The commander of the artillery battalion is naturally Yun Qifeng. He is the one who excels in the use of explosives packs. His delving into explosives packs has indeed reached the point of fascination. The black powder arrived in his hands, and all the potential was gradually developed. The deputy commander of the artillery battalion was a young carpenter named Peng Dang, who was a close disciple of Liu Guangliang. The key to giving full play to the combat effectiveness of the artillery battalion lies in the various maintenance work of the trebuchet.

The initial establishment of the artillery battalion of the White Army was twenty-five trebuchets, each of which was equipped with ten soldiers, for a total of two hundred and fifty soldiers, which was exactly the number of a squadron. Of course, this is the entire structure of the artillery battalion. Due to the limited number of trebuchets produced, it was not possible to equip them all so quickly. At the time of the formation of the artillery battalion, there were only two squads, a total of ten trebuchets, and the number of personnel was just one hundred.

"Boom!"

"Boom!"

"Boom!"

After the formation of the artillery battalion, a salvo was carried out.

Ten explosive packets were thrown out at the same time, and the landing points were scattered within a radius of 50 zhang, which immediately triggered a series of explosions, and the entire test site was full of billowing black smoke, and the ground shook and the momentum was amazing. Judging by the range of the explosion, ten explosive packs fired in one salvo could basically control an area the size of a football field. If you are within this area, you will either be killed or injured. This effect made Xu Xingxia feel very satisfied. If the Tatar cavalry launched a sea of people tactic next time, they would be dead.

The formation of an artillery battalion was not too difficult. As far as artillery is concerned, the most important thing is to be meticulous and aware of the subtleties, and not allow the slightest mistake or omission. Otherwise, the explosive bag exploded on the trebuchet, and everyone around it would be destroyed. This means that every artillery soldier must be an honest man. Those who like to play tricks, like to be clever, and like to be fancy, are not suitable for artillery.

Compared with the artillery battalion, the formation of the tank battalion is a bit more difficult. Regarding the formation of the chariot battalion, it is definitely not a whim of Xu Xingxia. In fact, the Ming army units at that time, most of the elite, had their own tank troops. Especially in the Liaodong region, whether it is Xiong Tingbi, Sun Chengzong, or Yuan Chonghuan in charge, the troops under his command have a large number of chariots. Of course, the combat vehicles mentioned here are basically two different concepts compared to later tanks, armored vehicles, and the like.

Since the establishment of the Ming Dynasty, it has attached great importance to the development of firearms. When Zhu Yuanzhang founded the country, the firearms of the Ming army were considerable. By the time of Ming Chengzu Zhu Di, the number of firearms in the Ming army had become quite popular. Three-stage shooting, invented a long time ago. The artillery bombarded first, the cavalry flanks were inserted, and the tactics of the infantry breaking through head-on were also used very skillfully by the Ming army. Otherwise, the Mongols would not have been defeated and crushed.

Chariots are the product of the development of firearms. The powerful firepower and deterrence of firearms made some far-sighted people at that time realize that the power of firearms and the use of chariots may complement each other on the battlefield, so that the specialties of both can be undoubtedly revealed. As a result, some inventors began to conceive a new type of chariot loaded with cannons and firearms. "In the twelfth year of orthodoxy, Zhu Mian, the chief military officer, began to prepare for war by train. Since it is a car fighter, one after another. "It became a hot topic for a while.

According to the "Ming Historical Chronicles 68", in the fourteenth year of orthodoxy, one such chariot designed by Li Kan was first adopted and used for border defense, and this chariot was "driven by seven horses...... Twenty guns and six hundred arrows were used in the car, and five gun racks were placed at the head of the car, with one person pushing, two people supporting, and one person holding the plan. Try, but make. ”

This tank is in service on the border of Ningxia, and has not been used in actual combat because of the many ravines in Ningxia. As for other inventions that have not been adopted and have been used in the army, for example, in the fifteenth year of Hongzhi, "Qin Hong, the general system of Shaanxi, please use a wheeled chariot, called Quansheng, four feet long, a total of six people up and down, and can charge the enemy's formation." "Sixteen years," the prefect Fan Ji offered a pioneer thunderbolt. ”

