Chapter 366: Arms sales are just the beginning
At this moment, in Enrique's eyes, Yan Chujie does not look like the military leader of an armed group, but a shady and evil profiteer - you are just showing off the performance of the new weapons to me, and after that, you actually say " "Not for sale", doesn't this torture people to death?
Of course, Enrique immediately thought of another possibility, that is, Yan Chujie's bragging about the new rifle was purely a means to deceive others. The Haihan people had not built any new rifle at all, and the thing he saw in front of him was just a show. It's just a decoration. However, he quickly rejected this assumption. Even without mentioning the Haihan people's good reputation in business, their courage to sell weapons to Portugal already shows that they must have some countermeasures in their hands - in the end The most effective thing is to create weapons with better performance and greater lethality.
Next, Yan Chujie introduced to Enrique several main artillery pieces produced by Haihan. At present, the artillery produced by "Haihan Ordnance Industry" is mainly divided into four categories: army guns, naval guns, large-caliber coastal defense guns and export-type artillery. With the division of functions among various arms and the gradual improvement of production processes, the specifications and burden functions of artillery have begun to be more detailed. Coast defense artillery alone has several different sizes of 12 pounds, 18 pounds, and 24 pounds. model, and the design department is already secretly trial-producing a 48-pounder with a larger caliber. The army artillery also includes 6-pound and 12-pound main artillery, as well as large-caliber mortars for sieges, 3-pound small guns dedicated to mountain special operations forces, etc.
Although Yan Chujie did not mention too much about the performance parameters of the artillery during his explanation, Enrique could still judge one thing from such a rich product line: the level of Haihan people's cannon casting is indeed quite high. This is definitely not the case. Second-tier arms dealers such as the Portuguese Chamber of Commerce or the Dutch East India Company, which lack production capabilities, can be compared. The Haihan people claim that they can export arms to Western countries, but it seems that they are not bragging.
Of course, rather than looking at these samples in the showroom, Enrique would prefer to go to the place where these weapons are made and take a look. He also knew that there was a fairly large workshop in the Tiandu area inland, where thousands of naturalized laborers worked day and night to produce various industrial products for the Haihan people, including these quilts. A weapon used by the Haihan people to attack cities and seize territory. It is a pity that everything about Tiandu Industrial Zone is shrouded in fog from the outside world. Very few outsiders can enter the area under strict military control. Since the opening of Victory Port, it is said that only "Fu Ruifeng" "Li Nai, the young master's family, Luo Shengdong, a Ming army officer from Yacheng, and a few other people went there. After that, these people did not mention a word about what they had seen and heard, and they did not know what kind of ecstasy drug they had been given by the Haihan people.
However, Enrique also knew very well that he could not go to Tiandu, at least it was impossible to go there through normal channels. The roads in and out of Tiandu are said to have militia checkpoints, and it is impossible to pass without a certificate issued by the relevant department. Of course, Enrique can't get in even if he has a certificate. His appearance is so eye-catching that he doesn't even have the chance to pretend to be an employee. .
After looking at the displays in the showroom with deep resentment, Enrique couldn't wait to urge Yan Chujie: "Mr. Yan, can we go to the shooting range now?"
"No problem, let's go now." Yan Chujie also felt that he had almost whetted Enrique's appetite, and responded with a smile.
Out of the pride of a veteran empire citizen and the fear of Haihan, a new opponent, Enrique actually did not want to see Haihan's weapons really as powerful as Yan Chujie described. But from the perspective of a businessman, he couldn't help but have expectations for the performance of Haihan weapons. After all, the profits in the arms trade were considerable. If the performance of Haihan weapons really exceeded those of their European counterparts, then it would be a mess. It is not a delusion to sell Haihan weapons on the European battlefield.
A full decade has passed since the outbreak of the European War in 1618. The war has gradually evolved from a civil war in Bohemia to a melee between the Protestant Union and the Holy Roman Empire. All the European powers were involved in this chaos, and no one could stay out of it. No one knew how long this war would last and what the final outcome would be. Countless people lost their families and their families because of this war. However, many people also found business opportunities from the war and made a lot of money from the war. Especially the arms dealers from various countries who had the ability to manufacture their own weapons almost all made a lot of money. The weapons are so full that in the past two years there have been no surplus weapons to sell to the Far East.
It is worth mentioning that it was during this melee that lasted for thirty years that all countries gradually evolved their military theories. In order to be able to conduct long-term and protracted operations, various countries have begun to implement conscription systems and established standing armies, reserves, and logistics supply systems. Because the combat area is too vast, the army has to streamline its organization and organization to obtain better mobility. The most important thing is that tactics have gradually evolved from cold weapons in the past to hot weapons warfare. Spearmen were replaced by musketeers, artillery became the decisive force on the battlefield, and cavalry changed from the main force in the past to Auxiliary troops. This period of tactical change is simply a once-in-a-century opportunity for arms dealers to make money.
