Picturesque Rivers and Mountains in the Red Chamber

Chapter 307 4.103 Counterinsurgency was completed by shelling alone
Volume Four

4.103 actually completed the counterinsurgency by relying only on shelling.
"Boom bang bang-"

Even if the noisy shouts of killing filled the entire battlefield, twelve consecutive dull booms still resounded in everyone's ears like thunder. The infantry cannon weighed less than three hundred kilograms, and was not large in either size or caliber. , even though the iron ring at the end of the single-legged gun mount has been fixed to the ground by a three-foot-long iron drill, the not-so-small recoil still caused the entire artillery to rise significantly!
Immediately afterwards, more than a foot of flames erupted from the muzzle. Even under the bright early spring sunshine, it was still dazzling. Many officers and soldiers staring at the artillery subconsciously closed their eyes, but they still could not remove the remaining firelight in their pupils. In addition, Stimulated by the sound of gunfire, the officers and soldiers of Qianhu Station were all excited, as if they were being baptized.

Overwhelming!

When an infantry cannon is loading grape bullets, a measuring tool similar to a horse spoon is usually used to pour a full spoonful of iron sand, amounting to about two hundred, at a time, and then use the appropriate charge to knock out the "shells". Twelve infantry cannons and more than two thousand grains of iron sand "covered" the White Lotus Rebellion that had just begun their intensive charge like raindrops!

The originally noisy shouts of killing were interrupted, replaced by screams and curses that filled the battlefield. The White Lotus Sect's "military line" was almost crowded and crushed, and a thick "soldier" was "cut off". "Layer", at least hundreds of casualties occurred in just an instant, so that both sides at the scene felt unreal.

Although the officers and soldiers of Daye Qianhu Station have long been accustomed to seeing and using firearms, such a "shot" of a hundred households and twelve infantry cannons firing a salvo was the first time that Zhou Yang himself had seen it, even in " When ambushing the private soldiers of three mine owners in Daye, although six guns were dispatched, when they actually opened fire, three guns were fired in turn and the other three were loaded. There were not so many usable artillery at that time.

But this is not the case now. The salvo of twelve infantry cannons, both in terms of spectacle and lethality, is too explosive for people of this era. Even the officers and soldiers of Daye Qianhu Regiment were shocked into silence at this time, and even more Not to mention the White Lotus Rebellion, which was seeing such firepower for the first time, their morale that had just been lifted was instantly beaten to the ground!

"Artillery reloading - hurry up, what are you thinking about, reloading!" Fortunately, Zhou Yang had also seen the artillery unit's actual firing and even the artillery regiment's exercises. He reacted when he was slightly shocked, and saw that the people below were actually playing When the "wooden man" game started, he immediately yelled at the top of his lungs, rushed directly to the artillery position, and kicked Zhao Tong, who was in charge.

"What the hell are you thinking? Load it now!" Zhao Tong was staggered by the kick, and naturally he was in a bad mood. He picked up the riding crop and whipped a group of artillerymen until they screamed, which also woke them up and quickly entered the battle.

With a caliber of three inches, loading is actually very easy. The oily mop is inserted into the barrel and pumped several times. Then the loader stuffs the cotton fixed charge package into it, and another wooden stick immediately removes the package. After tamping, another person pours a spoonful of iron sand and compacts it tightly. The gunner inserts an iron cone into the fuse hole at the end of the barrel, and finally installs the fuse and ignites it.

"Bah-boom!"

In less than thirty seconds, before most people in the audience could react, a cannon on the artillery side had already fired again - the maximum range of this kind was less than [-] steps, and it was not very accurate. The front-loaded smoothbore cannon still shoots grape bullets. In fact, there is not much aiming content. It basically relies on the directivity of the barrel, and it is done with a little adjustment.

The artillerymen of Daye Qianhu Station are all novices who have just completed their training. Even if there are differences between them, they are not huge. Not long after the first cannon was fired, in less than ten breaths, The other artillery positions have also completed firing. After two rounds, these people have all entered the state casually. Without urging, they all reloaded and continued to pour iron sand at the stopped rebel army in front!

