The army generals behind Xiao Ruxun were also surprised.
They knew that Xiao Ruxun had always liked new things and more practical weapons. For example, they recalled Xiao Ruxun's dissatisfaction with flashy but impractical weapons like the Three-eyed Blunderbuss and the small Francon Blunderbuss during the war. She felt that they were a waste of national funds. Firearms with no combat value should not be produced, and if they were to be produced, they should be produced with value.
Xiao Ruxun was also very dissatisfied with Li Rusong's large use of the three-rimmed guns, but due to the cavalry's combat conditions, he did not force them to use the muskets. However, the rest of the musket infantry were already fully equipped with muskets and the iron cannons of the Japanese pirates. All the old firearms were discarded by Xiao Ruxun, leaving only the muskets, Francs, and the Swarm of Bees that had practical value.
They also heard that Xiao Ruxun had repeatedly written to Song Yingchang, asking him to write to the court and the emperor to stop the research and production of some old firearms and focus on the research of heavy cannons and muskets. Some flashy but useless old firearms and firearms from centuries ago should not be produced again. Instead, this portion of the funds should be put into the production of new firearms. It was said that many knowledgeable people in the court supported this, but it was opposed by some officials in the southeast.
Looking at it now, it was really fitting, directly getting the navy to eliminate the bowl-nosed guns.
"But, admiral, the reason why the bowl-nosed guns have been used until now is because in naval battles, it is impossible to completely annihilate the enemy ships with just the Dafuku and Francs. It is still necessary to engage in close combat. In close combat, the bowl-nosed guns can be used to attack the hulls of the Japanese pirates at close range. Next, it is finally the hook gun and nail-gun to hook the enemy ships and use wooden planks to engage in close combat. This is naval warfare."
Chen Lin came to her senses and felt that Xiao Ruxun was being unreasonable and purposely showing his ignorance. The three-axe tactic of naval warfare was like this. The Daming navy had been using it since the founding of the country, and the current tactic was established during the Jiajing period. Long-range use the Dafuku and Francs, close-range use the bowl-nosed guns and rockets, and next would be the hopping tactic, the three-axe tactic!
Xiao Ruxun pretended to know what he didn't know and directly eliminated the bowl gun. Out of the three axes, one is gone. What should we do?
It was a tragedy for a layman to command an expert!
Chen Zhao frowned. He was very dissatisfied with Xiao Ruxun's blind command, but he couldn't oppose it openly. If he didn't give Xiao Ruxun face, what if he made things difficult for him? After much consideration, he took this opportunity to educate Xiao Ruxun on naval warfare. He tried his best to speak in a gentle tone, hoping that Xiao Ruxun would repent and not make things difficult for himself.
However, Xiao Ruxun's attitude became even more unyielding.
"All of you think that I came from the northwest and don't know how to fight in the water, so I'm blindly commanding, right? If I didn't do some research, why would I make such a decision? Let me ask you, how did the Daming Navy defeat the Franco Navy in the naval battle of Guangdong during the reign of Jiajing? "
Chen Lin was from Guangdong, so she knew about that naval battle.
"At first, we couldn't win because of the Franco's fierce cannons. Wang Chi, who was then the deputy commissioner of the Guangdong Sea Route, first used fire to attack the ships on a windy day, burning the Franco Navy and forcing them to retreat. Then, he used a scheme to sow discord among the Franco Navy and obtained the manufacturing method of the Franco gun and centipede ship. He made a large number of imitations and modified them to equip our navy, thus defeating the Franco Navy in one fell swoop."
Xiao Ruxun nodded. "What does the bowl gun have to do with it?"
Chen Lin was speechless.
"The navy's tactics are about to change. We can't place our hopes on close combat as before. The muskets and Francs we use are all from the foreigners. Even the Dafa Cannon at the bow of the ship is from the foreigners. The foreigners have already surpassed the Great Ming Dynasty in terms of firearms and naval warfare.
If the Great Ming Dynasty didn't chase after them and waited for the barbarians to attack before they felt pain, then it would be too late. The barbarian navy no longer relied on jumping tactics in battle. Instead, they relied on long-range firepower to directly destroy enemy ships from afar.
This Supervisor also knows about the Centipede Ship. The ship carries thirty-four Franco cannons. Its firepower is fierce and its speed is extraordinarily fast. This was the configuration they used decades ago. Now, it might be even more terrifying. Now, my Great Ming Navy has six Franco cannons on the five hundred large ships.
How can we compete with the foreigners with this kind of firepower? In the end, we can only use the fire boat tactic. But the fire boat tactic also requires timing. It can't be used unless the wind is with us or on a windy day!
It's not that the Daming Navy's shipbuilding technology is inferior to the foreigners'. It's just that we didn't think of abandoning jumping tactics. We used a large number of cannons to avoid contact with the enemy's warships and carried out a pure firepower battle. A big boat only has less than 10 cannons!
The bowl-mouthed guns and hundred-shot cannons are still too close to be of any use. Moreover, the barbarians have at least forty cannons per ship, six times the number of cannons our army has. Gentlemen, under the bombardment of cannons that blanketed the sky and covered the earth, do we have any way to get close to their ships and engage in a hopping battle? Remember, if you fall behind, you will be beaten! "
Xiao Ruxun's rebuttal was very threatening. The navy generals looked at each other in silence, not knowing how to refute.
"In the future, naval battles will be the world of big ships and giant cannons. Those without big ships and giant cannons will not be able to survive on the ocean! We can only defeat them if our ships are bigger, faster, have more cannons, have more power, and fire faster!
I don't care what the imperial court thinks, and I don't care what they say. I can't make the decision for the scholars. But at least at this time, in this battle, I want you to try it out according to my arrangement. You have to see it with your own eyes and compare whether what I say or what you think is right. "
These words coming from the mouth of a northwest general seemed very sarcastic. But in the eyes of Chen Lin and Deng Zilong, these navy generals, there was an inexplicable feeling.
Perhaps this northwest general was a rare all-rounder?
After that, even more unexpected things happened.
From the beginning of the second day, Xiao Ruxun ordered the soldiers who used the bowl gun to disembark and go ashore to receive training on how to operate the Francon gun. He also ordered the gunners on the ship to disembark and undergo tests to see if they could familiarize themselves with the gun and so on. They also moved the gunpowder off the ship to see if it was damp and so on. It was clear that he was going to conduct a comprehensive inspection of the navy's equipment. Such a big move caught Chen Lin and Deng Zilong off guard.
Thus, Xiao Ruxun discovered many problems with the navy's equipment. For example, the cannons were old and unusable, the muskets were badly worn and unusable, and there were even soldiers called gunners who were still using flintlock guns and even crossbows. In a rage, Xiao Ruxun made strict regulations and transferred military judges to the navy to thoroughly investigate this matter.
In Xiao Ruxun's strict regulations, it was stipulated that a main force warship must have at least twenty muskets, ten gunners, five large Francon guns, and no less than ten of the lighter medium Francon guns. The bowl gun was completely eliminated. After some discussion, they were sent back to the Ministry of War to be smelted and reforged. A large number of ships used to jump into battle were used to carry the soldiers who were going to land on the beach. The officers and sailors were to enter the main force of the warships to strengthen the main force.
A comprehensive inspection of the warship was to remove all the unnecessary heavy objects off the ship and make space to equip the cannons. The gunners and gunners were to disembark and undergo an examination. Those who passed the examination would be rewarded. Those who failed would be whipped and then forced to undergo training. If they still couldn't use the cannons after three days of training, they would be fined.
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