The Military Governor in Dream of the Red Chamber

In two months, Lu Dahai and his team had built forty tiger-squatting cannons.

This efficiency is absolutely very high.

The main reason is that the refined iron produced is of high quality, which makes the forging of cannon barrels significantly more effective and faster.

Lu Dahai, as the person in charge, divided the craftsmen into two groups, and the two tiger-squatting cannons were forged together.

Generally speaking, it takes less than three days to forge a Tiger Crouching Cannon.

In the future, as long as there are enough raw materials and manpower, it will be possible to produce one or even more per day.

Jia Chen divided the pig iron into two parts.

One thousand catties of pig iron were not refined into wrought iron but were used directly to make artillery shells and thunderclap bombs.

Only a thunderbolt encased in iron can unleash its full power.

Of course, Jia Chen also made some landmines.

This time, the landmines are more advanced, unlike the previous jar-shaped landmines that required a fuse to ignite.

The technology for landmines has been improved, mainly by adding flint. The landmines are buried underground, and if a person or horse steps on them, the friction of the flint due to gravity will ignite the gunpowder and cause an explosion.

Jia Chen and Lu Dahai tried it, and the results were good.

So, a lot of these landmines were made and buried around the front mountain fort, which was equivalent to a minefield and could effectively delay the enemy's charge.

The remaining 3,000 catties of pig iron were finally forged into about 2000 catties of refined iron, a yield that impressed Lu Dahai.

According to Jia Chen's idea, 2000 catties of refined iron could be used to make 60 tiger squat cannons, each weighing 30 catties of refined iron.

After all, there are losses during the cannon-making process.

If it weren't for the time spent smelting refined iron, Lu Dahai and his team could have forged even more Tiger Crouching Cannons in two months.

However, Jia Chen was still quite satisfied with this speed.

The artillery defenses at Qianshanbao were basically complete.

Later on, we added some more Tiger Crouching Cannons to make the defense even stronger.

Since the city wall was completed, Jia Chen immediately reported to Liu Tianwang.

He also demanded from Liu Tianwang the four breech-loading cannons and eight tiger-squatting cannons that he had previously promised.

Although they already had 40 tiger-squatting cannons, the more the merrier.

Three days after the report was submitted, Liu Tianwang sent someone to deliver the cannon.

Jia Chen originally thought he would have to wait a while, but he didn't expect Liu Tianwang to be so quick.

Liu Tianwang sent someone to praise Jia Chen, saying that the city wall and moat were completed in just two months, which greatly exceeded his expectations.

Liu Tianwang took Jia Chen's matter very seriously, which is why these cannons were delivered so quickly.

Four breech-loading cannons, one on each side of the city wall.

Each side of the city wall has 12 Tiger Crouching Cannons.

Whether it's the breech-loading cannon or the crouching cannon, since they are not large cannons, weighing only a few dozen kilograms, they are highly mobile and flexible. If there are more enemies on one side, they can be moved from other directions.

Jia Chen stood on the city wall, patting the Franco cannon with his hand, sighing inwardly.

The four breech-loading cannons were about 1.5 meters long, making them medium-sized breech-loading cannons.

With these cannons, even though they weren't large cannons, I felt much more at ease.

"The quantity is still not enough," Jia Chen thought to himself.

We could continue building cannons, but unfortunately we didn't have enough refined iron.

The chances of getting refined iron from Liu Tianwang and He Liding are slim in the future, and even pig iron will be difficult to obtain; we'll have to rely on ourselves.

Once we have the strength, we'll have to find iron ore to smelt ourselves.

Jia Chen was very excited about these cannons, but Wang Baisheng and the others were not so interested.

Because they didn't have much trust in artillery.

In their view, it would be better to build more thunderbolts.

The Thunderclap Bomb played a crucial role in the last battle against the Northern Barbarians.

But Jia Chen knew very well that the Thunderclap Bomb could only be used at close range and was far less effective than artillery.

However, it's difficult to change Wang Baisheng's mindset all at once; it takes time.

The inferior firearms of the Da Hong Army left Wang Baisheng and his men with a deep psychological scar.

There's no shortage of food and drink here in Qianshanbao.

Especially being able to eat meat every few days.

Therefore, everyone worked with great enthusiasm.

They also knew that the faster the fortress was built, the safer they would be.

The meat was provided by Emubu. A month ago, Emubu sent fifty sheep to Qianshanbao.

According to Emubu, this was to congratulate Jia Chen on becoming the garrison commander of Qianshanbao.

Jia Chen could guess what Emubu's intentions were.

He congratulated himself on having the position, but he probably valued his position as the garrison commander even more.

After the Qianshan Fort was built, Emubu and his group would pass through here almost every time they came to Mashi.

If we cause them trouble, Omubu and the others will be in big trouble.

Jia Chen did not refuse the sheep.

After all, he was already troubled by the lack of meat, and buying it would be another expense, so he was trying to save money wherever possible.

Everyone put in tremendous effort to build the fortress, and they also had to find time for drills and training. If they didn't have meat and oil for a long time, they probably wouldn't be able to keep up.

The sheep from Emubu were delivered very promptly.

These past two months have been mostly smooth sailing, except for one thing that's giving Jia Chen a bit of a headache.

That is, Wang Baisheng and his men did not trust firearms, fearing that they would explode or misfire, and preferred to use swords and spears.

The three-barreled gun was alright; even if it misfired, it could still be swung around as a weapon to hit people.

People like Wu Jiangsheng are still willing to use it.

Nobody really wanted to use the musket.

Unlike a three-barreled gun, a musket is useless if it misfires.

To Jia Chen's surprise, Huang Xiuer and 19 women volunteered to use the muskets in the face of this situation.

Women are certainly not as physically strong as men, and charging head-on with swords and knives would definitely put them at a disadvantage.

Jia Chen had never intended to send Huang Xiuer and the others to the battlefield.

They can do physical labor here. As for defending the city, unless all the men die, they can just take care of logistics and the wounded.

If a musket were used, these disadvantages could be ignored.

Since Wang Baisheng and the others were unwilling to use it, Jia Chen agreed to Huang Xiuer's request and allowed the 20 women to use muskets and undergo training.

He is currently using arquebuses from the Da Hong Army. Although they have been selected for their slightly better quality, Jia Chen is not sure if they will not cause any problems.

Jia Chen also told Huang Xiuer and the others about the dangers involved.

Huang Xiuer and the other women showed no sign of backing down.

Everyone was eager to try.

Jia Cheng could probably guess what Huang Xiuer and the other women were thinking.

Although they participated in physical labor, Wang Baisheng and his colleagues still felt that women were not up to the task.

Huang Xiuer and the others are trying to prove themselves.

Therefore, Jia Chen also wanted them to become role models and change Wang Baisheng's and others' views.

He was determined to promote firearms, and the army he led had to be primarily equipped with firearms.

Otherwise, how would we face the Later Jin Eight Banners in the future?

We need to let Wang Baisheng and his men witness the true power of firearms, not those inferior firearms that explode in the barrel.

"Sisters, hang in there! The adults are right. We can't let them look down on us!" Huang Xiuer shouted.

Twenty women knelt on one knee, holding muskets horizontally with both hands, their eyes looking forward through the sights.

A thin rope was tied to the very top of the musket barrel, from which a sandbag was suspended.

Jia Chen is having them practice shooting postures so that they can develop muscle memory through long-term training.

Although the weather was already very cold, sweat still seeped from the foreheads of these women, and many of them had trembling arms, but they still gritted their teeth and persevered.