Last time, I mentioned that Zhu Youxiao and Zhu Youzhen watched Xu Guangqi train new recruits, and they were very interested in the new "firearms" among them, that is, "rifled guns" and "smoothbore guns."

"Haha, Xu Dashangshu, the 'rifled gun' you made up looks really good, why don't you test fire at a distant target?" Zhu Youxiao said.

"Hehe, the prince has a good look, I promise to satisfy you!" As soon as the words fell, Xu Guangqi took two red pennant flags from his subordinates, waved them up and down, left and right, and saw three rows of soldiers coming out with guns in turn, starting to shoot at the 600-step, 700-step, and 800-step targets in the distance.

After only a series of deafening sounds were heard, a burst of gunpowder smoke erupted in the front row, and at the moment when the front row squatted down and pulled the "bolt" to load the bullets, the muzzles of the guns raised in the hands of the soldiers in the second row continued to emit deafening sounds and clouds of pungent gunsmoke. At this time, the soldiers in the second row also crouched down to load the bullets like the soldiers in the first row, and let the soldiers in the third row raise the muzzle of their guns to continue firing, and after the fight, they crouched down to load the bullets.

When the soldiers in the third row crouched down and pulled the "bolt" to load the bullets, the soldiers in the first row stood up again and raised their guns to shoot, and the cycle continued. After the three platoons of soldiers took turns shooting three times in a row, Xu Guangqi waved two small red flags, ordered to stop shooting, and brought the target over.

Since the target is a human figure drawn from a three-inch thick wooden board inlaid side by side, and the shooting distance is written in black ink on the back, as long as you see whether there are holes in the target and how many holes, you can know the range and accuracy. There were 60 soldiers in three platoons, each of whom fired three shots, for a total of 180 shots.

The effective shots are all counted, because each of the ten targets in the first row was shot, with a total of 123 bullet holes, and all of them were pierced. Seven of the ten targets in the second row were hit, with a total of 34 bullet holes, all of which were also pierced. The third row of ten targets had 5 hits, a total of 13 bullet holes, 4 holes pierced, and 9 holes deeply embedded in them. According to preliminary statistics, the hit rate of the "rifled gun" within 800 steps can reach 90 percent, and the kill rate is close to 90 percent, which can be called terrifying!

After the statistical results came out, both Chongzhen Emperor Zhu Youzhen and his brother Zhu Youxiao were greatly surprised, after all, such a high lethality is unimaginable, unless it is the legendary Song Dynasty's "Divine Arm Crossbow", "Bed Crossbow" and "Furlong Machine" array can have this effect, and the crown armor "Shenji Battalion" firearms!

"Xu Aiqing's 'rifled gun' is really powerful, it can still cause such a lot of lethality within 800 steps, if you just said, if you extend the barrel by another foot, wouldn't the range reach 1,000 steps?" Emperor Chongzhen's face was full of excitement, thinking that in this way, he would be able to shoot the "Jurchen Iron Horseman" and the "Northern Yuan Barbarian" easily, and it would be completely possible to achieve the effect of "riding with steps".

"Hehe, the emperor has won the award." Xu Guangqi hurriedly bowed down and saluted: "If the barrel is lengthened by one foot, the body of the gun will be taller than a person, and the weight will increase, so I'm afraid it will be inconvenient to aim." However, if you let the soldiers in the back row put their muskets on the shoulders of the soldiers in the front row and aim and shoot, maybe it will work, hehe. ”

"Haha, since that's the case, let's try it." Emperor Chongzhen said with a smile: "However, I think that since the barrel of this elongated spear can reach six feet, it is better to add another spear head to the muzzle of the gun, which can also be used as a 'spear', in case the enemy cavalry rushes closer, it can also be used for white-knuckle combat!" ”

"Uh...... This one...... Haha, thank you for the emperor's reminder, the old minister will start to improve, please rest assured! Ha ha. Xu Guangqi's eyebrows danced.

In fact, firearms in the early Ming Dynasty can be divided into two categories. The first type is all kinds of "firearms" and "bird" and "wolf" that are placed by hand, which are small in shape and caliber, and are generally filled with lead bullets, iron bullets, black powder and other materials in iron cylinders, and their firing range is only a few dozen to 200 steps, which is a short-range portable firearm.

The second category is the artillery mounted on the mount to fire a large caliber and shape, and also includes some large firearms. Most of the iron cylinders are filled with stones, lead, iron and other substances, commonly known as "solid bullets", and a few are loaded with explosive balls, and the range is generally hundreds of steps to two or three miles away, mainly used for defending the fortress and attacking the city, and also used for field, water and naval battles. This is a gunpowder weapon that originated in the Song Dynasty, developed during the Yuan Dynasty, and continued to be used in the Ming Dynasty.

