Berlin, Prussia.

"Mr. Dresser, please go this way, His Majesty wants to see you."

Johann Nicolaus von Dreiser, the son of a locksmith. Between 1809 and 1814, Dresser experimented with several breech-loading guns at the Paris Gunworks, but without success.

After leaving the Paris Gunworks, Dreiser returned to his native Selmelda, and in 1814 set up his own factory to produce fire caps, and made a small fortune, but he never lost sight of his dream of developing breech guns.

In fact, in 1836, Dresser completed the design of the needle-shot breech gun, and the performance has surpassed that of the Hall rifle produced by the Americans.

His patent immediately caught the attention of the Prussian government, and the invention was acquired, leaving the needle-shot breech gun a secret and allowing Dreser to continue refining his invention.

Now Dreiser has finally broken through the key technologies of several breech guns, such as reducing gunpowder gas leakage. This meant the arrival of a new era, in which breech guns were not the dominant weapon, and it was indeed a great advantage for the Prussians to be the first to recognize this.

Soon the herald and Dreiser, came to a secret garden in the palace, which was more of a small training ground for shooting and a place for horses to gallop.

"Your Majesty, I have done what you wanted."

In fact, in the garden, in addition to Wilhelm IV, there are several high-ranking Junker officials, as well as Prussia's chief weapons designer, General Potsdam, are some old acquaintances, so Dreiser does not have too many scruples.

General Potsdam said with a very displeased expression.

"Mr. Dreiser, who else have you told about your invention?"

Dreiser, who was not an idiot, immediately heard the danger signal in the other party's tone and said hurriedly.

"General, I swear to God that I have never mentioned it to anyone unrelated."

Although General Potsdam was the lowest official and knightly person present except for Dreiser, a merchant, he was a very rigid Prussian soldier who did not smile and did his work seriously, giving people the impression of being tough and stern.

"So please get started."

His tone was cold and not tinged with emotion, and because of his responsibility, he felt more qualified than King William IV to announce the start of this test.

Although King Wilhelm IV of Prussia was essentially no different from his father, he was a very gentle man on the surface, and would not hold a general accountable for his own responsibility.

However, the others chose to ask the king for instructions first, and the latter nodded and signaled that they could begin.

Dreiser, who brought a total of 30 rifles of three types, took out the rifles and conducted a simple test, and then began to pull the bolt and reload to start the test shot to familiarize themselves with the feel.

After a steady stream of gunfire, the test-firing experts announced to everyone that it was ready to begin.

"Then please begin, gentlemen. We can't wait to see you guys perform. William IV laughed.

"Don't worry, Your Majesty. I recommend the A model, which has perfect firepower and range, and at the same time has a relatively reasonable price, which is suitable for equipping large armies. ”

Dreiser's flattery did not break the awkwardness, and the Junkers were more concerned about the weapon than its inventor.

As the first gunshot rang out, the continuous gunfire never stopped, obviously there were only thirty people, but a company was formed, no! It is the momentum of two companies.

All the Junkers in the room sat up straight, and although they were serious before, they only now realized the true potential of this rifle and why the War Office felt it could change the battlefield.

Even General Friedrich Graf von Wrangel, a veteran of the war against France, who was very reluctant to see new weapons and tactics, and was a supporter of Field Marshal Bruchchell, was in high spirits even though he had been dozing off.

"Oh my God! What's that, it can shoot at least 8-10 rounds per minute, and even the best soldiers under my command can't do that! ”

The old general said what was in everyone's minds, and at the same time they foresaw a future, a future in which Prussia punched Austria and kicked France.

At this point, even the best smoothbore gunners can fire up to three rounds in a minute, and at the same time they can't care about things like aiming.

The experimenters, who were new to the new rifles, had a rate of fire of up to 10 rounds per minute and could fire and reload continuously.

This was simply incredible for the military at that time, and some people may mention the Hall rifle of the Americans, but in fact the performance of this rifle was not tested by the war, and even because the performance was too unreliable, it was finally eliminated by the Americans themselves.

It is surprising that two rounds per minute are good for the average soldier on the battlefield, and that Dreiser's rifle can give a soldier five times as much firepower.

Of course, the surprise is not over, and the hit rate and power of this rifle have not been affected in any way, slightly lower than that of ordinary rifles, but it is possible that it was caused by the first use by the test shooter.

There are only two minor drawbacks, one is that the firing range is insufficient compared to rifled guns, and the other is that the old problem is air tightness.

However, the Dreiser's rifled guns have an advantage over the common Charleville and Brown Beth, and as for the problem of air tightness, it has been improved countless times compared to those previous smoothbore guns, which is no longer a major flaw.

Dreiser designed three different types of rifles, but in terms of performance, the performance of the three rifles was practically similar, so the Prussian government decisively chose the cheapest design solution, and Dreiser's talk of care and maintenance was neglected.

After that, some haggling ensued, and the price of the 1841 Dresser needle-fire rifle was set at 50 florins.

This price is nearly double the purchase price of the M1836 August rifle developed by the Austrian chief weapons designer, which is difficult for many high-ranking officials to accept.

"Oh! Damn it, we in Prussia have 200,000 troops, but it's ridiculous that we spend as much on rifles as Austria. ”

War Chancellor Gustav von Rauch could not sit still, for he knew very well that Prussia needed to be equipped not only with the 200,000 standing army, but also with a possible 450,000 reservists.

The cost was 32,500,000 florins, which was sky-high, and with the high maintenance price of this weapon, he began to understand why Dreiser's would recommend them a model A rifle with a relatively higher price but lower maintenance price.

"Dear Monsieur Rauch, the Austrian Empire has 420,000 standing troops, more than double ours. If Prussia wanted to gain an advantage in the future war with Austria, this great invention was necessary. ”

Hermann von Goyne, the future war secretary, said he was a typical hawk who advocated being tough both externally and internally.

(It advocates both resisting external humiliation and punishing national thieves internally.) ）

Wilhelm IV and other Prussian leaders believed that the new weapon was the future of Prussia, and naturally could not heed Rauch's concerns, and in fact he was forced to resign soon after.

(End of chapter)