Xiongyue City is not big. It looks about the same size as Xingshan City and Tashan City, but it is a bit smaller than Songshan City.

Jin Shijun received Yang Zhen's military order and immediately took a small group of soldiers under Hu Liu's command and rushed forward to deliver the order.

Yang Zhen commanded the soldiers on the Yilipo position to place the torches, bows and arrows, artillery, ammunition, grenades and other things they had carried before in advance in front of the trench fortifications, and in the trenches in front and behind,

Firewood was prepared and fires were set up on one place on the left and one on the right.

In particular, the five squatting tiger cannons that Dunn's gun team had worked so hard to bring over were placed in front of the trench, their positions fixed, and loaded with medicine bags and countless shotguns.

The body of the Tiger Crouching Cannon is like a big bucket, with a relatively large caliber and a thick enough barrel, but the barrel is a bit short.

Its biggest advantage is that it is easy to cast, and the barrel is thick and short, and the chamber pressure is small, so it is not easy to explode.

At the same time, it is not heavy and is relatively light to carry. Two people can carry the explosives and projectiles and carry them away, so they can move positions at any time.

However, correspondingly, its shortcomings are also obvious, such as its short range and shockingly poor accuracy.

Especially after being loaded with iron bullets or stone bullets that match its caliber, the sound is quite loud when fired, filling the air with smoke and making the sound scary, but its actual power is seriously insufficient.

Therefore, in the field battles between the official army and the Tatar cavalry in the late Ming Dynasty, the Tiger Crouching Cannon could rarely exert its power. Except for its use when defending the city, it was basically eliminated on other battlefields.

But Yang Zhen knew that the reason why the Crouching Tiger Cannon looked very rubbish on the battlefield in the late Ming Dynasty was simply because it was not used in the right place.

At the beginning of the founding of the Ming Dynasty, they relied on one after another and batch after batch of squatting tiger cannons to contain the countless Mongolian cavalry.

Which one is more powerful is the cavalry or the squatting cannon. In a sense, it can be said that it all depends on the soldiers who use and control it.

At the beginning of the founding of the Ming Dynasty, there were many artillerymen in the Ming army who were not afraid of death. Whenever faced with the impact of the Mongolian cavalry, these people stood at the forefront of the Han army.

It wasn't until they could see the enemy's face clearly, until the Mongolian cavalry rushed to the front of their own army's formation and within the range of the Crouching Tiger Cannon, that they opened fire.

But by the end of the Ming Dynasty, the gunners in the Ming Dynasty's official army could no longer do this.

As long as they see the Tatar cavalry appearing on the horizon from a distance, they will ignite the artillery in a hurry, regardless of whether the range is enough to reach the enemy.

Over time, artillery gradually withdrew from the battlefields of field battles with the Tatars, and slowly became a tool used only when defending cities.

Not only did the Tiger Crouching Cannon suffer this fate, but also the Folang cannon and the Hongyi cannon, which were the sharp artillery weapons that appeared in the middle and late Ming Dynasty, all suffered this fate.

Of course, this is not so much a problem caused by the lack of courage of the official gunners in the late Ming Dynasty. It is better to say that this is a comprehensive decline and an overall defeat.

If the large number of infantry, cavalry and gunfire positions behind the artillery array can be as solid as a rock, they will not collapse early, how can the artillerymen in the front not dare to confront the Tatars face to face?!

If it weren't for the casting of the artillery, if the gunpowder production was not up to standard, the quality was poor, and the power was reduced, how could an army using hot weapons be afraid of facing an army using cold weapons?!

If Yang Zhen can be given enough time in the future, he will definitely clean up the past and get everything back on the right track.

It's just that now he can only do what he can do in front of him. Starting from the present, he can change a little bit.

What he could do was to improve the gunpowder, use shotgun shells, and at the same time lay out several trenches in front or behind the gunners of the Crouching Tiger Cannon.

This is done to let these gunners know that even if the Tatar cavalry rushes under their noses, their safety is guaranteed and their retreat is guaranteed.

Of course, Yang Zhen cannot change the range of the Crouching Tiger Cannon. Does he still have the conditions and ability to smelt steel and recast the cannon?

