Chapter 148: Tactical penetration in poverty, firepower coverage in wealth, and the basis for the concept of rear-loading guns
"This will also be your reliance for conquering the world and pacifying overseas in the future, right?"

Facing the proud Zhu Gang, Zhu Yuanzhang smiled meaningfully again.

"It's natural."

"Two hundred thousand Jin King Black Cavalry, equipped with the most advanced Divine Machine Battalion, are enough for me to conquer overseas and create an unprecedented foundation."

Zhu Gang nodded slightly and said.

"We've been waiting for this day."

Zhu Yuanzhang also smiled and patted Zhu Gang on the shoulder.

“You’ll see this day.”

Zhu Gang still said with great confidence.

"Then let us see today how advanced the firearms you have developed in Taiyuan are. And how terrifying this Shenjiying is."

Faced with the confidence of his eldest son, Zhu Yuanzhang's face was still full of smiles. He pointed at the soldiers of the Shenjiying and then spoke.

As for the soldiers of the Shenji Camp, they did not salute when they saw the emperor. Instead, they maintained a steady military posture, standing tall and motionless.

If this happened to any other general, Zhu Yuanzhang would definitely be suspicious, but the commander of this iron army was his most beloved eldest son.

Zhu Yuanzhang naturally wouldn't think too much about it.

Besides, the emperor of the Ming Dynasty would not compete for military power with his own son.

To put it bluntly, Zhu Yuanzhang still loved Zhu Gang from the bottom of his heart.

"Deng Zhen, form a battle array and practice martial arts."

Hearing this, Zhu Gang looked at Deng Zhen in the front without hesitation and spoke loudly.

"As ordered!"

In response, Deng Zhen turned his horse's head, looked at Zhu Gang, clasped his fists, and immediately swept out with the lance in his hand, and shouted loudly: "Line up, and perform martial arts!"

Following Deng Zhen's order, the soldiers of the Shenji Camp moved quickly and orderly, and adjusted their formation in an orderly manner.

In an instant, a hundred armored soldiers holding muskets stepped out and aimed their muskets at the target in the distance of the training ground.

"aim--"

Deng Zhen's voice echoed in the martial arts arena, and everyone held their breath.

Because this is Zhu Gang's iron rule, even if it is just a martial arts performance, he must show full momentum, as if the target ahead is the opponent of the Shenjiying and the enemy of the Ming Dynasty.

Moreover, the Taiyuan Military Region has always believed that soldiers should obey orders as their first duty, so even in daily training, if you want to avoid bloodshed, you have to sweat more.

This also created a situation in the Taiyuan Military Region where everyone from the generals to the soldiers and cooks possessed extremely high physical and military qualities.

"emission!"

At this time, Deng Zhen swung the lance in his hand again, and hundreds of rifles fired almost simultaneously. Flames gushed out, smoke was everywhere, and countless bullets poured out like a rainstorm. The target was instantly destroyed in the dense rain of bullets.

Then a moment later, another team of soldiers followed up, and the muskets in their hands burst out with powerful firepower again, repeating in sequence, as if they had constructed an insurmountable firepower defense.

"This improved rifle is surprisingly powerful!"

"The firepower is dense and not dispersed. In an instant, it is enough to reduce everything in sight to nothing."

"Also, after several rounds of continuous fire, this rifle didn't explode. What a great weapon! What a great weapon!"

As for Zhu Yuanzhang and Zhu Biao who were standing aside, they looked at the horrific firepower in front of them with shock, and then a hint of excitement flashed across their faces. They tightly held Zhu Gang's hands and almost shouted out loud.

The rifle has improved all the shortcomings of the past. It can not only achieve precise strikes, but also form a dense fire defense.

Therefore, no matter how fierce the enemy cavalry was, they would be completely wiped out by the Shenji Battalion equipped with the most advanced firearms.

Imagine being in a vast grassland, facing a terrifying lineup of 100,000 cavalrymen, while we only have 7,000 black-armored soldiers armed with infantry charges. The circular tactics are enough to resist the attack of these 100,000 cavalrymen.

What's more, the Shenji Camp was equipped not only with black-armored soldiers armed with muskets, but also with cavalry armed with hand muskets and five hundred Hongwu cannons.

Under such terrifying fire suppression, even if you have 200,000 or 300,000 cavalry, it is absolutely impossible to break through the fire defense line managed by God!

"I've said before that the firearms equipped by the Shenji Camp are all the most advanced firearms. They have been continuously improved. Even the projectiles are the result of Taiyuan's day and night research, and only then have they become as powerful as they are today."

