The six-gunner standing next to the loaded ammunition box immediately opened the ammunition box lid, searched for the numbers he needed from a table attached to the inside of the lid, and then answered loudly:
"The angle of attack is 4 degrees 40 minutes!"
The third gunner standing on the left and right sides of the gun tail immediately rotated the handle to adjust the gun to the correct angle - the new gun mount developed by the mechanical department can not only adjust the shooting direction, but also improved the elevation adjustment system and installed the angle indicator directly on the gun.
The third gunner can quickly adjust the position by turning the handle, which reduces the work of the fourth and first gunners. At the same time, the sixth gunner takes out a shell from the ammunition box and hands it to the fifth gunner waiting aside. The shell is an old-fashioned custom-made
Shells: Spherical artillery shells are bundled together with propellant bags wrapped in cloth strips and cotton cloth. The fifth gunner puts the shells into a rattan basket, and then carries them to the first gunner for inspection by him.
"Correct ammo! Load!"
The second gunner put the shell towards the rear of the gun and loaded the shell into the barrel. The third gunner holding the ejector immediately inserted the ejector into the muzzle and pushed the shell to the bottom of the chamber. Standing on the left side of the breech
The No. 4 gunner inserted a long awl into the gun barrel through the fire door at the rear of the gun, pierced the wrapping outside the powder bag, took out a flame tube, and used the hook on the match rope to hook the ring on the flame tube.
Stick it into the fire door.
"Ready!"
This series of dazzling and complex movements only took a few tens of seconds. The six gunners had to be very skilled in coordinating their movements to be busy and not chaotic. A well-trained m1857 artillery crew was firing rapidly.
It can reach 4 rounds per minute. However, the artillery will soon become overheated and unable to fire. Now the artillery on the embankment uses a continuous rate of fire of one round per minute.
"put!"
The fourth gunner immediately pulled the matchlock in his hand hard. With a loud noise and a long jet of fire, the entire artillery and the gunners surrounding the artillery were enveloped in a huge cloud of white smoke.
The artillery propelled by the recoil rushed out to the rear.
"M1857, the price is cheap and the quantity is sufficient." Lin Shenhe, who was standing next to Zhang Bolin, was holding up a telescope and murmured to himself. He claimed to be here to test the performance of weapons and equipment and the results of artillery training, but in fact he came to watch the excitement.
By the way, let’s see what new things we can come up with.
The killing effect of solid bullets is very satisfactory, but in such a turbulent crowd, it seems difficult to force the enemy to flee. Two Ming army horses are still shouting and rushing towards the camp.
"Don't worry!" Lin Shenhe pretended to be calm and said, "According to the experience of the Civil War, the infantry must at least hold on until they have eaten shotgun within 100 meters before fleeing..."
"Boss, this is the Ming Army, not the Federal Army or the Confederate Army." Zhang Bolin, because he taught him all the muzzleloader gun shooting tactics, regarded Lin Shenhe as an expert among experts. "The Ming Army is such a medieval army.
Shouldn’t the army of the times collapse soon?”
"I can't say that the Ming army will collapse if it is hit by artillery." Lin Shenhe shrugged, "But if it is hit by artillery, the entire army will collapse. Only the Qing Dynasty can do that."
According to his observation, the density of shelling was still a little less than the incoming crowd. This density of shelling was an average level during the Civil War era.
"Quick! Pull fast!" the soldiers of the firearms battalion roared, constantly whipping the civilians and cattle and horses who had been recruited. One by one, the red barbarian cannons were dragged towards the cannon amidst the scolding, groaning, wailing and the neighing of cattle and horses.
position. Last night, these cannons had been installed as defensive weapons behind the trenches of each camp. Since the artillery was more than four miles away from the Kun thief's camp, the cannonballs could not hit it. Li Modao organized men and horses to haul the artillery to
Please get as close as possible before firing.
However, the movement of men and horses in front blocked the advance of the firearms battalion. It was not until the Chaozhou soldiers began to attack that the road was cleared. Li Baidao did not hesitate and quickly urged the soldiers to push the cannon.
"The enemy is transporting artillery." News came from the observation post.
