In fact, most of the Ming army in this era made their own gunpowder.

And because the storage and transportation of finished gunpowder is dangerous, especially in case of fire, it is easy to cause accidents. Therefore, most of the time, gunpowder is temporarily prepared before a war.

Usually, the three main components of gunpowder are stored separately: nitrate is nitrate, sulfur is sulfur, and charcoal is charcoal.

When Yang Zhen and others followed Governor Fang Yizao from Guan Nei to Ningyuan to take up their posts, they knew that saltpeter was used in large amounts and was not easy to obtain. They might be able to sell it for silver when they arrived in Liaodong, so they collected a lot of saltpeter along the way.

earth.

Although Yang Zhen originally did not pay much attention to firearms, many of his subordinates used firearms, such as Pan Wenmao, Zhang Guogan, and Zhang Chen.

When these people were stationed in Ningyuan, they followed the original Yang Zhen and were like motherless children. If they wanted to use firearms, they had to prepare their own gunpowder, so they boiled some and kept some in stock.

It's just that the cooking method is very crude and the purity of the nitrate is not high.

Now these stocks, like the sulfur and charcoal powder in the camp, are in the hands of Zhang Degui, the chief steward of the advance camp.

On this day, after the advance battalion newly organized the musketry team, the artillery team and the grenadier team, the artillery team used the largest amount of gunpowder. Together with the 800 kilograms of finished gunpowder allocated from Ningyuan City, it was also given to the artillery team.

At present, it is Pan Wenmao, the left wing adjutant of the artillery team, who is in charge of management.

Therefore, on the early morning of the fourth day of March, Pan Wenmao, who had received Yang Zhen's unconditional support, left Yang Zhen's residence and returned directly to his station. He immediately called in a few of his subordinates to distribute them.

I couldn't take care of other things for the time being, so I quickly ordered my subordinates to set up the stove and the pot, and plunged into the business of boiling and purifying the salt.

Of course, Yang Zhen also knows that a little high-purity saltpeter will not change anything for the time being. If it cannot be produced in large quantities and on a large scale, the current small workshop-style production method will not be able to deal with the current crisis in Liaodong.

What role might it play in turning things around?

Moreover, even if what Pan Wenmao said is right, judging from the current situation, there is only the last day left, and it is still doubtful how much can be achieved.

But, no matter what, yes is better than no, yes is better than nothing, and you don’t have to worry about being late for a good meal. As long as you are in the right direction, you don’t have to worry about the long journey.

After arranging Pan Wenmao's affairs, Yang Zhen felt more confident. But at this time, after the excitement, he became more sleepy. Just as he was about to lie down and take a nap, he heard a noise coming from outside.

"My lord! My lord! My lord Xiezhen! The cannons are coming! The artillery carriages are coming! Lots of artillery carriages! And muskets!"

Just a moment later, Yang Zhan'ao's voice came into Yang Zhen's room: "Sir! General Zu, Li Dusi, and President Yang Qian are all here too!"

As soon as Yang Zhan'ao's voice fell, he heard someone at the door say: "Yang Xiezhen! Zu almost delayed your important event! But you are lucky enough to live up to your fate! Everything you asked for was given to you by Zu!"

The voice was full of exhaustion, apology, and a little excitement. As soon as Yang Zhen heard this voice, he knew that it was Zu Keyong who was here. He immediately turned over from the kang and got down to the ground, regardless of his fatigue.

As soon as Yang Zhen stood still, he saw Li Lu and Yang Shen entering the room with happy faces and surrounded by a haggard-looking Zu Keyong.

These three people may not know at the moment that in the middle of the night last night, Yang Zhen led Zhang Degui and Pan Wenmao to find the governor Fang Yizao and the governor's salaryman Yuan Shu.

Li Lu and Yang Shen thought that Zu Keyong finally begged Zu Dashou's younger brother Zu Dale, and Zu Keyong also thought that his hard request had an effect.

In fact, Yang Zhen knew in his heart that if it hadn't been for Fang Yizao's angrily written letter to Zu Dashou in the middle of the night yesterday, they probably wouldn't have been able to get a cannon even if they begged until this evening.

However, Yang Zhen didn't want to tell him face to face. Since Zu Keyong was so enthusiastic, he didn't want to embarrass Zu Keyong.

Seeing Zu Keyong and others coming in, Yang Zhen quickly stepped forward, stretched out his hand to hold Zu Keyong's hand tightly, and said seriously: "Brother Zu! I won't say any more! Yang owes you a favor.

