Win the Ding 1617

Huashan Jiushou stood on the castle tower and looked towards the direction of Takesa Castle in the north. The volcanic ash humus formed by the volcanic ash of Mount Aso covered it with fertile land.The farmland, which used to represent life and wealth, is now turning into a battlefield for killing.I saw groups of soldiers and horses rushing towards Kumamoto City from Pingchuan over there. Judging from the flags and formations, their morale was high and their military appearance was strict.Taking a rough look, there are probably more than 5000 people in sight.There are more than ten flags representing daimyo.

In front of the shogunate army, there were more than a hundred cavalry scouts. The identification flags erected on their backs showed their identities.In the blink of an eye, he rushed to the base of Kumamoto Castle, and kept running around the city, spying on the movement on the top of the city.However, under the strict order of Kawayama's long guard, the defenders of Kumamoto Castle just watched with a cold eye and did not move at all.

These cavalry, carrying the flags of the shogunate and the Nanzhong Army on their backs, walked around Kumamoto Castle a few times. After seeing the situation above and below the castle clearly, they paused for a while to discuss the peace, and some people rode their horses back to their team. , and the rest are scattered, and they are looking for water sources around Kumamoto Castle, where they are preparing to camp.

"It really is an army that lives up to its reputation! Katsumo-kun's defeat is not unjust!"

Putting down the binoculars in his hand, Huashan Jiushou let out a long sigh.

Nabeshima Katsushige's fishing wild ambush tactic, after being eaten up by two thousand decoys, Li Huayu concentrated dozens of large canisters to attack the ambush position with fierce artillery fire. Gunners.But he was not so organized and disciplined. When he saw shells raining down, he immediately exclaimed and ran away from his hiding place. As a result, he was chased and killed by the iron artillery team of the shogunate army and fired at them with iron cannons.

5000 men and horses, carrying 800 Nanzhong iron cannons and [-] large barrels, went out to fight in the city. As a result, less than [-] people came back, and the iron cannons brought back less than [-].Throw away all the big tubes.

This battle.The Shimadzu Army suffered heavy losses.

"Jiu Shou-kun, please pass the order on my behalf. All the soldiers and civilians in the city rushed to make defense equipment overnight and prepare a strong team. Count food reserves. Go out of the city to cut down trees and fill wells! We must have enough food in the city before the arrival of the shogunate army. Defensive equipment and defensive forces. In addition, this Kumamoto Castle was originally built to defend against my Shimadzu family’s attack from southern Kyushu. Most of the defense facilities are in the south of the city. Please organize the young and strong people in the city to go out of the city to the north, west and east In addition to the south gate, a large number of traps and ditches were dug, and the large cylinders in the city were transported to the north and west. To allow the officers and soldiers to advance on the ground full of trenches, no amount of troops could rush to the city at one time. Become the target of the iron cannons in my city! Let them bleed dry under this Kumamoto city!"

Katsushige Nabeshima, who was bruised many times by the iron cannon's bullets and luckily missed a direct hit, was covered in white muslin cloth and told Kawayama Jiushu to make defense adjustments.

"This is the precious time I bought with those iron cannons I left behind! Please!"

Sure enough, more than 1000 iron cannons and [-] large barrels were exchanged for nearly two days of precious time, which gave Huashan Jiushou barely enough time to dig ditches and trenches under Kumamoto Castle to clear the fields.

However, the tense and busy time passed quickly. After some quarrels, the officers and soldiers of the shogunate completed the distribution of the captured materials and guns.

The people and horses slowly stopped in the north of Kumamoto Castle and the south of Takesa Castle, and began to camp.

Soon, a big camp appeared on the north, east, west sides of Kumamoto City relying on the mountainous terrain.Over the large camp tents, various colors of family crests, emblems and flags fluttered endlessly, and the horns in the camp were fiercely guarded.Teams of patrolling soldiers patrolled inside and outside the camp. Farmers with printed cotton armbands wrapped around their arms went back and forth between the mountains, the river and the camp, carrying water and firewood, and leading their horses. Go to the river to drink water.

At night, the lights above and below the city are brightly lit, for fear of being attacked by the other side.

