Chapter 778: Appointments and Dismissals of the Ministry of War in the Fifty Years
"An army of all firearms? All artillery? Or do we have new gunpowder weapons?" Qubing immediately became interested.
"Not yet, but it will be made soon. The idea of this kind of weapon has been around for a long time, but due to the limitations of technology and materials, it has not been developed. But when we have a steam lathe, it will be easy to make." Luo Chong explained.
"What kind of weapon would it be? Is it based on the same principle as artillery?" Qubing continued to ask.
"Haha, almost. You can think of it as a super-small handheld artillery. Imagine if you can use a thin iron pipe to load gunpowder and projectiles in the same way as loading artillery shells, and then aim at the target and ignite it, can it produce the same effect as artillery?" Luo Chong guided his thoughts and prompted.
"That's for sure, but this should be a long-range weapon similar to a bow and arrow, but it can't be projectile like a bow and arrow because the projectile is too light, and the firing rate is definitely not as good as a bow and arrow. The process of loading a cannon is too complicated." Qubing imagined it in his mind and immediately found many problems.
"Well, not bad, it seems that you really understand." Luo Chong praised.
"Hehe, we learned about gunpowder in the science class at school." Qubing scratched his head shyly.
"Since you have found the problem, why not improve it? The slow loading can be solved by pre-loading ammunition. We can make it in the form of cluster bombs, encapsulate the projectile and gunpowder in a small copper tube, make it into a bullet, and put it in an iron tube to fire when using it. Then make a system that is convenient for changing bullets, and the problem of slow firing rate can be solved.
Moreover, the range of this weapon is not necessarily much shorter than that of a cannon, and it may be able to completely crush the bow and arrow." In order to increase Qubing's interest, Luo Chong painted a big picture for him again.
"The range is as far as artillery? If it can reach a thousand meters, it can't be seen clearly with the eyes alone. Oh, we can also add a telescope to this weapon to aim at distant targets." Qubing said after seeing the astronomical telescope on the windowsill.
"Yes, that's right. When you encounter a problem, you must find a way to solve it. As long as you really want to do it, why are you afraid of a little difficulty?" Luo Chong affirmed again.
"Then the leader wants me to develop this weapon?" Qubing asked tentatively with a little excitement.
Luo Chong thought for a while before answering his question, "If you are interested, of course you can participate, but my real idea is to let you be responsible for forming this army that specializes in using firearms." After
a slight pause, Luo Chong continued, "The Han tribe will have another war this year. Even if you join the army now, I'm afraid you won't be able to catch up. But within the next five years, we will have another war in the north, and we will face stronger enemies at that time. I hope that by then, the Han tribe can send out an elite force equipped with all firearms to participate in the war.
Now, if you want to participate in the research and development of gunpowder weapons, it's fine, but it can't take up too much time."
Qubing immediately understood what Luo Chong meant, and knew that Luo Chong was cultivating him. Others might not get this opportunity, so he also knew how rare this opportunity was. He could participate in the scientific research he was interested in and fulfill his dream of joining the army. The leader probably set up such a task specifically for him.
However, out of curiosity, he still asked Luo Chong about the other two newly established military branches.
"What are the railway garrison troops and engineering construction troops that the leader just mentioned?"
"Well, in fact, these two armies are also a pair of complementary troops. The engineering construction troops, referred to as engineers, are specially established to build railways, erect bridges, and construct some large-scale construction projects. They are under unified military management and master the most advanced engineering technology and machinery in the tribe, but they are essentially workers.
The Railway Garrison Force, as the name suggests, is mainly responsible for opening up a safe working area along the railway for the engineers in advance. After the engineers have built the railway, they will also be responsible for the garrison mission along the railway to prevent anyone from destroying the railway. Daily patrols and maintenance will also be undertaken by this force. "
After listening to Luo Chong's introduction, Qubing felt that he was not very interested in this. Although he didn't know what the railway was, he was not interested in anything related to paving roads and building bridges, because his dream was to be a soldier, not to be a coolie on a construction site.
Although the engineers also had the word "soldier", to put it bluntly, they were still engaged in construction, so Qubing immediately made up his mind.
"Chief, I want to participate in the research and development of new firearms, and join the army that you mentioned that is armed with all firearms."
"Well, that's good. "Luo Chong nodded.
Cultivating young military forces was something he had already written into his development plan. The current generals of the Han tribe are basically around thirty years old, which is not young in this era. Shu Da and Xue Tu are about the same age, and the slightly younger one is Chai Duoduo.
Chai Duoduo, the commander of the Qianniu Guard, is currently in his prime of twenty years old. He has also made military achievements in commanding the Kaiyuan War. He is a general that Luo Chong attaches great importance to and has been personally included in his candidate list for future military leaders.
Luo Chong's idea is also very simple. First of all, if you want to be transferred to the central military department, you must have military merits, and then there is the age ranking. According to Luo Chong's plan, this time he is going to let Xue Tu and Shu Da command the war to attack Takeshima and open up six new territories for the empire. Such merits are enough to transfer these two old guys directly to the central government. The Ministry of War.
After these two guys take office, the local garrison troops in various places will be handed over to Chai Duoduo for management. With the merits of the Kaiyuan War, it will not be a problem for him to take office. He is in his prime and can manage for another 10 to 20 years.
As for Qubing, Luo Chong plans to let him join the Central Army to get experience. First, he will build this firearms unit. After three or four years, he will send them to the north to participate in the war to exterminate the cannibals, and then transfer them back to lead the imperial army.
In this way, this kid is young and has enough military merits. In the future, when Chai Duoduo is old, he can be promoted to a high position in the military. He is the third generation military leader of the Han Empire selected by Luo Chong.
After arranging the appointment and removal of the ministers of the Ministry of War for the next 50 years, Luo Chong also breathed a sigh of relief. He took out two rolls of drawings from the bookcase next to him and spread them on the table, and then said to Qubing.
"These are two new firearms I designed. If you want to participate in the production and research and development, you can start now, but you can't participate in both at the same time.
Regarding the production of firearms, I have set up two projects. One is to study the launch platform, which I call a gun. The other is to develop ammunition. I plan to use a new type of self-igniting gunpowder to load the ammunition. This can solve the problem of firing rate, and can also solve the problems of being unable to be used in rainy days, being afraid of wind, difficult to ignite, and high operating risks.
You can only choose one of these two projects, whether to make guns or ammunition, you decide for yourself. "Luo Chong looked at Qubing and asked.
Qubing thought about it, guns should be a mechanical problem, all of which are mechanical skills, far less interesting than the chemistry taught in school, so he chose ammunition without hesitation.
"Chief, let me make ammunition."
(End of this chapter)
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