Then, several soldiers began to load gunpowder - the gunners of the Dengzhou Army used fixed charges, each package was one kilogram, and were loaded according to the range requirements. Then someone used the loading rod to plug it tightly, and there was a lot of knowledge in it. If the gunpowder is too tight, it will smolder, making it impossible to ignite. It needs to be loosened with a charging shovel, but the gunpowder may suddenly and quickly burn when loosening. [No pop-up novel website] .)
These gunners were trained by the Portuguese, so their movements were very standardized. A soldier filled the gun barrel with a large bullet, wrapped it in a wooden red cloth and put it into his belly. Then a pack of twelve small bombs was sent in. Then the gun was measured with a gun ruler, and the elevation angle of the artillery was adjusted according to the range.
This method was already high-tech in the late Ming Dynasty - the Dengzhou Army was trained by the Portuguese, and ordinary Ming Army gunners had no idea that there were so many essentials to firing artillery.
Marin Creek was carrying cannonballs. A twelve-pound cannonball was not heavy, but it was still too heavy for him, who had not only eaten pot water, crispy rice and other food for many days. Just as he was holding back the cannonball, he was suddenly kicked hard on the buttocks, causing him to fall to the ground and gnaw on the mud. The cannonball also rolled too far, and there was a burst of laughter around him.
Ma Linxi quickly got up and went straight to the cannon without even daring to raise his head. This big cannon is very valuable. According to the gunner, each one costs several dollars.
It was not easy to move the cannonballs back - the rebel gunners did not allow the civilians to roll the cannonballs on the ground. It is said that they were afraid of scratching the surface of the cannonballs and mixing them with mud and sand. This was a taboo - Marin Creek was already a His face was covered with white hair and sweat, and he was gasping for breath.
A little leader who was watching the civilian husband sneered and said lazily: "I eat very quickly, but I have no energy to move things. What a waste!" He said "brush" and pulled out his sword.
Ma Linxi was so frightened that she knelt on the ground and begged for mercy. Several civilians around her were also frightened and knelt down to beg for mercy.
Fortunately, the leader was just trying to scare the peasants. When he saw them all trembling with fear, he laughed a few times. When the peasants saw this, they quickly got up one by one and continued to carry the gunpowder.
Ma Linxi has been doing this job for more than ten days. He used to be a carpenter, carrying tools on his back to work in the countryside of Huang County, repairing farm tools and building homes for others. You can also help when building a house. Even though he had to eat and sleep in the open and earn a few hard-earned money, at least one person had enough to eat and the whole family was not hungry.
After the rebels came, the whole village was razed to the ground, and Marin Xi had no choice but to "join" with the refugees. Because of this skill, he was assigned to the artillery team - the artillery team always needs to make repairs. In the eyes of others, Marin Creek already has great benefits: the first is that they can eat on time: whether the refugees in the team have food depends on luck and fists: the rebels only give each team a meal every day. The refugees had several baskets of black buns that they didn't know how to make, so there were fights every day about eating. Several people died.
Although they worked more than cows and ate less than dogs in the artillery team - the rebels in the artillery team used them as slaves and animals. Not only did they whip and bully them from time to time, but they would also drag them out and chop off their heads one by one if they were not careful. . A few days ago, on the road to dragging artillery to Huang County, the cannon was stuck in the quagmire and could not be used. In order to urge the civilians to work hard, the artillery team's boss Qian chopped off the heads of several people in one go. It scares Marinxi so much that she has nightmares every night.
There is nothing left in Ma Linxi's mind now. Apart from mechanically following orders, she is trying to find ways to survive. As long as you can survive. He will do whatever is asked of him.
Seeing that the artillery positions were all set up, Ma Linxi and the other civilians in the artillery team were able to breathe for a moment. They were lying down or sitting one by one, and their heavy breathing filled the air, but no one dared to speak - speaking would lead to death. That's one of the lessons they've learned these days.
Chief Qian of the artillery team had no intention of playing tricks on them again, so he ordered the gunners to nail the powder bags and burn the match ropes and fire cones red, just waiting for the order to fire.
On this side of the coast, the first group of refugees had been forced to form a line by the rebels. Each group of refugees consisted of fifty people. There are also three or four escort teams. The escort teams are all bandits recruited locally by the rebels. They are fierce and brave desperadoes. Most of them have no armor and all hold swords and shields. They are detained behind each group of refugees and are specially used to drive them away. Supervise the war.
The guards and leaders of each team constantly encouraged the refugees:
"Break the stronghold. Treat the entire army with wine and meat..."
"Kill the enemy soldiers, and you will be rewarded with a white bun and one tael of silver at the first level..."
"Anyone who dares to retreat will be killed on the spot!"
Ma Linxi knew that among the people who rushed to the first line, it would be good if only three or four of the hundred could survive - he had seen too much these days. The rebels were just taking the lives of the people and consuming the ammunition and arrows of the defenders. The trenches were filled with corpses.
Fortunately, I have this skill and can still save my life.
