At the Hordas Arsenal in Bohemia, engineers are testing weapons. Twenty experimenters raised their guns at the same time and fired at the range in front of them.

After a burst of gunshots, weapon designer Holman Stelen stepped forward to take a look, calculated the parameters as quickly as possible, and said with satisfaction: "Qualified." ”

The parameters are as follows:

Caliber: 7.92 mm

Weight: 4.2 kg

Length: 1417 mm

Barrel length: 920 mm

Bullets: Paper shell acorn-shaped buckshots

Loading method: rear loading

Rate of fire: 12-15 rounds / min

Muzzle velocity: 410 m/s

Effective range: 650 meters

Maximum firing range: 1512 meters

Feed: Single-shot feed

The director of the arsenal, Hordas, came up with a smile and said, "Congratulations, Mr. Stelen, you have designed another excellent rifle.

This rifle is very good, it allows soldiers to reload while lying down and prostrate, and the accuracy of close-range shooting is still higher than that of most rifles.

I heard that the Prussians have changed their rifles on a large scale, and we have also brought in a few of their rifles, and the performance is not as good as ours. ”

Holman Stelen said calmly: "Mr. Holdas, this is only a laboratory product, and it is still unknown whether it can be produced on a large scale.

In fact, there have been a lot of advanced firearms manufactured in our laboratories over the years, but because of the cost of production, there are very few of them with assembly value.

For example, the previous 1850 series rifle has much better performance than this in all aspects, and we have to give up because of the production cost. ”

As a weapons design expert, the first thing you have to learn is to give up. The weapon is not as advanced as possible, and the comprehensive cost is taken into account.

In terms of design, it is a rifle that will be a hundred years later, and it is unknown whether it can be designed or not.

Holman Styren was used to it, and more than 95 percent of the weapons he designed were lying in the laboratory, and it was still unknown whether the rifle, while good, would be able to fit the Austrian army.

Hordas said optimistically: "It doesn't matter, now that the war in the Near East is raging, we can sell it to the Duchy of Montenegro for trial, as long as it proves the excellence of this rifle in actual combat, it is impossible for the military to refuse."

Technically, this rifle is much less demanding than the 1850 series, and I can preliminarily judge that the production cost of this rifle will not be much higher than that of the current rifle. ”

It can't be said that His Majesty the Emperor ordered to design a breech-loading rifle suitable for the use of the Austrian army, right?

Almost every Austrian arsenal has now produced sample guns, and more than a dozen breech rifles have already appeared on the shooting range in the palace, and judging by experience, Hordas believes that this rifle has a good chance of winning.

Cheapness, ease of operation, and stable performance are the advantages of this rifle. The only disadvantage is that the lethality is slightly lower, but the accurate hit rate and the advantage of being able to reload on your stomach can still make up for this.

Now only the last link of actual combat is missing, and the war in the near East is a good opportunity.

After the outbreak of the war, the Duchy of Montenegro relied on Austria's logistical supply, and in order to facilitate supply, it has been fully equipped with Austrian weapons, and now it has become a testing ground for Austrian weapons.

The Austrian military also sent weapons observers to collect the actual combat parameters of various weapons as an important reference factor for the future rearmament of the troops.

Holmann-Staylon said seriously, "Well, Mr. Hordas. You arrange it as soon as possible, this time I will personally lead the team to the battlefield to collect information. ”

"No! The battlefield is too dangerous, you are Austria's best weapon design expert, and you can't take any chances. Hordas said excitedly

Holman Stelen smiled and said, "Don't worry, the Montenegrins will keep us safe, and if you don't worry, you can also apply for the military to send someone to escort us."

The danger is relative, and if God wants to take me away, even if I stay in the country, there will be an accident. ”

……

Schönbrunn Palace, the new rifle of the Hordas Arsenal has appeared on the shooting range, and Franz has skillfully completed the loading and shooting.

