Shen Lie thought of a novel he had read. In that novel, the author once described the entire process of the decisive battle of Salhu in the Ming and Qing Dynasties.
At that time, the Ming army, which used a large number of matchlocks in battle, had already formed a formation, but the reason for their defeat was exactly the same as the Spanish army in the Algerian War!
It was also because the wind was too strong, the gunpowder was damp, and the matchlocks could not be used. As a result, the matchlocks equipped in large quantities by the Ming army could not be fired, and they were defeated by the Qing cavalry.
And the whole problem obviously doesn't exist with flintlock guns.
At this moment, there was silence on the mass grave.
Shen Lie suppressed the thoughts in his mind and looked around. There was no village in front of this place, no shop in the back, and no homes within dozens of miles.
It's a good place to try out a gun.
Looking at this well-made flintlock musket, Shen Lie couldn't help but feel his heart pounding, and shouted in a low voice: "Light the torch and test the gun!"
Then Tian Hong took off a torch from his horse.
It's lit.
By the bright firelight, Shen Lie handed the gorgeous flintlock spear in his hand to Victor and asked him to try out the quality of the gun.
Shen Lie asked expectantly: "Will it work?"
Victor nodded, took the long musket, looked at the barrel of the gun expertly, then took out a gunpowder pot from the coffin, and skillfully played with a lead bullet.
Shen Lie and Tian Hong watched him intently from the side. They first skillfully put the lead bullet into their mouths, and then carefully poured a little into the gunpowder pool with a gunpowder pot.
Finally, I poured the gunpowder into the barrel, and then stabbed it a few times with a purge, but...
It seems that loading the gun was not going smoothly.
So Victor picked up a stone and gently knocked the bullet into the gun chamber. The entire loading process took about half a minute.
Shen Lie finally saw the whole process of loading a flintlock gun.
He actually felt that the reloading speed was pretty good. Considering the limitations of front-loading muskets in this era, the rate of fire of two rounds per minute was considered a reasonable level.
But at this time.
Tian Hong looked on and grinned.
There was a look of disdain on the big black face, which seemed to say, the famous Western musket fires at this speed?
With this loading time, you can shoot several arrows!
Tian Hong patted the hand crossbow hanging on his waist and whispered: "Isn't this just taking off your pants and farting...isn't it unnecessary?"
Shen Lie seemed to have read through his thoughts, but he didn't expose it and just smiled slightly.
After all, an epoch-making weapon like the musket was not accepted by the world as soon as it was created, and the tactic of queuing to kill was not born overnight.
Tian Hong's attitude was very similar to those horsemen who laughed at the locomotive when the train was just born, but this gun...
It represents the direction of development of the times!
As Victor finished loading, he respectfully said: "Okay."
Shen Lie took the gun and held it up. With his little knowledge of shooting, he aimed at a tree a hundred meters away...
He still understands that three o'clock makes a line.
Aimed.
Pull the trigger.
Following a sudden shock on Shen Lie's shoulder, a dull gunshot rang out from the mass grave at midnight, and a burst of smoke filled the air.
The explosion startled Tian Hong.
In the dense forest not far away, frightened birds flew in flocks.
Shen Lie himself was also shocked. He didn't expect the spear to make such a loud noise. The shock from the shot made him dizzy and made his eardrums hurt.
Shen Lie dug his ears in embarrassment and opened his mouth, while Tian Hong who was standing by was choked and coughed violently.
A gust of wind blew by.
The smoke cleared.
Shen Lie stretched his neck and looked at the intact tree. The tree was in good shape, with not even a scratch on its skin.
At this time, Shen Lie's face became a little confused, and he muttered in his heart, I obviously aimed very accurately, why did I miss the target?
It seems that the muskets of this era are indeed not very reliable.
Nothing accurate.
Shen Lie looked at Victor, then gave him the musket, and then said softly: "Come here."
Victor still looked so respectful, took the musket and hurriedly started loading again, this time the loading speed was obviously much faster.
Shen Lie silently calculated in his mind. This time, Victor only took twenty seconds to load the musket. It seemed that his hands were too hot.
Then the Swedish Guards officer, who was over 1.90 meters tall, raised his gun and aimed at the same tree in a standard shooting posture.
He took a quick aim and pulled the trigger.
After another dull musket blast, the bowl-sized poplar tree a hundred meters away suddenly fell down, and a burst of smoke filled the air.
The whole world seems to have stopped.
Victor patted the fine flintlock musket with satisfaction, and was so excited that he even spoke his native language, muttering in Swedish that others could not understand.
Tian Hong looked at the fallen poplar tree, his mouth wide open in surprise, his eyes as wide as bells, and he looked like he was extremely frightened.
Shen Lie was also a little dumbfounded, patted Victor on the shoulder and praised him a few words.
"Good marksmanship!"
Looking at this silly big guy from Northern Europe, Shen Lie narrowed his eyes with a smile. He was worthy of being an elite member of the Swedish Royal Guards. This marksmanship...
It's really a treasure found.
"Come!"
So Shen Lie began to practice marksmanship under Victor's guidance on this deserted graveyard in the middle of the night.
Victor was flattered and began to explain softly. He originally wanted to start with loading...
But what Shen Lie asked for advice first was the structure of this flintlock musket.
Seeing the curiosity on Shen Lie's face, Victor was slightly stunned. While explaining, he looked at Shen Lie's serious face from the corner of his eye, with a twinkle in his eye.
So one of them spoke and the other listened...
Shen Lie quickly understood the structure of this musket, quickly learned how to load it, and then carefully loaded the musket.
Tian Hong couldn't hold himself back any longer, so he snatched the musket away, and then started to take aim in a decent manner. This was also a quick temper.
With the blast of a musket, the gun flew to nowhere, and Tian Hong's shoulder was sore from the shock, and he grinned and cursed.
"It looks good but it doesn't work."
Tian Hong handed the musket to Shen Lie again and shook his head. He still felt that a bow or crossbow was easy to use. This thing was too cumbersome.
Shen Lie smiled slightly, said nothing, and continued to ask Victor for advice on firearms. On the mass grave in the wilderness, the sound of gunshots could be heard from time to time.
Time passed like this minute by minute.
It's midnight.
Tian Hong was already yawning profusely, but Shen Lie was still discussing with Victor the knowledge about the use of firearms, and the two were chatting animatedly about reloading muskets.
Under the light of the torch, Shen Lie played with the musket fondly, holding a blunderbuss in his other hand, and suddenly thought of something.
"you say."
Shen Lie looked at Victor's shining eyes and said softly: "If you use linen cloth dipped in grease to wrap the projectiles..."
Shen Lie made a few gestures and said softly: "By reducing the friction between the gun and the rifling, will the loading be faster?"
He didn't say the second half.
The advantage of this is that it not only speeds up the loading speed, but also acts as a breath-holding function, thereby improving the accuracy and increasing the range.
Victor was stunned for a moment and began to think seriously, feeling a little unsure: "Maybe... it's okay."
Apparently no one thought about this in this day and age.
Shen Lie smiled and would find out if he could give it a try sometime.
Victor nodded.
At this time, a wave of sleepiness hit him, and Shen Lie also yawned and waved his hand: "Let's go back."
Tian Hong had long been impatient with waiting. Hearing this, he hurried forward, and he and Shen Lie wrapped the long guns, short guns, and ammunition in sacks and put them on the horse.
At this time, there was a soft sound in the grass.