The ninth and thirtieth chapter completely depends on the character of the cannonball
The Logistics Department directly brought 30,000 rounds of artillery shells weighing more than five kilograms to the Susong front line for use by the Second Army, and these were only the artillery shells accompanying the Second Army. Wang Chaohong shot all these artillery shells, and there will be a steady stream of them later.
The shells kept coming.
In Taihu Lake at the rear, there is a huge ammunition depot, which is continuing to replenish ammunition for the Second Army. On the Yangtze River south of Susong, more than a hundred logistics department and navy transport ships are moored, fully loaded with artillery shells of various calibers.
, bullets, food and other combat supplies.
It doesn't matter even if the artillery is scrapped, because there are still a lot of brand-new five-pound field artillery behind them, which can be pulled up at any time to replace them.
The Logistics Department has brought almost all the ordnance production of the two major weapons companies, South China Arms Company and Jiangnan Arms Company, under the Ministry of State-owned Enterprises in the past four months to the southwest front.
And you have to know that South China Arms Company and Jiangnan Arms Company, unlike the newly established North China Arms Company, have little output, but they are military industrial enterprises with huge output.
If the several arsenals of the South China Arms Company are operating at full capacity, their monthly output will exceed four thousand muskets and more than one hundred five-pound artillery pieces.
As for Jiangnan Weapon Company, it has been established for a shorter period of time, but now its monthly output is quite large!
Only the North China Arms Company has just started preparations for construction in recent months. Currently, only one Tianjin arsenal is undergoing small-scale trial production, and several others are still under construction, so the output is not large.
The current three arms companies in South China, North China, and Jiangnan are the State-owned Enterprises Department of the Tang Dynasty. They are the basic layout of the national defense industry. In the future, there may be another Northwest Arms Company, but that is the future, right now, and even
In the following years, these three weapons companies will provide all ordnance to the Tang Dynasty. Their users include the Tang Army, the Tang Navy, the Guards, the Datang Western Company, the tax inspection team, and local patrol police.
Well, we have to include various domestic maritime trading companies!
Don't be surprised. Just like Datang Western Company and Gerdes Trading Company, companies engaged in maritime trade these days have armed merchant ships. Since merchant ships have the word "armed" in front of them, then artillery and muskets are a must.
Indispensable.
Of course, although the Tang Dynasty currently allows these domestically registered trading companies to equip armed merchant ships, the management of ordnance, especially guns, is also very strict.
First of all, these maritime trade companies must register and apply for equipment licenses for guns, swords, and swords. Then they can apply for purchase. Only after approval can they purchase these ordnance. At the same time, each of these ordnance must be registered, and it will be carried out every year.
Inspection, the Admiralty Department of the Cabinet has a specialized agency to monitor and manage these firearms and ammunition.
Moreover, all merchant ships equipped with naval guns must be registered with the Ministry of Navy, and are obliged to unconditionally obey the navy's dispatch and command when called upon by the navy. This is also the reason why the Tang Navy strengthened its maritime strength and supplemented its main battleships.
An inadequate measure.
Before entering the coastal ports of Datang, these guns must be sealed, and these guns are strictly prohibited from leaving the ships, let alone moving onto land.
Of course, after leaving the port, the Admiralty has no control over how these maritime trading companies use these guns. You love to fight the natives and fight the natives, and you love to be pirates and pirates!
On land, the Tang Dynasty's management of guns was even stricter. No person or organization was allowed to manufacture or use guns without the approval of the Ministry of War or the Ministry of Navy. Otherwise, it would be a serious crime of treason.
This means that it is not impossible for private enterprises to engage in the ordnance business, but they must obtain approval from the Ministry of the Navy or the Ministry of the Army and obtain an ordnance business license before they can engage in this industry, otherwise it is illegal.
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At present, no private capital in the Tang Dynasty has obtained such a license. Except for state-owned enterprises under the Ministry of State-owned Enterprises, only the Royal Arms Company, a subsidiary of the royal family, has obtained a license for the ordnance business.
But the Royal Arms Company has just been established and doesn’t even have a factory yet!
Because there are currently only three companies producing ordnance in the Tang Dynasty: South China Arms Company, Jiangnan Arms Company, and North China Arms Company.
Generally speaking, regarding ordnance, the Tang Dynasty implemented a policy of loosening up internally and tightening externally. Overseas, the Tang Dynasty allowed and even encouraged merchants and immigrants who went overseas to use ordnance for self-protection.
But in the mainland, it is strictly controlled!
This is also caused by the current general environment. First of all, China has had a fine tradition of kings and generals like Hou Ning since ancient times. Regardless of whether it is in troubled times or in peacetime, there will always be a large number of careerists who want to rebel. If
If these ordnances are not strictly managed, people will bring in guns and cannons in a matter of seconds to stage a rebellion.
