Chapter 197: New Rifles, New Cannons

Napoleon believed that with the establishment of these two naval fleets, France would successfully break through the British naval blockade. Once the French Navy could defeat the British Navy, French forces could land on British soil. By relying on the powerful French army, they could easily defeat the weak British army. After that, the British would no longer be his opponents and would no longer be able to hinder him.

For a long time, the Empire had been severely threatened by Britain. Therefore, the Imperial Navy had to concentrate almost all its strength in the Atlantic region to guard against the British Navy.

France has a long coastline, with almost half of it apart from the Atlantic, and there is the Pacific Ocean. Therefore, naval construction will also become a focus of France in the future, and Napoleon does not allow his coastline to be hit at will by British troops.

The reform of the military system is to enable the fighting strength of the Imperial Land and Sea forces to be better exerted and to make it easier for the Empire to win in future wars. After all, the Empire's external environment is not good at present.

Strong European powers such as Britain and Austria are all staring at France. Once they have recovered from their injuries, they will inevitably come back.

Therefore, in addition to speeding up development, the Empire must also have a strong military force. Only in this way can the interests of the Empire be protected from damage.

After the military conference, the reform of the army and navy will be taken over by the General Staff. The new Chief of the General Staff, Marmont, will take practical responsibility.

Napoleon will also move from military affairs to other aspects. At this moment, he has already been crowned emperor and is the de facto ruler of the country.

All major national matters must be decided by him. He cannot put all his energy into military construction for a long time.

The new Minister of Finance of France is Adrian. He is a very excellent practical person and knows a lot about economics. I believe that under his leadership, the French economy will definitely take off.

...

July 20, 1804, the time has come to summer, and the weather has gradually become hot. But hotter than the weather is the heart of the people.

Although Napoleon has made great efforts in economic reform over the past few months, he has not neglected military reform. In fact, his expectations for military reform are even higher than for economic reform because he knows that Europe is a jungle where the strong prey on the weak. Only by arming himself and protecting the homeland from invasion is fundamental; everything else is illusory.

Napoleon's military background gave him a deeper understanding of this. During his years in the military, he had witnessed countless weak countries being bullied by stronger ones. He absolutely would not allow France to fall into such a situation.

Therefore, Napoleon, on the one hand, formed army corps and expanded the military. On the other hand, he also developed a keen interest in the new weapons designed by Roland.

Roland's Model 01 rifle had already demonstrated its power in the Italian War. Roland subsequently made improvements to the Model 01 rifle.

Originally, Roland intended to replace black powder with smokeless powder. However, French gunpowder technology, although excellent by contemporary standards, was far from the level of smokeless powder! Since he couldn't make progress in gunpowder, Roland had to focus all his attention on bullets.

Currently, most rifles used iron bullets, and due to crude steel smelting techniques, the bullets produced were of poor quality. With pitted surfaces, these bullets, once ignited, would be greatly affected in trajectory due to their rough surface, causing them to deviate. The result was a skewed flight path and reduced firing range.

So, Roland planned to use copper bullets to replace iron ones. Firstly, copper is softer than iron, making it more malleable and easier to polish, thus reducing risks. The only downside is that it's heavier than iron, but this isn't a significant disadvantage, as bullets are small, and even if they are slightly heavier due to the material change, it's negligible.

This redesigned bullet-equipped rifle, since it was in 1804, Roland decided to name it the Model 04 rifle. Compared to the Model 01 rifle, this rifle had no significant changes in range and rate of fire, only an increase in attack power due to the bullet change.

For Roland, the real highlight was the cannons he had recently been studying. It's not entirely accurate to say he was researching them, as Roland merely provided a broad direction. The real main force came from the artillery designers Roland had recruited from all over France, all of whom were famous contemporary French military craftsmen. It took a great deal of effort for Roland to persuade Napoleon to gather them together.

And these artillery experts proved to be excellent indeed. Roland merely provided a broad direction, and they manufactured cannons according to Roland's conjecture. Looking at the samples of cannons before him, Roland was very satisfied. This cannon was manufactured by Roland's imitation of the historical Cailleville cannon. The Cailleville cannon was also the world's first breech-loading cannon.

In 1846, Italian Major Carlo Caviglia invented a revolutionary type of cannon, the breech-loading rifled cannon with two spiral grooves engraved inside the barrel, allowing for the use of cylindrical shells loaded from the breech. This innovation marked a transformative leap in artillery technology. Compared to muzzle-loading cannons, breech-loading cannons had improved firing rates. They also featured enhanced breech mechanisms and tight-fitting seals, addressing issues of gas leakage caused by the smaller diameter of the projectile compared to the bore diameter of the cannon. The introduction of spiral grooves inside the barrel, combined with firing pointed cylindrical shells, stabilized the trajectory of the projectiles, thereby increasing accuracy and extending the range. These cannons could be loaded with shells from the rear, making it convenient and safe to load them in gun emplacements, fortifications, and aboard naval vessels.

Due to its numerous advantages, breech-loading cannons became the focus of development efforts by various countries since their inception. With 42 years between 1846 and 1804, nearly half a century had passed. Naturally, contemporary technology did not meet the standards of 1846.

Even engraving rifling inside the barrel was a significant challenge. Craftsmen went through great effort and wasted nearly a thousand gun barrels before mastering the technique of engraving rifling inside the barrel. Additionally, the shells for breech-loading cannons were not standardized, which could potentially cause bursting of the barrel when fired.

In summary, the new-style cannons had various issues. However, compared to their power, these issues could be temporarily overlooked. The rifling inside the barrel significantly improved the stability of the projectile upon exit, thereby greatly extending the projectile's flight trajectory. In trials, the range of the new-style cannons reached up to 1 kilometer, while the farthest range of the 28-pound heavy howitzers currently equipped by France was only 550 meters. The range of the new-style cannons was twice as long, with almost identical power.

Another advantage of the new-style cannons compared to old-style cannons was that they did not require loading gunpowder into the barrel. Because the shells for breech-loading cannons came pre-loaded with gunpowder, this saved a lot of time. This time-saving feature was reflected in the firing rate of the cannons. In experiments, a skilled gunner could fire the cannons 1 to 2 times in a minute, a tenfold increase in firing rate compared to old-style cannons.

One might think that firing once a minute is slow, but considering that current artillery technology is still immature, the advantages of these cannons are evident. Imagine being on the battlefield where you can fire one shot while others can fire ten. Additionally, the new-style cannons eliminated many unnecessary components, significantly reducing their weight. Their weight was equivalent to that of a 15-pound light howitzer, while possessing the firepower of a 28-pound heavy howitzer and a longer range. This meant that one of these cannons could revolutionize the battlefield, altering tactics across the entire theater of war.