America 1881: Legend of the West

Chapter 543 New Automatic Rifle
Colonel Wiltord led his border guards to the U.S.-Mexico border early in the morning.

At this time, he was sitting on a horse, leading his team across the border towards the Juarez Valley.

An hour ago, the two spies from the old Marai tribe ran to the prearranged location to report:

Chen Jianqiu led more than a hundred of his men into the valley.

Wiltord immediately led the team and set off.

It's less than twenty kilometers from the border to the valley. If we speed up our march, it won't take long for our troops to get there.

Not to mention that the cavalry in the team can attack in advance.

This is a wasteland with nothing but weeds.

The sky is cloudless and blue, and the land is endless. Only the gusts of wind raise dust, telling the story of the desolation here.

Thanks to the defensive strategic thinking of former commander Myers to "strengthen the stronghold and fight the war", the border guards have always been on the defensive against Indian harassment.

Therefore, the number of cavalry in the entire army has been reduced to a certain proportion, and most of them are infantry.

However, accordingly, the firepower configuration of the entire unit has also been adjusted to a certain extent.

Although the Maxim machine gun and the Hotchkiss heavy machine gun had already become famous in Europe at that time, the U.S. Army still paid very little attention to rapid-fire heavy weapons.

the reason is simple.

The territory has been at peace for a long time, and the resistance of the Indians is basically gone.

The Federal Army was basically free to relax and enjoy its time at ease.

Major arms dealers, including Roswell Ordnance Factory, Colt Company, and Winchester Firearms Company, have focused their attention on foreign markets.

Even so, Colonel Wiltord's team was still equipped with a considerable number of Gatling guns to target the Indian cavalry.

These Gatlings were fixed on carts, pulled by two horses, and followed the team.

The team moved forward on the wasteland at a slightly faster speed than normal marching.

"Hurry up behind! Follow up! Are you planning to go to Mexico for Christmas?" An officer rode on horseback to patrol in front of and behind the team, beckoning the soldiers with guns behind them to follow.

"This guy was a pig in his previous life, right?"

After the officer rode away, a soldier in the team pulled the gun belt on his shoulder and said to another soldier beside him.

He wore an khaki military cap, leather boots, and a single-breasted military uniform.

The style of a military hat is similar to a cowboy hat, except that the brim is slightly shorter.

The gun he was carrying was the famous Krag-Jorgensen M1892 rifle.

This is the U.S. Army's first standard smokeless powder rifle. It was jointly designed by Norwegian designer Ole Krag and engineer Eric Jorgensen and authorized to be produced by Springfield Arsenal.

It's ridiculous to say that.

When the veterans of the U.S. Army chose this rifle, the reason they gave was that the gun could open the loading plate and change the loading plate when the bolt was closed.

This is a very nonsense reason.

Because this design cannot be said to be unnecessary, it can be said to be completely useless.

This caused dissatisfaction among many American firearms designers, including Browning.

Obviously the world's first smokeless powder rifle appeared in the United States (Author's note: This is the content of the novel's timeline, not reality.), and now the best bolt-action rifle in the world is also in the United States.

Why choose a crappy thing designed by a Norwegian designer?

Many firearms manufacturers were also deeply dissatisfied, such as Colt, Winchester, and Remington.

So their bosses encouraged Chen Jianqiu, the head of Roswell Ordnance Factory, the "leading company" in the industry, to go to the Army to ask for an explanation.

But Chen Jianqiu's attitude towards this was very negative.

According to what he wanted, the army men could do as they pleased and let the army soldiers do whatever they wanted, but there was no way they could make money from him.

"John, stop talking. The more you talk, the thirstier I become." Another soldier looked up at the dazzling sun, and then licked his chapped lips.

"I'm going to say it!" John unhappily pulled the gun on his shoulder again, "Hill! Don't forget, our military pay last month hasn't been paid yet!"

"Stop talking, I feel even more uncomfortable when I mention this." The soldier named Hill moved his eyes away from the back of the head of the person in front, turned his head and looked into the distance.

The chief said that people should not just pay attention to what is in front of them, but should also look into the distance.

In this way, people will not be depressed.

But when Soldier Hill turned his eyes to the distant wilderness, he didn't know whether he was depressed or not, but he was definitely frightened.