"Where is it?" Ying Yu pushed his hat on his head, raised his binoculars and looked, "I saw it!" he shouted, and then he picked up the phone:
"Berlin, the officers and soldiers in front of you on the right are pushing the Hongyi cannon! Hurry up and give them a meal of shells!"
"Load solid bombs, the target distance is 1320 meters!" Zhang Bolin went into battle in person, holding up a telescope to measure the moment, "Fire quickly with the whole company!"
A few minutes later, an artillery battery organized by Zhang Bolin immediately opened fire on the moving Hongyi cannon of the firearms battalion.
The solid bullets fired by the 12-pound Napoleon cannon hit the firearms camp one after another. The first round of shells hit the infantry formation not far from the firearms camp, causing a chaos. Li Mo Dao
I watched with horror as the artillery shells fired from the embankment dragged smoke, flew over the charging infantry in front, and fell straight down here!
"Oops!" Just as this thought flashed through his mind, the second round of shells had already hit the firearms battalion's team head-on.
A cannonball landed not far away, and then bounced towards the team. It directly beat a cow into two pieces, and then the bloody cannonball jumped up again and brought several civilians to the ground, leaving stumps on the ground.
Minced meat. Then a few more cannonballs fell in the team. The entire firearms camp was in chaos with horses neighing and cows braying. Horses and frightened cattle were running around in the team, and they were trampled mercilessly to the ground.
Soldiers, the cannon fell to the ground, and one of the artillery carts was directly hit by the shell. The gun body was knocked up on its back and then fell heavily, smashing the brains of a few unlucky guys. The sturdy and heavy artillery cart was just
It fell apart as soon as it was hit by the flying cannonball.
Li Modao watched as the most powerful Hongyi cannon either tipped to the ground or the artillery carriage was destroyed by the shells and fell into the soil, unable to move. Not only were the cattle and horses injured, but the frightened cattle ran around with blood-red eyes, and the surrounding infantry were collided by the cattle and horses.
, the queue was in chaos. Some people were scolding "Push on the street", and some were scolding "X mother",
Fortunately, the rapid fire of the 12-pound cannon did not last too long, and Li Baidao was able to survive. The most valuable and powerful Hongyi cannon in his firearms camp had been beaten to pieces.
Some were broken in two, some had their bodies cracked, some had their carriages destroyed, and their cannons were deeply sunk into the mud. It took a lot of manpower to dig them out.
Li Modao already knew that the range of the enemy's artillery fire was far beyond his own, so he could no longer think of pushing the artillery closer to fire - he might not even be able to set up the artillery any further.
At that moment, he packed up the remaining soldiers and retreated, preparing to use two four-thousand-jin cannons that could fire fifteen-jin shells. These two Hongyi cannons could reach as far as three miles away. But it was hard to say what they could hit.
"The Ming army has opened fire!" the observation post shouted on the walkie-talkie. Zhang Bolin was startled and squatted down subconsciously. He saw two black figures cutting through the smoke and flying towards here, but the two shells were in front of him.
One after another, they all landed far away from the trench, only stirring up a lot of soil. Then two more shells flew in, and one bounced on the ground a few times before finally falling into the trench.
Ying Yu used the walkie-talkie to call the observation post: "Find the enemy's gun position!"
The place where the firearms battalion fired artillery fire was soon found, and range measurement showed that they fired artillery fire at a distance of almost 2,100 meters.
"If it's this far away, the range of the Hongyi cannon is simply out of reach." Lin Shenhe said.
As if to confirm his words, the two Hongyi cannons fired several rounds, but none of the shells hit the earth embankment. The furthest shells just bounced and rolled into the ditch.
Li Modao saw that after the shells were fired, they did not even touch the enemy's soil, and he was very worried. He shouted "Add more medicine!"
The gunners had originally loaded the maximum amount of gunpowder according to the numbers on the musket ruler. Now they heard that more powder was needed, and they were all shocked. Because it was a common thing in the army at that time to explode the chamber of a cannon. Once the cannon exploded, the surrounding gunners would be
If he was not killed on the spot, it would be difficult to survive.
"Add more medicine!" Li Modao pulled out his saber and slashed it into the air, "Anyone who disobeys the order - behead!"
