Smile, Wilhelm!

"This is... this is a Dreyse rifle..."

The day after Bismarck departed Berlin for Saint Petersburg, at the Royal Equestrian Grounds in Potsdam on the outskirts of Berlin, Smith was held in the arms of his adoptive father, Friedrich. He stared at a long rifle displayed in an exquisite gun case, silently marveling to himself.

Even as a time traveler, Smith couldn't have known that just a few days earlier, Bismarck had seen an identical rifle at General Roon's residence. Meanwhile, General Roon, standing opposite Smith, had no idea that the Dreyse rifle, which he regarded as a marvel of cutting-edge technology, appeared to Smith as nothing more than an ancient relic unearthed from the past.

"This is the latest Dreyse Model 1862 rifle!"

Roon's eyes sparkled as he spoke, as if introducing a masterpiece of art. He lifted the rifle from the case and held it upright against his chest like a soldier, ensuring everyone present could clearly see its details.

Roon understood that this was a far more formal and significant demonstration than it might appear. As with many pivotal moments in 19th-century history, critical decisions were often made not in palaces or government meeting rooms but in the social gatherings of the elite. Roon, despite his austere, Puritan-like lifestyle, was keenly aware of this dynamic. That's why he had chosen this occasion to showcase the rifle to his superior.

As we know, the Prussian parliament of the time was little more than a ceremonial entity. It neither elected the head of government nor made any real decisions on state affairs. Its deliberations and resolutions were merely advisory opinions for the king. Were it not for the constitutional power granted in 1848 to approve budgets, the parliament's disappearance would have had little impact on the daily operations of the Prussian government.

In this context, General Roon, as Minister of War, effectively answered to only one superior: King Wilhelm I of Prussia. No one but the king could remove him from his position, nor could anyone else truly obstruct his plans.

Conversely, if Roon wished to push forward an initiative, he would need the cooperation of his colleagues. Yet, the ultimate key lay in securing the king's support. This was why Roon had seized the opportunity of this royal family equestrian gathering to present himself before Wilhelm I:

He sought the king's approval to re-equip the Prussian army with the latest Dreyse rifles!

"Ah, let me have a look!"

King Wilhelm I of Prussia, his bearded face beaming, tucked his riding crop into his belt. A lifelong cavalryman, he had once confided to his adjutant as regent, "If I could, I'd move my office from the desk to the saddle."

This was, of course, an exaggeration. Although Prussia lacked the saying, "You can conquer the empire on horseback, but you cannot rule it from horseback," Wilhelm I understood the principle. Still, it didn't stop him from treating every horseback ride as a rare reprieve from the burdens of state. Especially amidst his increasingly strained relations with parliament, these equestrian outings were moments of genuine joy.

Astute observers noted that after such rides, when the king was in high spirits, even matters that might usually displease him were more likely to be resolved favorably.

Roon was one such astute observer, which was why he had chosen this moment to approach the king.

Wilhelm I, clearly in a good mood, took the "latest Dreyse Model 1862 rifle" from Roon's hands, fiddled with it briefly, and then tilted his head toward Roon.

"Well, my dear minister, it doesn't seem that different from the original needle-gun, does it?"

Roon quickly glanced at the king's face and saw that his smile remained unchanged. This gave Roon confidence, and he responded with even greater deference:

"I assure you, Your Majesty, this rifle is every bit as revolutionary as the needle-gun!"

Hearing this, Smith couldn't help but be intrigued. He knew that the "needle-gun" Roon mentioned referred to the needle-fire rifle developed by Nikolaus von Dreyse.

To the general public, with only a superficial knowledge of military history, the Mauser 1898 series of rifles and carbines used by the German army in both World Wars were iconic. Those with a deeper understanding could recount the legendary saga of the 1888 Commission Rifle and its connections to Mauser.

But those who could discuss the Dreyse needle-gun in detail were rare indeed—true military enthusiasts.

Before his journey to this world, Smith had been, at best, a novice with a passing interest in military affairs. It was only thanks to the materials left by "Smiling Willi" that he could now claim a modest understanding of the subject. This newfound knowledge made him all the more aware of the revolutionary nature of the Dreyse needle-gun mentioned by Roon and his adoptive grandfather, Wilhelm I.

To put it mildly, many of the rifle's features were so advanced that even in the 21st century, they seemed almost futuristic.

For example, what year would you expect an army to adopt a breech-loading, rifled firearm that used caseless ammunition and fired sub-caliber saboted rounds?

The correct answer: 1841.

That's right, 1841!

