I want to be emperor

Chapter 494: Marching in the Deep Mountains
Since last winter, the Great Chu Empire broke through the new grenade technology and developed an [-]-pound light howitzer. howitzer.

At that time, there were four projects in the first batch of projects.

They are large-caliber howitzers, that is, 24-pound howitzers, 48-pound howitzers, and [-]-pound howitzers.

And the medium-caliber howitzer: the nine-pound light howitzer.

Among them, the [-]-pound howitzer has a longer barrel than the [-]-pound light howitzer, and the barrel diameter has reached ten times, which brings a heavier weight. The overall weight is almost [-]-pound light Twice as much as the howitzer, but also brings a longer range and higher accuracy.

Although there is an [-]-pound light howitzer, the Army's idea is that if it is fighting on flat terrain, it does not need to think too much about the extra several hundred kilograms of weight, and it is entirely possible to choose the range and accuracy.

The 24-pound howitzer, this 24-pound howitzer has a caliber of 170 mm, but because of the relatively short barrel, even if the caliber of this howitzer is larger, the weight is roughly equivalent to a [-]-pound field gun.

Therefore, the 24-pound howitzer can actually be used together with the nine-pound field gun for conventional combat.

According to the high-level vision of the Chu army, the regular division and military-level support firepower will mainly form five-pound and nine-pound field artillery combined with eighteen-pound light howitzers or eighteen-pound howitzers and 24-pound howitzers.

Among them, a conventional [-]-pound howitzer is used for plain terrain, and an [-]-pound light howitzer is used for mountainous terrain.

As for the [-]-pound light howitzer, because of its weight, it is actually more suitable for divisional artillery regiments that are directly assigned to fight in mountainous areas.

After all, the weight of this thing is only slightly heavier than the two-and-a-half catty field gun, and it can be disassembled for transport, which is more suitable for use in areas with poor roads.

As for the 48-pound howitzer, this thing cannot be used in conventional field battles. This thing is too large in caliber and too heavy, so it can only be used in siege operations.

In addition to the above-mentioned three large-caliber conventional howitzer research and development projects, the Ministry of Ordnance also required the development of a lighter howitzer for use as battalion-level support firepower, which requires lighter weight and can be disassembled for transport.

This is the nine-pound light howitzer.

This artillery is directly simplified from the 20-pound light howitzer, and it was assigned to the northern front for the first time. To be precise, it was the No.[-] division that was reorganized and reequipped. So far, this thing has not actually participated in actual combat.

Now it is sent to the Yunnan battlefield, on the one hand, it is to test the practicability and reliability of this artillery in actual combat, and to provide support for subsequent large-scale equipment applications.

On the other hand, it is because this artillery is really light!
The horses are directly dragged, the artillery, the gun carriage and the wheels, plus the leading vehicle, and the weight of the ammunition box attached to it is only more than 300 kilograms...

The weight of its ranks is not as heavy as the barrel of a five-jin field gun...

The light weight is doomed that this kind of artillery can not only serve as battalion-level support firepower, but also is more suitable for fighting in mountainous areas.

With the limited output of [-]-pound light howitzers and the urgent needs of various troops, the top army simply sent a batch of new [-]-pound light howitzers to the Yunnan-Guizhou battlefield to supplement front-line firepower.

The Fifth Division also obtained the first batch of nine-pound light howitzers as a matter of course.

The first batch has sixteen gates, which can be compiled into four whistles.

The Fifth Division directly assigned one to each regiment and went into battle.

And in order to further adapt and find more tactics for mountain warfare, the four nine-pound light howitzers of the No.18 Infantry Regiment were also directly reinforced to the third battalion of Major Gan Xinrong.

The No.18 Infantry Regiment has a total of three battalions. Currently, only the third battalion has completed reorganization and reequipment. The other two battalions, one battalion, have stopped combat missions and are undergoing reorganization and reorganization in a small town more than ten kilometers away. It takes at least one and a half months to install.

There is another battalion, which is currently deployed in several logistics transportation nodes in a relatively scattered manner, serving as a strategic reserve team while maintaining the logistics line.

Therefore, the No. 18 Infantry Regiment can really be assembled, and only the third battalion can participate in relatively large-scale front-line battles.

After getting the reinforcement of four nine-pound light howitzers, although the superiors have also issued a new mission to him, let him go to a small town more than 20 kilometers away to support the friendly forces of the No.19 regiment next door.

But Gan Xinrong didn't rush over with his troops in a hurry, but went to his superiors to apply for rest and supplementary time.

On the one hand, it is the previous combat effectiveness at the border, which seems to have only been fought for an hour, but the ammunition consumption is relatively large. The infantry battalion that all uses flintlock guns has more than 800 flintlock guns. The consumption of bullets under intensive shooting Compared with the number of troops using matchlock guns, there are more than ten times.

Even if the soldiers still carry a lot of ammunition, Gan Xinrong has always been a very cautious person. What if the ammunition consumption is very large when performing a new mission, and the bullets are gone, wouldn't it be necessary? finished...

In addition, the consumption of food and grass in the previous continuous maneuver is relatively large, and it is also necessary to supplement the grain eaten by a group of soldiers and the concentrated feed eaten by mules and horses.

