Kuhn, the governor of Batavia of the Dutch East India Company, stood on the Batavia training ground, his face full of surprise.
Gunsmith Basten was test-firing his new rifle. The skilled gunsmith made a flintlock rifle out of fine steel, and then shot it with the back-flanked conical bullets he learned from Li Zhi, at the training ground
It fired at a terrifying rate of three rounds per minute.
Flintlock guns are no longer a secret in this era. This type of gun has become very mature after more than a hundred years of development in Europe. Many European countries have equipped their armies in batches. As an experienced gunsmith, Basten naturally
Can also make flintlock bolts.
It's just that the cost of flintlock muskets is higher, and the steel requirements for springs are very high. Large-scale replacement of troops requires a lot of money. Moreover, officers in some units are accustomed to matchlocks and refuse to accept new things like flintlock muskets. So
In the process of popularization of flintlock guns, there have been some setbacks from time to time.
At this time, Europe was in its golden age, frantically massacring indigenous people and colonizing various continents around the world. The power of matchlock guns was enough to allow Westerners to bully indigenous people everywhere at will.
But in East Asia, the Dutch met Li Zhi. Li Zhi's new weapons beat the Dutch to the ground. On the battlefield in East Asia, the matchlock gun was undoubtedly an uncompetitive weapon. The Dutch knew that they must improve their weapons.
Only by constantly innovating can we compete with Li Zhi who rose up in Tianjin.
Gunsmith Basten was a skilled shooter. He fired ten bullets from a distance of 300 "ell", and the final result was that he hit eight of them.
The Governor of Batavia stood surrounded by officers, his face full of surprise.
I never thought that my small move of handing over Ming people's bullets to rifle gunsmiths could achieve such a significant result. Obtaining the secret of Ming people's rifles is a huge gain, and it can increase the firing rate of Dutch rifles to
Three shots a minute.
The rifle fires three rounds per minute, which is an incredible rate of fire.
At present, all the main battle weapons in Europe are muskets. Although rifles have a long range, their firing rate is one shot every three minutes. The enemy will rush forward after one shot. In actual combat, they are even inferior to muskets. If the Dutch could equip a large number of them, they would have one shot.
A three-shot rifle can directly increase the combat effectiveness of the Dutch army by a level.
This will give the Dutch an unparalleled advantage. The Spanish royal family, which is eyeing the Netherlands, will never dare to challenge the dignity of the Netherlands, an emerging low-lying country.
If this technology is used well, it will also give wings to the Dutch's global colonial enterprise. In the face of a rifle that can shoot three times a minute, the Indians in North America, the blacks in Africa, and the Malays in Indonesia will
How to shiver?
Even for Kuhn's Dutch East India Company, the leap brought about by this new weapon was qualitative.
The Dutch East India Company was a huge colonial commercial institution with a vast commercial and trading monopoly extending as far west as Persia, India and Ceylon, east to the Maluku Spice Islands, and north to China and Japan. In fact,
The headquarters of the Dutch East India Company was in Batavia, and Governor Kuhn of Batavia was the executive officer of the East India Company.
Over the years, the Dutch East India Company has not developed smoothly in the Far East. After the rise of Li Zhi, the Dutch lost Formosa, which is Taiwan. After losing their stronghold in Formosa, the Dutch never found a large amount of gains.
China's raw silk channels, which is a huge loss to the Far East's trade income.
The fundamental reason for losing to Li Zhi was because of Li Zhi's new rifle.
The Dutch originally thought that Li Zhi's new rifle was a highly complex new firearm. However, under the research of gunsmith Basten, they discovered that the secret of this new rifle turned out to be so simple.
With the same weapons as Li Zhi, the Dutch will no longer be at a disadvantage when facing Li Zhi again.
On the training ground, witnessing the magic of this new rifle, the Dutch officers in Batavia exclaimed in unison.
Because of the new rifle in Basten's hands, Kuhn felt that his authority as a new governor had been greatly enhanced.
"Send the new rifle back to the Netherlands so that all soldiers in the Dutch Federal Republic can use this new weapon." Kuhn said loudly: "Of course, the more pressing need is the needs of the Far East. If we want to challenge Li Zhi, we must have first-class weapons
weapons. Starting this month, all gunsmiths in Batavia began producing this new flintlock rifle."
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On December 28, in the Qinzhengyuan of Tianjin's Duke's Mansion, Li Zhi became dazed.
The New Year is coming soon, and it’s snowing heavily outside. The snow is piled on the roof of the Duke’s Palace, at least a foot thick, covering the entire building complex in white. This is a rare heavy snow.
, it’s been falling all day and it’s still falling, and the world is filled with white snowflakes.
The temperature was not very low when it snowed. The room in the Qinzhengyuan was equipped with a heater, which kept the room warm. In such an environment, Li Zhi felt that he was slacking off. He looked at the things on the table.
I want to finish these official documents quickly, and then go back to the backyard to amuse my little daughter.
The youngest daughter is one year old and cannot walk yet. She likes to crawl all over the room. This daughter has the same big eyes as Cui He and looks very cute. Li Zhi likes to hold her in his arms and teach her the most.
She said daddy.
Li Zhi smiled and sat back on the chair. Just as he was about to start processing the documents, he saw a guard running in in a panic. There was snow everywhere on the guard's head and shoulders. In a panic, he wiped away the accumulated snow.
There is no time for snow.
"My lord! Something happened, my lord!"
Li Zhi frowned and asked, "What are you so worried about?"
The guard raised his head, glanced at Li Zhi, and said, "A large factory building in Steel Town was crushed by snow, and the roof fell off."
Li Zhi was stunned and asked: "Did you kill someone?"
"More than thirty workers were killed and a steelmaking converter was also damaged!"
Li Zhi looked out the window, looking at the palace of the Duke of Guo, which stood motionless in the snow, and banged his hand on the table. Although the snow was heavy, it was far from enough to crush the roof of the building. Obviously, it was not enough to crush the roof of the building.
There is something wrong with the quality of this newly built factory. It is definitely because the builders cut corners and created a shoddy project.
In one fell swoop, more than thirty lives were lost.
Li Zhi felt that the organizational discipline he was proud of was being eroded by something.
Looking back, Li Zhi already had an angry look on his face: "Prepare your horse! Go and have a look!"
The bodyguards ran down and quickly pulled out Li Zhi's Tashifeng. Li Zhi put on his cloak and rode towards the east of Iron Town with twenty of his bodyguards Tashixue.
When we arrived in front of the collapsed factory building, the scene was already in chaos.
