There was little time, and the guards who had been sent ran back with a plank. The leading guard said that according to his inspection, the other planks were intact, except for a hole about a finger wide in the plank they had carried back. When Chai Rong and the others heard this, they stepped forward to take a look, and found that there was indeed a round hole in the middle of the plank, which was obviously caused by something penetrating.

At this time, under the instruction of Wang Kunjun, Zeng Zhilin put the flintlock pistol back in the box, stepped forward and said: "Bixia, that round hole is the hole that was pierced by the lead bullet shot by the flintlock pistol. If Bixia had sent someone to look closely, she should have been able to find the lead bullet within a certain distance behind the plank. ”

As he spoke, Zeng Zhilin briefly explained to Chai Rong and others the working principle of the flintlock pistol, as well as the role of black powder and lead bullet in the process of shooting. Of course, considering the other party's knowledge level and comprehension ability, Zeng Zhilin spoke very roughly, and did not use too many modern vocabulary and physical principles, but only let the other party roughly understand that the lead bullet flew out of the barrel under the impetus of the smoke produced when the black powder was burned. At the same time, Zeng Zhilin also gave a general introduction to the basic performance data of the flintlock pistol - the whole gun is about 6 feet 4 inches (Han ruler, equivalent to 1.5 meters); weighs ten and a half pounds (because this batch of flintlock pistols uses a new type of steel, it is lighter than the earliest model); The effective range is one hundred and fifty steps (two hundred and twenty meters, but considering the accuracy of shooting, it is better to shoot within sixty paces in the face of a small group of enemies); When using a standard charge, it can kill and wound soldiers with no armor or only leather armor within the effective range, and can kill and wound heavily armored soldiers and pierce an inch-thick plank within 100 steps.

Zeng Zhilin's statement was recognized by Chai Rong and others, although some more tests were needed in terms of range, but in terms of power, it was obvious that the flintlock pistol was stronger than an ordinary bow and crossbow. Unless a large crossbow machine is used, it is impossible for a normal crossbow to penetrate an inch-thick plank. The problem was that the large crossbow was far more complex and cumbersome than this flintlock pistol, and was far from maneuverable or flexible.

Of course, while Chai Rong and others saw the advantages of the flintlock pistol, they also discovered its disadvantages--the operation was more complex than that of ordinary bows and crossbows, and the firing speed was slower. Zeng Zhilin, who was in charge of the demonstration, should be very familiar with this weapon, but it would take him more than a dozen breaths to shoot a shot. In this way, even if the enemy is fired as soon as he enters the effective range, and the shooter is not disturbed by the enemy, he can shoot up to twice before the enemy gets close. In the same amount of time, a well-trained archer can shoot five, six, or even more than a dozen arrows.

In the opinion of Chai Rong and others, this weapon seems to be more suitable for punctual use. In this way, with the city wall as the backing, the shooter can calmly reload and shoot, and use the range and power advantage of the flintlock pistol to kill and injure the enemy. Therefore, after picking up a flintlock pistol and looking at it carefully for a while, Chai Rong said: "Although this flintlock pistol is good, the shooting process is too cumbersome, the shooting speed is too slow, and it is acceptable as a weapon for defending the city, but if it is used in field battles, the effect will be much worse." ”

"What Bixia said is very true," the minister surnamed Zhang echoed, "the minister thinks that this flintlock pistol is far less simple to use than a bow and crossbow, but I am afraid that the soldiers will have difficulty learning it." Moreover, even if a soldier can master it, when the enemy is advancing step by step, he may make mistakes due to nervousness, making his effectiveness ineffective. ”

Zhao Kuangyin pondered for a while, and asked: "Zeng Zhilin, Bixia and Master Zhang must have known these shortcomings of the flintlock pistol, I wonder if anyone has figured out a way to crack it when it is used in overseas island countries?" ”

The best way to solve the shortcomings of the flintlock pistol is to throw the broken gun aside and replace it with a breech-loading rifled gun. Moreover, in the hands of the guards who were waiting outside the palace at this time, the weapons section had made six rifles before the "delegation" set off, and Li Junwu had them bring four rifles and 200 rounds of ammunition in consideration of the safety of everyone -- and calling them in for a demonstration would definitely convince Chai Rong and the others, especially the stingy Zhang Daren.

However, Zeng Zhilin also thought in his heart that without the authorization of the committee, he could not disclose any information about the new rifle to Chai Rong and others. Therefore, to Zhao Kuangyin's question, Zeng Zhilin could only answer: "Back to Lord Zhao's words, the flintlock pistol is indeed deficient in the shooting speed compared to the bow and crossbow. However, on the one hand, this deficiency can be made up for by practicing diligently; On the other hand, overseas island nations have also developed an effective tactic called 'three-stage shooting' in response to this shortcoming. ”,

As he spoke, Zeng Zhilin explained the meaning of "three-stage shooting" to Chai Rong and others. Then, with the assistance of Xu Shaoan and Wang Feng, Chai Rong and others actually demonstrated the specific operation method of the "three-stage shooting".

