A small soldier of the frontier army in the late Ming Dynasty

Chapter 479

Piercing the mountain and breaking the ground is a powerful name for the mortar in Daming. Of course, some people directly call it the mortar.

Like the Hongyi cannon, the mortar also uses a four-wheeled gun mount, but because of the downward recoil, it does not need piles to fix it.

The heavy Hongyi cannon needs to be fixed by piling, because the piling and the cannon body must be connected with a garrison cable, and the rope is connected, so that the cannon will not retreat too far, and it is easier to reset. The disadvantage is that it can only be Hit back and forth, difficult to turn side to side.

Mortars do not require piling, but because of the downward recoil, the gun wheels need to be stronger and more durable.

Of course, it is also possible to remove the gun body and set it up on the field, but this will take a lot of work, after all, large-caliber mortars are also extremely heavy.

Mortars can shoot solid bullets, as well as "flowering bullets". Wang Dou is very concerned about the flowering bullets at this time, and also wants to know how effective the "flowering bullets" were during the Ming Dynasty.Because the later generations use flowering bombs, the fragments and shock waves produced after the explosion of the projectile are sharp weapons to kill the enemy.

Like Wang Dou, Hong Chengchou and others also paid attention to it. In the Ming Dynasty, flowering bullets were much more mysterious than solid bullets, and basically few artillery battalions were using them.

Under the attention of Wang Dou and others, the gunners of the Shenji Battalion set the range of the mortar and adjusted the speed of the mortar. This is basically the same as the Hongyi cannon, but the mortar's elevation angle is higher.Then the ammunition hand took out a kind of propellant bag and put it into the barrel of the gun. The following process was very different from that of the Hongyi Cannon.

Because after adding the propellant powder, some soil needs to be filled in, about one or two inches thick, and then the blooming shells are put in.

And this shell...

A kind of fuze is needed, corresponding to the flight time of the shell, and then exploded at the specified location, which is very particular about the fuze technology of the military factory.

At this time, the flowering ammunition of the Ming Dynasty used a hollow reed tube to detonate the fuze, with a built-in drug twister, and the corresponding length was cut according to the target distance before loading.This just causes a problem, according to the difference of shell quality, the difference of fuze quality, shell easily advances in advance, or delays explosion.

Moreover, in Wang Dou's eyes, the gunners of the Shenji Battalion put in a layer of wet soil after putting in the blooming shells, and finally sealed the muzzle with wax, so that only the shell fuze was exposed outside.

Wang Dou speculates that this is to prevent the flame and power generated by the propellant from causing the shell to explode in the chamber or prematurely. After all, it is no different from a solid iron ball.

Wang Dou pondered, it seems that the flowering ammunition at this time is really immature, the operation is troublesome and dangerous, and the processing of the shells is more time-consuming and material-consuming.No wonder flowering ammunition is not popular, and solid shells are generally used in artillery battalions everywhere.

Zhao Xuan was also in deep thought, medicine twist was the key.

In the eyes of everyone, Shenji Battalion's first wave of mountain-piercing and ground-breaking mine artillery was ready. It fired poisonous bombs, which contained wolf's poison, asphalt, arsenic, etc., and produced poisonous smoke when they exploded.Poison bomb technology was quite mature in the Ming army, and many rockets also shot poison arrows.

When the mortar shells were fired, the artillery battalion did not use the swan sound salvo. Fu Yingchong, the deputy general of the former battalion of the Shenji Battalion, took a deep breath and shouted to the chief officer of the artillery battalion: "Fire!"

The general yelled at the gunners: "Poisonous smoke bombs, fire!"

Immediately from left to right, two gunners stepped forward nervously for each mortar. One first ignited the poison fuze fuze at the muzzle, and the other quickly ignited the powder on the fire door.

sizzle!
Everyone looked at the two fuses that sparked from each cannon, especially the gunners of the Shenji Battalion, who were even more worried that the fuzes of the poisonous smoke bombs would burn out ahead of time.

Tom, Tom, Tom, Tom, Tom!
Amidst the dull sound, finally, the muzzles of the large-caliber mortars spewed out large streams of thick smoke and flames.There was almost no vibration in the barrels of the cannons, and the poisonous smoke bombs flew out of the cannons and rushed towards the Qing army's position at high speed.

In the large formation of the Ming army, all the people watched the cannonballs fly in the air, there were a few bangs, and several huge flames burst out in the air.Several cannonballs exploded in the air ahead of time, and strange blue smoke filled the sky in those places.

Alas, everyone in the Ming army, from soldiers to officers, sighed in unison.

"Ah yo!"

Fu Yingchong also patted his thigh in frustration, and yelled at the gunners: "Next time you fire, the fuze of the poisonous smoke bomb should be longer!"

Wang Dou also nodded, the flower bomb fuze, it is better to be long than short.After all, people at this time have a fear of cannonballs, and it is impossible for the fired cannonballs to be thrown back.Of course, it is possible for the defenders to run far away before the shells explode.

But it also depends on the position, if the position is small, or fight in formation, the enemy can't run around, otherwise it will be defeated.

……

At this time, in the Qing army's position, in the first line of defense, many earth and stone walls collapsed.While the artillery fire of the Ming army stopped, the armored soldiers of the Qing army roared and directed the followers or slaves to pick up soil and move rocks, speed up the repair of the collapsed defense lines in various places, or busy rescue the wounded everywhere.

The ant-like crowd began to be busy, and while they were busy, they were still worried, worried that the Ming army would open fire again.

Fortunately, there was no movement for a long time in the Ming army's position, and everyone breathed a sigh of relief.

