Back to Ming Dynasty with Industrial Revolution System

Chapter 1036 The Tachibana Family and the New Musket

In the Xiaoshan position, the bitter cold wind blew by, the dragon flags of the Kyushu Army and Army fluttered, and the snow covered the hillsides and fields, which brought the already difficult war to a stalemate.

The Shogunate East Route Army was blocked by a small group of troops led by Lu Xiangsheng and Tachibana Tadamo in Xiaoshan. The guards of Osaka Castle, Yamauchi Tadayoshi and Tachibana Muneshige, also successfully relied on Sanada Maru to block the attack of the shogunate army.If the fierce offensive can't be smashed all the way, it will become a stalemate and protracted battle.

In Xiaoshan, there were sporadic musket sounds in the heavy snow, and Tachibana Tadashige held a musket and shot at the shogunate soldiers who were attacking with the help of the snow.

"Fire!" The artilleryman lit the fuse of the smoothbore gun.

The cannon was roaring, and the grenade exploded above the heads of the attacking soldiers below. The violent explosion made people's liver and gallbladder split.

Date Tadamune tried to attack Sasayama in the snow, but the opponent's defense prevented him from taking a step forward.

"No. 17 times to repel the enemy's attack." Tadamo Tachibana put down the musket that was still smoking from the barrel, and carved a mark on the wall of the earthen wall.

"The war is getting longer and longer, and I really don't know what it will take to end."

"The Spring Festival is coming soon, isn't the shogunate planning to withdraw its troops?"

"I still want to visit the nearby shrines and temples. It seems that I will stay in the mountain city. I don't know if I will be able to return home alive in the spring of next year."

The members of the defense team sat on the straw pile and repeatedly defeated the attacking force led by Date Tadamune, which no longer made them excited.The long-term war made the soldiers trapped in Xiaoshan exhausted, and they wanted to end the war as soon as possible.

Before the Meiji Restoration, Dongying still used the lunar calendar as the New Year instead of New Year's Day. Wars were fought on the most important Lunar New Year, which made everyone miserable.

Lu Xiangsheng sat on a boulder with only some straw spread on it.He was facing the direction of Huaxia mainland, while eating rice balls, he didn't know what he was thinking on the other side.

"Lu Xiangsheng, are you missing your family?" Tachibana Tadamo came over with a musket.

"Being alone in a foreign land as a stranger, being a soldier is really hard work. I used to want to be a literati, but now I have completely become a warrior." Lu Xiangsheng said with emotion.

After the Tumu Fortress Change, the court became more civilized than military. Lu Xiangsheng, like many literati, wanted to become a high-ranking civil official, but a series of military actions such as crusade against the peasant army and joining the Kyushu Army made him join the Kyushu Army’s military headquarters. a general.

"What's wrong with being a samurai? Our Dongying Kingdom emphasizes martial arts over literature. What kind of nonsense literati, strength is king. How can we defend our castle and defeat the enemy without force? Culture is only a hobby of self-cultivation, and a weak scholar is just a A ghostwriter." Tachibana Tadamo was full of disdain for literati.

"Now it seems that this martial spirit may be something we lack." Lu Xiangsheng said.

"You have a vast land, abundant resources, and everything you need. The land around you is not as fertile as the Central Plains. Of course, you have no desire to march abroad. But our side was originally a small country with few people. After the Yingren Rebellion, the whole country was divided into dozens or even hundreds of local forces. Fighting, the people are in dire straits, and if you don't respect martial arts, you can't survive." Tachibana Tadamo said sitting next to Lu Xiangsheng.

"I heard that it was your uncle Tachibana Zongshige who assisted in the defense of Osaka Castle. If you can block Tachibana Zongshige, your Tachibana family can be regarded as a talented person." Lu Xiangsheng said.

"We were originally Takahashi's family. Later, he was adopted by Raijin Tachibana Michiyuki as an adopted son, and he inherited the Tachibana family together with Tachibana Chiyo, the daughter of Tachibana Michiyo. In order to inherit the Tachibana family business, I also had to change my surname Tachibana." Tachibana Tadamo talked about his family's past.

Lu Xiangsheng was a little confused when he heard about the past of the Tachibana family. The history of each family during the Warring States Period in Japan was too complicated, and they also liked to give nicknames to various people just like in Pingshu, and they were not ashamed to change their surnames. Lu Xiangsheng couldn't comprehend the difference.

"When will my troops be equipped with new-style muskets? There is no comparison between matchlock guns and new-style muskets. Matchlock guns need to be ignited, and it is difficult to use them once the weather is wet. The action of operating matchlock guns is also more cumbersome than new-style muskets. After getting the new muskets, I am tired of the arquebus. To put it bluntly, compared with the new muskets, the iron guns we used before are nothing, and the flintlocks developed by the Shimadzu family are not as reliable as the muskets you brought. Tadao Tachibana held a French 1777 rifle fondly. This type of musket-loading flintlock surpassed this era by more than 100 years. Tadao Tachibana, a samurai who was no stranger to matchlock guns, quickly learned about the new type of musket. superiority.

"This is the real new type of musket. The breech-loading rifle does not need to be specially loaded with gunpowder and projectiles from the muzzle. Instead, it uses paper shell bullets, which speed up the loading speed and have a certain amount of ammunition." Lu Xiangsheng said To the musket, take your own gun.

The Dreiser rifle is not necessarily the most advanced musket of the Kyushu Army, but it is the most widely equipped and practical type, and it is more advanced than the French 1777 rifle.

The first Shimadzu family to deal with Chu Yun imitated the 1777 rifle. The Shimadzu family lacked the corresponding machine tool and metallurgical technology to produce a limited number of new muskets, and their performance was not reliable. musket.

The Kyushu Army also assisted the shogunate with 1777-style rifles that cut corners. The level of muskets used by the new shogunate army "Shinsengumi" was actually similar to the imitation muskets of the Shimadzu family. That's why the allied forces were able to withstand the attack of the shogunate army.

The original 1777 rifle has already amazed Tadao Tachibana, and the design of the Dreiser breech-loading rifle that Lu Xiangsheng brought out made Tadao Tachibana even more amazed.

"A more advanced musket, how can there be such a wonderful work of art in the world." Tadamo Tachibana held the Dreiser rifle in his hand, and after operating it, his eyes showed enthusiasm.

In the previous battles, he discovered that the muskets used by the soldiers of the Kyushu Army were different from the muskets used by the allied forces that supported them, but he couldn't directly ask Lu Xiangsheng for a new musket until Lu Xiangsheng handed his musket to Tachibana Tadamo to watch .

"Most of the muskets used by our standing soldiers are this new type of rifle. Even if you want to hide it, you can't hide it." Lu Xiangsheng knew that as the main force of the Kyushu Army was preparing to enter Dongying, the secret of the Dreiser rifle could not be hidden for long. You will know that there is such a thing as a breech-loading rifle.

But it is one thing to know that the imitation without supporting basic technology is also an inferior product, and there are new muskets being developed in the laboratory of the Kyushu Army, but there is no need to replace the Dreiser rifle that has been equipped on a large scale.

(End of this chapter)