"I'm going to smash this damn turtle shell with a giant cannon, and I'm going to smash the head of the Qin general on the opposite side!"
Under the banner of Lielie Feng, Chu general Xiang Qu stood on his gorgeous chariot, looking at the Qin army's barrier in front of him, he slapped Cha Shi with his palm and made a heroic declaration.
Behind Xiang Qu was the Chu army in formation, with 20,000 Chu soldiers standing in a neat array.
In front, the civilians and craftsmen of the Chu army were assembling a terrifying siege weapon.
Big cannon!
The weapons that the Qin army came up with when they conquered Yan are said to be secret techniques left behind by the inventor Lu Ban hundreds of years ago.
Compared with the old-fashioned stone throwing machine that can only throw more than ten kilograms of stones. The power of the giant cannon is amazing. Not only does it have a longer range, it can throw hundreds of kilograms of boulders to attack, and it can also adjust the attack distance by changing the counterweight. It is simply the best siege weapon in the world.
Ordinary small cities cannot withstand the bombardment of giant artillery. Only the most giant cities can withstand a little or two, but the defenders on the city walls will also be suppressed and unable to raise their heads.
Xiang Qu still remembers that just last year, he stood firm in Xiangcheng on behalf of his father. Faced with the bombardment of a large number of cannons mobilized by the Mengwu, the Chu troops on the city fled with their heads in arms, and the defensive turrets were destroyed one after another.
Only after the cannons stopped did they dare to fight the Qin army attacking the city. It was a very difficult defensive battle.
Xiangcheng is the central city that controls the Yingshui River. It was built by generations of the Xiang family like a copper wall. However, after being bombarded by the Qin army with huge artillery for several months, the city wall almost collapsed. Qin Army, Xiangcheng may fall.
From then on, Xiang Qu was afraid of and longed for this terrible weapon.
He was hit head-on by a giant cannon, and he longed in his heart that one day he could use this weapon to hit others.
Today, the dream has become a reality.
With the participation of the drawings presented by Prince Qi and the captured Qin army craftsmen, the Chu army built this weapon a few days ago and conducted a test firing at Chen Ying.
When they saw the boulder weighing hundreds of kilograms flying into the sky and finally hitting the target area after constant adjustments, the Chu soldiers cheered thunderously.
Their Chu country finally built a giant cannon!
This is really the pride of all Chu people!
Now, Xiang Qu brought 20,000 soldiers and escorted the huge cannon to assemble it in preparation for the first actual battle.
Of course, the reason why Xiang Qu did this was not to break down the wall with a huge cannon. That was not realistic.
Although the giant cannon is powerful, it is only suitable for destroying turrets and superstructures on walls, and has limited attack power against rammed earth walls.
If you want to attack the wall, the best way is to use huge cannons and stone bombs to destroy the Qin army's turrets and suppress the soldiers guarding the wall, and then let the soldiers carry wooden stakes to hit the wall, or ants attach to it, which is faster and more effective.
The reason why Xiang Qu brought the huge cannon here was to boost the morale of the Chu army and return the shame of the past to the Qin army on the opposite side.
In the past, your Qin army used huge cannons to bombard our Chu people. Today is the time for our Chu army to use these weapons to bombard your Qin people.
The offensive and defensive momentum is different!
I think after today's war, the morale of hundreds of thousands of Chu people in Huaiyang will be greatly boosted and everyone will be proud.
The second is to lure the Qin people out of the camp and fight the Chu army.
After a long confrontation, the Chu army could not defeat the Qin army, but they were unwilling to take the initiative to attack the fortress and charge the wall, only to suffer damage. Therefore, they can only use this method to tease and lure the Qin army out to fight, so that the Chu army has a chance of winning.
Seeing that the craftsmen in front were about to finish assembling the cannon, Xiang Qu suddenly remembered something and turned to another general riding a horse next to the chariot.
"Jingtong, I heard that Zhao Tuo, who defeated you and Zhaoping in Surabaya, was less than twenty years old. When I went to Qin with Lord Songyang as an envoy, I saw a Langguan beside the King of Qin, who was also more than ten years old. His name is Zhao Tuo, I think he is the one who will defeat you."
