Chapter 145 The era of hot weapons! (First update)
“I hope so.” Zhu Di was noncommittal.
Zhu Di looked at Xia Zhibai, seemed to have thought of something, and asked: "The iron smelting industry in Zunhua was mined in the Yuan Dynasty, but the scale of mining was not large. According to what you said, I am afraid that the iron smelting industry will not be used for iron smelting." The production demand is huge, can you really provide so much iron? "
He was a little unconvinced.
Producing iron is not that easy.
The process is very complicated, there are many processes, and the output is average.
Even if he helps, at most within one or two months, the scale will be restored to the Yuan Dynasty, with a production of two to three hundred thousand kilograms a year. I am afraid that these irons will not be enough for Xia Zhibai alone. , not to mention meeting the needs of other places.
Xia Zhibai nodded.
Iron ore mining cannot be rushed.
But what Zhu Di didn't know was that the iron ore mined by the imperial court was in Peiping. There was a lot of coal around Peiping, and much of it was easy to mine.
It’s just that the utilization of coal was not that high in the past.
If he improves the utilization rate of coal in iron and steelmaking, and then uses an improved steam engine to dig, it will greatly improve the speed and efficiency of iron and steelmaking. His purpose is not To restore the scale of Zunhua iron smelting in the Yuan Dynasty, it must exceed it, far beyond it.
His goal is an annual output of four to five million catties.
Even more.
Although it will be a lot slower at the beginning, as long as you start, the follow-up will become faster and faster.
Xia Zhibai smiled and said: "Your Highness, don't worry. Since I dare to praise this Haikou, I naturally have a way to do it."
"But this does require your Highness's help."
"In Your Highness is needed for the initial recovery of the iron mine and for the expansion of its scale.”
“What I am most lacking now are workers related to iron smelting and engineers related to iron smelting technology. The court will make some arrangements later, but I still hope that His Highness can provide some human support."
Zhu Di's eyes were gloomy, with a bit of displeasure on his face.
All told, it seemed like he was doing his part and Xia Zhibai was watching.
But now that I have agreed.
Forget it.
Zhu Di didn't take the iron ore matter too seriously. Now that his father had made a decision, even if he was dissatisfied, he would not dare to disobey the iron ore and what Xia Zhibai said. , the final initiative lies in his own hands. Whenever Xia Zhibai fails to meet his expectations, he can turn his back on him.
He has this ability.
Compared to Shangxin Iron Mine, he was more interested in the military mentioned by Xia Zhibai.
Zhu Di lowered his head and turned the iron finger between his thumbs, "I will hand over the iron mines under my control to you, but I also want to hear again what you said in the camp before. , especially when it comes to some strategic and tactical aspects. I, Zhu Di, sit in Peiping and govern the north, so I have to shoulder this responsibility."
Zhu Di's head rose slightly, with a sense of arrogance and unyielding in his eyes.
He was still a little angry at Xia Zhibai's words yesterday.
Xia Zhibai chuckled lightly.
He didn't expect Zhu Di to be so resentful.
He smiled and said: "My remarks yesterday were indeed a bit extreme."
"Your Highness is far from being so unbearable."
Hearing this.
Zhu Di's face darkened.
It's better not to explain.
If it’s not that unbearable, isn’t it still unbearable?
It’s just that he is obsessed with military affairs, so he is not angry.
Xia Zhibai asked: "Does Your Highness value firearms?"
Zhu Di nodded seriously and said: "Now, except for my father, I am the one who values firearms the most. I The camp is equipped with the most and the most sophisticated firearms.”
Zhu Di didn't lie.
He indeed values firearms the most.
Because his fiefdom is in Peiping, he almost faces the Mongolian impact.
The King of Jin and the King of Qin are in Guanzhong, with Longxi behind them. This is a natural strategic buffer zone. The defense line is much thicker than that of Peking and Liaodong. However, the Hebei side is not as thick as Longxi. In the buffer zone, the defense line is extremely thin. There is only the Great Wall of the Ming Dynasty and military posts in various places.
Once the Mongolian army breaks through the defense line, they will almost face the Mongolian army directly.
The nomadic tribes in the grasslands are good at riding.
The Ming Dynasty was short of horses, and it was difficult to gain the upper hand in cavalry confrontations.
The Mongols are a nation on horseback. They are proud of their scimitars and fast horses. Faced with this situation, everyone from Zhu Yuanzhang to the lower-level soldiers has a very clear way to defeat the swordsman. The best way is to be faster than his knife.
The only thing in the world that can be faster than the Mongolian scimitar is firearms.
With the kings of Jin and Qin sitting in the middle of Guanzhong, with Longxi as their back and a huge depth, Zhu Di became the eldest vassal king of Beidamen. He naturally had to shoulder the greatest responsibility for guarding the territory. Therefore, He attaches great importance to firearms. The firearms equipment ratio in his army is far higher than the prescribed 10%.
Because of this.
Beiping Guards Station is allowed to manufacture firearms.
He also has relevant government agencies responsible for the research, development and manufacture of firearms.
Xia Zhibai said: "The Ming Dynasty did attach great importance to firearms, but not enough."
