bookrandom Chapter 170 Weapons Reserve
Chapter 170 Weapons Reserve
While sending troops to take over the entire Korean Peninsula, Lu Cheng also immediately sent someone to convey a message to the capital, asking the intelligence personnel stationed near the capital to suggest Lu Wenzhao to give Wei Zhongxian a big gift.
Wei Zhongxian is now at the peak of his power. Lu Cheng has won such a great victory this time, and he must maximize the benefits, even if it means paying some money.
Over the past few years, Lu Cheng had also asked people to secretly give money to Wei Zhongxian to prevent the old man from saying bad things about him in front of Emperor Tianqi.
There is no need to say much about the degree of Zhu Youxiao's trust in Wei Zhongxian. A word from Wei Zhongxian could make the victory fought for by the frontline soldiers seem natural, and could also make some insignificant contributions benefit the country and the people.
For Lu Cheng, anything that can be solved with money is not a problem, and he is not short of money anyway. He must not cause unnecessary trouble because of some trivial matters.
Moreover, no matter how much money you give to Wei Zhongxian now, you can get it back double or even ten or a hundred times in the future. Just think of it as an irregular financial deposit with Wei Zhongxian.
On the other hand, while reporting the victory to the court, Sun Chengzong also summoned the generals of Liaodong to discuss whether they could take this opportunity to recapture Fushun or Tieling.
While Lu Cheng sent people to temporarily handle various affairs in North Korea, he personally rushed back to Liaoyang to participate in the meeting.
When Lu Cheng arrived in Liaoyang and met Sun Chengzong and the generals of Liaodong, everyone looked at Lu Cheng with somewhat different eyes.
Sun Chengzong's eyes were naturally filled with appreciation and relief. He Shixian, You Shigong and other generals who had a good relationship with Lu Cheng were also happy for Lu Cheng.
As for those generals who didn't have much contact with Lu Cheng, they all had different expressions in their eyes, some were envious, some were jealous.
After all, this was the killing of Nurhaci, a huge achievement and an unprecedented victory. The court would definitely reward him handsomely, and any smaller reward would be unacceptable.
"General Lu, congratulations."
"Congratulations, General Lu, for killing Nurhaci in one battle."
"Congratulations, General Lu. It's a pity that you didn't get Nurhaci's head."
Even Sun Chengzong praised with a smile on his face: "General Lu's elimination of Nurhaci is the greatest victory of the Ming Dynasty against the Later Jin Dynasty. I have already reported this to His Majesty, and he will definitely reward General Lu handsomely."
"Thank you, sir. I can achieve today's success only because of your command. I also rely on your generals to deploy defenses in Liaodong and hold back the Jiannu army..."
After Lu Cheng said this, the generals around him also became happy.
Especially He Shixian and You Shigong. Although these two generals did not directly participate in the war, they also sent troops to Zhenjiang Fort and defended Liaodong, so they could also get some credit.
After everyone congratulated and thanked him, Sun Chengzong led the generals to the map, pointed to Tieling, Fushun and other places on the map and said, "Everyone, now that Nurhaci died in Korea, the Later Jin must be in chaos. I intend to take back Tieling and Fushun. What do you think?"
He Shixian immediately said, "Sir, I agree to send troops. This is a rare opportunity. If we can recover the lost territory before the first heavy snow falls, we can stop the attack of the Later Jin and build fortifications during the winter."
General Chen Ce, who was already over 70 years old, also stood up and said, "Sir, I suggest that we take Weining Fort and Qinghe Fort first, and then attack Fushun. In this way, we can connect with Xindian and other places in the southeast and completely recover Liaozhong."
Sun Chengzong heard this and looked at Lu Cheng again: "General Lu, what do you think?"
"General Chen's strategy is very good, I agree with it. We can now recapture Fushun."
The other generals also stepped forward to volunteer for battle. Now was a good time to start a war. If they could take this opportunity to regain the lost territory, everyone would have a share of the credit.
Bao Chengxian, a deputy general in Shenyang, said, "General Lu, you have made such a great contribution by killing Nurhaci directly this time. You should not compete with us for the credit of attacking Qinghe and Fushun, right?"
Lu Cheng chuckled: "General Bao is right. The troops under my command have just experienced a great war, and many troops have been sent to Korea. It is true that I cannot spare too many troops to recover the lost territory. The next battle will be up to you all."
Sun Chengzong was a little hesitant when he heard this. Right now the most capable troops in the entire Liaodong must be the Liaonan troops under Lu Cheng.
If Lu Cheng did not participate in the war, it would be hard to say whether the lost territory could be successfully recovered this time.
"General Lu, you really can't spare any troops?"