Maybe it's because of his talent, his shooting skills are really ashamed. If you can shoot a fixed target within 100 meters, you can not miss the target is God bless.

Franz has always believed that this is due to the poor performance of the rifle, and the recoil is too strong, which causes the bullet to miss the target. The proof is that the bullet kill rate after each major war is calculated to be thousands or tens of thousands of bullets to kill an enemy.

"Bang, bang, bang......"

After the gunfire ended, Franz's face turned green all of a sudden, and he actually hit the target next door, and no one had the ability to miss the target.

There was a thud, and the little ones laughed gloatingly, and Franz glared at him and found the culprit.

"Is it so funny, isn't it just that the bullet misses the target, what's so strange?"

Franz had been accumulating power for a long time, and his three younger brothers and two cousins all couldn't help themselves, looking at that look very cute.

Suppressing the ridicule of a few little guys, Franz smiled and said, "Come and try it, pay attention to keep your distance." ”

None of these rifles have ever been played with, if they are used as breech rifles, just look at Franz's performance just now, the bullet can be offset by more than ten meters.

"Bang, bang, bang......"

A series of gunshots rang out, and after glancing at the target from a distance, Franz rubbed his eyes in disbelief, could they all be gods?

It turns out that he thinks too much, everyone's hit rate is not good, and he can be considered a master if he can leave a bullet on the target.

"Cousin Franz, you're still the last one!" Princess Sissi exclaimed

Franz glared at him, and he decided that he would increase the time of her etiquette class when he went back, because he really didn't know the rules.

Is it necessary to say something so obvious? You must know that the youngest of the participants in target shooting is only ten years old, so where does this leave Franz with face?

"Elizabeth, pay attention to the image!" Sister Princess Helen reminded

"What happened?" In the distance, the voice of Queen Sufi was heard

Seeing Franz's ugly face, no one answered the question. Looking at everyone's expressions of wanting to laugh and holding back, and glancing at the target on the field, the Queen Mother Sophie burst out laughing.

While laughing, he also pointed to Franz and said, "Yes, there has been progress, Franz, you have finally broken the record of the five rings." ”

At this time, everyone realized that Franz had an extra bullet hole in his target. I don't know who just sent the bullet flying and hit it by mistake.

The laughter of the crowd could not be held back any longer, and Franz said helplessly: "It's almost enough, continue the live-fire training." ”

Archduke Karl patted Franz on the shoulder with a smile and said, "Look, I told you to go hunting with me, you didn't go by yourself, now you know that it's a shame, right?"

Don't be discouraged, just go out hunting with me a few more times and your marksmanship will catch up with them. ”

Franz nodded cooperatively, as if to say: his bad marksmanship is because he has too much homework, and he usually lacks practice, as long as he practices hard, he will definitely be able to catch up.

Hunting, it is impossible to hunt. Franz was self-aware, and as far as his marksmanship was a hundred meters away, it was unknown whether an elephant could concentrate there.

He didn't bother to shoot the prey inside pheasants and rabbits, it was purely a waste of bullets. Franz finally understood why many shotguns in the folk were shot out in a large area.

"Father, why didn't you go out hunting today?" Franz asked, confused

"Seeing that you guys are having such a good time, he wants to come over and teach you how to shoot." Queen Sophie said first

"Yes, your marksmanship is so bad, it's just a disgrace to the nobles, I'll come and teach you how to use a gun." Grand Duke Karl said aggrievedly

Franz probably guessed the reason and said decisively: "Yes, that's great." You just teach them, I still have to go first. ”

With that, Franz turned and left. As if there was really something, I was in a hurry to deal with it.

This is a panacea, the Viennese court has rules, and no one can interfere with the emperor's official affairs.

Even the Queen Mother Sufi, knowing that Franz was stalling for time, could not do anything. Under normal circumstances, the betrothed parents of European nobles were enough, and Franz was clearly abnormal.

Faced with a son who was too assertive, she also felt pressure.

