Chapter 342 Continues to Expand
To test whether the quality of a rifle can meet combat requirements, it is not enough to just fire a few shots at a fixed target to confirm the accuracy. Application tests in various real combat environments, and even performance under certain extreme conditions, must be conducted to determine whether this new rifle meets the standards required by the military. Especially as one of the first rifles to use rifled shooting, the wear resistance and service life of the rifling is a very important performance index, which will directly affect the actual performance of the rifle, and this index cannot be measured by just firing a few shots. of.
After the preliminary trial by officers, this rifle will also be sent to the military barracks shooting range in Port Victory for daily use testing for at least one month. This test will be more comprehensive than the current target practice. At the same time, problems that arise during actual use will be sorted out and further improvement plans will be proposed before entering the final stage of mass production. As for when it can be fully deployed into the army, even "Haihan Military Industry" dare not guarantee it, because according to the current production efficiency, unless the production lines of other types of muskets are stopped first, otherwise this new rifle The output is likely to be unable to keep up with the expansion of the militia establishment.
Of course, if the military approves this new rifle and is willing to place an order for it, then "Haihan Military Industry" will definitely expand the production line in order to meet the military's requirements in the shortest possible time. As for the matchlocks and flintlock guns currently produced, "Haihan Military Industry" will not give up easily. Although these weapons are very primitive in the eyes of time travelers, they were still the black technology leading the era in the 17th century, even if the militia themselves eliminated them. No, there will still be a lot of export targets. Even primitive rifles like matchlocks can be sold for decades as long as they are properly operated.
As for the test firing of the imitation Whitworth rifle, Old Morgan, the only semi-professional sniper in the crossing group who had undergone systematic training, was specially recruited. During the several overseas military operations of the militia, Old Morgan always brought his precious M200 sniper rifle with the team, but in fact it was rarely used. This is not because Old Morgan's skills are not good enough, but It's because he is reluctant to shoot and waste precious bullets in most situations. This kind of special ammunition has basically no possibility of reloading in this time and space. Every time it is used, it will lose one round. Therefore, Old Morgan's own daily training is also greatly affected, and there is no way to maintain regular live ammunition training.
Morgan was fully involved in the design and production of the Whitworth rifle replica, and gave many unique opinions from the perspective of a sniper. Since it has been determined from the design stage that this type of rifle has a complex process and high cost, even if it is finalized, its output cannot be too large. Since there is no need to consider cost factors too much, Morgan is very meticulous in the process, and even requires A small section of handmade Picatinine rail is installed on the outside of the gun to facilitate the fixation of an external sight specially designed for this gun.
Since Morgan was already very familiar with this new sniper gun, rather than calling this live fire a test firing, it would be more accurate to say it was a demonstration of weapon performance. Morgan first explained the general performance of the gun to the people present in half-formed Mandarin, and then used a rifle sample equipped with a scope to shoot at the badge target at a distance of 500 meters. The professional's operation did not disappoint the audience. At this distance, Morgan actually shot eight out of ten shots. This basically means that the snipers trained by the militia in the future should also be able to reach the same level in theory—— In addition to weapons, of course it also depends on the teaching level of teacher Morgan and the quality of the students.
After demonstrating the performance of the weapon, Morgan was far more excited than the audience, because for him, being able to personally lead a special combat team was more fulfilling than training a group of barefoot doctors in the medical system. Qian Tiandun's success in Annan has given the military a signal that as long as you have a skill, it is not difficult to become the creator of an army. After Qian Tiandun formed a special operations company and achieved results, Wang Tom's appointment as the top commander of the navy also verified this rule again. For these military personnel who want to make achievements on the battlefield, it is undoubtedly an excellent shortcut to directly establish a new unit trained and managed by themselves, and now Morgan seems to have seen the hope of embarking on this shortcut.
Yan Chujie and others later also test-fired this gun, but what impressed them deeply was not the accuracy of this gun within the effective range, but the huge recoil when shooting. If it hadn't been for Morgan's warning, at least half of the people would have been injured in the shoulder by the butt of the gun the first time they used it. Even so, it is generally believed that this kind of gun is not suitable for long-term continuous shooting, but this feature is very consistent with its purpose. After all, in actual combat, it is unlikely that a sniper will fire continuously like an ordinary rifleman.
Military officials generally agree with the performance of this 19th-century sniper rifle. Although its performance is far inferior to the mass-produced weapons brought during time travel, weapons that can be mass-produced under existing conditions are truly worthy of the military's attention. It is conceivable that after the emergence of snipers in the army, they can use decapitation-style attacks against the enemy. First, they remove the opponent's command personnel to disintegrate their combat effectiveness. The actual combat effect should be quite prominent.
Of course, as an elite unit among infantry, the training period and difficulty of snipers are far greater than that of ordinary infantry, and even more difficult than that of artillery, which is still in short supply. Even based on Morgan's more optimistic estimate, it would be great to be able to train ten to twenty basically qualified snipers in a year based on a hundred people, but the actual situation may be far worse than the estimate.
