In a newly opened shooting range near Xuanfu Town, all senior and mid-level officials from the army in front of the tent gathered together. Everyone was wearing military uniforms and arrow jackets, with swords hanging on their waists. They were surrounded by Zhu Youjian, and they carefully looked at the 36 slender-looking bronze cannons lined up in a row, as well as the various humans responsible for operating the cannons.
To be honest, these 36 bronze cannons were not very good in the eyes of the generals of the front army. The barrel of the cannon is very thin, which means that the bullet weight is very light, which is not comparable to the Hongyi cannon with a thick barrel. The material for casting the cannons is bronze, which is expensive and heavy, so these cannons must not be cheap, and they are inconvenient to transport.
The only thing that made the officers of the Zhangqian Army shine was the gun mount used by these 36 bronze cannons - this is a deconstructed two-wheeled gun mount that looks a bit complicated. It can easily adjust the shooting angle, and It can also be combined with a two-wheeled carriage to become a flexible four-wheeled carriage.
This design is much stronger than the three-wheeled gun mount of the general cannon. The three-wheeled gun mount is difficult to "grab the ground" and has to retreat far away after firing a shot. Therefore, the gunners had to build a slope of earth behind the butt of the cannon, so that the cannon could not move on the battlefield, and it was difficult to achieve results. The movement of the earth mound and the cannon was too great, and the construction required a lot of time. It was impossible not to be discovered by the enemy. If the enemy discovers it, will he stand stupidly and be beaten by artillery fire?
Therefore, the general artillery of the Ming army did not play a big role in the field battle, otherwise the results of the Battle of Sarhu and the Battle of Hunhe would have been rewritten... Maybe Nurhachi would not dare to rebel!
These 36 3-pound cannons were pulled into the shooting range by 72 mules, and each cannon was equipped with 2 horsemen and 5 gunners.
The two horsemen attached to each artillery were sent by the Royal Horse Supervisor, and the five gunners were recruited by Sun Yuanhua in Macau and Foshan. One of them was from Xiyi, 2 from Heifan, and 2 from Foshan. Recruited blacksmith apprentices - Foshan Town, Nanhai County, Guangzhou Prefecture, is now one of the four famous towns in the world (Hankou Town, Jingdezhen, Zhuxian Town, Foshan Town), and also one of the four gathering places in the world (Beijing, Hankou, Suzhou, Foshan )one. You can imagine how prosperous it is!
What supports the prosperity of Foshan Town is the local iron industry - Foshan has neither large mines nor mountains and forests (there was no coke ironmaking in this era, only charcoal ironmaking and coal ironmaking), but through the With convenient transportation and the advantages of integrating Eastern and Western iron-making and casting technologies, it has become an important iron-smelting town. The Portuguese even hired blacksmiths from Foshan to help them cast iron cannons. Although the quality of the products was not as good as British products, they could still be made.
Countries such as Annam, Myanmar, and Siam in Southeast Asia have experienced frequent wars in the past few decades, and they have all introduced Western matchlock guns, which also stimulated demand. Various foreign guns made in Foshan were often sold as foreign guns by Western or Ming Dynasty merchants (pirates).
In addition, as early as the Wanli period, the Spanish heavy matchlock gun, also known as the Turtle Dove Fire Gun, also began to be introduced to Foshan, and gradually became the leading product of Foshan's foreign guns, and also became the favorite firearm of the Ming Dynasty maritime pirates - Foshan's The blacksmiths not only imitated the Spanish heavy matchlock gun, but also made innovations based on it, creating more powerful large matchlock guns such as the Great Turtle Dove Gun, the Great Wind Chaser Gun, and the Wing Tiger Cannon.
This time, Sun Yuanhua, who went south to buy guns and cannons, not only ordered 3-pound regimental guns in Macau, but also ordered a batch of turtledove muskets for individual soldiers in Foshan Town, ordering a total of 2,000 pieces.
Because we had to wait for the completion of these 3-pound regimental cannons and turtle dove muskets, we waited until the middle of February in Chongzhen to bring the foreign guns and cannons and the foreign generals and soldiers back to Zhu Youjian.
A Portuguese foreign general from Gongsa de Silao was the artillery team general invited by Sun Yuanhua. In his series of commands, 180 gunners of various colors began to move 36 3-pound cannons and horse-drawn carriages (ammunition carts) quickly and easily. ) separated, and then spread out into a row on the shooting range. All the muzzles were aimed at hundreds of wooden targets 150 steps away directly in front.