"So, old man, as long as the soldiers of our Ming Dynasty can be equipped with improved firearms, they will surely be invincible in foreign wars."

"After all, there is an old saying that goes, when you are poor, you cross tactics; when you are rich, you suppress firepower."

"Future battles will no longer be battles of cold weapons, but of firearms, or hot weapons."

"Then as long as our Great Ming continues to improve and invent, the power of firearms will always lead the world, and our Great Ming can always stand at the highest point and look down on the world."

Zhu Gang looked at Zhu Yuanzhang's excited face and his hand that was sore from being held, but he didn't pay too much attention to it. Instead, he smiled softly.

It should be since the Song Dynasty that the birth of gunpowder has opened the era of hot weapons, although it was only in the early stages.

But this is enough to prove that cold weapons are about to fall into a trough and are heading towards their end.

Especially since the Ming and Qing Dynasties, the world's firearms have begun to reform and develop continuously, but due to the closed-door policy, the firearms in the Central Plains slowly came to an end.

It also became a weak country in the eyes of the powerful countries of later generations and was bullied but could do nothing about it.

As for those Manchu Tartars, they either ceded territory or paid compensation, and they could not even hold their heads up in front of the world powers.

So from now on, the Ming Dynasty must pay attention to the power of firearms and continue to innovate and create.

After all, foreigners are very smart. Aren’t we Chinese smart too?
They can invent various technologies bit by bit, including powerful firepower equipment, and the Central Plains can also invent these technologies, including powerful firepower equipment.

As long as the Central Plains is allowed to develop, in the future, no matter how many twists and turns the world goes through, no matter whether it can unify the world or not, the Central Plains dynasty will still be the most prosperous hegemonic power.

It is still the only hegemonic power.

That's enough!

As they were chatting and laughing, the horn of the cavalry charge sounded, and hundreds of cavalrymen galloped on their horses, crisscrossing the martial arts field. Their hand cannons fired repeatedly while they were galloping, and their power was no less than that of their rifles.

Because it is a hand cannon, which is too short, it is easy to operate. Although it cannot provide fire coverage, thousands of hand cannons can still cause considerable casualties to the enemy.

What’s more, they are versatile and flexible. They can enter or exit the battlefield in an instant. The enemy cannot stop them at all and can only watch the Black Knights reap their lives and then leave in style.

Caoyuan had a deep understanding of this. After all, they had fought many times, and these 2,000 cavalrymen with hand muskets alone had caused Caoyuan a lot of trouble.

"Can these pistols fire continuously?" Zhu Yuanzhang looked at the cavalrymen filling the martial arts field. The pistols in their hands were not only powerful but could also fire continuously. He was amazed.

"After being improved, the hand gun can indeed fire continuously in a short period of time."

"But Taiyuan is still researching this technology. Because it can be further developed, it is only the initial equipment. The existing rifles are also still under research, so that they can fire continuously."

In response to Zhu Yuanzhang's surprise, Zhu Gang still spoke without hesitation.

The hand cannon, also known as the crooked cannon, is a type of repeatedly-firing matchlock gun with a rotating crank. It can also be called a gun, but since there were still spears in this era, it is still called a gun instead. Otherwise, what if there is confusion?
This automatic matchlock gun can fire multiple bullets continuously in a short period of time.

This was also a relatively advanced firearm technology in ancient times. However, there is no way to know when this technology was born. It is only that the rapid-fire matchlock gun was used more frequently in the middle to late Ming Dynasty, especially during the Wanli Korean War.

"What a great hand cannon that can fire continuously! If it doesn't explode, if every cavalryman in the Ming Dynasty is equipped with one, they will be absolutely invincible on the battlefield."

Zhu Biao couldn't help but admire it.

"Don't worry, the current technology is very stable. Even among a hundred hand cannons, there will be less than three to five defective ones, and these defective ones can all be recycled and processed."

"So both performance and safety risks have been greatly improved, and there is no need to worry about the barrel exploding."

"Of course there are individual cases, but they are not serious. After all, as long as they are not large-scale, they can prove the stability of the hand cannon."

Zhu Gang nodded again.

But these are actually not what Zhu Gang wants most. As for what Taiyuan is still researching?
It is nothing more than the principle structure of breech-loading firearms and magazine feeding.

The purpose is that one day, the Ming Dynasty will be able to create rear-mounted firearms, no, it should be breech-loading firearms.

Although, this involves advanced knowledge in many fields such as materials science, mechanical engineering, and chemistry.

But Zhu Gang had certain knowledge and talents, as well as available resources, so he could start his research.