The corner of Jingtong's mouth twitched and he hummed twice. He didn't want to mention the Battle of Surabaya again.
Xiang Qu had no scruples, because he still clearly remembered that trip to Xianyang, where he had a close contact with Zhao Tuo.
The two looked at each other and shook each other's hands. He deliberately suppressed Zhao Tuo with great force, but did not make Zhao Tuo surrender. At that time, Xiang Qu marveled at Zhao Tuo's endurance and self-control, thinking that Zhao Tuo was unusual.
But he also didn't expect that Zhao Tuo was actually a military genius. He became famous all over the world in a back-to-back battle. He not only defeated the famous Chu State Zuo Sima Zhaoping, but also made him commit suicide in humiliation. Such achievements made Xiang Qu rise to the top. I became competitive.
"Zhao Tuo is the Qin general who attacked Chu last time. He should also go south with Wang Jian this time. I really hope I can have the opportunity to compete with him to see if Zhao Tuo is really that good in battle."
Xiang Qu whispered to himself.
At this time, Jing Tong did not want to continue Zhao Tuo's topic, and quickly pointed to the front and said: "General Xiang, our army's cannon has been built."
Sure enough, soldiers from the front immediately rushed back to report and asked Xiang Qu to order the launch.
"good!"
Xiang Qu expelled the name Zhao Tuo from his mind. He looked at the several giant cannons that had been assembled in front of him, and he suddenly became energetic and high-spirited.
"Second Son, today our army is approaching the Qin army camp. The Qin people are afraid of the power of our army and huddle behind the walls to protect themselves. But they are huddled in their shells like turtles. Will we let them go?"
"No! Today I will use a huge cannon to smash their turtle shells and let the huge rocks fall on their heads to show the might of my Chu army!"
"The Chu army is victorious!"
"The king is victorious!"
Xiang Qu raised his arms and shouted. Infected by his voice, all the Chu people here shouted: "Smash the Qin people's dog heads!"
"The Chu army is victorious!"
"The king is victorious!"
"The giant cannon is victorious!"
The shouts shook the sky, and the 20,000 Chu soldiers all shouted loudly. The sound was like a mountain roaring and a tsunami. A pair of eyes full of expectancy looked ahead, looked at the cannon, and looked at the wall.
They expected the boulder to fall on the Qin people's heads.
"Follow my orders."
Xiang Qu turned around and looked ahead with bright eyes.
He imitated the Qin army's gunner's commanding posture, raised his hand, then waved it violently and roared: "Fire!"
boom! boom! boom!
The stone bullets crossed the space and crashed down suddenly, making a huge roar.
Xiang Qu saw that most of the stone bullets fired by the Chu army's cannons landed on the front and rear of the wall and did not hit the target. However, there were also two huge stones that happened to hit the wall.
One of them even happened to hit the turret built by the Qin army, and the towering turret collapsed and shattered on the spot.
This is really a hit, so lucky!
Seeing his achievements in the first battle, Xiang Qu couldn't help laughing and said, "Okay!"
The soldiers of the Chu army behind him even shouted loudly, their joy beyond words.
"General Xiang, I think the Qin army is cowering in the camp and shivering in fear at this moment. They never imagined that our army has huge cannons."
Jing Tong complimented him at the right time.
Xiang Qu laughed and said: "Of course, the people of Qin must be frightened when I scare them like this, haha... gah..."
Xiang Qu laughed suddenly, and his eyes suddenly opened wide. He was shocked to see countless black dots quickly breaking through the sky behind the wall.
boom! boom! boom!
A series of stone bullets fell from the sky, making a huge roar, completely covering up the calls of the Chu soldiers.
Smoke and dust were everywhere, especially when there was a burst of screams and exclamations.
When the dust dispersed, Xiang Qu was horrified to see more than a dozen round stone bullets scattered on the ground in front of him, creating large craters.
One of the Chu army's giant cannons was hit by a stone bullet and fell apart. The giant wood was shattered. Several civilians were hit with bloody heads and screamed in agony.
