Late Yuan Dynasty: I am the true emperor

Chapter 168 Ambitious Combined Forces Brigade (I)

Xu Da's understanding of artillery was only superficial. According to Lu Jin's classification system, artillery can be divided into three categories according to caliber: large, medium and small.

Different calibers can also be divided into cannons according to their usage, namely long-barreled flat-fire cannons with low firing angles, and short-barreled howitzers with high firing angles. With three calibers and two usages, there are six types in total.

With so many types of artillery, how to organize and use them is a big problem. Everyone present is encountering artillery for the first time. Although Lu Jin knows that this thing was very powerful in history, it is his first time encountering it after all. Even if he knows a little more than others, he can only discuss it with the generals.

After reading the table of various artillery sizes, Xu Da quickly pointed out a key point.

"Marshal, if we use a large-caliber flat-firing cannon, will the range be longer? But this kind of heavy cannon should be very heavy, right? How many horses are needed to drag it?"

Lu Jin thought for a moment, "If we use a large-caliber, long-barreled flat-fire cannon, we can definitely hit farther, three or four miles, and five or six miles at a high angle. But it will be very heavy, at least two or three thousand pounds, and it will take at least six horses to pull it, or even eight."

Upon hearing this, Xu Da said, "Then we shouldn't have this kind of cannon, because it is too far away to actually be of much use in a fight."

"Oh? What do you mean? It's not good to hit from a distance?" Feng Guoyong asked curiously after hearing this.

Xu Da started analyzing it immediately.

“If the two armies are lined up four or five miles apart, we will be the first to fire. Even if we can defeat the enemy, the enemy is too far away from us and our infantry cannot charge quickly to annihilate the enemy’s fleeing soldiers. In that case, even if we defeat the enemy, it will be useless.

"If we use cavalry to pursue, we can catch up, but won't the infantry be useless? First use artillery to defeat the enemy, and then use cavalry to pursue the remaining enemies. What's the point of infantry? But without infantry, who will form the battle line and who will protect the artillery? This is obviously wrong.

“Therefore, long-range shooting is meaningless to us. If we defeat the enemy too early, the infantry will not be able to keep up. If the cavalry attacks alone, they will easily be surrounded by the enemy’s infantry formation and cavalry. It is unwise to defeat the enemy with a small force.

“So I think that artillery with a range of less than three miles is best.

"When two armies are fighting, they are lined up two or three miles apart. Our army waits for the enemy to approach while bombarding the enemy's formation with long-range medium-caliber artillery. When the enemy approaches within a mile, we use large-caliber short-barreled artillery and fire what the Marshal calls iron date shotgun shells, which can break the enemy's formation in one go.

"At this time, the two armies are less than a mile apart. We should first use the cavalry to attack the fleeing enemy soldiers, and then use the infantry to engage in a grappling battle to eliminate the remaining enemies. This distance is the most appropriate."

Everyone pondered for a moment, and Zhu Shou said, "That's right. If the range is too far, even if we defeat the enemy, our infantry won't be able to catch up. If we wait for our infantry to run two or three miles before engaging the enemy, the enemy may have regrouped and beaten the drums, while our army has already run out of energy, which will make the enemy rest and wait for us. This is not good. We really don't need a very long range."

Lu Jin also nodded, and found that Xu Da was indeed amazing. He had only just learned about artillery, but he was already able to put forward his own opinions.

So he encouraged him, "What you said makes sense. What do you think, if we calculate based on the size of the artillery battalion, a battalion is equipped with 64 guns, a company has 16 guns, and it is divided into four companies, what kind of artillery should each of these four companies be equipped with?"

Xu Da was praised but did not become arrogant. Instead, when he heard Lu Jin's question, he became even more humble and immediately clasped his fists.

"General, I still don't know much about artillery, and I dare not show off my knowledge in front of you. I think there shouldn't be too many types, three at most, and preferably only two. More will cause trouble. As for the types of artillery, please decide for yourself."

Lu Jin nodded and started thinking about it.

As the main force for field long-range shooting, the six-pound cannon is still somewhat lacking in power, but the twelve-pound cannon is too heavy, weighing nearly two thousand kilograms, and he doesn't like it either. What Xu Da said also makes sense. In today's era, a range that is too long is not necessarily an advantage.

The twelve-pounder cannon was so popular in Europe, but it was actually mainly used for counter-artillery purposes. It took advantage of the long range of the twelve-pounder cannon to first bombard the enemy's medium-caliber cannons. For shooting infantry, its cost-effectiveness was actually not as good as that of six-pounder and eight-pounder caliber cannons.

However, we cannot only consider the caliber. There is another point that is very worthy of attention, that is, portability, that is, the weight of the gun.

Among medium-caliber artillery, the European eight-pound cannon is the limit of what can be pulled by four horses. Any larger cannon would require six horses. Lu Jin is now in great need of horses. He has horses equipped with two twelve-pound cannons. If he replaces them with six-pound and eight-pound cannons, he can equip one more. It's a very simple math problem.

