I want to be emperor

Chapter 295
After returning to the frontline headquarters of the Guards Division, Li Dongshao summoned his brigade commanders, regimental commanders and other mid-level and senior generals, and reported some situations and resolutions in the Imperial Military Conference.

"Tomorrow's battle, the north where our Guards Division is in charge of will be the main breakthrough point. At that time, no matter which unit it is, we can't hold back."

"Whoever delays the battle for me, even if His Majesty does not blame me, I, Li, will not let go easily!"

"I also hope that you will keep your mission and mission in mind in tomorrow's battle, and contribute your strength to the great cause of the empire together!"

"As long as we defeat the left army of the new standard army in front of us in this battle, then there will be no second puppet army that can stop us. At that time, several Chu Nans will be in the pocket of our empire."

"To expand the territory of the empire, to seek happiness and tranquility for the common people, and to seek the comprehensiveness of China for all eternity, this is the duty of our Great Chu soldiers that cannot be postponed!"

"What's more, we are His Majesty's guards, and we are loyal to His Majesty. It is the duty of my guards to fight for His Majesty!"

"Tomorrow's battle, I, Li, will fight with the lords, win the position, annihilate the enemy in front of us, and create a new situation for the empire!"

Li Dongshao said a lot to a group of subordinates, and talking too much actually proved his inner anxiety.

No matter how confident he is in Luo Zhixue, he still has some apprehensions in his heart.

Leading troops to fight alone, responsible for front-line warfare, and as the main attacker, and at the same time, the enemy army in front of him is not an ordinary Ming army guard or battalion sentinel, but a new standard that has never dealt with it, but it does not look simple at first glance. military.

If you don't have any anxiety in your heart, it's a lie.

This night, Li Dongshao didn't fall asleep until the middle of the night, and even after falling asleep, he couldn't sleep well.

When he really fell asleep, he was woken up by the guards outside the camp not long after.

At this time, the sky was not yet bright, but the guards had already woken up from their sleep, and the cooks of each unit had already started to cook and prepare breakfast in advance.

After Li Dongshao washed up, he did not put on the officer's uniform as usual, but changed into a lighter armor.

This is a set of full-body cloth face armor, which looks gorgeous, but in fact its defensive ability is far inferior to the armor of front-line soldiers.

Front-line soldiers, especially the full-body armor of spearmen and heavy-armored sword-shieldmen, weighs tens of catties. It looks like cloth, but it is many relatively large pieces of iron armor. In order to resist firearms, the iron pieces on the front are often will be thicker.

The thicker the iron sheet, the heavier it will be.

And Li Dongshao's armor is also a cloth face armor, but the iron sheet inside will be thinner.

The main reason is that Li Dongshao, as a high-ranking general, basically would not lead soldiers to fight in person. The threats he encountered were actually very small, and more of them were stray bullets on the battlefield.

But then again, in fact, armor, regardless of whether it is the cloth face armor of the Chu army, or the cloth face armor of the Ming army, or any kind of armor such as cotton armor, tie armor, chain mail, etc. The fire door gun is still effective, and it is barely enough to fight against small-caliber bird guns at long distances.

But at medium and short distances, there is basically no protection against bird guns.

At close range, even the old firearm such as the three-eyed blunderbuss can't hold it...

If it is the [-]mm muskets used by the Chu Army and the New Standard Army, even at a distance of hundreds of meters, these armors are all made of one shot and one hole.

The reason why the Chu army still equipped armor on a large scale was more to guard against the bows and arrows, old-style fire door guns, and old-style small-caliber bird guns that the Ming army still equipped in large quantities.

And more importantly, to provide protection for soldiers in close quarters hand-to-hand combat.

After all, the proportion of firearms and equipment in the Ming army seems not small, but the proportion of new firearms is still very low.

However, in the case of the new standard army, which uses large-caliber matchlock guns on a large scale, the role of these old armors is actually very limited.

But even so, the soldiers of the Guards still put on thick armor!
Maybe this armor can save my life at a critical moment!

On the front line, a battalion commander was instructing his officers: "Our battalion is the second battalion to attack. After the attack, don't just stand still and move for me."

"The distance ahead is only a mere hundred and twenty battles. After the friendly army attracts the attention of the enemy army, we must cross this distance as soon as possible, rush up and shoot them hard, and then directly initiate hand-to-hand combat!"

"Believe me, these pseudo-Ming soldiers are soft-legged shrimps. They may still be able to fight us, but they definitely don't have the guts or the ability to directly charge us at close range!"

On the other side of the war, in the [-]-jin mortar position in the trench, a captain was constantly observing the parapet of the Ming army in front, the direction of the trench, and wrote it down on paper with charcoal from time to time.

While observing and thinking, he finally put down his pen and said to a second lieutenant next to him: "The phantom position in the front is not much different from yesterday. Behind the small soil bags on the left and right are their short robes. It is estimated that there are about two doors each. .

It is not clear whether it is the attacking artillery or the tiger squatting artillery. When the battle starts, we will take away their short robe positions and clear the way for the infantry to attack! "

"If the infantry cannot be dealt with before they leave, the third infantry battalion next door may be in trouble!"

