Ying Yu raised his telescope and looked towards Anping again. Unfortunately, there was no decent vantage point here. The altitude of the sand dunes was only six or seven meters, which was only slightly higher than the city wall of Anping. From here, he could barely see the streets of Anping Town. , unable to clearly overlook Zheng Zhilong’s mansion. 【Read full text】
Ying Yu shook his head. As the captain of the army's artillery training team, he had rarely been seen in public in recent years, and all his energy was focused on artillery shooting and training - although the smoothbore guns widely equipped by the army and navy were the same as the 130mm that he had used in the past. Cannons have nothing in common.
This basic version of the howitzer seemed to him almost like a toy, but it was already the crystallization of the highest technology in the Senate's industrial system. He had been exploring several new types of front-loading and breech-loading rifled guns manufactured by the machinery factory for almost six months, from the successful trial production to the trials in the army, and he had already figured out the ballistic performance and shooting essentials of these artillery.
The reason why he was asked to preside over the artillery surprise attack on Anping this time was not only because he was familiar with artillery, but also because he was one of the very few veterans who could carry out beyond-visual-range artillery attacks - let alone naturalized citizens. On. After all, so far, the artillery used by the Fubo Army and Navy has almost all fired within visual range, even the curved artillery.
In terms of the range of the 32-year-old brigade artillery, the entire Anping Town is within its effective fire coverage, but it is very difficult to accurately hit Zheng Zhilong's residence without observation. Something happened.
The map of Anping Town and Zheng Zhilong's residence that the former Foreign Intelligence Service spent more than half a year drawing: This map was not easy to draw: it was easy to sneak into Anping, and it was not too difficult to sneak into Zheng Zhilong's mansion, but it took several months of training. It would be too difficult for an almost blind person to use the foot test method to accurately map out a map for artillery firing command, so Ying Yu did not have much confidence in using this map for accurate artillery bombardment.
Fortunately, they still have large model aircraft, and a few months ago the Foreign Intelligence Service organized an aerial flyover of Anping. We took a bird's-eye view of the entire Anping Town, and then based on the personnel's on-site surveying and mapping, we drew a large-scale accurate map with grid coordinates.
The brief appearance of the model aircraft caused a commotion in Anping and surrounding areas. For a time, there were different opinions. Various temples in Jinjiang and Nan'an either explicitly or implicitly stated that this "miracle" was related to domestic gods. For a time, the temples were booming. . However, there are also prophecies indicating that there will be a "catastrophe" soon, and some are more straightforward, directly saying that the Zheng family will be destroyed.
Although there was no special propaganda purpose in SIA's intention, the effect was unexpected.
With this map, he can confidently shoot beyond visual range. But without observing the point of impact, shooting correction cannot be made. Due to the limited height, it is difficult to accurately identify the target when observing falling bombs from the commanding heights outside the city. The use of model aircraft has higher requirements for transmitting data. Moreover, model aircraft are too expensive and should not be used frequently. After careful consideration, we decided to adopt a stupid method: once the shelling started, we would temporarily set up a 9-meter-high aluminum alloy folding ladder on the top of the dune. Secure with ropes. The observer climbs to the top to observe.
Ying Yu directed his team members to dig a pit and set up the artillery. After correcting the position, they carefully marked it with positioning stakes. The movement range of the retracting gun is too large, and there will be a large position change after each shot, making it difficult to accurately correct the parameters. Although the 32-year-old brigade gun was equipped with a friction disc braking system, it was not a real barrel-retracting gun after all. After shooting, the gun body still moved slightly. Ying Yu tried many times and finally adopted this crude method to solve the problem.
After placing the gun position, he once again checked the position, angle and direction of the artillery based on the map and compass points. Several team members hummed as they moved the shell boxes to their side and opened them one by one. Ying Yu took out a grenade. Install the detonating signal tube, load it into the gun barrel, and then install the brass cartridge that acts as a breather. Then close the breech and insert the flame tube. Think everything fits. Just made an "ok" gesture.
The team members began to put camouflage nets on the artillery and fortifications to disguise themselves. Sprinkle water in front of the muzzle. Xue Ziliang squinted his eyes and looked at the dawning sky. Estimate the time to start the bombardment. There are 40 rounds of artillery shells prepared for the Zheng Mansion, half of which are grenades and half of which are shrapnel. The plan was to bombard the Zheng Mansion with grenades first, so that the people inside would panic and run for their lives. Then use shrapnel to cover and shoot over the escaping crowd, killing indiscriminately. Although most of the casualties must have been servants in the mansion, there was no doubt that a number of important figures in the Zheng family could be killed.
Once the Zheng Mansion falls into chaos and the navy launches another bombardment of Anping, it will inevitably force the Zheng family's main mission to escape from Kaicheng. At this time, the sniper squads distributed on the main roads can go on a killing spree.
