The firearms manufacturing workshop is located in the southeast of the territory directly under the jurisdiction of Port Vibato, very close to the defensive line that the Hicks Kingdom hired the volunteer light cavalry regiment of the Principality of Karnas to set up at the border. This is a low hilly area, and the highest hill is no more than two hundred meters above sea level. However, this area called the Black Stone Hills is the origin of the famous black flint in the Vibato Port Direct Territory.
But no one here is interested in mining black flint for fuel, because there are many shrubs and weeds in the territory, and there is no shortage of firewood. As long as you go out of the town, you can pick up a large bundle of dead branches and dry firewood. Therefore, black flint, which produces black smoke when burned and has an unpleasant smell, is useless. Claude remembered that in a mineral illustration seen by the Mining and Commerce Association, black flint was listed as a fourth category of mineral resources, with extremely low mining value.
Master Bird set up the firearms manufacturing workshop here because he valued the burning value of black flint. He believed that with the development of firepower machines and the steam engines he built, the value of black flint would become higher and higher. Because after his treatment, black flint can burn longer and produce more heat. In addition, using black flint as fuel can increase the temperature of the refining furnace, better fuse various metals together, and refine them into the special materials he needs. Steel.
General Bolognik, General Skerry, and General Beachklin arrived at the Blackstone Hills in late September. After receiving the message from Claude's hawk, they took a light cruiser aboard General Beachklin from offshore. Rush to Vibato Port, and then rush to Blackstone Hills from Vibato Port. They never expected that Claude would quietly start a military industry in the direct territory and produce a new type of rifle.
Generals Claude and Albert came out to greet them, and took the three generals to visit the entire gun manufacturing workshop. General Bolognik and General Skerry watched the huge steam engine emit black smoke, spray white gas, and make huge noises to push the piston connecting rod up and down, driving a series of mechanical manufacturing equipment to crush various ores and refine them into Qualified steel materials are very emotional and exciting when undergoing various mechanical processing.
General Skerry said that he had visited several large-scale military industries in the Kingdom, but he did not expect that the War Zone Territory would finally have a firearms manufacturing workshop. This meant that the War Zone was freed from the Kingdom's local control of its weapons and equipment, and would not have to use it again in the future. Begging the kingdom to provide weapons and equipment for overseas territories.
General Bolognik lamented the wonders of steam engines and fire engines. He said that all military industry firearms manufacturing workshops in Farea continent need to find places with abundant water resources to open. Unexpectedly, Claude could find a new path and use firepower and steam as power to set up a military industry. It is obvious that in the future, fire engines and steam engines will become the first choice for power in all machinery manufacturing workshops.
At this time, General Bolognik, General Skerry and General Beachlin had no idea about Claude's so-called new rifle. They believed that the new rifle Claude mentioned was also a kind of matchlock gun. So after visiting the ore crushing site and refining site, we went to have lunch at Claude's invitation. General Albert, who had come a few days earlier, had been having a great time playing with guns in the firearms manufacturing workshop. He smiled and did not reveal any information, just waiting to see the shocked expressions of the three people when they saw the new rifle.
The three generals, who had lunch and then took a nap for two hours, were finally taken to the gun test range by Claude. There was a row of long tables on which were placed more than ten Sonia 591s that had just been produced during this period. New rifle. Because they are produced by machinery, these ten or so new rifles are not as refined as the five new rifles from my sister Anna’s ranch. There are still some burrs on the edges and corners of the accessories on the gun body.
But these more than ten new rifles have already given the three generals who saw them for the first time a great surprise. General Bi Chiklin's sharp eyes lit up when he saw the copper-cased bullets placed next to the new rifles. Like a revolver, the bullets are contained in bullet casings.”
Seeing Claude nod, General Beachlin grabbed a new rifle with one hand and a few bullets lying next to him with the other hand. "Tell me how to shoot this gun."
General Albert took the lead and picked up another new rifle. "Look at me."
He skillfully demonstrated how to load a bullet into the magazine, then insert the magazine into the lower body of the gun, pull the bolt, insert another bullet from the opening on the gun body, and then aim and shoot. Although it was necessary to pull the bolt once to make the bullet casing pop out, six consecutive shots had shocked the three generals so much that their eyes almost popped out.
Then General Bolognik and General Beachlin fired the new rifle more than fifty times before stopping. General Skerry only fired about ten times and stopped trying the gun. He rubbed his shoulders and complained, " The back shock of this gun is stronger than that of a matchlock gun.”
"The weight of the gun body is also a little heavier than the matchlock gun." General Bolognik weighed the new rifle in his hand. "But compared with its convenience of loading and fast shooting, I personally think these two shortcomings can be completely ignored."