"Ah!" Hill screamed.

The mounted officer quickly turned his head and shouted viciously at Hill:

"What are you screaming? Is your skin itchy again?"

"No, no, sir, there, there is someone coming towards me!" Hill opened his mouth wide and pointed in the direction behind the team.

The officer raised his head and looked in the direction Hill pointed.

There, the dust was flying, and there was indeed a group of people riding horses heading here.

"Enemy attack!" Without thinking, the officer tightened the reins, turned the horse's head, took out the revolver from his waist, and roared with all his strength.

On the border, a group of people came towards the army.

Pigs know what they want to do.

While he asked the messenger to report the news to Wiltord in front, he organized people to organize defense on the spot.

"Expose our guys!" the officer shouted.

The three members of the machine gun crew, who were lying on the carriage and were about to fall asleep, quickly lifted the cloth covering Gatling.

They struggled to turn the crank and turn the muzzle of the gun in the direction of the enemy's attack.

The officer took out his binoculars and looked into the distance.

He could tell that these people were indeed riding horses, and they were not very fast, but he could not clearly see who they were.

"Come on, let them try the power of machine guns!" The officer curled his lips, "Others, load your bullets and prepare to attack."

However, just as the officer and his soldiers lined up to shoot at these reckless people, the officer suddenly discovered through the telescope that these people in the distance had changed their direction.

They avoided the front of the heavy machine gun and continued to move forward.

"What are these people going to do?" The officer frowned.

He continued to observe the movements of these people through the telescope.

These people were still moving forward and were about to pass them by.

The officer even wondered if he was being too sensitive.

Suddenly, a "ta-da-da" sound broke through the silence of the wasteland.

Then there was the whistling sound of bullets streaking through the air.

The officer on the horse had no idea what was happening, and was knocked off his horse by one of the bullets that was not necessarily shot at him.

The cavalry team opposite was part of Chen Jianqiu's troops in Juarez, led by Feiniao.

There were not many of them, only about a hundred people, which was incomparable to Wiltord's army of nearly a thousand people.

In Chen Jianqiu's militia, their archery skills were not the best.

But these people all have one thing in common: they are very strong.

"Quick, finish four magazines and retreat." Fei Niao changed a magazine, pulled the trigger, and fired a burst of bullets in the direction of the enemy. The huge recoil even made Fei Niao look a little shaky on the horse, and the others around him had already dismounted and were firing in that direction.

"This gun is really powerful, but it feels so good." A Mexican soldier half-knelt and fired a burst of shots, then got back on his horse.

The gun they are using now is the latest automatic rifle developed by Browning.

Strictly speaking, the Winchester repeating rifle that Browning and Markchin modified when they first collaborated was an automatic rifle.

However, in Chen Jianqiu's opinion, the gun's firepower was far from enough.

Although the Maxim is good, it is a heavy machine gun after all. It is too bulky and not suitable for cavalry use.

Therefore, he needed an automatic rifle with high mobility but sufficient firepower.

Browning never agreed with his boss's idea.

He always believed that for cavalry combat, semi-automatic firing rate would definitely be enough, and there was no need for fully automatic firing rate and firepower at all.

But Chen Jianqiu told him frankly that he had a fear of insufficient firepower, so he would first make it for the infantry and detectives, and then change it to the cavalry.

As a result, such an automatic rifle was forced out.

It uses full-power rifle bullets, has a steel body, and is very heavy.

Browning went to great lengths to convert it into a carbine version for cavalry use.

In the end he succeeded, but due to the limitations of the material process, the gun was still surprisingly heavy.

Most people who have used it are full of complaints.

But to be honest, the firepower is really good.

The theoretical rate of fire can reach 500-600 rounds per minute, but in reality it is only equipped with a magazine that holds rounds.

In other words, a magazine is finished in a few seconds.

This gun is not designed with a replaceable barrel, so it will become scrapped after continuous shooting for a long time.

Despite all the problems, Chen Jianqiu was still very satisfied.

He knew that Browning's shooting ideas were actually quite tangled now, but he racked his brains to come up with this thing because he was always so far-sighted and had money.