With very conflicting feelings, Enrique finally came to the shooting range he was looking forward to and visited the live-fire training of the Haihan Militia.
The first is the live ammunition firing of the rifle. In order to compare the performance differences of the weapons, Yan Chujie asked Enrique to randomly select ten people from the soldiers participating in the training for test firing. What surprised Enrique a little was that the Haihan people actually took out a batch of matchlock guns sold by the Portuguese to South Vietnam as a test comparison. But then he thought of the source of these guns - the Haihan people captured Hoi An some time ago, and that is the only channel for all Western goods to enter South Vietnam. It must be that the inventory in the Portuguese Chamber of Commerce was dug out by the Haihan people. .
Considering that shooting accuracy varies from person to person, the test of matchlock guns mainly focuses on range and lethality. However, what made Enrique a little disappointed was that the performance of the Portuguese muskets was already significantly weaker than the Haihan people's Type 27 arquebuses in just penetrating a wooden target at a distance of a hundred paces. And when this distance was doubled again, the gap between the two sides widened even further, and the Portuguese muskets had even lost enough lethality.
After replacing the Type 27 flintlock gun, the performance gap between the two weapons was truly exposed. In terms of range, lethality, accuracy, and loading speed, Haihan's weapons were obviously superior to their opponents. In a trance, Enrique seemed to be able to see rows of South Vietnamese troops standing on the target, being beaten up by Hai Han muskets.
Then there was the new rifle that Enrique had just suspected. Enrique noticed that the loading method of this rifle was completely different from the musket he knew. There was a small movable device at the rear of the gun. The bullets and Gunpowder is loaded into the gun chamber from this place, and then the gun is fired. This loading method does not require cleaning the barrel at all, and it seems that the loading speed is indeed fundamentally improved compared to traditional front-loading guns. The subsequent shooting results left Enrique speechless. The range of this gun was twice as far as the flintlock gun he had seen before! This means that if the opponent you encounter on the battlefield is only equipped with traditional muskets, you can use the advantage of range to beat the enemy, which is no different from massacring a group of unarmed people.
Finally, Yan Chujie showed his trump card and asked someone to take out several Whitworth-style 28 sniper rifles for test firing. The slightly weird appearance of this weapon left a very deep impression on Enrique at the first time, and its performance shocked the Portuguese, who had reached the limit of his psychological endurance - this rifle could actually shoot At a distance of two miles, it hits a target half the size of a human body with a high hit rate. If he hadn't witnessed the whole process with his own eyes and signed his name on the target in advance to prevent fraud, it would be difficult for Enrique to believe that the results he saw were true.
As far as Enrique knew, the weapons used on the European battlefield, not to mention muskets, even artillery could not easily reach such a long range, not to mention such terrifying accuracy! This means that while the two armies are still in the confrontation stage, the Haihan people can use this terrifying long-range weapon to kill the commander in the enemy camp!
Can we still have a good fight? Enrique felt that the concept of war in his mind seemed to need to be redefined. If European military strategists knew that someone in the Far East had created such a magical weapon, they would all go crazy. Thinking of this, Enrique felt that Yan Chujie's previous statement that he would not sell the most advanced weapons did not seem to be a bad thing.
The subsequent artillery fire also made Enrique feel very hurt. Putting aside the advantages of the Haihan artillery in range and accuracy, Enrique was amazed by the Nalafa ignition method alone. The traditional open flame ignition method is not only dangerous, but also affected by objective factors such as weather conditions and the humidity of the ignition powder. Haihan's invention obviously eliminates these unexpected factors, and every shot can be fired at the same time. The gunner fired immediately after the order was given, minimizing the delay required for ignition.
Enrique was also amazed by the short-range explosive shells used by the Haihan artillery. Seeing this kind of shells smashing a large target into pieces, Enrique seemed to understand why the Haihan people could do so in the Battle of Lijiazhuang. With very few troops, they resisted and defeated ten times more enemies. With such terrifying shells, a small-caliber artillery can be worth the power of twenty or thirty infantry firing at the same time.
As for the shore defense artillery that Enrique really wanted to see, he was not able to see a live firing demonstration. This was not because Yan Chujie was hiding something secret, but because the shooting range here was too small to fully reflect the range of the coastal defense artillery. Due to the need for confidentiality, it was impossible for Yan Chujie to take Enrique to visit the coastal defense artillery fortifications.
"How's it going? Are Mr. Enrique satisfied with our demonstration?" Yan Chujie asked with a smile, seemingly not noticing Enrique's downcast face.
Enrique cheered up and reluctantly responded: "Well... your weapons are indeed very powerful, and I personally have no objection to that." "Then, Mr. Enrique, what do you think our weapons are compared with those of Western countries? Who is stronger?" Yan Chujie had no intention of letting him go and asked further.
