The Prosperous Era of Longwan

The soldiers here are testing their guns. Li Chengliang has already pulled Liang Dingnan and asked: "Is there a shield in Yunnan? The army needs a lot of equipment. I will also report this matter."

It's not an easy thing to be able to protect against birdshot.

"Commander, you don't need to worry too much. There are not many shields in the Burmese army. The ones under the city today are the elites of the Burmese army."

Liang Dingnan said at this time, "As far as I know, there are not many rattan cards in the Burmese army. It is really too troublesome to make this thing.

As for the Yunnan arsenal, there should be no shields. They were all prepared by the soldiers themselves.

There are not many local craftsmen who can make shields. If the commander wants to buy them in large quantities, he will not be able to do it in Yunnan alone. He will also have to mobilize Guangxi, Guizhou and other places to find craftsmen who can make them.

By the way, there may be rattan brands in Zhejiang and Fujian. I heard that Qi Jiajun purchased a large number of rattan brands in Fujian in the early years. Maybe there are still stocks there. "

"Well, I understand. I will report this matter to the court immediately. I hope the court can collect some shields and transport them as soon as possible to solve the urgent need."

Li Chengliang saw that it seemed that none of the civil and military officials in Yunnan had caught on to the rattan brand.

Also, after listening to what Liang Dingnan said about the manufacturing process, it takes more than a year to prepare a pair of shields, which is indeed troublesome.

In fact, what Li Chengliang should consider at this time is how to crack the shield, especially because this thing has a very good defensive effect against the large number of blunderbuss equipped by the Ming army.

It seems possible to mobilize Fran cannons to play shield cards.

The Ming army does have a lot of Fran cannons, but if it really wants to confront the Burmese army, it will have to concentrate most of the Fran cannons, which is a bit troublesome if you think about it.

As for why the Ming army also equipped this thing, it was actually Li Chengliang's desire to compare.

If the enemy has good things, it doesn't matter whether you have any use for them. You have to have them anyway.

This is why Li Chengliang is still determined to collect shields even though he knows that the Burmese army does not seem to be equipped with firearms.

Returning to the yard where he temporarily lived, Li Chengliang immediately wrote a document to Nanjing and the capital. He mainly introduced in detail the role of the shields he learned from Liang Dingnan, emphasizing that this thing could withstand projectiles fired by cannons and exert its combat power on the Ming army. The impact is very large.

Of course, the documents to the capital were mainly complaints.

On a battlefield where the enemy is outnumbered, if the power of the cannon is severely weakened, it will be absolutely fatal to the Ming army.

Now the distance at which the Ming army's bird gun can penetrate armor has been reduced to less than ten steps, and it cannot even penetrate vine armor 100%. It can only be certain to have a certain lethality at a distance of five or six steps.

This is almost the same effective range as the pistols of later generations. It has almost no power at all on the battlefield where the two armies are confronting each other.

The documents sent to Nanjing were, firstly, to ask for supplies and more Franco cannons, and secondly, to ask the Nanjing Ministry of War to seek shields from Zhejiang, Fujian and other places.

Again, it’s one thing to use it or not, but if the enemy has it, I have to have it too.

After the document was issued, Li Chengliang wrote to Qi Jimei, the chief military officer of Guizhou in Baoshan, asking him to urgently allocate a group of Fran cannons and gunners from the army to reinforce the three cities of Shidian, Tengchong and Lujiang. Now they can destroy Tengpai. , and only the Fran cannon.

It would undoubtedly be a huge waste to leave those gunners behind.

Qi Jimei was left in Baoshan. In fact, Li Chengliang had some selfish motives for making this arrangement.

First, he didn't want to give him a chance to make meritorious deeds. He already had an older brother who had risen to prominence in the military and seemed to be competing with him. Naturally, he couldn't give his brother another chance.

The second is to stay behind and be safe. When you meet Qi Jiguang in the future, you can be considered taking care of his brother, and the other party has to accept this favor.

As for whether Qi Jiguang would be dissatisfied, just look at the jobs he arranged for his brother and you will know that Qi Jimei does not have the ability of his brother, otherwise he would never come to Guizhou.

Here, it has just been sorted out by Yu Dayou, and some of the thorns have been taken care of by Yu Dayou. Now even if some of the chieftains in Guizhou are dissatisfied, they dare not do anything and are very obedient.

The documents were urgent, and Li Chengliang asked the military newspaper to be sent out as quickly as possible.

Naturally, the express delivery service is the fastest when going over mountains and ridges. After all, it takes shortcuts. When you leave the mountains, you pass through the inn and rush to the next station.

He worked day and night for twelve hours, and it took only about ten days to be sent to the capital and placed in Tan Lun's hands.

"Go and ask Mr. Yang to come."

Tan Lun quickly read Li Chengliang's documents and frowned.

Firearms now have a high status in the Ming army. Whether it is the Southern Army or the Northern Army, they mostly rely on firearms to fight against the enemy. Especially the Ming Dynasty's ace war god Qi Jiguang is the best general who is best at using the power of firearms.

