Xinshun 1730

Chapter 1268 Offensive and Defensive Psychology ([-])

"Its power shows strength, and its shape shows weakness, so it will definitely have the heart to fight back."

"However, the key depends on how well the Monkey King burns. If the fire is good, the town will be completely burned down, and the port will be completely burned down. I think Gibraltar will be captured within three months at most."

"In the staff department, we should arrange it according to this idea of ​​luring the enemy to counterattack. The specific way depends on the effect of the fire."

"All ministries go prepare. The sea blockade cannot be stopped for a moment. Send a message to the Jews and Moors in Menorca, Ceuta and other places. If they are caught smuggling, they will be hanged."

The officers should claim yes, and get ready.

Soon, the main force of combat engineers who had been repaired in Menorca for a period of time were also transported to Spanish towns and started their old work.

Dig a hole.

Build a fort.

Dig traffic trenches.

Build a fortress to stockpile troops to prevent enemy counterattacks.

And those special artillerymen also began to set up their large launchers behind the parapet.

Two hundred launch pads were quickly set up, and they were waiting for a weather with a very suitable wind direction.The main thing is to need a weather where the wind is not too strong, but not too low. After all, even the artillery that specializes in launching this thing knows the accuracy of this thing, and it can basically be regarded as inaccurate.

Fortunately, the British have towns here in Gibraltar, and most of the houses in the towns are made of wood, especially some houses on the seaside wharf, most of which are built with old ship materials.

About half a month after the engineers dug the pit, they finally waited for a very suitable weather.

Since the morning, the sun has been scorching hot, and a very suitable northeast wind has blown up.The weather in Gibraltar is very strange. Unlike Dashun, there are basically clear monsoons in all seasons. On the contrary, the east wind today may be the west wind tomorrow.

Since the weather conditions are very suitable, Dashun chose the evening for the launch.

Because the evening can cause panic in Gibraltar to the greatest extent, and can also hinder any possible rescue to the greatest extent, and a limited number of British ships leave the port for shelter.

It's not that these ships might pose any threat to Dashun, the main reason is that these ships will be dismantled and used as fuel for heating in winter.

According to the news here, starting from November every year, Gibraltar is also so cold that you can rub your hands. Although it is not far from rubbing your ears, the average is about ten degrees and the humid climate here. It is definitely unbearable not to warm up. .

Another reason is that it was even more shocking at night.

Dashun invited French generals and Spanish generals to observe the night fire together.

Dashun's warships had already hid far away, for fear that these totally unpredictable things would fall on him.

The officers, who watched with the Spanish and French noble generals, were in very safe positions.

At four o'clock in the afternoon, the artillerymen were ready, and there was no need for any test firing of this thing, and the test firing was still inaccurate.

The large sky-swapping monkeys were placed one by one on the launch pad. In view of the processing longitude and other reasons, Dashun did not adopt a slightly advanced design similar to the Hale rocket's nozzle gas to ensure the spin of the projectile. , instead employing a single jet that shoots the farthest.

Of course, I didn’t use the idea of ​​Shenhuo Flying Crow described in "Wu Bei Zhi", because the simultaneous ignition of multiple rockets will not pass, and the stability of the subsequent two jets, etc., to some extent, it can be regarded as a later Soviet rocket. Failure is similar: it is far less powerful than a thrust nozzle to fly bricks.

Dashun's special Sky-Changing Monkey has a limit range of five miles, but the deviation is basically one or two miles, and it can even miss three or four miles with bad luck.

The launcher is just a broken tripod, with a simple copper-skinned guide rail added. After installing the fixed colloidal oil bombs in front of the Sky Monkey, the ignition method is no different from that of the Sky Monkey.

Behind the propellant mixed with saltpeter and sugar, a fuse was pulled out, and the soldiers held torches and lit the fuse like firecrackers during the New Year.

Accompanied by an order to launch, there were bursts of strange whistles in the evening sky, and the humming sound was accompanied by flame trails, drawing a messy net with strange trajectories in the sky.

The whistling sound surprised the Spanish and French nobles who were drinking wine in the fortress. They stood up at the same time and looked at the flying monkeys flying in the sky. There was an indescribable shock.

Dashun was the first to use flying balloons for military purposes, and now it has produced this kind of large sky-swiping monkey. The dream of flying and the scene of flying randomly in the sky are universally shocking and attractive to human beings.

The twilight in the evening made the flying monkeys even more frightening.

About 2000 Sky-Changing Monkeys were thrown out after several rounds of volleys.

The Spanish and French nobles on the fort saw a sight they will never forget.

