"The telescope is really magical. Your Majesty, this can be considered one of the artifacts of our court." Jiang Wanzai behind me said with deep emotion after reading it.
Fang Ling said with a "haha" smile: "Master Jiang, of course."
Jiang Wanzai nodded and said: "Your Majesty, starting from the attack on Dengzhou City, our army will transform from the original defensive war to a full-scale offensive war."
"Well, Jiang Aiqing. This also marks the beginning of a new chapter for our army."
"Yes, Your Majesty. If this had happened a few years ago, I would never have thought that I would be able to follow Your Majesty to regain my old mountains and rivers in my lifetime. I am very happy about this."
As an old man in the army and a main militant, Jiang Wanzai naturally looked forward to regaining the mountains and rivers and reviving the glory of the Song Dynasty.
I smiled and turned around and asked, "General Wu, have the artillery battalion generals Wanyan Tianlei and Crete come to check the terrain?"
Although Wu Songhan is a vanguard, his military rank is relatively low, so he stood at the back. Hearing my call to him, he hurriedly said: "Go back to the emperor. The two generals have already surveyed the terrain. The terrain around the south gate is quite open. There’s no problem setting up artillery.”
"Okay. Return to Shangying Village."
That night, I held a military meeting in Shangying Village attended by generals above the Xiang level of the Central Northern Expedition.
"See the Emperor."
"All generals are exempt from the courtesy." I smiled and pointed to the various stools. "This place is no better than the Xiangyang Marshal's Mansion. You can just sit down wherever you want."
"Thank you, Your Majesty."
"General Lu Wenhuan, please arrange the tasks for each army tomorrow."
"Yes, Your Majesty." Lu Wenhuan stood up and said. "Generals, tomorrow's battle will focus on the artillery camp. Please look at the topographic map of Dengzhou."
Lu Wenhuan paused. Then he said: "Dengzhou City has four gates in the southeast, northwest and northwest. It is a standard four-gate town. And the city walls are mostly made of stones. It is quite similar to Yingzhou in my dynasty. However, as I dynasty With the successful development of firearms, the strong city wall will no longer be an obstacle to our army's progress. Our army has a total of fifty-five artillery pieces for this Northern Expedition. It is estimated that it will take four to five days to destroy the south gate of the Dengzhou City Wall. "In the past few days, all other armies have acted as auxiliary forces to cooperate with the artillery battalion's bombardment. Now, Lu will announce the tasks of each army."
In the martial arts training ground of Dadu Palace in the capital of the Yuan Dynasty, Shi Yuqi, who had just returned to Dadu, demonstrated the shooting method and process of muskets to Kublai Khan, Yin Tianya, Wu Lianghetai, Alao Wading and various craftsmen of the Yuan Dynasty.
"Your Majesty, my Lords, there are two main weaknesses of muskets. One is that the shooting speed is slower than that of bows and arrows. Therefore, musketeers in the Southern Dynasties used a three-stage shooting method to make up for its shortcomings. It is said that this shooting method was invented by the emperor of the Southern Dynasties; Second, it cannot be launched in rainy days. This has never been solved." Shi Yuqi said after finishing the demonstration.
Kublai Khan said "grace" and said: "General Shi Bi, thank you for your hard work. I will discuss your merits and reward you."
"Thank you, Your Majesty." Shi Bi, whose pseudonym was Shi Yuqi, thanked him respectfully.
"My dear friends, please share your opinions."
Yin Tianya first said: "Great Khan, the power of musket shooting is indeed greater than that of bows and arrows. I believe that for the firearms of the Southern Dynasty, we should gather all the craftsmen of the Dynasty to imitate them with all our strength. Secondly, we will inform A Shu and Boyan. Once it rains, attack with all your strength. The muskets of the Southern Dynasty are like this. Presumably the artillery and fire bombs cannot be used in rainy days. Also, I will immediately set off northward and bring the muskets to the Supreme Lord for a look."
"The Supreme Lord Yin Shen is in retreat. Will your visit this time affect your intensive cultivation?"
"Profuse sweat. Firearms are indestructible. Our court. Our court will eventually be in a weak position. The Supreme Lord will understand."
"That's good. I also know that Lord Supreme has many capable people. Lord God, I'll thank you for the hard work."
"Profuse sweat. Time is running out. I will take my leave." After saying that, Yin Tianya grabbed it from the air. In an instant, there was a musket in his hand. This musket was not light, but it seemed to have no weight in his hand.
When Shi Yuqi, who had never dealt with Yin Tianya before, saw this, she secretly said in shock: "I didn't expect that the martial arts of this Tianya God could be so strong. I'm afraid I won't be able to reach this level in my lifetime."
Kublai Khan looked solemn as he watched Yin Tianya leave. He said to Hao Jing beside him: "Master."
"I'm here."
"Summon me to all the craftsmen. No matter the cost, I will try my best to imitate the musket."
"Yes, Your Majesty. I obey your order."
"Wulianghetai."
"I'm here."
"Pass on my will. Instruct Nanyang A'shu and Boyan to organize a counterattack whenever it rains."
"Yes, Your Majesty."
"Shi Bi."
"The end will be here."
"I will appoint you as the Commander-in-Chief of the Southern Capital. I will give you a gold medal with a tiger's head. You will receive the rank of third rank. Take a short rest. Tomorrow you will rush to Nanyang to join the Central Route Army."
"Yes. I will obey the order in the end."
"General Shi, follow me to the study. The other dear friends will go their separate ways immediately."
