When the cannon sounded, Liu Yan, the commander-in-chief of the 11th Town of the Ming Army, trembled. He was also behind the "straw bag wall" on the front line of the Ming army. Behind this "straw bag wall" were full of soldiers and officers. . . When they heard the sound of cannons, both officers and soldiers showed excited expressions. The soldiers did not dare to stand up without military orders, but the officers invariably stood up from behind the "straw bag wall" and looked forward. Liu Yan, who wanted to "kill Kang Mazi again", was also one of them.
The middle section of the Qing army's front was the hardest hit area by artillery bombardment. The bombardment effect of the eighty long-barreled guns was not very good. Most of the solid bullets fired by them flew over the earthen walls built by the Qing army. Even if a few shells hit the earth wall without missing a beat, they were gone and then... I don't know if they penetrated or not? But even if they were beaten thoroughly, they wouldn't be able to kill a few people. The damage they can cause is completely out of proportion to the momentum of a salvo of eighty cannons.
But the Ming army’s rockets are powerful!
When the previous round of rockets was fired, because the rocket launcher position was far away from the front line and it was still hitting a moving target, it was naturally not very lethal - because it was far away, more propellant and less explosive were needed, and It's not very accurate, it's just trying to scare people.
But things are different now. Gaoyang Cave is less than two miles away from the Qing army's front line in a straight line, and the Ming army's rocket launchers deployed in the southeast of Gaoyang Cave are less than three miles away from the Qing army's position. Moreover, the Qing army's position will not move, it is a fixed target. As long as the distance is accurately measured, sugar-powder rockets can bloom on the Qing army's position!
All I could see were rockets with long tail flames, falling like raindrops on the inside and outside of the earthen wall, exploding into large swaths of smoke and fire. The fragments exploded by the rocket and the iron beads bursting out of the belly of the rocket swept past like a storm. The Qing army placed many anti-horse guns and deer villages in front of the formation, many of which were blown into pieces flying in all directions. The smoke covered a large section of the front in an instant. At first, Qing soldiers who were frightened by the shelling could be seen running around, and then nothing could be seen, only thick smoke was left - it turned out that the rockets fired by the Ming army were not all explosive bombs, but also Some smoke bombs blocking the view.
Liu Yan saw that the Qing army's position was shrouded in thick smoke, and then he took out his pocket watch and looked at it. When he found that the quarter-hour had reached "four", he waved his hand fiercely: "Grenadiers... enter!"
Following his order, several half-kneeling suona soldiers began to blow the trumpet. After a burst of harsh trumpet sound, three to four hundred Ming army grenadiers rolled out from behind the Ming army's "straw bag wall" .
Now the grenadiers and skirmishers of the Ming army have been integrated into one, and there are many of them. Each leader (company) has forty people (one deputy leader). The reason why there are so many is mainly because the explosive power of sugar powder is much greater than that of gunpowder, so smaller wooden handle grenades can be made, and there is no need for tall men to serve as grenadiers.
In addition, the Ming Dynasty also produced a large amount of gunpowder, so the fusiliers could conduct more shooting training, and the veterans who served as grenadiers (skirmishers) often had good marksmanship.
The grenadiers who came out from behind the "straw bag wall" did not form a dense formation. Instead, they dispersed, holding their guns and crouching, and walked forward quickly. However, these people did not rush forward to the Qing army's earthen wall. Instead, they lay down on the ground after advancing for a certain distance, quietly waiting for the shelling to end.
As soon as the bombardment ends, they will launch the first wave of "climbing attacks", climb up and drop bombs, and blow him up first!
While these grenadiers were lying down, the Qing army's Weiyuan General Artillery also fired.
This kind of Weiyuan General Cannon is actually a large-caliber mortar, which is used to fire sugar-powder explosive bullets!
The Qing army had little sugar and could only take the low-sugar route, so they couldn't afford high-sugar rocket launchers - the propellant and explosive charges of rockets were both sugar-coated, and the Qing Dynasty, which did not produce white sugar, did not dare to be so extravagant.
