Traveling through history leaving a name

Chapter 74 Firearms Soldiers

Under everyone's watchful eyes, the Youzhou came from the dock to the Chaohe River very quickly.

Next, there are various sailing tests on this ship, because this is an inland river ship, so the test location is on the Ji Canal from Gunping to Quanzhou.

This ship departed from Luping to Quanzhou, but when it passed through Yuyang, it had to be equipped with cannons. Only when all the cannons were loaded would it become a fierce war machine.

Not long after, Zhang Qingfeng and a group of students boarded the gunboat that was going to Yuyang City to reload the artillery.

On the canal, the steam propeller-powered gunboat quickly went down the river, and the speed directly threw off countless ordinary merchant ships by several blocks.

"My God, what is this thing."

When many people saw the steamboat emitting black smoke on the canal, they couldn't help but exclaimed.

The speed of the steamship powered by the underwater propeller is very fast, reaching a speed of about [-] knots downstream, faster than a horse-drawn carriage, and nearly three times that of a Galen ship sailing with the wind at sea.

At this speed, compared to other boats that are less than 5 knots on the canal, it is almost the same as flying.

From Guangping City to Yuyang City, it took the steam ship more than an hour to cover the dozens of miles of canal.

Finally, the steamship docked outside Yuyang City, at a pier guarded by countless soldiers.

Next, countless huge cannons were hoisted onto the ship door by door by the crane on the dock and installed on the ship.

It took countless workers two days to install the sixty cannons. The weight of the ship was close to 150 tons, and the waterline of the ship dropped a lot.

In addition to the artillery, countless gunpowder shells were also stored in the cabin in boxes.

On the pier, Shen Kuo, the director of the military factory, pointed to some workers who were carrying the shells and said to Zhang Qingfeng and Li Bai: "Teacher, brother, besides most of these shells are ordinary shells, there are more than 600 rounds that we have newly developed. I believe that if we encounter Sun Quan's navy again, they will be sunk if they can't even get close."

"Yes, I just proposed a concept, I didn't expect that you have already developed it."

Hearing Shen Kuo's words, Zhang Qingfeng nodded, and then asked: "Is this explosive bomb reliable? It won't explode by itself, right?"

"Reliable, we have done experiments, and there is no problem in terms of safety."

"That's good." Zhang Qingfeng nodded, and then asked: "With so many cannons on one of your ships, do you have so many gunners?"

"Teacher, you can rest assured that there are many people training every day in the shooting range of the military factory. This year, dozens of artillery pieces have been destroyed." Shen Kuo explained.

"By the way, how is the production of flintlock guns? How many can be produced in a month now?" Zhang Qingfeng asked again.

"The imperial court didn't place many orders for flintlock guns, so..." Shen Kuo didn't finish his sentence, but the meaning was obvious. Without orders, there would be no mass production.

"Taibai, what happened to the five thousand Musketeers I asked you to train?" Zhang Qingfeng turned to Li Bai and asked at this moment.

Hearing Zhang Qingfeng's words, Li Bai said: "Teacher, don't worry, I've had people train according to your method for two months, and I believe I can become an army in a few months."

As the governor of Youzhou, Li Bai has the right to train the army and has the military and political power in one state.

At the end of the Han Dynasty, the powers of governors and state shepherds were very great.

The main reason why Zhang Qingfeng wanted to build the musketeers was because Cao Cao didn't pay much attention to the musketeers.

Maybe it's because older people are not easy to accept new things, or maybe they haven't seen the power of large-scale use of firearms. Cao Cao seems to be a little cold about firearms.

So Zhang Qingfeng plans to build a firearms army himself to show the power of this firearms army.

A few years ago, Zhang Qingfeng originally thought that Cao Cao would pay attention to him after he made a musket, and he would equip the army in large quantities.

However, the facts slapped him in the face. Muskets have been manufactured for several years, but they still haven't received much promotion in this era.

It can be seen from the types and quantities of weapons produced by the imperial court to Youzhou.

What Cao Cao prefers is the relatively cheap steel crossbow. This weapon is more powerful than a bow and arrow, and it does not require years of training like an archer.

The most important thing is that steel crossbows are very cheap when manufactured on a large scale using machinery.

In general, a dozen steel crossbows could be produced for the cost of one musket.

When the enemy can be defeated with a crossbow, Cao Cao is not willing to use the expensive and difficult to use musket at all.

Historically, the emergence of muskets took hundreds of years before they were accepted and used on a large scale by various countries.

