Volume 3: Confrontation! The Run of Civilization Chapter 501 Armaments Coordination Meeting (I)
On the 16th day of the first lunar month in the fourth year of the Tianqi reign ( 1621), just after the Lantern Festival, an important meeting was immediately held in the Ming Privy Council office building, which was completed at the end of the previous year.
Unlike the old-style buildings with several courtyards like the Six Ministries, the new Privy Council Building is a typical reinforced concrete building. Although Zhu Youdong, the time traveler, often has all kinds of bad tastes, he is still a supporter of traditional Chinese culture after all. Therefore, the Privy Council Building did not imitate the Pentagon, but was a square surrounded by four eight-story buildings, 40 meters high. Although the main body is reinforced concrete, there are also many decorations such as flying eaves and brackets on the periphery of the building. If you really want to say which famous building in later generations it looks like, the Grand Hotel may be closer.
The meeting was held in the Privy Council, and the host was naturally Ma Chengzhao. In fact, in this large conference room, below Ma Chengzhao, on one side sat Cao Wenzhao, Li Guozhu and other generals of the navy and the army, and on the other side sat Zhao Shizhen, Bi Maokang and other scientists. For example, the assistant ministers and principals sent by the six ministries to attend the meeting sat in the back row. And the special status of Prince of Lai Zhu Youxiao sat opposite Ma Chengzhao.
In the Battle of Luzon that ended at the end of November last year, the number of casualties of the Ming army's navy and army exceeded 10,000. In contrast, the Spanish navy and army later counted that the number of casualties was only more than 5,000. Although the Ming army was the attacking party, it was expected that the losses would be heavy in the face of dense trenches, but such a huge difference in casualties still deeply hurt the Ming generals. Therefore, at the suggestion of the navy and army generals, Zhu Youdong agreed to hold a special meeting here.
"Everyone, the theme of today's meeting is how we should improve our military equipment to meet the needs of the battlefield. Therefore, the military will first make requests for today's meeting, and then the professors of Fangshan will respond. I have already asked the emperor for permission, and the emperor said that he would not attend because he did not want to put too much pressure on everyone. However, this meeting must adhere to the principle of seeking truth from facts. Fangshan cannot meet the various requirements of the military, and there is no need to make promises out of thin air just because of the needs of the soldiers. Okay, the meeting begins now, and the imperial edict is issued."
"Yes, thank you, Privy Councilor." Cao Wenzhao stood up and said, "Everyone, after the Battle of Manila, the biggest feeling of the army is that our army's firepower at medium and short distances is seriously insufficient. Facing an enemy with abundant firepower and relying on solid fortifications, we can't bite or defeat them, which leads to heavy casualties and the war is prolonged.
In general, at a distance of more than 3,000 meters from the enemy, the current Tiger Roar 75mm cannon is completely sufficient. A larger caliber will often result in the gun being too heavy and the wheels getting stuck in the mud and unable to be pulled out. In fact, in the Battle of Manila, our engineers had to lay wooden or steel plates in many places in advance, otherwise the Tiger Roar would not be able to move at all. Therefore, at least for now, we do not have any particularly urgent needs in terms of artillery. Of course, the laboratory still needs to pre-research larger caliber and longer range artillery. After all, we don’t know if the Westerners have more advanced artillery in their homeland. "
After a moment of hesitation, Zhao Shizhen said, "Fangshan Laboratory has now installed a 150mm breech-loading gun for the navy, with a maximum range of over 8,000 meters. It is not a problem to improve it for the army. But as General Cao said, this gun cannot be used by the army before finding a suitable means of transportation. Fangshan plans to reduce the weight of the 100mm cannon as much as possible, and then give it to the army for trial."
After Zhao Shizhen finished speaking, Song Yingxing stood up and said, "At present, the rubber plantation in Hainan has been in operation for three years, and it is growing well overall. According to the natives of Yindian who came back with my fleet on the expedition to America, the rubber trees can be tapped in five years. Since many of the trees brought back by my expedition fleet are one or two years old, the rubber plantation in Hainan can start tapping rubber by May or June this year at the latest. By then, Fangshan will come up with very light and durable tires, which can provide a lot of help in the movement of artillery."
"Okay, the Army is looking forward to it." Cao Wenzhao bowed and continued, "At the distance of 3,000 to 1,000 meters, we are still blank. After internal research by the Army, we need a light artillery with a high arc trajectory. Its main function is to attack the enemy soldiers hiding in various bunkers, or to attack the enemy on the other side of the mountain in the battle for the top of the mountain. In short, this kind of artillery is needed to provide support in places where the soldiers' machine guns and rifles cannot fire horizontally. Because this kind of artillery has to follow the soldiers, the weight must be strictly controlled. I think the weight of the cannon itself should not exceed 50 kilograms."