Military personnel basically recognized the performance of the two new rifles and quickly signed the acceptance procedures. However, this signature does not mean that these two guns have been finalized. What will follow is a series of long-term tests, and then the military will need to calculate the actual needs and place an order with "Haihan Military Industry", and this order must eventually be executed. The committee's approval was passed.
"Old Bai, you must find a way to lower this price. Such a high cost will be very difficult to discuss at a meeting. If the budget is not passed by then, you will still not get the money." Officially. After finishing the work, Tao Donglai was not idle and immediately began to bargain with Bai Kesi.
Bai Kesi cried out bitterly: "Old Tao, who of us is following whom? This thing used by my own army is so cheap, am I going to deliberately rip it off? The current cost is not much. Think about how many parts of this new gun are made of Hand-made? And the rifling process is not much more complicated than the previous muskets, and the bullets have to be re-produced, which is all money!"
"We all understand your difficulties, but the price really needs to be controlled." Yan Chujie also came over to help: "The military expenditures recovered from Annan in January have already been used to expand the army and navy. This year, The Executive Committee’s military budget doesn’t have much money to support large-scale re-equipment of the troops. Do you think it would be easier to reduce the price, or to ask the Executive Committee to specially approve additional military expenditures of 100,000 and 80,000?”
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"Okay, stop talking. I can't talk to you." Bai Kesi waved his hand and said: "The cost is there. If you think any part is unreasonable, just point it out. I will reduce the cost as much as possible."< br>
No matter what the final outcome of the bargaining between several executive committee members is, it will be at least two or three months before we see the emergence of a fully-formed militia armed with new rifles. Therefore, the vast majority of military personnel were not very concerned about whether they could get approval from the Executive Committee for additional military expenditures as soon as possible. As soon as the business was done, they surrounded Tom Wang and asked him for the details of the two battles at Lijiazhuang and Dangan Island. .
Wang Tom himself felt that the two battles were lackluster, but he also understood the mood of his colleagues who stayed at the base camp and did not get a chance to fight, so he greeted readily: "How about this, I'm free tonight Let's all come to Pier 3 of Victory Port and have a seafood barbecue party on the "Speed". Let's chat while eating. This time we went to Panyu to fight. When we came back, Lijiazhuang sent a lot of good wine. I brought some specially. Come back, let’s try it together!”
"Commander Wang is so wise!" someone in the crowd joked. Ever since Tom Wang became the supreme commander of the navy, someone has given him the new nickname of "Commander Wang" - if nothing else happens, he will most likely be the first navy commander after the navy is formally established in the future. In 1989, Tom Wang was appointed.
On June 7, the Haihan delegation led by Schneider made a special trip to Yacheng to congratulate the new governor of Yazhou, Zhang Qingzhang, who had finally received the appointment letter. In addition to sending generous gifts, Schneider was also tasked with finalizing land acquisition plans for Fenghuang Town and Tianya Town with Yacheng.
"Mr. Shi, does the executive committee want to include all the areas west of Nanshan Town?" Zhang Qing asked in disbelief.
Two months ago, when Zhang Qing went to Victory Port to attend the first anniversary of the Haihan people's settlement, the two parties had already finalized a part of the land ownership conversion agreement, and included almost all the land east of Fenghuang Town under the name of the Haihan people. . In Zhang Qing's view, this was actually a remarkable move. It was tens of thousands of acres of land. It would take at least three to five years for the Haihan people to digest such a large area. Maybe by then I have been promoted to a higher position and transferred out of Yazhou, so I don't have to take the blame for these dark histories. But Zhang Qing didn't expect Haihan's appetite to be so big. Only two months had passed since the last agreement reached between the two parties, and the Haihan people once again made new land demands. The area between Nanshan Town and Fenghuang Town is almost twice the size of the land that was transferred last time. If this land is really transferred, then the entire Yazhou will basically only be around Yacheng. A piece of the area is still under the rule of the government - of course this must also ignore the local Yacheng garrison that is gradually being replaced by the Haihan Militia.
"Master Zhang, do you think there is anything wrong?" Schneider asked pretending to be puzzled: "We have recognized the land registration fee, and we have recognized the taxes that need to be paid. Whose name is the land in? To Yacheng Is it important for you adults? ”
Zhang Qing secretly cursed shamelessly, thinking that the land you registered has never shrunk drastically. Victory Port occupies so much land, but only registered two hundred acres... Your port business district only has more than two hundred acres. Are you okay? Although the land newly registered last time was a little more generous and counted as two thousand acres, it was all registered as wasteland and mountains. There was no tax to bear at all. As for the land registration fee... well, this was shared by several adults in the state capital. Well, there’s nothing to say about that.
Zhang Qing coughed and said: "You have occupied so much land in Yazhou. This will attract the attention of the city in the future, and it will be inconvenient for you."