"Iron is needed to make firearms, but the imperial court used most of the good iron. Instead of forging knives and swords, not much was used to make firearms. This also led to the fact that the firearms of the Ming Dynasty did not receive much improvement or improvement in these years. "The lack of power of firearms also caused the imperial court. Up and down, underestimated the strategic position of firearms."
“In my opinion, the emergence of firearms will have epoch-making significance for war. With the development of firearms, future wars in the world will be significantly different from past wars. In the past, wars were dominated by cold weapons such as swords and spears, but the emergence of firearms will bring the world's war into the era of hot weapons. "
"The strategies and tactics that many generals believe in will become obsolete."< br>
“It may even be eliminated.”
“At the same time, many things that have been submerged in the long river of history will also be renovated and reused.”
"For example, a tank!"
"This is just one aspect."
"The most important thing is to maximize the threat of firearms."
"As much as possible Give full play to the speed, ruthlessness and high damage of firearms, and cause powerful damage to the enemy before they come into contact. You can even directly clear the ground with artillery. As long as your range is far enough and farther than the opponent's known distance, you can attack the enemy by surprise. The impact caused by the enemy will be unprecedented."
"The current Ming Dynasty does not have strategies and tactics based on firearms."
"Most of them are supplemented by firearms, mainly cavalry and infantry."
"If you still stick to old ideas and opinions and don't keep pace with the times and make improvements, you will suffer a big loss sooner or later, because you will His firearms have not improved, but other people’s firearms have not. When others attack Daming with firearms that can shoot more accurately, shoot farther, and are more destructive, Daming can’t even fight back.”
"Because you can't hit them."
"When your cavalry rushes over, you are destined to suffer heavy losses."
"If other people's cavalry is equally skilled, before your cavalry rushes over, they will If you retreat directly, you will only suffer losses again and again.”
"If you fall behind, you will be beaten. Why could the Mongolian cavalry sweep across the world in the past?"
"It is because their firearms are more advanced than those of the Song Dynasty."
"They directly blasted the city wall with cannons."< br>
"Future wars will be the home of firearms. If you don't pay attention to firearms and don't take firearms as the main development goal, you are destined to suffer big losses. When the court is hurt and afraid of being beaten, it will start researching firearms. It is destined to be too late, and it is destined to pay a bloody price."
Xia Zhibai looked solemn.
He learned the history of opening up the country with foreign guns and artillery.
We know how much trauma backwardness will cause to this ancient country.
The Ming Dynasty attached great importance to firearms, but did not pay much attention to them.
The emphasis was because Zhu Yuanzhang had tasted the benefits of firearms. The Poyang Lake water battle with Chen Youliang was a feat of firearms, destroying dozens of Chen Youliang's warships and killing countless enemies. There was also the subsequent siege of the city and the Northern Expedition. Firearms have all played a role.
However, due to the abnormal financial system of the Ming Dynasty, the improvement of firearms in the Ming Dynasty was very slow. Unless they were forced to do anything, they would not think of changing it.
This further led to the backwardness of combat tactics.
One step slowly and one step slowly.
In the end, we completely distanced ourselves from the rest of the world.
"Future wars will be dominated by firearms?" Zhu Di murmured softly.
There was still some disbelief in my eyes.
He valued firearms.
I just like the disturbing effect of firearms. The huge roar caused by firearms will disturb the opponent's horses, which will give the Ming cavalry a chance to charge into the battle. In this situation where the enemy is in chaos, A round of rush can basically achieve great results.
He is very useful for this tactic.
But according to Xia Zhibai, future wars will become more and more bizarre. There will even be no hand-to-hand contact. They will start shooting with firearms directly from dozens of steps away, or use them in advance. Artillery washes the ground, and when the bombardment is almost done, people are sent to clean the battlefield. In this case, many tactics have to change.
This change is a series.
Qiu Fu frowned and said, "You must be worrying too much."
"Do you know how much firearms cost? How expensive is gunpowder?"
"If you really press Do you think this will cost hundreds of thousands or millions of dollars to win this battle?”
“This is a war, is this a waste of money?”
"Beiyuan has firearms, but they are not as good as ours."
"How can a humble place like Beiyuan squeeze out so much money? Give them ten years and they won't be able to get so many firearms and gunpowder."
Qiu Fu looked disdainful.
He felt that Xia Zhibai was too alarmist.
How can a war be fought like this?
He has been fighting for decades and has never seen anything like this.
Xia Zhibai glanced at Qiu Fu, shook his head in disappointment, and said: "Just because you haven't seen it, it doesn't mean there isn't one. It doesn't mean there won't be one now, and it doesn't mean there won't be one in the future."
"Today's firearms and gunpowder It is true that the cost is high, but in the final analysis, it is not a problem with the firearms, but a problem with the court.”
“Today’s military craftsmen are seriously insufficient in number, their technology is not refined, the quality of raw materials is uneven, and the scrap rate is high. This resulted in high costs. "
"The imperial court did not pay enough attention to firearms, which further created a vicious cycle. Military craftsmen had insufficient funds, and the quality of firearms developed continued to decline, and production capacity continued to decrease. The scale has also shrunk again and again. "
"How can we produce high-quality and low-cost firearms under such conditions?"
(End of this chapter)