After a certain prince received a battle report from the Japanese Army's Ju Shuo Tuo Division, after careful consideration, he decided to send his trump card unit, the mortar battalion, to the Liaodong Peninsula to assist in the battle.
The mission of this battalion is very simple, that is, to provide necessary fire cover for the Japanese troops landing in the area when the naval guns are out of reach.
In mountainous operations, mortars that can perform deflection attacks are more effective than direct-aiming artillery and cause more damage to the enemy.
A certain prince strictly ordered the mortar battalion not to move far from the coast and enter inland areas to fight. If something happened, they could quickly approach the shore and board a ship to evacuate when the battle situation was unfavorable.
This will prevent the mortar from being captured by the braid. Once the braid masters the corresponding technology, it will pose a great threat to the Ming army inside and outside the pass.
Fighting in the Laotieshan area just met the requirements of the prince. Luo San roughly observed the surrounding terrain and felt that his troops could make a target.
After receiving orders from Abe Shigetsu, the Japanese army located on the Erdaoshan Ridge position specially made a long strip of space for the Ming army that had just arrived on the battlefield to deploy artillery.
However, everyone was not optimistic about this kind of artillery that looked like an iron barrel. Looking at the Ming artillerymen who were digging holes with engineering shovels, they couldn't help but feel a little funny.
Except for a few gunners taking aim, most of the officers and soldiers of the entire artillery battalion were busy digging holes and transporting artillery and ammunition.
In order to be able to go to war, they had been waiting for a long time. Fortunately, the battalion commander lived up to expectations and got the opportunity to send troops. Otherwise, they would have to wait until Dog Bag entered the customs before he could taste the power of artillery shells.
Many of the recruits had never even killed anyone, and at most they had seen pigs in the water on the training ground. Looking at the densely packed Tatars appearing on the mountains in the distance, they felt a little chill in their hearts.
Fortunately, the Tatars were still resting and did not immediately organize manpower to attack here. Otherwise, even if the recruits had artillery to embolden them, they would still be unsure and a little nervous.
The officers were all veterans of the Brave Guard Battalion. They had killed Tatars and fought against bandits. They had no such concerns at all. They were even so excited that they were eager to give it a try.
As long as he can kill the dog Tatars on the opposite hill, and when the prince returns to court, he will be rewarded, and the money he receives will be enough to eat and drink for a long time.
"Order the first, second, and third platoons of the first company, and all twelve cannons to be loaded with smoke bombs. Each row has a color and fire at a distance of 300 steps, 350 steps, and 400 steps respectively!"
"yes!"
After the gunners measured the range, Luo San discovered a problem, that is, the multiple targets that his unit wanted to attack were not parallel to his own artillery positions, but in a vertical direction.
This means that concentrated fire coverage cannot be carried out first. Smoke grenades must be used to measure the exact distance of the target. Only after obtaining relatively accurate results can the whole battalion open fire.
Smoke bombs come in three colors, namely red, white, and green, which can represent the distances of far, medium, and near.
"Load the smoke bomb!"
"put!"
"Boom, boom, boom..."
Smoke bombs are powders filled with pigments. The white ones are the easiest to make. They are lime powder. I suggest a gunpowder bag that explodes after flying six hundred meters. After the lime powder explodes, it can serve as a target indicator.
Since the smoke bomb is not a shell that can kill enemy troops and contains only a small amount of gunpowder, it causes almost zero damage to the Qing army on the opposite ridge after it hits the ground and explodes.
There was only a small-scale chaos, but it soon became quiet under the orders of the generals and the suppression of the soldiers.
The Qing army didn't know why the barbarians would fire such colored shells. Is it to cover people's ears or look good?
The generals of Zhengbai Banner and Xiangbai Banner, as well as the Eight Banners soldiers under their command, were all confused about this and had no idea what Manzi wanted.
However, Luo San could see clearly in the telescope, and the smoke bomb was used correctly.
Rushing to focus fire on the Tatars, if the attack is not accurate, will have the effect of arousing the enemy.
"Order the whole battalion to load all the mortars and give them all to me. The first row will be 150 to 250 steps, the second row will be 250 to 350 steps, and the third row will be 300 steps." Fifty steps to four hundred and fifty steps.”
"Battalion Commander, can't our artillery be able to hit four hundred paces?"
"You idiot! Can't you just pack an extra pound of propellant?"
"yes!"
Luo San was going to give Gou Tatar a big surprise, so that the whole camp would cover the entire ridge near, middle and far on the opposite side.
There were the most Dog Tatars on the ridge in front of us, no less than two to three thousand by sight, so we simply concentrated our firepower and dealt with them.
