As the Hongyi artillery, Folang machine guns and other artillery on the Ming army's artillery array stopped bombarding, a larger number of large Huzun artillery and other mortar artillery were pushed out, with a total of four or five white guns!
Compared with Hongyi cannon and Folang machine cannon, these mortars are very lightweight. Some smaller-caliber mortars can even be carried and fired directly by soldiers.
On the artillery array, four to five hundred mortars have been loaded. These artillery can fire both solid bullets and "explosive bullets."
At this time, while Liu Yan was amazed at the large number and comprehensive types of artillery equipped by various departments of the Ming army, he was also very concerned about whether he would see the explosive ammunition of this era.
Thinking of the high efficiency of relying on fragments to kill enemies after the explosion of artillery shells in later generations, Liu Yan felt hot in his heart. If the Ming army's artillery could use similar explosive shells on a large scale, the results of the previous shelling would have been doubled several times, and it was even possible to directly Defeat the Qing army!
However, Liu Yan was a little disappointed. Qian Qian next to him heard Liu Yan asking about the explosive ammunition, and said: "I don't know, sir. Almost no one uses explosive ammunition now, and the artillery in other towns and armies are also Solid artillery shells. For no other reason than that it is too difficult and costly to manufacture explosive shells, and the misfire rate remains high. Although the lethality is much higher than that of solid shells, it is difficult to popularize the equipment."
"However, my subordinates heard before the war that the Dubiao Camp was equipped with some explosive shells, which were specially allocated from the capital's arsenal. However, my subordinates are not optimistic about the effect of these explosive shells. The specific lethality is as high as I no longer know."
Liu Yan felt disappointed when he heard this, and thought to himself: "I wonder if the Firearms Manufacturing Department can perfect the manufacturing process of explosive bullets?"
At the same time, many gunners on the artillery array have observed the range of the mortar and adjusted the ejection angle of the artillery. This is basically the same as firing the Hongyi cannon, but the elevation angle of the mortar is higher. Then the ammunition hand took out a propellant pack and put it into the barrel of the cannon. The next process was very different from the Hongyi cannon.
Because after adding the propellant package, the mortar still needs to be filled with some soil, about one or two inches thick, and then the shells are put in.
Those Ming army gunners took out some explosive shells, which are actually special shells that require a fuze, corresponding to the flight distance of the cannonball, and then explode at a specified location. This requires the fuze technology of the military factory, and this is why the explosive shells are difficult to popularize. one of the reasons.
At this time, the Ming Dynasty's explosive bombs used a hollow reed tube with a built-in powder twister, which was cut to a corresponding length according to the target distance before loading. This creates a problem. Depending on the quality of the artillery shells and the quality of the fuze, the artillery shells can easily explode early or late, making it impossible to effectively kill enemy troops.
Moreover, Liu Yan used a telescope to observe the artillery array in front, and saw that after the gunners put in the shells, they separated them with a layer of wet soil, and finally sealed the muzzles with wax, leaving only the fuses of the shells exposed.
Liu Yan guessed that this was to prevent the flames and power generated by the propellant from causing the shell to explode in the chamber or explode prematurely. After all, it was no better than a solid iron ball. The outside of the blasting cannon was just a thin layer of iron. This makes the operation of firing explosive shells very troublesome and quite dangerous. The processing of the shells is more time-consuming and material-consuming. No wonder the explosive shells are not popular. Solid shells are commonly used in artillery camps in various places.
After a long time, in front of everyone's attention, the first wave of mortars in the artillery formation was prepared, this time firing poisonous smoke bombs.
The so-called poisonous smoke bomb means that in addition to gunpowder, the inside of the explosive bomb also contains poisons such as wolfsbane, asphalt, arsenic, etc. When the explosive bomb explodes, strong poisonous smoke will be produced. Not only can the explosion kill the enemy, but the poison can also Smoke can also cause considerable damage to enemy troops.
"emission!"
As a general supervising the battle roared loudly, four to five hundred mortars opened fire immediately. Two gunners nervously stepped forward for each mortar. One person first lit the poisonous smoke bomb fuse at the muzzle, and the other quickly lit it. The medicine twist on the fire door.
Everyone looked at the two fuses that emitted sparks from each cannon, especially the gunners, who were more worried that the fuses of the poisonous smoke bombs would burn out in advance, so that the poisonous smoke would cause harm to their own people.
With a dull roar, four or five white mortars fired in a short period of time, spewing out large plumes of thick smoke and fire. The cannon bodies barely vibrated, and poisonous smoke bombs flew out of the cannon bodies and ran towards the Qing army's positions at high speed.
In the Ming army's formation, whether it was Hong Chengchou, Zhang Ruoqi, Ma Shaoyu, Liu Yan, Wu Sangui and others, they all looked nervously at the white smoke of the artillery shells streaking through the air. There were several booms and several huge fires appeared in the air. Several cannonballs exploded in advance in the air, and strange clouds of green smoke filled the sky in those places.
At this time, on the Qing army's position, most of the earthen and stone walls of the first line of defense had collapsed. Taking advantage of the lull in the Ming army's artillery fire, the Qing army soldiers were roaring and commanding their followers or slaves to move earth and stone and step up. Repair collapsed defense lines in various places, or be busy rescuing the wounded everywhere.
The densely packed crowd began to be busy like a large number of ants. While they were busy, they were also worried about the Ming army opening fire again.
