Chapter 190 Gun Test

The gun test was conducted at the base's firing range.

It is very open here, about more than a thousand meters long, far beyond the mortar's maximum range of 700 meters.

In order to better simulate actual combat, the instructor also asked people to dig a trench 600 meters ahead.

Dominic directed his officers to target this trench and fire.

Of course, no one will report the target inside!

The artillery among the officers played a role at this time. They knew that they needed to stabilize the gun body to keep it level, and then calculate the various elements based on the muzzle velocity of the shell and the distance to the target, and then adjust the angle based on the various elements.

This saves the instructors a lot of work. They only need to be reminded of new issues that should be paid attention to from time to time.

In fact, mortars often don't pay attention to these things. You will know it after using it on the battlefield a lot. Most of the time, you rely on feeling, hitting and running regardless of whether it hits or not. Sometimes, you don't even set up the cannon and just hold it with your hands to fire.

Dominic shouted again and again: "Gentlemen, if the shell does not fire, do not try to empty the shell, get down and stay away from it! Please remember this!"

At this time, the mortar had just been invented and the shells were not safe enough. Sometimes the primer failed to ignite successfully due to moisture.

If you try to pour out the cannonball, the result will be a "bang" sound and you will be blown up together with the cannon.

"Boom boom boom!"

A volley of shells burst out of the trench and exploded.

An officer observed the impact point of the bullet and shouted to Charles, who was standing aside and watching: "Major, its accuracy doesn't look very good!"

They seemed more interested in talking to Ciel than to instructors and instructors.

Before Charles could answer, an artillery officer immediately responded: "The point is that it can fire 25 rounds a minute, Bertrand!"

The other officers laughed knowingly.

Bertrand understood the meaning of this. If the accuracy is not enough, use quantity. Shoot 25 rounds in one minute. Regardless of whether it is shrapnel or good luck, after one minute the target will most likely no longer be in this world.

After thinking about this, he shouted to Charles: "Major, can we try it? 25 rounds a minute!"

The instructor only gave each of them one shell, and it was gone after they were fired.

"No, Lieutenant Colonel!" Charles shouted back: "This is what you will learn in the next week. It is not as simple as you think. I don't want any of us to 'graduate early'!"

The officers laughed, knowing what "early graduation" meant.

But Bertrand still didn't believe it. He looked at the mortar and asked in confusion: "Major, what danger can there be in this? We just need to put the shell into the muzzle!"

"Are you sure your cannonball has been fired?" Charles asked, loud enough for everyone to hear: "Did you hear the sound of the cannon just now? What if it was someone else's cannon that made you mistakenly think it had been fired? , what will you do next?”

The officers were stunned for a moment, and soon someone spoke up: "He will load another shell into the barrel, and then...'graduate early'!"

This time the officers did not laugh, they all looked cautious, including Colonel Christine.

No one thought about this problem and finally understood the significance of this training camp.

If these mortars were distributed directly to soldiers and told that they could fire 25 rounds a minute, a series of accidents more terrible than hand grenades might occur.

Dominic glanced at Charles unexpectedly, stepped forward and whispered: "That's right, Major, I was about to tell them about this danger, but you just... relied on your imagination to know this?"

"Yes!" Charles nodded.

In fact, this is one of the precautions for modern mortar operation. On the battlefield and even in training, multiple shells are loaded into the mortar chamber due to nervousness or other factors. In modern times, there is a proper term for this: "repeated loading".

"Wonderful lesson, Major!" Dominic looked at the officers who were savoring the product in the drizzle, and said with emotion: "You successfully aroused their interest and let them know about the mortar." The importance was achieved in just a few words. I never thought I could explain it like that!”

Charles replied calmly: "It's not difficult, Colonel. You just need to know what your 'students' care about most and what they are most interested in."

Dominic nodded thoughtfully and replied: "What they care about most is the battlefield, the life and death of themselves and their subordinates, and what they are most interested in is the equipment that can help them survive, so you start from this aspect!"

Charles nodded. This instructor had good understanding and seemed to be a very good teacher.

…

After returning to the headquarters, Charles immediately reported to Gallieni: "The training went very well, General. The officers unanimously agreed that the frontline troops need this equipment!"

As he spoke, Charles handed Gallieni an organization list and quotation: "Based on the current situation, I think each battalion may need 6 mortars."

This is a common practice in modern troops, setting up mortar batteries at the battalion level.

In actual combat, if there is a demand at the company level, for example, if a certain company is the main offensive, the battalion commander can transfer a few mortars to his command to strengthen the firepower.

Gallieni said "Yeah" without any objection, mainly because he saw that the unit price of this kind of cannon was not expensive, 700 francs per gun, and 6 guns only cost 4,200.

Gallieni asked casually: "Does every army need it?"

"You can make a return visit to the officers." Charles replied confidently: "Or buy a small amount first and let one of the divisions try out the equipment before considering equipping other units!"

"Good idea!" Gallieni agreed with the second suggestion: "Then equip a division first!"

Charles seemed to have expected this answer long ago, and answered very straightforwardly: "72 guns. If the regiment headquarters also needs to be strengthened, I suggest 96 guns, plus a few more for backup, exactly 100 guns!"

(Note: The organization of the French army in World War I was one division, two brigades and four regiments, each regiment had three battalions, so a division had 12 infantry battalions)

"Just 100 guns!" Gallieni nodded. It was only 70,000 francs, which was nothing to the military.

Charles smiled at Gallieni who was about to sign. This old guy was going to be fooled again. 20 francs per shell, this is the key!

Unexpectedly, Gallieni's pen suddenly stopped in the air for a long time. After hesitating for a while, he actually asked: "I heard that your gun can fire 25 rounds a minute? Do you compare it to a long-range grenade?"

Charles secretly thought that it was not good. This old guy learned a lesson.

Sure enough, Gallieni opened the quotation sheet again, pointed to the price of the shell, and said: "Then should the 20 francs be reduced?"

Charles looked embarrassed: "General, it can't be reduced anymore. If you are not satisfied, you can ask others to compare the price..."

The underlying meaning of this statement is that only my company can make this gun, so at this price, don't buy it.

Galieni raised his eyebrows: "A grenade is only 1.5 francs. Since this mortar is a long-range grenade, 3 francs is about right?"

Charles was stunned. Is there such an estimate?

Charles asked back: "So, if soldiers don't have to pay to throw grenades, shouldn't mortars be free?"

Galieni nodded seriously: "It's a good idea, it seems reasonable!"

He said this without blushing or beating his heart.

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