There were several explosions, and Jiawei panicked. He immediately threw down the cart and lay down under the cart.
Fortunately, Yang Zhi had a strict order: if you don't hear the golden warning and retreat without permission, you will be killed without mercy. Behind the formation, there is a supervising team with swords and bows, eyeing them eagerly. Otherwise, the front army might collapse with just one cannon blast.
It was really too terrifying: I was walking smoothly without any warning, then suddenly it was like thunder falling, and the living people were blown into a pulp...
Not to mention ordinary soldiers, even Bing Qiu was scared to death.
Just a few steps away, and he would end up with no bones left.
Holding back his fear, he jumped off his horse as fast as he could, picked up a square shield and stood it in front of him. He poked his eyes out of the edge of the shield and looked forward.
They were more than half a mile apart, and Bing Qiu's eyesight was very good, so he could see very clearly: neither on the shore nor on the boat, there was nothing like what Yang Zhi said: "about five feet long and about seven or eight inches thick." , a cannon weighing over three to four hundred kilograms. What I saw was a small cannon that was as thin as a calf and about two feet long.
What's more, there was no smoke or fire in front of the enemy's formation, as if no artillery fire had been fired?
How did it explode?
When he was horrified, Bing Qiu suddenly came back to his senses when he heard the heart-wrenching screams of the soldiers not far away.
At some point, the cannon stopped firing?
Otherwise, how could we hear the miserable howl so clearly, and how could we see the enemy formation so clearly?
Also, when I took a startling look just now, the fire seemed to come out of the ground?
It’s really a thunderbolt...
Bing Qiu was frightened and suspicious, so he hurriedly ordered his cronies to report to Yang Zhi.
Yangzhi is only one mile away from him, and the messenger will arrive in a moment.
As the saying goes, hearing is false but seeing is true.
After Yang Shu and Liu Fang returned from their mission to the West Sea, they compiled reports on what they saw and heard and circulated them to various states.
Furthermore, Cui Yanbo had personal experience and had already told the generals about the advantages and disadvantages of the Western Sea artillery.
Although he had been mentally prepared for a long time, Yang Zhi was still frightened when he saw his true appearance. A thought came to his mind involuntarily: This weapon is comparable to divine punishment, how can he resist it with human power?
But no matter how scared you are, the battle will still continue. As a coach, you can't just run away from the battle the first time.
Yang Zhi gritted his teeth and calmed down, thinking about it carefully.
Although he was a little far away and could only see a rough outline, it was enough for him to deduce a lot of things.
For example, the rebels on the shore did not light fire or fire artillery, and the few thunderbolts in the front line seemed to explode from the ground.
Another example is that although the front army was frightened, it was not in chaos. It did not flee in all directions, but established a formation on the spot.
And the strange thing is that the front army stopped and the rebels stopped on the spot and there was no movement?
It's like the rebels have drawn a thunder pool within a limit of three hundred steps, but if they dare to take a step beyond the thunder pool, they will be shattered to pieces...
Well, Lei Chi?
Yang Zhi's eyes lit up and he asked suspiciously: "Marquis Li, General Yang, do you still remember the emergency report sent by Cui Shuaiyu a few days ago, saying that Rouran had sent a message: tens of thousands of fine cavalry were trapped north of Junji Mountain. , east of Juyan Lake, dare not take a step eastward. Whenever you enter the realm of the Great Moraine, countless thunderbolts will emerge from the ground, blasting the soldiers and horses until their bones are gone... Isn't it just like what you see before your eyes?"
Yang Zhi pointed forward with his hand, "However, Xing Shangshu and Cui County Bo said that although the Thunder Pond is as powerful as the frightened sky, it only extends from Da Qi to Chengyan Lake. Therefore, the reason why Da Qi is a Thunder Pond is not a natural disaster, but a natural disaster. This is a man-made disaster, all caused by Xihai...
