The captain of the artillery team held a monocular in his hand and said nothing. He looked through the monocular to observe the Mongolian cavalry rushing in the distance, waiting for the enemy to enter the range of the four-pounder cannon.
Behind the four-wheeled cart, each of the firecrackers held the firecracker tightly, and many soldiers were breathing slightly.
The sound of horse hooves resounded across the grassland, and the earth seemed to be shaking.
"Gunner, prepare." The artillery team captain raised the flag in his hand and fixed his eyes on the rushing Mongolian cavalry. When he was sure that the Mongolian cavalry was within shooting range, he waved the flag down hard and shouted, "Let go!"
Boom! Boom... boom!
The sound of cannons sounded, which was more deafening than the sound of firecrackers.
Twelve four-pound cannons fired one after another, and there was a lot of smoke from burned gunpowder around the cannon bodies.
The gunner who finished firing picked up the brush and began to clean the residue inside the barrel. The other gunners reloaded the gunpowder and iron balls to prepare for the next firing.
There were thousands of Mongolian cavalry rushing over. Only two of the four-pounder cannons missed, and the rest of the cannons all hit the Mongolian cavalry.
Iron ball-shaped cannons are not like explosive shells. The first impact point is just the beginning. After each iron ball is hit, it will bounce up again and continue to eject forward. It will not stop until the last bit of power carried by the iron ball disappears. Down.
The iron balls fired by the ten four-pounders were like ten iron plows plowing the ground, plowing out seven or eight bloody holes among the Mongolian cavalry.
Only one round of shelling took away fifty or sixty casualties of the Mongolian cavalry.
This casualty is not many for the thousands of Mongolian cavalry, and the Mongolian captain leading the team will not be frightened by this casualty.
On the contrary, the deaths and injuries of his own people aroused his ferocity even more.
The captain, with his personal guards around him, drove the other Mongolian cavalry to continue charging forward.
The charge speed, which had been slowed down by the shelling, returned to normal again.
"What a pity." Zhang Sancha put down the monocular telescope in his hand and sighed.
If there were artillery from two combat barracks around him, he was sure that one round of artillery fire would be able to completely push back the Mongolian cavalry in front of him.
A squadron of soldiers is equipped with four four-pound guns, and two battalions of soldiers have nearly a hundred guns.
Thousands of Mongolian cavalry are no different from paper in front of hundreds of cannons. One shelling can cripple them and take away at least three to four hundred Mongolian lives.
Cao Guang, the deputy battalion commander who was following him, said: "Don't think about it. If all the cannons are given to us, will the camp still be defended? Do we still have to defend the unfinished fort? Don't forget, this time Mongolia We dispatch tens of thousands of troops, but there are more than just these people in front of us.”
"Hey! Are you serious? I just said casually. If there were so many cannons around, I would be afraid that the Mongols would not dare to come!" Zhang Sancha said with a grin.
Cao Guang was too lazy to joke with him and said with a serious face: "We can let our gunmen prepare."
Boom! Boom... boom!
Twelve four-pound cannons fired again, and the cannonballs fell on the heads of the Mongolian cavalry.
"There's no rush." Zhang Sancha said, "There's still a big meal for the Mongols. It won't be too late to let the firecrackers get started when the big meal is served."
Cao Guang glanced at a position in front of the car formation and nodded immediately.
There is a trap dug in advance.
The number of Mongolian cavalry killed and injured under the muzzle of the gun has exceeded one hundred. The gap between the thousands of Mongolian cavalry is obviously much larger, and the momentum of the charge has also been slowed down by the artillery bombardment.
"Here we come." Cao Guang said nervously.
The Mongolian cavalry was less than 300 steps away from the car formation, and the naked eye could clearly see the riding bow raised in the hands of the Mongolians.
Feather arrows were hung on the bowstrings by the Mongols.
Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!
The densely packed arrows were like raindrops falling from dark clouds, covering the sky and shooting at the car formation from mid-air.
"The Mongols are getting worse and worse. If they draw their bows and shoot arrows from such a distance, they can at most scare the rabbits hiding in the grass." Zhang Sancha glanced at the arrows that fell outside the car formation.
Cao Guang nodded in agreement and said: "The Mongolian army was not like this more than ten years ago. At that time, they really burned, killed and looted. The Datong border troops did not dare to leave the city. Looking at it now, they are just a few hundred steps away. Drawing a bow and shooting an arrow, you are afraid."
"Two rounds of shelling will kill hundreds of them at least. They only have one life. No one will be afraid of it." Zhang Sancha could see clearly that the Mongolians were completely frightened by the four-pounder shelling when they shot arrows from such a distance.
Cao Guang's head was exposed on the four-wheeled cart, looking at the Mongolian cavalry in the distance, and said: "Looking at the Mongols, we will definitely win this battle."
"It's not normal to win! It's not like we haven't fought against the Mongols before. You forgot how long it has been since the last time Su Nang led an army to attack the Dunbao in Dahei River." Zhang Sancha said disapprovingly.
Cao Guang raised his hand and scratched his forehead, and said: "It's different. Last time we were defending the city and had a fortress to rely on. This time we are fighting in the field."
"The First Soldier Battalion and the Fourth Soldier Battalion fought outside Xinping Fort with thousands of soldiers in Su Nang. They won the last battle and captured thousands of heads. There are only so many people in front of us. It doesn't matter if we win. Something to be proud of." Zhang Sancha said calmly.
Cao Guang spat out the grass blades in his mouth and said: "Listening to what you said, there is really nothing to be proud of. The Mongolian cavalry in front of you looks like there are no elite cavalrymen under the tent. In all likelihood, they are just a few small men. People put together by the tribe.”
"Don't talk about this yet. The Mongols are almost at their position. Tell our gunmen to be alert and hit me when they get within range." Zhang Sancha kept staring at the Mongolian cavalry a few hundred steps away.
While they were talking, the Mongolian cavalry advanced some distance.
Cao Guang glanced outside the car formation and said, "I'll go deliver the order and stay over there to give the command."
"That's fine, I can rest assured that you are there." Zhang Sancha nodded.
Cao Guang crouched and trotted all the way behind the cart to where the gunners team was on the other side.
"Fall, fall, fall..." Zhang Sancha, who was lying on the four-wheel cart, muttered in a low voice, his eyes fixed on the Mongolian cavalry in front.
After he recited it a dozen times.
The Mongolian cavalry at the forefront stepped into the dug horse trap and fell out with both men and horses.
The Mongolian cavalry chasing after them couldn't dodge and ran into them, causing them to fall over.
This is just the beginning.
More and more Mongolian cavalry catching up from behind had no time to stop and collided with the fallen war horses in front. The riders on the horses fell out due to inertia.
There were many horse pits dug within a hundred and fifty steps in front of the vehicle formation. Many of the horse traps were just holes dug specifically to trap the legs of the running horses.
This kind of horse trap dug a large area in front of the vehicle formation. As long as the Mongols wanted to get close to the vehicle formation, it would be difficult to escape.
The Mongolian cavalry, which had lost hundreds of horses and cavalry because of being trapped in a horse pit, finally stopped. No one was bumping into it because they could not control the speed of their horses.
Boom! Boom... boom!
Twelve four-pounders roared again.
