Chapter 851: News from Wang Ying

Jinling.

After Zhao Xu decided to launch the decisive battle against the Shizu, preparations before the war were being carried out in full swing.

This day, he and generals such as Chang Wei, Qin Shan, and Guan Tong gathered in front of a sand table.

This sand table encompassed the entire Jiangnan region's prefectures and counties, as well as its mountain and river terrain.

When he went south to inspect, Chang Wei and the others had not been idle.

They had been simulating the upcoming war with the generals.

"During this period, under our propaganda, the people of Jiangnan generally have a favorable impression of Jiangbei. Coupled with the extortionate taxes and levies of the Shizu, they are even more expectant of our arrival. The grassroots foundation has already been laid; the people of these prefectures and counties will become our support," Chang Wei said slowly.

Pausing, he pointed his pointer at Jiangzhou, "During this time, many impoverished people of Jiangzhou, unable to bear the heavy corvée labor, have fled from Jiangzhou to the three southeastern prefectures. At the same time, because the news of the land distribution in the three southeastern prefectures has reached Jiangzhou, it has made the hearts of the people waver even more. Therefore, this general believes that with the hearts of the people available, there is no need to worry about grain and fodder; we can thoroughly destroy the Shizu armies of Jiangzhou, Yuezhou, and Xiangzhou like a hot knife through butter."

Zhao Xu nodded; with the hearts of the people, they could obtain supplies from the location of the war.

The people would even be willing to take the initiative to undertake the task of transporting grain and fodder to help them destroy the remaining Shizu forces as soon as possible, so they could live the life of the three southeastern prefectures.

"At present, the Shizu armies are mainly entrenched in Jiangzhou, Bazhou, Yizhou, Yunzhou, and Xiangzhou. As for Yuezhou and Guizhou, their defenses are weak. This King believes that we only need to dispatch ten thousand men to sweep through the Rich Clans of the two prefectures," Zhao Xu said. "Since we are striking directly at Bazhou, the Shizu will surely not be willing to divert troops to save them."

"His Highness is absolutely right," Chang Wei and the others nodded.

According to the reports from the soldiers of the Third Army who returned, Yuezhou and Guizhou are quite barren, and the private armies of the Rich Clans in the two prefectures are basically still using swords and spears; those slightly better off have nothing more than matchlocks.

Clearing them out will be as easy as turning over one's hand; there is no need to include the two prefectures as a key direction of attack, just treat it as suppressing bandits.

"However, to be on the safe side, we still need to stockpile some grain in the border cities of Zhezhou and Jiangzhou to avoid any accidents," Zhao Xu said.

After thinking for a moment, he looked toward the west, "I will give you three days to prepare. Afterward, lead the main army to advance toward Jiangzhou, break through Jiangzhou and Xiangzhou, and press directly on Ba City. This King will order the navy to support you along the Jiujiang River."

"Yes, Your Highness," Chang Wei and the generals said loudly.

They had long been impatient; the small Shizu had wreaked havoc on the Great Song for so long, it was time to settle the outcome with one battle.

As the group was talking, a soldier hurried over and presented a letter to Zhao Xu, "Your Highness, a letter from Wang Ying, the director of the Armament Bureau."

Zhao Xu pulled out the letter, scanned it, and a smile appeared at the corner of his mouth.

"Wang Ying has sent some good news; the test firing and verification of the breech-loading cannon were successful," Zhao Xu said to everyone.

Upon hearing this, Chang Wei and the other generals exchanged glances, and joy appeared on their faces.

"That's great! After the breech-loading rifle, it's the breech-loading cannon. Our firearms are about to enter the breech-loading firearm stage," Chang Wei laughed.

"Indeed, but just like the Qin-style Rifle, these breech-loading cannons still need to be mass-produced. However, we will not wait any longer; the war will proceed as usual. In the future, let the Northern Di and the Westerners be the first to taste the power of the breech-loading cannon," Zhao Xu sneered.

