I started with the Shinsengumi in Bakumatsu

Chapter 225 New rifles and artillery

Precisely because of Russophobia, Yagyu deployed heavy troops in Hokkaido to support British interests.

Yagyu had already made a good deal with Tsarist Russia, and the deployment of troops in Hokkaido was just a cover-up for the British.

Furthermore, the Japanese naval bases were mainly in the south and did not threaten Tsarist Russia's Siberian region, so Tsarist Russia superficially protested to Britain.

The expansion of Tsarist Russia in Central Asia has brought great threats and pressure to Britain. Currently, Tsarist Russia's power in Central Asia is approaching Afghanistan.

Although Britain won the first Anglo-Afghan War, it did not control Afghanistan and instead retreated to Pakistan.

However, as Tsarist Russia continues to expand in Central Asia, some people in Britain have proposed launching a war against Afghanistan and occupying Afghanistan to curb Tsarist Russia's expansion.

For this reason, after weighing the pros and cons, Great Britain still did not take action against Japan.

If Japan and Tsarist Russia openly formed an alliance, Great Britain would definitely dispatch all its fleets and troops in Asia to defeat Japan.

Of course Yagyu would not do this. Although he now has a good relationship with Tsarist Russia, with the confrontation between Tsarist Russia and Germany, and Tsarist Russia coveting the Qing territory, Japan will eventually confront Tsarist Russia.

After all, Tsarist Russia likes to invade foreign countries and occupy the territory of other countries. If Tsarist Russia is allowed to occupy the northeastern part of the Qing Dynasty, the Korean Peninsula will inevitably be annexed by Tsarist Russia. By then, Hokkaido near Sakhalin Island will be the meat of Tsarist Russia.

Once Tsarist Russia attacks Northeast China and the Korean Peninsula, Yagyu will step in to stop it.

This is not for other reasons but for national interests.

A buffer zone was needed between Japan and Tsarist Russia.

Today's Hokkaido is changing rapidly. Three years ago, there were only factories near Hakodate. Today, the number of factories in Hokkaido has increased to more than fifty.

Now that the Germans have come, many more factories have been added, including ironworks, canneries, etc. for people's livelihood, and a new shipyard, arsenal, artillery factory, etc. for the military.

At the request of Yagyu in the arsenal today, the Germans handed over the design drawings of the Chasepo rifle to Japan, and there was also a French skilled consultant to guide Japanese engineers in building their own rifles.

Previously, Kawasaki and others relied on the Dreiser needle gun and the improved Enfield rifle to develop the first-generation domestic rifle, the Type 04 rifle.

The caliber of the rifle is 15 mm, the gun is 105 cm long, weighs 4 kg, and the bayonet is 57 cm long.

The bullets used are still paper-cased bullets, with a rate of fire of seven rounds per minute.

The performance of this rifle is better than that of the Dreiser needle gun Type 1841, but it is not as good as subsequent models, and it is even worse than the Xacebo rifle.

The disadvantage of the Type 04 rifle is that it has strong recoil and is difficult to use, so Kawasaki and others developed a new rifle.

The participation of French engineers was of great help in the development of new rifles.

Based on the shortcomings of the Type 04 rifle, French engineers put forward suggestions to reduce the barrel caliber and lengthen the gun body and barrel.

Using the design drawings of the Chassepo rifle as a blueprint, French engineers improved the design drawings of the Type 04 rifle.

The new Type 11.8 rifle has a caliber of mm, a body length of cm, a barrel length of cm, and a weight of kg.

At Yagyu's suggestion, copper bullets were tried.

On this day, the assembly of the Type 05 rifle was completed, and the new copper bullets were also in place. Yagyu, Toshizo Hijikata and others were invited to visit the test experiment of the Type 05 rifle.

The person in charge of experimenting with the Type 05 rifle was Yae Yamamoto’s husband, Nanosuke Kawasaki.

In the shooting range, Naosuke Kawasaki picked up the Type 05 rifle and carefully inspected the barrel and other places, then pulled the bolt and picked up the carefully selected copper bullets.

He held it in his hand and signaled to everyone, then put the bullet into the magazine, pushed the bolt, and rotated to lock it.

"call…"

He exhaled a thick breath, then took a deep breath, raised his gun, and aimed at the target in front of him.

Yagyu also held his breath and watched the movements in the shooting range carefully.

"boom!"

"Ding…"

With the sound of a gunshot, Naosuke Kawasaki's body swayed slightly, and the iron target in front made a golden sound.