Xue Ziliang looked at his watch. It was now 4:50 in the morning. The operator reported that all teams had sent "get in position" signals. He cheered up and began to check the defense situation around the sand dunes - they were not using smokeless propellant, and the white gunpowder smoke would soon reveal the position of the artillery, so be prepared for a counterattack by the enemy forces in the city.
At 5:12, a dull sound of artillery sounded in the distance, not much louder than the thunder in the distance. Xue Ziliang and Ying Yu couldn't help but look towards Weitou Bay: It's finally started!
The gunfire became more intense, and thick black smoke began to appear on the horizon. Although Xue Ziliang didn't know the specific battle situation, he knew from the few words from the headquarters that the battle was going smoothly - of course, it was unlikely that it would not go smoothly. In Xue Ziliang's view, this was simply a sign of bullying.
From the telescope, I saw a commotion at the top of Anping City. According to reports from each team: Anping Town is now closed with four gates and no one is entering or exiting.
"From now on, we will closely monitor whether anyone comes in or out of Anping, and any stray people who come in or out will be shot to death." Xue Ziliang gave the order on the walkie-talkie, "If there are any abnormalities, report them immediately."
Although the situation in the city could not be seen clearly, the bells and drums soon sounded in the city, as if summoning people, and then the whine of horns was heard. The soldiers on the top of the city were scurrying around like headless flies. Soon, The entire Anping city was covered with defense soldiers.
The fleet under Anping City also became nervous, and Xue Ziliang noticed that the ship also became busy instantly.
Xue Ziliang knew: armies in medieval times rarely took the risk of marching at night. Therefore, even if Anping wants to reinforce Weitou, it will have to wait until dawn. In other words, the fleet reinforcements will not be available until at least half past five. The army will come later - the mobilization level of the army in the medieval era was very low, and troops could not be dispatched in a hurry. Not to mention that before that, commanders who had not received news would be indecisive because they could not judge the situation.
Cutting off contact between Anping and other places made it impossible for the main commanders of the Zheng family to confirm the situation on the front line. This was the most effective action to delay and disrupt tactical deployment.
"Put up the ladder!" Xue Ziliang gave the order, and several team members immediately set up the aluminum alloy folding ladder. This aluminum alloy folding ladder was 9 meters high when fully unfolded. The team members used four cable stays to fix it. An observation team member rushed up with a telescope and walkie-talkie around his neck, and climbed up using both hands and feet. The top end of the ladder. Ignoring the swaying of the ladder, he sat astride the highest point and used a telescope to observe the situation in Anping Town.
The situation in the town was chaotic, but there was no sign of a large-scale military concentration. It was obvious that the Zheng family had not judged the situation and made a decision. Xue Ziliang felt that the opportunity was just right and immediately waved his hand: "Start taking action!"
Ying Yu knelt down on one leg, and with a pull of the matchlock, the artillery shot back violently. The friction plate played its role in retarding the artillery. The range of the artillery's recoil was very small, and the shells roared into the sky accompanied by thick white smoke. Xue Ziliang's eyes followed the trajectory of the cannonball. The arc-shaped trajectory passed high over the Anping City Wall and fell towards the Zheng Mansion.
"Reset!" He shouted, and the two team members pushed the cannon wheel, stared at the mark, and pushed the cannon back to its original position.
Ying Yu opened the breech and the hot brass cartridge came out of the barrel. He took the second shell from the team member and quickly completed the loading of the second shell. He waited for the observer to report the impact point of the first shell. He planned to use 4 shells to correct the firing point. Each shell was estimated to fly in the air for 15 seconds before landing and exploding. After calibrating the impact point, he fired rapidly at a rate of one round every 10 seconds.
It would be nice if it was a mortar. He has some small regrets: it is not a problem to fire a mortar every two seconds. Although mortar was an infantry major and had nothing to do with his artillery major, at least the ballistics were similar.
The first shell from the correct firing point hit the street in front of the Zheng Mansion. When it exploded, a ball of fire rose up and bricks flew across. Several pedestrians on the street were killed on the spot. The tiles of nearby houses on the street were destroyed. It fell down and shattered into pieces.
Ying Yu rotated the adjustment handle of the height machine based on the observer's report, raised the muzzle slightly, and fired the second shell.
The second shell directly hit the roof of the car hall, blowing a big hole in the roof of the car hall and sending tiles flying from the roof gutter.
Ying Yu began to sweat on his forehead. He glanced at the map coordinates, used the handles with both hands to adjust the altitude and azimuth angles, and the third shell banged out of the chamber.
The hit coordinates of the third artillery shell came from the intercom. The shell landed at the intended target: the pond in the backyard of Dunren Pavilion, where Zheng Zhilong's office was used for meetings. A water column was set off, and several ornamental waterfowl were lifted into the sky by the air waves. .
Ying Yu looked at the map again and knew that he had roughly calibrated the target. He turned the handle slightly again. The fourth shell directly hit the eaves of the front yard of Dunren Pavilion, killing several footmen and soldiers waiting for orders on the spot.