If he went to the front line without enough ammunition and provisions, he was afraid of accidents.

Resupplying in the mountains is not easy. Now that we are gone, who knows when the logistics team will be able to deliver the supplies.

In addition to having to wait for the logistics troops to come up to supplement, he also wanted to take advantage of the short few days to familiarize himself with the four nine-pound light howitzers that he had strengthened.

Although he has also received the combat cooperation of the [-]-pound light howitzers before, the [-]-pound light howitzers are directly under the jurisdiction of the campaign headquarters, and it is not his turn to point fingers. After the battle at the border, the four [-]-pound light howitzers was transferred away.

There are only twelve [-]-pound light howitzers in Yunnan, and many places are waiting for them.

However, these four nine-pound light howitzers were directly assigned to the No.18 Infantry Regiment, and his third battalion was the only remaining main force in the No.18 Army Infantry Regiment. The nine-pound light howitzer will directly strengthen his third battalion for a long time.

Under such circumstances, it is naturally necessary to familiarize yourself clearly.

It is not only necessary to figure out the various performances and various advantages and disadvantages of these four artillery pieces, but also to make the infantry under him familiar with this artillery piece.

This will make it easier to cooperate.

Infantry and artillery coordination is a very important subject in the Chu army. Whether it is a field battle or a fortified battle, infantry and artillery coordination is very important.

Gan Xinrong made a report and applied for a three-day rest period.

Using these three days, he waited for the logistics supply team, replenished bullets, ammunition, and a batch of other supplies, and also obtained a batch of newly transported nine-jin new-style grenades.

At the same time, during these three days, he personally took the infantry and the nine-pound light howitzer to conduct several live ammunition training.

After the three-day rest, Gan Xinrong took the third battalion and two [-]-pound field guns, four [-]-pound light howitzers, and a heavy post sent to the front with more than [-] troops.

A battalion-level combat force with thousands of people is also an important feature of the new organization.

The two-level organization of battalion and regiment is larger than the old one, with more troops and more sufficient firepower.

Gan Xinrong, who set off with the troops, took two full days to arrive at the scheduled town and join a battalion under the No.19 Infantry Regiment of the friendly army.

The reason why there is only a curve of more than ten kilometers, and the straight line is only separated by two mountains, but the road of only three or four kilometers has taken two days, it is not because the enemy has delayed the formation, it is purely because the marching speed is very slow in the deep mountains and dense forests .

The roads here are almost impossible for horse-drawn carriages, and they are all small mountain roads. Whether it is the six artillery pieces in Gan Xinrong's army, or all kinds of ammunition, food and grass, they all rely on mules and horses for transportation.

Fortunately, the Chu army has collected a lot of southwestern horses in various provinces in the south, especially in Sichuan, southern Chu, and Yunnan and Guizhou. Otherwise, it would really be impossible to organize such a large-scale front-line transport.

Southwest horse, which is a general term, generally refers to the small horse breeds in the southwestern provinces, among which the more famous one is the Yunnan horse.

Although these southwest horses are short in stature and not suitable for cavalry horses, they have relatively good stamina... Alas, it doesn't matter whether they have stamina or not.

The important thing is that the Great Chu Empire can only obtain southwest horses in large quantities at present, so you have to use them if you don't need them!
Therefore, the Chu army used a large number of southwestern horses as service horses before. Many of the draft horses in the artillery units are all southwestern horses. better than nothing.

However, when the army entered the Yunnan-Guizhou Mountains to fight, Southwest Mali showed a very important advantage.

This kind of horse can adapt well to the plateau terrain!

Many people probably don't know that the Yunnan-Guizhou area is actually a plateau, that is, the Yunnan-Guizhou Plateau. Ordinary horse breeds are not very suitable for this plateau terrain.

In the plateau, in addition to the strong ultraviolet rays, the more important thing is the lack of oxygen!

The local southwestern horses can perfectly adapt to the local terrain. Therefore, the southwestern horses were a very important logistics transportation tool for the Chu army in the Yungui battle.

The transportation of various materials such as artillery, ammunition, grain and grass is inseparable from their presence.

Even the cavalry units make extensive use of Southwestern horses.

This time, Major Gan Xinrong led his army to the west to reinforce the friendly army, and he also brought a large number of southwest horses, so that he could smoothly carry the artillery and a large number of luggage, climbed over two mountains through the mountain trail, and arrived at the destination after twists and turns: Jingu Gorge.

This name is not only the name of a long local canyon, but also the name of a small town at the east end of the canyon.

The No.19 Infantry Regiment's first battalion captured this small town eight days ago. They planned to pass directly through the Jingu Canyon, but the scouts discovered that the enemy had secretly built several fortresses in the middle of the canyon. There are even short cannons deployed.

The terrain chosen by the enemy's fortress is very ingenious. It can not only block the passage at the canyon level with short artillery, but also avoid being bombarded by the direct firepower of the Chu army.

In order to avoid unnecessary casualties, they did not choose to attack by force, but requested more friendly forces and curved fire reinforcements from the rear.

The top sent the third battalion two hills away to reinforce them.

What surprised them even more was that the third battalion brought four nine-pound light howitzers.

(End of this chapter)