Schneider nodded and said: "What Mr. Zhang said makes sense, and we have already considered this possible disadvantage. So this time we plan to change the way and register the land in individual names in a piecemeal manner - of course these individuals They are all designated by us. If there are hundreds of landowners in this area, it doesn’t seem abnormal, right?”
Zhang Qing didn't expect that the other party would hold back his words. He wanted to refute him but felt that he was a little short of words. To say that the Haihan people were unruly, they did not do any substantive illegal activities, and all the land they acquired was registered with Yacheng officials. But to say that they abide by the rules, what they do is indeed a bit too flamboyant. Some time ago, many people came to Yacheng to complain, saying that the Haihan people sent militia groups to drive away the people living in the Linchun River and Sanya River areas, and even arrested many people and demolished their houses. They were like bullies. .
If he had not seen the strength of the Haihan people before and accepted the benefits of the Haihan people, Zhang Qing would probably have treated the Haihan people as bullies and punished them. But the Haihan people obviously put everything first. Even if these people went to Yacheng to complain, the government would not dare to let them make the matter bigger, let alone take the initiative to trouble the Haihan people. Nowadays, there are two to three hundred Haihan militiamen stationed inside and outside Yacheng for a long time. If there is any disturbance, Yacheng may change its owner overnight.
As for the original navy and guard army, Zhang Qing no longer had any expectations for them. He Wenhui and Luo Shengdong of Shuizhai are both green grassroots who are blind to money and act according to the wind. Now they have pulled out all the warships of the navy to transport goods to the Haihan people. Except for some sailors who are still serving, the soldiers are basically They all quietly deregistered and went to Shengli Port to work for the Haihan people. The armed personnel currently stationed in the navy are basically members of the Haihan militia. Although the Ming Dynasty flag is still hung on the gate of the water village, even the people of Yacheng now know that the Haihan people have the final say in that place.
The Guard Army is not much better than the Navy. Zhang Qianhu, who is also on the threshold of retirement, does not care about anything now and has handed over affairs to several deputies - it is said that these deputies have positions in the Haihan Militia. They are all "platoon leaders." If the Haihan people need it, they can take over Yacheng's city defense at any time.
"I have just taken over, and there are many matters that still need to be dealt with. I hope you will not be anxious about registering the land. After I have handled all the matters, I will definitely handle it for you." Since I don't have the confidence to refuse. , Zhang Qing didn't want to agree too readily and appear worthless, so he could only resort to delaying.
Schneider smiled, as if he understood Zhang Qing's little plan, and said calmly: "Whether this procedure is completed or not, in fact, it doesn't matter to us. The reason why I took the initiative to contact Mr. Zhang, It still depends on the good cooperative relationship between the two parties. The executive committee hopes to maintain this cooperative relationship for a long time. This sincerity must be felt by Mr. Zhang, right? If Mr. Zhang finds it inconvenient, it’s okay not to do it. I will take my leave and not disturb your work.”
"Wait a minute!" Zhang Qing saw Schneider getting up and preparing to leave, so he quickly tried to persuade him to stay: "Everything is easy to discuss, why should Mr. Shi be so anxious? I didn't say no, but in such a vast area, the measurement of land is not easy. It will take quite some time, don’t you think so, Mr. Shi?”
Zhang Qing did not dare to let Schneider go just like that, because the warning in the other party's words was very obvious. What made them feel "indifferent" was probably not only the land procedures, but also the existence of the Yacheng government. Schneider almost said, "I only treat you as a person if I give you face. If I don't give you face, I can ignore you at any time."
Face to face with Schneider and righteously rebuke this lawless person? Zhang Qing could only have this kind of thought flash in his mind, but he would never dare to express it. Zhang Qing, as a person involved, knows how the Zhang family's father-in-law and son-in-law came to power. If it weren't for the Haihan people who provided money, effort and advice behind the scenes, Zhang Qing might not have been able to find a chance to be promoted to the prefecture if he served as general judge for two or three terms. Now sitting in this position, with Luo Shengdong, his son-in-law, in charge of the military, and with overseas Han people as strong support, at least no one in Yacheng dares to speak against Zhang Qing - even if there is such ignorance A powerful person will immediately shut up if he uses the shield of "Haihan".
When we went to Victory Port last time, the leading figure in Haihan said very openly that for them there are only two kinds of people in the world, one is a partner and the other is an enemy. If there are no common interests, then partners will also become enemies - Zhang Qing does not want to be treated as an enemy by the Haihan people, otherwise he is likely to become the state official with the shortest reign in the history of Yazhou.
Zhang Qing definitely cared more about his current official position and future development prospects than the land he didn't know who it belonged to, so he quickly judged the importance and made a decision: "Come here, go notify the backyard. Prepare for the banquet. I want to have a talk with Mr. Shi today about the future of Yazhou! ”
It’s almost the end of the month. Let’s take a look and see if you still have any monthly votes that you forgot to vote for. Come and throw them over.
(End of chapter)