Chapter 431: , Armored trains and recoilless guns

In response to the war with the Irish, just before the start of the war, the British Parliament temporarily recalled the Governor-General of the Duke of Norfolk and asked him about the current situation in Ireland.
"Gentlemen, first of all, please dispel the delusion of completely solving the Irish problem in a few months. Unless you are willing to give me more than 500,000 troops! Otherwise, don't think about solving the Irish problem in a few months!" Those members of the lower house, the Duke of Norfolk replied bluntly.
"Mr. Governor, are Irish rebels so strong now?" a member of Parliament asked.
"Now their so-called Irish Independence Army has at least more than 100,000 people, and the level of equipment is not inferior to our army, and the level of training is also quite high. With our current strength in Ireland, don't talk about going out to pacify the rebels, but guard The existing areas are very difficult. If I can't give me some reinforcements immediately, I may have to abandon some minor strongholds to ensure the safety of several important cities." The Duke of Norfolk replied.
"Your Excellency, I want to know why, under your management, the power of the Irish rebels has expanded to such a dangerous level?" a Whig guy asked. The accusation contained in this question is very obvious.
"I am bound by the armistice agreement that your Whigs have been upholding." Duke Norfolk shot back angrily. "In the past few years, I have given warnings more than once. In the ceasefire agreement. When it was just completed, I warned you that the ceasefire will give the Irish rebels a valuable rest and make them stronger. From then on, I will remind you almost every two months if the French against the Irish cannot be prevented. Smuggling, the Irish rebels will become stronger and stronger. But what about you? You do not dare to seriously block the way for the Irish to obtain weapons for a little order and money. Everyone knows that the French go to Ireland every year. What are the agricultural products that are exported! The rifle called the bird repellent, the directional mine called the swarm boar repellent, and all kinds of other messy things, all fell to the Irish rebels under your connivance. On hand.
The current situation in Ireland is out of control. As the Governor of Ireland, I am of course willing to bear certain responsibilities, but the main responsibility is not with me, all with you! I have already said that Ireland is already an active volcano about to erupt, but you are not allowed to even let me pour a glass of water in the crater. I ask you to relax your looting of Ireland, and when necessary, you should be gentle, but what about you? You are in Ireland, you will receive taxes in the next century! You my hands and feet. Do you think that by putting me on the crater, relying on my weight, you can suppress the lava below? I have also asked to resign more than once, but who of you is willing to pick up my position?
Now, you still have the face to ask me how the Irish rebels developed to this point. Isn't this all your credit? You still have the face to ask me what's wrong! "
The Duke of Norfolk seized the opportunity and scolded the entire government and parliament, but in the final analysis, it can basically be reduced to the following points:
First, the situation in Ireland is very bad, very bad. It is no longer necessary to discuss how to eliminate the rebels, but to consider how to not be eliminated by the rebels. To maintain the situation, you have to give me money, you have to give me people, if there is nothing, you just wait for Ireland to collapse!
Second, the corruption of Ireland’s situation is entirely your responsibility. If it were not for me, Ireland would have been over. I only have credit, the pot is yours. If you don't take this pot, I won't do it! Please be smart!
Third, the baby has been suffering all these years and there is nowhere to say. Baby is going to vent now, listen carefully!
After all, after a drooling consultation, the Duke of Norfolk got part of what he wanted.
Of course, only part. It is certainly impossible for Congress to give him half a million troops, because it will cost too much money. At this time, Britain is facing the threat of the French shipbuilding race. Where can so much money be spent on this?
So the Duke of Norfolk got only one tenth of fifty thousand people. However, most of them are relatively elite troops. And Congress also lowered its goal in Ireland to maintain the situation, rather than eliminate the rebels.
In addition, Congress passed the decision to block the Irish coast and destroy the Irish-controlled ports. Although this is unlikely to completely block the Irish from receiving the support of the French, it can also reduce the efficiency of the French in supporting the Irish.
In fact, when the British and Irish rebels reached a temporary armistice a few years ago, the Duke of Norfolk knew that the situation in Ireland would be difficult to say in the future. Since then, he has been preparing for the situation at this moment.
The Duke of Norfolk mainly made these efforts. First of all, he has been trying hard to lose the position of Governor of Ireland to anyone else, however, this effort did not succeed. Because other people are not fools, who can't see that Ireland is not easy to do? Therefore, this effort by the Duke of Norfolk shamefully failed.
So the Duke of Norfolk could only find a way to strengthen the defense.
The emergence of the railway at this time provided a lot of help to the Duke of Norfolk. With the support of the Duke of Norfolk, railways were established between several important cities in Ireland. One of the most important railways is the railway from Dublin on the east coast to Galway on the west coast. This railway divided the whole of Ireland into two halves. The strategic position is very important.
Relying on this railway, the British can quickly mobilize their troops, while the movement of the Irish Independence Army will be subject to various restrictions on this railway. Of course, in order to protect this railway, the Duke of Norfolk also tried his best.
Athlone, located in the center of this railway, became the most important military stronghold in Ireland. After the Duke of Norfolk carefully studied the French defense at Verdun, he used similar methods to build this place into the strongest stronghold. More than 6,000 regular British troops were stationed here.
At the same time, along the railway, there is a tightly guarded small stronghold at every interval. A little farther away, there is a support point that can garrison a regiment. Relying on the railway, they can quickly support each other.
