Su He listened to Zhang Yuliang's account of his life experience.
He knew why this small guard house was proficient in firearms command and could train highly skilled musketeers.
There are thousands of households in Zhaoqing, and the existence of Zhan Wuzha, why can cannons be made?
It makes sense that the talents trained by Xiong Tingbi have this ability.
The Ming Dynasty had such a talented person but was unwilling to use it, so Su He happily took him under his command.
Su He watched Su Ying and others sorting out the cannons and matchlocks.
He asked Zhang Yuliang: "Are these three cannons and the long-handled matchlock gun all your father's masterpieces?"
"Yes, the cannons and matchlocks were made by my father himself.
The arquebus is the best firearm at present, and it is most suitable for attacking enemies wearing heavy armor."
After Zhang Yuliang finished speaking, he requested: "Commander Su, please attack the guard post.
Zhao Qianhu brought out all the servants and soldiers, and now only some military households are left to defend the guardhouse.
Inside the guardhouse were the money that Zhao Qian's family had accumulated over several lifetimes, as well as 20,000 shi of grain.
There is also a lot of sulfur and saltpeter stored in the warehouse.
Many patrol officers and soldiers escaped, but once people found out, I surrendered.
Then my family will become extremely dangerous, and the court will vent its anger on them."
Su He happily agreed: "I will lead the troops to attack the guard station right away, and you can go to Sujia Village to recover from your injuries."
Not to mention the supplies in the guard station, Zhang Yuliang's father, a talented cannon maker, was worthy of Suhe's attack on the guard station.
Zhang Yuliang showed a smile on his face and said: "Commander Su, please take me with you.
My men can operate artillery. If the garrison really resists, the shelling can break down their resistance.
When I sit in a carriage, there is no difference between going to Sujia Village and going to the health center."
Su He agreed with Zhang Yuliang's statement, thinking that his previous subordinates were very skilled.
Now that they had just surrendered, it was more suitable for Zhang Yuliang to command them, so they agreed to Zhang Yuliang's request.
Su He asked Su Xiong to stay and clean the battlefield, and then returned to Sujia Village with the prisoners and baggage.
He led the first company, the second company and the reconnaissance platoon and drove several carriages towards the guard post.
Their marching speed is much faster than that of the official army.
When passing by the county seat, Su He saw that the gate of the county seat was closed.
The soldiers from the inspection department and the young men recruited from the army all stood at the top of the city.
They have prepared the golden juice.
The county magistrate Chen Chengren stood at the top of the city and yelled: "Zhao Qing is a loser. Two thousand people beat five hundred people, and he was defeated so miserably.
Master, I am completely unprepared. The rebels are about to attack the city. How can I escape?"
Master Du Fang saw that the rebels did not attack the city and were heading north to the county seat. He pretended to be confident.
"Sir, I think they are going to attack the garrison.
Now that they have fewer people, it is easier to attack the guard post where all the elite troops have been lost.
The rebels are not brave enough to attack our well-defended county town."
Chen Chengren kicked his master Du Fang.
"You are an afterthought. The rebels have already passed by. No one can tell that they are going to attack the guardhouse.
When the rebels are fully prepared, will this small earth wall of less than three meters be able to stop the rebels?
I actually believed Zhao Qing’s usual bragging, I still have to prepare myself first and run out at any time.”
Master Du Fang got up from the ground, patted the dirt on his body and said, "I'd better write an official document and a private letter to the prefect of Fengxiang Prefecture first.
It means that the rebel forces in our county are strong and can no longer be controlled, so we asked Fengxiang Mansion to send troops to support them."
"Yes, push the pot out first. If you really lose the county seat, I will write a note to the emperor saying that Fengxiang Mansion did nothing."
Chen Chengren is ready not to take the blame even if he loses his official position.
He is a member of the Donglin Party. He can be re-appointed if he loses his position. Once he takes the blame, his career will be over.
Before dusk, Su He led the troops to the front of the guard gate.
The large iron gate of the guardhouse was closed tightly, and there were military households standing guard with bows and arrows on the earthen walls of the guardhouse.
They have received news of Zhao Qing's defeat.
