Horse on the World

Chapter 942
Several mules and horses dragged the Shenwei cannon and approached the Qingtan Fortress.

"General Zheng, we can only go so far, we can't go any further!" An artillery lieutenant temporarily borrowed from the Qiyuan ship forced a military salute to Zheng Zhi, and said.

"If you shoot from here, where can you hit the furthest?" Zheng Zhiqiang looked at the opposite fortress and asked.

The artillery lieutenant checked the distance with his eyes, "General Zheng, you can hit the opponent's frontier position at most, and if you go up, there is no way."

"Can't the cannon be dragged up a little more?" Zheng Zhiqiang was full of hope. If he could drag it up a little more, relying on the power of the cannon, the loss of soldiers would be greatly reduced.

The artillery lieutenant shook his head in embarrassment, "The mountain here is too steep, and the angle is too big. Even if the cannon can be dragged up and placed, it will not be able to hit the opponent at all. The angle is not enough!"

Sighing, Zheng Zhiqiang knew that he was in a difficult position. He was a general of the Marine Corps, so he was naturally aware of the shooting angle of the Shenwei cannon.

"That's it. Something is better than nothing. Even if you can only take down the opponent's frontier position, it's good. At least it can save me hundreds of people from dying."

The artillery lieutenant nodded, then turned around and ordered the artillerymen under his command to quickly set up the cannons and adjust the shooting range.

Zheng Zhiqiang stood behind the Shenwei cannon with a knife, and behind him was the first battalion of the Marine Corps preparing to launch the first wave of attack.

Three Shenwei cannons lined up, and the artillerymen skillfully cleared, loaded, and reloaded.

"General Zheng!" The artillery captain looked at Zheng Zhiqiang.

"Let's start!" Zheng Zhiqiang said.

Zu Yan stands at the highest point of the Qingtan Fortress. Looking down from him, there is only a small area of ​​tens of thousands of Dingzhou Marine Corps in the distance. It is far less oppressive than watching from close up. The other party is very careful. Divided into several positions, even though he was preparing to attack, Zheng Zhiqiang still did not forget to place a battalion of troops in the rear for vigilance.Qiu Zhi is very experienced in using troops, so it is uncertain whether he has prepared a cavalry to surprise attack and harass his rear when the time comes.

Moreover, it is impossible for a fortress like Qingtan to deploy too many troops at a time. Even if it is a battalion of troops, it must be divided into several groups to attack, and this kind of fortress is also the most difficult to attack. Add it up little by little like oil. Only when the previous one is used up can the latter be replenished.

It will be filled with human life!Zheng Zhiqiang thought with emotion.

"Is that their Shenwei cannon?" Zu Yan looked at the three black iron pipes under the fortress. Looking down from him, the three iron pipes were only as thick as a wrist.

"It's very likely!" said the Chinese officer on the side, "This is the first time I've seen the last general. I heard that Pang Jun's huge ship of thousands of materials was sunk by the opponent on the Black Water Ocean."

"Is it something for naval warfare?" Zu Yan pondered for a moment, "It's probably similar to a heavy catapult, can it hit this far?" From his point of view, the opponent's cannons are far away from the front of his own. The positions are also several miles away.

"I don't know, but we will see it soon!" the Chinese military officer said.

"Send an order to the forward position, take good cover, and avoid unnecessary casualties!" Zu Yan said.

"Fire!" The artillery lieutenant lowered his hand heavily, and the artilleryman in the middle immediately stretched out the torch in his hand to the exposed lead wire at the tail of the Shenwei cannon, and there was a crackling sound.

There was a loud rumbling sound, and a burst of thick smoke came out from the muzzle, covering several gunners. Zheng Zhiqiang stood back, and with the thick smoke, he saw an extra black projectile in the air, which appeared in an astonishing manner. The speed becomes smaller from his field of vision.

The first shell was to test the firing range and angle. The artillery captain ran a few steps aside to avoid the thick smoke, and watched intently where the shell fell.