In addition, the Duke of Norfolk also prepared four special armored trains for this railway. These armored trains are battleships running on the railway line. As long as more troops can be brought in quickly in Britain, the Duke of Norfolk feels that he can still hold on for a while. Of course, the premise is that the French will not come up with any bad tricks again.
In addition to this railway, railways have been built between Dublin and some of its surrounding strongholds to enhance the rapid response capabilities of the British army. Therefore, the ground fighting in Ireland since then has basically been carried out around the railway.
The Irish Independence Army dared to issue an ultimatum to the British at this time, and naturally they also had a certain grasp of the railway lines that attacked the British. The Irish army has always had a weakness, that is, the lack of heavy firepower. As a result, he was weak in tackling tough issues.
Although the Irish introduced explosive packs, blasting canisters, and even flying thunder cannons and grenadiers from the French, these things are actually not easy to use when attacking tough problems. Explosive packs and blasting canisters have to be close to the face before they can be used, and to rush up, very large sacrifices are often made.
As for the flying thunder gun, the range is quite limited, the accuracy is also very problematic, and the preparation time is too long, especially after the French developed electric lights, the British imported a lot of high-power searchlights from France, which made the Irish use At night, it also becomes very difficult to arrange flying thunder cannons at close range.
As for the bullet-throwing barrel, the power is too small, and basically it has no penetration, it is almost useless against bunker or something. Conventional artillery is too heavy and its mobility is a problem. It is also inconvenient to use in anti-mopping operations that require frequent movement. Coupled with the high price, the French are not very affordable. So until the war, there were very few serious cannons in the hands of the Independence Army.
But this does not mean that the Independence Army has no artillery. The French always like to experiment with some new concept weapons for the Irish. This time is no exception. Not long ago, a brand new "infantry artillery" was delivered to the Irish.
This is a metal bobbin with a relatively slender tripod, which looks very simple in structure. The French gave it a name, called "Gustav Infantry Cannon".
This is how the military adviser Mr. Noadière de Villefort introduced this "cannon" to the soldiers of the Independence Army:
"The'Gustav Infantry Cannon' is the world's first recoilless cannon, and it is also the world's first infantry cannon in the true sense, because a few infantrymen can carry it and run around. It can be mounted on a tripod. It can shoot up to ensure shooting accuracy, but it can even be carried directly on the shoulder to launch in an emergency.
The 84mm shells it fired can be very effective against various forts. Of course, this thing has a relatively short range, and the direct range is only about 400 meters. So when you use it, you are already within the range of the enemy's rifle. "
"400 meters, even if you put an elephant there, the British would not be able to hit it." A soldier said disapprovingly.
"This gun has no recoil? How is this possible? Doesn't it comply with Newton's third law of motion?" the company commander Bob asked.
"It's not that there is no recoil at all, it's just relatively small." Noadière replied, "This type of gun has a nozzle at the back. When the cannon is fired, part of the gunpowder gas will be ejected from the back, resulting in an opposite. The recoil force cancels out the main recoil when the shell is fired, so there is no recoil. Of course, this also means that when the gun is fired, there can be no people behind, otherwise, the people behind will become roast goose. In addition, this gun cannot be fired in an enclosed space. When it is fired, there should be no walls or steep slopes behind it, otherwise the bounced flame can turn the gunner into a roast goose.
Compared with the authentic Gustaf recoilless gun of later generations, the performance of the legal recoilless gun of this era is much worse. The later Gustaf recoilless rifle used a titanium alloy barrel and carbon fiber winding technology, making the gun's empty weight only 6.6 kg.
But in this era, there are no such things, so the barrel of the French "Gustav" is a real steel pipe, and because the quality of steel can't be compared with later generations, it has to be a little thicker. Then, the difference between the processing technology of the tail nozzle and the later generations is also very obvious, so the tail nozzle is also a lot heavier. Finally, when it is taken down, the body of the whole gun weighs more than 30 kilograms. So although in theory this cannon can be fired on the shoulder, if you are not a strong man, you really can't carry it. Whenever possible, it is best to use it with a tripod.
Therefore, this gun needs a lot of personnel, two people who take turns carrying the barrel, one who carries the tripod, and three people who carry the cannonball, plus four people who are responsible for protection, exactly one squad. It can be regarded as a redefinition of class weapons~EbookFREE.me~ However, in the eyes of people of this era, this is not a shortcoming. Such a light cannon, even if it can only shoot 400 meters directly, it is a dream. The same weapon. As for people who have one gun for one squad, isn't that the norm?
The real headache for the Irish is that the shells of this cannon are too expensive. Although considering that the Irish have no money, and considering the strategic significance of supporting the liberation of the Irish people, when the Irish Independence Army ordered weapons from the French, the price it could get was even higher than when the French army bought these items themselves. The price you can get is lower. However, the price of such shells with trigger fuzes is still too expensive. So when President Russell learned about the price of this cannon shell, he still sighed like this:
"This shell, really, is really more expensive than a carriage with four horses attached. Just think about it, one shot, and the carriage will fly with both of them. If it doesn’t hit it, it’s really distressing. ."
Russell sighed like this, let alone the combat troops. They even stipulated that if during combat, the gunner is demerited if he fails to hit the target. It is said that some commanders even sighed after learning the price of this item: "This thing is so expensive. When you can use explosive packs to explode the canister, try to use explosive packs and blasting canisters."