In the middle army of the big camp of the shogunate army, Li Huayu sat high and accepted the visits of the generals of the army together with the general Matsudaira Nobutsuna.

In the Battle of Kikuchigawa, 5000 Shimadzu troops who were good at fishing wild ambushes were defeated, and many prisoners were captured. This victory immediately made the daimyo feel anxious.

I originally thought that the Nanzhong Army was only capable of artillery fire, but I didn't want it to be so fierce in field battles. Which iron artillery team asked themselves to fire when they were thirty paces away from the enemy?

When checking the results of the battle, the eyeballs of all the big names almost fell to the feet.

More than [-] Shimadzu soldiers were killed and wounded by firecrackers, more than [-] were killed by large cylinders (it is difficult to count some whose bodies were smashed), and more than [-] were captured.More than [-] iron cannons were seized, twelve of which were usable in large cylinders, and eight of them were either blown up by gunpowder or lost parts and could not be used temporarily.

For these seizures, the daimyos are salivating one by one.

However, facing the general's big signboard of "centralized storage and use", everyone can only secretly covet it.

After bowing and kowtowing to Li Huayu respectfully, everyone began to discuss matters.

"Tomorrow's battle is to conquer Kumamoto Castle! This general has been approved by the general. This time to capture Kumamoto, each army must fight the enemy bravely! No matter which one goes first, the general will be rewarded! Permission to open A treaty port!"

Nobuzuna Matsudaira's words were cadenced, which was really pleasant to hear.Immediately there was an uproar in the big tent.

It really is an unprecedented reward!

No matter how brave the battle was before, the shogun just transferred the title, rewarded some money, and increased the stone height. Now rewarding a treaty port is much better than rewarding money to the land!

"From tomorrow onwards, the Chinese army will fire its cannons, and all ministries will start attacking!"

"Now let's choose the attack direction of each department!"

As soon as these words came out, the originally warm atmosphere immediately turned cold.

Everyone knows that whoever goes up first in a siege battle will die first, let alone this Kumamoto Castle, which is known for its fortification?Not to mention the fortifications in the south of the city, just looking at the trenches, traps and pits on the north, west, east and east sides of the city is enough for everyone to drink a pot!

"Which adult is willing to attack the south of the city?"

No one came forward.

"Which adults are willing to attack the city first?"

Still no one said anything.

The atmosphere suddenly became slightly awkward.

Matsudaira Nobutsuna's eyes began to widen.

"My lord, that's it! Draw lots to decide which family will go to the south of the city and which one will be the head enemy." Tokugawa Yoshinao came up with this kind of idea.

"That's good! Anyone who goes to the south of the city to attack the city will get double rewards if they go first!"

The huge temptation of the two treaty ports made these daimyos temporarily let go of their fear of Kumamoto Castle.

"The armies will go according to the positions they have drawn, and prepare for the attack. Tomorrow, we will attack from all sides with the sound of the Chinese army's artillery!"

After the lottery was drawn, each daimyo read aloud their positions and handed them over to the Military and Political Department for record.

"The large canisters are divided into two artillery groups, the north and the south. The northern artillery group is mainly composed of the artillery carried by His Highness and the fifteen large cylinders seized this time. The southern artillery group is composed of the shogunate artillery team and various daimyo artillery!"

"Hi Yi!"

Because it is adjacent to the sea.It's the middle of winter again.The weather was cold and humid, and some snowflakes fell from the sky after late at night, and accompanied by a night of cold wind, these snowflakes were frozen into ice slag.It was quite slippery on the feet.Many people stepped on it.It was getting muddy.The sun poked its head out lazily from the depths of the East China Sea, but it didn't spread too much heat to the battlefield that was about to kill.

To the north of Kumamoto Castle, the artillery team brought by Li Huayu was placed here.In addition to the big Buddha machine and the eight-pound gun.In order to strengthen the siege firepower, more than ten twelve-pound guns were unloaded from the gun boats.For a while, people in Beicheng were shouting and neighing, and it was very lively.