For him,

the current muzzle-loading rifled cannons are enough to deal with the Shizu.

There is no need to waste time waiting for the breech-loading cannons to be equipped.

Because time is more important than breech-loading cannons right now.

He wants to end the war with the Shizu as soon as possible and turn his guns toward the pack of wolves closing in on the Great Song.

Moreover, compared to Chang Wei and the others, he has a deeper understanding of breech-loading cannons.

The breech-loading cannon actually appeared a long time ago, but it had only been undergoing improvements.

For instance, the Folangji cannons of the contemporary Ming Dynasty were breech-loading cannons.

But the drawbacks of breech-loading cannons and breech-loading rifles are the same: they have the problem of gas leakage.

Breech-loading cannons only became usable and were gradually promoted after industrial progress solved the gas leakage problem.

Their advantage lies mainly in the rate of fire, not in power.

Compared to muzzle-loading cannons, breech-loading cannons can be called rapid-fire cannons.

Therefore, the true value of the breech-loading cannon lies here.

In the same amount of time, the firepower of the breech-loading cannon is even more ferocious, just like the Qin-style Rifle.

After briefly explaining this matter, which made everyone happy, he ordered them to go back and prepare for the war.

Afterward, he sent someone to Jinghai to have Zhou Yi dispatch eight steamships and eight sailing warships.

Once he clears the periphery, they will be ready to go upstream from the Jiujiang River to attack Ba City.

After ordering these things, Zhao Xu scanned the drawing of the breech-loading cannon that Wang Ying had made in the letter.

Simply put, this is a screw breech-loading cannon.

The tail of the cannon is bolt-styled, there are threads inside the chamber, and a large bolt-like breechblock is fixed on the cannon wall.

When loading, unscrew the breechblock, fill in the cannonball, and then screw the breechblock back on.

The most important problem with this structure is the strength of the breechblock.

At present, only high-quality steel refined by the converter can ensure that the breechblock of this screw cannon will not be shattered during use, guaranteeing a sufficient service life while also providing the conditions for mass production.

As for the ignition method of this screw cannon, the Armament Bureau has also mastered it; it is actually the pull-cord method used for hand grenades.

Insert a pull-cord tube into the vent, penetrate the powder bag, and it can be fired with a single pull.

The application of this horizontal-bolt screw cannon in the contemporary era is the German Krupp cannon that appeared in the mid-19th century.

And what the British invented during this period was another type of Armstrong cannon with a vertical wedge breechblock, whose main structure is similar to a plug-in card, and it still relies on a fuse to ignite.

Once this kind of breech-loading cannon appeared, it was listed by the British at the time as a secret weapon prohibited from being sold abroad.

In the Great Song, his advantage is that he learned the development path of firearms in advance.

Thus, he directly excluded the Armstrong-style cannon.

At the end of the letter, Wang Ying also asked him to officially name the cannon.

So he immediately replied to Wang Ying, and at the same time included the breech-loading cannon in the Qin-series, naming it the Qin-style Cannon.

He also ordered him to put it into production as soon as possible and develop a large-caliber breech-loading naval cannon version to equip the ironclad warships currently under construction.

At the moment, his warships have an advantage in naval duels because of the muzzle-loading rifled cannons and explosive shells.

But this advantage, just like the muzzle-loading rifled musket, is easily cracked and caught up to by the opponent.

Furthermore, when facing the huge navy of the Westerners, this slight advantage will also be partially offset.

But as long as the Ironclad Warship appears, equipped with large-caliber Breech-loading Cannon.

The Yanzhou Navy will officially open up a generational gap with the opposition.

No matter how many Sailing Warship they have, the Yanzhou Navy will no longer need to worry.

Once the era of the Ironclad Warship arrives, the Yanzhou Navy will stand invincible upon the seas.

The world's oceans will be reduced to the inner lakes of the Great Song.

The trade of the Great Song will also extend along the tracks of the Warship to any place it wishes to go.

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