1850 American Gold Baron

Chapter 215 Teaching Company

The guns are in place, and so are the officers.

Next, Liang Yao planned to use these Prussian officers as instructors to train his California Infantry Regiment.

The main force of the California Infantry Regiment is in California. When he went to New York this time, Liang Yao only led two infantry companies and one cavalry company.

Liang Yao decided to select one company from the two infantry companies to serve as a teaching company, giving priority to equipping it with Dresser firing pin guns, and let these Prussian instructors train first to see the effect.

Prussia was very considerate and selected the officers who could speak English.

The soldiers of the California Infantry Regiment are all veterans who have lived in the United States for more than a year. They cannot speak English well, but they can still communicate normally.

There was no language barrier between these soldiers and the Prussian instructors, which saved Liang Yao a lot of trouble as he did not have to find a translator.

The Dresser striker gun is more advanced and precise, especially the mechanical structure of the bolt mechanism is relatively complex.

In addition, the Dresser striker gun has problems such as fragile and easily damaged springs, easy residual gunpowder, and easy wear and tear at the junction between the barrel and barrel.

The maintenance requirements for guns are relatively high.

Liang Yao also knew that his soldiers and low-level officers were all from poor peasant backgrounds, and their quality could not be compared with that of the Prussian army, which pursued military harmony, nationalism, and justice and had undergone militarized training since childhood.

If you want to narrow the gap with the Prussian army, you can only make up for it through acquired training.

The cost for him to obtain these Dresser striker guns was very high.

The purchase price of the rifled Springfield M1842 bayonet is only US$14 each. If you buy more, you can bargain. After all, he is also an old customer of Springfield Arsenal, so he will still give you this discount.

The smoothbore version of the M1842 is cheaper, with a new one only costing $11.

At this cabbage price, many colonels in the army still think it is too expensive.

As for these Dresser striker guns, Liang Yao purchased them from Prussia in the form of gold payment. Excluding shipping costs, the purchase unit price converted into U.S. dollars was 50 U.S. dollars!

The Dresser striker gun is indeed more sophisticated than the M1842, and is more difficult and costly to manufacture, but it will never be as high as $50 a piece.

3,000 Dresser needle guns cost US$150,000. At this price, Liang Yao must have been killed by the Prussians.

But once you get the gun, it's easy to say that American mechanics and inventors have always been very good at reverse engineering. The industrial level is not as bad as that of Prussia, and it is not difficult to make imitations.

As long as you create imitations, you no longer need to purchase them at a high price from Prussia. If you develop a new gun with better performance, you can sell it back to Prussia to gain blood.

Liang Yao felt much more comfortable when he thought of this.

"Why is this gun so weird? How do you load it from the back?"

"There is a big needle in the barrel of the gun! How strange!"

"Not to mention, this new gun looks better than the old gun!"

"There's also a dragon head and dragon pattern on it!"

"How to shoot this new gun?"

In the open space of the Hudson River, the infantrymen of the First Company who had just received new guns were excitedly playing with the Dresser needle guns in their hands, and the siege group was talking a lot.

Even the officers were so immersed in admiring the new guns that they forgot to listen to the training as a whole team.

Just as the soldiers of the first company were discussing, a sharp whistle suddenly sounded.

"Everyone stand in line for me! Where are the officers?! Are you usually so undisciplined and undisciplined?"

Kruger reached for the whistle from his mouth and scolded him sternly.

After being reprimanded, the officers quickly formed their teams to listen to the training.

The formation speed of these soldiers was quite fast, and Kruger was a little satisfied with this, but he did not show his feelings.

"Sir, everyone was so excited about the new guns being issued today that they forgot to organize their formation in time."

Wang Shu, the company commander of the first company, argued after arranging the team.

"How dare you talk back! You were so nervous on the first day on the battlefield that you forgot to line up. Will the enemy wait for you to line up before fighting you?!"

Kruger glanced at the captain's shoulder insignia of the first company commander and said to Uncle Wang unceremoniously.

"As a company commander in the professional army, you are very incompetent. I officially declare that you are now relieved of your position as company commander!"

Krueger's words were undoubtedly a thunderbolt for Wang Shu. As the saying goes, a new officer takes up his post with three fires. Wang Shu did not expect that this fire would burn on his head as the company commander so quickly.

Wang Shu, the company commander, earned his military merit step by step by killing bandits and fighting the Mason Infantry Regiment that invaded California.

Being dismissed by Kruger, the new instructor, made him very unconvinced.

"You have no right to remove me from my post! In California, only the Colonel can remove me from my post!" Wang Shu reluctantly bit his lip and said, "We only listen to the Colonel!"

As he spoke, Wang Shu turned his gaze to Liang Yao, who was not far away.

"What? Are you going against the grain? After a few small battles, you don't know what the world is like? I told you that the First Company was renamed as the Instruction Company, and everything is subject to the instructor's orders. You have turned a deaf ear to my words so quickly?!

"

Liang Yao walked over with his hands behind his back.

These soldiers are no longer the farmers they were before. After more than a year of training, they have completely transformed and are fully qualified professional soldiers according to the standards of the American army.

But this is not Liang Yao's ultimate goal. Liang Yao doesn't know how many people California will have in 10 years.