When Zeng, Xu, and Wang achieved a basically uninterrupted shooting effect through skillful cooperation, Chai Rong and others finally saw the possibility of using flintlock pistols on the battlefield.

After Zeng Zhilin and the others finished their shooting demonstration, Zhao Kuangyin asked again: "How long does it take to achieve such proficiency as the three of you?" ”

Zeng Zhilin replied: "Back to Lord Zhao's words, from the time he got the gun to the level of proficiency just now, it only took about half a month for the villain and the starling Xu Shao'an. However, because the villain and the starling had been in contact with firearms when they were in overseas island countries, and they were responsible for leading the guards at home in Youzhou, they had a better understanding of the characteristics of flintlock pistols, and the usual practice time was relatively long, and they mastered the skills faster than ordinary people.

For a person like the twenty-seventh brother, who knew some about firearms and had never used it, it took about twenty days to master the operation of the flintlock pistol. If it were an ordinary soldier who had never touched this gun and knew nothing about firearms, judging from the experience of the villain in training the guards at home, it would probably take two to three months to reach the level just now. ”

Knowing that it would take two to three months for ordinary soldiers to reach the proficiency level of Zeng Zhilin and the others just now, Zhao Kuangyin's desire to suggest that Chai Rong equip the flintlock pistol with the forbidden army was even stronger. After all, compared to the fact that it takes at least two or three years to train an entry-level archer, the two or three months of training for a flintlock pistol is really not worth mentioning. Moreover, Zhao Kuangyin also saw another advantage of the flintlock pistol, that is, although the gun weighed ten and a half pounds, it would not take any effort to shoot it except to pick it up. In this way, an ordinary soldier only needs a little training, and he will not feel tired after shooting dozens or hundreds of times in a row. In contrast, an average archer will have a sore arm after firing a dozen arrows, and it will be difficult to maintain the continuity of the shot. Even the best shooters are rarely able to shoot more than 30 arrows in a row.

Therefore, Zhao Kuangyin immediately suggested to Chai Rong: "Bixia, the minister thinks that although the operation steps of this flintlock pistol are a little cumbersome, it is not difficult to learn. In addition, soldiers do not have to exert much effort when shooting, and can maintain long-term continuous combat, and with the 'three-stage shooting technique' that Zeng Zhilin just mentioned, its power is bound to exceed that of ordinary crossbowmen. Especially when defending the city, this advantage will be even more obvious. If the forbidden army is helped by this sharp weapon, although it is not like a tiger with wings, it will also be of great benefit. ”

Although Chai Rong didn't express his position immediately after hearing this, it could be seen from his expression that he was somewhat moved by Zhao Kuangyin's suggestion.

At this time, the minister surnamed Zhang next to him preemptively said: "Bixia, the minister thinks that although what Lord Zhao said has a certain truth, no one has ever seen this kind of weapon before, let alone used it in war, and its actual power in war remains to be tested." Moreover, it is not known whether this flintlock pistol was easy to make, and whether the armament workshops of the imperial court were able to make it. In addition, if Chen is not mistaken, the main parts of this gun are made of stainless steel, and it must cost no less to build such a flintlock pistol. Moreover, this gun also needs to be accompanied by lead bullet and black powder during drilling, which is probably a lot of money. If the cost is too high, the imperial court may not be able to support it. ”

Listening to the words of the minister surnamed Zhang, Chai Rong's already active mind became cautious again. Seeing this, Zeng Zhilin hurriedly stepped forward and replied: "Qi Qi Bixia, according to the brother who is responsible for making the flintlock pistol of the grass people, the structure of this gun is not complicated. Even without the guidance of someone familiar with the gun, a skilled blacksmith would be more than capable of crafting a flintlock pistol from the finished product with just a few attempts. As for the cost of construction, if only the materials used are calculated, it should not exceed fifteen.

Of course, the cost of this material mentioned by the grass people refers to the cost of making the barrel and other parts of the gun with stainless steel, if the imperial court builds, the steel can be replaced with mature iron, so that although the barrel has to be thickened, so that the weight of the flintlock pistol increases slightly, but the cost can be saved a lot.

As for black powder and buckshot, they don't cost much. The cost of black powder plus buckshot for each shot was no more than three cents. According to the training volume of the guards in the grass people's homes conducting live-fire training once a month and firing 20 times each time, the annual cost of each soldier is about 720 Wen. ”

Although the cost of the flintlock pistol given by Zeng Zhilin was not mixed with any water, and the annual training cost of the soldiers had been compressed to a certain extent on the basis of the team's own personal guards and the soldiers of the Flying Dragon Pioneer Battalion, reducing the number of shooting training times per year, but compared with the equipment and training costs of ordinary infantry at this time, it was still much higher. In addition, as the minister surnamed Zhang said, the flintlock pistol has never had actual combat experience in Middle-earth, and it is difficult to judge its actual combat effectiveness for a while. Therefore, although Chai Rong was very interested in the flintlock pistol, he still said that the matter still needed to be considered in the long run, and he would make a decision after discussing it with other ministers of the DPRK and China.

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