The material of the big Frang machine gun equipped by the Ming army is usually bronze, and because it is a rear-loading gun, the rate of fire is very fast.Each weighs about 300 jin, and the female gun is 2.85 feet long. A Frang machine is usually equipped with five sub-guns. Before the battle, the five-door sub-gun is loaded, and the next round of sub-guns is replaced immediately after one shot is fired. , A skilled gunner can shoot all five rounds of guns in about one to two minutes.However, since the Nanzhong Army had the spheroidal graphite cast iron, which is a killer against the sky, all Dafolang machines are made of so-called nine-turn steel. Using the good ductility and resistance of ductile iron, the weight of the Dafolang machine is further reduced. , improved maneuverability and increased the number of subguns, making it capable of firing ten-pound shells.

The same 122-pound cannon, which was still popular at this time, was still made of copper, with a caliber equivalent to about 2.29 mm, a length of 1600 meters, and a weight of about 500 jin. This data came from Napoleon, who later swept across Europe with the concentrated use of artillery. Not much has changed either.The Nanzhong Army is cast with ordinary steel, ductile iron or high manganese steel, which greatly reduces the weight of the gun body, and uses raw rubber as tires on the gun carriage to replace the iron wheels. I often change the tires, but it is also much lighter than the previous iron wheels.At the same time, a spring is installed on the back of the gun mount, which not only reduces the weight of the gun itself to less than [-]kg, but also improves the reset speed and time of the gun.Moreover, since the performance of the artillery material is higher than that of bronze, the artillery of the Nanzhong Army also increased the charge metering. Even if the gunpowder produced by the Nanzhong Army standard was used, the amount of charge was increased a lot.In this way, the power becomes greater and the range becomes farther.Of course, this also has the side effects of excessive consumption of gunpowder and excessive smoke after firing.This requires that the gunner's shooting technique must achieve the first hit, and at the same time, it also tests the military production capacity.

On the artillery position, the gunners of several [-]-pound guns were tensely launching activities. The driver led the six horses responsible for towing the gun carts to a safe place and tied them. The civilian husband nervously carried the ammunition and arranged the artillery.

On the side, there were bursts of shouts from Tokugawa Yoshinao, the commander of the second army.

"My lord has an order! Whoever climbs to the top of the city first in this battle, whether it is a samurai, a ronin, or a farmer, can all be in charge of a treaty port, hereditary!"

"Wow!"

The whole army is in an uproar!

Serving as the manager of a treaty port is a good job that can eat fat and drink fat!How much money will pass through your hands?Countless people have begun to look forward to the good times after they take up the post of this steward.

The same reward was preached one after another in the military formations of various daimyos. Around Kumamoto Castle, accents from all over Japan can be heard repeating the voices of the pioneers who were in charge of the treaty ports and hereditary replacements.

The team of 10,000+ people fell into a frenzy.

The passionate drums and horns sounded to the castle tower, and Kawayama Hisamori and Nabeshima Katsushige, who commanded the whole city to fight here, looked serious. "finally come!"

In the binoculars of the two, Ma Nanbei, a shogunate soldier, extends from the north of Kumamoto Castle to Takesa Castle, and from Mount Tachida in the east to Honmyoji Temple in the west. The vast area is full of flags, and it is unknown how many soldiers are in it. , only to see the dense layers of spears become undulating with the surge of the crowd.

"I don't know how many samurai will shed their last drop of blood in Kumamoto Castle today."

"boom!"

Before Huashan Jiushou finished expressing his emotions, a test-fired shell from the Dafo Lang machine flew over the crowd and flew over the stone wall, and the strong force smashed the stone wall into pieces.

Following the discharge of this shell, the gunners of Dafo Langji quickly began to bombard the city, knocking the city into pieces.

This round of artillery fire.The prelude to the "Bloody Kumamoto Castle" campaign was unveiled.

"Fire! Destroy the artillery of the shogunate army!"

The artillery fire at the head of the city began to fight back.

Dafolangji is also produced in Nanzhong.It's just that in order to use the limited Nanzhong gunpowder at the most critical time, the first round of artillery fire used the gunpowder produced by the Shimadzu family.Although the dose has been increased, compared with the gunpowder produced in Nanzhong, it still seems weak.

but.The condescending advantage makes up for this defect.for a while.Intensive and intense gunfire sounded from the top of the city one after another, and a large amount of gunpowder smoke condensed in mid-air. Twenty cannons lined up at the north wall of Kumamoto Castle fired one after another.Aim at the artillery group below the city and bombard it.

