It has been two months since Fang Nan handed over the mission of studying rockets to the Firearms Institute. After the efforts of five people from the Rockets Project Team of the Firearms Institute, a practical rocket has been developed, with a maximum range of 150 meters, and the explosion power is equivalent to at least five grenades exploding together.

Such a rocket is somewhat practical. Fang Nan did not go to Foshan to watch the rocket test firing in person, but directly asked the Ministry of War to send someone to see if this rocket can be used in land or naval warfare.

Fang Nan had commanded the battle when the People's Army just raised the flag. Since the People's Army occupied Huizhou Prefecture, Fang Nan had basically never intervened in combat command. The task of commanding the People's Army to Wang Shengrong, He Yan and others was mainly handed over to Wang Shengrong, He Yan and others.

Fang Nan just had this idea for newly developed weapons like rockets, and then allocated funds to order the Firearms Research Institute to study them. After the rockets were developed, we will see whether the army and the navy need equipment. If we think that the rockets can be used, the arsenal will start to manufacture rockets and send them to the army in batches.

If Fang Nan was not sure whether the rocket was useful for the army and naval combat, he ordered the arsenal to be built, which would be a waste.

Fang Nan's order reached the Ministry of War. Minister Hu Zhuang immediately drew two people from the army and the navy and ordered the four people to go to the Foshan Firearms Research Institute to inspect the rockets.

The army Shi Shan, Xiao Hui, the navy Jiang Deshui, and Zhang Fa, four officers took a specially made carriage at Guangzhou City Station and headed to Foshan by rail. In less than half an hour, the carriage ran forty miles and came to Foshan.

Four officers came to the Firearms Research Institute and met with the director Ye Liangchou. After learning about the purpose of the four officers, Ye Liangchou brought the four officers to the house where the Rocket Project Team was located. Duan Kun, the patriarch of the Rocket Project Team, personally introduced the rocket to the four officers.

When we learned that rockets are firearms that can be fired only with a simple launcher, with a maximum range of 150 meters and can explode. The power of the explosion is equivalent to at least five grenades and explode together. The four officers were interested in this kind of firearm called "rockets".

Two army officers, Shi Shan and Xiao Hui, compared rockets with various firearms used by the army now. The range of rockets is not as good as muskets and cannons, but the most critical point is that they can explode with rockets and cause more damage to the enemy.

It is also a firearm that can explode, and it is best to compare rockets with grenades.

Currently, there are two ways to use grenades in the People's Army. One is to throw them by hand in melee combat. Grenadiers can generally throw them dozens of meters away; the other is to shoot grenades out from the siege car at a medium and close range, with the maximum distance up to fifty meters.

In melee combat, it also said that grenades ejected from the siege car to attack the enemies on the city wall. Within this range, enemy archers and musketeers can launch a counterattack against the People's Army soldiers on the siege car.

If the siege car is 140 meters away from the city wall and uses rockets to attack the enemy on the city wall, the enemy's bow and arrow cannot reach the range, and the musket can reach the range but no more power.

Thinking of this, Shi Shan and Xiao Hui both felt that the Army could equip a batch of rockets, mainly for siege, and the rockets were not very effective at other times.

Jiang Deshui and Zhang Fa were also wondering what the use of rockets in naval battles. The two warships were more than 100 meters apart, and the rockets could exert their power at this time.

Compared with muskets and artillery, rockets have two advantages. One is that rockets are easy to use. There is only a simple launch frame. The rockets are directly launched and there is no need to continue to load ammunition. The most important thing is that rockets can explode. As long as the rockets are shot onto the enemy warship, they can kill and injure the enemies on the warship as soon as they explode.

The navy does lack firearms that can explode. The grenade ejection device used on siege cars is also being added to warships recently. However, the distance of using the ejection device to fire grenades is too close. The shotguns and muskets fired by enemy artillery can cause huge damage to their side. The range of rockets is up to 150 meters, which is much better than grenades.

The four officers who came to the Firearms Research Institute all made rockets artificially a good firearm. Next, we have to look at the actual combat. There are a total of three rockets in stock on the rocket project team and two are transported to the experimental site.

A rocket was placed on a simple launcher and ignited it. The rocket shot up. About two seconds later, the rocket landed and exploded four meters away from the target. Looking at it more than one hundred meters, the rocket explosion was quite powerful.

Then the second rocket was fired, this time it was better, more than three meters away from the target.

Both rocket launches were quite successful. As for the accuracy of the rocket, it barely meets the needs of the army and the navy. The army mainly uses rockets to attack the enemies on the city wall. With such a large target, no matter how poor the rocket is, it can fly to the city wall and explode and kill the enemy. This is enough.

The navy can barely do it. It may not be accurate to hit small boats with rockets, but it is enough to hit a large ship with hundreds of people in the enemy.

After determining the cost of the rocket, the four officers said goodbye and took a carriage back to Guangzhou City. The carriage was still stable on the railway tracks. The officers took out paper and pen to write down the key points they saw and heard today, and returned to Guangzhou City to write a detailed report and handed over it.

The four officers had the highest rank of major, and were able to serve as battalion commanders or deputy regiment commanders in the army. They were not qualified to decide to purchase rocket equipment for the troops. The four of them wrote a report and handed it over to the army commander Hu Zhuang and Navy commander Zhou Yi.

If it feels appropriate, I will first purchase a batch of equipment on a small scale for the Army and Navy. The Army and Navy to test and use it. If the rockets are good, then I can purchase rockets in large quantities for the Army and Navy.

Fang Nan doesn't know what the Army and Navy think about rockets, and will not care about it for the time being. Even if the Army and Navy purchase rockets on a small scale, things do not need to go through Fang Nan. Only when the Army and Navy need to purchase rockets on a large scale will Fang Nan need to review and approval.

On the other hand, the People's Army's armistice negotiations with the Ming court were coming to an end. The People's Army originally planned to ask Ming for five million taels of silver and 30,000 craftsmen as dowry based on the Ming court's princess marrying the Grand Governor. The two sides bargained for more than two months, and it was basically determined that the Ming court needed to take out supplies worth three million taels of silver and 3,000 craftsmen as dowry.

Five million taels of silver were reduced to three million taels, but the 30,000 craftsmen reduced to one tenth. Obviously, in the eyes of the Ming court, craftsmen were more important than silver. They would rather give more silver than give more craftsmen to the People's Army.
Chapter completed!