Red Mansion Taoist

Chapter 324 War
After some more days, the autumn harvest was about to begin, and Xuanfu Town, the northern border town of Daqian, was also on the eve of a great war.

As usual, all the officials came to the Golden Palace and stood in line, divided into civil and military positions.

"Today's morning court will be presided over by Lin Zhongtang on behalf of His Royal Highness the Crown Prince. His Royal Highness the Crown Prince is unable to attend due to something!" Jin Dong did not announce the start of the morning court as usual, but spoke loudly.

"Boom!" The officials in the hall made a noisy noise. They did not expect that Crown Prince Li Qiang would not attend the morning court.

Although it was not strange for the emperor to ask for leave, all officials knew Li Qiang's military strength and it was impossible for him to miss the morning court due to illness.

Not attending the morning court without reason is the behavior of a tyrant.

"Please be quiet, everyone!" Lin Ruhai stood up and said loudly.

Lin Ruhai had been in the position of Grand Secretary of the Cabinet for some time. In addition, he was the father-in-law of Crown Prince Li Qiang and had strong abilities, which enabled him to secure the position of Grand Secretary of the Cabinet.

As a cabinet minister and under the order of Crown Prince Li Qiang, the officials had to listen to what he said.

His Highness immediately quieted down, and all the officials looked at Lin Ruhai.

"If His Royal Highness the Crown Prince has any matters, all officials should report as usual, and Lord Tian and I will handle it together!" Lin Ruhai nodded to Lord Tian, ​​and then said to all the officials.

He brought out Grand Secretary Tian, ​​so even if some officials still had objections, he would not offend two cabinet grand secretaries at the same time.

The morning court proceeded as normal. Officials made reports one by one, which were then handled jointly by Lin Ruhai and Grand Secretary Tian.

Jin Dong let out a long sigh and wiped the cold sweat from his forehead.

He also didn't expect that in the morning, Crown Prince Li Qiang suddenly told him that he would not attend the morning court and then left.

Based on previous examples, he found an official with the highest power and closest relationship with Crown Prince Li Qiang to preside over the morning court. Seeing that Lin Ruhai did a good job, he felt relieved.

At this moment, Li Qiang appeared near Xuanfu Town.

There were six god corpses and four summoned creatures standing beside him. He was sitting on a horse, holding a telescope.

This telescope is not a monocular telescope, but a man-made binocular telescope. It uses the best crystal lenses and has various fine adjustments. It is the best telescope of this era.

Through the telescope, he was watching the confrontation inside and outside the city walls of Xuanfu Town.

Thanks to accurate intelligence support, the two Beijing camps were able to promptly enter Xuanfu Town with new artillery.

Although there are not many cannons on the city wall of Xuanfu Town, there are a terrifying number of cannons hidden behind the city wall.

Li Qiang took a special leave to come here just to see this war that will be recorded in history.

This battle in Xuanfu Town will change the form of war in the world.

I believe that from today onwards, war will no longer be a battlefield of cavalry, bows and arrows, swords and guns, but will become a battlefield of artillery.

On the city wall of Xuanfu Town, in addition to the normal soldiers in the first row, behind this row of soldiers were soldiers from the Beijing camp.

The soldiers were assembling the artillery. The artillery was not too heavy, weighing about three hundred pounds.

This weight can be easily lifted by any brave general in the army, but the number and strength of the brave generals in the Beijing camp are not enough to make it possible for the artillery army to use the brave generals as gun mounts and bear the recoil of the artillery.

The soldiers mounted the artillery barrel on a two-wheeled gun carriage. The installation was not complicated. If it did not need to be sent to the city wall, the artillery barrel could even remain on the wheeled gun carriage.

The soldiers of the Beijing camp had undergone a long period of training and their movements were very skilled.

After the cannon is installed, the next step is to place cylindrical gunpowder bags into the cannon from the back.

The cylindrical gunpowder bag was the idea proposed by Li Qiang, and it was a method of supplying gunpowder for artillery that was still used in later generations until his death.

The volume of a cylindrical gunpowder bag is one unit, which can be used by the artillery to attack within a certain range. If a longer attack distance is required, more cylindrical gunpowder bags must be added.

The artillery shells are further improved explosive bombs, with a conical structure and a removable trigger device added to the front, making the explosive bombs safer during transportation.

These concepts are the best solutions summarized by later generations after hundreds of years of development.

Knowing the result, Li Qiang would certainly not let Daqian's artillery research go astray.

