Late Ming sea owl

Chapter 201 Artillery Preparation
"The artillery bureau is trying the 100th commander Jiang Yu, and orders your troops to move forward. When the enemy arrives at 300 paces, Fo Lang's machine will raise its head and fire a single bomb to disturb the enemy. When it reaches 50 paces, after the war bureau's rockets have been fired, each gun will fire Gongsun shells. Each sentry in the artillery bureau listens to the command of the sentry commander to fire artillery, and no random attacks are allowed. General Manager Bai will take command in front of the formation with a flag and a fire."

"My subordinates take orders!" Jiang Yu, who was tall and thin, stepped forward quickly, his heart beating fast, and he was filled with inexplicable excitement in his nervousness.

The Artillery Bureau is the latest unit established by the War Department. The artillerymen's monthly salary is twice that of ordinary soldiers. They are somewhat resented by the War Department, so he must prove his worth in this battle.

"Mr. Jiang, why are your hands shaking?" Lin Hai noticed that Jiang Yu's hands were shaking when receiving the order arrow, so he asked.

"Commander, the Artillery Bureau can finally show off its power. This subordinate is so happy that his hands are shaking." Jiang Yu is quite good at talking, but he knows that he is more nervous. After all, the Artillery Bureau is to be placed at the front of the array. , as the Chief of the Artillery Bureau, he had to go out to observe.

"President Jiang was delighted when he heard about the battle. It's very good." Lin Hai had studied micro-expression psychology. He could see Jiang Yu's nervousness at a glance and couldn't help but murmur in his heart.

The operation of artillery is relatively cumbersome, and the consequences of any mistakes will be serious. In addition, it is easy to be nervous when being closest to the enemy. In a noisy battlefield environment, it is best to command by command. Therefore, the artillery bureau chief and the sentry commander are in front of the formation. The mission of the command is more important than that of the infantry bureau.

Lin Hai secretly reminded himself that he would need to send someone to supervise Jiang Yu later, and then continued: "In the first round, the 100th General will start on Monday, and I will order your troops to be the middle route army... In the third round, the 100th General, Ruan Jin, will order your troops. For the left route army... Jiang Sanhu, general manager of the fourth round, orders your troops to be the right route army..."

The first round is the most powerful unit in the Army Department, with the longest training time and the most practical combat experience. In addition, the gunners in this game are also the most elite. They are arranged to kill the enemy in the middle, which has a greater psychological impact on the enemy.

The third and fourth rounds were both newly established units, but the officers in the third round were selected and were stronger than those in the fourth round. Ruan Jin’s ability to command on the battlefield was also favored by Lin Hai, so he was assigned to the flank. The left wing may be outflanked.

These Weiyuan cannons and Folang machine guns weigh about 120 kilograms, including the gun mother or gun mount, which weighs 130 kilograms. This is basically the limit of the load carried by a mule. No matter how heavy it is, It would be impossible to march long distances, and it would be impossible to keep up with the speed of the infantry.

However, the geographical environment along the southeast coast, including Southeast Asia, is not conducive to the movement of artillery vehicles, and it is even more inconvenient to project artillery vehicles across the sea. Therefore, the Ministry of War has no plans to allocate vehicles to the Artillery Bureau, including the auxiliary troops, which only have mules and no vehicles.

"Subordinate - take orders." He Ying hesitated for a moment before stepping forward to take the order arrow.

Each team under the Weiyuan artillery post has two mules, one is used to carry the cannon, and the other is used to carry ammunition. There are three mules in each team. One is used to carry the mother gun, one is used to carry the child gun, and the remaining one is used to carry ammunition, iron bolts, iron concave cores, iron hammers, etc. Iron scissors, iron awls, iron medicine spoons and other accessories.

Because the right flank of the Army has the sea as a natural barrier, the Army Department's Mucha Camp was set up close to the coast in the direction of the open sea. On the one hand, it was to prevent being harassed by enemy warships firing cannons, and on the other hand, it was to facilitate communication with the own navy.

The horses and mules used by the Artillery Bureau to carry artillery were carefully selected because the artillery was too heavy. In other words, the Artillery Bureau's artillery was tailor-made based on the load-bearing capacity of the horses and mules.

It took less than half an hour for the artillery bureau to move out of camp. After all forty artillery groups had crossed the ditch and Thorny City, Lin Hai began to order the remaining bureaus to move out of camp. The Chinese army sent out a series of flag and drum signals, and the three bureaus deployed on the front line began They leave the camp in columns from the north, east, and south camp gates, and then change formations after arriving at the predetermined location.

Although mules have genetic defects, their bodies are not as delicate as horses, and they are more suitable for raising in the hot and humid environment of Dongpan. Therefore, Huiyou Company's livestock are mainly mules, and the cheaper donkeys.

The Artillery Bureau wasted no time in arranging artillery positions. Viper was sent to Jiang Yu by Lin Hai. It was nominally responsible for protecting him, but in reality it also served as a supervisor and reminder. In fact, Jiang Yu himself had two soldiers holding the Hard and Soft Cards. Responsible for covering up when going out in front of President Bai.