Therefore, the Qing army could only use black powder to fire sugar-powder shells, and it was impossible to use all-sugar shells. They could only use part of the sugar shells and part of the black powder shells, and the two types of shells were sandwiched between them.
When Kangxi guessed that the Ming army might use the cover of Gaoyang Cave to attack his own center, he immediately mobilized more than 20 Weiyuan general cannons and placed them behind his position in the center. After the artillery and rocket launchers placed by the Ming army in and around Gaoyang Cave were fired, they began to fire bombs towards Gaoyang Cave.
However, the accuracy of these mortars cannot be praised. After firing for a quarter of an hour, not a single shell fell on the Ming army's rocket launcher position. On the contrary, Gaoyang Cave suffered several large black powder shells, two of which exploded. A fireball appeared which looked quite scary.
But compared with the scene where the Qing army was bombarded by rockets in the middle, this scene was nothing like the same thing.
According to the plan of the Ming Army Palace and Military Affairs Department, the artillery preparations before the launch of the main attack will last for four-quarters of an hour, from 2:00 a.m. to 6:00 a.m. when the artillery is finished, it is time for the infantry to move in!
The four-quarter-hour artillery preparation seemed very long, yet seemed very short, and it was almost here all of a sudden.
Liu Yan had been looking at his pocket watch. When the engraved needle gradually approached the Chinese character "six", he gave the order again, "First formation... go out, form the whole team!"
It was the same suona soldiers who blew the suona again. The eight battalion generals who had been incorporated into the "first formation" had been eager to try. As soon as they heard the signal to attack, they took a camp flag from the flag bearer beside them, then jumped on the "straw bag wall" and planted the camp flag. On the wall, as a signal to attack, he raised his arms and shouted: "The Ming Dynasty...Wan Sheng!"
The leaders below these battalion generals also witnessed almost the entire bombardment. This was four-quarters of an hour of concentrated shooting, using as many as forty rocket launchers and eighty long cannons, and more than ten rounds of rocket volleys were fired in succession! Can anyone really survive such a violent and intensive bombardment of sugar-powder rockets?
Just when they were wondering, their superior officer had already put the camp flag on the wall - this was the signal to move out and assemble the team!
So the leaders immediately urged their subordinates, who were sitting on the ground with their backs against the straw wall, to attack. They all shouted, "Soldiers of tomorrow, come out!"
Then I saw the leaders taking the lead to climb out of the straw bag wall one by one, followed by the soldiers under their hands. These soldiers had been huddled behind the straw bag wall before, and basically no one saw the spectacular scene of the shelling. Now I suddenly saw rockets flying all over the sky. The Qing army's position was completely enveloped in smoke and fire, and everything was boiling.
They almost cheered while quickly getting into formation. They did not form a firing line, but formed eight battalion-level columns that were convenient for marching.
As soon as they finished forming their team, the artillery fire preparations came to an abrupt end as if the earth was shattering.
Then the marching drums sounded on the battlefield, and they were very rhythmic.
Eight Ming Army infantry battalion-level columns, accompanied by this rhythmic drum beat, took quite neat steps and rushed at walking speed towards the Qing Army position that had just suffered a violent shelling.
...
In Xingzhou Mountain City, Kangxi's pockmarked face turned a little livid again... This time the Ming army's performance was not too unexpected. It's just a little stronger than the strongest state he originally imagined!
This "white sugar freedom" is really amazing!
After obtaining a sufficient supply of tung oil, the casings of the Ming army's rockets have become made of iron, and the cost has been greatly reduced. The only more expensive thing is sugar medicine. But Ming had plenty of sugar and could use it in an almost profligate manner.
"Your Majesty, the firepower of the rebels..."
Gabra, who was guarding Kangxi, had a worried look on his face and quietly came up to him. He seemed to want to say something, but stopped when he reached his lips.
Kangxi looked back at him and said with a smile: "Gabra, just watch... I have laid a trap for the traitor, and I am just waiting for the traitor to get in. When you see those eight Is there a traitor's infantry in formation? They are here to die. When they cross our front line, they will fall into a trap, and then I will annihilate them all in one fell swoop!"
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