Therefore, local civilians must strictly control firearms. Not to mention guns, other cold weapons ordnance, such as crossbows, strong bows, and armor are also strictly controlled weapons.
However, knives and swords are not controlled knives. They can be legally owned by the public, but they can only be kept at home to prevent theft!
If you want to wear it when going out, you need to be a scholar or above. Well, officials will naturally allow it.
Ordinary people need to apply for permission. Generally speaking, people who need to wear swords for self-defense can generally get permission to apply, such as nursing homes, bodyguards and other bodyguard practitioners.
Businessmen who do business in distant places, etc.
In addition, hunters can apply to own bows and arrows, which will generally be approved. Except for hunters, other ordinary people, including nursing homes, are strictly prohibited from owning bows and arrows.
Gun control is aimed at civilians, but at the official level, it encourages the development of more advanced guns. The army and navy have always wanted to develop more advanced weapons and equipment in order to allow weapons companies to compete.
Ways to make them compete with each other.
For example, engage in bidding!
Although these weapons companies have been consolidated into three, their internal competition is also fierce. For example, South China Arms Company has several subordinate arsenals. Although every arsenal can get orders now, the orders are also good and bad. For example, the Army placed
The total number of orders for flintlock muskets has been very large.
However, the army's top generals are very clever. They will divide the order for 10,000 muskets into several batches with different purchase prices and even payment terms, and then invite bids separately.
It’s not that the Army has no money, and it’s not that it doesn’t need these muskets. The Army just deliberately wants these arsenals to compete with each other. Otherwise, if they are in stagnant water, they will have the motivation to compete. How can the Army obtain better and cheaper weapons?
The production of South China Arms Company and Jiangnan Arms Company in recent months has been brought down by the Logistics Department to the Southwest Front, allowing the Second Army and other units to have sufficient supplies of ammunition.
When the Second Army under the command of Wang Chaohong launched a general attack on Susong, it fully demonstrated what it means to have a firepower advantage!
Pieces of artillery shells were thrown at the Susong city wall, and section after section of the city wall was blown down. Howitzers exploded on the city wall and behind it, killing countless Ming troops who were defending it.
Before the Second Army carried out the blasting, the Second Army bombarded Susong for three full days, firing 25,000 rounds of artillery shells, including 14 kilograms of solid heavy artillery.
A total of more than 60 meters of city wall were destroyed, and several gate towers on the Susong city wall were all destroyed!
And more importantly, before the Second Army even committed a single infantry charge, the defenders in the city had already suffered more than 3,000 casualties!
In this extremely large-scale artillery battle, the Ming artillery in the city was completely powerless to fight back. The more than fifty field guns they could use to counterattack were almost completely lost in these three days.
Although they also destroyed some of the artillery of the Second Army through counterattacks and killed some of the gunners of the Second Army, the Second Army lost one artillery and a brand new artillery was immediately sent to the rear, while a gunner was lost.
, the rear can immediately send a new gunner who has undergone complete recruit training!
After three days of shelling, the artillery of the Ming army defending the city basically misfired!
This is not to say that their artillery was completely killed. In fact, the artillery is just a big iron lump. It is unrealistic to destroy all of them. The reason why the Ming army's artillery misfired was because their gunners suffered too heavy casualties.
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When they could only use solid bullets to fight back, the Second Army used dozens of heavy howitzers to fire grenades to kill these Ming army gunners!
A 48-pound (4-pound) grenade landed on the city wall and exploded, enough to cover the width of the city wall more than ten meters or even wider.
If you are lucky enough and the matchlock fuse detonates this forty-eight-pound grenade just above the heads of the Ming army at the top of the city, then countless shrapnel and iron beads will rain down dozens of meters below.
Within this range, if there are no fortifications above your head, you will basically be dead or disabled!
It's just that this kind of explosion just on the enemy's head rarely happens. It can only be regarded as accidental. Sometimes hundreds of grenades are fired, and no such explosion can be seen above the head. Most of them explode on the ground, and a few of them are volleyed.
Explosion, this volley explosion meant that it exploded before it even reached the city wall. It basically had no results, and some of them didn't explode at all!
How many results these days' grenades can produce depends entirely on character!
If you're lucky, a few forty-eight-pound grenades will hit you, and hundreds of people on the opposite side may be killed or injured. If you're not lucky, if hundreds of grenades hit you, the enemy will be fine, and they might even blow up your own people.
A lot of death!
This kind of thing is not a joke, it is a real thing. There are not a few soldiers of the Tang Dynasty who were killed or injured due to howitzer accidents!