In the playground of Wuchang Chengnan University, there are more than 5,000 green battalion recruits in ragged clothes who have not even been issued with uniforms, and the formation is loose, if it is not for the flag-bearer standing in front of the team, it does not look like an army. But around the formation of the recruits, there was a circle of soldiers wearing uniforms, red tasseled hats, and holding various weapons. On the high point platform, Zhang Changgeng sat in the middle, looking at these recruits with confidence. Zhou Peigong and Zhao Liangdong stood on both sides of Zhang Changgeng respectively.

On both sides of the general's stage stood many generals, deputy generals, generals, Taoist officials, prefects, governors and other officials, many of whom glanced at Zhou Peigong on the general stage from time to time, with envy and jealousy in their eyes. Why can a small seven-rank sesame official actually stand by the side of the governor? And I can only stand in the audience, which is too unfair!

Although I feel that Zhou Peigong can stand on the stage is against the ancestral system, no one dares to think of impeaching Zhang Changgeng for overstepping the system and letting Zhou Peigong stand on the stage. I was unhappy in my heart, so I had to press it in my heart.

At the four corners of the playground, a Qing soldier blew a trumpet, and the low horn sounded for a long time; On the sentry towers on both sides of the platform, a Qing soldier was beating the drum hard, and the drum rumbled and resounded through the sky.

The more than 5,000 recruits in the audience are the third batch of recruits recruited by Zhou Peigong, and the first two batches were also ragged and chaotic when they first came, but after the training of Zhou Peigong and Zhao Liangdong, there are already more than 8,000 new recruits in the green battalion. Standing around the recruit team is the new army of the green battalion that has been trained.

Zhou Peigong recruited more than 5,000 people every time, eliminated a group of unqualified ones in the training, and the rest could stay, so he had already trained two batches of recruits, only more than 8,000 people.

In order to save money, recruits who have just joined the army are not issued with uniforms, let alone weapons and armor, and only those who have passed the training will be issued with uniforms and weapons.

"The hour has come! Your Excellency the Governor speaks! There was a long cheer from the schoolyard.

The trumpeter put down the horn, the drummer stopped beating the drum, and the colonel fell into silence, waiting for Zhang Changgeng to speak.

Zhang Changgeng stood up from the Taishi chair on the Dianjiang platform, said "cough" twice, cleared his throat, made a gesture of waving, opened his voice and said: "Everyone, you are all new warriors who have joined the imperial court!" After you join the army, you will have to train for three months! As long as they can pass the training, they will become our new army! The salary of the new army of the green camp is the same as that of a standard soldier, one or two halves of silver per month! Our new army will never withhold food and military salaries, you can eat and dress well in the army, these are the money you have to pay for your life, and you will not be missing a bite to eat, and you will not be given a copper plate! With this money, you can make a good life for your family! ”

The Qing soldiers in the audience were very excited, they believed that the Governor did not deceive people, because after they signed up, they entered the barracks and were full of food, unlike the green battalions in other places, and even the food had to be deducted by the superior officers.

Zhou Peigong also knows very well that the common people in China can't just have a bite to eat, and they can sell their lives? The money for the formation of the recruits of the Green Battalion was obtained through the collection of donations by the squires in various places, as well as the special taxes levied by the Huguang generation on the squires.

However, Zhou Peigong would never prohibit his army from burning, killing, and plundering, believing that an army should rely on slaughtering cities, raping women, and looting people's property to improve morale.

It's really in history, Zhou Peigong did just that. After Wu Sangui rebelled, Zhou Peigong organized an army to block Geng Jingzhong and ******, and Zhou Peigong connived at the army to rob. After quelling the rebellion of the three feudatories and the Qing army entering Sichuan, Zhou Peigong acquiesced to Zhao Liangdong to slaughter Sichuan again, killing almost all of Sichuan, which had a small population after years of war.

The reason why it is called the Green Battalion New Army is because Zhou Peigong formed a new army this time.

Zhang Changgeng finished his speech at the enlistment ceremony of the recruits and came to the big tent of the Chinese army. As soon as he entered the tent, he saw a musket on the table.

"What kind of bird is this? Why is there no place to hang the fire rope? Zhang Changgeng picked up the musket.

"Back to my lord!" Zhou Peigong bowed down and said, "This is not a bird gun, this is a new weapon purchased by thieves from overseas, and the name is: self-generated fire gun." ”

"Self-generated firebolts? How do you make a fire without an arquebus? Zhang Changgeng asked with wide eyes.