A standard mortar battalion is equipped with thirty-six mortars, plus an equal number of spare guns.
In order to go out to Liaodong, a certain prince specially doubled the number of mortars for the battalion commanded by Luo San.
The whole battalion has up to 144 mortars. Once all the artillery fires, they fall on the opponent's position, and they are as fierce as the salvo firepower of a battleship.
This time they brought a total of 1,800 grenades, which were explosive packets with 500 iron beads tied into them.
However, these explosive packets are all specially made because they contain poison and the iron beads also contain lead powder.
Although it is not immediately fatal, as long as the injured cannot receive prompt treatment, the toxicity will make them lose their combat effectiveness.
The sentries of the Qing army in front suddenly discovered that there were many bright objects on the ridge opposite. They really couldn't figure out what they were.
These are telescopes used by Ming army artillery, and they will naturally emit light when illuminated by the sun.
A certain prince was so wealthy that he not only manufactured a large number of expensive binoculars, but also equipped them with officers at the level of a platoon leader.
Each platoon leader has a telescope, which is convenient for observing the enemy's situation and shelling conditions. At the beginning, they were so beautiful that they were like looking at a baby. They would hold them in their arms even when they were sleeping.
"Be good! There are so many dog-tatars!"
"It's so talented! Once you hit it with a cannon, it turns into a barbecue!"
"Absolutely! Hahahaha..."
A group of platoon leaders hid in the trenches built by the Japanese army to observe the situation on the other side, and chatted from time to time.
Although they are facing a formidable enemy, they are all veterans from the Yongwei Camp. Not long ago, they participated in the battle to annihilate the Beijing Camp, so their psychological quality is naturally very good.
"Report! The first company is ready!"
"Report! The second company is ready!"
"Report! The third company is ready!"
"Okay! The whole battalion fires at the same time! According to two rounds per minute, four rapid fires!"
Seeing so many easy-to-get results on the other side, Luo San had long been impatient.
This time not only do I have to do something big, but I also have to accept all the orders!
Each company headquarters was given a small clock, and the platoon leader also had an hourglass in his hand for calculating relatively accurate time.
They have already trained for this kind of rapid-fire action, and there is no problem in actual combat.
After receiving the order, the three company commanders quickly issued the order to each platoon.
"put!"
"Boom, boom, boom..."
The Qing army only heard a muffled sound, but they didn't know exactly what happened.
However, some curious guys looked at the hilltop opposite and saw what seemed to be many black spots in the sky.
Just when they opened their mouths in surprise, these rapidly moving black spots grew from small to large and fell from their heads.
"Boom boom boom boom..."
Previously, the Qing army believed that 150 steps away was a safe distance, at least the dog barbarians on the opposite side did not bombard them with artillery.
As long as you keep occupying this place, you can continue to threaten the opponent, and it is also convenient to launch a new round of charge from here.
In fact, according to Duduo's order, the Qing army's attack was about to begin in a quarter of an hour.
At this time, the Qing troops gathered on the ridge had finished resting, had enough food and water, and were ready to attack.
However, a bunch of "gift packages" falling from the sky suddenly disrupted their plans.
In the blink of an eye, there were soaring flames, numerous explosions, and overturned earth everywhere.
There was no sight of Goumanzi opening fire before, and no smoke appeared on the hilltop opposite.
Why did this happen suddenly?
It's almost like shelling!
It's impossible for Dogmanzi's explosive mallet to be thrown so far, right?
Could it be that the dog barbarian used a trebuchet to throw the explosive mallet?
I can’t figure it out!
Explosions were heard one after another on the battlefield, and there was no time for the Qing army to think about the ins and outs.
Usually a grenade fell and exploded, knocking a dozen or so Qing soldiers around them to the ground.
The weight of one explosive pack is equivalent to ten grenades, and its lethality is even higher than ten grenades.
Especially when the Qing army was not prepared, an explosion suddenly occurred at their feet.
Of the one hundred and forty-four grenades fired in the first salvo, less than fifty fell into the designated area due to terrain conditions, and the rest fell into the mountainside on both sides.
But these more than forty grenades that hit the target made the Qing army unable to parry and suffered a lot.
The most terrifying thing was undoubtedly the more than 20,000 iron beads that burst out from the explosion and flew in all directions.
Unless they are Eight Banners soldiers wearing three layers of armor, and they have to stick their buttocks in place.
Otherwise, it would still be impossible to withstand the indiscriminate attacks, and even people with armor would be beaten into honeycombs.
A Niu Lu Zhengbai flag armored soldier who had already gathered in front of the formation received a gift package of four grenades.
Because the people were too dense and they were at a loss when they were bombarded, no less than sixty people were killed on the spot.