One hundred and twenty new cannons, after being installed and loaded with ammunition, were pushed to the battlements by four sergeants.

At this moment, outside Xuanfu Town were 50,000 troops from the Tatars and 50,000 troops from the Oirat. They were their vanguards.

In fact, neither the Tatars nor the Oirat trusted each other. This alliance was forced by the Venerable, but the distrust between the two sides made it impossible for them to unite as one.

The Tatars were defeated by Daqian many times. The Waqir rarely fought against Daqian, but they knew the strength of the Tatars.

Therefore, the Oirat tribe did not deploy all its military forces at once, but instead sent out 50,000 troops to cooperate with the Tatar tribe to attack Xuanfu Town.

Using 100,000 troops to attack a border town is already a lot of troops.

This is a temptation and also a test.

If Xuanfu Town is broken, the entire Oirat army will enter Daqian and launch an attack on Daqian.

Just like a normal battle, the armies of the Tatar and Oirat stopped three miles away. This distance was beyond the reach of bows and heavy crossbows, and even the old artillery could not reach them.

The generals of the Tatar and Oirat tribes were riding their war horses and shouting something in front of their respective armies in an attempt to boost morale.

Obviously, this method is very primitive, but very effective.

Then, roars were heard from the Tatar and Oirat tribes, and the shouts of killing were transmitted to the city walls of Xuanfu Town.

The soldiers on the city wall were not panicked at all, for they knew how powerful the border town was now.

There must be a brave general among every hundred people, and brave generals of the fourth or fifth rank are even more common among a thousand households.

Not to mention the new artillery brought by the two guards of the Beijing Camp. Just the number alone was enough to reassure many soldiers defending the city.

Wu Zicang, the governor of the Beijing camp, stood in the center of the city wall, and next to him was General Hu of Xuanfu Town.

Wu Zicang is leading the team personally this time. This is Li Qiang's first battle in politics. Wu Zicang needs to give it his all and not let Crown Prince Li Qiang bring shame.

"Sir Wu, when can this new type of artillery be equipped to the border towns?" General Hu asked, smiling as he looked into the distance.

He didn't take the distant enemy seriously, so he was naturally very calm.

He was more concerned about these new artillery pieces. Although he didn't know how powerful these new artillery pieces were compared to the old ones, the advantage of being able to be easily moved made him excited.

Old-style artillery can only be aimed within a limited range. Once the enemy's attack position exceeds the attack direction of the old-style artillery, the old-style artillery will be unable to attack.

In addition, the number of old-style artillery pieces is very small, and the old-style artillery pieces in each border town are extremely limited. They are more of a role in boosting morale and undermining enemy morale.

It was impossible to rely on old-fashioned artillery to decide the war. A cannonball could only injure a few enemies at the point of impact, and if you were lucky, it would be very good if it could injure dozens of people at once.

In addition, the ammunition loading is slow, so during the enemy's attack, it can only attack a few times before becoming ineffective.

"This new type of artillery is still under testing, but His Royal Highness the Crown Prince has a lot of money. Once it is finalized, the new type of artillery will probably be mass-produced soon, and will be supplied to border towns first!" Wu Zicang replied with a smile.

"It's good that His Royal Highness the Crown Prince has money in his hands!" General Hu said excitedly.

Everyone in the world knows that His Royal Highness the Crown Prince has money, and the major case involving 90 million taels of silver notes has spread throughout the world.

In addition, after the major case, Datong Money House became the property of His Royal Highness the Crown Prince, making His Royal Highness the Crown Prince even richer.

"Report, 120 new artillery pieces have been equipped and are waiting for your orders!" A military officer from the Beijing camp ran up and reported loudly.

"With five rounds as the base number, order all new artillery to attack freely!" Wu Zicang gave the order solemnly.

The military officers of the Beijing camp picked up the command flags and issued orders one after another.

"Five-shot base, free attack, fire!" Ten new artillery pieces formed a team, and the team order was heard from each team.

The Tatar and Oirat armies on the opposite side were in the process of being disciplined, and before they could send out siege troops, Daqian's new artillery launched an attack.

At a distance of three miles, the old artillery of Xuanfu Town was not enough, but the new artillery was no problem at all.

One hundred and twenty new cannons fired at the same time, and the city walls seemed to shake.

Accompanied by a terrifying loud noise, one hundred and twenty shells flew out. The conical warheads had rotating heads, which had better stability and a longer attack range.