Although the Ming Dynasty had a certain foundation, such as gunpowder and early firearms, this was far from enough and it only had a prototype.

So Zhu Gang built a workshop in Taiyuan that could smelt and forge metals.

Because copper, iron or steel are the most basic materials.

This also belongs to metal processing.

As for chemical raw materials, the Ming Dynasty already had gunpowder, so it was not too difficult to use saltpeter, sulfur and charcoal.

But the next step is the difficulty, which is the tools and equipment, which need to be explored bit by bit.

There are also design drawings and prototype production, which are areas that the ancients have never touched upon. Therefore, Zhu Gang’s efforts alone are not enough to expand them. This requires time to settle.

As long as there is enough time and a general direction, you can explore and extend forward.

Of course, there are also key technical issues, namely the barrel seal, ammunition design, and mechanical structure.

Gun barrel sealing, research on how to make a tightly fitting gun barrel and bullet, may require the development of new materials or improved processing technology, so if you want to find alternatives or develop new materials, you need to work hard.

But hard work pays off, and Zhu Gang did find a substitute material, which is soft lead bullets.

Because in ancient times, the most direct and common way to achieve barrel sealing was to use soft lead bullets.

When the gunpowder explosion generates high pressure, the projectile made of soft lead will deform slightly and fill the gap between the projectile and the barrel, thus forming a seal, preventing the gunpowder gas from leaking prematurely and ensuring that the projectile obtains sufficient thrust.

This is a relatively simple and effective sealing method, which is widely used in ancient and modern firearms.

Therefore, this can only be regarded as a difficulty, but it cannot trap Zhu Gang.

Next is ammunition design. Designing bullets that can be loaded quickly may require the adoption of the concept of fixed ammunition.

What concept?
Fixed ammunition refers to the type of ammunition that packages the projectile (or shell), propellant (gunpowder) and primer (ignition device) in one unit.

This design allows the ammunition to be inserted into the gun barrel or cannon bore as a whole when loading, greatly simplifying the loading process and increasing the firing rate.

But whether it is the cartridge case, the projectile or the primer, it all requires great research before it can be made.

But the advantages are also obvious. With fast loading, the entire ammunition unit can be quickly loaded into the weapon, speeding up the shooting rate.

Easy to carry, fixed ammunition is easier to carry and store.

Improves safety and reduces errors and hazards during loading compared to separately loaded ammunition.

Let's put it this way, the concept of fixed ammunition first appeared in the 16th century, but it was not until the mid-19th century, with the advancement of industrial production, that fixed ammunition began to be widely used in military and civilian firearms.

Even in later generations, almost all modern firearms use fixed ammunition, from pistols, rifles to machine guns, and even some artillery systems.

But what period was the Ming Dynasty in?
Belongs to the mid-fourteenth to mid-seventeenth century.

Therefore, as long as one studies hard, it may be possible for him to appear in Ming Dynasty earlier according to the time difference.

There is also the mechanical mechanism, designing and manufacturing key mechanical components in the magazine feeding system, such as springs, push rods and magazines.

This is also a major difficulty, and it is not easy to overcome.

But there is still hope. As long as the Ming Dynasty can develop, these will not be a problem.

As for the many issues that follow, such as testing and optimization, it has become the simplest part. Because if it can't be manufactured, what's the point of testing and optimizing?
While I was thinking, the real finale was about to begin.

Dozens of Hongwu cannons were lined up in front, all aimed at the target area. The momentum was so magnificent that it was unforgettable!

Deng Zhen swung his lance again, and the rumbling sound almost shook the entire Yingtian Prefecture.

"Boom boom boom——"

Without any warning, artillery fire broke out. Amid the deafening roar, projectiles whizzed out, cutting through the sky, and eventually causing a series of earth-shaking explosions in the target area.

The shock wave swept dust and flames into the air, creating an extremely spectacular picture.

It is even more breathtaking.

At this moment, the entire martial arts arena seemed to be controlled by an invisible force. The power of firearms reached its peak. It was an indescribable shock and beauty.

Except for Zhu Gang who still had a calm expression, Zhu Yuanzhang and Zhu Biao were both stunned, their eyes filled with disbelief.

But this is not just hearsay, this is seeing it with one's own eyes. With such terrifying killing power, even with a million cavalrymen, they would not be able to contend with it, right?

In an instant, the powerful deterrent force of the Hongwu cannon spread out instantly. Even the Huaixi nobles and powerful generals of the Ming Dynasty who were not far from Zhu Yuanzhang flashed an indescribable look of horror.

(End of this chapter)