Under the threat of beheading, the gunners added one-third more gunpowder. In order to show that he was not afraid of overloading, Li Modao fired the cannon himself.
The four thousand kilogram Hongyi cannon exploded with a loud bang, and the heavy sports car almost jumped back. The two soldiers who could not escape were immediately hit and vomited blood and fell to the ground dead.
The shell finally flew over a distance of almost two kilometers and hit a bulge in the camp. However, by this time the ballistic trajectory was so low that it could only hit the bulge wall violently and lay down a piece of soil.
"Position of enemy artillery..." The observation post finally spotted the smoke from Li Modao's Hongyi cannon when it was fired through the thick smoke.
"Destroy the enemy's artillery positions!" Ying Yu ordered, "I don't want the enemy's artillery to interfere."
But even Lin Shenhe could not guarantee that he could use the m1857 to immediately destroy these two isolated artillery positions at a distance of 2,000 meters. Several shells fired in succession were far away. Everyone was busy aiming and calculating.
, suddenly there was a loud noise from the direction of the gun emplacement of the firearms camp, and a plume of thick smoke shot straight into the sky.
"An unknown explosion occurred at the enemy's gun position!" the observation post reported.
"Did the gunpowder magazine explode?" Zhang Bolin quickly raised his telescope.
Lin Shenhe shook his head: "The explosion in the gunpowder magazine was much more violent. I think it exploded."
His estimate was correct. After firing the "super charge" twice, a cannon suddenly exploded. The shock wave and debris of the explosion instantly killed more than a dozen people around him. Li Modao was swept away by the shock wave.
He only escaped death after walking more than ten meters and fell on a dead horse.
Li Modao supported his body and climbed up. His head was dizzy and his ears were ringing. He shook his head vigorously and found that all the soldiers around him had fled, including the intact Hongyi cannon.
No matter what, several of his soldiers came and set him up. Li Modao wanted to continue loading and firing, but found that the intact cannon actually had cracks on the cannon. If he fired another cannon, he would definitely die.
He was so angry that he slashed his sword in the air.
The whistling sound of Kun Thief's artillery shells echoed in the air again. A soldier quickly snatched his knife and said, "Master, please get out of the way. The Kun Thief is about to fire again." Several other people lifted him up.
Run back.
"The enemy's artillery positions are finished." Zhang Bolin called Ying Yu.
"Very good, quickly organize artillery fire to stop the enemy's infantry!"
Although the firepower of the 12-pounder cannon was fierce, it did not make the enemy waver quickly. Although the huge damage effect produced after each shell hit the ground made some soldiers shaken and retreated, they quickly surged up again under the driving of the officers.
The officers and soldiers of the brigade have rushed to a place 500 meters away from the embankment. The howitzers of the Fubo Army also joined the roaring ranks, and explosive shells continued to fall in the ranks. Although the killing effect was average, the shells exploded when they landed.
The officers and soldiers were greatly shaken.
When they finally approached about three hundred meters away from the wall under artillery fire, the infantry officers of the Fubo Army on the wall raised their command knives at the same time:
“The ruler is 300 meters—let it go!”
Hundreds of Mini rifles made crackling sounds, and a dense rain of bullets swept across the entire front line. Hundreds of people were immediately shot and fell to the ground. This sudden blow made the already shaken infantry finally unable to hold on and rushed towards the enemy.
The road has never seemed so far and dangerous. Tong Yizhen killed several defeated troops, but still could not stop the soldiers who were retreating like a tide. He was shouting loudly, asking the generals to hold on and not allow the soldiers to flee. But a bullet
Suddenly his horse was knocked down and he immediately fell to the ground. The soldiers around him quickly picked him up. Tong Shenjiang immediately jumped on the second horse, but at this time his flag officer's armor suddenly fell on him.
There was an explosion before his eyes, and the flag officer fell off his horse without even making a sound.
This moment made his liver and gallbladder split. The thief was shooting with some kind of firearm that he couldn't see. He knew that he was already in a very dangerous situation, so he no longer insisted on continuing the attack, and allowed his soldiers and servants to escort him and retreat.
Go down. As soon as the general retreated, the soldiers ran faster. The smoke dissipated, leaving only flags, armour, and corpses on the ground.