According to Smith's original timeline, this was the 21st year of the Daoguang Emperor's reign in Qing China. It was the year the Qing dynasty was embroiled in the doomed First Opium War with Britain. In the same year, Britain had just begun exporting steam engines and other machinery in bulk, accelerating the Industrial Revolution across Europe and America. It was also the birth year of future luminaries like Georges Clemenceau, the "Tiger of France," and Ito Hirobumi, an architect of Japan's Meiji Restoration. In short, the world was still firmly in a pre-modern era.

Yet, in this very year of 1841, the Dreyse needle-gun, with its seemingly futuristic features, was officially adopted by the Prussian army—five years after its invention in 1836!

This, in the realm of rifles, represents a groundbreaking concept.

In the same year that the British forces were fighting the Qing Dynasty, the vast majority of their soldiers were still equipped with muzzle-loading smoothbore flintlock muskets. In terms of both design and performance, these weapons were scarcely different from those wielded by their ancestors decades earlier to suppress the independence of the thirteen North American colonies. A handful of sailors carried limited numbers of smoothbore percussion-cap muskets, but these were no more game-changing than the Baker rifles used by the Green Jackets. Meanwhile, in 1836, when Dreyse had already introduced the prototype of his needle gun, British gunsmith William Greener had only just developed a special bullet for muzzle-loading rifles. As for the much-discussed "Minié ball," it wasn't perfected by Frenchman Claude-Étienne Minié until 1849—eight years after the Prussian army adopted the Dreyse needle rifle. Even then, mass adoption of the Minié ball for muzzle-loading rifles didn't occur until the mid-1850s.

In other words, during the era when the Dreyse needle rifle was being adopted by the Prussian army, the dominant infantry weapon worldwide remained the muzzle-loading smoothbore musket. Against this backdrop, the Dreyse needle rifle, a breech-loading, cartridge-firing, rifled weapon, stood out as an extraordinary innovation.

Unsurprisingly, the Dreyse needle rifle achieved numerous "firsts" among mass-produced military rifles. As mentioned earlier, it was the first rifle to use caseless ammunition and the first to fire sub-caliber saboted projectiles.

Even in the 21st century, the concept of "caseless ammunition" remains relatively niche, let alone nearly 200 years ago in 1841. The "caseless ammunition" used by the Dreyse needle rifle was, in fact, paper cartridges. These cartridges were treated with a nitrate solution, causing most of the paper to combust along with the gunpowder upon firing. Any unburnt remnants were expelled from the muzzle by the high-temperature, high-pressure gases. Thus, it was not unreasonable to consider these cartridges as a form of caseless ammunition.

However, the nature of paper cartridges presented a challenge in integrating percussion caps. Since the invention of fulminate-based compounds, which detonate upon impact, these materials had revolutionized firearms. Initially, fulminate was loaded into small copper caps known as "percussion caps," which became the foundation for percussion firearms, gradually replacing flintlocks.

Due to the soft and fragile nature of paper cartridges, placing a percussion cap directly at the rear of the cartridge posed a significant safety risk. Accidental impacts could detonate the cap, igniting the powder and causing catastrophic accidents. Thus, finding a safe placement for the percussion cap became a major technical challenge for Nikolaus von Dreyse.

Ironically, a creative design feature in the bullet itself provided a solution. Since the era of matchlock firearms, bullets were often wrapped in a patch to improve gas sealing and prevent them from sliding out of the barrel. These patches were made from materials such as silk, linen, or animal hide. Wealthy marksmen sometimes even used high-quality deerskin patches as a status symbol.

Influenced by this historical practice, Dreyse incorporated a bullet base, or sabot, into his new cartridge design. The sabot had a slightly larger diameter than the bullet, giving the ammunition sub-caliber characteristics. During firing, the sabot supported the bullet as it traveled through the rifled barrel, imparting rotational stability. Upon exiting the muzzle, the lightweight paper sabot separated from the bullet due to air resistance, effectively making the ammunition a form of saboted projectile.

This ingenious sabot, like the cartridge casing, was made of paper. However, it was not treated with nitrates and thus did not combust during firing. The sabot was molded from compressed paper pulp, giving it excellent uniformity and rigidity.

This rigidity made the sabot an ideal location for housing the percussion cap. The previously elusive solution to the problem of cap placement had finally been found. However, a new issue arose:

The sabot, which supported the bullet, was located at the front of the cartridge, while the percussion cap was positioned at the base of the sabot. Behind it lay 4.8 grams of gunpowder encased in the paper cartridge. Although this setup eliminated the risk of accidental detonation, how could the deeply embedded percussion cap be reliably struck?

Dreyse's answer was a long, slender firing pin. Propelled by a coil spring, the pin pierced the cartridge's paper casing, passed through the granulated black powder, and struck the percussion cap embedded in the sabot, igniting the charge.

This innovative firing mechanism earned the Dreyse rifle its moniker as the "needle gun." However, the needle firing system was not its most significant technical feature. Its true hallmark was its rotating bolt-action breech mechanism.

