Since the Accounting: A Chronicle of the Roman Khanate

Chapter 487 Fire Javelin

Smoke from the flames obscured the view in the streets. Captain Maria stopped the nuns under her command from pursuing them, and asked them to return to the previous intersection, bypass the entire block, and continue moving forward.

Before they exchanged fire with the enemy, a group of unknown thugs had set the place on fire and then started looting wantonly. The poor people living here originally tried to hide behind the thin door panels, but the crowded and messy wooden buildings here were too suitable for the spread of flames. The fire quickly engulfed large swathes of houses, and most people fled in fear, heading toward coastal business districts where they thought they were relatively safe.

The main road leading there was quickly blocked by residents dragging their families with them. More people worked together to knock down the iron fence, poured into the large garden next to it, and headed towards the seaside from there.

Although the city has gradually regained its prosperity over the past few decades, the Roman ancestors left too many legacies to the capital, and so far, no one has been able to completely fill up the former scope of this giant city. These inheritances have saved a lot of people tonight - because there are still a lot of open spaces, the fires burning everywhere cannot gather together as quickly as they did two hundred years ago.

However, these open spaces do not theoretically belong to everyone. Poor residents, especially outsiders, can only squeeze into a few poorly managed areas. A lot of land in the so-called Lower City District has been occupied by the city's nobles for a long time. In fact, it does not belong to the people here at all, but has become the residence of dignitaries and wealthy businessmen. The scale is so large that one can even fight a small battle here.

Increasing demand and increasing wealth attracted many professionals. From the Jiangnan craftsmen brought by Javanese businessmen, to the master masons from Italy and France, to the Samarkand architects who came along the grassland trade route, they all showed their skills here and designed villas of different styles. , gardens, so that noble people can enjoy the fun of mountains, rivers and countryside without leaving the city. The top-notch house is like a small palace. Eastern and Western art collide and stir in this spacious space. It even attracts many people to come here specifically to study and exchange, and to bring new art schools back to various parts of the Mediterranean.

But now, no one has the time to worry about this.

Normally, these works of art are carefully protected. Although there is only a wall or even a fence, few people dare to go directly into these houses. Of course, no one cares about that anymore. Under the stimulation of danger, the fleeing people had no time to think about prohibitions and laws, and just wanted to run away as quickly as possible.

And the nearby mansion was indeed unguarded. Along the way, they broke into several buildings, but no one came to effectively stop them. Therefore, the fleeing crowds quickly spread everywhere, causing more places to fall into a tense atmosphere.

After breaking away from the enemy, Captain Maria continued to use the banner of the Queen Mother to gather the scattered residents around, comfort them, show them the way, and keep them away from here. At the same time, the nuns were urged to quickly load their weapons and make all preparations.

"I'll repeat it again -" she shouted in a hoarse voice: "All sisters with guns, divide them into groups of two and exchange muskets! Check again!"

The nuns immediately cheered up, exchanged weapons, and began to inspect. After checking, he returned it.

"Now, check each other's matches and gunpowder! Then report to your squad leader!" Captain Maria shouted again.

The nuns continued to do so, and after checking, they all reported that the gun was normal, the matchlock was burning, and the gunpowder was properly stored and in sufficient quantity, and there was no problem. Several squad leaders also quickly replied to her, saying that everyone was ready.

"Then let's continue heading south." Captain Maria pointed diagonally ahead and said: "This enemy team is very long. It seems to belong to different organizations. They don't have much good cooperation with each other. They just want to work together. Go to the south to provide support. In front of us, the buildings in that area are relatively regular and have not been burned by the flames. Teams 4, 5, and 6 follow me on guard downstairs. Teams 1, 2, and 3 follow Captain Cornelia and seize the building. We should be able to intercept the enemy's rear from the side. Then, according to the previous plan, keep a distance from them and continue shooting. Do you understand?"

"Understood." The nuns replied one after another.

Captain Maria nodded.

However, some people are dissatisfied with her tactics. Opposite her, a young nun with a red logo on her helmet openly expressed doubts.

"Her Majesty the Queen Mother asked us to go to the rescue, not to investigate the situation. What we have to do is not to follow at a distance, but to find a way to defeat some of the enemies first and fish them out." She said: "Stay far away and throw bullets , I can only kill a few people at a time, so how can I complete the mission?"