!”

"Hey - what did Yang Xiezhen say? Didn't I say it earlier? We are on the same boat as you when we go north!

"There are so many of these Folang machines, tiger squatting cannons, and nine-headed birds, including the shotguns you asked for later, in the vehicle and artillery battalion of Deputy General Zu! They are stationed in the city, and they won't be used for a while.

Come on! Originally, the transfer was just a matter of a word from the commander-in-chief!

"But - well, you may also know that Wu Xiezhen has many ideas, saying that the army is preparing for war and there is a serious shortage of supplies, and he also intends to allocate and use these things! As a result, when he arrived at Deputy General Zu, he hesitated to come

Don't hesitate to go!

"The commander-in-chief's place is busy with military affairs. Even I can't just meet him! It was delayed until midnight last night!

"It's Zu who was careless! It would have been better if we had started this matter earlier. We almost missed the big event! Fortunately, you don't have to worry about being late for a good meal. It's all coming to you! Let's go! Yang Xiezhen, let's go and take a look together!"

When Yang Zhen heard what Zu Keyong said, he immediately took steps and followed him out. After a while, the group came to the gate and saw a pair of door Buddhas parked side by side inside the east gate and under the city wall in the morning light.

Langji, a squatting cannon with a tiger door, and the legendary nine-headed bird carrying a gun!

What particularly surprised Yang Zhen were the five "Nine-Headed Birds".

The so-called "nine-headed bird" is actually an extra-large musket. According to later calculations, it is about three meters long and weighs about 13 or 4 kilograms. It cannot be operated by one person and requires two people to carry it, so it is also called a gun.

At the same time, this kind of gun lift has a three-foot-three-inch-high tripod bracket, and the bracket and the gun body are connected by a rotating device, which can aim in different directions.

The most surprising thing is that the effective range of this gun, known as the "Nine-Headed Bird", even reached 200 meters in later generations.

It stands to reason that this is an absolutely important military weapon.

However, it is a pity that this kind of "nine-headed bird" carrying gun is extremely expensive to make and very inconvenient to load. The projectiles are a little larger than ordinary gun bullets, but far smaller than artillery projectiles.

In the eyes of many people, this thing is flashy, not as light as a shotgun, and not as powerful as an artillery piece. It is a bit like chicken ribs, tasteless to eat, and a pity to throw away.

Therefore, in addition to the strong national power during the Wanli period, a batch of them were built under the supervision of the imperial court, but later they were gradually eliminated. Now they can only be seen in the Shenji Battalion with the most advanced equipment and the Liaodong Army, which is second only to the Shenji Battalion.

This kind of existence with a gun may be useless to others, but to Yang Zhen, it is an extremely rare treasure.

As the saying goes, "To shoot a man first, shoot a horse; to capture a thief first, capture the king." Killing the enemy commander with one blow on the battlefield has been the most effective tactic since ancient times.

Therefore, ever since he heard about the existence of the nine-headed bird carrying a gun, he had the idea of ​​cultivating snipers. When arranging the artillery team, he specially set up snipers carrying a gun and his deputies.

This time, under the pretext of going north to rescue Songshan, he got so many firearms from the Liaodong army in Ningyuan City, which was really an unexpected surprise.

Accompanied by Zu Keyong and others, Yang Zhen was looking at various firearms when Zhang Degui and Xu Changyong also came after hearing the news.

Seeing that all kinds of equipment were being put in place one after another, and the Ningyuan advance battalion was temporarily organized, everyone was in high spirits.

Zhang Degui, who knew the value of firearms, quickly ordered Yang Shen and others to assign one Folang machine and one Tiger squat cannon to the predetermined cannons according to the left and right wings of the artillery team previously assigned.

Long and Gunner.

In a short time, the ten Tiger Crouching Cannons, ten Folang Machines, and five Nine-Headed Birds were reduced to pieces and moved away by the gunners, gunners and snipers on the left and right wings of the artillery team.

.

The Tiger Crouching Cannon and the Folang Machine are both small cannons. The heavier Folang Machine, including its four muskets, only weighs about 200 kilograms. Four people are responsible for one Folan Cannon, although it takes some effort to lift it.

, but it’s not a big problem.

As for the squatting tiger cannon, it is actually like a cast-iron bucket, or a medium-sized bell. Although the caliber is not small, the barrel is very short.
Chapter completed!