This was another stroke of genius by Dreyse. Before his design, firearms inventors had proposed various solutions for breech-loading weapons. However, these designs were often overly complex or dangerously unreliable. Dreyse's system of rotating to unlock and pull back to open the breech, then pushing forward and rotating to lock the breech, was a revelation. It laid the foundation for modern firearms, and its principles continue to benefit firearm design well into the 21st century.

The Dreyse Needle Gun system, despite being a groundbreaking invention of its time, is ultimately just an early prototype of modern firearms and cannot compare to their advanced capabilities. Mechanically, the system employs a rear-locking mechanism, relying entirely on the friction between the bolt and the receiver for locking. There is no rigid connection between the bolt and the chamber. Operationally, before unlocking the bolt, one must first pull back a component called the "needle tube." This part is connected to the firing pin spring and also serves as the locking piece for the bolt. Only after retracting the needle tube can the bolt be rotated to unlock. Once the bolt is reset, the needle tube must be pushed forward again to lock the bolt, preventing movement and simultaneously compressing the firing pin spring to store mechanical energy. This operation is far more complex than that of modern bolt-action rifles. Furthermore, because the locking mechanism depends entirely on friction between the bolt and the receiver, significant force is required for both locking and unlocking. 

Smith carefully studied some operation videos of the Dreyse Needle Gun left to him by "Smiling Willi" and was surprised to see many operators resorting to rubber mallets to achieve locking and unlocking. This was not only due to the inherent friction but also because gunpowder residue and cartridge debris would contaminate the chamber and bolt, exacerbating the issue.

The problems with the Dreyse Needle Gun don't end there. Since the bolt relies on friction to press directly against the chamber, gas leakage is unavoidable. Over time, as residue increasingly pollutes the connection between the chamber and the bolt, gas leakage worsens unless thoroughly cleaned—a near-impossible task in the heat of battle. To mitigate this, the Dreyse Needle Gun features a bowl-shaped bolt design that redirects escaping gas forward and to the side, preventing injury to the shooter. While this design ensures the safety of the operator, the gas leakage inherently limits the gun's muzzle velocity.

Precise measurements from both contemporary and modern tests reveal that the Dreyse Needle Gun, with a total length exceeding 1.4 meters and a barrel length of 910 millimeters, achieves a muzzle velocity of only 305 meters per second—slower than many smoothbore flintlock muskets.

Another issue lies with the needle-shaped firing pin, which ignites the primer embedded in the cartridge base. Anyone with basic knowledge of material science knows that slender objects, given the same material properties, inherently have lower strength and durability. The Dreyse Needle Gun's firing pin is no exception to this natural law. Moreover, the firing pin is exposed to high-temperature, high-speed combustion during every shot, effectively undergoing annealing each time, further weakening its strength. As a result, every Dreyse Needle Gun came equipped with several spare firing pins upon leaving the factory. According to Prussian military manuals, the average lifespan of a firing pin was under 200 shots. To be safe, Prussian soldiers were instructed to replace the firing pin with a new one before any major battle—a practice reminiscent of Napoleon Bonaparte's directive for his troops to replace the flints in their muskets before significant engagements.

Yet, these shortcomings pale in comparison to the Dreyse Needle Gun's advantages. If its flaws are like stars in the sky, its advantages shine as brightly as the sun, overshadowing the dim light of countless stars. 

The dazzling brilliance of the Dreyse Needle Gun lies in its rate of fire. In the hands of well-trained Prussian soldiers, this breech-loading weapon, far more convenient and faster to load than muzzleloaders, could achieve a firing rate of 10 rounds per minute on the battlefield. In contrast, soldiers from other European powers using muzzleloaders rarely managed more than three rounds per minute in combat. This gave the Dreyse Needle Gun at least a threefold advantage in rate of fire. Moreover, as a rifled weapon, it boasted accuracy that far surpassed the smoothbore muskets of the era.

Additionally, because it was loaded from the breech, soldiers using the Dreyse Needle Gun could easily fire from kneeling or prone positions with only minimal reductions in firing rate. By contrast, even the most skilled soldiers using muzzleloaders would see their rate of fire drop by one-third to one-quarter when firing from a kneeling position. In a prone position, maintaining even half to one-third of the standing firing rate was considered exceptional.

This overwhelming superiority in rate of fire and accuracy compared to muzzleloading smoothbore muskets led the Prussian military to adopt the Dreyse Needle Gun for active service as soon as it was perfected in 1841. At the time, the advantage of the Dreyse Needle Gun over traditional rifles was akin to the advantage of modern assault rifles over semi-automatic and non-automatic rifles in later eras.

If the Prussian army was a sword, then the Dreyse Needle Gun was the blade of that sword.