While thinking wildly, suddenly there was a sound of gunfire in the air, and everyone was stunned. Ma Linxi looked up and saw a line of smoke rising from the sea, and a beautiful arc coming straight towards the sand embankment.
He was stunned for less than a second with his mouth wide open, and suddenly he jumped to the ground as if he understood, and crawled behind the mound using both hands and feet.
Almost at the same time, a cannonball fell from the sky and landed on the ice next to the artillery team. There was a loud bang.
The shattered shell fragments and ice fragments flew in all directions, and the nearby rebels and refugees who had no time to escape screamed and fell to the ground covered in blood.
Then, more gunfire came from the ice and from the direction of the island's fortress. Under the clear blue sky, the shells trailing white smoke tracks pierced the air, whistling and falling towards the sand embankment.
Shells continued to fall around the six Hongyi cannons. The deafening explosions came one after another. Thick smoke and fire still enveloped the entire artillery position.
Showing off his power, Mr. Qian, who always kills decisively and kills people like chickens, has been blown into more than a dozen pieces in the first bombardment. One of his arms fell on Ma Linxi's head, almost scaring him. die.
God! This Xiangyong's cannon is so powerful! Just as Marin Creek's thoughts turned, a 68-pound spherical grenade dropped with a hiss and sparks, directly hitting the cart containing the gunpowder. With a flash of fire, several gun carriages loaded with gunpowder were detonated at the same time. The huge The air wave lifted Marin Creek directly from the ground.
For a moment, Ma Linxi thought he was dead. He was completely out of breath and his eyesight turned black. It took a while to recover, but I felt like the world was spinning, my ears were buzzing, and I couldn't hear anything. I could only see a black and red field in front of my eyes, which was burning and burning. After calming down, he saw Qian Erlun, a civilian who was with him, lying motionless under a blown-up wheel, with blood all over his body. Qian Erlang used to give him half a bowl of noodle soup, and the two of them were friends in need. He quickly climbed over and pushed Qian Erleng, only to see Qian Erleng roll over and roll down the sand embankment, leaving bloodstains all the way and scattered internal organs on the ground - only Half of the body above the chest was cut off, as if it had been cut in half by a big guillotine.
Ma Linxi didn't know if he yelled, but he couldn't hear anything. I could only see the vehicles, cannons and human corpses in front of me mixed with the soil being constantly lifted up, torn into pieces and then fell down. He let out a silent scream and drilled his head hard into the ground.
Lu Yang was on the bridge of the Taishuang, using his binoculars to search in vain for the situation on the sand embankment - black smoke was billowing in the distance, and the shells fired from the surface battleships and the wicker-edged bastions had completely covered the target area. He could see no effect of the shelling at such a distance.
However, based on the level of fire coverage, the rebel artillery team that was completely exposed on the ground should no longer exist. He observed at least three gunpowder explosions through his telescope.
A "stop shooting" signal rocket was fired from Qimu Island.
"Stop shooting from all ships!" he ordered, walking quickly to the radio station, and sure enough, Chen Sigen was calling him.
"The artillery position has been eliminated. Transfer firepower to area 2976 in five minutes. Use shrapnel!"
"In five minutes, transfer firepower to area 2976 and fire shrapnel!" Lu Yang repeated his instructions. The gunnery commander and several sergeants were leaning over the work table, working intensively with slide rules and gauges.
In order to save calculation time and adapt to the low-level artillery commanders, they adopted a numbered calibrated shooting mode. All areas around Qimu Island were numbered in squares, and each square had a specific firing table. Ensure that each area can be targeted with concentrated fire in the shortest possible time.
The 130mm cannon on the 901 gunboat was emitting wisps of white smoke. The gunners scrubbed the barrel of the gun as quickly as possible, quickly cleaning up the dregs after continuous firing, so that the gun body could cool down as quickly as possible.
Conical shrapnel shells and cylindrical silk medicine bags have been lifted to the deck on tackles and are waiting to be loaded.
Chen Sigen put down the telescope: the sea breeze had blown away the gunpowder smoke in the distance. Although the burning gun carriage was still emitting billowing smoke, there was no longer a complete cannon or a living person visible through the telescope. The power of grenade coverage shooting is truly amazing. Now that the biggest threat has been removed, all that's left is the rabble. He went down to the fort from the observation platform. The two navy's 68-pound carronade guns had returned to the horizontal position, and the gunners were quickly scrubbing the gun barrels. The direct range of this kind of gun is very short: only fifty meters, but the shells fired are extremely powerful and have a very strong damage effect on wooden ships. Chen Sigen had no battleship target available, so he used it as a mortar this time.
When firing in a straight direction, the ballistic trajectory of the carronade is similar to that of a mortar, and its range is naturally much longer. The 68-pound grenades fired continuously just now exerted considerable power - the power of high-density loaded black powder was far greater than Chen Sigen's best estimate.
A few more rounds of shrapnel will keep the enemy from being defeated.
"Load all artillery with shrapnel!" he ordered. The cannons on the wicker side fort, including two 68-pound carronade cannons and four 24-pound smoothbore cannons, all began to be loaded with this terrible shell.
