Chapter 964: The Killer

"Back to Your Highness, the hand-cranked machine gun is still being tested and improved. Give me another month to deliver a hand-cranked machine gun that can be put into use. However, small batch production will need to be delayed for a while. Read М" Wang Ying thought for a while and said slowly.

Zhao Xu nodded.

The important thing he and Wang Ying talked about was naturally the machine gun.

In fact, metal bullets were born with machine guns.

Rather than the rifle giving birth to the metal bullet.

In modern times, in 1861, the first hand-operated machine gun was born, but in the four years from 1861 to 1865, the machine gun was never delivered to the army for use.

The reason is that paper-cased bullets cannot meet the high-speed loading and ejection operations of machine guns.

At the same time, due to the air leakage problem in the breech of the machine gun, the range and power of the machine gun were also insufficient.

As a result, metal bullets were developed independently, and the era of metal bullets began.

Therefore, the application of metal bullets is from machine guns to rifles, not from rifles to machine guns.

It was for this reason that he asked Wang Ying to make metal bullets first and then hand-operated machine guns to avoid detours.

"So, you already have a sample of the hand-cranked machine gun? Send it to the meeting hall immediately and let me see it." Zhao Xu couldn't wait.

This thing is a real battlefield butcher and the terminator of the cavalry.

Historically, the biggest concern of the Central Plains dynasties has always been the nomadic tribes in the northern grasslands.

The high mobility of the cavalry left the Central Plains dynasty, which was dominated by infantry, at a loss.

But with this thing, the peak era of rifles will come.

"Your Highness, you are treating the general as an outsider. What kind of metal bullet is this? Now it is a hand-operated machine gun. You have not revealed any news to us." Chang Wei has not yet recovered from the shock of seeing the metal bullet for the first time. Come on, I was stimulated by the hand-cranked machine gun again, and I couldn't help feeling aggrieved.

Yang Feng also shook his head, he didn't understand anything about this matter.

Zhao Xu laughed, "What's wrong with this? I won't tell you. That's because I want you to concentrate on fighting the enemy instead of staring at the Bingzhan Division all day long. Don't you think so?"

When Chang Wei heard this, he immediately laughed. He was right by King Yan.

After scratching his head, he couldn't help but ask, "Your Highness, what is this hand-cranked machine gun?"

"Don't be anxious. I'll introduce it to you when the Military Commander brings the things over." Zhao Xu continued to lie.

Half an hour later, escorted by a group of soldiers, a hand-cranked machine gun covered with black cloth was delivered to the assembly hall.

Wang Ying opened the black cloth and showed Dasong's first hand-cranked machine gun in front of everyone.

When the hand-cranked machine gun showed its true face in Lushan, everyone's breathing became heavy.

"How to use this? There are actually six barrels."

"It looks really weird. It also has a rocking wheel."

"..."

When the ministers saw the hand-cranked machine gun, they immediately started talking.

Zhao Xu did not laugh at the ministers' lack of knowledge.

Because he forcibly dragged Dasong from the feudal era into modern times in an instant.

They always need time to accept the arrival of new things.

And with the advent of the second industrial revolution, they will be even more stimulated, whether it is the endless emergence of industrial products or ideological trends.

The Westerners are certainly a challenge.

But for him, the bigger challenge in the future lies internally.

After all, the collapse of empires often comes from their own disorders.

Therefore, after he defeated the Western Turks and established a world order belonging to Dasong, he was faced with the problem of governance of this huge empire.

It is easy to conquer a country, but difficult to defend it. This is an eternal truth.

This thought just flashed in Zhao Xu's mind and then passed.

His attention was once again focused on the hand-cranked machine gun.

Walking to the hand-cranked machine gun, Zhao Xu squatted down, observed it, and then shook the wheel on the machine gun.

At this time, the six barrels rotated at a constant speed.

There is a strip-shaped magazine slot at the breech of the barrel, which is used to place the magazine.

When shooting, after the bullet falls into the chamber of the gun and is fired, it rotates to the next barrel, and then falls into the next bullet, and so on.

Its principle is similar to that of a revolver.

"Your Highness, what's so special about this machine gun?" Chang Wei couldn't help his curiosity when he saw that Zhao Xu was concentrating on playing.

Hearing this, Zhao Xu patted the hand-cranked machine gun and stopped trying to make excuses, so he explained to them what a hand-cranked machine gun was.

"Can it shoot two hundred rounds of ammunition per minute?" When Zhao Xu mentioned the rate of fire of the hand-operated machine gun, Chang Wei and other generals opened their mouths in surprise.

Zhao Xu nodded, "You heard me right, this is just the most primitive machine gun. When the next machine gun comes out, the rate of fire can even reach 600 rounds per minute."

The machine gun Wang Ying tested was actually a Gatling machine gun, and the next machine gun he mentioned was a Maxim machine gun.

The birth of these two machine guns differed by twenty years.

Among them, the Maxim machine gun was the first machine gun powered by gunpowder gas.

Its appearance marked the arrival of the era of automatic weapons, after which automatic and semi-automatic weapons sprung up like mushrooms after a rain.

But in contrast, the structure of the Maxim machine gun is naturally much more complex and requires the design of a specialized aerodynamic structure.

Because Maxim relies on the recoil generated by the gunpowder gas when the bullet is fired to complete the retraction and feeding, without the need for hand cranking.

At the same time, the increase in the rate of fire naturally increases the requirements for firearm materials.

A pneumatic structure and a material problem all need to be solved by the military department.

It was with these problems in mind that he decided to first create a hand-operated machine gun that was simple and easy to operate.

Although it is not perfect, it is enough to deal with cavalry and teach the Westerners a lesson.

"What His Highness said is true, but for the time being you can use this machine gun. The Bingzhan Division will actively develop the next machine gun," Wang Ying said.

Chang Wei said happily, "This is enough to beat the people of Beidi and Xitu to the point of crying for father and mother. Let's talk about when we can deliver some!"

Wang Ying immediately rolled his eyes, "This is the reason why His Highness did not reveal the news to you."

"Hahaha..." Everyone laughed, and the atmosphere in the meeting hall was filled with a sense of relaxation.

Zhao Xu also smiled softly, and then he got back to the topic and said, "The battle should be fought as it should be. The army cannot just keep the food in the pot and not work."

"Yes, Your Highness." Chang Wei knew that King Yan was reminding him, so he replied.

Zhao Xu looked at Wang Ying again, "I will give you all support to expand the production of metal bullets. At the same time, the testing of hand-cranked machine guns must be stepped up so that some can be installed as soon as possible."

After a pause, he continued, "As for the metal bullets that have been produced now, some of them are provided to Chen Hu's lancers, and some are provided to the sharpshooters of each army. This time when a pack of wolves comes, I will kill them one by one." Lose."