"The kind of cannon that General Cao mentioned was once in our Ming Dynasty." Sun Yuanhua stood up. "It is nothing more than a mortar with a short barrel, low initial velocity, and high trajectory arc. But what General Cao is proposing now requires a range of 1,000 to 3,000 meters and a small weight. This requires a thorough improvement. However, it is a small cannon with a caliber of about 50 to 60 mm, a weight of no more than 30 kilograms, and a range of about 2,000 meters. Under the emperor's suggestion, our firearms laboratory has begun preliminary research. The emperor also gave this small cannon a name, called mortar... In two years, Fangshan can produce a finished product for the military to try out."
"Okay, that's it. Thank you very much." After bowing again, Cao Wenzhao took the paper handed over by Liu Zhaosun: "The fire support within 1,000 meters to 500 meters is provided by the 'Shizhen' (Maxim) heavy machine gun. The army is generally satisfied with it, but there are also some problems."
"Oh?" The seventy-year-old Zhao Shizhen stood up and said, "May I ask, what's wrong with this machine gun named after me?"
"Mr. Zhao, it's generally good, but there are indeed some problems." He felt a little pressure, but after all, it was related to the lives of future soldiers, so Cao Wenzhao said calmly: "For example, in the battle in the southern rainforest this time, for more than two months, because the Spaniards attacked less, our heavy machine guns had fewer opportunities to fire. As a result, we found that the canvas chain responsible for feeding the machine guns was damp and deformed. If a real fight breaks out, it will easily jam. In addition, the 'Shizhen' heavy machine gun uses a water-cooled mode. Although this will significantly extend the service life of the barrel, according to Man Gui's experience in using it in the northwest, in winter, the water cylinder outside the barrel often solidifies. If you shoot directly at this time, it is easy to explode. And if you don't shoot, if the enemy rushes over, this will not be enough to help in an emergency."
Seeing Zhao Shizhen's expression slow down, Cao Wenzhao said quickly: "After taking Manila this time, we found that the Westerners' heavy machine guns are all air-cooled. Although this cooling method results in a limited use time of the barrel. But the Westerners have made clever treatment on the barrel, and the barrel can be disassembled very quickly. Well, at least it is much faster than our water-cooled type to melt ice and snow when used in winter..."
"The barrel cooling method was changed from water cooling to air cooling, and the feeding method was changed from canvas chain feeding to magazine feeding. Okay, we've made a note of it. These changes are minor, and we can get the finished product soon."
"Thank you, Mr. Zhao. Next, at a distance of 500 to 100 meters, we need a lightweight firearm that can follow a single soldier quickly and fire a large number of bullets during the impact."
"The emperor has already made it clear about this. Fangshan's laboratories are working together to strive to come up with a weapon that meets the military's needs within three years. Before that, with the technical support from the Ottoman Empire, Fangshan will come up with a light machine gun for emergency use within this year. The light machine gun can be used as a heavy machine gun on a gun rack in a fixed position. During a charge, it can be handed over to a strong soldier to hold and attack the enemy's front line..."
"Oh, that's great." Admiral Cao, who had long been unable to show his emotions, was excited for a rare moment. But he quickly calmed down: "Next is the rifle. To be honest, when we first got this Ming breech-loading rifle, we thought it was perfect against the Mongols. But in the battle with the Spaniards, we felt that there were too many problems. Well, everyone, the military is always grateful for your hard work and outstanding dedication. I was too bad at speaking just now."
"Hahaha, General Cao, you don't have to be like this. Today's meeting is all for the sake of our Great Ming army's success in the future, so of course we have to tell you everything we know. This 'Wanli' rifle is, after all, the first breech-loading rifle of our Great Ming. Many of its design ideas are still limited by the inherent conventions of previous muzzle-loading rifles. Therefore, it is normal for him to have problems. General Cao, tell me, what are the problems?"
"Okay." Cao Wenzhao took a deep breath and said, "There are three main problems . First, the loading speed is too slow. When the enemy has trenches and machine guns, our army cannot charge intensively, and the firepower of the infantry is seriously insufficient. Second, the gun is too long. The gun itself is 1.3 meters long, and it is more than 1.75 meters long after the bayonet is installed. The current height of our Ming soldiers is generally only about 1.6 meters. Such a long rifle cannot be used after entering the enemy trench. Third, the new copper shell fixed bullet has too strong penetration and is not lethal enough to the enemy!"