There are also some inventions of the prototype of armored vehicles, such as, "Lanzhou garrison Li Jin please build a wheelbarrow, go to the skin house, use a wooden board in front, paint animal faces, chisel mouths, put four bowls, four guns, fourteen arrows, and one tree flag." Behavior array, stop as a camp. Another example, "Li Xian, the official of the Langzhong, asked to build a chariot, five feet long, six feet four inches high, surrounded by box boards, holes and holes, small windows on the top, and each car occupies an area of five steps before and after." Counting thousands of vehicles, the four sides are sixteen miles, and the grain and equipment are taken and salted. ”

Another combat vehicle that was once in service was created by Dingxiang Bo Guoden. In the first year of Jingtai, "Dingxiang Bo Guodeng asked for antique to be made as a partial box car." The wheel is three feet long, nine feet wide, seven feet five inches high, and the box is made of thin plates...... There are a total of ten guns, bows, crossbows, and swords in each car, and they take turns to push and pull without incident. Outside with 20 long cars, carrying large and small generals, five cars on each side, turning to Qiaocai, all in the encirclement. However, after the investigation, the conclusion was, "This can be defended, but it is difficult to attack, so it is ordered to be carried out at the discretion of the board." ”

Guo Deng's "mobile castle" type chariot was later transformed, "sharp in the front and rear, with seven guns on it, three layers of oars, each with nine oxen crossbows, and wings to pawn." Carry the armoured soldiers, and stop at the battalion formation. "In Jiajing, it finally came in handy, "Forty-three years, there are 4,000 military vehicles in Beijing, each with five foot soldiers, two sharpshooters and two target guns. "Judging by the data, these are light combat vehicles.

Some border town generals were also interested in such ideas. During the Chenghua period, Yu Zijun, the governor of Datong, even formed such a "tank" army, "with 500 cars as an army, each car with ten soldiers, and the gap between the cars was supplemented with antlers." It is completed, and it is not available, and it is called the partridge army". Statistically, these are still light vehicles.

When Qi Jiguang was the commander-in-chief of Jimen in Longqingnian, he tried to combine riding and bicycles, "each battalion has six hundred and fifty heavy vehicles, one hundred light vehicles, four thousand infantry, and three thousand cavalry." Between 12 roads and 2,000 miles, the car and the horse are combined, and tens of thousands of enemies can be resisted. Mu Zongzhi ordered to pay for the cost. "These tanks are just forks, and they can basically be regarded as "heavy tanks". Except for cattle people like Zhang Juzheng, no one else has enough financial resources to toss such a chariot.

In the Wanli year, Xiong Tingbi served as the governor of Liaodong, and also "please build two-wheeled chariots, with two artillery pieces per cart and ten wings, all holding muskets." "The artillery mentioned here is actually a tiger squat cannon. The power of the Tiger Squat Cannon, as mentioned earlier, is basically to scare and scare the enemy, and there is no real killing effect. Therefore, the lethality of these tanks is indeed very limited.

Although these inventions have good ideas, they are basically too bulky, inconvenient to move, only suitable for defense, and most of them have no mobile and flexible surnames to speak of, and it is difficult to adapt to the changing battlefield. In the year of the Apocalypse, there have been reinforced designs such as steel-wheeled vehicles and small punch cars, which have not been tested in actual combat. "Since the beginning of Orthodoxy, those who speak and fight have been like this, but they have not been the enemy."

Nevertheless, the Ming Dynasty's craze for new chariots was not a retro regression. The opponents of the Ming Dynasty were mostly nomadic cavalry who came and went, and the cannons at that time were very cumbersome, and the muskets needed to be filled with gunpowder, and the efficiency was also very low. In general, of course, it's all from a defensive point of view.

What Xu Xingxia needs is also a chariot with a defensive surname for the time being. He wanted to get several chariots with the surname of attack, and at the first order, he swept across the desert and wiped out all the Tatars. It's a pity that such an idea is not realistic at all. The use of chariots requires the cooperation of muskets, artillery and a large number of cavalry, and there is only tragedy when attacking alone.

In fact, the attempts of these predecessors are still very effective. At the very least, he now has ready-made drawings that he can directly copy from the drawings. For example, a sidebox is a simple chariot. It is quite possible to carry out some improved design on the basis of a partial van, and then equip a tank battalion.

Why are there so many combat vehicles designed by the Ming Army, and the practical surnames are not large? The main reason was that the firearms at that time were indeed unable to effectively block the assault of the nomadic cavalry. The smoothbore guns commonly used by the Ming army have a range of only about fifty meters, which is inferior to the bows and arrows of the nomads. At such a short distance, the nomadic cavalry could reach the front of the chariot with a single charge. As soon as the two sides fight in close quarters, the chariot is useless.