Fortunately, there was no movement in the Ming army's position for a long time, and everyone breathed a sigh of relief. At this moment, another rumbling sound of artillery was heard from the Ming army's position. Within the defense line, whether it was Manchu soldiers, Korean soldiers, or soldiers and horses of various banners of the Han army, they suddenly became a mess and looked for hiding places. Dodge the projectiles.
There were hundreds of artillery shells fired at this time. Except for some shells that exploded in advance in the air, most of the artillery shells successfully fell into the Qing army's defense line. Regardless of the Eight Banners Manchurian Army, the Eight Banners Han Army, or the Korean soldiers, At this time, everyone screamed in fright.
But then everyone discovered with lingering fear that this wave of artillery shells fired by the Ming army did not have the power of the previous artillery shells. Although they fell high from the sky, they did not damage many defenses and did not kill many people. Of course, There are also many unlucky people who are directly hit, so that's a different matter.
At the same time, many Qing soldiers looked at those cannons and felt that they were very different from the round solid cannonballs before. Many people were curious, and some even wanted to come closer and watch.
Suddenly someone saw that the fuse on the shell was burning, and a knowledgeable person exclaimed: "It's a poisonous smoke bomb!"
"It's a gray bullet, big guy, run!"
boom!
In an instant, explosions were heard one after another on the Qing army's position, and thick smoke could be seen everywhere on the defense line, either gray-white, turquoise, or even pure black, all of which were poisonous smoke bombs with different formulas. Caused by.
The thick smoke filled the air, choking the Qing soldiers and causing them to cough. Many of them even vomited directly, and then fell unconscious.
Most of the Qing soldiers who inhaled the thick smoke felt dizzy and had splitting headaches. Then I felt frightened and short of breath, and felt like I was suffocating. They desperately reached out to ask for help from others. Then he wanted to speak, but found that he couldn't. He only made a sound in his mouth and his whole body twitched violently.
Some people found it difficult to see after inhaling the poisonous smoke. They ran around howling in fear, vomiting loudly while running around, and their bodies were covered with dirt. Some people were running with their mouths in their noses and mouths at the same time. Dark blood flowed from time to time, adding to their fear.
Then there was another loud noise, and hundreds of mortars from the Ming army's artillery array fired a second round. The shells kept roaring and landed in front and behind the Qing army's position.
Large plumes of poisonous smoke spread throughout the position after the explosion. Together with the rising sun, it made people feel so uncomfortable.
Although the poisonous smoke fired was not as bloody and tragic as the solid iron ball of the Hongyi Cannon, the chaos caused was even worse.
A lot of poisonous smoke fell in front of the main wall of the trench. Because the wind happened to blow towards the mountains, large areas of poisonous smoke continued to float towards the wall and behind the mountains.
Those Qing soldiers almost coughed their lungs out, and vomited blood everywhere. Everyone looked at the thick smoke everywhere in horror, feeling that they had no way to hide, and screamed in despair. m.
The generals of the Qing army also worked hard to maintain the integrity of the defense line, constantly killing deserters everywhere, and killed many people one after another, but the entire defense line still became shaky.
"Cover your mouth and nose with a wet cloth!"
I don't know who shouted, and almost all the Qing soldiers began to search for water bags, tearing cloth everywhere, covering their mouths and noses when they got wet.
Suddenly, a poisonous smoke bomb was fired at the pier of the Empress Temple. Four huge Hongyi cannons of the Qing army were placed on the pier. There were many Qing artillerymen, archers, and gunners gathered at the crenels.
Everyone watched as a huge cannonball fell on the stage. The eyes of all the Qing soldiers froze, and then everyone fled in all directions.
There was a loud bang, and the cannonball exploded half a foot away from the pier. Thick fire and smoke rose, and then the choking poisonous smoke filled the pier. All the defenders at the crenels ran away in the blink of an eye, scrambling to escape under the pier.
This pier is relatively simple. There is no door on the upper floor to block the poisonous smoke. If we gather on the pier, it will be a dead end.
In the pier, Jia Lazhang Jingyanzha, who had been hiding here, looked pale and stared dumbly not far away. Waves of smoke were drifting towards the arrow window in the direction of the wind, getting closer and closer.
Standing next to Yan Zha were Jia La Zhangjing of the Zhengbai Banner of the Han Army, the North Korean Army Staff Officer, and some Niulu Zhangjings of various banners, who were also swallowing heavily. Although their mouths and noses were covered with wet cloths, they were still very afraid of the poisonous smoke that kept coming.
The veins on Yan Zha's forehead were throbbing violently. He wanted to leave the Empress Temple temporarily, but he couldn't hold back his face.
At this moment, a group of people ran down from upstairs shouting, and they all shouted with pale faces: "Poisonous smoke, poisonous smoke!"
Everyone was startled when they saw streams of strange-colored smoke floating down the stairs.
Upon seeing this, Yan Zha gritted his teeth and shouted loudly: "Let's go! Go down to the ridge, anyway, the Ming army has not come up!"
With Yan Zha taking the lead, all the Qing soldiers and horses in the pier followed and ran out.
As soon as everyone ran out of the pier, they heard another whistling sound of cannonballs. Several huge round cannonballs fell down, and one shell exploded just above everyone's heads.
In the burst of fire and blue smoke, there was another distinctive and choking smell spreading, and a large cloud of white powder fell down. Several Qing soldiers who were covered in white powder immediately covered their eyes and howled miserably. They all covered their eyes and howled.
These are all gray bullets fired by the Ming army!
Some people died, but not completely...