It was also said that if one could go around to the north of Daqi and then go eastward, he would be safe. However, Hu Shuai was afraid of being cut off by the West Sea, so he did not dare to take risks and go eastward.
Since it is man-made, there must be time. But today, the enemy and thieves crossed the natural danger of Longshan and came here. It has only been two hours since then. They have to unload the ship and set up a formation. How many minutes are left?
It's like setting up a thunder pool, at most it's just a place to set up a cone. The purpose is just to block us, so it's not difficult to break it. It's great, just go further away."
Li Shao secretly praised: There is no empty person under the famous name, and Yang Zhi is not a person who has wasted his fame. With his calmness and quick wit, it is difficult for ordinary people to match him.
After sighing with emotion, he sighed again: "If that's the case, then just go around it!"
Yang Zhi's eyes widened: That's so easy to say?
Even if we bypass the thunder pool, how can we break the artillery array on the shore?
The instruction given to Bing Qiu just now was just a ploy to stabilize the morale of the army.
If what Cui Yanbo said is true, the maximum range of Xihai's small cannon is about a hundred paces. However, the wooden shield is more than two inches thick and covered with cowhide, so it is still safe.
But if you get within sixty steps, the wooden shield is just like a decoration. If you get closer to forty steps, the iron pellets fired by the cannon can penetrate even the armor.
Therefore, if we set up a formation, we can only stand at about sixty paces.
The range of the Israeli army's stone cannons can actually throw stone projectiles more than sixty steps, but they only weigh a dozen kilograms at most.
Not to mention sinking those strange ships, they couldn't even penetrate an inch-thick shield, so they just made people laugh.
There are two large stone cannons, which are heavy trebuchets that can throw fifty kilograms of stone projectiles a hundred paces away.
However, the larger the stone cannon, the heavier the arms, frames, poles, carts, etc. required. One can easily weigh two to three hundred kilograms, and assembly is extremely time-consuming.
Yang Zhi estimated that if he wanted to set up the gun mount, it would be dark at the earliest.
Moreover, the operation of this object is cumbersome, and it can only take a moment to throw a stone bullet. Moreover, the accuracy is extremely poor. If the difference is even a few centimeters, it will be as far as tens of feet. The rebels on the shore stand still, and they can't move for a day.
I'm afraid I won't be able to sink a few enemy ships if I come down.
But the battle still has to be fought, otherwise there will be no explanation.
Yang Zhi's heart skipped a beat and he shouted in a deep voice: "Jin ordered Bing Qiu to dismount the cavalry, light their tails, and drive them into the formation. Then the chariot formation advanced, and they set up a formation fifty steps away from the enemy, and fired back with stone cannons..."
Li Shao's heart skipped a beat.
It's not surprising that Yang Zhi could think of using a horse to break the thunder pool formation, he was just picking on others' wits.
After learning that Rouran was trapped to the west of Daqiu, Xingluan sent his trusted aides to explore it. After repeated testing, he came to the conclusion that "if any living thing steps on it, the thunder array will explode. But the place where the explosion has been made is smooth and can be used by both men and horses."
have to……"
Li Shao was surprised: Yang Zhi was so courageous that he even used his war horse to break the formation?
It is no exaggeration to say that a war horse can defeat two or three civilians...
Of course, although Yang Zhi has a bad reputation, he is not so cruel as to drive people away from the country. But Li Shao thought, why can't he wait and recruit some grasshoppers or sheep from nearby towns?
Of course, it may take a longer time. It is also possible that by the time Yang Zhi breaks through the thunder formation, the Xihai Forward Army has already captured Mianyang, and countless grain and grass have been turned into ashes...
Just as he was complaining secretly, there was another shouting, and he looked carefully and saw that Bing Qiu had already obeyed the order and freed up a dozen war horses.
Not long after, I heard thunder and smoke filling the sky.
Two hundred steps away, Song Shihe stood on the top of the boat, holding up a telescope and clicking his tongue as he looked.