"The barbarians are shelling..."
"Don't panic!"
"Don't mess up your position!"
"To this general..."
Just when the Niulu Zhangjings were planning to gather their soldiers and prepare to launch an attack on the opposite side.
The second batch of artillery shells suddenly fell again, blasting thousands of Qing soldiers who were already in chaos and running away.
At first, Niulu Zhangjing and his team saw no green smoke coming out of the mountain opposite, indicating that Fo Langji had not opened fire.
Such large-scale damage could only have come from red cannons, perhaps from warships at sea.
The rate of fire of the red cannon is very slow, and it can only fire once every quarter of an hour.
That's why Niulu Zhangjing and his men ordered to rectify their troops, but they didn't expect that as soon as their order was issued, the other party would come over with a second batch of artillery shells.
It was common for Eight Banners soldiers to rush into battle under artillery fire, and they were not willing to be bombed in vain.
The Eight Banners soldiers who were not hit by the shells rushed halfway up the mountain to the Japanese position.
Only in this way can there be hope of turning defeat into victory.
but……
What greeted them were more than two thousand iron cannons and more than twenty squatting tiger cannons and hundreds of muskets!
After receiving supplies from the Ming army and the mainland, Abe immediately strengthened the defense here.
The number of small artillery pieces has increased from four to twenty-six now, and the number of iron cannons has doubled.
In addition, the defenders here also received a thousand grenades and a hundred barrels of oil.
There is currently an artillery battalion of the Ming army and six hundred Ming army navy officers and soldiers to help out.
The defense here can be said to be impregnable. It is undoubtedly a daydream for the Qing army to conquer this place.
The Qing army also obtained some artillery, but wanted to wait until before the attack before firing.
Unexpectedly, the dog barbarian on the opposite side made a preemptive strike and caught them off guard.
When the mortar fires in salvo, it is not only powerful and fast-firing, but also difficult for the opponent to detect the artillery position.
Due to the parabolic trajectory of the attack, even if the Qing army discovered the approximate location, it would be impossible to hit it.
At this time, the Qing army was unable to counterattack. In less than three minutes, it lost no less than one Jia La force, more than 25% of the total force here.
Not many people died on the spot, but those who were injured to a certain extent were unable to continue fighting, which could be considered a loss of combat effectiveness.
If it were the Heavenly Blessing Army or the Heavenly Blessing Army, if they turned around and ran away, they might have lost less troops.
The perseverance and patience of the Eight Banners soldiers actually hindered them at this time, and finally they became a living target for mortars.
In order to avoid the bombardment, the Eight Banners soldiers within one mile of the Japanese army's position simply ran back and forth along the ridge.
They didn't know that this narrow area had already been covered by the opponent's firepower, and this behavior was of no help at all.
"Are Dog Tartars stupid?"
"Eighty percent right!"
After the platoon leaders of the mortar battalion used binoculars to see the situation on the other side, they looked puzzled. If they had encountered this situation, they would have run down the mountain long ago.
However, Dog Tartar was unwilling to retreat immediately. Instead, he ran back and forth. This behavior can only be explained by stupidity. Probably because Dog Tartar's mind was empty.
"Batalion Commander! Shall we fight twice more?"
"That's enough for now! If we fight again, what more will we fight tomorrow and the day after tomorrow?"
This time it was really satisfying, and Luo San wanted to keep up his efforts, but he couldn't use up all the cannonballs he brought this time.
No matter what, I have to save some for tomorrow and the day after tomorrow. In just a short while, I fired nearly 600 rounds.
It accounts for almost one-third of the total, so I will have to use it sparingly in the future.
Otherwise, all the artillery shells will be used up in less than three days. What will the prince think when he sees the battle report presented?
The cannon is good, but it really consumes a lot of shells...
The no less than 5,680 bannermen who rushed over received an unprecedented warm welcome. After hundreds of casualties, the remaining troops realized that the capture was hopeless and had no choice but to turn back.
"Warriors! The enemy is defeated! Charge!"
"Kick them to death!"
"Seven lives to serve the country!"
The officers and soldiers of the mortar battalion were shocked to see that the Japanese soldiers around them actually launched a countercharge against the arrogant Eight Banners soldiers.
The samurai holding naginata, spears, and bows, and the ashigaru carrying objects indicating their status as well as the huge Hachiman Daibodhisattva flag, all looked excited.
They have never been afraid of the Qing army. They only obey orders from the top to defend in place and wait for the moment of counterattack to come.
Now is the time to crush the enemy, don't miss it.
When the Qing army was defeated and had not run far, the Japanese warriors jumped out of the trenches and chased them along the ridge.