Franz was under even more pressure, and at this time, after the outbreak of the engagement war, how should the royal family deal with itself?

……

saint petersburg

Inside the Coors Manor, in the middle of summer in August, the interior is still cold.

"Ladies and gentlemen, we can't go on like this, the expeditionary forces on the front line are already massively re-equipped with Austrian weapons, or it won't be long before the entire Russian Army will be equipped with weapons produced by the Austrians.

What are we going to do then, to close the arsenal? Or to compete for a narrow private market and sell hunting rifles? An old man said indignantly

The presiding officer of the meeting, Kurs, advised: "Mr. Ivanov, calm down. It's not that bad, and there's no way the government can watch us all finish.

It's a time of war, and everything is going to be in the service of war. The logistics of our front-line army are all supplied by the Austrians, and it is impossible to kick them out.

After the war is over, it will be our time. The government also does not want to see the Austrians take control of our military production, and then our market will come back. ”

Everyone came for profit, and both the military and the government were very dissatisfied with the inferior weapons they produced, and the expeditionary force was equipped with Austrian weapons on a large scale.

Stupidity, bigness, and coarseness are the consistent characteristics of Russian weapons, and if there is only this shortcoming, the military will put up with it, the problem is that these weapons and equipment are often jammed, and if they don't do well, they will be blown up.

If there is no choice, or if everyone is the same weapon, then forget it. The problem is that now Britain, France, and Austria have surpassed them, and even the Ottomans on the opposite side have begun to change to new weapons.

In order to win the war, in order to increase the chances of saving your life on the battlefield. The officers at the front demanded a change of outfit, and their interests in the government could not be suppressed, so they could only buy Austrian equipment for the expeditionary force to redress.

The young man complained: "Mr. Coors, even if the market returns, I will have to face competition from the Austrians." The military is used to Arcane weapons, will they still use our rags?

Sorry, I'm too blunt. Compared with our European counterparts, the weapons and equipment we produce are indeed a generation behind.

Don't you want to change, the government can't tolerate it forever, and if we continue like this, we will be eliminated sooner or later. ”

Coors laughed, and then explained, "Little Peter, you're still too young, didn't Old Peter tell you?"

On the surface, we have joined forces to monopolize the supply of weapons and equipment in the country, and we must be rich in oil.

In fact, we don't make much money, and how much does the army spend every year to replace weapons and equipment? For less than 10 million rubles, almost half of this money will be divided, and the rest will be used to buy equipment.

The research and development of weapons is full of uncertainties, and more than 90 percent of the weapons and equipment that have come out have no actual combat value, and more than 95 percent of the weapons cannot make money.

In this case, if we can't squeeze the maximum profit of each weapon, how can everyone's interests be protected?

Originally, the time when everyone got rich was during the war. Unfortunately, the biggest peach of the Russo-Turkish war was taken away by the Austrians. ”

Little Peter lowered his head in frustration and did not speak. The arms market is limited, and there are too many people sharing the cake.

In addition, it is a monopoly operation, and the research and development of new weapons cannot bring them greater profits, so everyone will naturally not be active.

A middle-aged man said in a deep voice: "Since we can't stop the costume change, then it's better to just join in."

Send someone to buy the production line from the Austrians, and we produce it ourselves. The expeditionary force needs them to provide logistics, and we have no way to fight for that market.

But we have to occupy the rest of the domestic market. After the end of the war, the domestic arms market remained ours. ”

Ivanov, who was angry earlier, said: "This is also a way, based on past experience, this will not end in a short time, and we can make up for the losses by joining in." ”

Little Peter was much more cautious this time, and asked uncertainly: "Will the Austrians sell me, you know that now is a good time for them to make money?" ”

Coors replied in the affirmative: "Yes, these lines are not only produced in Austria, if they don't sell, we can buy them from someone else, but they need to be modified."

Even we can produce it domestically, but it's not very easy to use. In order to save costs, everyone is used to importing from abroad. ”