The huge improved Fu Chuan moored on the Yangtze River in front of Snake Mountain. Due to the extensive use of cast iron fasteners and dense transverse ribs on both sides of the keel, the Fu Chuan can be built larger and longer. This super large Fu Chuan is in front of us. A forward mast was lowered, and no less than eight manual winch lifting devices were erected on the side of the ship.
The most important cargo of this ship is the huge cannon that is being unloaded from the ship with the joint efforts of more than 300 people. This is a super siege heavy artillery brought by the Weapons Research Department task force. It is named "Lei Zhen" The 6,000-pound heavy bronze smooth-bore cannon of "Zi". The predecessor of this cannon actually appeared in the second Java melee five years ago. It was dragged by more than ten elephants and participated in the siege of Jakarta. That time During actual combat use, people from the Ordnance Research Department found that the cannon was very troublesome to use and very inconvenient to transport. Therefore, the cannon was melted down in Jakarta. The raw materials were recast into five pieces in the original Dutch arsenal. field gun
At the same time, the Weapons Research Department did not give up the plan to develop heavy siege guns. In the World War History class at the Chinese Military Academy, people in the Weapons Research Department learned about the story of the "Urban Cannon", so they wanted to make one comparable to the Uzbekistan Cannon. Heavy artillery piece of Urban Cannon.
Yin Feng did not pour cold water on them. He just told them: heavy artillery played a huge role in this siege that was enough to change European history. The fall of Constantinople also marked the obsolescence of traditional fortress technology and changes in siege tactics. .It is also a page in military history that connects the past and the future.
Yinfeng now has high-quality resources such as the copper mine in Luzon, the tin mine in Belitung, and the iron mine in Shilu, Hainan. It also has enough resources to experiment with casting bronze heavy artillery. Therefore, this new siege heavy artillery appeared. .and was transported to Wuchang City for the first actual shooting.
This heavy siege cannon has an iron outer frame to strengthen the stress of the barrel. The bronze inner wall is completely polished manually. A solid iron bullet can weigh up to 250 kilograms. The cannon is basically a cylinder. It is small in the front and large in the back. It has lugs and aiming. The tool uses a special adjustable base and moves on eighteen solid oak wheels.
On this day, the Ordnance Research Department also brought ten heavy-duty rockets. The volume and height of one of these rockets, called "Tianlei", is equivalent to two Thunderbolt rockets. It is said that the flight of "Tianlei" is stable. .The warhead is loaded with the latest formula of gunpowder. It is extremely powerful.
"The flight is stable. That is to say, this thing will not fly around as soon as it goes out." Mai Dahai looked at the thick thunder rocket and asked the people in the weapons research department curiously.
The long tail rod stabilizing device of the Thunderbolt rocket is not reliable. This type of rocket has to be entrusted to God as soon as it is launched. Fortunately, it is mainly made of wood, bamboo and paper. The nozzle is made of iron. It is cheap. Chinese Army In battle, more means victory. Fire hundreds or even thousands of rounds at a time.
This time, the leader of the Weapons Research Department's task force was Lin Qing, the boss of the famous "Firearms Four". He is now the general manager of the Weapons Research Department. The Firearms Four were the first group of Yin Feng's men to learn both Chinese and Western firearms. R&D experts. Lin Qing, Zhang Xiaohai, Wang Gong, and Li Hetian are now in charge of the artillery, muskets, explosives, rocket and other branches of the research department. They have all held the rank of colonel in the Chinese Army. There are great craftsmen. This time the task force also had to conduct actual combat experiments on Tianlei rockets. Li Hetian, who was in charge of the rocket branch, also came. He was playing with the rockets on the side. After hearing Mai Dahai's question, he turned around and said: "Report to Mai Commander. This type of rocket uses an iron tail as a stabilizing device. The tail is designed with a deflection angle so that the mine can spin after being launched, thereby maintaining a stable flight path."
"Spin. What do you mean?" Mai Dahai didn't understand.
Li Hetian stood up and said, "Commander Mai, you must have played Qianle when you were a child."
Mai Dahai frowned: "What the hell is Qianle?"
Yang Qi, who was standing on the side, was born a pirate and was more knowledgeable than Mai Dahai, who was born a Danmin in Yazhou. He quickly explained: "Qianle is a top. The kind of thing that needs to be whipped around with a whip."
The four members of the firearms group are all from southern Fujian or Chaozhou. This "Qianle" is the southern Fujian pronunciation of top.
"I understand. Oh, my family is a gangster, and I grew up on a boat. I never had the chance to play with things. You mean, the Tianlei rocket relies on constant rotation to maintain stable flight. Hmm, it makes sense... This is also the invention of the ship owner." Yin Feng can often come up with very critical design ideas, which can often promote the research and development of certain weapons. Therefore, Yin Feng has god-like prestige within the weapons research department and arsenal.
Lin Qing, who was tall and handsome, walked over and said with a smile: "This time, we came up with the idea of rocket spin ourselves. Of course, after the prince heard about our design, he also fully supported it." Commander, the thunder cannon has been hoisted and landed on the river beach. We will follow your command for the next combat action."
Yesterday evening, four thousand marines rushed to the Sheshan River Beach and established a landing bridgehead less than one mile away from the Wuchang city wall. In the evening, the Ming army did not dare to go out of the city to fight. In the morning, the Chinese army was busy hoisting the attack When the city was bombarded with heavy artillery, the Ming army in the city came out of the city and launched a charge. The target was the Chinese Army's bridgehead.
All the warships deployed by the Chinese army on the river opened fire at the same time. All four thousand marines of the Chinese army lay on the river beach. No one dared to raise their heads to watch the spectacular scene of thousands of cannons firing because the Wuchang city wall was too close to the shore. Once the artillery shells are aimed, they will hit the Marines' position. The 4,000 Marines who landed on Snake Mountain were only part of the Chinese army's landing operation.