Chen Jianqiu has always believed that since the end of the 19th century, many firearms designs have not actually made any revolutionary leaps, but have only improved in industrial technology.

As long as you push a little, some famous gun types can appear earlier.

For example, the automatic rifle developed by Browning is the "BAR" designed for the American Expeditionary Force in World War I.

The cavalry and infantry fired at their shoulders, while the detectives held their weapons around the waist and shot directly from the hips. It was as comfortable as it could be.

After a batch of the newly invented guns were produced, they were sent to the Border Detective Agency, and the Juarez cavalry also received some.

Chen Jianqi originally planned to use some bandits in western Chihuahua to consecrate the guns, but who would have thought that Wiltord and his border troops were in a hurry to reincarnate first.

Boss Chen felt a little emotional.

Why is it that every time he tries out a new weapon, the target is basically the US Army?

Asuka and his cavalry fired nearly ten thousand bullets in two minutes.

Strictly speaking, these 10,000 bullets are not actually that many.

Because the accuracy of the "BAR" itself is not excellent, shooting at this distance is a bit random.

However, if it is concentrated in a small area in a short period of time, the power is still considerable.

Twenty or thirty American border guards who were lined up and ready to shoot fell down at once, mostly hit by stray bullets, including the officer who fell off his horse.

After Asuka had fired four magazines, he and his cavalrymen turned around and rode away on horseback.

Since it's a gift, you have to leave first after delivering it.

When Wiltold in front heard the report from the messenger, he also heard gunshots coming from the wilderness.

He hurriedly brought the cavalry in front to support.

However, he found that Fei Niao and his men had already fled, while his own soldiers were still shooting in the direction they left.

"Stop! Stop! Stop, don't shoot! Do you see anyone else? Save some bullets for me!" Wiltord kept cursing in his heart, "Hurry up, rescue the wounded, and rearrange the formation for me!"

Under the organization of the colonel and his deputy Burke, the chaotic team finally restored order, and the wounded were carried onto carts.

But all this took a lot of time.

"Burke, you stay and take care of these people for that unlucky guy." Wiltold glanced at the officer's body lying on the ground.

The guy was shot and fell off his horse. Unfortunately, his head hit the ground, and unfortunately, it hit a sharp stone on the ground.

"Let's go quickly, damn it, we've stayed here too long!" Wiltod led his cavalry back to the front of the team.

But before the team resumed its march for long, gunfire rang out again.

This time, it was the middle section of the team that was attacked.

Asuka and his cavalry fought back and continued to "give gifts" to Wiltord and his border troops.

There was another round of chaos, and at the same time, a dozen more corpses appeared on the ground.

The cavalry on the opposite side seemed to have suffered no losses.

This cycle continued over and over again, constantly draining Wiltord's energy and causing him to lose players.

Asuka and his team did not get too close to Wiltord's large force, but only carried out short-term intensive shooting at a certain distance.

They basically break away with one strike, and then use their speed to disappear without a trace.

The bulky Gatling machine gun had no way to keep up with the cavalry's position changes and could only "roar" in the air to vent its anger.

"Damn it, who are these guys?" Wiltord, who was leading the team busy all the time, was extremely annoyed and called Burke back from behind, who hadn't even sat down yet.

"I just looked through the telescope and there are Mexicans, whites, blacks, Indians, and even Chinese." Burke replied, "If I'm not mistaken, this should be Chen Jianqiu's team."

"What? How is that possible?" Wiltord looked at Burke in disbelief. "Aren't his troops all in Roswell and with those Indians?"

"I'm not sure about this. But who else is around him? Could it be that he brought more than a hundred people from the Juarez Valley to meet them?" Burke scratched his head.

"Da da da."

"Da da da"

"Da da da"

The sound of bar gunfire rang out again.

Wiltord's body shook violently as if he had received an electric shock:
"No, we can't let these one hundred bastards lead us by the nose!"

He suddenly looked at Burke, and a kind of heat suddenly emanated from his eyes.

"What you just said means that Chen Jianqiu might be in this army?"

Burke nodded.

"Yes, very likely."

"Then he's dead. I won't let him go!"

Wiltord gave an order to the cavalrymen who followed him.

"Quick, follow me! Beat Chen Jianqiu!"

(End of this chapter)