Donkeys are mainly used by civil affairs departments, especially the Construction Department, which has many animal-drawn machinery, and a considerable number of them use donkeys as their power source. The Army Department has all mules. Among them, the Artillery Bureau uses all mules born from male donkeys and female horses. The Auxiliary Army also has some donkeys and mules that are born from female donkeys and male horses.

Of course, the towed load of draft animals is at least three times the pack load. If equipped with a wheeled gun carriage, this situation will be greatly improved.

The Artillery Bureau has four posts, one of which is Weiyuan artillery post and three are Folang machine posts. Each post has ten artillery groups. The artillery group is designated as a team, which is the same level as the infantry bureau's squad. However, each artillery group only has five artillerymen, so there is no corps commander. The gunner who is responsible for aiming is also Called captain.

Just listen to Lin Hai continue to say: "In the second round, General He Ying has ordered you to be the commander of the camp and lead the auxiliary troops to guard the camp here. The troops of this unit will be temporarily under the direct control of the Chinese Army..."

"Our army does not have control over the inland sea, so we need to be careful of the enemy's attack on the camp from behind by the sea. Mr. He Bai, the retreat of the entire army of the Army Department is left to you. You have a heavy responsibility." Lin Hai continued.

The infantry can move out of camp much faster, but it also takes two cups of tea to get into formation. At this time, Li Kuiqi's pirates were still leaving the city continuously. He had a total of 6,000 troops, and it would take a lot of time just to leave the city.

Compared with donkeys and mules, horses and mules are closer to horses in size, with stronger load-bearing and speed. Of course, they are also more stubborn in temper. Those who are unwilling to walk on the springboard are basically horses and mules - although people often say that donkeys have a bad temper. But in fact, donkeys are very obedient and basically work hard without complaining. Horses are the ones with the most fiery temperament.

"I will obey the general's orders." There was no emotion or anger on He Ying's face, as calm as an ancient well.

At the right time, the pirates in Tongshan City were still leaving in a steady stream, and thousands of pirates had gathered outside the moat. On the side of the Army Department of Huiyou Company, the Artillery Bureau took the lead in leaving the camp under the command of the Chinese Army.

Wu Guoyi frowned when he heard this. Lin Hai's deployment was different from what the two had agreed upon in advance. The left route army was originally He Ying's second round, and the right route army was Ruan Jin's third round. For some reason, Lin Hai changed his mind temporarily.

Jiang Yu was a smart man, and he knew the intention of Lin Hai's arrangement. He secretly held back his strength and must prove himself in this battle.

Each artillery group took up its position under the command of the sentry commander. Jiang Yu saw that the enemy troops had not yet started to move forward, so he walked past each artillery group in turn and personally checked whether the positions of each artillery group were suitable.

According to the pre-war deployment, Jiang Yu arranged the Weiyuan artillery posts in the middle, with one Folang aircraft post on each wing. The total length of these three posts was roughly the same as the front width of the infantry formation, in order to maximize the damage to the enemy in the front. . The distance between each battery is roughly the same. This type of light artillery mainly relies on shotguns to kill, and the killing surface is fan-shaped. If the distance is too close, it will cause a waste of firepower, and if the chamber explodes, it will also damage the adjacent battery.

The remaining Fo Lang machine sentry was arranged by Jiang Yu to the left side of the formation. The ten guns of this sentry were positioned farther back, and the distance between them was further extended.

This is because the Army Department has fewer troops and the frontal width of the formation is probably not advantageous. Once the enemy and we enter into close combat, the left wing is at greater risk of being outflanked by the enemy, so it is necessary to invest in a French sentry to delay the opponent's outflank so that the infantry formation can respond in time.

"Good performance. This battle will definitely show off the prestige of our artillery bureau and let our brothers and sisters see what we can do." Jiang Yu encouraged the team leader every time he passed by an artillery team.

"Easy to say, easy to say, my subordinates have fired cannons weighing several kilograms countless times, but they can fire small cannons like this with their eyes closed."

"Don't worry, Mr. Bai. When it comes to sex, I, the tall donkey, will be second. No one dares to say first. If you don't believe me, go ask the water chicken on the freshwater flower boat?"

"Mr. Jiang, I just want to wait and see my subordinates capture the pretty boy named Zheng alive. By the way, if we fire a cannon, the birds on the other side will be so scared that they will pee and run back, then should we chase or not?" ?”

……

The captains of the Artillery Bureau were all veterans who had just been transferred from the Navy Department. The war was about to begin, and every one of them acted as if they were heartless.

"Fuck you! You're a fucking artilleryman. Who wants you to chase the enemy?" Jiang Yu, who had always been gentle and polite, couldn't help but curse, but his mood became much more relaxed.

After checking the positions of each artillery group, Jiang Yu ordered the installation of artillery and loaded the first ammunition in advance. After seeing the flag of General Bai, each sentry commander gave orders to the subordinate artillery groups in turn.

Each team of the Artillery Bureau began to unload the artillery from the back of the mule. This required the cooperation of three gunners, one was responsible for untying the rope, and the other two were responsible for lifting the cannon.