He is a concubine of the Song family. According to his seniority, he is also the clan uncle of Song Lishen and the maternal uncle of Li Chengzhi's third brother Li Chengxue.
However, he is a senior man, but not very old. When Li Chengzhi raised troops to suppress the rebellion in Jingzhou, he was only twenty years old and was appointed as the leader of the infantry. Now he is only twenty six, and he is already the commander of the Xihai Sea Army.
Guard general.
There was another person standing under the boat, the son of Li Song's brother Li Bai, that is, Li Zhang, Li Xian's cousin Li Zhao.
When Li Chengzhi raised his army, Li Zhao was the leader of the archers, and now he is the deputy commander of the small army.
The commander-in-chief was naturally Da Xi, who had already led the artillery and infantry battalions and headed north to Qianyang. Da Xi left two men here, one to protect the ship and the other to block the pursuing troops.
Ignoring Song Shihe's strange scream, Li Zhao put down his telescope and imitated Li Chengzhi's signature move and pinched his stubble-covered chin.
"To think that using a horse to break thunder must be from Xing Luan. This Yang Zhi is actually able to learn and use it..."
"This is a delaying tactic, but what happens if the mine is destroyed?"
Song Shihe said disapprovingly, "With us standing here, Yang Zhi will not dare to divide his troops to chase Commander Xi. For the current plan, he can only fight with his back to destroy the ship. But I don't know how he will do it."
For a plan?"
What else can we do?
When giving lectures at the military academy, Lang Jun made it clear: If there is a strong city to rely on, it will naturally be impossible to escape, and it can be resisted for a while.
If it's a field battle, naturally it can only be paid with human lives. Even if we can build some thick shields, car arrays and other things, it is just a drop in the bucket and will not help.
Everyone in the Li family had long regarded Li Chengzhi as a god, and Li Zhao naturally believed in it. Therefore, he decided that Yang Zhi had no other choice but to fight hard.
"My husband often said that even if a lion fights a rabbit, he will try his best. What's more, the sheep have a good reputation, and they are not just people who deserve their reputation. So be careful and don't capsize in the gutter..."
"General, don't worry, it will save you in the end! Although I talk softly, I regard Yang Zhi as a strong enemy. Just as the Duke said: strategically despise and tactically attach importance to, you will never underestimate the enemy..."
You remember it clearly?
Li Zhao nodded: "Then go!"
"Got the order!"
Song Shihe jumped off the bow of the boat and waved to the watchtower not far away.
The soldiers upstairs were waving their flags, and after Li Zhao recognized them for a moment, he realized that the enemy troops were arrayed sixty steps away.
This distance is exactly the critical point for the Tiger Crouching Cannon to effectively kill.
It seems that as Lang Jun said, the more battles are fought, the deeper the enemy will understand the advantages and disadvantages of Xihai's firearms, and they will naturally be able to explore effective defensive methods.
But how can the enemy's speed of understanding match Shang Xihai's speed of improving and optimizing firearms?
Yang Zhi probably didn't expect that not only the Suppression Cannon could shoot explosives and incendiary bombs, but also the Crouching Tiger Cannon.
But it is slightly smaller, and its power is much worse than mines and large explosive shells.
Yes, but it is enough to hurt the enemy.
After pondering for a moment, he then ordered: "Go and give the order to General Song: There are not many incendiary bombs in reserve. Save them if you can, and don't use them if you can..."
"promise!"
The cronies rode away, and not long after, they heard the continuous sound of cannons like rain.
He raised the lens tube and looked south again, and the front line of the soldiers was already in chaos...
Li Chengzhi said in the military academy that the most advantageous way to use artillery against cold weapons is in field battles.
Daxi deeply agreed with this.
For example, when Li Feng sent out troops this time, he used vehicles as gun mounts. Even if the horses did not stop and the vehicles did not stop, the tiger crouching artillery could still fire without fail, which was extremely convenient.
