After the plan was finalized, what interested Ye Mengxiong even more was Xiao Ruxun's improvements to the gunners' equipment. He discovered that Xiao Ruxun had made the gunners' gunpowder pouches be filled with packets of oiled paper. He was very curious and asked Xiao Ruxun why.
Xiao Ruxun explained that it was to allow the soldiers to load faster. By wrapping a certain amount of gunpowder and a lead bullet inside the pouch, the gunpowder could be directly poured into the pouch when needed, saving the process of weighing the weight and loading the lead bullet. The oiled paper was also waterproof, and in a sense, the oiled paper could be reused to reduce the cost. Ye Mengxiong clapped his hands and sighed.
After that, Xiao Ruxun gave Ye Mengxiong a demonstration of her three-stage rotation formation. Ye Mengxiong's eyes lit up as he watched. He discovered that not only were these cannon soldiers skilled in their techniques, their movements were steady, and their shots were especially accurate as well. A wooden tile that was eighty steps away would be hit with a single shot, without a single miss. It could be seen that these cannon soldiers were all well-trained elites. If there were a few thousand of them, they would definitely be able to form a considerable fighting force on the battlefield.
Xiao Ruxun also suggested that the matchlock should be soaked in urine before being dried in the sun. This would reduce the burning speed of the matchlock. Ye Mengxiong was amazed. At this time, the Daming did not have this technology. When he experimented with the matchlock, he found that the burning speed was reduced by about a third. This caused Ye Mengxiong to be pleasantly surprised.
"Today, when I saw Ji Xin's firearms battalion, I realized that the Daming dynasty has neglected such a powerful weapon. After this rebellion is over, this old man will submit a memorial to the imperial court, suggesting that the imperial court follow Ji Xin's method of setting up a firearms battalion to be used on the battlefield. Does Ji Xin believe that the firearms battalion, supplemented by sword and shield soldiers, will be able to face the cavalry head-on?"
Xiao Ruxun replied, "I have yet to engage in actual combat. This is only a speculation. I does not have that many muskets and cannon soldiers under me, so I am unable to engage in actual combat. If there is a chance, I will try to engage in actual combat. I believes that by using the military formation on the outside and the cannon soldiers hidden within, the cavalry will not dare to face them head-on. They will definitely circle around the military formation. Within a hundred steps, the cannon soldiers will be able to display their prowess and will be able to shoot at the cavalry with ease.
Furthermore, lead bullets have lead poison, and gunpowder has fire poison. As long as they are hit, with the Mongolian bandits' medical skills, the lightest outcome would be amputation. Otherwise, the wound will fester and they will die. The training fee for one cavalry soldier is equivalent to training five cannon soldiers. On the battlefield, as long as one cannon soldier can kill one cavalry soldier, it will be considered a huge profit. We have more people than the bandits. In the long run, the bandits will not be able to hold on. In the words of a businessman, this is a guaranteed profit. "
Ye Mengxiong nodded his head, "So that's how it is. Is the lethality of lead bullets really that great? This old man really did not know, otherwise I would have written to the imperial court to promote the use of muskets. "
Xiao Ruxun took the opportunity to say, "I don't know if Futai is aware of this, but in the past, when these muskets were sent to the border, it would be a miracle if sixty percent of them could be used. Most of the time, only forty to fifty percent of them could be used. The rest of them would explode the moment they are used.
I had 1200 muskets in the warehouse, but only 478 of them could be used. The rest are useless. If we really can't make that many muskets, we might as well make a smaller number. We can guarantee that all of them are of the highest quality and not waste the national funds! "
Ye Mengxiong frowned, "Is there such a thing? This old man actually did not know about it! "
Xiao Ruxun nodded his head, "Over the years, the quality of firearms has been rather worrisome. It's not that a large portion of the troops at the border are unwilling to be equipped with firearms, but that they are simply unable to do so. Every time they write to the imperial court, it is like a stone thrown into the sea, never to be heard from again. In the long run, the troops at the border especially dislike firearms. Everyone knows that firearms are powerful, but the rate of inferior firearms is too high."