But he knows very well that in ten years the population of California will definitely be smaller than that of the north and the south.

If you want to gain a foothold in the Civil War 10 years later with a huge disparity in population, compete with the North and the South, and prevent California from becoming a vassal of the North and the South, the only way to go is to have elite soldiers.

Wang Shu and the non-commissioned officers and soldiers of the first company bowed their heads and remained silent.

Liang Yao continued to lecture: "You are the teaching company! You are the role model of the California Infantry Regiment! In the future, you will all be transferred to other companies to serve as officers! With your current behavior, how can I safely transfer you to other companies in the future?

Each company holds office!”

When Wang Shu heard this, he silently took off his epaulettes. Liang Yao had already made it very clear. As long as he stayed in the teaching company, he could still become an officer after completing the training.

Being dismissed is a foregone conclusion. Wang Shu now just wants to stay in the teaching company. As long as he stays in the teaching company, there is still hope. He saluted Kruger: "I obey the instructor's arrangement. Soldier Wang Shu of the teaching company,

Reporting to you!”

"Enter the queue!"

Kruger said to Wang Shu expressionlessly.

"From today on, Major Kruger is the highest commander of the teaching company. Everything in the teaching company will obey Major Kruger's arrangements! Do you understand?!" Liang Yao shouted sharply.

"Yes! Colonel!"

The officers and soldiers of the teaching company said in unison.

Liang Yao reached out for the gun handed over by Kony, grabbed the gun in his hand and said to the officers and soldiers of the teaching company.

"This gun is worth five to the broken gun you used before. It is very precious and delicate. From now on, you must cherish your guns like you cherish your own wives!"

The instructor will teach you how to maintain the gun. We are all soldiers, and the gun is what we eat. If anyone's gun is damaged due to improper maintenance, get out of the teaching company!"

"Yes! Colonel!"

The officers and soldiers of the teaching company replied.

After the lecture, Liang Yao handed the gun to Kony.

Kruger was not polite at all, and directly ordered the soldiers of the teaching company to stand under the unobstructed scorching sun as punishment for their failure to form the team in time.

In Kruger's view, he had been extremely lenient, which was a very mild form of punishment in the Prussian army.

"Your Excellency, Colonel, thank you for your support. I will definitely train these soldiers to become the best soldiers in the United States!"

Kruger was very grateful to Liang Yao for giving him such great power.

Previously, Kruger was worried that because he was a foreign instructor, Liang Yao could not fully trust him and give him enough power. Without enough power, it would be difficult to intimidate the officers and soldiers below, especially the officers.

Now that I think about it, he was worrying too much. This employer is very determined and courageous.

"No, I want you to train them into soldiers who can rival the Prussian elite!" Liang Yao said.

"Yes, sir!"

Kruger stood up straight and gave Liang Yao his reply.

After leaving the temporary barracks, Liang Yao came to Walter with the patent drawings of a Dresser striker gun and a lever gun.

"No, your drawing is not precise enough. Please redraw it! This level of drawing is not worthy of the title of a top painter in New York!"

Walter was dissatisfied with the drawings submitted by the painter and asked the painter to redraw them.

This kind of scene would only appear in Walter's dreams in the past.

In the past, Walter often couldn't afford to pay his painters, and had to pay them on credit. The painters in New York had heard of Walter's bad reputation and were unwilling to draw drawings for Walter. They all avoided Walter's name when they heard it.

It would be great if Walter could find a painter to draw the drawings for him, but why would he dare to be picky?

But the situation is different now. His financial backer Liang Yao offered generous salaries to these painters, and he himself also received a huge amount of patent fees.

I can totally afford the fees of a top-notch painter.

Walter speaks much more forcefully now than before. Now he doesn't act based on the painter's face, but the artist acts based on his face.

"Walter, how's the sewing machine doing?"

Liang Yao, dressed in a colonel's uniform, dusty and carrying a gun, came to look for Walter, which made Walter's heart tighten.

"It can be done tomorrow. Even if I can't finish it tomorrow, you won't come with a gun to urge me to hurry up." Walter muttered.

"You misunderstood, I have some technical questions to ask you about firearms." Liang Yao said and handed the gun to Walter.

"I have never seen this gun before. You seemed to be shooting ducks with a gun by the river a few days ago. Is this the gun you used?"

Walter took the Dresser striker gun from Liang Yao and played with it curiously.

He pulled the bolt and glanced at the firing pin in the chamber.

"If my guess is correct, this is the Prussian Dresser striker gun. I have heard of this gun."

"I heard that you also know a lot about firearms, and you have also provided help to Colt Company and solved their technical problems. I would like to ask you, can American arsenals imitate this gun?" Liang Yao asked.

"But Colt is not interested in the patented technology I provided. They didn't even bother to spend money to buy my patent."

Walter glanced at the drawing of the lever-action rifle in Liang Yao's hand and said sadly.

"I've been to Colt's factory, and I'm quite familiar with the level of firearms manufacturing in the United States. This gun looks very sophisticated. I won't know if it can be copied until I dismantle it. Can it be dismantled?"

"Of course, take it apart!"

Liang Yao said very grandly.

Although Dresser striker guns are expensive, he bought three thousand of them and was willing to dismantle a few of them.

(End of chapter)