A thousand-year-old family that began with the Battle of Makino

Chapter 1022: The telescope of the Xishan Camp, the thunder shakes the firearms

The capital of Daxia, the Xiaoxishan camp in the western suburbs of Kaifeng Prefecture.

Three thousand guards from the Palace Front Division, armed with sharp weapons, surrounded the entire Xiaoxishan military camp and did not allow anyone to approach.

Anyone with a discerning eye could tell that an important person had come here, so they would avoid the place from afar.

In the military camp, imperial guards could be seen coming and going everywhere. On the arrow towers, archers on high alert kept patrolling with hawk-like eyes, and not even a fly could fly in.

A shed had been erected on the original military camp's parade ground. Inside, there were purple and red lights. Surrounding the middle-aged man in a bright yellow dragon robe was Bai Xi, who had moved here from the research institute.

He sat back on the wide throne, with several plates of fruits on the table.

Sitting in a slightly lower seat on the left was Crown Prince Bai Mu, who was talking to his younger brother, Prince of Liang Bai Sheng, who was sitting next to him.

One or two rows further down were Luo Minghan, Li Cunxiao and other senior officials who had just followed him to the research institute.

During this leisure time, the ministers were whispering to each other and discussing the matter.

Behind the wooden chairs where they were sitting were the imperial guards with expressionless faces, summer swords slung across their shoulders, and dressed in light yellow brocade robes.

Most of these imperial guards were members of the royal family and belonged to the Imperial Camp of the Palace Front Department. They were the emperor’s personal guards and never left his side.

"Your Majesty, everything is ready."

Bai Xi, who was a little shaky, heard the voice and looked up. It was Diao Wengao, who was dressed in coarse linen clothes.

He nodded, stood up and walked to the front of the stage. Crown Prince Bai Mu and Prince of Liang Bai Sheng followed behind and looked out.

After getting the consent, Diao Wengao gave a few instructions to his disciple Gao Yuan. Then he walked quickly to Bai Xi with a strong and vigorous look, ready to explain his invention to the emperor at any time.

After receiving the teacher's instructions, Gao Yuan immediately ran to a small platform not far away, picked up the two triangular flags on the table, and waved them crosswise at the experimental position hundreds of steps away.

During this interval, Bai Xi said to the ministers who had also come to the stage: "The advantage of conquering Jiangnan lies in this, please take a closer look."

He casually picked up an exquisite copper 'telescope' inlaid with rubies and sapphires, which was respectfully handed to him by the eunuch Yan Xu behind him, and skillfully stretched it out, aiming it at the experimental position in the distance, ready to observe.

The ministers behind him also followed suit, taking the copper telescopes on the plate held by the eunuch behind them and looking into the distance.

In Daxia, telescopes have become very common in the military, and special workshops have been built to produce them.

Almost all middle-level officers at the commander level are equipped with one, which they use to observe the enemy situation from a distance.

It is precisely because of such powerful weapons that the Xia army can always anticipate the enemy and greatly increase its winning rate.

Moreover, this item was also carried by Daxia's ocean-going caravans and sold across the oceans along the Maritime Silk Road, earning Daxia a large amount of gold and silver in India, Ala, Kunlun and other countries.

In everyone's telescope, nine jet-black iron cylinders were placed on a wooden stand, like large muskets.

After receiving Gao Yuan's signal, the researchers around them, under the command of a "talented" team leader, began to get busy.

I saw a person stuffing a cloth bag into the iron cylinder, and then two people worked in a group, carrying a round ball and slowly stuffing it into the mouth of the cylinder.

Another person inserted a strip of cloth into a gap at the back of the iron cylinder and checked it several times.

After confirming there were no problems, everyone dispersed, squatted behind cover a few steps away from the iron cylinder, and covered their ears.

Only a servant with earplugs in his ears and holding a torch was left standing there.

Gao Yuan sent another flag signal.

The nine selected servants were a little nervous after seeing the flag signal, but they still brought the torches closer to the cloth.

After being lit, nine iron cylinders flew back along the same path.

After they ran far away, after a while, the iron barrel made a thunderous sound, followed by thick smoke and fire, and the recoil stirred up layers of dust.

Then, nine large round pits appeared in the direction of the hills that the nine iron cylinders were facing, stirring up mud. Seeing all this, the ministers put down their binoculars and looked at each other in bewilderment, unable to calm down for a long time.

Especially Li Cunxiao, he knew how much impact this weapon would have on the enemy if it was brought to the battlefield.

What a strong city! It’s just one shot.

"How is it?" Bai Xi put down his goggles, turned around with a smile on his face and looked at the ministers.

"This, this, this, I really don't know how to put it. May I ask your Majesty, what is this sharp weapon called?"

Bai Xi looked at Diao Wengao and motioned for him to explain.

"May I tell you, Grand Commander, that this thing makes a sound like thunder and looks like a firecracker, so it is called 'cannon'."

He then showed everyone a small firearm, which was a smaller version of the "cannon".

"This thing evolved from the 'fire lance'. I named it 'gun', and 'cannon' is also derived from it by enlarging and increasing its size."

"A musket can hit a target dozens of steps away, and a cannon can hit a target hundreds of steps away."

The ministers listened to Diao Wengao's explanation and watched the demonstration of the musket, whispering to each other and nodding repeatedly.

Another half an hour passed, and everyone who had watched all the firearms demonstrations returned to the viewing shed.

"What do you think? Do you think these two items can help us conquer Jiangnan?"

Li Cunxiao had long been conquered by muskets and cannons. He could imagine the scene of hundreds of cannons displayed outside a fortified city, firing at the same time.

He blushed as he bowed to Bai Xi and said, "I congratulate Your Majesty. With these two items, the world can be pacified. It is truly God's help to Daxia."

The other ministers also reacted and knelt down.

"Okay, there's no need for such formalities, everyone stand up." Bai Xi looked at the group of people helplessly, not reserved at all.

Then he looked at a middle-aged military officer in the crowd: "Li Bing."

Li Bing, the admiral of the navy, stepped forward and saluted, saying, "I am here."

"What do you think if we put this cannon on a warship?"

The civil and military officials who could come before Bai Xi were not stupid people. They understood immediately and said excitedly:

"If we can place it on a warship, with thousands of cannons firing at the same time, there will be no way for the Great Xia navy to stop us, whether in rivers, lakes, or seas."

"In the future, our Great Xia will not only dominate the land, but also the rivers and seas."

"I assert that it is the most suitable for our navy. Please grant your Majesty's approval. If there are dozens of warships equipped with this thing, the Southern Tang navy will not be worth mentioning. I will definitely present the Tang Lord to your majesty."

"Your Majesty." Seeing that the Navy wanted to take this weapon for himself, the Infantry Commander Bai Ming could no longer sit still and stepped out and said:

"Cannons can not only be used in naval battles, as the Grand Commander said, they are better than the previous Thunderbolt Chariots in land assaults. And although the range of fire guns is not as good as that of bows and crossbows, they are also quite effective in defending cities."

"I can assert that once these two items are introduced, the offensive and defensive warfare of the world will be completely changed, no less than when iron weapons first came out. It will be an epoch-making reform."

"Therefore, I implore Your Majesty to transfer it to the Infantry Department."

"With these two items, I can issue a military order. We will surely win the battle in the northwest. The three kingdoms in the south will no longer be able to stop your majesty."

"Your Majesty, the same is true for our Ma Junsi."

Although he did not expect these two items to have any revolutionary effect on the cavalry, the new cavalry commander Tong Ce, with the attitude of trying his best, was unwilling to fall behind.

(End of this chapter)