Therefore, it is very important to find a gun that is relatively balanced in all aspects among the conditions of "medium caliber", "long range", "high power" and "four horses".

Mr. Lu Xun said that Chinese people generally like to compromise, so Lu Jin simply compromised.

He asked for the table of gun sizes, looked at the six-pounder and the eight-pounder, and quickly found a suitable niche.

According to the Western pound system, the six-pound gun has a caliber of 90 mm and weighs nearly 800 jin; the eight-pound gun has a caliber of 107 mm and weighs more than 1300 jin. There is nothing wrong with this in itself, but when converting it into the Chinese jin system, you will find that there is a missing gear between the two types of guns.

The caliber of the six-pound cannon is 90 and the weight of the shell is six pounds. The caliber of the eight-pound cannon is 107 and the weight of the shell is 10 pounds. If the caliber is increased by two pounds, it is obvious that there is a missing eight-pound cannon in the middle.

Lu Jin immediately asked the soldier next to him for an arrow, used it as a pen to calculate on the ground, and used the weight to reverse the formula for the mass of the sphere: eight pounds divided by the density, divided by the volume, and then found the cube root. Finally, he came to the conclusion that the radius of the eight-pound iron ball should be about 5 centimeters, or 100 millimeters in diameter.

According to the experience that the weight of a cannon is 120 times the weight of a shell, the weight of an eight-jin cannon should be 480 kilograms, less than one thousand pounds, so it should be relatively easy for four horses to pull it.

Therefore, the eight-jin cannon is the most suitable medium-caliber field artillery in terms of comprehensive weight, range, and power.

Everyone watched Lu Jin writing and drawing on the ground. Those who knew Arabic numerals could understand some of it, but Xu Da and the other newcomers thought Lu Jin was writing in a mysterious language and could not understand a single word.
Seeing this, Zheng Yulin asked curiously, "What did the Marshal write?"

Zhu Shou immediately said, "This is the number from the Gongshu Suanjing that was passed down in the Marshal's family. This is a calculation."

"Oh oh." Zheng Yulin suddenly felt something was wrong.

Lu Jin stood up and said, "I calculated that there should be a 1000-jin cannon missing. The caliber is 960 mm, which is one finger wider than the muzzle of the cannon in front of us. It can fire an -jin iron bullet and should be able to hit three miles away. Moreover, the whole cannon weighs less than jin, only about jin. This should be the most suitable medium-caliber cannon."

Xu Da scratched his head when he heard this. He didn't understand how Lu Jin calculated this number, but based on Lu Jin's description of the range, weight, and power, he thought it should be appropriate, so he nodded in agreement.

"Then there's no need to use six-jin cannons. It's best to use only one medium-caliber one to save confusion and make it faster. What about large-caliber ones?" Lu Jin shook his head immediately. "I don't know about that. I've selected several models, but I won't know until I try them."

According to Xu Da and Lu Jin's own ideas, large-caliber short-barreled howitzers are mainly used to fire shrapnel at close range, or solid bullets at close range to bombard city walls. Therefore, such artillery must be as light as possible, and the larger the caliber, the better.

The European 12-pound cannon, converted to the Chinese jin system, would be a 14-jin cannon, so he selected three models, the 14-jin cannon, the 18-jin cannon, and the 23-jin cannon, corresponding to the European 12-pound 120mm caliber, 16-pound 130mm caliber, and 30-pound 155mm caliber respectively.

If the caliber is shortened, the amount of propellant is reduced, and the chamber pressure is lowered, this short-barreled howitzer can be made very light. Lu Jin roughly calculated that the entire weight of the 12-pound howitzer is only more than kilograms, which is lighter than the six-pound gun in front of him. Although it can only shoot five or six hundred meters with solid iron bullets, it can shoot more than a thousand meters with flower shells, and it is more suitable for shooting shotguns.

Similarly, there are 16-pound and 30-pound guns. Although they sound like super heavy artillery, their calibers are shortened to make them short and thin short-barreled howitzers, and they actually weigh no more than two thousand pounds.

Even the largest 155mm 30-pound gun, if made into a long-barreled cannon, might weigh 2700 to 3000 kilograms, while if made into a short-barreled howitzer, it might weigh only 1700 kilograms, which is more than 12 kilograms lighter than a -pound cannon.

Therefore, large-caliber short-barreled howitzers can also be towed in field operations. A 30-pound howitzer should only require six horses to tow, or at most eight horses.

By the time Lu Jin had almost finished calculating, Yang Huan had almost finished trying the shooting table.

The final results of the six-pound gun were 800 to 1300 meters at elevations ranging from zero to ten degrees, using two pounds of explosives.

The range was almost enough, but the power was just average. Lu Jin had decided to phase out the six-pound cannon and instead use the Chinese system he created to mass-cast eight-pound cannons.

So he immediately gave instructions to Xu Jichuan, asking them to make an eight-jin cannon next, and this six-pound cannon would be left to the training camp as a teaching aid.

