When it comes to poverty and weakness in modern Qing dynasty, poor weapons and equipment have always been criticized. In fact, the huge scale of the Qing Dynasty also bought many advanced weapons from the West. But the stubborn thinking of generals is the main reason why these weapons are not reused. For example, Qing's most proud patented weapon, an old gun. In the eyes of Qing generals, powerful weapons were actually replicas of Japanese gun barrels in Wanli period, which were actually used during the period from the Opium War to the Sino-Japanese War of 1894-1895.
Let me introduce this unique weapon of Qing Dynasty to my friends first. An old gun is called an old gun because it has to be memorized. In the process of using this kind of gun, one person aims at the back as a gunman, pulls the trigger and shoots, while the other person ties his horse stance in front and puts it on his back. According to historical records, "the wooden sheath is five feet long and more than one foot away from the sheath tip." Drill a hole and tie a belt on it. One person carries the gun on his shoulder, holding the belt with both hands, and the other person holds the tail of the gun and looks at the hook hair. " Why are you doing this? Is it to train soldiers' basic skills and psychological quality? I guess my friends think too much. The main reason is that the gun is too long and someone needs to make a gun rack, just like a gun rack. How long is this gun?
According to records, "an old gun is seven feet and five inches long." In fact, there is still a certain gap in length because there is no unified standard in the Qing Dynasty and the manufacturing bureau can't do precision machining. For example, the rifle produced by Jiangnan Manufacturing Bureau is 2.45 meters long and weighs 13.2 kg; The rifle of Shanxi Manufacturing Bureau is 2.2 meters, 10 kg or more. Imagine our basketball player Yao Ming, who is only 2.26 meters tall, and you will know how long an old gun has been standing in front of you. Let's look at a picture of an old gun. Do you think it looks like a Japanese vat?
Not only the appearance, but also the structure and principle. The big barrel is really similar to the old gun. During the Wanli War to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea, Daguan appeared in the vision of the Ming army. This kind of cannon tube can be regarded as a light cannon or a large matchlock gun, which basically belongs to these two types. Like an old gun, the big barrel needs many people to operate, even the length is similar. The largest cylinder in Japan is also between 2 meters and 2.5 meters. The weapons of the Wanli period, starting from the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom Movement, were all weapons of the Qing army. However, we should not be too surprised to think that the bird's gizzard, which was also admired by Qi Jiguang, was still the main weapon of green camp army in Qing Dynasty.
The practical concept of the old gun is: the longer the barrel, the farther the range, the more gunpowder and the greater the power. An old gun can shoot 500 meters and a shotgun. This weapon is quite powerful in the face of the peasant rebels who lacked protection in the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom or the early days of the Nian Army. Why is it the early Taiping Army? Because after the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom occupied Jiangsu and Zhejiang, the wealthy Taiping Army also began to buy foreign guns in large quantities.
It is qualified to face the peasant rebels in China with an old gun, but it is not enough to face the British and French powers who enjoy the dividend of the industrial revolution. How much did Qing officials love guns? 1883 rifles were still used in the sino-French war. At that time, this rifle appeared in a large number of telegrams.
In the Sino-Japanese War of 1894- 1895, this rifle was even heavily equipped by the Qing army. You know, after the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom Movement, the Qing army has been heavily equipped with new weapons. There are many advanced goods like Remington in the United States, but few troops can be equipped. It is also from a closed country, but here it is going to blow a wave of Japan that has always been disgusting, and it can become an industrial power.