Kublai Khan's imperial study room was not far from the martial arts training hall. Shi Yuqi followed Kublai Khan through a construction site and entered it. After Kublai Khan sat down, he immediately said: "Shi Aiqing, tell me about your experience in the Southern Dynasty army. ."
"Yes, Your Majesty." Shi Yuqi briefly reported to Kublai Khan the process from participating in the martial arts competition to getting the gun and returning north.
Kublai Khan listened very carefully. While listening, he asked questions from time to time. When Shi Yuqi finished reporting, Kublai Khan said: "Shi Aiqing, according to your statement, the combat effectiveness of the Southern Dynasty army is no longer weaker than our army."
Shi Yuqi said cautiously: "Your Majesty, when the last general just joined the Forbidden Army, the morale of the Song Army was low. The Lin'an Forbidden Army, known as the most elite in the Southern Dynasties, also had no combat effectiveness. Compared with our army at that time, the Song Army was indeed not at the same level. But in recent years, especially since the military reform of the Song Army, the combat effectiveness of the Song Army has increased year by year. The general believes that, at least, in terms of infantry, the Song Army has surpassed the Han Army of our dynasty. Moreover, it also has firearms."
Kublai Khan secretly sighed. If it hadn't been for Brother Ali and himself competing for the throne, he must have completely defeated the Southern Dynasties. In just ten years, the situation has changed drastically. And he also made a firearm. Kublai Khan I have been a soldier for half my life and have seen a lot. Since I have witnessed the power of firearms with my own eyes, I know very well that the existing swords, guns, bows and crossbows cannot compete with them.
Perhaps this was fate. Kublai Khan's face remained calm as he continued to ask: "Shi Aiqing, what do the senior generals of the Southern Dynasties think of firearms? How do they think they should crack firearms?"
"Back to the emperor. Although the general has never seen artillery and grenades, he heard Xia Gui and Li Tingzhi talk about it." Shi Yuqi recalled. "That was before the Jianghuai Military Region was established in the Southern Dynasties. Li Tingzhi, the former Yangzhou Military Region's organizational envoy, once visited When passing through Luzhou, General Xia Gui said, "If he had more than 500 artifacts and 30,000 missiles, oh, it would be difficult for the general to call the artillery artifacts. He could defeat the Luzhou Military District with just him." "I have hundreds of thousands of cavalry." After these words were said, the general and others felt that it was too exaggerated. But it was recognized by Li Tingzhi. The senior generals of the Jianghuai Army knew that Li Tingzhi was cautious and never said anything that he was not sure of. This shows that the senior generals of the Southern Dynasties all believed that firearms were invincible. If you want to crack firearms, there is only one way. That is to fight firearms with firearms."
Kublai Khan suddenly laughed and said: "This is just a deception used by Xia Gui, Li Tingzhi and others to boost morale. Okay, Shi Aiqing, you have a good night's rest. We will set off south tomorrow."
"Yes, Your Majesty. I will retire at the end of the day."
"Use firearms against firearms." After Shi Yuqi left, Kublai Khan muttered to himself alone in the empty house.
Early the next morning, about 300 meters away from the south gate of Dengzhou City, fifty-five artillery pieces were divided into three rows. Their muzzles were raised and they were all aimed at the front. In front of the artillery camp were the Second Division of the Royal Forest Army and the Second Division of the Lin'an Military Region.
Tenth Army. About a hundred meters away on the right are the 1st and 3rd Divisions of the Royal Forest Army.
and the two cavalry corps from the Lin'an Military Region. The one who served as the left wing guard was the Lu Shikui Department of the 19th Wing of the Xiangyang Military Region. More than ten meters behind the artillery battalion, 4,000 Chinese army guards were neatly arranged in two squares. I and
Yuan Ji, Fang Ling and others were riding horses, standing at the front of the square array.
"Jiang Aiqing gave the order to fire."
"Yes, Your Majesty." Jiang Wanzai raised a red flag and waved it three times in the air.
Crete, who was standing behind the artillery battalion, saw that the military order had been issued. He said to Wanyan Tianlei in front: "General Wanyan, the emperor gave the order. Fire the artillery."
"Okay. Each artillery position. Get ready."
"Target. Directly ahead. First row. Angle. Fifty-two. Second row. Angle fifty-five. Third row. Angle sixty."
"First row. Ignition."
"put."
Following Wanyan Tianlei's order, the twenty artillery pieces in the first row roared almost simultaneously. "Boom, boom" sounded immediately. Then, the twenty artillery pieces in the second row roared again. The first two
All the artillery pieces of the platoon hit the Dengzhou city wall. The fifteen artillery pieces of the third platoon were a few meters higher and exploded on the city wall.
Most of the defenders in Dengzhou had personally experienced the Battle of Guanzitan. When they saw the opponent's artillery bombardment, they hurriedly fell to the ground. Regarding the artillery, the defenders and soldiers could only be described as "helpless".
About half an hour later, I raised my telescope and looked at the damage to the Dengzhou city wall and ordered the bombardment to stop.
"Your Majesty, under this situation, the wall of Dengzhou City can only be maintained for four days at most."
"Not bad. General Meng."
"The end will be here."
"You lead the loyal and shun army forward. Ask Zhang Hongfan and Atahai if they have the courage to go out of the city to fight with our army. Take this opportunity to once again damage the opponent's morale."
"Yes, Your Majesty."
Meng Tianxiang, a man of great skill and boldness, asked the Zhongshun Army to stop about 80 meters away from the city wall. He single-handedly arrived at a place less than 20 meters below the city wall. He said loudly: "Zhang Hongfan on the city, Atahai, listen.
You dare to go out of the city and fight with your Lord Meng."