Chapter 190: Gun Test
The test firing was carried out at the base's firing range.
This place is very open and about one thousand meters long, far exceeding the mortar's maximum range of 700 meters.
In order to better simulate actual combat, the instructor also asked people to dig a trench 600 meters ahead.
Dominic ordered the officers to fire at the trench.
Of course, no one will report the target in there!
The artillery officers among the officers came into play at this time. They knew that they needed to stabilize the gun and keep it level, then calculate various parameters based on the initial velocity of the shell and the distance to the target, and then adjust the angle based on these parameters.
This saves the instructors a lot of work, and they only need to remind them of new issues that need attention from time to time.
In fact, mortars are often not paid attention to these things. Only when you use them more often on the battlefield will you realize that most of the time they rely on feeling, fire and run without caring whether they hit the target or not. Sometimes they don't even set up the gun and just fire with their hands.
Dominic shouted again and again: "Gentlemen, if the shells are not fired, do not try to pour them out, lie down and stay away from them! Please remember this!"
At that time, the mortar had just been invented and the shells were not safe enough, and sometimes the primer became damp and could not be ignited successfully.
If you try to pour out the shells, the result will be that you and the shells will be blown away with a loud bang.
“Boom boom boom!”
A row of shells flew out of the barrel and exploded near the trench.
An officer observed the point of impact and shouted to Charles, who was standing by and watching: "Major, its accuracy doesn't look very good!"
They seemed more willing to talk to Ciel than to the instructors and trainers.
Before Charles could answer, an artillery officer responded immediately: "The point is that it can fire 25 rounds a minute, Bertrand!"
The other officers laughed knowingly.
Bertrand understood what this meant. If accuracy is not enough, use quantity. Fire 25 rounds in one minute. No matter if it is shrapnel or luck, the target will most likely no longer exist in this world after one minute.
After figuring this out, he shouted to Charles, "Major, can we try it? 25 rounds a minute!"
The instructor only gave each of them one shell, and that was it.
"No, Lieutenant Colonel!" Charles responded loudly, "This is what you will learn in the next week. It is not as simple as you think. I don't want any of us to 'graduate early'!"
The officers laughed; they understood what "early graduation" meant.
But Bertrand still didn't believe it. He looked at the mortar and asked in confusion: "Major, what's the danger? We just need to put the shell into the muzzle!"
"Are you sure your shell has been fired?" Charles asked, loud enough for everyone to hear. "Did you hear the sound of the cannon? If it was someone else's cannon that made you mistakenly believe it had been fired, what would you do next?"
The officers were stunned for a moment, and soon someone said, "He will load another shell into the gun chamber, and then...'graduate early'!"
This time the officers did not laugh. They all looked cautious, including Colonel Christian.
No one had thought of this question, and finally understood the significance of this training camp.
If these mortars were distributed directly to soldiers and they were told they could fire 25 rounds a minute, there would probably be a series of accidents that would be even more terrible than with grenades.
Dominic glanced at Charles in surprise, then leaned forward and whispered, "That's right, Major. I was just about to tell them about the danger, but you just... figured it out based on your imagination?"
"Yes!" Charles nodded.
In fact, this is one of the precautions in operating modern mortars. On the battlefield or even in training, there have been cases of people loading multiple shells into the barrel due to tension or other factors. Therefore, a special term has emerged in modern times: "repeated loading".
"What a wonderful lesson, Major!" Dominic looked at the officers who were savoring the lesson in the drizzle, and said with emotion: "You succeeded in arousing their interest and letting them know the importance of mortars in just a few words. I never thought I could explain it that way!"
Ciel replied calmly: "It's not difficult, Colonel. You just need to know what your 'students' care about most and what they are most interested in."
Dominic nodded thoughtfully and replied, "What they care about most is the battlefield, the life and death of themselves and their subordinates, and what they are most interested in is the equipment that can help them survive, so you should start from this aspect!"
Charles nodded. This instructor had a good understanding ability and seemed like he would be a very good teacher.
…
After returning to the headquarters, Charles immediately reported to Gallieni: "The training went smoothly. General, the officers all agreed that the front-line troops needed this kind of equipment!"
Charles handed Gallieni a staffing table and a quotation. "Based on the current situation, I think each battalion may need six mortars."
This is a common practice in modern troops, setting up mortar companies at the battalion level.
In actual combat, if there is a demand at the company level, such as a company leading the attack, the battalion commander can transfer a few mortars to his command to strengthen the firepower.
Gallieni hummed and had no objection, mainly because he saw that the unit price of this kind of gun was not expensive, 700 francs each, and 6 guns were only 4,200.
Gallieni asked casually: "Does every unit need it?"
"You can pay a return visit to the officers." Charles answered confidently, "Or you can buy a small amount first and let one division equip it for trial before considering equipping other troops!"
"Good idea!" Gallieni agreed with the second suggestion: "Then equip a division first!"
Charles seemed to have expected this answer, and answered straightforwardly: "72 guns. If the regiment headquarters also needs to be strengthened, I suggest 96 guns, plus a few more for backup, which will make exactly 100 guns!"
(Note: The organization of the French army in World War I was one division, two brigades and four regiments, each regiment had three battalions, so one division had 12 infantry battalions)
"Just 100 guns!" Gallieni nodded. It was only 70,000 francs, which was nothing to the military.
Charles looked at Gallieni who was about to sign and smiled. This old guy was going to be fooled again. 20 francs per shell, this is the key!
Unexpectedly, Gallieni's pen suddenly stopped in the air for a long time. After hesitating for a while, he actually asked: "I heard that your gun can fire 25 rounds a minute? Do you compare it to a long-range grenade?"
Charles thought to himself, this old guy has learned a lesson from his mistakes.
Sure enough, Gallieni opened the quotation sheet again, pointed at the price of the shells, and said, "Then should the price of these 20 francs be reduced?"
Charles looked embarrassed: "General, it can't be reduced any further. If you are not satisfied, you can ask others to compare prices..."
The underlying meaning of this statement is that only my company can make this gun, and at this price, forget it.
Gallieni raised his eyebrows. "A grenade is only 1.5 francs. Since this mortar is a long-range grenade, 3 francs is about right?"
Charles was stunned. Is there such an estimate?
Charles asked back: "So, if soldiers don't have to pay to throw grenades, shouldn't mortars be free?"
Gallieni nodded seriously: "It's a good idea, it seems reasonable!"
He said this without blushing or feeling any nervousness.
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(End of this chapter)
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