Jiang Min stood at the foot of the city, watching the soldiers place the iron cannon at the top of the city. He said to Wang Gan: "Tell Su Jie in the city that after the artillery is installed, let's fire a few shots to try. First mark the location where the Jin army may gather outside the city and see if we can hit it accurately."
The king dared to promise and walked quickly to the city.
Not long after, Su Jie brought out a few soldiers and saluted Jiang Min. Said: "Zhaofu, we have already listed the places where the Jin army may gather when they attack the city, and we will set up a few targets there. However, these cannons were cast not long ago, and the processing is not fine, so I'm afraid they may not be accurate."
Jiang Min said: "There are no improper uses. The key is that we know it well. The Jin army has never seen artillery before and has no way to deal with it. We must use it well in this battle. If the artillery is used well, it can easily defend the city. Stronghold. If the artillery is not used properly, many lives will be lost in vain."
Sujie promised. He personally led the soldiers and set up a target one mile away from the city.
As thick smoke rose from the city, the shells hit the target ten paces away. Jiang Min frowned when he saw it.
Su Jie was sweating on his forehead. He quickly stepped forward to check, and then went to the city to continue firing. Three shots were fired in a row, and the closest one was a few steps away from the target.
Seeing that Su Jie was still very busy, Jiang Min said: "Time is tight, so let's do it. In the area outside the city where the Jin army gathers, you have to select reference objects in advance and divide this area into squares. During the battle, follow the selection We use the reference object to calculate the distance on the square grid and constantly adjust the aim. We have only a short time here and can only ensure that there are four cannons on one city. One cannon weighs two thousand kilograms, so it is not easy to move. You need to arrange special arrangements The personnel moved the artillery according to the direction of the Jin army's attack."
Su Jie promised.
Looking at the sun in the sky, Jiang Min said: "This afternoon, all the fort masters, village masters, military envoys, etc. will come here to study how to fight the Jin army. You go and prepare some drinks, kill a sheep, and entertain everyone." "
Su Jie said yes. Arrange someone to prepare immediately.
After everything was arranged, Jiang Min arrived at the backyard of the Yamen and sat alone under the ginkgo tree, quietly thinking about the war.
After noon, the generals arrived. Su Jie ordered the army to cook noodles and entertain the generals who came. After taking a short break, they gathered in the village hall for a meeting.
Jiang Min looked at everyone and said: "Yesterday's news is that the Jin army has left Lingshi County and the forward has arrived in Zhaocheng. Li Songchen suffered a lot of losses. Fortunately, he himself is fine and still has six to seven hundred troops under his command. He can Participate in the battle. I replied to the letter, telling him not to come to Shenshan County, as long as he can guard the Lingshi. Liang Xing from Zezhou in the east led 1,500 elite troops, including 500 cavalry, and was on his way. The day before yesterday The news has already passed Heilonggou and is expected to arrive here tomorrow or the day after tomorrow. We have 2,800 people and are facing 3,000 Jin troops. The strength of our troops is actually about the same."
Wang Zhongfu said: "The Jin army should have led puppet troops, and the number is still large."
Jiang Min nodded: "Yes, there should be puppet troops. However, these people are not strong in combat, so just pay a little attention. This time to face the Jin army, we will not stick to the stronghold, but deploy with the main force Outside the fort. The three forts centered on Shenshan County are the main battlefield. Each fort has a force of 100 troops, and Shenshan County has another 100 mobile troops. At Shibi Fort in the north, pay attention to the battlefield situation at all times. If the Jin army is attracted In the third fort, if no mobile troops can be drawn, we will send troops to threaten the Jin army's retreat. The remaining eight hundred people will be led by me and hide in the mountains to the east. When the conditions are suitable, we will come out and attack the Jin army from the fort."
Having said this, Jiang Min was silent for a while. Said: "The key points of this battle are that the artillery in the fort must give full play to its power. When the Jin Army attacks, they like to gather heavy troops to form heavy formations and force a breakthrough. To this day, no special operations have been found for the Jin Army to engage in mobile operations and attack difficulties. France. And artillery poses a particularly great threat to heavy formations."
The emergence of artillery directly changed the formation of the infantry. Especially after field artillery was widely used, the formation of infantry on the battlefield changed.
Whether it is a hollow phalanx or a line of infantry, one thing they have in common is that a single artillery shell can only kill very few people. In a dense formation, one artillery shell can penetrate a column, and it is easy to cause a large number of casualties in front of the artillery. And it doesn't take much accuracy from the artillery to cause huge damage.
The characteristic of the Jin army's attack is to form a dense formation and attack continuously without fear of casualties. Whether it is the Song Army or the Liao Army, they are often unable to withstand such an overwhelming attack and quickly collapse. With artillery, this formation became a fatal flaw.
Jiang Min discovered this and resolutely implemented it. As long as there are a few cannons, the Jin soldiers will suffer heavy casualties after a battle. At this time, it is useless for Jin Jun not to be afraid of death. If you attack resolutely, your army will soon be exhausted.
Wang Xiaolie understands this, but his character is relatively stable and he will not put his hope of victory in the war on one or two weapons. Therefore, when fighting Jin soldiers, the first choice is to choose a suitable battlefield and strategically surround the enemy. At this time, the specific battlefield situation is not so important.
Jiang Min is different. Since we have this advantage, we must make the most of it. Due to the short time, it was the limit to build more than a dozen cannons, otherwise Jiang Min would push all the cannons on the city wall. The Jin army assembled a heavy formation according to custom, just in time to let the artillery exert its power.
Modern military reforms were initially made because of the characteristics of artillery. Especially after field artillery matured and was widely used, the form of warfare was completely different from before. For example, the Spanish phalanx in the arquebus era quickly turned into a hollow phalanx. When rifle technology matured, it became a line formation. These reforms are all to adapt to the artillery on the battlefield, not because of the cavalry.
When field artillery matures and infantry attacks, they will not advance in the rain of arrows as before, but in the constant fire of artillery shells. If the enemy's long-range offensive weapon is a crossbow, the denser the formation, the better, and it must be cone-shaped. When the enemy's long-range weapons become artillery, the gaps between each row must make the artillery shells lose their lethality. Form into even rows, and then regroup after getting out of the range of the artillery.
The ancients often said that there is a place where one arrow can hit the target, or that one can shoot the enemy before the battle. They are all talking about the formation of both sides. The distance between the two formations is determined by the range of the bow and crossbow. After equipping with field artillery, the distance between the two formations is determined by the artillery. How to quickly pass through the open space in the middle is a problem that the attacker must consider.
The range of artillery is much greater than that of crossbows. If you are not familiar with this and still form the formation as before, you will be heavily killed by artillery before the battle begins, and the formation will collapse. Wang Xiaolie is equipped with a large number of field artillery. In fact, the current Jin army cannot confront him head-on.
Because Jiang Min was far away on Hedong Road, he was unable to receive support from the rear for a while. There was no field artillery in the army, so he could only make full use of the castle's city defense artillery.
(End of chapter)
