The car camp is the old foundation of the original Hexi Guards Qianhu Station. Yang Fan made them miserable in training.
Later, we experienced the Battle of the Grassland. They are mature, calm and stable on the battlefield.
Immediately the four gunners started loading again. When the gun recoiled slowly to its final position, the recoil force was just exhausted and the gun stopped. This position is convenient for reloading from the muzzle. This was also originally designed.
Because they used fixed propellant wrapped in silk, they eliminated a key step that affects the rate of fire. That is to clean the barrel.
If bulk gunpowder is used, due to the gunpowder configuration issues of this era, there are still many impurities in it, which will cause sparks in it. A mop-like pier must be used, which is now dipped in water in a bucket, and then the barrel of the gun must be cleaned repeatedly to extinguish the sparks.
If you do not extinguish the scattered sparks, but directly fill it with propellant, it may ignite the propellant or explode. By this time, Europe had begun to use paper-wrapped fixed bullets on flintlock muskets. Paper-wrapped powder bags are also being experimented with on artillery.
The advantage is to avoid problems such as too much or too little propellant due to tension and interference from various factors on the battlefield. Weighing and filling bulk medicines on-site will also be blown away by strong winds and wet by rain. It is both troublesome and takes too much time.
There is also a problem with paper-wrapped bullets, that is, the paper cannot be burned completely and will leave residue. Generally, the gun must be fired twenty times and the artillery must stop shooting thirty times to clean the inner chamber. Otherwise, the blockage of residue will affect the ejection of the gun from the chamber, and there is a risk of the chamber exploding.
Yang Fan did it in one step and directly used the silk medicine bag. Silk can be burned completely without leaving any residue, which greatly saves time. However, the disadvantage is that it is expensive, and the cheapest silk cannot be compared to paper.
The reason for using a fixed propellant pack is not only to simplify the firing steps and save time, but also to reduce the weight. If the warhead and propellant are packed together, the weight will be too large, which will greatly consume the gunner's physical strength. If separated, the weight will drop by half at once. Loading will also take less effort.
According to common experience in this era, the rate of fire of the red cannon is three minutes per round. Because their time is not just wasted on the above tedious steps. The most time-consuming thing is the artillery reset.
The red cannon is a heavy artillery weighing 1.5 tons. Without firing a shot, the huge recoil will push the gun mount to move a long distance backward. If you want to fire a second shot, the heavy artillery must be reset.
If the ground is soft and uneven, the ground in the rear seat will collapse and cause the gun to tilt. The artillerymen also used shovels to rearrange the firing positions. Let the artillery rebalance. Otherwise, if the artillery is crooked, you won’t know where the shells went.
The steering vehicle designed by Yang Fan was originally a four-wheeled heavy-duty carriage equipped with bearings and a steel chassis. The car is designed with a system similar to the artillery reset of European sailing battleships. Use slide rails, ropes, and pulleys to slowly recoil and reset the heavy artillery. And use this system to adjust the up, down, left and right of the muzzle to facilitate aiming.
The 500-kilogram copper-fired cannon loaded on these sidecars can achieve a rate of fire of three rounds in two minutes. This rate of fire can be said to be shocking in this era.
At a distance of four hundred meters, it would take about three or four minutes to run over wearing armor and carrying weapons, which was enough time to fire three cannons.
Based on experience, the rebels estimated that as long as they ran faster and rushed under the side cars, they might still have time to fire. Everyone is rushing forward desperately. If you can rush under the car before they fire the second shot, you can kill the gunners and prevent them from firing.
They still have no problem dealing with gunners who don't have much fighting experience. Ming gunners did not have armor or long weapons. They are all light weapons such as short knives.
Hu Youlu shouted loudly, "Push quickly, push quickly, if it's too late, they'll fire again."
The twenty soldiers behind were running desperately to push the cart, and the two shield carts also rushed forward quickly.
Zhao Dianming stuck his head out from the wooden shield and fired a shot at the gun window of the sidecar about 300 meters away. Then, Hu Youlu stepped forward and fired.
The effective distance of the matchlock gun is only about one hundred meters. Even only eighty meters. At this distance, it's impossible to hit that
A gun window only one meter square.
However, they still have to shoot. The main purpose is to disturb the gunners and make them panic. Lead bullets can be fired two to three hundred meters away. The lead bullets from the muskets falling on the carriages would also make them frightened, fearing that they would be hit. This slows down the speed of reloading. Buy time for them to engage the enemy as soon as possible.
Dong Jishu, Zuo Liangyu and others are all veterans on the battlefield. They know the goods. Especially Zuo Liangyu. In several battles to defend the city of Ningyuan, he used firearms to fight Jiannu. If not for the mutiny in Ningyuan, the rebels killed Bi Zisu, the governor of Liaodong. Afterwards, Yuandu put the lax basin of lax control on Zuo Liangyu's head. As a result, Zuo Liangyu was transferred away from Liaodong. At this time, Zuo Liangyu was still in Ningyuan.
Dong Jishu said: "Kunshan, look at how these rebels in Ji Town are fighting."
Zuo Liangyu cupped his hands and said, "Junmen, these are veterans of many battles. They fight in a methodical manner. Even if those soldiers from Ningyuan are coming, they will not be able to defeat them."
Dong Jishu nodded and said: "Kunshan, you are right. If you say it, can you stop these people?"
Zuo Liangyu shook his head and said: "If I had the same number of troops, and the troops were Guan Ning's army, we could still fight. The current disparity of four to one in strength is probably not possible."
Zuo Liangyu still has some military level and ability. Otherwise, Chongzhen would not have transferred him to the capital. His bad luck lies with Yuan Chonghuan. Yuandu looked around, but he was not his direct descendant. If not, who would he do?
He just suffered the disadvantage of being mute and was used as a scapegoat by Yuan Chonghuan for the Ningyuan rebellion.
In history, Zhang Xianzhong attacked Sichuan and was able to annihilate Qin Liangyu's 30,000 white-pole soldiers at Zhujunping in Kuizhou with a non-dominant force. Facing Zuo Liangyu, he almost defeated him except for Fang County. If you lose a battle, it will explain the problem.
It's just that this guy's military discipline is so bad, worse than Jiannu. When common people encountered slaves, they might be captured and used as slaves. When encountering his soldiers, they really had no choice but to live or die.
Hu Dawei glared at the bull's eyes and said loudly: "Junmen, they have so many cannons. Uncle Dingyuan is really rich. These hundreds of heavy cannons are all made of copper and are so bright that they make my eyes dazzle." Blinded by the shaking."
Meng Ruhu also licked his lips and said: "If the rebels win this battle, their mother will make a fortune. How much are these coppers worth?"