"That's... like hell."

The acting commander of the French Toulon Fleet, De la Crewe, looked at the town of Gibraltar in the distance and sighed like this.

These inaccurate primitive rockets, relying on their more convenient firing speed than heavy artillery, fired a salvo of [-] rockets in a very short period of time.

The rockets that fell on the town, or the explosive bombs loaded with a lot of gunpowder, made a deafening roar.

Or, it contains a jelly mixed with refined petroleum and dissolved rubber. After it explodes on the ground, it splashes around. No matter where it falls, even if it falls on the water, it will continue to burn.

Of the 2000 rockets, about 350 landed in the small town of Gibraltar, and the rest were scattered in a wide area around it.

Even the bare stone mountain of Gibraltar seems to have been set on fire.

The pungent smell of burning rubber and sulfur, as well as the unique thick black smoke of rubber, mixed with the screams of the residents in the town and the crying of the defenders, set all the houses in the town on fire.

Several British warships docked on the pier were also stained with these oily sticky things. Soon, the gunpowder depot of the warship made a loud noise, which brought the tragedy of burning the town to the climax. Shocking scene.

The soaring pillar of fire caused a strong whirlwind, and the black smoke rising into the sky could be seen even dozens of miles away at dusk. The strong flames swirled along with the whirlwind, turning the evening into a red color.

In the chaos, the residents of the small town could only flee frantically, some jumped into the sea, some ran up the rocky hill, and more people piled up on the beach, looking at the monsters that appeared in the town in horror and despair. Huge dragon.

The "Bible" does not describe what hell looks like. Of course, the "Koran" does not describe what Hell looks like in detail. People can only imagine what they have seen, so this fire, in this Catholic, New The small town where Christians, Moors, and Jews gathered crossed the differences between religions and became a common template for hellfire and hell of different religions.

The magic flame of vision.

The smell of sulfur and the smell of charred corpses.

The audible beeping burning sound and the strange whistling sound of the smoke and dust rolled up by the fire column.

All of this makes the people here intuitively panic that the end is approaching.

The fire burned for a whole night, about 400 civilians were killed in the flames, and almost all the buildings in Gibraltar were burned, including the ships moored on the pier.

However, the British troops stationed here suffered little loss.

Among the 4200 defenders, there were only about 100 casualties, because as long as the rockets were aimed at the town, the British troops in the trenches and fortresses did not suffer huge losses.

However, the commander of the British army understood that the guard work of Gibraltar had reached the most difficult moment.

The fire last night burned down the town and the pier.

Almost all the food, vegetables, fruits, shops, bakeries, sugar cane wine, etc. in the town were also burned down.

After the French captured Menorca before, the United Kingdom chose to increase its troops to Gibraltar. Most of the 4200 defenders were strengthened here after the failed siege of Menorca.

However, there is not much food.

Because the British army quickly regained control of the sea after the fall of Menorca.Spain has always been neutral, and British merchants, Jews, Moors, etc. in the town can also continue to do business with the local garrison.

Stationed in such a place, a large amount of fresh vegetables and fruits are needed every day, otherwise scurvy will make these soldiers lose their combat effectiveness.

Therefore, the only food reserves are some corned beef, wheat, and a small amount of spirits for military supplies.

Because they had control of the sea before, the purchase of military supplies here is mainly on-the-spot purchases.

Generally speaking, small towns are very safe.

Because of the blocking of the stone mountain, normal cannons at this time cannot threaten the town.Unless attacking from the sea, but shelling from the sea, the fort will sink the warship at sea.

Unexpectedly, Dashun's navy suddenly wedged in, not only regaining the command of the Mediterranean Sea to the French side.

It even used this kind of weird oriental magic artillery to burn down the originally safe town.

This is not the real Central Europe for 30 years. It was taken away by the British from Spain. Therefore, before the British army came here, they could not rob and rob food on the spot. The military discipline is not bad. The appearance of money.

In addition, in order to attract more people, especially the Jews, Moors, and Protestants who were hated by Spain's religious policy, the British settled here, and the commercial atmosphere of the town was maintained on the whole.

Now that the town was completely burned down with a torch, even though the defenders suffered little loss, supplies immediately became a big problem.

"If the navy cannot provide effective support to us, then we will last until December of this year at most. The cold wind in December will make all the defenders lose their combat effectiveness. When the Chinese burn the town, it is equivalent to burning the city. Firewood for our warmth, supplies for our rations in time of war.”

Facing the town that was bombarded into ashes by flames and weird cannons, the commander of the British army stationed here said so.

(End of this chapter)