A soldier stepped forward to check the target and shouted: "Eight Rings, the iron plate has been penetrated!"

Several engineers immediately hugged each other and cheered. This was an iron plate one centimeter away, and it was easily broken by the Type 05 rifle. This shows that the power of this rifle is not bad.

Coupled with the recent recoil reaction and the number of rings on the target, it shows that this rifle has small recoil and high accuracy.

Of course, it is less powerful than the Type 04 rifle.

But this is already an excellent rifle.

"Clap clap clap..."

Yagyu was the first to applaud. He walked up to Kawasaki and other engineers and said: "It's very good. This Type 05 rifle has achieved my expected goals and can be equipped with our country's army."

Nanosuke Kawasaki's face flushed and he said: "Prime Minister, the Type 05 rifle is a little weaker in power, we can still improve it."

The power of this rifle mainly depends on the bullet primer. Unless you use nitrocellulose single-base gunpowder, you can only increase the bullet caliber.

Yagyu comforted: "The performance of this rifle is very good, and it can be installed in the army. Next, you have to increase the production of Type 05 rifles. I hope we can replace the Army's rifles this year.

As for the improvement and upgrading of rifles, we cannot relax. In Europe, someone invented something like nitrocellulose, which is more powerful than the maroon gunpowder we use.

You can try incorporating nitrocellulose into the primer material to make a new type of bullet. "

"Really? Then I must try it."

Nanosuke Kawasaki can’t wait to experiment.

But he still had to test the rate of fire of the Type 05 rifle and copper bullets.

After Kawasaki Naonosuke's test, he could load nine rounds in one minute. An extremely skilled soldier could load twelve rounds in one minute.

The performance of the Type 05 rifle now fully meets Yagyu's impression of a single-shot rifle.

In the research and development of new weapons, new rifles have achieved success, and new progress has also been made in artillery.

Domestic engineers have certain limitations and inertial thinking when it comes to designing artillery. The artillery they design is mainly focused on mountain warfare, that is, the artillery itself must be light and can be pulled by people without horses. In addition, one gun must be used for multiple purposes to maximize the performance of the artillery.

The Japanese still like to be economical, so they think that one artillery can be adapted to a variety of battlefields.

The Type 92 infantry gun is a representative work.

In the past, the artillery produced by domestic artillery factories mainly imitated Krupp artillery. Later, Yagyu requested independent research and development. The field infantry artillery provided by engineers were all small and light artillery.

These artillery are very useful in mountain warfare and in the absence of heavy fortifications. If the enemy has heavy bunkers and other things, these infantry artillery will lose their effect.

Yagyu agreed to the artillery factory to build this small and light artillery. Now with the participation of German engineers, he once again proposed a powerful artillery that can hit long distances.

Germany had realized the importance of artillery during the Franco-Prussian War, and in addition they knew about maroon gunpowder, so Krupp's artillery engineers were also developing new artillery.

The invited engineer studied Japanese artillery and Yagyu's requirements, and based on his own experience, he designed a new field infantry gun.

The steel plate of this artillery plus protection is 90 centimeters high, the barrel of the artillery is 150 centimeters long, and the entire artillery weighs more than 400 kilograms. If it is pulled manually, six people are needed.

Although this infantry cannon is nearly twice as heavy as the one designed by domestic engineers, it is very powerful. Its range is more than twice that of domestic infantry cannons and can hit about four kilometers.

Yagyu is very satisfied with this data, but the specific situation will not be known until the actual object is manufactured and tested.

……

It has been several months since Yagyu left Kyoto. Kyoto has entered the early winter season. Although the wind is freezing, the atmosphere on the streets of Kyoto is very lively.

The elections for the House of Commons in various places have come to an end. In addition to representatives from as far away as Nankaido, state representatives from all over the country have already entered Beijing.

The number of representatives varies from state to state. Places with densely populated municipalities and large prefectures such as Kyoto, Osaka, Edo, and Wushu have more representatives, while places with large areas and sparsely populated areas such as Koshu and Feishu have fewer representatives.

Especially in Feizhou, there is only one state representative.

The number of representatives from the three states of Nankaido has been sent to Kyoto via telegram and is still on the way. There are fifteen people in total, while the number of representatives from Honshu, Shikoku Kyushu and dozens of Hokkaido states totals 232, and the total number of representatives in the entire lower house is 200. Forty-seven people.

On December 18, the state representatives from Nankai Province arrived in Kyoto. The first meeting of the House of Commons was originally scheduled to be held on December 25, and the House of Nobles would also be held at the same time.

