Chapter 265: Mature Technology

"Just in time."

Zhao Xu saw the firing mechanism in Wang Chong's hand at the first glance.

In fact, the firing mechanism of a Flintlock is not complicated.

The main difficulty is the spring steel; once the spring steel is solved, the rest is simple.

It is merely a matter of finding a steel plate and fixing the Striking Iron, Trigger, Sear, and Cock onto it.

Among these, the "Cock" is what clamps the Flint, similar to a clip.

The Striking Iron is the iron plate that the Flint falls to strike.

The Sear is a hook-like object.

Finally, there is the thirty-degree angled spring steel trigger structure.

The long side of the spring steel has a horizontal iron bar in the middle as a fulcrum, with one side connected to the Cock, like a seesaw.

Pulling the Cock backward is equivalent to pressing down one end of the seesaw; because of the Sear, the catch at the tail end of the Cock will lock onto the Sear.

Due to the elasticity of the spring steel, pulling the Trigger releases the Sear, and the Cock will strike forward against the Striking Iron under the elastic force, producing sparks.

The structure of these four components is not complex; before he had figured out the spring steel, he had already made the small parts.

During this time, he had been continuously researching and manufacturing qualified spring steel.

Wang Ying looked at Wang Chong and revealed a satisfied smile.

Clearly, Yan Wang attaches great importance to the Flintlock.

Therefore, whenever he had time, he would come to the Armory and personally participate in many things.

Moreover, the matter of attacking Xiliang is no secret.

This will be the first time the Wangfu Army leaves the territory of Yanzhou to fight, and the challenge is greater than ever before.

Therefore, it is naturally better to equip the Wangfu Army with this Flintlock as soon as possible.

Zhao Xu then took the firing mechanism from Wang Chong's hand.

He pulled the Cock backward, then pulled the Trigger; the Flint on the Cock snapped onto the Striking Iron, and sparks flew everywhere.

"Not bad, very good." Zhao Xu was very satisfied and patted Wang Chong on the shoulder.

It is indeed not easy for Wang Chong to have to supervise the students at the academy in the morning and research the firing mechanism in the afternoon.

However, he has shown the same persistence as his father.

He dove into it and overcame it in time.

With Wang Chong doing this, all the processes for the Flintlock have been cleared.

He said to Wang Ying: "Let's officially start production of the Flintlock now."

"Yes, Your Highness." Wang Ying replied, then added: "However, Your Highness, the Armory currently has to build Artillery, manufacture Armor and Weapons, and there is also cement and Glass; now with the addition of the Flintlock, the manpower is somewhat..."

Zhao Xu actually already had a plan in mind regarding the insufficient production capacity of the Armory.

If the powerful clans continue to come to purchase Artillery, the Armory's production capacity will be even harder to sustain.

Besides the Armory, the production capacity of the Wangfu's Wine, Perfume, Allicin, and other workshops is also insufficient.

It is now necessary to expand.

Zhao Xu had long since made preparations for this problem.

The Chengde Workshop, which was burned down during the Northern Di Autumn Hunt Battle, was the industrial park in the style of Great Song that he had planned.

The Works Department, headed by Zou Rong, has been building large-scale factory buildings.

After he produced cement, the buildings in the Chengde Workshop all adopted a green brick and cement structure, with a layer of white plaster brushed on the outside.

Only, besides the buildings, there is another problem, which is people.

If it were in the past, he would still be troubled by this problem.

But now, with a large number of commoners introduced from Jinzhou, this problem will be easily solved.

So he said to Wang Ying: "This matter can be solved immediately. You first train a few skilled craftsmen, let them become proficient in all the processes of Flintlock manufacturing, and once the people are in place, let these craftsmen train the new ones."

Hearing Yan Wang say it could be solved immediately, Wang Ying suddenly breathed a sigh of relief.

He is a person who does not like to mention difficulties.

But now the Armory is truly under too heavy a burden.

After discussing more about the manufacturing of the Flintlock, Zhao Xu rewarded Wang Ying, his son, and the participating craftsmen before returning to the Wangfu.

Three days later, the imperial decree from Jinling arrived.

Seeing that Zhao Heng agreed to let him send troops in three months, he suddenly breathed a sigh of relief.

It is not that he fears battle, but that he does not want to fight an unprepared war.

If he is to fight, he will fight a beautiful war with minimal losses.

Calling Chang Wei and Liu Fu over, he showed them the decree.

"That's great, this way this subordinate can carefully arrange the grain, fodder, and the laborers for transport," said Liu Fu.

Chang Wei said: "This subordinate will have them intensify training upon returning, striving to make these new soldiers useful."

On the issue of logistics, Zhao Xu is not as familiar as Liu Fu.

Just let him handle the coordination.

However, preparations must be made immediately for the training of the new soldiers.

Because he hopes that a brand-new army equipped with Flintlocks and Artillery can enter Jinzhou.

For one, it can increase the chances of winning, and for another, it can summarize the experience of using firearms on the battlefield.

"This Prince needs thirty thousand new soldiers to train in some special formations; everything else remains as usual," said Zhao Xu.

According to his estimation, in three months, the Armory can produce at most thirty thousand Flintlocks.

"Special formations?" Chang Wei revealed a look of confusion.

Zhao Xu nodded, "Transfer all these thirty thousand new recruits to the South Camp; they will be equipped with new firearms."

"New firearms?" Upon hearing this, the confused expression on Chang Wei's face instantly turned to excitement, "Your Highness, please don't keep me in the dark; why are you only letting me know about such a good thing now?"

Zhao Xu smiled, "Originally, these firearms weren't that urgent, but now that we've run into this business with the Ba, I have to move the schedule up, so I didn't have time to tell you, and besides, these firearms haven't been manufactured yet."

Chang Wei nodded, unable to suppress his curiosity, "Your Highness, what are these new firearms like?"

Liu Fu was not very interested in these things, and he said, "Look at how impatient you are, it's not like you're looking at a woman."

"How could a woman compare to these new firearms?" Chang Wei glared, then turned a pleading look toward Zhao Xu.

Zhao Xu shook his head helplessly and had no choice but to explain the purpose and usage of the Flintlock.

"Can... can it pierce Plate Armor?" Chang Wei stammered.

Zhao Xu nodded affirmatively.

Compared to the bow and arrow, the Flintlock has no advantage in range.

It also has no advantage in accuracy.

An excellent Archer like Xu Lie can achieve the feat of piercing a willow leaf from a hundred paces.

But because the Flintlock is smoothbore, the margin of error for its projectiles is very large.

Yet why were the Matchlock and Flintlock able to replace the bow and arrow?

One very important reason is that the Matchlock and Flintlock have great power.

Secondly, an excellent Archer requires at least three years of training or more.

Whereas a Flintlock only requires three months of training to produce a batch of qualified soldiers, greatly reducing the time to form an army.

As for the issue of accuracy, forming a rain of bullets through dense formations can also compensate for the problem of error.

This is also the origin of the firing line formation.

Another very important point is that by attaching a Bayonet to the Flintlock.

Soldiers can serve as both shooters and spearmen, combining the advantages of two military branches.

Combined with appropriate formations, it can effectively deal with Cavalry.

"Amazing, truly amazing, isn't this just a small-sized cannon?" Chang Wei chuckled.

Zhao Xu smiled; saying it that way didn't seem wrong either.

In the contemporary seventeenth-century Japan, they call the Matchlock an Iron Cannon.