"Lord Sun, I am in charge of the entire Liaonan region, and I have to send a large number of troops to Korea. The troops I can mobilize are indeed limited. I can only serve as an assistant behind the generals, but I am afraid I am not strong enough to attack the city."
Sun Chengzong nodded and said, "General Lu can mobilize as many troops as he can. This is a recaptured territory, we must go all out and decide the outcome with one battle."
Lu Cheng hesitated for a while before speaking: "I can withdraw another 5000 soldiers and go to fight together with General He."
In fact, this time Lu Cheng did not want to go out with other generals, nor did he want to expose too many of his weapons and equipment.
Today, the total number of troops under Lu Cheng has already exceeded 5.
The expeditionary forces that were sent to the south one after another and the newly recruited expeditionary forces from the south alone added up to 15,000 soldiers.
There are also two to three thousand pirate groups scattered on the coastal islands.
As for southern Liaoning, there are 50,000 infantry and 3,000 cavalry.
In fact, there are 500 special forces members and a large number of operatives in the Intelligence Department.
In addition to these, there are some security forces responsible for maintaining public order in cities and castles of all sizes, and there are also militiamen who have undergone simple military training in towns and villages.
It can be said that nowadays in southern Liaoning, almost all the people are soldiers.
Of course, it is impossible for so many soldiers to be equipped with muskets.
Even the 50,000 regular infantry were not all equipped with muskets.
In the first two years, the production efficiency of muskets was not high, and the first-generation muzzle-loading flintlock muskets were still used. Later, the second-generation breech-loading flintlock muskets were launched.
At present, the most advanced rifle in the military is a single-shot rifle that fires metal bullets, which is the third-generation Land-type rifle.
(Remington rolling block rifle, can only load 1 bullet at a time. Corresponding: Land Type )
(Land-type third-generation loading)
As for bolt-action rifles like the 98K and Mosin-Nagant that can hold five rounds of bullets, they cannot be mass-produced due to the current mechanical precision.
Moreover, even for this kind of "single-shot" rifle that can only fire one bullet at a time, the current monthly production is not high. Lu Cheng only has more than 1,500 of them.
As for the first-generation rifles that had been discontinued, most of them were equipped with the expeditionary force and sent to the south. A total of more than 2500 second-generation breech-loading rifles were produced, some of which were also sent to the south, and were left in Liaodong.
In other words, among the more than 50,000 soldiers in Liaodong, only less than 5,000 were equipped with rifles.
Of course, with the upgrading of machinery and the development and improvement of technology, the production efficiency of the third-generation rifles is also constantly improving, and now 500 rifles can be produced every month.
As for mortars, the production process is relatively simple, but the shells are more difficult.
截止到目前，火器工坊总共生产出了60门60毫米迫击炮和10门80毫米迫击炮。其中有20门60毫米迫击炮也随着远征军南下了。
In addition to these, the firearms workshop also produced a batch of revolvers that could fire metal bullets, all of which were equipped to special forces members.
(The earliest revolvers had separate percussion caps, gunpowder, and bullets, making loading very complicated)
After the Battle of Changcheng ended, Lu Cheng immediately ordered the soldiers to hide the mortars and all guns that could fire metal bullets, and strictly ordered all soldiers not to spread the information.
Every rifle and revolver that can fire metal bullets has a number and will be put into storage after being returned, and the management is quite strict.
As for the muzzle-loading and breech-loading flintlock rifles, some of them were opened to the public, and Lu Cheng even gave a few to several generals.
Of course, the rifles given to them were all equipped with black powder and Minié bullets.
As for whether these guns would flow to the imperial court, Lu Cheng didn't care.
Even if the court's craftsmen developed the flintlock rifle, it would be difficult to improve production efficiency, the quality could not be guaranteed, and it would also waste the court's manpower and material resources.
Moreover, Lu Cheng's firearms workshop has long been upgraded to an arsenal, and is constantly strengthening weapon improvements.
Especially as children from welfare schools who have received basic physics and chemistry education enter arsenals, the speed of weapons improvement will be further accelerated.
As early as a few years ago, Lu Cheng paid great attention to the cultivation of talents. He personally compiled teaching materials, trained a group of teachers, and taught the children personally.
Among those children, some were older and had received some education, and they started learning basic physics and chemistry directly.
Lu Cheng did not require these people to become chemists or physicists in the future. He only required them to understand the physical and chemical knowledge necessary to manufacture guns and firearms.
Therefore, a lot of unnecessary things can be omitted in the education process, and a group of senior craftsmen can be trained as quickly as possible.
Of course, after these children enter the workplace, they also need to learn while working and constantly improve themselves.
As for the younger children, they are not in a hurry to work, and what they learn is more systematic and comprehensive. They will become more professional talents in the future.