Therefore, when the Tatar cavalry in Xiongyue City came to attack the position, the tiger squatting cannons he deployed actually only had one chance to ignite and fire.

But he was convinced that as long as the distance between the enemy and ourselves was close enough, even one chance to fire and launch would cause a large number of casualties to the Tatar cavalry.

On the side and rear of the five-door tiger squatting artillery position is a splayed trench that opens outward. This is a trench reserved for the grenadiers.

Behind the eight-shaped trench, the I-shaped trench dug to block the road was reserved for the musketeers. The mound in front of the trench was also filled with the flying general grenades they brought with them.

The grenade was not very attractive because of its unimpressive appearance. Lu Pinqi and his subordinates were not very fond of the hand grenade. If Yang Zhen had not ordered them to carry it with them like everyone else when they disembarked, they would not have brought it with them.

Although Lu Pinqi and his 80 elite strikers were all equipped with three-eyed guns, they did not regard this firearm as their trump card. In the end, they still trusted the strong bows they were used to.

crossbow.

However, these men under Lu Pinqi were now an important force under Yang Zhen. Now that they were here, they could not be left idle and wasted. At this time, they were all arranged by Yang Zhen into the trenches of this position.

As for whether they are willing to use strong bows and crossbows, or firearms and grenades, that is up to them.

As the saying goes, a black cat or a white cat is a good cat if it catches mice. As long as they can go into battle and kill the enemy, Yang Zhen doesn't bother to care about the way they kill the enemy.

In the future, when they realize the power of advance camp firearms, they will naturally change their views on firearms.

Yang Zhen's side had just arranged the affairs on the Yilipo position, and Li Lu and An Qing came with their own troops to join him.

"Sir! Pan Xi has been left in this lowly position with a bunch of people to guard the trench outside the Western Wall to listen to orders at any time! The grenadiers and others from Anqing have all been brought here!"

As soon as Li Lu saw Yang Zhen's face, he immediately reported the situation to him: "According to your order, I have led people to dig a long trench outside the Xiongyue West Wall that reaches the root of the wall! Even if there are guards on the city during the day,

, we can also approach the base of the wall through a long trench!

"Besides, under the wall, several tens of thousands of enemies have been buried according to your instructions! If your Majesty wants to seize the city today, we can set fire to it at any time!

"Even if one bomb can't collapse it, there is always hope with two! If two bombs can't collapse it, five should be enough! This is the explosive specially prepared by our ammunition factory!"

Li Lu's face still had traces of sweat and soil, and he was full of energy at the dawn. When he spoke, he looked at Yang Zhen with firm and confident eyes.

Yang Zhen was still very relieved about Li Lu. At this time, seeing that Li Lu was confident in his arrangement, Yang Zhen was also very happy, smiled and nodded at him, and then said to him and An Qinghou: "Very good!

Thank you for your hard work!——"

At this point, Yang Zhen did not exchange much greetings, but changed the topic, pointed to the fortifications down the slope in front and said: "When Zhang Chen arrives later, we will lure the Tatars in the city to attack the one-mile slope! The eight-character trench in front of us

, these are the fortifications prepared for your grenadiers!

"In addition, the Grenadier Corps is currently short of manpower, and the Minzhuang troops under Anqing will continue to be under your command! You two should take your own men and horses to the eight-shaped trench in front to prepare for the battle!

"Remember to prepare enough grenades for brothers, so that the Tatars with white flags in Xiongyue City can have a taste of the flying general's power!"

The wooden handle iron grenade manufactured by the advance battalion ammunition factory is very simple to use. You only need to pull out the fire twister, light it with a torch and throw it out. With a little guidance, you can use it.

After Anqing, Minzhuang, who was under his command, learned how to use it while still on the boat crossing the sea. It was appropriate for him to be transferred to Li Lu to command and use it at this time.

The two people had no objections and knew that the time was urgent. They immediately received the order, returned to the slope and ordered the troops, quickly entered the trench position, took down the grenades everyone carried with them, and placed them one by one under the parapet in front of the trench, and
Chapter completed!