Chapter 975: Heavy Firepower

Yongcheng.

Chang Wei was constantly monitoring the changes in the battlefield situation.

One obvious point was that after the initial probing, the subsequent warfare would fall into a long phase of stalemate and attrition.

That is to say, both sides would rely on trenches to fight each other and consume the other's military strength.

As for this point, it was exactly what he hoped for.

He wanted to consume a large amount of the Beidi's vital strength before ordering the Yongzhou army to launch a counterattack, ultimately winning this war in the North Territory.

Furthermore, because of the Railway, they no longer had to face heavy logistical pressure as before.

Provisions and Bullet supplies could be replenished at the first opportunity.

Thinking of this, he immediately sent a Telegraph to the Prince's Mansion to report the situation on the battlefield.

The Prince's Mansion.

Zhao Xu received the battle report from Chang Wei, understood the situation on the battlefield, and replied once again with the three words, "Understood."

These three words were very simple, yet they represented his satisfaction with the current battlefield situation.

The Da Song army in Yongzhou could certainly launch an active offensive against the Beidi army.

But if that happened, the Beidi might collapse quickly and choose to retreat.

This would fail to achieve his goal of eliminating their vital strength.

Adopting a defensive posture, however, was like boiling a frog in warm water; the enemy would try to break through time and again, naturally consuming more of their own troops on the battlefield.

At the same time, there was another point.

The longer the two sides remained in a stalemate, the greater the role Chen Hu's Gun Cavalry could play on the battlefield.

He also believed that Chen Hu would certainly not fail his expectations.

After having Feng'er reply to Chang Wei's telegram, Zhao Xu went to the Armory Bureau.

At the Drill Ground of the Armory Bureau, he saw Wang Ying, who was testing the hand-cranked Machine Gun.

Seeing Zhao Xu, Wang Ying immediately walked over to greet him and led Zhao Xu onto the Drill Ground.

"How is the testing of this hand-cranked Machine Gun going? Is it not yet ready to be delivered to the army for use?" Zhao Xu asked.

Currently, the Beidi army was in a stalemate in Yongzhou, and he very much hoped to have a batch of Machine Guns deployed to the battlefield.

In this way, he could dig a big pit for the Beidi and let them fall into it until they were battered and bloody.

"Reporting to Your Highness, it is almost ready. Today is the final live-fire test, and after this, we can begin small-batch production," Wang Ying said.

It had been half a month since Yan Wang returned.

The last time he asked for a month in the Council Hall, it was to be safe and prevent being scolded if the time was insufficient.

But in reality, the testing was basically complete.

Over these past half a month, after he adjusted the position of the Machine Gun's Front Sight, this model of hand-cranked Machine Gun had not a single flaw left.

"That is excellent." Zhao Xu could not help but laugh.

Then, he cast his gaze toward the Machine Gun in front of him.

At this moment, a cylinder-like magazine was mounted on the Machine Gun, looking like a spool of thread.

Through the gaps in the magazine, one could see the golden-yellow Bullets inside.

"Since that is the case, let this Prince fire it myself to give your test a perfect conclusion," Zhao Xu said.

"That is naturally our honor." Wang Ying laughed, and the officials of the Armory Bureau also chimed in with laughter.

To a man, things like firearms and Artillery were equivalent to the precious swords of ancient swordsmen; they belonged to the romance of men.

Zhao Xu naturally could not refuse.

After the Qin-series Rifles were issued, he had kept one in his study.

When he had free time, he would go out hunting on horseback with Xu Lie.

Facing this hand-cranked Machine Gun, he naturally had even less resistance.

Without needing Wang Ying's guidance, Zhao Xu knelt on one knee, aimed the muzzle at a tree stump one meter thick and one hundred meters away, and calibrated the muzzle.

Then, he gave a look to the auxiliary soldier loading the ammunition, signaling him to turn the crank.

Unlike the chain-fed magazine of a Maxim Machine Gun.

The magazine of this hand-cranked Machine Gun was a cylindrical magazine, with the Bullets all loaded inside the cylinder.

As the crank turned, the cylinder would rotate, feeding the Bullets into the chamber.

"Begin!"

"Da-da-da..."

Zhao Xu gave the order and simultaneously pulled the trigger, and the Machine Gun immediately spat out tongues of fire.

The Bullets flew out, and wood chips immediately flew from the tree stump one hundred meters away.

While Zhao Xu was firing,

The Machine Gun assistant maintained a calm expression, turning the hand crank at a steady speed.

Once the Bullets in one magazine were exhausted, he immediately stopped to load another magazine.

In this way, the firing of the Machine Gun was basically continuous, save for a brief pause when changing magazines.

"Da-da-da..."

Five minutes later, the tree stump one hundred meters away suddenly snapped in the middle.

That position had been essentially hollowed out by the Bullets.

"Hahaha, it is perfect." As the tree stump snapped, Zhao Xu stood up and looked at Wang Ying, "How long does it take for you to manufacture one unit?"

"When manufacturing the prototype, the craftsmen learned the dimensions and structure of the Machine Gun's parts, but because only a few craftsmen are involved and we must use the Electric Motor Lathe to manufacture the parts, production is limited; we can assemble at most three per day," Wang Ying said.

"Three sets are enough. Within ten days, provide thirty Machine Guns to the frontline army in Yongzhou," Zhao Xu said.

In war, the quantity of Machine Guns is never the problem.

The problem lies in the Bullets.

Therefore, the number of Machine Guns equipped to the army in modern times is limited; it only needs to be sufficient for use.

While it would certainly be satisfying for every person to have a Machine Gun, it is not realistic; there are not that many Bullets to waste.

Moreover, Machine Gunners are naturally not as flexible as Infantry, so they can only serve as heavy firepower configurations.

"Yes, Your Highness," Wang Ying said, "Tomorrow, I will first send soldiers to take the prototype guns to Yongzhou to train a batch of Machine Gunners."

Zhao Xu nodded; Wang Ying had thought about it very thoroughly.

In this way, once the Machine Guns arrive, they can be put into use on the battlefield.

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