However, with rifled guns, it was completely different. Compared to rifled guns and smoothbore guns, it is a great improvement in history. The rifled gun's ultra-long range and powerful lethality were enough to kill the nomadic cavalry at a distance of two or three hundred meters. This is a great improvement in the lethality of the vehicle. Under the cover of cavalry, the chariots rolled forward in torrents and could be almost invulnerable.

The first ten partial vans were put together by Xu Xingxia for preliminary tests. The appearance of these partial vans is quite simple, and the surface of the wooden planks is not smooth. Some of the planks have not even been fully peeled off. This is all the result of haste to work. The production tasks undertaken by the craftsman workshop are too heavy, and there are many novices, and some unnecessary details are automatically ignored. Fortunately, the rough appearance does not affect the surname of the side van. From the point of view of practical surnames, it is quite good.

The key to the technology of the partial van is the wheels and axles. In the era when there was no rubber, the partial vans used wide wooden wheels. Xu Xingxia calculated that the surface width of the wheel was ten centimeters, which was larger than a slap. Such a width is conducive to the smooth driving of the partial van, and even if it encounters relatively soft soil, it will not immediately sink in. However, due to the lack of rubber, the surface of the wooden wheels is rigid, and bumps are inevitable when walking. This kind of bump is certainly torture to the human body, but it is also torture to the body of the car.

In order to strengthen the load-bearing capacity of the partial van, the partial van uses an iron rod as the axle. The advantage of this is that the van is more sturdy and will not be easily crushed by heavy objects. A thick iron rod is tougher than a wooden rod. The disadvantage is that the iron rod wears a lot on the wheel shaft. You know, in those days, there was no lubricating oil and no balls. After using it for a long time, the axle of the wheel will definitely be worn down by the iron rod. Judging by the results of the tests, it is not optimistic. Basically, after walking about a hundred miles, the wheels are scrapped.

In response to such technical problems, Xu Xingxia customarily sacrificed the magic weapon that there must be a brave man under the heavy reward. He gathered all the carpenters together and announced in a high-profile manner that whoever could solve the problem of wear and tear on the axle would receive a reward of three hundred taels of silver. As a result, a large number of craftsmen are actively engaged in discussion and research. Although there is no breakthrough in the real surname for the time being, and some small tricks cannot solve the problem fundamentally, however, as time goes by, someone will definitely solve this problem.

There are no technical problems, the rest is a tactical problem. The various units of the Ming army are equipped with a lot of partial vans. However, there are not many partial vans with real combat experience. Therefore, how to give full play to the power of the partial van is a question worthy of serious discussion.

Xu Xingxia's original intention was to simply form a circle-shaped fortress with side vans to resist the attack of the Tatar cavalry. However, with the continuous progress of the test and the accumulation of experience, he suddenly found that the partial van was actually quite good when attacking. Especially when the two armies are facing each other and are on par, the partial van is better than the heavy cavalry.

If you can change the shape of a van into a square, there are movable baffles in each direction, and there are shooting holes on the baffles. Then, it is only necessary to arrange a few people in the back to push the cart, and there are five soldiers in front of them who are constantly firing, and you can directly hit the enemy's ranks. With the power of the moon gun, no one can stop it. When conquering the city, it will definitely be very useful.

What the? Cavalry used against nomads, overkill? Maybe you won't need it at all? That's a rat's eye! To be honest, Xu Xingxia didn't think there was any big threat to the Tatars! As long as the Ming army itself became stronger, the Tatars themselves would shrink to the side. As long as the results of the plundering in the south are not as good as the price they pay, the Tatars will not bother to go south. The real enemy of the Ming army is the Ottoman Empire in the West!

At the time of the weakest Ming Dynasty, the Ottoman Turkish Empire in the West was becoming stronger and stronger. And, in a few decades, its national strength will reach its peak. If the two great powers of the East and the West collide with each other, it will easily be a battle of tens of thousands of armies, and even hundreds of thousands of armies. In such a battlefield, the assault capability of the tank battalion is crucial. In other words, the musketeers of the Ottoman Empire are also quite sharp!

As for the Tartars of Liaodong...... Do you need to ignore them? As long as the Ming court itself is not so [***] degenerate, the Houjin Tartars will not have any chance at all. Dajin Country, in fact, is due to too much luck. Xu Xingxia is confident that if he has crossed over by himself, the Houjin Tartar will definitely not have a chance to rise.

(To be continued)