The aimers of Dafo Langji have already been strictly ordered not to bombard the Nanzhong army with shells, so as not to completely anger these ancestors and cut off the trade with Nanzhong.As a result, the aimers unanimously set their main targets on the shogunate artillery.Everyone's level is about the same, so let's fight!

Unlike the solid bullets used to bombard the city walls, most of the cannons on the city use shotgun shells to kill the gunners.Artillery is easy to find, but qualified gunners have to spend countless time and money to pile up!If the gunner is destroyed, the artillery becomes useless!

Amidst the dense sound of artillery, countless cannonballs shot into the artillery positions of the shogunate army, or passed through the arrayed artillery groups.Wherever they passed, a mist of stumped limbs flew up, and screams and groans continued.In a blink of an eye, the gunners of five Dafolang machine guns were beaten to a bloody mess on the spot.

The Nanzhong army under the city was a little bit annoyed by the dense rain of bullets, and several gunners were killed in the intensive shooting just now.

"Aim at the cannon at the top of the city, give me a blast!"

Twelve-pounders went into action.

A [-]-pounder shell accurately flew over the gun emplacement, and hit a loaded cannon. With a loud "boom", the cannon mount was shattered, the cannon wheel flew wildly, and the heavy cannon body It was even lifted and rolled down.The surrounding gunners were all bloody and bloody from being beaten by all kinds of debris, and they all fell to the ground and howled.What's more terrible is that the ammunition loaded in the barrel exploded, igniting several shells and gunpowder barrels piled up not far away.

For a while, the city was in chaos.

"Don't fight me!"

The Volunteer Squadrons under each daimyo brandished their long knives and held up the banners of their employers, and began to charge towards the city wall.

The artillery on the city began to adjust the angle of the cannon body, and bombarded the volunteer army that was charging, and the previous shotgun shells became solid bullets.

In the smoke and dust of people running wildly, it became more and more difficult to identify the source of the shells.

With a "boom", a ten-pound shell hit the charging ronin team.Among the pieces of flesh and blood, the cannonball smashed the bodies of the two ronin, and knocked the head of a farmer holding a bamboo spear behind him flat, and in a blink of an eye there was a pool of red and white things on the ground, the farmer's body Supported by the bamboo spear in his hand, he stood there, but he kept shooting out streams of blood arrows from his neck, staining the clothes, heads and faces of the people next to him red.

Cannonballs flew down from the top of the city one by one, and jumped into the formation of volunteer soldiers, or passed by from a high place, knocking people's heads and arms away, or jumped on the frozen and slippery ground, Roll off the legs of countless people.This made the volunteer army's already chaotic formation even more chaotic.

This is the difference between siege and defense. The artillery on Kumamoto Castle is protected by the city wall, and they just need to continuously tilt the shells into the charging team of the shogunate army below the city.With the help of this kind of cold weather, the ground was frozen extremely hard, and the lethality of the shells was greatly enhanced.As for the gunners of the shogunate army, they were unobstructed in the wild, and the actual shooting level of the artillery was far from that of the Nanzhong Army artillery team.

Between one positive and one negative, the gap between the two sides is reflected in the volunteer team.In this round of artillery fire, the casualties of the volunteer army reached more than a thousand people.

Amidst the screams, those wanderers who were still yelling not to compete with him for the position of steward, roared and turned around and ran towards the way they came.

"escape!"

However, on the way, there are two rows of iron gunners lined up for the purpose of supervising the battle.

"Who dares to escape!? Open fire!"

The Iron Pao General who is in charge of supervising the battle team is the confidant of the shogunate. He has long hated these ronin composed of the remnants of the Western Army, and wants to get rid of them quickly.

"Bang bang bang!"

After the intensive volley, dozens of ronin rushing forward were knocked to the ground, and the retreating crowd was immediately stagnant.

"Fire!"

The second round of iron cannons was fired at the top of people's heads.

"Go back, if anyone returns without a military order, this is a role model!"

While talking, more than a hundred warriors rushed out from behind the iron cannon team, raised their knives, chopped off the heads of the ronin hit by the iron cannon, and picked them up with long spears. (To be continued..)