Ye Mengxiong nodded his head solemnly, saying, "This old man will discuss this matter in detail with Futai. Ji Xin, you must do a good job of digging the tunnels. Whether or not we can be promoted and rewarded will all depend on you. You must know that for us to place our hopes on a general, it is not only because of your talent, but also because of Eunuch Yang. You must not disappoint us!"
Xiao Ruxun's heart trembled. He cupped his fists and said, "I will definitely not disappoint Futai and Futai!"
Ye Mengxiong nodded his head and left with a heavy expression.
Ma Gui, who was following behind, was about to explode. He hurriedly came over and asked, "What were you talking about? Why were you so affectionate? These inspectors and governors have always looked down on us martial artists. Why are you an exception? "
Xiao Ruxun looked at Ma Gui's big, fleshy face and smiled bitterly, "If you can have a father-in-law who was once the Minister of War, you can do it too."
Ma Gui immediately stopped talking. His eyes widened to the size of a cow's eyes, "Brother Ji Xin, you married the daughter of the Minister of War? Your wife is the daughter of the Minister of War? I was wondering … why are you so powerful? "
Xiao Ruxun actually wanted to know how his father was able to get the daughter of the Minister of War to marry into his family. Yang Zhao was a true Jinshi and had served as the Governor of Liaodong. He was one of the Ministers of the Six Ministries, yet he was able to retire safely. What kind of means did he have? Why did he choose a general like Xiao Ruxun? Was it only because he could write poems in the legends?
Xiao Ruxun wouldn't write any sour poems now. He couldn't copy the poems of the Tang and Song Dynasties. He could still copy the poem "If Life Is Only Like When We First Met". However, Nalan Rongruo only had one poem that had been passed down from generation to generation. It had been copied by the transmigrator senior. He was really embarrassed to write it.
The next morning, Xiao Ruxun looked around the entire Ningxia's city wall and obtained the blueprint of the city wall. He discussed with Wei Xuezeng and Ye Mengxiong to choose a few bursting points for the tunnels. They all chose the side city wall where there was only one defense.
It wasn't like the city gate where there were three city gates for protection. As long as one of the side city walls was blown up, there would be an opening. The army could rush in and fight with the thieves in the alleys and defeat them!
The army's encampment stretched on for several li, and there were many places that couldn't be seen from the top of the city walls. For the sake of caution, Xiao Ruxun still chose the tent at the back as the starting point for the tunnel digging. Then, she arranged for the four generals in charge of the four tunnels to personally teach them how to dig a passable tunnel entrance. Then, she personally commanded a group of soldiers to dig, and then carried the soil to other places, understanding the entire process.
Then, Xiao Ruxun explored the soil quality of this area. He found that there was little water here and it was dry. The soil was hard and not easy to collapse. However, once it collapsed, it would be a big collapse and it would destroy the entire tunnel.
Therefore, after Xiao Ruxun decided on the depth of the tunnel, he ordered a group of soldiers to use the wood in the camp to quickly make supports to prevent the tunnel from collapsing during the process of digging. He made ample preparations. After midnight, he ordered people to separately pull ropes from the entrances of the four tunnels to the corners of the city wall. He calculated the length of the tunnel to be dug accurately down to one foot before he finally decided on a plan.
Then, it was day and night digging. Wei Xuezeng and the others followed the previously set plan. Every day during the day, they would fire cannons to attack the city from a distance. Then, they would order the soldiers to make a feint attack. They would beat the drums to create a loud noise to confuse the enemy and make it difficult for them to discover that the Ming Army was digging the tunnel. Although the feint attack was loud, the intensity was not high. In order to prevent the rebel army from becoming suspicious, Wei Xuezeng would also order the army to attack once or twice.
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