When he first made the matchlock gun, Li Xuan's design included a bayonet. However, because there were only three craftsmen in Huangzhushan at that time, manpower was tight and there was no extra manpower to make a bayonet of good quality, so he could only
I took a step back and just got a plug-in bayonet.
However, the number of craftsmen in the Tang Dynasty has increased by more than ten times in an instant, from three to nearly forty. Sufficient manpower has also given the Tang Dynasty more choices in building weapons.
Replacing the plug-in bayonet with a sleeve-type bayonet is the choice in this case. Although the sleeve-type bayonet does not look special, the requirements for materials are much higher than the plug-in bayonet with a simple spearhead style.
.
Because when a sleeve-type bayonet is used for fighting, the reaction force received after the bayonet stabs the enemy will be transmitted to the crank arm and sleeve. The strength requirements of the sleeve and crank arm are quite high, and the quality requirements are high.
This also requires craftsmen to spend more time creating it.
In other words, working hours will increase significantly, and the concept of working hours is almost the most important concept for the military industry, especially the military industry during war...
Because the working hours are directly related to the amount of output, the German Tiger tanks of later generations were powerful enough, but why they were defeated miserably by the T34 and Sherman was because although the performance of the latter two was average, their craftsmanship was simple.
, the working hours are very low, and the same workers can build several times the number of tanks as Tiger tanks.
The previous Tang Dynasty could not afford the time cost of sleeve bayonet, so they retreated to plug-in bayonet.
But now, after the number of craftsmen has been greatly increased, this restriction no longer exists. As long as they have enough materials, they are able to mass-produce sleeve-type bayonets that are sufficient for musketeers.
It didn't take long for Li Xuan to see several sleeve-type bayonets that were still glowing with metal.
This bayonet is almost the same as the bayonet of modern musketeers in his impression. It is about 40 centimeters in length. The blade of the bayonet is relatively wide and thick. This is because the material quality of the bayonet is limited and the bayonet is relatively slender. In order to prevent the bayonet from breaking during combat.
Or it is bent and cannot be used. The middle part of the blade is relatively thick.
In this way, the total length of the bayonet and the musket can reach about 1.8 meters, which exceeds the average height of the musketeers in the Tang Dynasty king's division.
However, compared with a spear that is often three meters long, it is still much shorter!
This means that if the musketeers simply engage in hand-to-hand combat with the spearmen, the musketeers will die miserably, but the bayonet of the musketeers is only a auxiliary function. They can still shoot, waiting for the opponent's spearmen to charge.
By the time they reached the front after a distance of more than 100 meters, it was enough for them to fire many rounds of volleys.
Li Xuan picked up the bayonet and tried it. He felt that although the weight was heavier than expected, it was still good. It was thick enough and not easy to break, and it could also be used as a daily self-defense knife.
At this time, the stone blacksmith said: "The three handle samples we have made have been tried before. Although they will still bend when using too much force, this is the limit we can reach. If we don't think about it,
If it breaks, it can only be made of fine steel!"
After hearing this, Li Xuan didn't take it seriously: "It's good like this now!"
Use fine steel to make bayonets. Just kidding, the fine steel these days can only be obtained by skilled blacksmiths working day and night. The weapons made of fine steel are the highest quality weapons of this era. The entire
In the Tang Dynasty, only Li Xuan, the emperor's royal sword, and several senior generals such as Fang Dongquan and Chen Tufu were qualified to use swords made of this kind of fine steel.
It is impossible for the weapons of ordinary soldiers to receive such treatment. The waist knives equipped by ordinary soldiers are just cast iron knives. Even the swords of heavy armored swordsmen and shield wielders used by elites only have a layer of pure steel on the blade.
That’s all.
After playing with the bayonet in his hand for a few times, Li Xuan asked the guard to try it out with the musket, especially to try loading and shooting after putting the bayonet on.
The result made Li Xuan quite satisfied. Although it was still very inconvenient when loading, it was possible to load it. This was much better than when the bayonet could not be loaded before.
After looking at the bayonet, Li Xuan looked at several other projects in the Ministry of Works workshop. Among them, the one that Li Xuan paid more attention to was the transformation of cotton armor captured from the Ming army.
Although the protection ability of these cotton armors against bullets is quite good, the defense ability against bows, arrows, swords and guns is not very good. The main enemy of the Tang Dynasty King's Division, the Ming Army, is still an army that mainly uses cold weapons.
The threat from their archers is still considerable.
Therefore, it is necessary to strengthen the protection ability against cold weapons. It is impossible to build heavy armor such as chain armor. The Tang Dynasty did not have enough manpower to slowly build such chain armor.
So Li Xuan chose the simplest way, which was to add iron sheets to the inner layer of the cotton armor.
This modification cost is not high, and it can make full use of the cotton armor captured from the Ming army.
These cotton armors are prepared for large-scale equipment. They can be used by sword and shield soldiers, spearmen, and cavalry. As for the musketeers, they are not required. After wearing the armor, it will greatly restrict these musketeers' tactics such as loading, shooting, and changing formations.
action.
After all, cotton armor is also very heavy. With a helmet, the weight of the whole set can reach more than 20 kilograms. In addition, cotton armor alone has limited defensive effectiveness. It cannot deal with bows and arrows in the middle and long distances as well as primitive fire guns with relatively low power.
OK.
But against the medium-caliber muskets with a caliber of 14 millimeters, which were equipped by the Tang Dynasty, they could easily punch a big hole in you within a distance of fifty or sixty meters, and they were the kind that would result in death or disability if hit.
It's not good at dealing with bows and arrows at medium and short ranges. If a strong bow is fired from a distance of twenty or thirty meters, the thin layer of iron will not be able to stop it.
In fact, the heavy armor sword and shield soldiers in the Tang Dynasty who were specially used to charge into battle were all wearing double armor. In addition to a set of cotton iron armor, they would also wear a set of iron armor or chain armor, plus
With the helmet and a waist knife on, the entire equipment weighs more than fifty kilograms.
Butcher Chen, a fierce man, wears three layers of armor every time he rushes into battle, including cotton armor, chain armor, and iron armor. Plus an enlarged version of the butcher's knife is enough to make him stand out on the battlefield.
He transforms into a god of death and is invincible.
However, wearing three layers of armor and a heavy butcher's knife can only be done by Chen Tufu, Cai Erhu, Fang Dongquan and a few fierce men with a height of more than 1.8 meters. Other ordinary soldiers in the Tang Dynasty King's Division,
Wearing these equipment and running for more than ten meters would make you collapse from exhaustion.
Wearing heavy armor, this is also an important reason why Butcher Chen is at the forefront every time he fights, but he is still alive. Otherwise, he would have joined the late emperor Li Erbi long ago, where he could still win a title in the Tang Dynasty.
What a title for a fierce general.
Looking at the many brand-new weapons in front of him, Li Xuan showed a satisfied smile. With these 'high-tech weapons', the Ming army has nothing to fear!