Du Zhongxiao stood on the hill, watching the two teams of van troops under the mountain, stepping on the drum and approaching. When the two sides were close to about thirty paces, they each stopped and began to form a team, reload gunpowder and release guns.

Yang Ji said on the side: "Tiju, why do you have to come so close?" The musket was still farther than the arrow. Wouldn't it be better to put the gun and move forward at the same time? The so-called land of one arrow, now with guns, when it is a place of gun, is the time to stand on the ground. ”

Du Zhongxiao said: "Without him, the army has tried many times, and only at this distance, the soldiers can raise their guns and shoot flat, so as to shoot enough to hit the person." Now there are guns and cannons in the army, and the place where the position is held is not a place for a gun, but a place for a gun. The thirty paces between the two teams are actually the distance between the two teams when they are using swords and guns, and they rush to the distance when they meet in close quarters in front of the enemy's formation. ”

Yang Wenguang said: "The mention is right. Now the shooting is with artillery, much farther than before. When the two armies met, it was thirty paces that the musket could hit the body, and it was more than the opposite side of the fight. ”

Yang has always been sick, but he has only recently recovered and really participated in military training. A few days ago, Yang Wenguang replaced Yang Zhen and trained the box army with Du Zhongxiao, so he was more familiar with the situation.

At this time, muskets were used to shoot in formation, which was often called queue shooting in later generations. Because it is extremely cruel, especially for the convenience of film and television performance, it is often considered that the soldiers at this time are more disciplined, more courageous, and of course more elite than the cold-armed army. In fact, no, firearms, including guns and cannons, are long-range weapons, which widen the distance between the opposing sides, and are no more cruel than in the era of cold weapons.

The musket is not compared to the bow and crossbow, but the sword, gun and spear in the hands of the soldiers in the cold weapon era, and the artillery replaces the role of the bow and crossbow. When the two armies set up their positions, the combat distance of cold weapons should be greater than that of one arrow, otherwise the formation could not be stabilized. In the age of firearms, it was greater than the general range of artillery, otherwise it would not be able to stand on its feet.

The distance of the queue to shoot corresponds to the distance when the two sides attack each other and engage in short arms in the era of cold weapons. This distance, at most, is only the ten and eight steps of the spearmen, and the combat with cold weapons is much more cruel than the firearm shooting. To use cold weapons to break through the enemy's formation, it is not a scene where the people around you are shot and fallen, but a scene of flesh and blood flying all over the sky. The army that can charge the enemy with cold weapons is bound to be the elite of the elite, and the victorious army is all one in a hundred. In the age of firearms, the requirements were much lower.

Firearms are more likely to be violent soldiers, not only because they are easy to train, but also because their requirements are much lower than those of cold weapons. In terms of discipline and physical condition, the infantry of the firearms era was much less demanding than the cold-weapon era. In the era of cold weapons, elite soldiers who dare to fight and can fight are very rare, and elite soldiers who can rush into the enemy formation are even rarer. The popularization of firearms has greatly reduced the difficulty.

The Song army paid special attention to the bow and crossbow, and the general configuration in the forbidden army was that the crossbowmen could reach six or seven percent. In other words, in the age of firearms, the role of cannons is valued, not muskets. In the words of later generations, it is the cannonism, which can use artillery to smash the enemy, and never go to others to fight hard.

From the most basic one-man to one-man shooting, to team-to-team shooting, to the capital and the battalion, Du Zhongxiao slowly began to understand the law of firearms warfare and changed some of his previous erroneous understandings. Why is a musket called a gun? Because of the role of muskets, instead of spears, instead of bows and arrows, as I used to think. In place of bows and crossbows, there are various cannons. Only by thinking clearly about this point can we truly understand how firearms should be fought today. The most important thing is not to line up and shoot, but to cooperate with guns and artillery, otherwise it will fall back from the current military level.

Realizing that muskets are equivalent to spears and axes, and artillery is equivalent to various bows and crossbows, the transition from the era of cold weapons to the age of firearms is a matter of course. According to the tradition of the forbidden army, the core should be all kinds of cannons, guns are actually in an auxiliary position, and Du Zhongxiao also believes in cannon doctrine.