"Let me deploy specific tasks. The first team is responsible for the enemy's short robes on the left, the second team is responsible for the enemy's short robes on the right, and the third team is ready. Once the first or second team misses, they will immediately attack the enemy's short robe positions." Supplementary bombardment!"

"Fight for three rounds, destroy these two short robe positions!"

"Also, when shelling, keep your eyes wide open and watch the point, so that the people under your hands must strictly pay attention to safety, so that you don't blow up your own guns first if the enemy doesn't hit you!"

"When shelling, you must strictly follow the process of shelling. I would rather go slower and ensure safety!"

When the young artillery captain said this, he couldn't help touching the scar on his face!
This scar was caused when an [-]-pound mortar under his command exploded during the attack on Wuchang last year, and the fragments from the explosion directly scratched his face.

This is still his life, the shrapnel only scratched his face, leaving a gash more than an inch long.

Mortars are powerful, but they are also very dangerous. The mortar troops in the Chu Army actually had quite a few accidents.

Some are during combat, and some are simply during daily training.

There are dozens of mortar artillery soldiers who died due to various accidents...

Relatively speaking, the artillery of the field artillery is much safer, especially the gunners of the five-pound and nine-pound field artillery. They basically operate the artillery at a place hundreds of meters away from the front line. How to worry about being counterattacked by the enemy's long-range firepower.

And the field artillery will not have an accident with a little carelessness.

However, although mortars are very dangerous and the accident rate is very high, the Chu army is still equipped with mortars on a large scale.

After all, the mortar weapon is currently indispensable to the Chu army.

The flowering bullets fired by the mortar can not only form explosive damage that solid shells do not have, but more importantly, the curved trajectory allows the Chu army to directly attack the top of the city, even behind the city wall or the enemy hiding behind the trench.

And these are things that ordinary field artillery cannot bring.

However, in view of the relatively dangerous situation of mortar operation, the Chu army has also made some targeted measures, such as strengthening the training of mortar gunners and formulating strict operation manuals, etc., in order to reduce the accident rate as much as possible.

The infantry on the front line, the gunners of the [-]-jin mortars, and even the gunners of the [-]-jin field guns deployed in the front are already making final preparations.

Similarly, on several field artillery positions slightly behind, each artillery group is also making final preparations.

Several senior artillery officers who know how to measure distances and calculate shooting elements are making final observations and calculations, so as to pass the shooting elements to each artillery group on time, and get the expected shelling in the first few rounds of shelling as much as possible results.

The guards were up and down, preparing for the attack early in the morning.

On the other side of the battlefield, in the temporary wooden house of the Chinese Army Command, Luo Zhixue also finished the last short military meeting before the battle and made the final strategic deployment.

Luo Zhixue did not stay in the headquarters of the wooden house, but walked out and came directly to the open space in front of the headquarters.

There are three open tents for sun and rain in this open space. Under one of the tents on the left is a large table made of wooden ammunition boxes. On the table are a pair of sand tables, maps, rulers, paper, and charcoal pencils. wait for something.

Around the table, more than a dozen officers from the staff department were constantly arguing about something with the sand table on the table.

When these people saw Luo Zhixue approaching, they immediately stood up straight and began to salute, greeting His Majesty!

With a smile on his face, Luo Zhixue nodded lightly to everyone from time to time, and said at the same time: "My dear friends, you have worked hard. Today's battle cannot be separated from the efforts of you staff officers!"

The crowd naturally shouted: "I am not working hard..."

After Luo Zhixue nodded slightly again, he led Xu Zhixian and other senior generals past the staff officers of the staff department, and then came to the front of a tent.

This place faces the entire battlefield, with the widest view!
Under the tent, there is already a dragon-patterned master chair.

Luo Zhixue glanced at it. I don't know where I got this grand master's chair. The dragon pattern was obviously carved on it temporarily. It's not a bad idea to find a craftsman. The carved dragon pattern is a bit crooked...

Regarding these small details, Luo Zhixue was naturally too lazy to say anything, he just sat down and said, "Xu Aiqing, it's almost time now, how are the preparations going?" "

Xu Zhixian immediately stepped forward and said: "Your Majesty, all the ministries have been prepared according to the scheduled plan, and the official attack can be launched at any time!"

Luo Zhixue said: "Very good!"

After finishing speaking, Luo Zhixue stretched out his hand a little, took a teacup from the soldier, took a sip of tea and said, "Since the soldiers are all ready, let's start, finish the fight early and call it a day!"

"Pass down, all soldiers participating in this battle will receive double credits and double pay this month. Those who make great achievements will be rewarded heavily!"

As he said that, Luo Zhixue smiled at the dozen or so senior generals beside him: "My dear friends, there is only one chance to double credit, so don't miss it!"

As soon as these words came out, everyone's eyes lit up!
Looking at the new standard army Zuo Jun on the opposite side, they are not enemies, but benefactors who can help him get promoted and make a fortune...

(End of this chapter)