At that time, the House of Commons and the House of Lords will sit together and listen to the cabinet's year-end work report and work plan for the new year.

However, Nijo Saikei and Prince Asahiko met with Emperor Meiji. Prince Asahiko said to Emperor Meiji: "Your Majesty, I have received news that many members of the lower house of parliament want to unite some people to target Yagyu at the first meeting. prime minister."

Nijo Saikyo then said: "They want to expand the power of the House of Commons and limit the power of the House of Nobles and the Cabinet. It can be said to be a wild ambition."

Emperor Meiji frowned and said: "Why don't these people know how to be grateful? If my father-in-law hadn't insisted on establishing the House of Commons, I wouldn't want to deal with these people. What do you think we should do?"

Nijo said immediately: "Your Majesty, Okubo Toshimichi's prestige is not enough to suppress these people, and Prime Minister Yagyu is the pinnacle of stability. As long as Prime Minister Yagyu attends the parliament, there will be no problem."

Emperor Meiji shook his head and said, "But my father-in-law is doing very important things in Hokkaido."

Prince Asahiko persuaded: "Your Majesty, this meeting will not take too long. It is not a big problem for Prime Minister Yagyu to come back."

Emperor Meiji was also worried that something would go wrong, so he nodded and said, "I will send a telegram to my father-in-law right now."

Nijo Qi Jing added: "Your Majesty, the meeting must be postponed until Prime Minister Yagyu arrives."

Emperor Meiji looked at his pocket watch and said casually: "Well, you guys go and inform us. I will decide the time for the parliament to be convened after I get the reply from my father-in-law."

After saying that, he got up and walked out. His main time now is to continue studying Ukiyo-e paintings with the master of Ukiyo-e.

Since he showed Ukiyo-e in Europe in the first half of the year, Japanese Ukiyo-e has taken off a storm in Europe.

Other Japanese products such as silk, lacquerware, fans, and samurai swords also opened up the market in Europe and became best-selling items.

Queen Mary often praised Emperor Meiji's ukiyo-e works, so Meiji spent more and more time on ukiyo-e.

However, Nijo Saikei and Prince Asahiko have achieved their goals.

They conveyed the emperor's order to the Noble Council, the Cabinet and the Lower Council. The three-level council will not convene until the Prime Minister returns. The new date is to be determined.

This news aroused dissatisfaction among the nobles such as Uesugi and Maeda in the Noble Council. Similarly, Shojiro Goto and Hironaka Kono in the House of Commons also protested.

However, Okubo Toshimichi and other cabinet members supported the matter with both hands.

Yagyu, who was far away in Hakodate, Hokkaido, received a telegram from Meiji and felt a little headache. He said to Toshizo Hijikata: "I have to return to Kyoto for a while, which should not exceed half a month."

Later, Yagyu returned to Kyoto on the Fuso ship.

On December 29, Yagyu returned to Kyoto.

Nijo Saikei and Prince Asahiko rushed to the Yagyu residence immediately, along with Okubo Toshimichi, Shibusawa Eiichi and other cabinet ministers.

In the study room, Yagyu sat at the top, and the others sat on either side of the lower seat, listening to Yagyu's instructions.

"The meeting is scheduled for New Year's Day."

Yagyu looked indifferent, as if he didn't care that this was a big deal.

"I'm worried that it will be quite busy then. The Prime Minister has just come back and should take more rest."

Prince Chaoyan said sincerely.

Yagyu raised his hand and said, "No problem, what kind of trouble can the people in the House of Commons cause?"

Nijou Saiki reminded: "The Prime Minister is unaware that Uesugi and others are relatively close to Goto and others in the House of Commons. I heard from Ichijou that many public figures have been involved, and they will discuss it at the meeting. I’m waiting to put pressure on you.”

Okubo Toshimichi snorted coldly: "These people are really evil. The country is at a critical moment. What are they doing?

Mr. Prime Minister, if you ask me, these people should be suppressed forcefully. "

Yagyu raised his hand and said: "I know what you are worried about. Regardless of how many people they have and how powerful they are, in fact, their demands are different, and we can defeat them individually.

Uesugi and Goto are the easiest to deal with compared to Kono Hironaka and the others. As long as I get tough, they will retreat. However, Kono Hironaka and the others are alone and cannot make any waves. "

Prince Chaoyan responded: "Since the Prime Minister is confident, then we have nothing to worry about."

Nijo Saikyo also changed his words: "As long as the Prime Minister is here, the sky in Kyoto will not be overturned."

(End of this chapter)