The Chu people who were operating several other giant cannons nearby were also frightened. They screamed one by one, and some of the timid ones even started to turn around and run towards the rear military formation.
The Chu army was silent, no longer cheering and shouting just now, their eyes widened, their mouths half-opened, looking ahead with a look of disbelief on their faces.
Xiang Qu held the chariot wiper with both hands and exclaimed: "Is this the Qin army's giant cannon?"
"How could the Qin army's giant artillery hit so far! And hit our army's gun mount? Impossible! How could they shoot so far!"
Behind the wall and fort.
"Hey, I actually hit a Chu army's cannon. What a coincidence?"
Zhao Tuo was a little surprised when he heard the good news from the sentry on the watchtower.
Although they had a tower to point out the direction for the artillery, they were still shooting blindly through the wall. It was a blessing to be able to miss the target in the general direction. It was really strange that they happened to hit a huge cannon. Delight.
"Haha, they are still using giant cannons with a range of 200 steps. Our army's cannons can already reach 250 steps."
Zhao Tuo smiled.
It has been two years since the giant cannon was invented in the Battle of Yan.
At a time when the Qin army was conquering and destroying the country, the Qin Wangzheng attached great importance to this siege weapon. He asked Lu Jun, the Mohist who had created this thing with Zhao Tuo, as the person in charge, and convened a group of Mohists and craftsmen to study it.
Two years are enough time for them to improve and enhance the cannon.
Qin Mo found a better ratio between the lengths of the power arm and the resistance arm, allowing the cannon to shoot harder and farther. Its range greatly exceeded the old cannons in the hands of the Chu army.
Even if the Qin army fired through the wall, it could hit the Chu army's cannon.
In addition, the Qin army also built a mobile cannon.
Although the power and range of this mobile cannon are smaller than conventional cannons due to its reduced size, it has the ability to move. It can not only adjust the range, but also change directions, making it more flexible to use. and convenience.
In addition to the improvements to the cannon itself.
Zhao Tuo couldn't help but nodded as he watched the soldiers place stone bullets of almost the same size on the bullet holes.
The Qin Army applied their standardized production to stone bullets. Through the work of craftsmen, they polished them so that the size and mass of each stone bullet were close to each other, and they all resembled a circle.
In this way, each launch will have a very similar trajectory, making it easier to adjust to achieve precise strikes.
In addition to this nearly standardized stone bullet, the Qin army also tried out various shotguns specifically used to kill enemy soldiers.
"Playing with me? Haha..."
Amid Zhao Tuo's laughter, the Qin soldiers loaded their ammunition again, constantly adjusted under the guidance of the watchtower sentries, and launched round after round of artillery attacks on the Chu army outside the wall.
Outside the wall, the Chu army was still unconvinced at first and continued to load ammunition. They even attempted to move a huge cannon forward to shoot at the Qin army in the wall at random, thus damaging the morale of the Qin people.
There were stone bullets flying from outside the wall, and there were stone bullets flying from inside the wall.
Stone bullets were flying all over the sky.
Round after round of shooting.
Under the Qin army's increasingly precise bombardment, the Chu army was unable to resist, and two more cannons were destroyed. The civilians operating the cannons were heavily killed by shotguns. The gravel and iron caltrops thrown into the sky were like the flowers of a goddess scattering flowers. , scary and shocking.
The 20,000 Chu soldiers in the rear who were outside the range of the Qin army's artillery fire were frightened and frightened. Their faces turned blue and their legs trembled.
Finally, Xiang Qu gritted his teeth and glanced at the Qin army's barrier in the distance.
The walls made of rammed earth and the flying stone bullets filled his heart with a sense of powerlessness.
The artillery of the Qin army is so powerful!
"Walk!"
The Chu army abandoned the broken artillery mounts on the ground and withdrew southward.
The first artillery battle of this era has come to an end...
There will be a third update tonight.
Thanks to book friend 007 Brother Xiaosha for the reward, and to all book friends for voting and supporting, thank you!
(End of chapter)
