Chapter 618

Episode 618: The Beginning of the Empire – Today is like yesterday. (6)

Sejong, holding a military rifle in his hand, did not stop praising.

“I’ll say it again, how miraculous! “I especially like the fact that rapid fire is possible!”

As King Sejong pointed out the excellence of rapid fire, the generals next to him – both army and navy – all nodded.

* * *

The biggest complaint of Army and Navy soldiers using long guns was the slow loading speed. Among the soldiers who could not tolerate the slow reloading speed, which was the biggest drawback of full-loaded firearms, some impatient people even said this.

‘I’d rather pick up a boxcar and shoot!’

Several proposals have been made to improve this slow loading speed. However, most of them required excessive precision, resulting in reliability problems or serious safety problems, so they had to be rejected.

In the end, the problem of firing speed could only be solved after the introduction of the automatic long rifle and the first generation bullets.

As a side note, when that ‘hwacha remark’ reached Hyang’s ears, Hyang grinned and muttered.

“You’re shooting with a boxcar, not even a minigun? Wouldn’t that be too much for a Terminator?”

* * *

Sejong, who was admiring the new rifle while looking at it, asked Hyang again.

“I really like the rapid fire performance, but the important thing is the accuracy. So, what is the hit rate?”

Hyang immediately answered King Sejong’s question.

“At least until around 80 shots (approximately 240m), it will not be a problem with the gun but with the shooter.”

Sejong looked a little disappointed in Hyang’s answer.

“Is it too much to get to 100?”

“I think that part is the shooter’s problem.”

“But since not all soldiers have the same skills, wouldn’t it be better to develop and distribute guns with at least a high accuracy rate?”

“Of course, there is a way to increase the accuracy of the rifle that I just showed you. But if that happens, the long rifles that are still long will become even longer.”

“Wouldn’t it be okay if it took a little longer?”

“If you aim at it, you’ll immediately see what the problem is.”

At Hyang’s words, Sejong immediately put the gun to his shoulder and aimed it at the target. And soon after, I realized the problem.

“The weight is shifted forward. “If it increases further, it will be difficult to aim properly.”

“That’s right.”

‘Of course, if technology gets better, it will be possible to reach the level of K31, which is reputed to be as precise as a watch, without increasing the length. But for now this is the best.’

After that, Hyang held back the long explanation that was about to continue and concluded his sentence.

“In the end, we need to encourage soldiers to practice their marksmanship skills.”

“yes. “If you combine various benefits and penalties, it will be very good.”

‘If you add our national trait of being good at archery, it will be complete.’

As Hyang said to himself, the archery skills of the Joseon people were famous. They were not a nomadic people, but each village had its own boss, big or small, and people of all ages enjoyed archery.

This characteristic remained even after the bow was replaced with a gun. It is clear what the result will be if a stick and a carrot are added here.

After King Sejong’s evaluation, military generals lined up to inspect the rifles.

Among those who were carefully examining the rifle, Lee Jing-ok asked Hyang.

“The war is over, but the legacy still remains. Therefore, these rifles will be deployed first in the North. The North is a very dusty place. At first glance, it looks like a precise military rifle. Do you mind?”

Hyang immediately answered Lee Jing-ok’s question.

“We have already fully tested that part and finished improving it.”

‘That’s one of the reasons why we couldn’t reduce the size further. There’s still a long way to go. If only the technology had been sufficient, K31 would have been possible....’

It was a scent that still left some regrets about K31.

Afterwards, various questions were asked, but most of them were similar to those asked by King Sejong and Lee Jing-ok.

– Accuracy, firing rate and reliability.

These three have since become essential requirements for firearms used by the Korean Federal Army and have caused developers to struggle with their heads.

When the firing rate was increased, the accuracy decreased, and when precision was increased to increase the accuracy, reliability problems arose. If you somehow manage to meet these three conditions, the ‘portability’ that was hidden until then will pop out and grab you.

* * *

“The total weight, including the armored machine gun and the dedicated gun, is 100 geun (approximately 60 kg).”

“It’s definitely lighter than a freight car.”

“If we allocate a donkey, I think we can even carry the coal barrels. If that doesn’t work, I think it would be good to allocate a donkey. Two people can carry the gun and the remaining two can carry the cartridges.”

“Then I think it would be a good idea to assign two O’s per unit. “If you deploy and operate it on both wings, it will show the greatest power in both offense and defense.”

The generals, taking advantage of their battlefield experience, quickly thought of an organization and tactics suitable for the Gap-style machine gun.

The sight of that scent whetted my appetite.

‘Tsk! ‘You said everything I wanted to say first!’

* * *

In this way, the demonstration ended successfully. Most of the attendees looked very satisfied when they saw the automatic rifles and armored machine guns that would be newly deployed to the Imperial Army. However, those from Kim Branch and the Ministry of Finance and Economy were looking at the distant mountains with a liberated expression.

‘You’re dying to earn so much money in one go...’

‘His Majesty the Emperor gave up from the beginning, and even His Majesty approved of the possible situation, so there’s nothing we can do about it.’

‘There is talk of additional construction of the assault return ship... I’m dying...’

Regardless of what Kim Jeom and the Ministry of Finance and Economy officials said or not, King Sejong did not hold back on praising Hyang.

“It is truly a great achievement for the emperor to produce such good results in such a short period of time!”

“It’s all thanks to the researchers at the institute and the artisans at Area 51.”

“haha! “It’s great that you are so humble!”

“It’s not about humility, it’s about facts.”

“ha ha ha! Okay! “I will definitely express my gratitude to them too!”

King Sejong, who realized that Hyang was showing humility, promised to reward those involved in the name of the situation.

But the scent only told the truth.

After completing the concept map, Hyang handed over the work to researchers at the research institute and artisans at Area 51.

“I’ve been thinking about this framework, and let’s design and build a prototype accordingly.”

“yes. “I understand.”

“ah! And I hope we meet the conditions we wrote down together.”

At Hyang’s words, the researchers and craftsmen turned pale after checking the conditions listed below.

– For new long guns, the weight should not exceed 7 geun (approximately 4.2 kg).

– The accuracy rate must also be sufficient to hit the target within 80 shots (approximately 240m), regardless of the shooter’s qualifications.

(Shortly)

Researchers and craftsmen who confirmed the conditions required for new long guns and new machine guns looked liberated.

‘Let’s give up. It’s easier to give up. It’s easy to think of us as just His Majesty’s mountain branches.’

‘If we just pass this task, we will get something, so let’s be satisfied with that.’

* * *

King Sejong, who promised rewards to researchers and craftsmen, asked Hyang in a low voice.

“May I ask the emperor something?”

“Please ask.”

“It is none other than a military rifle. Wouldn’t it be okay to load 10 or 15 bullets at a time? “Wouldn’t you be able to shoot much longer then?”

“Then it takes longer to reload.”

“Then wouldn’t it be possible to make a separate cartridge and detach it like the cartridge attached to a freight car? ah! As I was thinking about it again, how about applying the structure of the Gap-type machine gun to a double-type rifle? If you combine the frame and cartridge of a Gap-type machine gun with a double-barreled long gun, its performance will be even better...”

Sejong, who had been talking up to that point, saw Hyang’s strange expression and narrowed his eyes and asked Hyang.

“Why are you doing that?”

“...I’ll put it on the challenge list.”

‘I feel this every time, but I’m a cheat and this guy is outside the standard!’

Meanwhile, Sejong was still looking at the scent with narrowed eyes.

‘You don’t look enlightened by my words! This bastard... I knew it! But why? Hmm... this bastard! ‘I was planning to make an excuse and get out later!’