Her words aroused the agreement of some other people. Several nuns said that they should be more proactive.

"I haven't heard of a battle that can only be solved by javelins." Another nun also said: "I feel that you have been avoiding direct combat with them, but we don't need to be so exaggerated."

"Yes, we have been training for so long just to use it."

"You are a little too conservative."

Others also said.

Captain Maria was silent for a moment and replied: "In this situation, we should trust the muskets in our hands more."

In this era, firearms are actually nothing new. Compared with the shock it caused to Europe when the Mongols brought it, these developments and innovations today are no longer a big impact. Although some people still don't like this kind of weapon, Europeans' attitude towards it is becoming more and more practical, and they don't really curse it as a devil.

Captain Maria and others also discovered that the Easterners, who had a huge impact on the military thinking of the Purple Horde Khanate, seemed to have never paid attention to this. Because in the final analysis, weapons must be left for people to use. From this point of view, there should be no need to make a fuss about it.

And these nuns are not short of weapons. In everyone's eyes, they are the closest people to the Queen Mother. Some people even think that they are actually the Queen Mother's adopted daughters. They gather together every day to talk about military affairs and practice martial arts. Aren't they just a group of "Yiluohe".

Therefore, people who intend to have a good relationship with the Queen Mother often make it convenient for them intentionally or unintentionally. And those weapon craftsmen who hope to be respected also like to give them things: as long as they can be welcomed by them, they will definitely be known by the Queen Mother who likes martial arts and military affairs. This route is much faster than the normal process at the Ministry of War.

As time went by, the nuns' warehouse was filled with all kinds of weapons for them to choose from. The guy in their hands is theoretically more advanced than the first-line army. But having said that, in this era, it is hard to say whether the advancement of weapons can be transformed into actual combat effectiveness.

Sometimes, "advanced ideas" is even synonymous with "fancy". It is difficult to say whether the positive effects it brings outweigh the side effects. These days, everyone's ideas are very active, and every now and then, someone contributes all kinds of outrageous firearms, and everyone boasts their creations to the sky, as if they can kill all enemies to pieces as long as they can use them.

But judging from the actual test results, basically few of them can be used. Their new design is considered an excellent idea as long as it does not lead to a regression in efficiency. In fact, most of the imaginative inventions can only sit in the warehouse and eat dust, with almost no practical value.

The firearm that everyone really likes and even needs to fight for is actually the matchlock gun.

The early European musket was just a metal tube with a hole in the end. After loading the gunpowder and projectiles, insert the match rope into the hole and launch. If it is a relatively small pipe that shoots small projectiles, then attach a wooden stick to the tail of the pipe, hold it under your arm like a knight, and fire. A person's own strength is enough to withstand this thing.

And if the pipe is too large for one person to hold, a special shelf must be made to secure it. As for the launch method, there is actually no difference. I'd better get a match rope to light it...

In Chinese, the former was called "gun" in the early years, because the thing was indeed the same as the barrel of a gun. It was just a big bamboo with some gunpowder stuffed in it, which was used to spray people. Because the power of this weapon was still very limited at that time, some were simply tied directly to the head of the gun and used to spray the opponent's face when attacking.

Later, the bamboo pipe gradually turned into a metal pipe and began to be used alone, so in Seris, people began to use the new word "gun" to call him. This name was more popular in the Ming Dynasty, but the Purple Horde Khanate had been away from the Central Plains for a long time. Therefore, in their military terminology, it was still called "gun" as it was in the Song and Yuan Dynasties.

As for those large firearms, because they were used to fire stone projectiles like trebuchets in the early years, "cannon" was changed to a radical and called "cannon". Generally speaking, as long as one person cannot bear it and needs to put on airs, it is included in this category.

Of course, this is just their own rough division. In many cases, the boundaries between guns and guns are indeed not clear. Moreover, this is also a unique method of creating terms in Chinese characters, and other languages ​​may not be able to do this. In fact, in many languages, these things are indeed the same word.

In the past few years, Captain Maria has gained the trust of the Queen Mother and began to select standard weapons for the nuns. However, among the long-range weapons, she chose a musket with a slender shaft.

This thing is not the same as the musket most commonly used in Rome today.