Zhou Peigong picked up the gun and pulled the trigger again and again, only to see that the cleverly constructed combined medicine pool cover bounced open under the action of the trigger, and the dog-lock bolt continuously collided with the newly opened medicine pool, and the flint sprayed sparks. After the dog-lock bolt leaves the medicine pool, the medicine pool cover is automatically closed under the delicate structure of the combined bolt. Zhou Peigong turned the body of the gun, pointed to the medicine pool and said: "My lord, this flintlock pistol does not need a fire rope, as long as the trigger is pulled, the flint on the gun collides, and a spark will be generated, igniting the primer of the medicine pool, igniting the particles [gun] powder inside, so that the self-generated fire gun can launch projectiles." ”

"But this thing, it's too complicated, isn't it? The cost is definitely much higher than that of the bird. Zhang Changgeng shook his head.

Zhou Pei said fairly: "My lord, although the cost of this self-generated fire gun is high, but when loading the projectile, there is one less hanging fire rope than the bird gun (when the arquebus is fired, the fire rope will be bounced away by the power of gunpowder gas, so every time you have to re-hang the fire rope, sometimes the fire rope will be extinguished when it is bounced off, and it will be slower to re-ignite), so the loading speed is much faster!" And because there is no burning arquebus that threatens the gunpowder of the companions, the formation can be more dense. This self-generated fire gun also has a longer range than our bird gun, up to seventy paces! It's already possible to fight against the archers! ”

"So many benefits? Then we can let people build more! Zhang Changgeng's eyes emitted a fine light.

Zhou Peigong arched his hand and said: "My lord, the student has made the craftsman successfully imitate 500 self-generated fire guns, and now he is training self-generated fire guns; In addition, the lowly also asked people to go to the Tessie people to buy a batch of self-generated firearms. ”

"Pei Gong, you can let your self-generated fire gun hand demonstrate it to this official!" Zhang Changgeng said.

Zhang Changgeng and Zhou Peigong walked outside to the school field, and Zhao Liangdong had already gathered a group of new troops on the school field to wait. Zhang Changgeng walked into the school field and saw 500 new soldiers standing in a neat formation. Dressed in a new style of paper armor and hats with hard rattan hats, they formed neat formations with flintlock pistols in hand.

"My lord, the new paper armor worn by the new army was designed by a strange person named Xue Fengzuo! This kind of paper armor is made of multiple layers of paper together, with a silk lining, and the key parts are also made of hard rattan from Guizhou to strengthen the protection, which can not only ensure the flexibility of the self-generated fire, but also has excellent protection ability. The lowly position has been tested, and the new paper armor can largely resist the attacks of the opponent's bird guns and self-generated fire guns. Zhou Peigong introduced.

"Xue Fengzuo? The official seems to have heard of this person's name. A glimmer of brilliance flashed in Zhang Changgeng's eyes.

Zhou Peigong replied: "Go back to your lord! Xue Fengzuo once studied under Tang Ruowang and learned all the tricky skills of Taixi's red-haired people! If this person violates the ancestral system on weekdays, does not learn the way of Confucius and Mencius, but learns the strange skills of the Taixi people, it will be difficult to enter the elegant hall. But if there is chaos today, this person is a talent! This imitation of the self-generated fire gun has the credit of this person! ”

Xue Fengzuo was a famous scientist in the late Ming and early Qing dynasties, who had studied under many foreign missionaries, was proficient in many Chinese, and was proficient in astronomy and mathematics, but in fact, he was also very successful in firearms. It's just that in history, the Qing Dynasty did not attach importance to the development of science and technology, so such talents were buried in the long river of history.

However, because Zhou Peigong formed a new army, Xue Fengzuo, who had never met a talent, rushed from Shandong to defect, so he improved a lot of firearms and equipment for the Qing army.

In addition to individual equipment such as armor and flintlock pistols, Xue Fengzuo also helped the Qing army improve artillery, and at the same time negotiated with Westerners to prepare to purchase more advanced weapons from foreign countries. As for the silver, Zhou Peigong has Zhang Changgeng and Ao Bai as the backstage, and he has never been stingy with the expenditure of silver.

"With such a talent, this official wants to meet it!" Zhang Changgeng became interested in Xue Fengzuo.

"Please inspect the firecracker salvo first!" Zhou Peigong and Zhao Liangdong bowed at the same time.

Five hundred Qing flintlock musketeers fought in three rows, holding their loaded flintlock pistols tightly in their hands. A Qing soldier general stood in front of the team and waved a small flag in his hand: "Three rows of marches, forward!" ”

The Qing recruits marched forward in unison with neat steps, taking five steps forward.

"The whole team stops moving forward, first row, one step forward!" The general shouted loudly.