The musket is very powerful and advanced, but it is a bit too advanced in this era.

The armor of this era has not yet developed to the point where it can withstand a powerful crossbow, so in Cao Cao's view, using bows and arrows is the same as using muskets.

The most important thing is that muskets are too expensive. Equipping a musket can equip more than a dozen crossbows. Considering the entire country, it is more economical and more suitable to equip a crossbow than muskets.

Of course, there is another situation that Cao Cao has never seen a war in which firearms were used on a large scale. If he knew how powerful firearms are equipped on a large scale, he might not think that way.

The reason why Zhang Qingfeng wants to build a pure firearms army is also to show Cao Cao the power of firearms and make him pay attention to the development of this aspect. After all, cold weapons will be eliminated by firearms sooner or later.

Of course, the most important thing is that with the development of Youzhou, there is more and more wealth here. If you don't have a certain strength, you may be coveted by others.

If there is always a strong military protection, others will have to consider the consequences when they want to covet you.

If someone takes advantage of his power and robs him, he might be shot in the head one day.

Regardless of Zhang Qingfeng's seemingly powerless appearance, in fact, as long as he is willing, he can pull up an army of tens of thousands of people in an instant.

Most of the composition of this army can be the security personnel of various factory workshops and factory workers.

Regardless of the inconspicuousness of the workers, basically there will be one or two military trainings every year. If these people are equipped with swords, guns and armor, their combat effectiveness will not be weak at all.

Especially the security personnel of various factories, every household has a pair of weapons, armor and crossbows, and they can form an army in an instant with just a call.

…………

Just when the entire Youzhou was preparing to take revenge on Sun Quan.

In Luoyang, after Cao Cao stayed here for half a month, he finally led his army towards Tongguan.

Historically, Cao Cao's army will break out in Tongguan this year with Ma Chao and other warlords in the historical Battle of Tongguan, also known as the Battle of Weinan.

In the Battle of Weinan, Cao Cao mainly won by strategy. This is a wonderful battle that pays attention to profound and far-sighted strategies, and uses troops flexibly to win with wisdom.

The geographical location of Tongguan is very special, just at the last turn of the Yellow River.

To the north of Tongguan is the natural barrier of the Yellow River, and to the south is the Qinling Mountains. If you want to enter Guanzhong from Luoyang, you must pass through Tongguan.

Of course, Cao Cao could also forcefully cross the west bank from Puban (now Yongji City) on the east bank of the Yellow River, but if the enemy guarded the ferry on the opposite side, Cao Cao would not be able to use it no matter how many soldiers he had.

Whether it is attacking Tongguan or Puban, Cao Cao is in a disadvantageous situation, so in history Cao Cao chose to outsmart.

He first used heavy troops to coerce Tongguan, forcing the Guanzhong coalition forces to concentrate all their troops in Tongguan, so that they would not even guard the ferry on the west bank of the Yellow River.

Under such circumstances, Cao Cao quietly sent Xu Huang to lead 4000 people across the Yellow River from Puban to the west and stationed on the west bank of the Yellow River.

Then he moved the army from the east of Tongguan to the north of the Yellow River.

Because this is where the Yellow River turns at ninety degrees, the north bank of the Yellow River is also the east bank of the Yellow River.

At this time, because Xu Huang had already established a firm foothold on the opposite bank, Cao Cao's army was able to calmly cross the Yellow River from Puban to the west.

At this time, it means that Cao Cao's army has entered Guanzhong, and it is useless for Ma Chao and other allied forces to guard Tongguan.

At this time, the only thing that the Guanzhong coalition forces had against Cao Cao was the Weihe River.

However, the Weihe River was not very big. After Cao Cao used suspicious troops to attract the attention of Ma Chao and others, he let the boats in the Yellow River sail into the Weihe River overnight to build a pontoon bridge, and successfully let the army cross to the south bank of the Weishui River.

At this time, the armies of both sides were no longer hindered by the danger of Tongguan and the natural danger of the Yellow River, and the two sides were confronted face to face.

At this time, the Guanzhong army finally gave up and wanted to surrender, surrender, and pay compensation or something.

Cao Cao agreed on the surface, but secretly sowed dissension. After all parties were suspicious of each other, he completely wiped out the Guanzhong Allied Forces in a decisive battle.

This is the famous Battle of Weinan in history.

Of course, the battle of Weinan in history has not yet happened, and the current Cao Cao has just led the army outside Tongguan.

(End of this chapter)