"Set up cannons and blast open the gate of the guardhouse."
Su He gave the order, and Zhang Yuliang sat on the carriage and directed his men to load the cannon.
The soldiers skillfully unloaded the cannon from the carriage and mounted it on the gun mount.
They opened the silk wrapping the gunpowder and took out a small scale to weigh the gunpowder.
Su He saw that the powdered black gunpowder they took out had stratified, and part of the black gunpowder was damp.
"Wait a moment. The quality of this gunpowder is too low. Use the granular gunpowder I brought first."
Zhang Yuliang frowned when he heard Su He's words. He was most annoyed by such laymen commanding experts.
He explained patiently: "Commander Su, my men are very experienced. They will weigh the appropriate gunpowder based on its quality.
I have not tested the power of the granular gunpowder you brought here, so putting it in to explode the chamber would be troublesome."
Zhang Yuliang also wanted to experience the power of granular gunpowder, but it was not at this time.
When the cannon exploded, few of his men could survive.
"Don't worry, as a propellant, granular gunpowder burns at a slightly lower rate than the newly prepared black powder.
But it burns more stably, the burning speed is more balanced, and it won’t explode.”
Seeing Zhang Yuliang's hesitation, Su He suggested: "I see you know a lot about firearms and understand the impact of the quality of black powder on the power of cannons.
You try to light some gunpowder particles and observe their state.
Be aware of it before deciding how much charge to add.”
When Zhang Yuliang heard Su He's method, he also thought it was a good idea.
He studied under Hong Mao Fan, and he also studied the combustion state of gunpowder.
With his years of accumulated experience, he can calculate the quality of gunpowder at a glance.
Zhang Yuliang took the gunpowder. These gunpowders were completely different from those he had seen before. They were irregularly granular gunpowders.
Put it on the carriage and use a fire stick to light the gunpowder.
The pellets of gunpowder burned out with a sting. Zhang Yuliang concentrated on watching the burning process of the pellets of gunpowder.
He discovered that granular gunpowder burned more slowly, making it more suitable as a propellant than ordinary gunpowder.
Gunpowder is used as a propellant. If it burns quickly, the barrel pressure of the cannon will be high, making it easy to explode the barrel.
Granular gunpowder burns slowly, and cannons of the same quality can be loaded with more powder.
In this way, the speed of the cannonball will become faster and the power will be greatly enhanced.
You can also make the cannon longer to give it a longer range.
Zhang Yuliang said with a happy face: "Add 10% more according to the new gunpowder charge."
The soldiers trusted Zhang Yuliang very much and loaded the cannon according to his instructions, and then used tools to compact the cannon and install the matchlock.
Take out a metal iron ball slightly smaller than the muzzle and stuff it into the cannon.
The soldiers also used wooden poles from the muzzle to push the shells into the barrel.
The cannon was ready to fire, the angle of the cannon was adjusted, and it was pointed in the direction of the gate, and the soldiers lit the match.
The cannon roared, pushing the gun carriage several meters back.
Zhang Yuliang saw that the speed of the cannonballs was indeed faster than before.
The shells flew directly to the earthen wall above the gate of the guardhouse, and the powerful iron ball directly smashed a corner of the earthen wall.
The military household standing guard on the earth wall saw artillery shells coming.
They turned around and ran down the earth wall, shouting as they ran: "They have cannons in their hands, everyone, run away."
"It missed the target, adjust the angle and hit the door."
Zhang Yuliang began to instruct the soldiers to adjust the angle of the cannon.
He misjudged the power of the gunpowder particles and caused the cannonball to deflect.
The second shell was fired quickly and directly hit the large iron gate of the guard post.
The cannonball hit the middle of the iron gate, denting it directly and falling off the city gate to the ground.
"Charge continuously, attack the garrison, and eliminate the resisting officers and soldiers.
The Second Company followed and was responsible for occupying important places such as granaries and warehouses."
Su He gave the order to attack, and the troops rushed to the guard post in an orderly manner.
All the soldiers in the guard station were wiped out, and there was no general to command them. The resistance of the military households was very weak, and they were quickly captured by Suhe.