Sun Yuanhua and his two deputies, Han Lin from Shanxi and Song Yingxing from Jiangxi, stood behind 36 cannons lined up, waiting for Zhu Youjian's firing order at any time.
The officers of the army in front of the tent were talking in low voices.
"This cannon fires so fast!"
"Yes, it took less than one stick of incense to open 36 doors, and even the loading was finished..."
"They are placed very densely, one door next to the other. Aren't you afraid of being blown up?"
"It can't be blown up. A bronze cannon is not made of cast iron. How can it be blown up?"
"This cannon can be combined with a two-wheeled carriage to turn it into a four-wheeled vehicle... This can keep up with the cavalry!"
"Yes, with the cooperation of cavalry and artillery, we will be invincible!"
Zhu Youjian, who knew the most about cannons in the entire Ming Dynasty, was also looking at the row of 3-pound bronze cannons in front of him with his hands behind his back. There was no room for smiles on his face... Sun Yuanhua and Song Yingxing, Han Lin, etc. recommended by Xu Guangqi He is very reliable in doing things, and finally the 150,000 taels of internal money he paid was not wasted.
Although the artillery hasn't fired yet, the swiftness with which it deploys the artillery is already worth it... The 3-pounder can't hit far, and its effective range is only within 200 steps. There's no reason why it won't hit a group target. .
Being able to move quickly on the battlefield, deploy quickly, and launch quickly is the key to combat effectiveness. Although Zhu Youjian has never personally operated a cannon in his previous life, he is still familiar with the various artillery tactics and artillery drills in the Jiangwu Hall.
Xu Guangqi, Minister of the Ministry of Industry, and Tang Ruowang, a Western missionary who also served in the Qintian Prison, also came to the Xuanfu with Sun Yuanhua and others, and now they all followed Zhu Youjian with expressions of surprise.
The reason why he was surprised was because Zhu Youjian was talking to Tang Ruowang in proficient Latin while watching the cannon!
The content of the dialogue involved two aspects. One was to invite the Portuguese military leader of Macau and the Governor of Batavia to come to Beijing to discuss the trade treaty... Listening to Zhu Youjian's words, he meant to Tianjin, Songjiang, Ningbo, Quanzhou, and Guangzhou established municipal shipping offices and commercial ports to open trade with Western and Eastern countries!
The second is to send missions to Western countries...
This long live man is actually proficient in foreign affairs!
At this time, a suona sounded, and 36 cannons were ready. Sun Yuanhua looked back at Zhu Youjian, who was "the most knowledgeable about artillery and foreign affairs" in the entire Ming Dynasty: "Long live my Lord, all 36 Hongyi cannons have been deployed and can be fired at any time!"
Zhu Youjian quickly stopped the conversation with Xu Guangqi and Tang Ruowang, then blocked his ears, and then nodded.
He is now very close to the position with 36 cannons. If he doesn't cover his ears, he will be half deafened!
Sun Yuanhua raised a small red flag and waved it down violently.
The Portuguese officer Gongsa de Sirao personally commanded a 3-pound cannon. He had just used a wooden ruler with many scratches to take aim, and then issued an order to let the other artillery move the wooden wedge under the butt of the cannon. to adjust the shooting angle. When he saw Sun Yuanhua waving the flag, he immediately ordered the gunner to insert a lighted match rope wrapped around a short halberd into the cannon's fire door. Two streaks of gunpowder smoke spewed out from the muzzle and the fire door at the same time, followed by a deafening roar!
There was a crisp sound, and a square wooden target 150 steps away was immediately smashed into pieces!
Seeing that Gongsha De Silao hit the target, the gunners of the remaining 35 cannons also fired. This time it was amazing. The roar of 35 cannons became a roar, and the choking smoke began to fill the air. The 3-pound iron balls hit dozens of wooden targets 150 steps away like raindrops, immediately smashing more than a dozen of the targets!
Afterwards, most of the cannonballs that landed on the ground bounced back and flew forward another two to three hundred steps before crashing into the mud again.
The smoke of the first salvo has not dissipated, and the gunners have completed the second round of loading, followed by another earth-shaking roar, and then the third, fourth, and fifth rounds... ...and did not stop shooting until all the wooden targets in front were smashed into pieces.
There was sudden silence on the shooting range. Everyone held their breath and concentrated, as if they were frightened by the intensive bombardment.
I don't know how long it took before I heard Zhu Youjian shout loudly: "What a cannon! According to my decree, we will send troops in three days. Let's attack Huang Taiji's black artillery!"