Now that he suddenly knew that there was armor in the world that could withstand firearm strikes, could Tan Lun not panic?

Yang Wei was in charge of the Arsenal Department and was naturally the most familiar with weapons, so Tan Lun first approached him to ask if the Ministry of War had any armor such as rattan in reserve.

In fact, Tan Lun is no stranger to Tengpai. After all, he has commanded the war against Japanese invaders in Zhejiang and Fujian all year round.

However, he really wasn't very clear about the shield's ability to prevent birdshot.

For him, winning or losing is all the business of his generals.

After allocating money and food, in addition to the standard equipment of the Ming army, the general leaders would purchase other strange equipment themselves, and he didn't bother to take care of it.

Just like the Langzhen made by Qi Jiguang, it was a special type of long weapon.

The wolf sword is one to five or six feet long and weighs about seven kilograms. The head of the weapon is as sharp as the head of a spear. The branches are densely knotted and strong. The attached branches range from nine to eleven layers. The whole tool is made of iron.

The Langzhen came from the Anti-Japanese War and was able to withstand the cutting of Japanese sabers. Although its shape and weight are sluggish and difficult to move, it has deep branches, dense branches and long weapons, so it can resist and defend.

During the formation battle, Langzhen is the vanguard, with the shield on the left and below, the spear on the left and right, and the sharp palladium sword on the back. They rely on each other and are integrated to win by surprise.

Not to mention Tan Lun, even Hu Zongxian and others had no interest in this thing and didn't bother to take a look at it.

So weird.

But it couldn't be used easily. Not only did the Qi family army find people to build them in large quantities, but other armies also purchased such weapons to use against the enemy.

The shields are similar. The shields allocated by the Ministry of War in Nanjing are reported to be bad. The subordinates have to purchase the shields themselves. Naturally, Tan Lun will not interfere, and it will be done with a swipe of a pen.

These types of weapons are not manufactured by the Ministry of Industry, so naturally they are not standard equipment of the Ming Army. They are considered the characteristics of each army.

Not long after, Yang Wei arrived, and Tan Lun handed Li Chengliang's documents to him and asked him to read them for himself.

After Yang Wei finished reading the document, Tan Lun asked: "Does the arsenal of shields have a reserve behind the cabinet?"

When asked, Tan Lun could actually guess the result, but he still asked.

"I do know about the shield cards. Last year, the Liaodong Army asked the Ministry of War to purchase a batch from Fujian. I just didn't know that these shields could block the shots of bird cannons."

Yang Wei opened his mouth and replied, "As for the arsenal, there is definitely no such thing. The Ministry of Industry will not manufacture this thing even if it comes to mind. We can only let Fujian and other places purchase it."

Hearing that the Ministry of War had helped the Liaodong Army purchase, Tan Lun immediately asked: "Has that batch of rattan plates arrived? Has it been sent to Liaodong?"

"I really don't know about this. I just vaguely remember this. When Liaodong issued the official document, I approved it."

Yang Wei said, "I will ask someone immediately. If the shield is still there, I will send it to Yunnan immediately."

At this time, neither Tan Lun nor Yang Weike thought that the Burmese army was equipped with a large number of muskets, and they were shocked by the sudden news.

"I wrote to Yuan Jing. Since he has been using shield cards for a long time, he is probably very familiar with this thing and may have a way to crack it."

Tan Lun thought about it and said, "By the way, let's also ask the Ministry of Industry to see if they have any way to break the shield. Otherwise, it would be really not good news for Daming."

Tan Lun had no intention of reporting this matter to the cabinet. The Ministry of War could handle it on its own.

Moreover, even if he told Wei Guangde about such a professional matter, he wouldn't have any good ideas.

As a result, the Ministry of War immediately took action. On the one hand, it traced the whereabouts of the purchased rattan brand. Tan Lun also immediately wrote to Qi Jiguang, asking about the advantages and disadvantages of the rattan brand, and sent someone to quickly send it to Liaodong.

At the same time, the officials in charge of weapons production at the Ministry of Industry also received documents from the Ministry of War, asking them to take the master craftsman who made the gun to the Ministry of War.

In order to keep it secret, the Ministry of War did not spread the news that the rattan can prevent blunderbuss.

Fortunately, half an hour later, a shield was delivered to Tan Lun.

Yes, it seems normal that it took a year and a half from the time when the Ministry of War ordered the Fujian government to purchase the rattan plaques and then to transporting these things to the north.

When the people from the Ministry of Industry arrived at the Ministry of War, a shield appeared in front of them.

"This is a shield, not just equipment for our Ming army, but its defensive effect is very good. It can even withstand gunfire from ten steps away. The main purpose of recruiting you this time is to let you see if there is a way to solve this problem.

You should know that now the gun is an important firearm in our Ming army, and the equipment is huge. "

Hearing that they wanted to find a way to crack the shield, the officials from the Ministry of Industry sat there and said nothing. Instead, they looked at the craftsmen they had brought and asked them to speak out.

