BSI Chapter 084 Firearms
Chapter 084 Firearms
A month has passed in the blink of an eye.
With the assistance of Zhou Lun and others, Gao Yingxiang basically took control of the entire Fugu region, including its surrounding areas.
With the territory stabilized and the battle of Gaohanling over, there were no longer any government troops in northern Shaanxi that could threaten the rebel army.
Furthermore, Huanglong, stationed on the banks of the Yellow River, has been closely monitoring Wang Guoliang's troops on the east bank. Currently, there is no sign of the government troops in Shanxi crossing the river. Even if Wang Guoliang were to cross the Yellow River to fight, regardless of whether he has received orders from the imperial court, the Yellow River's natural barrier would make crossing it no easy task.
Judging from the current situation, their rebel army is in a fairly good position. Now that they have this territory, they can not only settle down and rest in peace, but also have ample time for Zhou Lun to train his troops and prepare for the next step.
In the previous battle, Zhou Lun's main camp suffered considerable losses. However, after incorporating nearly three hundred border troops, the main camp's numbers not only did not decrease, but its strength actually increased.
The old battalion now numbers over seven hundred, and with the additional troops Gao Yingxiang specifically allocated to Zhou Lun, Zhou Lun's total force is nearly two thousand. Two thousand men is not a small number; in later times, it would be roughly the size of a small regiment.
But even with the players, training cannot be neglected.
Based on previous experience, Zhou Lun had been reorganizing and training the troops to quickly integrate them. His main focus remained on the main camp; besides ensuring adequate supplies and training intensity, he also distributed all the spoils from the battle of Gaohanling. Furthermore, he had found several craftsmen in Fugu City and personally funded the forging of equipment and arming of the army.
After a month, Zhou Lun's old camp looked quite good. Both its equipment and appearance were much better than before.
Although the training in the old camp was initially rigorous, and Zhou Lun spared no effort to improve the equipment, due to the limitations of the time, his old camp was still far inferior to the government army.
But things are different now. After the battle of Gaohanling, the rebel army not only captured nearly three thousand people, but also obtained a large amount of supplies from the government army. Besides provisions and provisions, the most important part of these supplies was the equipment of the government troops. Whether it was weapons like swords and spears, or the cotton armor worn by the government soldiers, everything was of high quality. Even though many had been damaged on the battlefield, they could be collected, repaired, and still used.
Currently, Zhou Lun's old camp has basically been equipped with the standard equipment of the government army. Each person is basically equipped with a cotton armor or paper armor, and the broadswords they used to carry, which were modified from woodcutting knives, have been replaced with long spears, waist knives, and even bows and arrows.
What surprised Zhou Lun the most was that he also obtained more than a dozen muskets and two breech-loading cannons among the spoils, which was an unexpected bonus for him. In particular, four of the dozen or so muskets were three-barreled cannons, which were easy to carry and could play a great role on the battlefield if used properly.
As for those two breech-loading cannons, they were even more formidable. These things were practically "weapons of mass destruction" on the battlefield. If the Battle of Gao Hanling hadn't been an ambush that caught the government troops off guard, and they hadn't had time to unload most of their firearms from their vehicles, how could the rebels have achieved such a decisive victory with these weapons in hand?
Having firearms meant having people to use them. Very few in the rebel army knew how to use firearms, and even among the government troops, few were skilled with them. Although the Ming Dynasty had begun using firearms as early as its founding period, and after its establishment, it even set up a dedicated firearms unit—the Shenji Battalion.
However, as time went by, coupled with the quality problems of firearms themselves, the use of firearms in the army became a mere formality from the mid-to-late Ming Dynasty onwards.
On the one hand, the quality of firearms was substandard, and frequent barrel explosions occurred after prolonged use; on the other hand, the officers and soldiers basically had no training procedures for the use of firearms. How to use firearms and how to apply them on the battlefield depended entirely on experience, explanations from predecessors, or even their own understanding.
As for the generals, few were skilled in using firearms. Apart from the use of powerful firearms like the Hongyi cannon in large-scale battles, only some cavalry were equipped with three-eyed muskets. Other firearms were basically used only when they were available, otherwise they were just for show, to make a noise and scare the enemy during battle, and rarely played a decisive role.
However, these were not problems for Zhou Lun.
Zhou Lun's knowledge and understanding of firearms far surpassed that of anyone else in his time. Even though he wasn't a professional in his later life, he still possessed some basic common sense. Furthermore, after acquiring these firearms, he personally studied them and quickly figured out how to use them.
