Chapter 198: Deployment
Loaded with iron bullets, the Crouching Tiger Cannon has a firing range of almost one mile, and the Great God Cannon can certainly shoot farther - but don't expect any accuracy.
The 400-pound cannons in the arsenal of Chengdu Prefecture have cannon carriages, and the huge wooden wheels must be blocked with bricks and stones when firing. Although it is extremely heavy, it can still be moved after being dragged by dozens of people; the Tiger Crouching Cannon, which weighs only a few dozen kilograms, has to be fired stationary. As the name suggests, this small cannon is wrapped with thick iron claws and must be firmly fixed on the ground with long nails before firing. It looks like a crouching tiger, hence its name. Because it is too light, if it is not fixed properly, the huge recoil will lift the gun body and somersault backwards for several feet. It is hard to say whether it can hit the enemy. There is no suspense about killing or maiming one of your own. ——So Qi Jiguang specifically stipulated that under any circumstances, the Tiger Crouching Cannon must be fired outside the camp, and no one should be allowed in the fan-shaped area behind it.
This is a weapon designed with the primary goal of restraining infantry group charges. It is usually loaded with hundreds of small iron bullets and stone bullets weighing several dollars for probabilistic area damage, with an effective killing range of more than ten feet. There are a total of five squatting tiger cannons in Sun Jie's army. In order to overcome the disadvantage of having to fire fixedly, Sun Jie thought about making artillery carriages for them. From beginning to end, they can only fire at one angle and in one specific direction, which greatly limits such a big killer. The power of the gun truck - with the gun carriage, you can change the direction at will, and you can also make some slight adjustments to the pitch angle by padding the wheels, etc., and its power can be increased exponentially. But he soon discovered that a more serious problem had arisen: lighter gun carriages also faced the problem of recoil, and would even explode into pieces, causing greater harm to his own people. If they were made strong and heavy enough, , it will seriously slow down the marching speed. The Sun Division is a field army. It is not a problem to put a gun barrel weighing several dozen kilograms on a baggage truck. It can even be carried by auxiliary soldiers on narrow mountain roads! To get a frame weighing several hundred kilograms out of thin air for this thing is obviously not worth the gain. Fortunately, the Sun Army's combat capabilities were first-rate. Since Sun Jie took the lead, apart from drills and daily drills, several cannons had not been used in actual combat. They often won with a hand-to-hand charge, so Sun Jie didn't pay much attention.
Shen Gang heard that five of the seven cannons on the wall had exploded, so he brought two to Sun Jie from the camp. Sun Jie asked the auxiliary soldiers of the Chengdu Central Guard to drive out two huge wooden bases overnight, which were five feet square and more than three feet thick. He nailed the cannon to the wooden frame and blocked it with big rocks. The weight was quite heavy. It can overcome the recoil, and the shooting direction can be adjusted left and right by pulling the thick rope on the base without considering the efficiency of the shooting. The two cannons, one on the left and one on the right, were placed above the city gate and were dedicated to guarding the city gate. This replaced the bed crossbow that could adjust the shooting direction at will to deal with the temporary targets that threatened the most.
Outside the city, Sun Jie also built a simple fortification about ten feet away from the wall, with his back facing the city gate. He transferred Team C from Changjie Battalion, and asked Lao Shun to allocate half a hundred households of troops to supplement them. They were all commanded by Shi Meng, the officer of Team C. This Shi Meng was Shi Erlei's father.
The reason why a fortification was set up outside the gate at this time was because Sun Jie had previously been confident that the city's firepower could ensure the safety of the city gate under She Chongming's previous attacks. At this time, most of the heavy defense equipment had failed, and he had to rely on brave men. The soldiers guarded the city gate without losing it. The truth is simple: not enough equipment? Human lives come together! In Luo Qianxiang's words, "That's it"!
Of course the city gate is closed, and there are several gate-blocking carts standing by in case of emergency, but the side door on the gate is open, so that the soldiers in front of the gate can access the two gates directly above the city head. The fire support of artillery and archers can also enter and exit through the side door, take turns to rest in the door opening, and evacuate the wounded. The most important reason is: Sun Jie wants to counterattack! When Luo Qianxiang led his troops and suddenly rebelled, all the defenders on the Chengdu wall would come out to attack. After driving the Yi thieves away from the battlefield, the soldiers of Chengdu Zhongwei returned to the city, and the soldiers of Changjie Camp and Shuinao Village The local soldiers continued to cover up the killing until they drove She Chongming's main force into the trap set by Shen Gang in Longquanyi.
Facing the huge siege tower, the small projectiles of the Crouching Tiger Cannon were only scratching the surface. The well-trained Sun Jun artillery team still loaded half of the normal amount - and then used a large iron bullet to seal it. The two gunners watched the mallet gently knocking the iron bullet into the barrel of the gun. Then they raised their eyes and carefully observed the approaching tower. They quickly estimated the target's route in their minds, and then each pulled out a bamboo tube from their waist. Put it on the gun body, lean down and aim from the distance from the bamboo tube, wave your other hand, instruct the young men to pull the rope of the gun frame, and point the muzzle in the direction where the target is expected to pass.
The Chengdu Central Guard now has more men than cannons, and Lao Shun picked them up. The only two great cannons left have been equipped with the best gun crews...well, relatively speaking. Sun Jie repeatedly emphasized that since it takes a long time to cool down the barrel after each firing and reloading, it is better to put the thieves closer to attack to ensure the hit rate. Both cannons must sound like a crouching tiger cannon. Shooting signal.
In order to preserve their physical strength and quickly charge to the wall after approaching, the towers that had entered the shooting range still moved very slowly; at the same time, in order to interfere with the aiming and shooting, the first charge was the Miao infantry under the cover of the carriage. Ordinary bows and crossbows could not deal with the carts, and Sun Jie had to use artillery sparingly. These carts did provide effective protection for many Yi soldiers... However, their drawbacks soon became apparent.
When the Yi soldiers shouted and rushed to the city wall about ten feet away, there was a sharp bamboo whistle. They did not wait for the expected rain of arrows, but hundreds of black objects as big as fists were thrown from the top of the city... Fall down and explode overhead!
Explode the can!
Debris flew everywhere. Although the Yi soldiers who were the first to charge were wearing captured iron armor and cotton armor, those who were hit on the head, face, and limbs certainly fell to the ground, and those who were hit by the armor couldn't bear it either! Seven or eight carriages lost control, stopped or overturned. The explosion in the air also exposed the weakness of the Yi soldiers who were huddled behind the carriages. They covered their heads and looked up at Bantian. In their sight, hundreds of explosive cans were fired at them. Come down by yourself...
This was the first time for the Yi soldiers to see explosive cans. By the time the men had thrown three rounds, the wall was already full of figures running for cover. The crossbowmen on the wall began to aim and shoot under the orders of their respective stack commanders. The Yi archers hid behind the carts and fired back towards the city, which kicked off today's bloody battle.
Shi Meng, who was behind the gate in front of the gate, shouted loudly, and threw out the Zhangwu spear in his hand through the first wooden fence, hitting an enemy who was charging at him with the sword raised, and then slammed back. , the body was blocked by the fence, and collapsed limply. The blood spurted out and splashed all over Lao Shi's face... This was the first Yi soldier to die in front of the city gate today.
