White phosphorus bombs are one of the most evil weapons in Xiao Letian's arsenal. They have both burning and chemical attack attributes. They attack indiscriminately all day long, even if it rains or snows, they will not affect the effectiveness of white phosphorus bombs, even on the water. When used, white phosphorus will have a larger diffusion surface with the help of water flow.
The first person to taste the power of white phosphorus bombs was Li Hongzhang, the commander-in-chief of the Huai Army who had just established his own battalion. This former Hunan Army staff member who had defected to Cixi was trying to block Xiao Letian's troops in the capital area without overestimating his capabilities. The white phosphorus bomb in the heavy rain taught them a profound lesson, a memory they will never forget.
The sky fire cannot be extinguished by heavy rain, and the blue flames can burn directly into the seams of people's bones. No matter how much water you pour on them, you can't extinguish these flames.
Not only that, the burning of white phosphorus can also produce highly toxic gases. All soldiers who breathed this gas would suffocate and die with their faces turned blue. Their appearance before death was extremely terrifying.
It is precisely because the weapon effect of white phosphorus bombs is so terrifying that in the mouths of the people of the Qing Dynasty, this weapon has been covered with many mysterious colors, such as the theory of heavenly fire, the theory of will-o'-the-wisp, Xiao Letian's command of heavenly soldiers and generals, and even the possession of evildoers. Revenge and other random rumors.
In fact, during the Manchu and Qing dynasties, this theory of gods and ghosts was very popular, and sometimes some people even secretly promoted the spread of this theory. Don't say that the ancients were stupid, in fact they were very smart.
Xiao Letian once heard the story of "Yin soldiers borrowing grain". It said that a grain depot in the Qing Dynasty was haunted. Everyone in the city knew that a group of Yin soldiers had come and borrowed grain. Rumors spread throughout half of the Qing Dynasty. The final result of the investigation was unexpected.
The so-called secret soldiers borrowing grain is actually nothing more than a deliberate attempt by officials to cover up their sins of embezzling grain and selling official grain privately. This is actually just an ancient public opinion war.
Corrupt officials, in particular, are very good at using this kind of public opinion war.
Li Hongzhang failed and was beaten by Xiao Letian's new army without the ability to fight back. Originally, the court would be held accountable for this disastrous defeat. But strangely, not only was Li Hongzhang not punished after the incident, but the army he led was punished. With the support of more military expenditures from the imperial court, the number of battalions was even increased.
Li Hongzhang is now stationed in Shandong and Jiangsu, desperately recruiting troops and accumulating strength.
Why does this abnormal situation occur? On the one hand, this is the result of the competition of political power in the court, and on the other hand, it is also due to the court's instinct to drive the enemy of its enemies.
To put it bluntly, just because Li Hongzhang let Xiao Letian be killed so badly, this proved from the side that Li Hongzhang and the court were of the same mind. Li Hongzhang and Xiao Letian definitely did not flirt with each other secretly. They were reliable and reusable officials.
Look, things in the world are so ridiculous. Sometimes defeating a battle can be a blessing in disguise. Can the thinking circuit of ordinary people reach this level?
Under the influence of this mentality, the court or Li Hongzhang seemed to be resentful of the failure, and gnashed their teeth at Tianhuo on the surface, but they did not think so in their hearts.
Instead of stopping the spread of superstitious rumors about white phosphorus bombs, these people sent people to secretly add fuel to the flames. To be honest, most of the rumors in the Qing Dynasty about Xiao Letian's ability to command Skyfire to fight were actually spread by Li Hongzhang's forces.
Is it difficult to understand? In fact, it is very simple. The more Li Hongzhang praises Xiao Letian, the less guilty he will be for failure, and the superstitious people will not blame him, but will blame him.
"Yes, Xiao Letian can control heavenly fire and ghost fire. Such people have to be dealt with by eminent monks. It is understandable that Li Hongzhang defeated him..."
Haha, the sage said, "The people can follow it, but they cannot know it." Now, it has risen to the level of "The people can deceive it, but they cannot know it."
Common people of the Qing Dynasty, just feel free to be deceived. Do you want to get the real information? Grandma! You know everything, how can I govern you?
In this political environment, a piece of obviously very important military information was turned into a myth by the Manchus and the Qing Dynasty, and finally the military attachés of the European powers were confused.
These Europeans have been dealing with the Qing Dynasty for many years. Of course, they know that Qing officials are good at using superstitious stories to excuse their incompetence. Li Hongzhang made up a story about sky fire after losing the war. This possibility is almost 100%.
Everyone has relaxed their vigilance, no one pays too much attention to this new weapon, and many people are not even aware of the existence of this weapon.
Because Xiao Letian then hid the white phosphorus bomb deeply and never used it once.
Xiao Letian's considerations were very deep. First of all, in the mid-19th century, humans had not yet invented a safe method for refining phosphate rock. The existing phosphate rock was extracted manually in laboratories, which was very dangerous. Therefore, the output of white phosphorus bombs has always been There are very few and it is impossible to equip an army on a large scale.
The real effective large-scale utilization of white phosphate rock in human history should have only started in the early 20th century, and it is still at least fifty years away.
The main reason is that the output is low and cannot be mass-produced. Another important factor is that white phosphorus bombs are too dangerous. This chemical substance is really unstable. During the production and storage process, Xiao Letian can't remember how many times it leaked. Combustion malfunction.
Nowadays, the production and storage of white phosphorus bombs are carried out on uninhabited islands in the Pacific. No one knows where Xiao Letian hides this secret weapon.
The third reason that prevented Xiao Letian from using this weapon was morality. White phosphorus bombs were originally weapons banned by international conventions in later generations, because this weapon was too lethal and too cruel, which harmed the world!
Xiao Letian was never a complete materialist, but a time travel destroyed all his atheistic views. Now he has to admit that there may really be gods influencing everything.
White phosphorus bombs are so lethal, will there be retribution if they are used too much?
Xiao Letian couldn't explain the unexplained retribution, but he knew very well that if he used this weapon on a large scale, the retribution from Britain, France and other countries would come soon.
The principle of white phosphorus bombs is not complicated. If Britain and France start mass-producing this weapon in a hurry, Xiao Letian will not be able to compete with them in terms of quantity and quality.
Because the gap in industrial strength is there and cannot be reversed in a short time, white phosphorus bombs can only be used as special weapons and cannot be scaled up.
In today's cruel night battle, Xiao Letian was forced to use his trump card. The ghostly fire once again appeared on the human battlefield.
