have much urgency about these guns, so the attention received is far less than that of divisional artillery.

Lin Zhe, the emperor of the empire, although he often pays attention to the progress of the military's artillery, but like most people, he is still concerned about the huge number of divisional artillery, so he will participate in the test firing ceremony of the 14-year-old field artillery.

Now, when the army learned that Lin Zhe was coming to watch the test of the new repeating rifle, the army paid close attention.

It is normal for Lin Zhe to be so concerned, and in the contemporary army's wars, in addition to those logistics and war funds, there are only three things that are directly reflected in the combat troops, namely artillery shells, bullets, and bayonets.

Needless to say, the artillery represented by the shells was like a dog by Prussia in the Franco-Prussian War, because the Germans' steel breech-loading guns had too much advantage.

Bullets and bayonets, on the other hand, are the absolute basis of the infantry, and the rifle is the dominant weapon of war before new weapons such as tanks and machine guns dominate the battlefield.

Dense bullets and bayonets during the charge are the key to winning or losing a battle, and these are reflected in a rifle.

Therefore, the selection and service of new rifles are the most concerned matters of all countries, and Lin Zhe naturally cannot ignore them.

Moreover, since the Linde 1864 rifle, the empire has not had a new rifle in service for nearly eight or nine years, which is a very long time for the middle and late nineteenth century, although the manufacturers in this middle period have improved the 1864 rifle, and several new models of guns have appeared, such as the cavalry rifle used by the cavalry, and the naval model used by the navy, but these improvements have not fundamentally changed.

Now that the army is carrying out the final test and selection of the new rifle, Lin Zhe is naturally focusing on it. (To be continued.) )