Chapter 510: Two Sticks of Incense: The Path to Ruin
Two hundred Chassepot riflemen quickly formed ranks on the sandy riverbank.
Li Daoxuan had placed the blueprints for the Chassepot Rifle into the diorama box in the seventh year of Tianqi (1627). Now, it was the summer of the fourth year of Chongzhen (1631), a full five years later.
Originally, Li Da had estimated it would take one to two years to produce this rifle, but in reality, it had taken a full five years to finally bring it to the battlefield.
Springs, percussion caps, airtightness — several complex challenges. Li Daoxuan hadn't overtly intervened, but had gently guided them, allowing them to solve these issues themselves, step by step.
Seeing this unit stand ready here, the Puppet Heavenly Lord was secretly delighted.
Xing Honglang couldn't help but ask, "How fast can you fire a single shot now?"
A rifleman captain stepped forward, saluting crisply. "Reporting, sir! We can fire one bullet in ten blinks of an eye!"
Xing Honglang asked curiously, "Just how long is 'ten blinks of an eye'?"
Gao Chuwu said, "My dear wife, don't worry, I'll test it right now."
Xing Honglang exclaimed, "Oh, Chuwu, you're so sweet to me!"
Gao Chuwu responded, "Honglang!"
With a soft thud, the two embraced.
Those nearby simply exchanged glances.
The Puppet Heavenly Lord shook his head from the side. "Fire a few rounds for everyone to see," he instructed.
Seeing that the Heavenly Lord himself had given the command, the soldiers promptly responded, "As you wish!"
Soon, the soldiers set up wooden targets, placing them two hundred paces away.
That distance made Xing Honglang and the others' eyes light up. "At this range, those must be rifled guns, right?" she asked.
Padi Tu chuckled smugly. "Indeed! The Chassepot Rifles are all rifled guns. They're quite accurate at several hundred paces, but... hitting an enemy at such a distance requires excellent marksmanship. Most of these rookies can't do it, so don't expect them to snipe enemy generals. Only this Padi Tu... hehehe..."
He said this with such self-satisfaction that someone nearby couldn't help but ask, "Lord Padi Tu, is your marksmanship truly so excellent?"
Padi Tu shook his head. "No, this Padi Tu's is even worse."
Everyone burst out laughing. "Pfft! Then why did you smugly declare 'Only this Padi Tu' just now?"
Padi Tu puffed out his chest. "Because this Padi Tu's special skill is with a sword, unlike everyone else!"
The crowd collectively fell silent.
Well, that meant he had no special skill after all.
The two hundred Chassepot riflemen were ready; the test firing was about to begin.
Li Daoxuan immediately switched his view outside the box and prepared his stopwatch.
"Fire!"
At Padi Tu's command, the two hundred riflemen opened fire.
"Bang, bang, bang, bang!"
After a flurry of concentrated gunfire, all two hundred men simultaneously began reloading. With incredible speed, they opened the breech at the rear of their rifles, shook out the residue from the previous shot, then pulled a new paper cartridge from their pouches, loaded it, closed the breech cover, and sealed it with a decisive click.
Then, they raised their rifles again. Bang, bang, bang, bang! The second volley erupted.
Li Daoxuan pressed his stopwatch, and the time stopped at exactly 10 seconds.
This figure brought a wave of quiet exultation to Li Daoxuan. So fast! That meant six shots could be fired in a minute.
Two hundred riflemen could fire 1,200 bullets in a single minute.
Such a rate of fire, in this era, was practically unrivaled.
The nomadic tribes of the steppes might as well give up fighting and stick to singing and dancing.
Wait!
Hold on!
Not so fast, it wasn't a sure thing yet.
1,200 rounds per minute didn't just signify immense firepower; it also meant enormous pressure on logistical supplies.