Xing Luan followed and attacked, but was struck by Lonely. He did not even dare to come within two miles of the marching road.
In Li Chengzhi's words, you hit yours, and I'll leave mine...
At this moment, Yuan Qin's speed was not unreasonable. In two hours, he gathered thousands of armored cavalry and rushed towards him.
In less than two hours, they arrived sixty miles south of Qianyang County, but Daxi had only gone twenty miles north.
However, the former was riding a horse, while the latter was driving a cart. Moreover, just stopping the ship to unload the cannon was delayed for more than an hour, so it was normal for Yuan Qin to arrive faster.
But it has no other use than speed.
When Tangqi found out that Yuan Qin's forward was already two miles away, Da Xi ordered the artillery battalion to deploy ten squatting cannons to suppress the barbarians.
After calibrating the position, the ten cannons fired two rounds in unison, defeating Yuan Qin's thousands of armored cavalry and scattering them.
It's not that the officers and soldiers are vulnerable.
First, Yuan Qin was extremely anxious, fearing that the rebels would approach Mianyang and then lose food and grass, so he just wanted to force the rebels as far away from Mianyang as possible.
In the moment of urgency, he no longer cared about the fact that the Yi Zhenyi artillery in the West Sea had a firing range of three miles away.
The second is that Yuan Qin has not yet turned the corner: the official road for galloping war horses is only that wide, and there are fertile fields on both sides of the road. Unless forced, the cavalry will not trample on it.
Therefore, thousands of horsemen were crowded on the few two galloping roads, which was like setting up targets for the artillery.
Not to mention that all ten shots hit, but if two or three explosive bullets fell into the cavalry, they would definitely fall on their backs.
Therefore, as soon as the enemy engaged in battle, the officers and soldiers took a few shots before they could even figure out the strength of the enemy's troops, whether they had more infantry or more cavalry, etc.
After realizing this, Yuan Qin ordered the cavalry to disperse into the fields.
However, Xing Luan's 20,000 cavalry were powerless against Li Feng's 30,000 infantry. Yuan Qin was in panic and only brought two or three thousand cavalry. When faced with Da Xi's two artillery battalions, he could only stare.
Whenever you get within fifty steps, there will be a crouching tiger cannon. Iron nails and gravel are as dense as raindrops, and the cavalry has nowhere to hide.
But standing fifty steps away, the cavalry's short bows could not only kill the enemy, but even scratch it.
Just like this, Yuan Qin could only watch the rebels put away the sleepers and assemble the cart. After setting up the mules and horses, they pulled the ten-crouching cannon and continued marching.
How strange?
The enemy's large artillery carriage is so convenient that the wheels and shafts can be dismantled and installed as desired?
If so, wouldn't it mean that the enemy troops would be able to advance to the foot of Mianyang City at night at most?
When he was in a hurry, he accidentally saw the Qianhe River on the side of the road. Yuan Qin had a flash of inspiration and shouted sternly: "Quick, take my letter and urgently order Yang to leave. Find the low-lying place and cut off the river embankment."
All Chidao was flooded..."
The confidant respectfully accepted the order and was about to leave when Yuan Qin shouted again: "Wait a minute..."
In addition to galloping roads, country roads, and fertile fields beside roads can all be used for marching. What's the use of just digging a river?
"Regardless of rivers, canals, ditches, or streams, wherever there is water, all areas with water will be dug out. The traitors must not be allowed to approach Mianyang..."
The water of the Qianhe River is relatively small, and some sections of the river are too shallow to allow paddle wheels to travel.
It leads directly to the Wei River, which naturally has an endless supply and has many tributaries, stretching across several counties in Qizhou. Qianyang is named after the Qianhe River, so it is naturally very close to it.
So after an hour, Da Xi was blocked from going out.
Looking at Youchidao being submerged, Da Xi smiled coldly: This Yuan Qin is quite quick-witted...