Claude immediately reported the performance of the new rifle. General Beachlin was overjoyed. He looked at General Bolognik and said, "General, this is the weapon we need most. If equipped with this new rifle, I can use one The battalion can withstand the attack of an enemy division, and can even defeat it. If there are still strong defensive positions to rely on, I am still very confident that the enemy's entire regiment will be unable to move even an inch."
General Bolognik ignored him and just looked at the new rifle in his hand fondly. He knew very well that the new rifle that Claude took out this time had completely surpassed the matchlock guns equipped by various countries in the Farea continent. This was not a lead. How many years was a question, but it transcended the entire era. Just like the revolver he saw for the first time, he was astonished. He only hoped that the price of this new rifle would not be as high as that of the revolver.
General Skerry is not as expert in weapons as General Bolognik and General Beachlin, but as a soldier, he still understands the huge role this new rifle can play on the battlefield. As the logistics manager of the entire war zone, what he is most concerned about is the issue of price. "How much will the price of this new rifle be if it is equipped with large-scale troops?"
Claude was still thinking about what price he should quote. General Albert beside him had already stretched out a palm with five fingers spread out.
"Five gold crowns" General Bolognik was very pleasantly surprised. He didn't expect that the price of this new rifle was not very high. It might be possible to update weapons and equipment for all the troops under the direct jurisdiction of the theater. Those local garrison regiments are also two legions. of veteran origin
"You have a good idea." General Albert turned his palm over. Now everyone understood what he meant. The price of a new rifle costs ten gold crowns. For some reason, General Bolognik and General Beachlin both thought that the price was a good deal, but only General Skerry felt that he should bargain.
Claude waved his hand and stopped General Skerry's request to reduce the price of equipment. He smiled bitterly and said to the generals present, "Actually, you are in the wrong direction. The problem with this new rifle is not the gun itself, but the bullet." superior."
He picked up a rifle bullet. "What you don't know is that the production price of this rifle bullet is three sunars. If more than 10 million rounds are produced, it can be reduced to two sunars per bullet. But It can’t come down any more.”
General Bolognik, General Buechlin and General Albert didn't care about the price of bullets. General Buichlin also said, "A bullet only costs two sunars, which is very cheap."
Claude smiled bitterly and shook his head helplessly.
But General Skerry, who was sensitive to numbers, suddenly turned pale. "We can't afford this new rifle. You don't know that the gunpowder and gun used in one shot of the Obas III matchlock gun are only worth four at most." A black iron penny. In other words, the price of firing the matchlock fifty times is only worth one copper-cased rifle bullet."
"If we follow the training syllabus of the Kingdom's Army Ministry, new recruits need to undergo a thousand live-fire shooting trainings, which is equivalent to a shooting cost of five gold crowns per person. And then they will need to conduct another hundred For live-fire shooting drills, the annual shooting training cost will be six gold crowns. We have a legion of 65,000 people. If we include actual combat drills, the cost of light bullets will cost four hundred thousand gold crowns per year." Claude added .
General Bolognik wiped the sweat from his forehead, "We really can't afford this new rifle."
General Buechlin was a little reluctant, "General, this new rifle can allow us to fight one against ten, increasing the combat effectiveness of the troops to the greatest extent. If both of our legions are equipped with this new rifle, I can guarantee that there will be no Any enemy will be our match."
"Perhaps we can halve the training cost," General Albert said thoughtfully. "The Kingdom's Ministry of War requires recruits to undergo a thousand live-fire shooting training. This is because loading the matchlock gun is more cumbersome and must be allowed to the new recruits." Familiarize yourself with each step and develop a habit, so that you will not panic on the battlefield, and ensure orderliness and your own safety when loading and shooting each charge to the greatest extent.
If we adopt a new rifle, then there is no need for us to conduct a thousand live-fire training sessions according to the matchlock training syllabus. This new rifle is easy and fast to load, and it is easy for soldiers to master its shooting essentials, so I think there is no need for soldiers to consume so many bullets. If recruits conduct live-fire shooting ten times a month, with fifty rounds of ammunition each time, the cost of bullets consumed in live-fire shooting can be reduced by half.
In addition, we can also reduce the monthly live-fire training in the future. Live-fire training will be conducted once every three months. Each soldier will receive one hundred rounds of ammunition each time, so that they can review the essentials they need to master in shooting. After all, the new rifle is different from the matchlock gun. The matchlock gun needs to strengthen the soldiers' memory and habit of loading and loading, while the new rifle does not need to be so troublesome. It only requires the soldier to load the bullets and know how to accurately aim and shoot.