After the artillery test, Lu Jin brought a group of generals back to the Marshal's Mansion. Since both muskets and cannons could now be manufactured, the next step was to carry out training and organizational adjustments.

In general, this artillery test was very meaningful. It allowed the generals to see the power of the new firearms. The morale of the civil and military officials in the Marshal's Office was also greatly improved, and they were more confident about the future of the group.

After returning to the Marshal's Mansion, Lu Jin called a group of generals who had just watched the artillery test firing to a meeting. He also had people bring flintlock rifles and bayonets, set out a sand table and many soldier models, and then got straight to the point.

"As you can all see, muskets and artillery are very powerful, but how to use and train these new weapons is a problem. I have made a plan. Next, the Guards, mainly the First Regiment and the Cavalry Regiment, will have to make some adjustments. All of you generals present here will be involved, so please listen carefully."

"Yes." Everyone responded quickly.

Lu Jin then walked to the middle of the lobby, arranged the soldier models and began to explain.

"Because of the use of new weapons, the previous organization is no longer suitable. Our main weapons have been changed from spears to muskets. This is a weapon that can be used for long-range shooting and as a short gun. You can imagine how powerful it is when thousands of archers line up together and shoot at close range."

Everyone looked at each other and couldn't help swallowing their saliva, especially Zhu Shou and Xu Yong who had participated in the Battle of Chao County before. They used close-range shooting to open a gap in Kang Maocai's formation.

At this time, Lu Jin continued to speak.

"On the battlefield, long-range weapons are always the most powerful weapons. Why? Because you have a bow and arrow, while the enemy uses a spear. Then you can hit the enemy, but the enemy cannot hit you and can only endure the beating. If you also have archers and can fight back, that's fine. But if you can't fight back and keep getting beaten unilaterally, that would be very damaging to morale."

Everyone nodded when they heard this. They could understand this. Anyone who just got beaten without fighting back would be very annoyed. If there were heavy casualties while the enemy was fine, it would be strange if morale was not damaged.

Lu Jin said again, "Then why don't we equip ourselves with more bows and arrows, but instead use more muskets?" At this time, Lu Jin stretched out a finger.

"Firstly, bows and arrows are expensive. A laborer in the city works very hard all day and only earns enough to buy one arrow. Let's not even talk about how many we can make ourselves. Even if we can make them, arrows are very expensive.

“Secondly, bow making requires tendons, horns, wood and glue. Beef tendons and horns are both hard to find and expensive. Even if you can buy the materials, it will take at least a year to make a bow.

"Third, it is not easy to train an archer. Only elite soldiers with extraordinary physical strength can practice archery. If you don't have enough food, how can you draw the bow? Even if you are a person with amazing physical strength, if you want to hit nine out of ten shots, you have to practice for several years. We just don't have time. Whether it is the Yuan army or those evil soldiers who believe in the cult, they will not give us time. At this time, the advantage of the firearm is reflected.

"This musket only needs iron and wood. Now we can make iron ourselves, and there is plenty of wood in the mountains. We don't need beef tendons and horns. We can make as many as we want.

“Also, it takes at least a year to make a bow, while a musket only takes a month at most. Training is even more so. Archers need to be warriors with amazing physical strength, but with a musket, even if it’s a child of ten, after just a month of practice, he can easily kill a warrior in heavy armor. This is the advantage of a musket.

"Finally, this musket combined with the bayonet can be used at both long and short range. It can be used for volley fire to kill the enemy from a distance, or for hand-to-hand combat at close range. The musket can also be raised to block the enemy's way. Even cavalry will find it difficult to break through the musket formation."

As Lu Jin spoke, he fiddled with the soldier models, arranging them into hollow squares and horizontal formations. Everyone watched and listened, and soon understood Lu Jin's intention to equip the troops on a large scale with muskets.

That is to increase the proportion of long-range arms as much as possible, including artillery and musketeers, and strive to defeat the enemy before they engage in battle.

However, Zhu Shou also raised a question at this time.

"Marshal, even if we want to replace the rifles, there is no need to eliminate all bows and arrows. I think bows and arrows are still useful."

Lu Jin nodded, "Of course, I just said that a child soldier in his teens can use a musket after only one month of practice, so why do we need to change the elite soldiers into musketeers?

“So I plan to select the bravest soldiers from the entire army, including the new recruits brought from Haozhou this time, and the veterans of a regiment. Those who are good at archery and hand-to-hand combat will be organized into a trap camp, which is mainly responsible for breaking the formation and attacking the city first. There is also a grenadier battalion, which I will explain to you later. Finally, the remaining weak soldiers will be selected and switched to practice with muskets.

"According to the original combat battalion organization, under the new organization, there are four musketeer battalions, one artillery battalion equipped with 64 cannons, one trap formation battalion, one grenadier battalion, two cavalry battalions, and one baggage auxiliary battalion, together forming a new organization, a combined brigade of ten battalions."

(End of this chapter)