Suddenly, there was another rumbling cannon from the Ming army's position, and everyone exclaimed: "The Ming army fired again!"

For a moment, like ants on a hot pot, all the Qing slaves commotion, ignoring the scolding from the armored soldiers, they screamed and ran back and forth, trying to find a safer place.

Cannonballs roared in. The fifty large-caliber mortars of the Shenji Battalion were divided into several artillery formations and several batches. This was the first batch of artillery shells, and they fired at the Qing army's position.

In addition to some shells exploding in the air ahead of time, many huge round flowering shells rumbled and fell on the front and back of the Qing army's defense line, smashing hard on the ground, and some even happened to land on the trench wall.

In the line of defense, regardless of the Eight Banners Manchuria, the Eight Banners Han army, and the Korean soldiers all screamed.But then everyone discovered that this wave of cannonballs did not have the power of the previous cannonballs. Although they fell from the sky, they rarely smashed anything, let alone rolled very much, because they were not heavy enough.

Looking at those cannons, many people were curious, and some even wanted to step up to watch.

Suddenly someone noticed that the fuze on the shell was burning, and the well-informed exclaimed: "Ah, it's thunder!"

"It's a poisonous smoke bomb!"

"It's a gray bullet, run, big guy!"

Amidst the loud bang, the shells exploded, and immediately a glaring and choking smoke filled the air. Some Qing soldiers who happened to inhale coughed and ran screaming.

The Qing soldiers who were unlucky to inhale thick smoke felt dizzy and had a splitting headache, and then they felt short of breath in horror and felt as if they were suffocating.

They desperately stretched out their hands, wanting to ask others for help, and then wanted to speak, but found that they couldn't say anything, they could only murmur, and their whole body twitched violently.

After some people inhaled the poisonous fumes, they found that their vision became difficult. They ran around screaming in fear, and vomited non-stop while running, so that their bodies were covered with dirt.While some people were running, black blood flowed from their noses and mouths from time to time, making them even more frightened.

Tom, Tom, Tom, Tom, Tom!
Amidst the loud noise, the Shenji Battalion's large-caliber mortars fired non-stop, and the shells roared continuously, falling in front of and behind the Qing army's position.

Large strands of poisonous smoke, after the explosion exploded, permeated all over the position, combined with the increasingly scorching sun, it made people feel so uncomfortable.

Although the firing of poisonous smoke was not as bloody and tragic as the solid iron ball of the Hongyi cannon, the chaos it caused was even worse.

A lot of poisonous smoke fell in front of the main wall of the trench, and because the wind that happened to blow was blowing towards the top of the mountain, large pieces of poisonous smoke kept drifting to the wall of the village and to the back of the mountain.

There was a loud coughing sound that seemed to be coughing up their heart and lungs. Many Qing soldiers, like ants on a hot pot, just avoided the wafting smoke in great fear.

As a result, the defense line on the wall of the stronghold disappeared, and the chief officials from all sides of the Manchu and Han dynasties kept yelling sharply: "No escape, offenders will be killed on the spot, no escape, cough cough..."

"Don't panic, cover your face with a wet cloth..."

In the panic, a poisonous smoke bomb was shot at the tower of the Niangniang Temple. On this tower, four Hongyi three-pound guns of the Qing army were deployed. At the crenel, there were many Qing gunners, archers, and bird gunners.

Seeing a huge artillery shell falling on the platform, all the Qing soldiers' eyes froze.

Ah, they yelled and fled in all directions.

With a loud bang, the shell exploded half a foot away from the building, thick flames and smoke rose, and then choking poisonous smoke permeated the building.All of a sudden, all the crenel defenders ran away, shouting loudly, scrambling to escape downstairs.

This building is relatively simple, and there is no scull door on the upper floor to block the poisonous smoke. Gathering on the building is a dead end.

And inside the tower, Jia Lazhang Jingyanzha stared dumbfounded at not far away, as puffs of smoke were continuously drifting towards the arrow window of his side with the direction of the wind, getting closer and closer.

Standing beside him, Jialazhangjing of the Han Army Zhengbai Banner, the leader of the North Korean Army, and Niulu Zhangjing of various banners also gulped down their saliva.Although their mouths and noses were covered with wet cloths, they were still very afraid of the poisonous smoke that kept coming.

The leader of the North Korean army trembled and said, "The poisonous smoke is coming, what should I do? What should I do?"

The blue veins on Yan Zha's forehead throbbed violently, and he wanted to temporarily leave the empress temple tower, but he couldn't bear it all at once.

Just at this moment, a group of people ran down the stairs shouting and yelling, all of them chanting, "Poisonous smoke, poisonous smoke!"

Everyone was startled, and when they looked up, they saw puffs of strange-colored smoke on the stairs, continuously drifting down the corridor.

Seeing the people around him staring at him in horror, Yan Zha's heart trembled and he couldn't hold on any longer.

Compared with actual fighting with real swords and guns, he is more afraid of this kind of poisonous smoke and bombs, and death is extremely disgraceful.

He suddenly made up his mind and shouted: "Go, go down to the mountain, anyway, the Ming army didn't come up!"

In a swarm, all the Qing troops in the tower rushed out.

As soon as he ran out of the building, he heard the whistling sound of shells, several round and huge shells fell down, and one shell happened to explode on top of everyone's heads.

In the flames and green smoke, another distinctive choking smell spread, and a large burst of white powder fell down.

A few Qing soldiers covered in powder immediately covered their eyes and howled piteously: "My eyes are gray bullets..."

(End of this chapter)