It must be admitted that the quality of firearms produced by the Ming Dynasty was indeed not very good. Of the dozen or so muskets, four three-barreled muskets were barely passable.
After all, the barrel of the three-barreled gun is a single piece and made of sturdy materials. After firing a shot, it is usually used as a hammer, so the quality is so-so.
As for the other muskets, they were not so good. The barrels varied in size and length, with no two being the same. The materials were also mediocre, with the dark barrels covered in holes and pits. Some muskets even had several hoops added to the barrels. This was clearly done to prevent them from exploding during use.
The accuracy was practically nonexistent, and the range was inconsistent. Even after Zhou Lun reprocessed the captured gunpowder to its optimal configuration, the power was barely usable. Moreover, nearly half were completely unusable. After careful inspection, Zhou Lun reluctantly sent the substandard muskets to the blacksmith for melting down and burning, using them as scrap metal to forge spearheads. Even those remaining after sorting were only barely passable.
Two breech-loading cannons are a good choice, after all, these things have much higher manufacturing requirements than muskets. However, the sealing of the breech-loading cannons is a problem. Although these things fire quickly, and when used properly they are equivalent to large shotguns, sweeping away large areas on the battlefield, their shooting range is not as far as expected.
Zhou Lun tested it himself, and even with the gunpowder he had reformulated, the breech-loading cannon's maximum range was only about 250 meters, with an effective lethality of about 100 to 120 meters. This range left Zhou Lun speechless.
Zhou Lun had previously heard from people while watching videos that the Portuguese breech-loading can easily reach over 500 meters, with an effective range of 200 to 300 meters.
There are even records stating that the effective ranges of medium and large-sized breech-loading ...
The facts told Zhou Lun that this was complete nonsense! Where would a Portuguese breech-loading can have such a long range and effective distance? Historical records are simply unreliable.
But thinking about it carefully, it makes sense. Small-caliber mortars during World War II had a range of only a few hundred meters, while modern 60mm mortars have a maximum range of only a little over 3,000 meters, and reaching a maximum range of 6,000 meters is already quite remarkable. That's a technological gap of 600 years! Could the Portuguese mortars of the Ming Dynasty possibly have achieved a longer range than later mortars? It seems impossible.
Although somewhat disappointed, Zhou Lun still treated the two breech-loading machines like treasures.
He specially selected a few quick-witted men from the old camp to serve them, teaching them how to use them step by step. The same was done with the remaining muskets; he chose some men to equip them and form a separate team.
This team trained separately from the others, specifically teaching them how to use firearms and fire formations. Currently, firearms were completely inaccurate; to inflict effective damage, shooting was only barely possible at close range. At longer distances, even within the effective range, the bullets would have long since disappeared after leaving the muzzle. Therefore, firearms had to be used in concentrated groups; using them individually was utterly ineffective.
This small firearms unit of only about ten men is currently just an add-on. Zhou Lun uses them as a backup plan; although they cannot determine the outcome of the battle, they are sufficient to help plug gaps when necessary. If any situation becomes critical or a gap appears, sending this firearms unit there, with a volley of gunfire plus the heavy bombardment from two breech-loading cannons, will be enough to halt the enemy's attack and stabilize the situation.
Zhou Lun's current force, besides the elite main camp, also includes a 1,000-strong unit. Zhou Lun hasn't neglected the equipment of this unit either. He's given them all the equipment that was replaced from the main camp and has them undergo regular training. Even if they don't reach the elite level of the main camp, they should at least look presentable. Otherwise, a rabble of soldiers, even if they're cannon fodder, should at least have some fighting ability, right?
On this day, Zhou Lun, as usual, dressed neatly and came to the military camp to check on the troops' training.
Before they even reached their destination, a cheer erupted from the camp. Curious, Zhou Lun quickened his pace and walked forward. Upon entering the camp, he immediately saw dozens of people gathered in the open space in the center, with bursts of cheers emanating from them.
"What's going on?" Zhou Lun wondered, and quickly stepped forward.
As he got closer, he immediately saw a crowd gathered in a circle. Inside the circle, a man, shirtless in the dead of winter, was twirling a stone weight weighing over a hundred pounds in his hands, moving it up and down as if it were nothing, drawing cheers from the crowd.
Zhou Lun recognized the man at a glance. Wasn't this the hero who led the charge against the government troops' counterattack and broke through Lu Jinchun's elite guards' formation during the Battle of Gaohanling?