Nanyang Storm 1864

Chapter 147 New American Weapons and Equipment
When Qian Jiang and other officers stood up to speak, Zheng Guohui saw the empty cowhide revolver pouches worn around each of their waists and couldn't help but smile.

He asked, "How are the new revolvers you were issued? Are they working well?"

This sentence really hit the spot. Qian Jiang turned around and looked at Huang Shan and Zhou Laonian, and they all laughed at the same time.

It was Huang Shan who stepped forward, clasped his fists and reported:
"In reply to the Marshal,

After the officers were equipped with revolvers, they tried them many times and became more and more fond of them. It can be said that they loved them very much.

Such a sharp pistol can injure three to five people after being loaded with six bullets. With the help of a sword, even if you are besieged in a fierce battle, you will not be afraid.

The Remington M1858 revolver is easy to carry and greatly enhances the combat effectiveness of officers. Officers and soldiers in the barracks praise it highly and have almost no objections.

After being equipped with this gun, the officers' prestige will be further enhanced, which is really beneficial."

Hearing their high evaluation of the revolver, Zheng Guohui stood up and said encouragingly;

"Now that the entire army is equipped with a full set of powerful guns and artillery, we must put even more effort into conducting reorganization and training well and thoroughly to sharpen the army's combat effectiveness.

After being forged into a piece of fine steel through repeated hammering, even the hardest stone can be smashed to pieces.

The Northern Expedition is not far off, and that will be the time to test the quality of the First Expeditionary Division's training. I hope you will all deliver satisfactory results and achieve great success on the battlefield."

"Please rest assured, Marshal. I will strictly discipline the army and temper it into steel, so as not to disappoint your high expectations." Qian Jiang raised his hand to salute with a solemn expression and answered in a firm tone.

Zheng Guohui said, "Very good. I look forward to your performance on the battlefield."

After he finished speaking, he picked up the teacup.

The three officers, Qian Jiang, Huang Shan and Zhou Laonian, took their leave as usual, took a few steps back and left the study, and were escorted out of the Marshal's residence by Zheng Shan, the deputy commander of the personal guards.

At the gate of the Marshal's Mansion

Zheng Jiang, Huang Shan and Zhou Laonian took their briefly kept swords and pistols from the hands of their personal soldiers, opened the revolvers to check them, and then inserted them into the holsters on their right waists.

The knife comes with a steel chain buckle, which can be directly buckled on the left side of the waist.

The First Division's escorts brought over their horses. Before leaving, Deputy Division Commander Huang Shan bowed and greeted Zheng Shan, saying, "Commander Zheng, thank you for your help. If you need me in the future, please let me know."

"You're welcome, sir. This is my duty. Okay, I won't see you off." Zheng Shan had no smile on his face. He bowed and turned to leave.

Qian Jiang and Zhou Laonian mounted their horses one after another. Huangshan then shook his head and took the whip, then mounted his horse as well, urging the horses to move forward slowly, while the guards followed quickly.

Zhou Laonian glanced at Huangshan but didn't say anything. He was a very taciturn person and didn't talk much.

Qian Jiang and Huang Shan rode side by side, and said soothingly, "Brother Huang, you don't need to get too close to these personal guards at the Marshal's Mansion. Especially Zheng Shan, haha... he's a stubborn person."

"Master, you are joking. I am just being polite." Huang Shan did not dare to admit that he was trying to get close to his personal soldiers, so he quickly denied it.

He was one of the few senior military officers who was not a member of the imperial guards, and was appreciated for his bravery and fighting skills.

Other senior military commanders such as Qian Jiang, Zheng Shun, and He Ruolin were almost all former personal soldiers. They had all been trained by the Marshal and could be considered his trusted confidants.

Personal soldiers should not interact with officers of all levels in the army. This is an invisible ban and also a rule.

Qian Jiang smiled nonchalantly, then turned serious and said, "Brother Huang, our First Division's artillery regiment is in your hands. You can't slack off on this training. From now on, when you lead an army to attack, you'll rely on these artillery pieces."

"Don't worry, Commander. I've been keeping an eye on the artillery training and will make sure they don't lose face when the time comes."

"That's fine. The artillery regiment is the treasure of our First Division, and no mistakes can be made. I've transferred all those officers from scholarly backgrounds to you. Lao Nian's logistics department has been requested several times, but I refused."

"Master, how dare you say that." Zhou Laonian finally couldn't help but complain.

His words drew laughter from the other two, and the group quickly disappeared at the end of the street.

The American equipment ordered by the Marshal was large in quantity and high in quality, but the price was surprisingly cheap, almost like picking it up for free.

In fact

The American-owned Wan Guo Tong Bao Trading Company really got the goods for free. All you had to do was build a good relationship with the American military officers left behind, and then you could open the warehouse door and take as much as you wanted.

Zheng Guohui is knowledgeable and all the weapons and equipment he ordered are the best. Not to mention the infantry equipment, the field artillery is also at the advanced level in the world today.

The required cavalry equipment was so detailed that it included saddles, a full set of cowhide rigging, cowhide horse bags, stirrups, sabers, muzzle-loading holsters, cavalry equipment, canteens, carbines, blankets, raincoats, etc., without missing a single one.

The Wan Guo Tong Bao Company mainly operated on the west coast of North America, which was the area with the least fighting during the Civil War, and the weapons and equipment were rarely worn out.

That is to say, the soldiers are trained during the equipment period and can only fire a few bullets and a few artillery shells. The rest are almost brand new.