Although Li Daoxuan's resources were virtually limitless, he could only provide raw materials like gunpowder and lead. He couldn't directly supply finished bullets. The raw materials he provided required the 'little people' to process them: firecracker powder needed to be re-proportioned to become granular black powder; lead had to be melted down and recast into shot. Even the caps from toy snap-poppers needed to be re-adjusted to become proper percussion caps.
The little people also needed to make their own paper to wrap the percussion caps, black powder, and lead shot together, only then could a complete paper cartridge be fashioned.
While firing 1,200 rounds per minute on the front lines might be exhilarating, how many people and how much labor were required behind that single minute of combat? This wasn't the industrial age, where a production line could simply churn out bullets automatically.
The entire bullet manufacturing process was almost entirely manual.
The Puppet Heavenly Lord quickly yelled, "Stop!"
The two hundred riflemen immediately ceased fire. But in the short span of a few thoughts, they had already expended over four hundred rounds.
Li Daoxuan didn't feel money burning, but rather his population burning away...
What a painful thought!
"Ammunition depletes so quickly," Lao Nanfeng observed, having also noticed the issue. "Padi Tu, how much ammunition do you carry?"
Padi Tu chuckled sheepishly. "Not much, only tens of thousands of rounds, I suppose! This stuff is incredibly troublesome to produce. Right now, a huge number of blacksmiths, gunpowder artisans, and papermakers are dedicated to making these paper cartridges. The village has also hired many women to assemble the bullets."
At this point, Padi Tu expressed a slight regret. "Unfortunately, we can't use the women from the labor reform camp to make bullets. Their character can't yet be fully trusted, and we dare not let such dangerous materials as gunpowder pass through their hands. All the women involved in bullet production must be people who have undergone long-term assessment and are completely reliable. This, of course, limits our output."
Lao Nanfeng nodded. "That's absolutely true. This Chassepot Rifle, while formidable, cannot be used recklessly. Otherwise, in the mere time it takes for two sticks of incense to burn, Gao Family Village could be utterly ruined."
Zhao Sheng poked his head in from the side. "Nor can all production be handled solely by Gao Family Village. We also need to build a new arsenal here, at the Gudu Ferry in Yongji, so that ammunition can be replenished closer to the front lines. Otherwise, transporting everything over such long distances will be unsustainable."
His words made perfect sense!
A profound sense of "a heavy task and a long road" settled in everyone's hearts.
Though Gao Family Village was powerful, the world was vast.
To pacify the realm and save all its people, they truly couldn't afford to be careless.
Zhao Sheng declared, "I will return to Gao Family Village by boat and bring back some skilled senior artisans. With them as the core, we will establish a similar workshop at the Gudu Ferry in Yongji."
As he finished speaking, he gathered his robes and made to dash towards the boat.
Before he could even take a step, however, two porters suddenly darted out from the side, lifting him onto a sedan chair. "Sir, please don't run! You always forget that you get winded after even a short dash. If you wish to travel, please allow us to carry you!"
Zhao Sheng coughed. "Ah, then I truly must trouble you."
The two porters, carrying the sedan chair, swiftly ran onto the boat.
Xing Honglang threw up her hands. "Alright then! The scholars in charge of logistics are working hard, so we front-line fighters must also redouble our efforts. Let's get ready for battle."
Padi Tu popped his head out from the side. "By the way, who exactly are we fighting this time?"
Gao Chuwu scratched his head as he explained, "It's a vile bandit named Wang Guozhong. He betrayed Wang Jiayin and managed to secure an official post." He then recounted the details of Wang Jiayin's death to Padi Tu.
Padi Tu exclaimed, "Wow! Although Wang Jiayin wasn't exactly a good person, you can't just betray someone like that! When Brother Wang left Wang Jiayin back then, he..."
At this point, he suddenly caught himself and quickly stopped speaking.
He couldn't reveal that! Wang Er's presence in Gao Family Village was a top secret, known only to a select few.
"Hmph!" Padi Tu declared. "This Padi Tu shall act on behalf of Heaven and execute a petty villain like Wang Guozhong!"
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