The Weiyuan gun has no lugs and is installed in a wooden gun mother. The so-called gun mother is actually a wooden box with an opening on the top. The Weiyuan gun can be wedged tightly into it and fixed with iron hoops. It can avoid collision when marching. When firing, it is set up on a mound, and then sandbags are used to suppress the gun. The tail can eliminate the recoil.

Since there are no lugs or tail bolts, the elevation angle of the Weiyuan gun is adjusted by placing a wooden wedge in front of the gun mother. How far the muzzle can be fired by a few inches is the Ming army's simple firing chart. Compared with leaning forward and backward, The crouching cannon that eliminates recoil and cannot be tilted by tripping is already an improvement.

The Folan gun is different from the Weiyuan gun. The mother gun used by the Artillery Bureau is seven feet long, almost three times as long as the Weiyuan gun. This size is roughly the same as the Qi Jiajun's No. 2 Folang machine, but it is much lighter and has a slightly larger caliber. This is due to the Ming Dynasty's technological improvements to wrought iron cannons during the Wanli period. For example, the Weiyuan cannon was developed from the general cannon. The hoop comes with weight loss.

The reason why the gun body is so long is that the Folan machine is a rear-loading structure and its air tightness is not as good as front-loading guns such as the Weiyuan gun, so the barrel must be longer. At the same time, the Folan machine also has a musket tail rod at the rear of the gun. The gunner can rotate or pitch the gun by holding the gun tail rod. The prototype of this gun is a Western ship-type swivel gun.

The tail rod of the gun is nearly two feet in order to exert a leverage effect. Because of its different pitch adjustment device, the Folang aircraft does not use a gun mother like the Weiyuan gun, but is mounted on an iron gun mount. The gun mount itself can be very convenient The ground was placed on the back of a mule, and the gun mount was inserted into the soil enough to resist the recoil when fired.

With the same gun body weight, the lead bullets fired by the Weiyuan Cannon of the War Department weighed three kilograms, while the projectiles of the Folan Machine weighed only twelve taels. This is the difference between breech-loading guns and front-loading guns with a mother-and-child structure. The cost of increasing the rate of fire is a decrease in power. This is why the artillery bureau must be equipped with two types of artillery, each with its own strengths.

The weight of the gun body above does not include the blunderbuss, and the blunderbuss of the Folangji weigh more than 30 kilograms each. Currently, each gun group is only equipped with three blunderbuss, and no matter how heavy a mule is, it cannot carry it.

After the forty artillery pieces were erected in place, the three infantry bureaus deployed on the front line were out of camp and were lining up behind the artillery. The second round of the reserve team had also begun to leave the camp. Lin Hai came to the watchtower of the West Camp and checked the artillery preparations with a telescope.

At this time, each artillery team was loading ammunition. Lin Hai first pointed his telescope at a Weiyuan artillery team and saw a gunner pouring a bag of shotshells from the muzzle.

There were hundreds of shotguns in this bag, with a total weight of more than three kilograms. They were all lead shot smaller than blunderbuss pellets. The melting point of lead is only over 300 degrees, and the projectiles are easy to prepare. Gunsmiths can cast them at any time with their own lead molds. The shotshells used by the Artillery Bureau are even simpler to process.

The Firearms Bureau of Huiyou Company uses the high-tower method to process shotshells, which is to set up a lead melting furnace on a shotgun tower dozens of meters high. Below the tower is a large pool. After the liquid lead falls from a height, it will become It is a spherical lead shot that condenses into a solid state before it hits the ground. All that is left is to pick it up from the pool under the tower.

After the gunner of the Weiyuan Artillery Team poured the shot shells into the muzzle, he then loaded a large lead piece weighing three kilograms. This lead piece was completely closed, and its diameter was even slightly larger than the inner diameter of the muzzle. , you have to push it in hard when loading, because this lead plays a role in sealing the barrel.

This is the so-called Gongsun bullet commonly used by the Ming army. The big lead bullet is the grandpa, and he brings a bunch of grandson shotshells. This is how lead bullets can be used. Iron bullets used by the Navy are absolutely not suitable. Iron bullets require a larger clearance.

The benefits of Gongsun bullets are obvious. Large bullets can break through the enemy's strength, small bullets can kill many people, and large lead bullets can make full use of the energy of gunpowder. Except for breech-loaded cannons such as the Fo Lang machine, all field battles of the Ming army Almost all light artillery fires Gongsun bullets.

Of course, this will also bring disadvantages. First, the big lead will be inaccurate after being deformed. Second, the lead will be hung heavily on the barrel, making it difficult to clean. In addition, the reloading of closed-mouth ammunition is inherently slow, so the rate of fire is very low.

However, the field light artillery of the Ming Army did not pursue speed of fire, nor did it pursue accuracy. The commonly used firing distance was generally between thirty and sixty steps, which was closer than the eighty to one hundred steps of the blunderbuss. Field combat Usually we just hope that it will get rid of the problem once and for all.

This is the best solution for the Ming army to face nomadic cavalry for a long time by fighting with less and more time. It is also applicable to the Army Department with fewer troops, so Huiyou Company has not currently carried out reforms in this aspect.

(End of this chapter)