Ling Tianfang hesitated for a moment before saying: "Your Majesty, there are only about two batches of 6,000 people who can truly master the operation of fire guns. The number of fire guns is now less than 20,000. Due to the poor quality of the barrels, The quality of gunpowder has always been in an unstable state. Although it has been improved many times, there are still many problems. Therefore, only 6,000 people have been trained for the time being. It is difficult to say how well it will perform in actual combat. The following three batches of gunpowder The soldiers have only completed preliminary training and cannot be used in actual combat."
Nodding slightly, Wu Feng showed a thoughtful look on his face, "Let several factories that produce fire guns have to find ways to improve the quality on the one hand, and ensure a certain amount of supply on the other. The training here must not fall behind, and must be stepped up. , of course I still understand the principle that haste makes waste, but as far as I know, some countries in the Western Continent seem to have begun trial production and large-scale production and training in this regard. Compared to us, they do not seem to be much slower. , so I believe that our fire gun soldiers must first go to the battlefield to be tested in actual combat. Only after being tested in actual combat can we discover existing problems and correct them, and at the same time, we can find a set of tactics suitable for fire gun soldiers. method."
"Tian Fang, this battle should be an excellent opportunity for the fire gun soldiers to get training. They can also find out the shortcomings of the fire gun soldiers and what methods they can adopt to make up for or avoid their shortcomings after experiencing this bloody battle. , I know that you value these fire gun soldiers very much, but the more you value them, the more stringent the requirements should be. If they are not well trained, I will not mention it, but if they are successfully trained, they must be allowed to experience the test of real war. Go Experience the atmosphere of the battlefield, and only in this way can they gradually stand out from other arms and gradually become a new arm with their own characteristics."
Seeing Ling Tianfang nodding silently, Wu Feng continued: "Although the fire gun soldiers can only be used defensively for the time being. But I think Tianfang might as well think more long-term. Can the three-stage cycle shooting method be applied to As the battle progresses, can the fire gun soldiers survive on horseback like archers? These issues can all be taken into consideration. I always feel that the fire gun soldiers should have a great impact on the future development direction of the army. Since we are taking this step If we are ahead, then we must maintain our lead and never let other countries and nations surpass us in this regard to ensure our absolute advantage in this regard."
"I understand, Your Majesty, don't worry. The next three batches of Fire Gun Soldiers will also complete their training soon. It is indeed necessary for them to go into battle and experience the atmosphere of real war. As for the other side, I will also cooperate with the Department of Science and Technology Development , urging them to improve the current flaws and shortcomings of the Fire Gun as soon as possible." Ling Tianfang nodded to show that he understood the meaning of His Majesty's words. His Majesty was already reminding himself not to be self-conscious. It is difficult for Fire Gun soldiers to become talented simply by training. War will never end. It is the best stage to test and hone an army.
Seeing that Ling Tianfang seemed to have come to his senses, Wu Feng changed the subject and asked, "Tianfang, how is the improvement and development of Hong Tianlei going over there?"
"Well, it went smoothly, but the stability of Hongtian Lei is still a problem. However, the Science and Technology Development Department is studying a device that uses the power of gunpowder to launch heavy projectiles. It is like a giant firecracker. The progress is very fast. It is estimated that after successful development, it can replace the Hongtian Lei projected by other power sources." Speaking of the production of Hongtian Lei, Ling Tianfang became interested again.
"Oh? Tell me." Bang Tianlei has always been a weapon secretly developed by the empire for field battles and sieges. Since the development has never been perfect, the military has been restricting its use to prevent the secrets from leaking out. Now Ling Tian is releasing He actually said that the newly developed giant fire gun would replace the Hongtian Lei, which surprised Wu Feng and attracted Wu Feng's attention.
"Well, the manufacturing principle of giant fire cannons is similar to that of ordinary fire cannons, but giant fire cannons have the advantage of being more powerful and having a longer range, and they can also be selective in the projectiles they shoot. Now the technology development department has developed iron Cannonballs and shotgun shells. Iron cannonballs are powerful and have a relatively long range. They have irreplaceable power when used in sieges, but they are of little use in field battles. Shotgun shells are composed of multiple metal projectiles, and lead bullets are generally used. This kind of shotgun has a short range, but a large number of shots are fired at one time, which can form a metal barrage. It has terrifying lethality against enemy cavalry charges. We have already conducted tests. Even armored cavalry charges are faced with this kind of shotgun. The bombardment still resulted in heavy casualties, and those who were able to survive the barrage bombardment no longer had the ability to level up or fight."