The line stopped moving forward, and the first platoon continued forward. Although the formation was a little messy at this time, the phalanx was basically maintained, without much confusion, and the first row of gunners was quite neat.

"First row, put!" The general yelled.

"Bang bang bang" a row of gunfire roared, white smoke curled up, more than a hundred musketeers fired a volley, and bullets rained out.

The musketeers in the first row of bullets immediately retreated, nervously reloading. At the same time, the second row of musketeers stepped forward, aimed at the target in front of them, pulled the trigger, and then retreated, while the third row of musketeers stepped forward and continued to fire......

"Good! Good! Good! Zhang Changgeng shouted three good words in a row, "With such elite and strong soldiers, why worry about the thieves and thieves!" It's just that the number of new firecrackers is too small, and more needs to be built! ”

"Back to my lord!" Zhou Peigong knelt down and beat a thousand ways, "The humble position must recruit more craftsmen and build a large number of self-generated fire guns and cannons!" ”

"Hmmm! Go ahead and do it! If the silver is insufficient, the official will also play the court, let the court reduce the taxes paid by Huguang to the court, and leave it for you to build a new army! Zhang Changgeng touched his beard and nodded and smiled.

Thousands of miles away, on the newly opened martial arts arena on the other side of the Huangpu River in Shanghai, five teams of 1,000 people lined up in a neat formation, holding wooden guns, aiming at the target of the scarecrow in front of them, and stabbing the scarecrow with wooden guns again and again.

"Kill!" The soldiers stabbed their wooden guns in their hands, pinpointing them in the scarecrow's throat.

Hong Xiguan, a master who is good at using spears, led more than 30 masters of the Heaven and Earth Society, monks, fishermen, and all kinds of masters dressed as merchants to stand on the side and point, but these masters have one thing in common: they are all masters of using guns.

The wooden spear was shorter, much shorter than the ash pole lance, but it was still longer than the knife. Although the action of the thrust is single, the power is extremely great, after all, this is a simplified thrust spear technique that has been pointed out by a famous teacher.

"This is actually a self-generated fire gun with a knife, which is a little shorter than the spear we are used to, but our spear skills, after simplification, are used in this kind of stabbing spear technique, and it is not a problem to fight ordinary Qing soldiers." Hong Xiguan said to several masters.

In the past three months, Hong Xiguan has never left the camps of flintlock muskeers, and has led a group of masters to train this group of musketeers in the art of close-range stabbing. And the weapons in the hands of the flintlock musketeers were temporarily withdrawn and sent to the east, where they were said to be remodeled, and a device called a card slot was to be added, which could be loaded with bayonets.

With the slot, the bayonet can be hung on the slot and does not need to be stuffed directly into the muzzle. In this way, the musketeer, after loading the bayonet, did not affect the shooting.

That is, the birth of the flintlock pistol, and the bayonet appeared. If it was the original arquebus, it was impossible to use a bayonet, because the arquebus was already troublesome to operate, and there was an arquebus hanging from the body. Arquebusiers want to fight in close combat, either with a short knife and with a long-handled axe on their backs, as the Russians do.

The Chinese were inferior to the Russians, and musketeers could only be armed with short knives and could not use large axes in close combat.

However, the advent of flintlock pistols and bayonets made it possible for musketeers to turn into pikemen in close combat.

In the big tent of the Chinese army, Wang Xinyu was looking at two completely different bayonets on the table: one was a bayonet that was no different from the triangular military stabbing of later generations; And the other bayonet was not so much a bayonet as a short sword, a short sword about two feet long, with a pointed head, with blades on both sides, thick in the middle of the cross-section, and a blood groove in the middle of each side.

Wang Xinyu picked up these two bayonets from time to time to compare, it is obvious that the power of the three-edged military stab is definitely greater than the sword-type bayonet, although it is a sword-type bayonet that can be chopped, but after the musketeer has a bayonet, basically the function of chopping is useless, only the same stabbing function as the spear remains. Moreover, the bayonet on the musket has less than the spear the function of sweeping, striking the handle of the gun and other stick techniques, and there is only one thorn, so it is made into a triangular shape, and the power must be great.

Three-edged army stabs, three blood grooves, stabbed to death. In this era, whether it is a knife in the arm or leg, it is absolutely hopeless.

However, Chen Shuijie, who was in charge of the blacksmith, complained about building the Triangular Army: "This thing is really too difficult to build, right?" The steel we use to make a good knife is made of steel left over from the molten iron of wrought iron for casting cannons in the molten iron tank, and the steel is really hard and not easy to melt. But this thing is so difficult to burn, and it is a problem to cast by pouring method, and it is easier to make a sword shape. (To be continued.) )