In the early days, muskets were not very popular. The Legion prefers to use all their gunpowder on sieges. Sometimes they don't even want to use artillery. Instead, they tend to concentrate all the gunpowder reserves on hand and go directly to blow up the city walls. Relying on this technology, the Purple Horde Khanate was often able to quickly break through the defenses of Wubao during its early expansion.

At that time, the various forces here were quite loose, and these forts were also relied upon by the local nobles to maintain this split and prevent themselves from being annexed. In the past, when dealing with the Golden Horde's move south, they were also relied on for defense. But the people of the Purple Horde Khanate were from engineering backgrounds, and they were very efficient in dismantling the forts.

It is difficult to count how many large and small conquests there have been in the land of Eastern Europe. But few people can truly unify. At most, a strong monarch can temporarily suppress the nobles. This probably includes this military factor: even if they are defeated, the nobles in Wubao can persist for a long time, until the attacker can no longer continue. . In order to prevent one family from becoming dominant, other nobles would also come to interfere, making it difficult to completely eradicate local forces.

However, the density and defense level of the fortress are not as good as those in the west. Therefore, as long as the Purple Horde Khanate can defeat the enemy in the field, the opponent will basically have no chance to retreat to the fortress and linger, waiting for other relatives to come to save their lives. The local divisions can no longer be maintained.

As for the early muskets, the biggest problem with them was not that they were ineffective or inconvenient to use, but that they were awkwardly positioned.

Although they are also called "long-range weapons," according to the experience of the Purple Horde Khanate, muskets and crossbows are two ecological niches. The latter is a real long-range weapon, used to shoot at a distance of one to two hundred steps to kill enemies that lack armor.

Here, other forces often have a large number of soldiers with inferior weapons and armor, but who are also very cheap, to fill the front lines and even consume the enemy. The serfs forced into battle by the local Slavic nobles, the cheap mercenaries hired by the HRE princes, and the poor gangs coaxed by the Ottomans can all fall into this category.

The lethality of arrows projected from long distances is very bad for elite soldiers who can wear heavy armor. But for those who lack protective gear, it is very deadly and can cause a large number of casualties in a short period of time, and even directly cause the opponent's morale to collapse. This weapon is like a sieve, which can filter out a large number of unqualified enemies, and the few remaining elites will be easier to deal with without the support of these people. Therefore, since the founding of the country, the proportion of bows and arrows in the Purple Horde Khanate has always been very high.

The musket is something else entirely. Its trajectory is straight, and its long-range accuracy is worrying, so it is not suitable for long-range shooting. At that time, compared with the already perfect strong crossbow, its advantage in power was not obvious enough.

The most important thing is that this thing required both hands to shoot. This means that the holder has to put down the weapons and shields at hand and keep both hands free. And this thing can't hit far, so after it is shot out, the enemy will rush up. Therefore, many people would rather bring a javelin and use it as a weapon to attack armored enemies at a distance of ten or twenty steps. Muskets, like various bombs, can only be used by specialized personnel.

The turning point in popularity was when someone transplanted the trigger.

The press-type crossbows of the Mediterranean world take up too much space and are not suitable for holding with one hand, so they are not suitable for such places. But Siris's trigger-type crossbow can be used directly to drive a match rope by changing its shape. In this way, the muskets can be loaded before the battle. When the enemy is close, you can shoot with one hand.

This small device only began to appear in recent years, but it quickly became popular and quickly eliminated the old-fashioned muskets in the legions. In the eyes of the soldiers, after modification, this thing became a very useful close-range weapon. Heavy infantrymen on the front lines especially like to carry one.

In their understanding, this thing is a more powerful javelin. Therefore, they tend not to carry too much ammunition and projectiles to avoid getting in the way, and may even only carry the rounds in the gun. When the infantry on both sides are about to launch an attack, they shoot at the enemy like a javelin, then immediately throw it away and enter into hand-to-hand combat.

Because we do not pursue long-range shooting, but also want to be easy to carry and shoot with one hand, the popular matchlock gun in the legion has a short barrel and looks like an enlarged pistol, making it easier to hold a sword, shield and two-handed fighting weapon. Soldiers can also fire volleys easily.

Although the nuns have never been on the battlefield, they have seen a lot and are familiar with various weapons. After seeing the weapon Captain Maria chose and understanding the corresponding tactics she designed, some people will naturally have doubts.

(End of this chapter)