"Sir, I only say that this thing can protect against bullets. To be honest, I really don't believe it. We have also tried our iron-clad shield and it can be penetrated from more than twenty steps away. It is really hard to believe that this thing made of rattan can withstand bullets." Live bird gun projectile."

The shield was passed among several craftsmen. After everyone had seen it, one of the oldest craftsmen spoke.

"It's easy, just find a place to try it."

Yang Wei said, "Come here, prepare the frame. Let's go outside the city to test the gun."

This is the capital, so of course you can't test guns here. Even if the backyard of the Ministry of War is open enough, you can't shoot guns in the city.

If the people in the palace were frightened, they would be entirely to blame.

The people under the Ministry of War moved quickly. The officials all had their own sedans, so they just found two carriages and took the craftsmen with them. The group of people quickly left the Ministry of War and headed for the military camp outside the city.

There was the Shenji Battalion there, and a team of gunners just happened to be dispatched.

When the group arrived at Beijing Camp, naturally no one dared to stop them.

The leaders were from the Ministry of War, but their immediate superiors, who would dare to stop such a team.

There was no need to go to Beijing Ying Rongzheng, Yang Wei directly called a team of gunmen and placed several shields on the school grounds.

It's not like moving troops out of camp, so naturally there aren't that many rules.

After a team of gunners fired randomly at the shields from different distances, Yang Wei led his people closer. Sure enough, he saw that the shields ten steps away were almost unscathed. At most, they could see a few dents, but they were definitely Not penetrated.

There are also many such dents on a shield placed at the ten-step position. The dents are more serious, but most of them are not penetrated, and there are only two penetrating bullet holes.

Facts speak louder than words. This shield they looked down upon was indeed more powerful than the shield used by the Ming army.

Moreover, the shield has a certain degree of flexibility, and its ability to defend against cuts, arrows and attacks by swords is also very strong.

If we have to talk about the shortcomings of the shield, it is that once it is damaged, the damage will continue to expand and it will be difficult to repair.

Unlike a shield, a damaged shield can be repaired by replacing the iron sheet or beating it for a while.

Several craftsmen studied the punched shield for a long time, but did not come up with any results. They had to reply to Yang Wei: "Sir, we can't think of a way for a while. Please let the young ones go back and think." think."

"At this time, it must be kept confidential and must not be spread."

Yang Wei could only emphasize one sentence, and then everyone present was told this sentence.

Back in the city, Yang Wei went to Tan Mansion to report the matter to Shangshu Tan Lun.

Originally, Tan Lun was going to host it in person today, but because of his physical discomfort, Yang Wei was asked to support the matter.

"Indeed, only about ten steps can penetrate the vine armor, which is better defense than our current shield.

The craftsmen looked at it, but there was nothing they could do for the time being. "

When he met Tan Lun, Yang Wei told him the experimental results in detail.

"The letter from Liaodong should still be on the way. Maybe Yuan Jing has a way, so just wait."

Tan Lun said.

"The Ministry of Industry has also said that they will consider increasing the production of small Fran machines, which can effectively combat Tengpa."

Yang Wei said again.

In the Beijing camp, after the muskets failed, the Franco machine guns were brought in. Three small Franco machine guns took turns shooting at the shields, which could easily penetrate them thirty steps away.

Although the small Fran cannon consumes more materials than the blunderbuss, the usability effect is indeed better. However, in the past, the Ministry of Industry mainly manufactured bird blunderbuss. The manufacturing of the Fran cannon was based on material inventory and demand.

Now that we know the flaws of gunshots, we can no longer continue to manufacture them indiscriminately.

At least until we find a way to increase its power, we will control the production of gunshots.

"Far water cannot quench the thirst of the nearer. What is most lacking in Yunnan is the Franco machine gun."

Tan Lun frowned and said.

"I think Li Chengliang will mobilize from the surrounding guards. There shouldn't be anything he can do."

Yang Wei spoke.

After Yang Wei left, Tan Lun thought about it and wrote a note about the matter and ordered it to be sent to Wei Mansion.

Wei Guangde saw Tan Lun's note at night while washing his feet.

"Tianpai?"

Wei Guangde couldn't help but touch his nose. He had a vague impression of this matter. After all, the story was adapted into a movie.

The muskets of the Qing Dynasty could not penetrate the rattan cards, just like Zheng Chenggong's attack on Taiwan. The Dutch's matchlocks could not penetrate the rattan cards. The rattan players relied on rolling and jumping to dodge and get close to the enemy to kill.

However, it seems that Tengpai players are not omnipotent and cannot block artillery and heavy fire guns.

Thinking of this section, Wei Guangde also reacted.

In order to pursue the range, the Ming dynasty's muskets had very thin barrels.

The shield has a certain elasticity. If the impact force is not enough, it will naturally not be able to break the armor.

"Increase the caliber and increase the charge."

In an instant, an idea appeared in his mind.