Yes, at this time, the White Lotus rebels stopped more than 100 steps away from the artillery position. In other words, these people were frightened to death - no matter how powerful the brainwashing was, they could not withstand the artillery bombardment, let alone all of them. It was the first time for the personnel to see such brutal and inhuman shelling, and they were all stunned.

They were stunned, but Zhou Yang didn't. Not only did he not, he also forgot to command all the firearms units to continue shooting. During the "gap" of the artillery reloading, the matchlock soldiers who were already lined up behind the artillery immediately followed the three-stage command. After they completed a round of firing, the artillery that had completed reloading just "filled in".

It was in this "wheel battle" mode that what was supposed to be a brutal fight suddenly turned into a massacre. I only saw the White Lotus rebels being bombarded "layer after layer", but after the artillery fired the first After two rounds of volleys, they finally came to their senses and fled in all directions, howling. No one cared about the "lifeless old mother" anymore.

What, arquebusiers?According to the range of the existing equipment, if a salvo is fired at a distance of more than a hundred steps, if anyone is hit, it will basically have to be extremely lucky or extremely unlucky to get this "honor", and it is basically impossible to be on the spot. Death, the purpose of the matchlock fire is actually more to "fill in the blanks" than to really expect them to do anything.

"Huh..." "Watching" the fleeing rebels, Zhou Yang breathed a long sigh of relief. The scene in front of him was even smoother than his best expectations. The two sides ended the battle without even formally engaging. As for his original plan, there was no contingency plan for such problems. "Send a signal, order the cavalry to dispatch, and take advantage of the situation to cover up!"

As the cannon took off, a cavalry force consisting of a hundred households, or less than a hundred people under the reinforced banner, lined up in an attack formation like that, waving their sabers to make do with what they could see, and rushed towards them at full speed, turning into a frightened bird. Of the White Lotus Rebellion, the speed of the "Quick Horse" vehicle is pretty good, at least it can sprint for a short time, which is enough for the time being.

"Sir, where are they?" Seeing that the dust had settled and all the five hundred households were relieved, Meng Kun galloped to Zhou Yang's side with an excited look on his face, pointing at the remaining soldiers who were screaming on the battlefield and said.

"Order hundreds of spearmen to advance and clean the battlefield." Zhou Yang glanced at the battlefield with a complicated expression and said, "There is no need to keep prisoners, let them have fun!" "Brother Zhou, isn't that too cruel?" After setting off, Zhao Yanling, who had been dressed as a soldier and followed Zhou Yang without saying a word, said distressedly, "They are just ordinary people. If they are not really unable to live, who would have the courage to rebel? Besides, we have just received preliminary training of medical soldiers. You need to exercise, why not”

"It's meaningless." Zhou Yang waved his hand helplessly and said, "There is basically no cure for injuries caused by firearms. Unless the limbs are only injured, it may be possible to survive through amputation, because of the medical treatment in these years. Level, if the body is hit by iron sand, it will be difficult to dig it all out. Even if you are lucky enough to dig it out, it will be difficult to avoid infection, so you might as well give them a good time."

"Infection?" Zhao Yanling said blankly.

"It's the inflammation that causes the wound to fester." Zhou Yang pointed to the dozen or so shivering medical soldiers behind him and said, "Let them go over and help clean the battlefield. It can be seen as a sight of blood and cultivates a good mood. When treating my family in the future, I will not As for not moving because of fear, then it’s all in vain – let’s go!”

Naturally, the core officers were not involved in chores such as cleaning the battlefield. The group of people all looked at the tragic battlefield with complicated expressions. No one expected that a rebellion that was originally extremely troublesome could be solved by shelling alone. After completing the counterinsurgency and inflicting at least [-]% casualties on the enemy, they realized for the first time that firearms were really so terrifying.

