Greece to roman road

At the call of Prime Minister Trikupis, King George decided to convene a military conference on new rifle technological advances in Europe.

On the outskirts of Athens, on an empty shooting range, two soldiers wore earplugs and did not aim at the target in front of them and fired.

I saw one of the soldiers. Every time he fired a shot, white smoke floated out from the gun body. He kept pulling the bolt and fired three shots in a row. The surrounding area was filled with smoke.

In order to aim at the target, the soldiers could only wait for the smoke to dissipate before shooting again. This was repeated until they completed the task of shooting the target ten times.

Another soldier fired ten times continuously without any smoke, hitting the target continuously.

A group of people, headed by King George and Prince Constantine, stood behind the two soldiers and carefully observed the two soldiers who were shooting.

"Is this a rifle that uses smokeless gunpowder? It fires ten shots in a row, but there is no smoke to obstruct the vision?" George I asked in surprise.

Even George I, who had little military experience, saw the difference in the scenarios designed by the two soldiers.

The rifles in the hands of these two soldiers, with smoke emitting from them, are Chasebo rifles commonly equipped in the Greek Army, and use black powder.

The rifle in the other soldier's hand, which fired ten shots in a row without any abnormalities, was of great origin.

It was the French Lebel rifle, the first rifle in the world to use smokeless powder.

After the design demonstration, Chaymis, director of the Military Technology Office, said: "Your Majesty, the Lebel rifle using smokeless gunpowder does have overwhelming advantages over the Xasepo rifle we are currently equipped with. These technical indicators are not on the same level at all.”

King George I was silent when he heard this.

"I heard that the Turks have applied to the German government to purchase the 1888 Commission rifle newly developed by the German Loy Company. It is said that it also uses smokeless gunpowder." Chief of General Staff Emmanuel's face was not good-looking. After the pyrotechnics performance, he said solemnly.

"The relationship between the Germans and the Turks is booming. In recent years, more and more German products have been sold in Turkey. The German General Staff sent German officer advisors to Ottoman Turkey to help the Ottoman Sultan train a new army. So the application of Ottoman Turkey should Will get permission from Germany"

"Once such advanced rifles are equipped with Turkish troops in Epirus and Macedonia, the Greek Army will be at a huge disadvantage and we will be very passive," Emmanuel said in a heavy tone.

In the regions of Epirus and Macedonia in northern Greece, the Turks deployed more than 100,000 troops to confront the Greek army on the Turkish-Greek border.

The Greek army has less than 50,000 people and is in a weak position. If even the rifles lag behind, then once a conflict breaks out between the two sides, the Greek army will have almost no possibility of victory.

"Besides the fact that this smokeless gunpowder does not emit smoke and block sight, does this smokeless powder have any other advantages?" King George asked Chamies, the director of the Military Technology Office.

Although he didn't know much about military matters, George I understood that replacing standard rifles in large quantities for the army was an expensive matter.

Prime Minister Trikoupis has recently been carrying out large-scale infrastructure construction. In a country like Greece, which is full of mountains and hills, the cost of such infrastructure construction can be imagined.

Moreover, these funds were also borrowed from Britain and France.

If the army were to replace guns on a large scale now, the financial pressure it would bring to the Greek government can be imagined.

"Smokeless gunpowder has a high calorific value of combustion. For the same weight of gunpowder, smokeless gunpowder will release greater energy."

"In other words, the warhead of a rifle using smokeless gunpowder can be made even smaller."

"Rifles that use black powder require large-caliber bullets to ensure the muzzle velocity and lethality of the bullets. However, when using smokeless gunpowder, even smaller warheads can ensure sufficient lethality and bullet velocity."

After that, Chamiis waved to the two soldiers who had finished shooting and stood upright, and handed over the two rifles.

"Your Majesty, this is a Xia Saibo rifle with a caliber of 11mm, and this is a Lebel rifle with a caliber of 8mm."

As Chaimius explained, he showed two different rifles to George I and others.

After that, he took out a bullet from each of the two soldiers' bullet bags, held them in his left and right hands respectively, and showed them to everyone.

"This is an 11mm caliber bullet from the Xia Saibo rifle. It weighs 30 grams." Chaimiis raised the obviously larger bullet in his left hand.

"This is the 8mm caliber bullet used in the Lebel rifle. It weighs 17 grams," Chamiis said, holding up another bullet.

Hearing that the difference between the two bullets was almost double, the people around them whispered to each other.

The 8mm bullet is lighter in weight. After the war broke out, when transporting logistical supplies, the same number of bullets and the use of small-caliber bullets with smokeless gunpowder had obvious advantages.

Not to mention the other materials saved by each bullet, such as brass. Although the weight is not worth mentioning individually, when the number of millions is accumulated, the weight of copper saved is considerable.

When the weight is lighter, the soldier's bullet bag can also carry a greater number of bullets. When carrying the same quantity, carrying lighter small-caliber bullets can save the soldier's physical strength.

There is no doubt that rifles using small-caliber bullets and smokeless powder have advantages in all aspects of indicators.

"To put it bluntly, smokeless gunpowder will trigger a revolution in rifle design," Chamies said solemnly.

"Your Majesty, no matter what, our Greek Army should respond," Metaxas said.

As a representative of frontline officers, Metaxas was also invited to this military meeting.

"Otherwise, the Turkish army equipped with German commission rifles will form an overwhelming advantage over us."

"Although the government's finances are very tight, the situation is so serious that something should be done." Trikupis sighed in his heart and said calmly.

The current debt of the Greek government has reached 600 million drachmas. After the fiscal revenue in recent years has paid for necessary expenses and military expenses, the remaining money will generally be used to repay loan interest.

There will be little money left after this.

"Constantine, what's your opinion?" George I turned to look at Constantine and said.

"Even though the government is currently facing financial difficulties, since the military's situation is so severe, it really cannot sit idly by and wait for death."

According to Constantine's estimation, with the development of industrial areas and the development of colonies, the government's financial pressure should be relieved in the next few years.

"Speaking of smokeless gunpowder, there is an opportunity now. Mr. Nobel, who was previously engaged in the research and development of smokeless gunpowder and lives in France, successfully developed the patent for smokeless gunpowder, but is now facing the dilemma of no one taking over."

"If your Majesty is interested, you can inform the ambassador in Paris and help contact this person," Constantine said.