As early as noon the day before, about 2,000 infantry and cavalry troops who had newly joined the Western Expedition Fleet, including the Taiwanese aboriginals, the Hainan Limin Battalion, the Luzon Battalion and the Cavalry Brigade Task Force Battalion, landed at the Huhuang Mountain Inspection Division on the banks of the Qingshanji River in the north of Wuchang City. At the same time that the Marine Corps landed on the front of Snake Mountain, the Chinese infantry troops arrived in the north of Wuchang City after trekking for a long time and a night. They did not carry any heavy firearms. In addition to the necessary individual weapons for each person, each of them also carried a They carried 20 kilograms of gunpowder. Even though the cavalry battalion was tasked with forward reconnaissance, the same was true - each horse carried 20 kilograms of gunpowder.
The artillery shells fired by the Chinese fleet in front of Sheshan were indeed numerous and dense. The shells fired by the Ming army along the river at Zhonghe Gate, Dadongmen, and Xiaodongmen were filled with thick smoke and dust. The 46-pound heavy cannon on the bow of the battleship fired. The furthest cannonball even flew over the city wall and into the palace of the King of Chu, located at the southern foot of Gaoguan Mountain, the peak of Snake Mountain. It smashed a side hall of the King of Chu's harem into ruins.
The Guizhou General Military Headquarters of the Ming Army who came out of the city to counterattack were killed by artillery fire and dozens of people were killed. They soon lost the courage to continue charging and retreated back to the city in chaos.
Jiang Yue, the prefect of Wuchang, and Du Xiancheng, the commander-in-chief of Huguang, ran to the tower of Zhonghe Gate with pale faces. They met Lin Yu, the governor of Huguang, a short 60-year-old man who was worried.
"Master Du, the Guizhou soldiers who left the city have returned. What did Guizhou Commander Yang Sizhong say?" Lin Yu asked Huguang Commander Du Xiancheng with a worried look on his face.
"Recruiting forwards. This is the only way. The subordinate has ordered to recruit men who dare to die among the troops... We must go out of the city to charge again before the pirates' cannon is installed."
Lin Yu stood up tremblingly. He came to the city wall and looked at the river bank. His face darkened: "Everyone, I'm afraid this cannon has already been placed..."
Jiang Yue and Du Xiancheng lay down beside the crenellations of the city wall. Sure enough, from a distance, you could see that the huge pirate army's heavy artillery had landed steadily on the river bank. In front of, behind, and to the left and right of the cannon, hundreds of people were pushing and pulling. The gun moves into firing position.
"Bah bang bang..." A burst of artillery fire from the Chinese army hit near the Zhonghe Gate. The three most senior civil and military officials of the Ming Dynasty in Wuchang City squatted down and hid behind the walls. Stones fell on the head - fragments of city wall masonry that were blown away by solid artillery shells fired by the Chinese army.
The wall of Wuchang City is tall and thick. It is not a big city that can be easily captured. In another time and space, until the future Republic of China era, when the Northern Expeditionary Army besieged Wuchang, it was because of this wall that they fought for several months before they could capture it. The problem was that the wall could no longer be captured. It is tall and strong. The defenders hiding behind the city wall must also have strong determination to fight. Otherwise, the city wall without the defenders will have no meaning of existence.
Although Mai Dahai, Yang Qi and the newly arrived Chinese army officers have always been very confident, they dare not take the Wuchang City in front of them lightly.
The plan of the operational staff is: the Marines on the front of Sheshan Mountain will mainly attack Zhonghe Gate and Dadong Gate. The North Route Infantry will pretend to attack Wusheng Gate.
The battle first started with the naval fleet intensively bombarding the Dadong Gate. Then the heavy siege artillery arrived within 300 steps of the Zhonghe Gate and bombarded the Zhonghe Gate. The North Road Infantry basically fought independently. The main task was to contain the Ming Dynasty. The army would turn the feint attack into a main attack if possible: they carried 40,000 kilograms of gunpowder to blast the Wusheng Gate in the north of Wuchang City.
Of course, the Chinese army will not rely solely on forceful attacks. People from the Ministry of Military Intelligence and the Internal Affairs Bureau entered Wuchang as early as the first month of the year.
Wushengmen is the only gate to the north of Wuchang City. And Desheng Bridge is the only street in Wuchang City leading to the north gate. At this time, merchants gathered here. Chopstick Street, Guotong Street, Brick and Tile Lane and other industry streets are unique. .There are many shops and banks with the "Hua" and "Xing" trademarks here. Some of them have been operating here for more than ten years.
These hidden piles of Chinese merchants have been taking root here for more than ten years. The previous Mr. Wen was able to go in and out of Wuchang many times during the war. It was also because of the contacts accumulated over the past ten years. After the military intelligence department entered the city, in a short time Within a short period of time, dozens of hidden stakes of the Chinese company were concentrated. We planned to conduct an internal and external cooperation operation.
In view of the experience of the mutiny of the New Army in northern Zhejiang, Lin Xiao, Zeng Rui and others believed that the Ming army could easily be instigated to rebel. However, it lacked discipline and it was difficult to achieve success. Therefore, when the Jiangnan Campaign began, Zeng Rui had already ordered the secret troops in Wuchang City to rebel. Zhuang began to instigate the officers and soldiers of the Ming Dynasty to rebel against the Ming army. During the previous period of the Ming army's pay mutiny, the Jiangxi soldiers deployed in Jiangnan also participated in the pay fight. And now the Jiangxi soldiers who were transferred to Wuchang to participate in the defense were the accomplices of those pay mutinies. .