The soldiers on the embankment burst into heartfelt cheers. Many of them had been prepared for a desperate battle, but they did not expect that the army would retreat so quickly. Pride, contempt and pride filled their hearts.
With their hearts wide open, many people waved their weapons and cheered for their first victory.
He Rubin watched helplessly as four thousand soldiers retreated under the gunfire of the Kun Thieves without even getting close to the enemy's embankment. He had high hopes that the firearms battalion, which could rival the Kun Thieves' artillery, actually had no gun emplacements.
He was beaten to the ground by the enemy's cannon before he could set it up. His face turned completely gloomy. How could he fight such a battle? There was no chance of close combat! He had already seen that the Kun Thief's cannon was more powerful than the Hongyi cannon.
It can hit far, accurately, and fire much faster. Compared with the Hongyi cannon, which takes a long time to fire a shot, the cannon set up by the Kun thieves on the embankment is spraying thick smoke and fire almost non-stop.
Projectiles rained down on the heads of the officers and soldiers.
"Lord Qi!" A soldier hurriedly ran over and knelt down, "General Zhao, General Lei Lian, was killed in battle!"
"What?!" He Rubin was startled and quickly raised his binoculars to look in the direction of Zhao Qiansi's main attack. The two thousand people were fleeing back in disarray.
A general died before the battle began! He quickly asked: "How did General Zhao die in battle?"
"Replying to your lord, I was hit by a shotgun..."
"Nonsense!" He Rubin could no longer contain his panic. "This town can clearly see that his flag is six to seven hundred steps away from the wall. How could it be shot?"
The soldier didn't know why the master was so concerned about who was killed in the battle, so he quickly reported: "I don't dare to say nonsense. General Zhao's body has been recovered and is in the camp. It was indeed shot by a shotgun."
"Get out!" He yelled angrily, took a deep breath, and loudly ordered: "Drum!"
With the sound of drums, a new wave of new troops emerged from the camp. These were the troops training for guerrillas, as well as making and pacifying the bids. They were the most elite troops in this expedition. Of course, he also had the troops to suppress the troops.
Model soldiers and five hundred servants, but this is his capital, and he will not use it until the most critical moment.
He called the generals from the three battalions and gave them face-to-face instructions.
"Everyone has seen it." He said with a gloomy face, "The Kun thief's cannon is very powerful. It can hit far and accurately. Li Modao's firearms battalion was crippled without firing - there is no hope for you.
When you are ready to set up your formation, you must remember that the teams must be loosely organized. Each team must be separated. Don't be like the two generals Tong and Zhao who were crowded and rushed upward!"
"You generals understand!"
He Rubin said slowly, "Which general's troops are the first to land on the stronghold, this town will give him the first credit!"
He Ming was very surprised to see that the army had collapsed before they even got close to Dazhai. He secretly counted his faults. The cannon on the embankment that fired the most only fired more than fifty rounds. The artillery fire was far from that.
In such a dense situation, four to five thousand troops retreated like this. Even if it was an army in the medieval times, when the Zulus attacked the British, they seemed to have defeated them until corpses were scattered all over the field. It seems that the Ming army did not have a high will to fight.
However, he heard that people from the history research team of the Great Library said that there was a big difference between the elites of the Ming army and the general troops.
"The ones who launched the attack just now were General Lei Lian and General Chaozhou." Dongmen Chuiyu had already obtained the latest reports compiled from the observation posts.
"According to the observation post: at least 31 Ming army officers of General Qian and above participated in the attack. We confirmed that 5 people were killed and 7 were suspected of being killed. According to the sniper report, Lei Lian's staff general Zhao Qiansi was killed by a sniper during the battle.
He was hit, and his life and death are unknown at the moment.”
Hearing that a sniper had hit a major general, He Ming nodded. The power of a sniper should not be underestimated. After all, no matter how powerful the artillery was, it could not achieve such a precise strike.
"The artillery fired a total of 493 artillery shells, 371 solid rounds, and 122 grenades." He turned the page and said, "Eleven Hongyi cannons were eliminated."
"Number of our casualties and lost equipment."
"Five people were slightly injured, no deaths, no losses."