"In addition, the Department of Science and Technology Development is also studying a cannonball that fires hollow iron balls. According to them, gunpowder can be placed in the iron ball and mixed with metal fragments. When the cannonball falls into the enemy camp, it will explode again and the metal fragments will fly. It is extremely destructive to the enemy's phalanx of soldiers, and even heavily armored soldiers cannot withstand such fragmentation attacks. However, there are still some technical requirements that have not been fully met, and further testing is still underway. If this shell is successfully tested, then this This kind of giant fire gun can really completely replace Hongtianlei, and its power in all aspects can be greatly improved. However, this kind of giant fire gun still needs to be improved due to the proportion of the charge configuration, the quality is not stable, and it is easy to appear. Many people have died in the experiment due to the bombing accident, so we have to be more careful and the speed has been slowed down. However, I believe that in the near future, the guys from the Science and Technology Development Department will be able to solve these technical problems. By then, Your Majesty, you can see that a brand new branch of arms is about to appear in the Imperial Army."
Ling Tianfang couldn't help but get excited when he mentioned the hollow cannon shells he was testing. He had become increasingly obsessed with the improvement of new weapons and the resulting changes in the military's arms and combat effectiveness. Although the new weapons still had one or another disadvantage shortcomings, but these shortcomings are not insurmountable. One day these shortcomings are overcome one by one, it means that the Army will usher in an epoch-making change.
Seeing Ling Tianfang's face glowing, Wu Feng felt the joy coming from his heart.
Since the establishment of the Ministry of Science and Technology Development, the military has demanded the power to direct the work plan of the Ministry of Science and Technology Development. This once caused a conflict between the Imperial Government Affairs Council and the Imperial Privy Council. However, Ling Tianfang was surprisingly stubborn on this point, forcing Xiao Tang to He Sutai had to make concessions in this regard and determined that the Ministry of Science and Technology Development should give priority to the military's requirements in the direction of work. The military also allocated funds from the military budget to provide convenience for the Ministry of Science and Technology Development. It can also be seen from the work focus of the Ministry of Science and Technology Development in the past year or two that almost several important research projects revolve around the needs of the military.
However, the Imperial Administration soon realized the negative effects of their concessions in this area. Seeing that the military's weapons research was flourishing, but there were few results in civilian research, this immediately aroused the concern of Xiao and Su. of vigilance. Soon Xiao Tang and Su Tai made a clear request to Wu Feng, requesting that the Imperial Science and Technology Development Department be split into two, with one part led by the Imperial Government Affairs Council and the other part handed over to the Imperial Privy Council to clarify their responsibilities and carry out their own work. This also won them The Imperial Privy Council approved. However, the two sides are still arguing over the division of personnel currently employed by the Imperial Science and Technology Development Department, especially researchers from several affiliated research institutes. Both Ling Tianfang and Bo Jinchen, as well as Xiao Tang and Su Tai, are aware of this. The importance of a group of people, Xiao Tang even privately told Ling Tianfang that he was willing to make concessions and compromises on the annual military appropriation budget, but Ling Tianfang was not tempted.
In Ling Tianfang's opinion, it is precisely because of the efforts of this group of people that the development of new military weapons has made such great progress. If this group of people is lost, the research on new military weapons is entirely likely to stagnate. Even going backwards, Xiao Tang would never sympathize with him at that time. Since he had taken the initiative, he would never give in, even if he broke up with the two heads of the Imperial Administration Council for this.
Naturally, Wu Feng didn't know much about the competition between the military and the government for talents, but he knew that Ling Tianfang valued the researchers of these institutes more than anything else. Not only are various research funds absolutely guaranteed, but confidentiality is also extremely strict. Even Diao Su and Linghu Yi were full of curiosity and suspicion about these research institutes, and once asked Ling Tianfang to Fulfill the powers granted to the two major security agencies by imperial law and accept inspections from the two major security agencies. However, at Ling Tianfang's insistence, only a few senior officials from the two major agencies were able to visit these research institutes, and the secretive military The security personnel on the other side resolutely refused to allow officials from the security agencies to further understand the details of the study.
"Tian Fang, it is important to develop new weapons, but it also takes time to adapt to the new weapons and equipment to form combat effectiveness in the army, and the empire still faces many challenges, especially those from the ocean. I feel that the giant you are talking about Fireguns seem to have great development prospects in the navy. The testing of these new weapons should not be limited to the army. The navy must also participate. At the same time, during the development of new weapons, qualified soldiers can be strictly selected for skilled training, so that they can enter the field as soon as possible. role, and can also identify problems during training, providing a test basis for developers to discover problems and defects and improve deficiencies."
Wu Feng's words convinced Ling Tian. While he was still obsessed with how to develop new weapons faster and better, His Majesty the Emperor was already considering the application of new weapons in actual combat. The ultimate goal of new weapons is to equip the army and use them in actual combat. Only actual combat is the ultimate goal to exert and test the role of these weapons.