Likewise, the number of weapons and equipment on the West Coast is smaller.

Zheng Guohui ordered 5 rifles, specifically requesting the US military's latest Springfield M1861 rifles and rejecting any other miscellaneous brands. Joe Johnson scoured over ten West Coast arsenals and only managed to gather 10 rifles. The remaining rifles would take considerable time to ship from the East Coast, so they would have to be reserved for the second batch.

During the Civil War

The Northern Army was equipped with more than one million Springfield M1861 rifles, which are one of the most advanced rifled rifles in the world today and are in no way inferior to British rifles.

After the war, the United States demobilized a large number of troops, and the size of the army approved by Congress was no more than 3.7 people, which meant that most of the weapons and equipment became scrap.

If no one buys it, its final destination will be put into the iron smelting furnace as scrap iron, whether it is a rifle or a cannon.

This gave Zheng Guohui the opportunity to get a bargain. The price he could offer was very low, only slightly higher than selling scrap.

Even so
The U.S. military, eager to get rid of its large inventory, is also willing to sell. However, the scrap needs to be transported to the steel mill, which incurs additional shipping costs.

The advanced feature of the Springfield M1861 rifle is that it uses a rifled barrel, which is rare in the world today. The bullet will rotate centripetally after being fired, greatly improving shooting accuracy.

Secondly, the gun used Minié bullets and percussion cap firing, which were revolutionary technological advances.

The diameter of the conical bullet of the lead Minié bullet is slightly smaller than the diameter of the barrel, making it very convenient to load.

A skilled soldier could fire three rounds per minute, which was three times faster than the old smoothbore flintlock rifle, and the firepower that could be unleashed per unit time was more powerful and deadly.

The reason for such a fast loading speed is inseparable from the fixed ammunition equipped with the M1861 rifle.

When using this fixed ammunition, the soldier bites open the gunpowder half with his teeth, pours the gunpowder into the barrel, and tamps it down with a ramrod.

Then bite open the paper bag of the Minié bullet, put the conical bullet into the muzzle, and tamp it down with the ramrod. The loading procedure is completed and you can shoot.

The Chu army set up a gunpowder factory in Zamboanga Province, Mindanao, and hired more than a hundred family members of officers and soldiers as workers to be responsible for packaging gunpowder for supply to the entire army.

This job is not difficult at all. The most challenging part is casting the conical Minié warhead. There are ready-made casting discs for this in American factories, and a lot of them have been shipped here.

It is a large cast iron plate with densely packed conical holes. You just need to pour heated molten lead into it, remove the burrs after it condenses, and you will get a qualified Minié bullet.

The women workers' job was to sew kraft paper into long paper bags with needles, pour a certain amount of gunpowder into the open end, and seal it with needle and thread.

Then put in a Minié bullet and seal it with two or three stitches, and a fixed ammunition is ready.

Each 20 rounds of fixed ammunition were wrapped in an oil paper bag, which could be put into the soldier's cowhide ammunition box and could be used at any time.

According to the Infantry Regulations
Each soldier carried two cowhide magazines containing 40 rounds of ammunition, enough for a whole day of fighting.

During routine training, ammunition is not allowed.

Daily ammunition is kept by the company quartermaster, usually the deputy company commander. In wartime, he is responsible for distributing ammunition according to demand and keeping the army's reserve weapons and ammunition.

The artillery regiment mentioned by Qian Jiang was equipped with a total of 108 12-pound M1857 field smoothbore guns, which greatly increased the offensive firepower of the st Expeditionary Division to several levels, reaching the advanced level of the world's infantry.

Even when facing the armies of European powers, they were not much inferior.

It is no exaggeration to say
The Chu Army's First, Second, and Third Divisions have all upgraded their weapons and equipment, and now have reached the level of the world's advanced armies.

After the Civil War

Tens of thousands of artillery pieces equipped by both sides became useless and became useless garbage piled up in the arsenal.

The only place to go is the steelmaking furnace in the steel plant.

Zheng Guohui took advantage of this excellent opportunity and ordered a large number of artillery pieces of different calibers at extremely low prices in the first batch of orders.

Among them, 12 1857-pound M800 field smoothbore guns were ordered, and only a part of them were equipped with the 2st Expeditionary Division, the nd Division and the rd Division, and there was a large amount of inventory.

The M1857 is a traditional artillery piece, also known as the Napoleon gun. It was modeled after the French artillery piece and was the most widely used field artillery piece in the American Civil War.

It has a caliber of 117 mm and fires a conventional round shell, weighing 5.5 kg, or about twelve pounds.

This is a bronze cannon, known for its sturdiness and durability.

But the original equipment was very expensive, costing more than $500 each. Today, an ounce of gold is worth only $20, so a cannon is worth 25 ounces of gold.

Zheng Guohui purchased a large number of M4 field artillery pieces for only 83 ounces of gold per piece, which was an average of 80 taels of silver, or $1857. This brought the Chu army's artillery equipment to the world's advanced level, making him a huge profit.

Also purchased were 24-pound and 36-pound heavy guns, totaling more than 300 pieces. More than half of them have been delivered, and the rest will be delivered in the second phase of goods.

These large-caliber heavy artillery will be mainly used in the river mouth fortress in Davao Province and the pagoda fortress in Zamboanga Province. The surplus will be stored and used in other coastal fortresses in the future.

The price of American-made guns is so cheap now that it doesn't even cover the cost. You'd be a fool not to buy them.

(End of this chapter)