For the most part of its long history, China has been the richest country, especially its neighbors. The organization of the army, from the form of operations, is the style of the rich. This is very different from the era that Du Zhongxiao is familiar with, and he has to adapt to this slowly.

With the current level of musket artillery, how will the Song army organize the battle? Shooting in line will inevitably not be taken seriously, even if the enemy is of the same level of firearms, but will be made with a large number of artillery pieces.

At this time, the Song army had a bow with a high rate of fire, and the bow was still strong and weak. There are crossbows with a slightly lower rate of fire but more powerful, hand crossbows, kick crossbows, bed crossbows, and bed crossbows are also divided into three-bull crossbows and eight-ox crossbows. Correspondingly, the army should be equipped with a large number of artillery. There are shotguns that can be loaded quickly and have a smaller and shorter range, as well as various small guns that are convenient for carrying and maneuvering, standard guns equipped with a large number of guns, and heavy guns.

This is the style of the Song army, the style of the wealthy Central Plains members fighting outside the war. It's not a bunch of bitter haha, taking muskets to fight, but a large number of artillery, bombarding the sky. Historically, the mode of warfare in the early European firearms era was not suitable for the national conditions of the Great Song Dynasty.

With the coordination of guns and artillery, the shortcomings of the Song army are poor in coordination and too scattered.

After practicing for nearly a year, Du Zhongxiao realized that they were not uncomfortable with changing the forbidden army at this time to muskets. And well-trained, with muskets are the same elite soldiers. Now the forbidden army has not changed its guns, not because of the muskets, but because they are not suitable for their form of combat. In the final analysis, it is the large number of crossbowmen in the army who are not clearly positioned. After thinking through the idea, I realized that the crossbowman was actually the gunner, and the crossbow was the cannon, and the transformation was not so complicated.

That's where intuition deceives. When I saw the musket, the range and combat action were similar to the bow and crossbow, and I thought that it was a substitute for the bow and crossbow, which was very wrong. Only in practice will it become clear what is the position of these weapons in war. Don't be deceived by the pictures of the early battles in the West in film and television dramas, thinking that the most important weapon at this time is the musket, and the most important thing is to line up and put the gun in front of the battle. They are bitter haha, and fighting a war is a bitter haha tactic. When they became rich, the form of war was different. With money and iron, the status of artillery in European operations rose rapidly.

Du Zhongxiao has the support of the iron supervisor, so naturally there will be no less artillery. Originally, when I couldn't understand clearly, I thought about using steel cannons, the quality is as good as possible, and a cannon can be used for many years. Now that we can see it clearly, we know that the cannon is not a valuable weapon, but should be widely used. With the Song army's large number of crossbowmen, the army needed a large number of artillery. Now the iron supervisor has switched to cast iron cannons, which are annealed after casting, and then precision cutting.

The muskets in the Xiang army were fired at each other, and it was of little significance to train the soldiers. Could it be more difficult for a musketeer to train than a knife player? Much simpler. Unlike the era of cold weapons, they need to fight in the case of flesh and blood, and it is much easier to put a gun far away.

The purpose of the current training is for Du Zhongxiao to figure out how the formation unfolds and how different units cooperate in the era of firearms. And then try to deduce what level of artillery to be configured to what unit, and how to coordinate the guns and artillery in the case of small-scale battles and large-scale operations.

Du Zhongxiao doesn't understand military affairs, it doesn't matter if he doesn't understand, can he learn it? It doesn't matter if there is no one to teach, you can learn in practice.

The coach did not load, and after reaching the specified distance, they simulated the release of the gun and simulated loading. On one side, there is an officer's count, and the winner is determined by the number of shots fired within the specified time.

Yang Jin said: "There are only three arrows in front of the enemy, and there are six guns below, which is a bit too much." If you are facing an enemy attack, in fact, it is rare to only fire two shots, maybe only one shot. To really face the enemy, you have to practice their marksmanship. ”

Du Zhongxiao nodded: "Not bad." What is being practiced now is actually a situation where both sides use muskets. In fact, in the face of foreign enemies, most of them are swords and guns, and when they encounter us and release their guns, they will inevitably rush up as soon as possible. How this army responds is something that needs to be practiced later. ”