I am the prince of the Ming Dynasty, I don't give up

Chapter 540 Queuing up to be shot
The linear tactics that Zhu Houxun mentioned is the famous "line shooting".

In the eyes of many modern people, the "line-to-line shooting" tactic of line infantry is an extremely stupid tactic with many flaws.

But in fact, this was the most advanced and practical tactic at the time, and no other tactic was more operational than it.

Practice is the only criterion for testing truth. If a general's head got stuck in a door, it might be excusable occasionally, but it is unlikely that all European generals, including the emperor, had their heads stuck in a door during the 16 years from the 19th to the 400th century.

After Zhu Houxuan's explanation, the officers present quickly understood what was going on.
"Isn't this the volley tactics? Only the queue is much longer." said an officer.

Volley tactics are the most basic tactics of the Guards and also the tactics that musketeers train the most.

The reason for training this tactic is to curb the charge of cavalry, because scattered shooting cannot cause much interference to the charging cavalry. Only volleys of muskets can provide sufficient firepower density, and the casualties caused can also create enough chaos in the cavalry charging column, thereby curbing the cavalry's charge.

The most important enemies of the Guards were various nomadic cavalry, so volley tactics were the focus of training.

Another important reason is that the Zhengde Type 1.1 Infantry Gun is a muzzle-loading smoothbore rifle with an astonishing caliber of mm and a barrel length of m. The reason for its design is to increase the power of each bullet.

The original design idea of ​​the bird gun with a small caliber and small charge was abandoned early on, because it was slow to load, and if the power was smaller, it would be useless.

Moreover, the reason why the bird gun has a small caliber and a small amount of powder is because the strength of the barrel is not up to standard, which is not a problem for the Royal Group.

Therefore, the caliber of the fire guns used by the guards became larger and larger, and the power also increased linearly. Basically, if a person was hit in the torso at a distance of 100 meters, he would lose his combat effectiveness.
But this design also caused a decrease in accuracy. In fact, the accuracy of firearms in this era was not very high. Even the firearms made by the Royal Group had large tolerances on parts. In addition, the gunpowder residue made it difficult for the projectile to fit tightly into the barrel. The clearance between the projectile and the barrel was generally 1mm, so the projectile would bounce out of the barrel. As for where it would fly after leaving the barrel, only God knew.

Because of the accuracy issue, volley gun tactics are even more necessary.

"The snow is quite thick now, so the cavalry can't charge. Without a cavalry charge, this is the tactic that can best utilize our firepower," another officer nodded.

"I agree. We are too familiar with the tactics of the Guards. They will definitely form a phalanx of spears and muskets if they come out to fight us in the field," Ma Desheng also said.

"Spearmen are useless in this situation. Spear and musket phalanxes are only used to bully the Hu cavalry."

"."

The officers discussed this one after another, and the more they discussed, the more they felt that although this tactic seemed ordinary, it was indeed suitable for the current situation.

"So I suggest you use this tactic when you encounter the enemy, but please be mentally prepared, and remind the soldiers to be mentally prepared. The guards in the city will react quickly, and the battle will be particularly cruel at that time," Zhu Houxuan said. Everyone's face turned cold instantly. They had seen the power of the Zhengde Sixteen-style Infantry Fire Gun on the enemy many times before, and now this powerful bullet will fall on them and their fellow soldiers.
A feeling of sadness welled up in everyone's heart.
"Finally, let me remind everyone that the Royal Group once conducted an accuracy test on the Zhengde Sixteen-Type Infantry Musket. The test shooting target was a piece of canvas 1m8 high and three meters long, which was used to simulate the enemy. The hit rate was 75% at a distance of 60 meters, 125% at a distance of 40 meters, 225% at a distance of 25 meters, and 300% at a distance of 20 meters. Remember this data and design your tactics." Zhu Houxuan reminded.

"And this is the hit rate during normal training, when we are calm and without any interference. It will be different on the battlefield. Various situations will greatly reduce the hit rate of the musket. It would be good to get half of this data." Zhu Houxuan continued.

After Zhu Houxuan said goodbye to the officers, he went to his command center.

"How is the transportation of materials going?" Zhu Houxuan asked quickly.

"The pressure is still very high. The cold weather has made the rails brittle, and there have been many accidents of rail breakage."

"The dispatch center of the Ministry of Railways has gone crazy. All steam locomotives in the entire north have stopped commercial operations and are frantically transporting materials to the capital. The railways near the capital cannot bear so many steam locomotives. I don't know how many steam locomotives are crowded outside the capital. The Ministry of Railways is organizing workers to temporarily repair several branch lines, otherwise it will be impossible to dispatch them."

"Due to various problems with railway transportation, many people in northern Zhili who responded to the call-up gave up traveling to the capital by rail. They pushed carts in the freezing weather to transport supplies to the capital. People from the farthest village even walked more than 200 miles to the capital."

Zhu Houxuan suddenly stopped and asked in shock: "Car?"

Chen Hong was stunned, not understanding why Zhu Houxuan was suddenly interested in this, and then he quickly said: "It is a wheelbarrow that can be pushed by one person. The roads are difficult to travel on now, and that kind of small cart can adapt to various terrains and is more convenient than a large cart."

Zhu Houxuan looked into the distance, took a deep breath, and then exhaled a long breath of white air. The snow had stopped, the sun had come out, and the snow was showing signs of melting, but the temperature was even lower.
It’s not cold when it snows, but when it melts, it absorbs a lot of heat, making the surrounding area even colder…

"How could I have deserved this and have the people do this for me..." Zhu Houxun suddenly felt blinded by the wind.

"This is what the people want!" said Chen Hong.

"We must provide enough supplies to these conscripts. Since they come to help us, we cannot treat them unfairly. We should also find ways to commend them. When we receive the supplies they bring, we should remember to write them IOUs. And for the people who work hard, we should remember to record their working hours. We must repay the kindness the people have shown us double in the future..." Zhu Houxuan said seriously.

"Yes, Your Highness!" Chen Hong quickly memorized Zhu Houxuan's order.

"Also, I'll change my schedule. I want to meet those people and thank them in person..."

(End of this chapter)