The violent explosion swept across the earth like a whirlwind. All living things within a radius of tens of meters were wiped out in the violent explosion. When the smoke dissipated, with the crater as the center, there were stumps and broken arms everywhere.
Struggling in a pool of blood, screaming.
"Hurry! Hurry..."
Although the fort was filled with the choking smell of gunpowder, in this fortress-style field fort consisting of logs and baskets filled with soil, the gunners were shouting loudly, and a soldier was holding a gun.
It was a spherical cannonball that was bigger than his head. As soon as he stuffed the cannonball into the muzzle, the loader standing at the muzzle immediately pushed the hundred-pound cannonball into the chamber with a ramrod. The gunner behind him skillfully inserted it with a copper nail.
Pass the fire hole, pierce the gunpowder bag, and insert the fire tube into it.
"Angle shooting... release!"
After completing the adjustment of the firing angle, the gunner standing on the left side of the gun tail suddenly pulled the match rope!
"boom!"
With a loud bang, the nine-inch Dahlgren gun's gun carriage then recoiled, and the heavy iron gun carriage retreated all the way to the gentle slope at the rear before stopping the recoil, and then began to move along that slope under the weight of the gun body.
Slowly moved forward, while the gunners struggled to push the cannon and reset it.
Such a scene was played out in many similar artillery forts. Most of these artillery forts were equipped with nine-inch or ten-inch Dahlgren guns. Although the iron gun carriages were heavy, they gave these heavy guns a certain degree of mobility.
During the Paraguay War, such heavy artillery demonstrated its power time and again, and their power was obvious.
But for the infantry, the more deadly thing is the mortar!
The mortars used by the Argentine army are old items from the Civil War - 4-inch mortars. This mortar weighs only 160 kilograms. Although its range is only 1.3 kilometers, its shells are very powerful.
But what's even more astonishing is the rate of fire.
As the offensive troops advanced in depth, they were immediately shelled by the Argentine army. The vertically falling mortar shells and heavy artillery shells made the officers and soldiers of Nanhua feel the threat of artillery for the first time.
During the violent shelling, everything on the battlefield was burning. While clouds of black smoke rose in the violent explosion, hot shrapnel flew in the air, and the shock wave of the shell tore the soldiers' uniforms into pieces.
At the same time, the twisted shrapnel claimed many lives.
"Hidden, hidden..."
After being hit by artillery fire, the officers holding sabers lay down in the crater. They stared ahead. Most of the exhausted soldiers around them stared nervously ahead. Everyone fell to the ground and lay down in the crater.
, although they were not frightened by the intensive artillery fire.
But their survival instinct made them choose to avoid the shelling.
No one would use their lives to resist artillery fire. After the attack was blocked, the officers did not force the troops to attack. They had completed the battle plan. Since the enemy had reacted, let's wait until next time!
The fierce battle only lasted less than three hours. After three hours, the South Chinese army advanced one kilometer as planned and finally compressed the Argentine army into a narrow area of less than 7 square kilometers.
For the people guarding here, they are desperate. They are afraid of encountering the almost destructive artillery again, but one thing is certain, they also use artillery fire to fight back the South China Army to a certain extent, suppressing their
Attack. Even force them to switch from offense to on-site defense.
"cannon!"
In the bunker, General Adolf Alsina, holding a telescope, stared at the South Chinese field fortifications, and then said.
"Since they used heavy artillery to tear apart our defense line before, they will definitely do it again. That kind of witch cannon is enough to destroy any kind of fortress. However, I guess their range must be very limited..."
Staring at the Nanhua Army's defense line, General Alsina pondered for a moment.
"Pay attention to the movement of their defense lines. If you find a forward artillery position, immediately attack with mortars and use artillery to deal with the artillery. Don't give them a chance to get closer."
As a battle-hardened general, Alsina's judgment is undoubtedly without any problems. He is keenly aware of the biggest shortcoming of the Type 68 mortar - the limited range, which limits their application and is targeted.
After the strategic adjustment and deployment, without the devastating blow of the heavy mortars, the Nanhua Army's offensive was weakened. Just when the generals on the front line were preparing to attack, they were directly ordered to reject it by Zhu Xianhai.
"It is extremely stupid to use human lives to storm the fortress!"
Compared with a fortress, Zhu Xianhai valued human lives more! He valued the lives of his own people even more!
"You remember, for Nanhua, the most precious thing is human resources, especially men in their prime. They are not only the main force in marching and fighting, but also the foundation for conquering and occupying this land in the future! Therefore, when fighting, you can
When using artillery shells, use artillery shells as much as possible. Compared to human life, artillery shells are the least valuable. One artillery shell only costs a few yuan. If a soldier is killed in battle, the army needs to pay a pension of 500 yuan, as well as support their survivors.
In terms of time, it takes at least eighteen years from a baby to grow into an adult and join the army. In comparison, how long does it take to produce a cannonball? It's only a few minutes..."
Within the headquarters, Zhu Xianhai once again instilled the concept of "human life is precious" into the officers around him. This was not because he was influenced by modern concepts, but because in Nanhua, the most precious thing was human resources.
Especially the Chinese immigrants from South China, they are the precious "seeds" for the Chinese nation to survive and reproduce on this land. In Zhu Xianhai's eyes, any Chinese male is not just one person, but dozens.
Ancestors of hundreds of people.
If all goes well, a Chinese man will have at least five children after marrying a white or mixed-race child. Twenty years later, his children will also have the same number of children. What about forty years later? His family will multiply.
Become a big family with a population of hundreds.
Because of this, these prime-age men are the fundamental guarantee for Nanhua to conquer South America - without them, there would be no high fertility rate, and even if they conquered, they would sooner or later be driven away or assimilated by the locals.
Therefore, manpower is the foundation for empire to conquer and rule!
"Commander, everyone knows this truth, but now our heavy artillery cannot be sent up, and the Argentinians are suppressing it with mortars. Unless we wait for the railway to be built to the front line, and then..."
Before Sun Hu could say anything, Zhu Xianhai said.
"Don't hang yourself from a tree. Since this method doesn't work, let's change our thinking."
Looking at Sun Hu, Zhu Xianhai said solemnly.
"War, the purpose of war is nothing more than to kill the enemy to the maximum extent and preserve ourselves. If we do not hesitate to use human lives to win a war, even if we win, it will be a disaster, and it will not be worth the loss for us."
Looking at everyone present, Zhu Xianhai thought for a while and then continued.
"You must understand this. Nanhua is completely different from China. We do not have sufficient human resources to squander and sacrifice. So in this case, we can squander artillery shells. What is our advantage?
?It’s firepower, it’s about giving full play to firepower.”
Then he said seriously...
"I hope you can remember this firmly in the future. What is the purpose of war? It is to kill the enemy and save yourself. If a few shells can save a life, then why should we waste human lives? Of course..."
Staring at the Argentinian "fortress" on the sand table, Zhu Xianhai thought for a while and then said.
"We do have a little problem right now, but it's not a problem at all. They prevent us from giving full play to our advantages, so we just need to change our way of fighting. In addition to cannons, we have other weapons. For fighting,