"Well... to be fair... your weapons may be a little bit better..." Although he didn't want to admit this against his will, Enrique also knew that this was the case, and the gap between the two sides was not the same. Just a little bit.
"It seems we can make an appointment to sit down and talk about business." Seeing that Enrique was unable to refute, Yan Chujie finally got to the point with satisfaction: "I can tell you frankly, we need a competent person now. Powerful agents will traffic these weapons to the Western battlefield for us so that they can play their due role.”
Enrique raised his head and looked at Yan Chujie, mustering up the courage to ask: "Mr. Yan, there is something I have been thinking about for a long time and still don't understand. Why do you know that there is a war going on in Western countries?"
"How did we get the news? In fact, you don't need to know. Even if I explain it to you now, you won't understand the reason at all..." Yan Chujie rarely told the truth in front of Enrique. .
"This is simply a perfunctory excuse." Enrique silently cursed in his heart.
"I think you should focus on your future sales strategy and think about how you can sell more weapons to the warring countries and how you can use this battlefield to get more benefits, whether for yourself or for others. Your country!" Yan Chujie continued to persuade him pleasantly.
The word "country" slightly stimulated Enrique, and he blurted out: "The Portuguese Empire has no intention of actively participating in the war!"
"But your sovereign country, Spain, doesn't think so. As an ally of the Holy Roman Emperor, Spain's participation in the war is certain. As a vassal state of Spain, Portugal, of course, has no chance of staying out of the war." Yan Chujie said mercilessly. Portugal’s scars were opened.
Historically, Portugal was originally a part of Spain. In 1143, Portugal and Spain signed the "Treaty of Zamora" to declare independence. In 1297, the two countries signed the "Treaty of Okanisese" to demarcate the national border. In 1494, the two countries The Treaty of Tordesillas was signed, establishing the Papal Meridian 2,200 nautical miles west of the Cape Verde Islands as the dividing point, with Portugal in the east and Spain in the west. The two maritime empires divided the earth like cutting a watermelon, and since then Portugal has reached the pinnacle of history.
However, Portugal went into decline again during the Habsburg dynasty in the second half of the 16th century, and once again became a vassal of Spain. Although Portuguese people like Enrique will proudly claim that the Portuguese Empire is an independent and sovereign country, in fact, in today's Europe, Portugal is treated as a true slave state, and even the king is appointed by the Spanish. As for the war that Spain participated in, Portugal would inevitably be involved.
Before Enrique came to the Far East, Spain and Britain and the Netherlands had been fighting for the ownership of their overseas colonies for several years, from South America to Europe. Both sides had their own victories and losses, and the battle was fierce. Three years ago, the Portuguese fleet expelled the Dutch in Salvador, South America, and occupied the city. However, the Dutch navy has since continued to harass the Spanish fleet at sea, and combined with the British fleet to frequently attack the Portuguese coastline.
Of course, these wars were too far away in the East, and the situation here was different from that in Europe. In the Far East, the Spanish and Portuguese both competed and cooperated. On the one hand, they wanted to compete for colonies, and on the other hand, they also joined forces to fight against the powerful Dutch East India Company's continuous expansion in the Far East. Compared to the hateful Dutch, Enrique felt that the Haihan people were closer to each other. Although there was a conflict of interest between the two parties, the Haihan people had no intention of killing them all after gaining the upper hand. Instead, they had the intention of seeking cooperation in business.
So even though Yan Chujie's words did not leave a fig leaf for Portugal, Enrique did not get angry because of it. He just asked: "What does Mr. Yan mean by getting more benefits?"
"In this big melee on the continent of Europa, all the powerful countries are involved. In the end, no matter who wins or loses, the loss of strength is a certain result. If we can kill as many powerful countries as possible, , then there is actually hope for your country's re-emergence." Yan Chujie threw out the bait at the right time.
Sure enough, Enrique became interested when he heard this: "Mr. Yan means, let us sell arms to both warring parties at the same time, so that the war can last longer and the strength of these countries can be consumed more. Some?”
"Yes, Mr. Enrique, you are a very smart man! If all the politicians in your country have a mind like yours, then it will only be a matter of time before you completely get rid of Spanish rule." Yan Chujie said generously I threw a high hat to the other party, but at the same time I didn't forget to point out the theme - in fact, the arms trade can be completely connected with your great cause of resisting Spanish rule.
"But this means we have to sell weapons to our opponents? This is not a good idea." Enrique was hesitant about this. It's okay for other countries, but the Dutch are direct competitors in the Far East. , sell weapons to the enemy, and they might flow back to the Dutch East India Company in the Far East.
"I know what you are worried about." Yan Chujie observed the words and said: "The Dutch East India Company is a stumbling block for you and me. The Manchuria in the south and the Japanese route in the north are all controlled by these Dutch people. We While selling weapons, you can also think about how to work together to deal with the Dutch in the Far East.”
(End of chapter)