Calculated this way, the annual training cost for our legion on bullets is only about 150,000 gold crowns. Although this is a huge sum of money, the improvement in combat effectiveness equipped with new rifles is immeasurable, just like As Piccolo said, one of our legions can fight ten. Compared with the cost of our defeat and the lives of our soldiers, I think this expenditure is very cost-effective and necessary. "
"What you say makes sense, but Alan, our war zone is currently in dire straits and is waiting for new developments. The more than two million immigrants from the kingdom have just settled in the two direct territories of Cromwell and Beringana. Then we The three direct jurisdictions of Tilsim, Mormali and Arturas were also brought under the jurisdiction of the war zone. Although more than 1.4 million gold crowns were plundered from those three direct jurisdictions, they were also plundered from Nepal. The Kamchat state earned two million gold crowns from migration and arms sales.
However, the rebellion and relocation of the Nikancha people, the recruitment of new soldiers and the reorganization of local garrison forces, the expansion of Lanhu Town and the establishment of an overseas people's livelihood bank, the establishment of an offshore cruising fleet and investment in the two directly administered territories of Cromwell and Beringana were also included. The funding for public infrastructure has pushed the financial expenditure of our war zone to the limit.
To be honest, the war zone still has a deficit of nearly one million gold crowns from last year that has not been wiped out, and this can all be verified. Now we can only place our hope in the banknote vouchers launched by the Overseas Minsheng Bank, and hope that the residents of the Kingdom directly under the jurisdiction will be happy to accept the banknote vouchers instead of boycotting their use, otherwise our war zone finances are likely to go bankrupt.
The current situation in our theater is very difficult, and the theater has done its best to ensure the supply of military supplies for the two legions and eighteen local garrison regiments. After all, we are still facing the threat of attack from the Kingdom of Hicks. At the same time, we have lost contact with the mainland of the kingdom and cannot receive support from the kingdom. Now we can only rely on ourselves and work hard to get through this difficulty. "
General Bolognik sighed deeply. It can be seen that he has been under great pressure during these days. His wrinkles have become deeper and his hair has become whiter. As the acting supreme commander of the theater, he is responsible for all military, political and civilian affairs of the eight overseas territories under the entire theater. The higher the position, the greater the responsibility and the heavier the burden.
"Claude, your new rifle is very good, surpassing all the matchlock guns of this era." General Bolognik said to Claude, "But there is really no way for the troops to equip the troops with this new rifle in the war zone, at least in the short term. We cannot afford the equipment price of this new rifle and the training cost of bullets. What are your opinions and requirements? Can you tell us?"
Claude's smile became even bitterer. He knew that what General Bolognik said was the true situation in the war zone, but he guided Mrs. Sonia to create this new rifle. If the war zone did not carry out large-scale procurement, then he started This firearms manufacturing workshop is useless and cannot be closed down.
"I hope the war zone can guarantee me a loan of one million gold crowns from the Overseas Minsheng Bank to maintain the daily operation of this firearms manufacturing workshop." Claude said, "I invested two hundred thousand gold crowns to trial-produce this new rifle. It took several years and countless failures to finally create this new rifle with the help of Mrs. Sonia. Then I used all the family funds to raise these mechanical equipment to open this firearms manufacturing workshop, preparing to use it. to make this new rifle.
Now the firearms manufacturing workshop has just begun to operate and has not reached full production capacity. With the current production status, it can only produce 3,000 new rifles and 4 million copper-cased rifle bullets a year. If possible, I would like to use the loan to enable this firearms manufacturing workshop to reach an annual output of 10,000 new rifles and 10 million copper-cased rifle bullets. Then use these new rifles and bullets to repay the loan and slowly replace the equipment of each combat unit of our Thunder Legion. This will not burden the finances of the theater and at the same time gradually increase the combat effectiveness of our Legion."
General Bolognik pondered for a while, "You are so confident in the banknote vouchers to be issued by the Overseas Minsheng Bank. If the banknote vouchers cannot be circulated in the direct territory, then we will all be in big trouble."
The stipulation for overseas Minsheng Bank loans is half gold and silver coins and half banknotes in cash.
General Bolognik's worries are not unreasonable. People in this world have been using gold, silver and copper coins for nearly a thousand years. Now that silver and copper coins below the silver thaler are to be changed into light paper money, many people have little confidence. If there is a large-scale boycott, the war zone may be able to persist, but Claude's firearms manufacturing workshop, which uses banknotes to pay wages, is likely to close down soon.
"General, I have no choice now," Claude said.