"Sir, the rebel army has been dispersed. There will no longer be any threat. I am here to pay my order!" Half an hour later, before the battlefield was cleaned up, with the sound of horse hooves, Yuan Xiu withdrew with hundreds of cavalry households. Coming back, "It's a pity that I couldn't keep the leader of the thief behind because of my humble position. I don't even know what he looked like. There were more than a dozen people who fled quickly. They should be the core group."

"Sir, I just humbly interrogated a bandit who pretended to be dead and surrendered." Zhao Tong stepped forward and reported, "According to him, the incense master of the White Lotus Sect in Daye is named Sun Xin. He is very powerful in the local area and has even won many people. There is no good horse, this is probably the reason why Brother Dongjie failed to catch up; there are still many people who were caught and did not have time to interrogate, so I guess they can."

"No need." Zhou Yang waved his hand indifferently, "Leave it all to the county government. They are the most professional in this job. This battle is enough to beat the Bailian army into a frightened bird, and there will be no more trouble; when you go back, remember Tell Chang Wen (Fu Shi) to prepare a good news and send it as soon as possible, and to get some benefits for the brothers as soon as possible."

"I understand your humble position!" All the five hundred households at the scene saluted in surprise.

"Brother Zhou, County Magistrate He is here!" While everyone was having a friendly discussion, the county seat, which had been watching the whole battle, finally opened the city gate, and Magistrate He Cheng came over with more than a dozen of his men arrogantly.

"He County Magistrate!" Zhou Yang was too lazy to talk nonsense to such a useless corrupt official, so he stepped forward and slightly cupped his hands as a greeting.

"Zhou Qianhu, what do you do with this garrison?" He Cheng took the lead as soon as he came up, walked up to Zhou Yang, pointed at him and shouted, "The White Lotus rebel army gathered over a thousand people and even besieged the county town, almost causing the loss of life, you As a member of the garrison with thousands of households, I don’t want to serve the country on weekdays, so I sit on my back and eat nothing, and in the end..."

"Bang!" Zhou Yang really didn't expect that people could be so shameless. He Cheng forced the people to rebel because he embezzled disaster relief money, and wanted to play "capture the thief first, capture the king first" but failed and was reversed. Now, He still has the guts to play blame game and want to blame it on himself. He is really trying to blind his mind. Of course, no one will tolerate such a waste, "He Cheng, you'd better figure out your identity!
I know that your tutor happens to be He Ping, the right servant of the Ministry of Civil Affairs, and He Yanping. I heard that you two have joined the clan. Even though He Shilang is less than ten years older than you, you still have the shamelessness to call him "uncle", then so what?If I don't have a backing, how can I directly appoint Qianhu Shiqianer as a Wu Jinshi? "

"You—you vulgar martial artist!" He Cheng, who was knocked to the ground by a slap in the face, was completely taken aback, and it took him a long time to realize, "I must join you!"

"Join me?" Zhou Yang smiled sarcastically and slapped He Cheng again, who had just gotten up. He only used less than [-]% of his strength, otherwise it would be easy for him to meet the King of Hell with a slap, "My teacher is exactly Mr. Chen, the successor of Duke Qi's mansion and the commander-in-chief of the Shenji Battalion, the eldest son in the mansion is my senior brother. As the saying goes, "eight princes are one body". The eldest son of Mr. Niu, Minister of War, is also considered a brother to me.

I am still a disciple of the Rongguo Mansion. The second brother Lian in the mansion and the eldest brother Zhen of the Ningguo Mansion have an iron-clad friendship. How dare you threaten me with a loser like you?Hahaha, then feel free to go and participate, I hope it will make me have some fun; also, I will definitely report your embezzlement of disaster relief money and food, and the government forcing the people to rebel, so that you can feel comfortable! "

"You--" He Cheng, who had just been helped to get up, changed his face greatly. He pointed at Zhou Yang and trembled for a long time. He fell limply in the hands of the servant and fainted on the spot.

"Retrieve the team - go back to camp!" Zhou Yang sneered and looked at Magistrate He whose eyelids were trembling, too lazy to deal with this kind of trash anymore.

(End of this chapter)