When the Tatar and Oirat armies heard the loud noise, they also saw artillery shells raining down from the sky.

"Be careful!" A cry of alarm was heard, and the army, which had just been disciplined and boosted in morale, became panicked.

But there was no possibility of dodging at this time. Some people ran around, some people lay on the ground, and some people instinctively wanted to find their horses.

"Boom boom boom", continuous explosions sounded from the chaotic army.

The vast majority of these shells fell in the area where the largest number of troops were located, and a small number exploded on the edge of the army.

Neither the Daqian side nor the Tatar Waqi side had expected that these shells would be so powerful.

Normal artillery shells are solid spheres. When they fall into a military formation, the damage they cause is only to the unlucky ones who come into direct contact with them.

But the shells of the new artillery are different. They are explosive shells, and they have been continuously improved after many experiments by the artillery army. Their explosive power has been greatly enhanced.

When a shell hits the ground, anyone within a radius of thirty meters will die, while anyone within a radius of fifty meters may be injured.

One hundred and twenty shells of such power fell into the enemy's formation which was completely unprepared. The outcome can be imagined.

Precisely because the Tatar and Oirat armies did not expect this outcome, their battle formation remained normal.

The distance between each soldier is very close to each other, and they are arranged densely, which can put great pressure on the enemy from a distance.

However, this kind of battle formation became the best target under artillery attack.

A shell landed in it and a group of soldiers disappeared.

Just the first round of artillery fire left a lot of space in the enemy's battle formation.

What is even more terrifying is the collapse of military morale.

Faced with the attack that was like a divine punishment, the morale that the soldiers had just been inspired quickly disappeared, and many of the surviving soldiers had broken flesh and blood hanging on their bodies, which were parts of their comrades' bodies.

The Tatar and Oirat officers shouted loudly, trying to calm the chaotic soldiers.

They had no experience in combat with new artillery, which led them to make the most wrong choice.

They did not immediately withdraw from the battlefield with the remaining troops, which gave Daqian's new artillery a chance to continue to show its power.

The second round of artillery attack started forty breaths later. After the first round of attack, the artillery sergeants of the Beijing Camp began to clean the gun barrels and reload ammunition.

The advantage of the rear-loading type is that the loading time is much faster and more convenient than the front-loading type.

After forty breaths, the second round of 120 artillery pieces fired one after another.

One shell after another fell into the chaotic enemy forces, once again causing heavy casualties.

This time, no matter what orders the officers gave, the enemy soldiers completely collapsed and ran back frantically.

"Add a base amount of gunpowder and prepare for the next artillery attack!" The team commander issued a new order.

During the third round of artillery attack, the shells flew farther and landed among the fleeing crowd.

Then came the fourth and fifth rounds. In fact, by the fifth round, there was almost no complete army to be seen on the battlefield.

The enemy's defeat was inevitable. The five rounds of artillery attacks caused more than half of the enemy's casualties. Those enemies who managed to survive were almost terrified.

This epoch-making weapon of war crushed the people of the grassland.

At this moment, five hundred artillery troops appeared on the battlefield. Holding artillery, they continuously bombarded the fleeing enemy troops while marching.

The pursuit and killing of the enemy will be carried out by 500 artillery troops. Without orders, neither the Beijing Camp nor the Xuanfu Garrison will go into battle.

General Hu stared blankly at the battlefield. He had experienced many wars, but never had a case where the enemy was defeated before they even got close to the city wall.

"This is a magical weapon. If Daqian obtains this magical weapon, he will be invincible in the world!" General Hu was unable to remain calm and he exclaimed loudly.

"Invincible! Invincible!" At first, a small number of soldiers agreed with General Hu, and soon more and more soldiers joined in.

The voice of 'Invincible' resounded throughout the world.

Even the soldiers of the Beijing camp who were operating the new artillery were equally excited.

This was the first time they used the new artillery in actual combat, but the power of the new artillery exceeded their imagination.

They are proud of themselves for controlling such a magical weapon. This is the Beijing Camp, the strongest army in the world.

Wu Zicang was proud in his heart. This pride was not for the Beijing camp, nor for himself, but for Crown Prince Li Qiang.

He knew that this new type of artillery was designed by Crown Prince Li Qiang, and that Crown Prince Li Qiang was the source of victory in this war.

Amid cheers of "Invincible", cannon fire rang out outside the city, killing a large number of enemy troops.

(End of this chapter)