From the Qin and Han dynasties to the Song and Yuan dynasties, the technology of seagoing ship manufacturing became more and more advanced, especially in the Ming Dynasty. The ships of "Zheng He's voyage to the West" were equipped with these firearms. By the end of the Ming Dynasty, Zheng Chenggong, a famous anti-Qing general, led the navy to recover Taiwan, and used these weapons to attack the Dutch colonists.

At the end of the Ming Dynasty, in the "Battle of Ningyuan", Yuan Chonghuan, who became famous in World War I, also used two famous firearms when he attacked the Houjin army, one was the "Hongyi Cannon" and the other was the "Ten Thousand Enemies" bomb. The former was purchased by Xu Guangqi from Portuguese merchants in Macau, and the latter was produced locally.

The "Hongyi" in "Hongyi Cannon" refers to "Hongmaogui" and "Hongmaoyi". This cannon was first invented by the British, but the "Dutch merchant ships" as "sea coachmen" were the first to be equipped on a large scale. However, the "Hongyi Cannon" obtained by the Portuguese in Macao was a shipwreck cannon during the war between Britain and Spain.

This high-power artillery was introduced to China in the middle and late Ming Dynasty, and its prototype was a long cannon built by Europe in 1600 AD, the most prominent advantage is that it has a long range and is not easy to blow up. For heavy artillery, range is the most important part of measuring its performance, followed by safety.

According to the data of the same type of artillery in the West at that time, the effective firing range of the Hongyi cannons used in the "Battle of Ningyuan" was more than one mile, and the maximum firing range was less than three miles. Later, the "Hongyi Cannon" was continuously improved, so that the average effective firing range reached three miles, and the maximum firing range reached more than five miles.

Among them, the length of the cannon body of most Hongyi cannons is about one zhang, and the caliber is three or four inches, but the weight is more than 2,000 catties, and it is cast in iron.

The "10,000 enemies" is a large-scale explosive and incendiary weapon weighing about 80 pounds. According to the record of "Heavenly Creations", the appearance time of "ten thousand enemies" should be from the end of "Apocalypse" to the beginning of "Chongzhen". In order to carry it safely, this object is generally a "mud shell bomb" with a wooden frame, which can be regarded as an early "incendiary bomb".

The so-called "mud shell bomb" is to put black powder, stones, tiles, etc. into a clay pot, light the "fuse", and then use a trebuchet to throw it far away to injure the enemy. In addition, large clay pots, jars, and clay pots wrapped in cotton quilts or wrapped in straw are stuffed with black gunpowder, stones, lime, and tiles, and are called "ten thousand enemies".

It is also said that these firearms were hollow balls made of mud with small holes around them, which were dried and filled with gunpowder and mixed with toxic substances. When the enemy is attacking the city, light the fuse and throw it under the city, and the flames will shoot out in all directions and rotate continuously, scorching the enemy army, but it is far less powerful than exploding.

Because the "10,000 enemies" are simple to make and easy to use, they are very lethal. When these incendiary weapons were thrown down by the Ming army, the quilt stained with gunpowder burned violently, and the "10,000 enemies" incendiary canisters exploded violently and began to drift around, with very strong lethality, so that the Houjin army was repeatedly deflated!

The "Hongyi Cannon" and the "Ten Thousand Enemies" both had terrifying lethality in the "Battle of Ningyuan", and even the army led by Emperor Taiji of the Later Jin Khan also returned in an instant. In fact, in the early years of the Ming Dynasty, there were ten "firecrackers" for every 100 infantry people, and the Ming Dynasty attached great importance to the use of firearms at the beginning of the founding of the country.

According to the "Records of Taizu", Zhu Yuanzhang set up a "Ordnance Bureau" to produce "gunpowder weapons", referred to as "firearms", and stipulated that "all soldiers have 100 households, 10 guns, 20 swords, 30 bows and arrows, and 40 guns." At that time, in the infantry ranks of the Ming army, there were ten "musketeers" for every hundred people.

There are two kinds of large firecrackers in the Hongwu period, one is a large bowl-mouthed gun, which is short and thick, the barrel is bowl-shaped, and the medicine room is bulging, which is mostly used for projectiles before close combat, and the range is about 200 steps; The other is a large straight cylindrical firebolt, which has a straight barrel and a range of up to 500 paces.

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This story is pure fiction, if there are similarities, it is a coincidence! Friends, the part-time job is hard, the time is urgent, the creation is not easy, like the collection, by the way, forward, want to know the plot? Next time I break it down!