During the Yongle period, the land here was low and the water was clear. The palace sent troops to plant large areas of indigo, mountain indigo and woad. After the grass emerged, it went through a series of production and fermentation, turning it into a dark green-black color, which is called indigo.
Now, this place has become the headquarters of Artillery Town.
After the rumble of cannons, the royal chariot entered the camp. All the military attachés in the town, all in official uniform, knelt down in front of the red carpet and performed the royal ceremony of kneeling three times and kowtowing nine times: "My ministers, I respectfully wish your Majesty's peace, long live long live, long live long live.
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"I'm in peace." Because he was officially here to inspect the cannon, the emperor was wearing full court uniform, and a young eunuch followed slowly behind him, holding his middle knot. "Everyone, get up."
"Thank you, Your Majesty."
"How big is the area here?"
"In reply to Your Majesty, Artillery Town is ten miles long from north to south and five miles wide from east to west."
"It's not very big." The emperor turned around and said, "Is it possible to test the cannon here?"
The person on the side who answered him was Chen Dong, the commander-in-chief of Artillery Town.
He was a member of the emperor's personal army. He spent most of his time guarding the emperor before the Northern Expedition, and then he was gradually released to perform meritorious service.
Although the title is only earl, in terms of distance of relationship, it is even comparable to those of dukes.
Naturally, there were previous rules for the training of infantry and cavalry. The emperor could only check for deficiencies and make up for them and let them operate on their own.
The artillerymen are different, they are completely handled in a way that combines Chinese and Western methods.
For example, ask Western missionaries to teach.
Because artillerymen learn many things, such as orbital parabolas, elevation angles, mathematics, etc.
In this way, the training efficiency of artillery is extremely high. In one or two years, you can get a qualified artilleryman who can fight wherever you want.
In order to hire the Portuguese artillery at the end of the Ming Dynasty, the Ming court spent a lot of effort. Otherwise, there would only be red artillery, but its use would be a problem.
Kong Youde and three others took the Denglai Firearms Battalion to the Manchu Qing Dynasty. They not only had a large number of cannon craftsmen, but also advanced artillery. This is the origin of the title of King Sanshun.
Now, after a series of sorting and summarization, and due to the literacy rate in the military school, the literacy rate has greatly increased, and the artillery book - "Artillery Criteria" was born.
The reason why is explained, explanations of forty-four diagrams are listed, and mathematical geometry and other arithmetic are added, which greatly improves the training time of artillery.
This time, not only the Fifth Army Commander's Office, but also the embassy was notified to observe the artillery.
Let's go to the martial arts arena." The emperor waved his hand and walked ahead: "We will see how powerful the British artillery is before we make a decision."
"Rong Chen will lead the way for your Majesty." Chen Dong hurriedly walked in front, his face full of seriousness.
The group of people led the emperor to the artillery field not far from the turn of the street, like stars holding the moon in front of them. The place had already been prepared. The martial arts arena was on a dragon platform with a height of three feet and six feet. Dragon flags were flying, and there was a canopy in the middle.
Huang Mei, a throne was placed inside.
In the open space not far from the martial arts arena, there are several black iron objects, short and squatting on the ground like several iron lions.
It had been wiped beforehand, and the barrel was tied with red silk, which looked mighty and majestic. There were several wooden boxes beside the cannon, which contained cannonballs. Soldiers in uniforms knelt on the ground.
The emperor walked over to inspect it in person. He didn't understand it very well, but Chen Dong stepped forward and explained to him:
"Your Majesty, this is a rifled cannon. It can fire the four-pound shells that Xiyi said, which means it can shoot a range of 800 to 1,000 steps."
Its gun body is made of iron-core copper, about 2.2 meters long, the barrel caliber is about 110 mm, and it weighs about 400 kilograms. It is a light cannon and is usually mounted on a two-wheeled gun carriage.
There are "stars" and "buckets" directly above the muzzle and bottom for aiming.
The two large wheels were about one meter in diameter and were wrapped in iron sheets, making them look ferocious and indifferent.
This kind of light artillery was specially studied for grassland field operations in the southwest and northwest regions.
Without him, the bulky red-coat artillery weighed two to three thousand kilograms, and it was pulled by more than ten mules and horses. It was not suitable for field battles at all.
Since the Folan cannon was not powerful enough, the Ordnance Department naturally began to study a smaller version of the red-coated artillery to adapt to the field battles of large armies.
It had to have the portability of the French cannon and the power of the red artillery, which was a difficult task for the craftsmen.
However, China has had no shortage of smart craftsmen since ancient times, and soon someone developed a rifled gun and put it into use.
Then the weight was reduced step by step and the power was increased to achieve this artillery.
Here, the artillerymen opened the ammunition magazines.
The emperor walked over and took a look. The cannonballs were still the same style as today, pure solid bullets.
There is even a mold on the side. If you run out of cannonballs in the field, you can make them on the spot with stones, which is very convenient.
"Your Majesty, look, this is shotgun——"
Chen Dong shouted quickly, and Zhu Yixi took three steps and two steps away.
Shotgun shells are different from solid bullets. They are more like half-cut olives and no longer round. There are many things wrapped in iron sheets. The main purpose is to achieve greater lethality.
Solid bullets are more suitable for densely arrayed armies and siege battles, while shotgun shells pursue lethality and cover more places in a larger range, thereby creating victory.
For example, in the northwest region, in such a vast place, the cavalry are scattered all over the place, and solid bullets cannot be used as a deterrent. Only shotgun shells are powerful.
During the battles in Gansu, Suiyuan, and Liaodong, troops often reported this situation.
The deterrence of the Ming court was only within the range of artillery.
Once there is no gunpowder, muskets and artillery become just decorations.
In the vast Northeast, the pressure on logistical supplies is extremely heavy, which limits the rampage of the Japanese army. Therefore, the need for a lighter artillery with less logistical pressure has become the main demand of the army.
As for the range, it is not as tightly controlled as a siege. It is enough to radiate the entire battlefield.
As a result, after one and a half years of research, this light artillery went through several experiments and was presented to the emperor.
It weighs four hundred pounds and has a range of eight hundred steps. It only needs a mule to pull it around. When necessary, a few soldiers can push the cannon. It is very suitable for hilly and mountainous areas.
Not to mention, it is quite suitable to carry it for thousands of miles.
The civil and military personnel who followed took a tentative look, but because they did not understand the situation, they could only shake their heads in admiration.
The Western ambassadors were amazed.
Even in Europe, this is a leading artillery piece and quite advanced.
After walking around in a circle, everyone gathered around the emperor and took his seat among the yellow awnings on the stage of the martial arts arena.
The emperor sat in the middle, took the monocular telescope handed over by Chen Dong, put it to his eyes and looked out: "How far is the target from here?"
On the hillside in front of him, there was a temporary wooden village, small and exquisite, with flags hanging, which was very conspicuous.
"About five hundred steps, just within range." Chen Dong said softly.