On the top of the mountain, due to the distance, the loud noise like thunder over there was inaudible on the top of the fortress. Zu Yan only saw a puff of thick smoke rising, and a black ball appeared in the air .

There was a bang, this time Zu Yan clearly heard the loud bang, the shell hit a boulder above the front position, and amidst the bang, the part of the boulder protruding far away exploded instantly, and the stone rain flew, Countless gravels were flying in the air, and several soldiers on the position fell down on the spot. The shells did not hit them directly, but they were hit by the flying gravels. The stone broke open easily.

Zu Yan was stunned, and so was the middle officer. Such a long distance and such great power are comparable to ordinary heavy-duty catapults.

"Withdraw, withdraw!" Zu Yan suddenly reacted and jumped up, "Let them retreat to the second line, and return when the opponent's infantry attacks."

"Yes, yes!" The Chinese military officer was also flustered.

"The distance is right, and the shooting angle is raised by five degrees!" The artillery captain shouted, following his order, dozens of artillerymen got busy, and in a short while, the muzzle of the Shenwei cannon was raised by several points.

"Three artillery salvos!" The artillery captain gave the order again.

There were three loud bangs, and the three Shenwei cannons were fired at the same time.

This time the bombardment was much more accurate. The two shells were fired a little higher and hit the steep arm above the forward position. The huge force smashed the rocks, and the rain of stones that fell like raindrops will just receive orders to send The retreating soldiers on the second line were completely enveloped, and in an instant, screams were heard one after another. Below the stone rain, a large number of enemies were directly swept down, and a large gap appeared on the narrow and long position. Accidentally hit the top of a fortress above the position. Amidst the loud noise, the shell directly penetrated the top cover. The fortress was surrounded by stones, but the top was made of huge wood and covered with a layer of broken pieces. It was just a stone, the shell fell, penetrated the top without hindrance, and fell into the fortress.

The iron bullet that was reddened by the gunpowder fell down, and the head of a soldier disappeared under the eyes of others.The iron bullet landed on the ground, rebounded again, hit the stone wall, accelerated rapidly, and with a bang, it passed directly through the chest of another soldier, hit the stone wall on the other side and bounced back, with a bang The chest of another soldier was sunken directly.A scorching smell overflowed in the fortress.

The iron bullets were bouncing in the fortress, even if it was lightly rubbed, it would cause serious injuries and fall to the ground. Due to the limited space in the fortress, there is no way to avoid it, there is no way to hide, and the sound of wailing and screaming can be heard endlessly , Some people want to rush out the door, but unfortunately everyone has this idea, the small door opening is tightly blocked, let this iron bullet rage in the fortress, until it finally stops on the ground and no longer jumps, Only then did the survivors look at the dark thing hiding in the middle of the fort in panic, their eyes full of fear.

The three Shenwei cannons would fire a round every fifteen minutes or so, and the forward position had been beaten terribly. The fortress was directly blasted to the ground, Zu Yan's face was ashen, and the veins on his forehead kept beating. Is this the mighty cannon of the Dingzhou soldiers?
He suddenly felt palpitated. If Dingzhou built a large number of such mighty cannons, then there would be another city in the world that could still be defended. Under the attack of this magical weapon, no matter how thick or strong the city wall would be, it would be destroyed. collapse.

Swallowing with difficulty, "Abandon the frontline position directly, and retreat to the second line." The two sides have not yet contacted, and Jiyi has already paid hundreds of casualties, Zu Yan twitched in distress.Casualties are still a trivial matter, but the huge power of this weapon is even more fatal to the morale of one's own soldiers. The wailing of the wounded soldiers withdrawing from the front line is shocking to hear, and their wounds are even more shocking. It's the blown stone flakes that can break through the protection of the iron armor, so what would happen if it was hit directly?
"Tell the brothers, don't be afraid, they can't drag the Shenwei cannon up the mountain!" Zu Yan said with a sullen face, "Come on, wait for the opponent to attack, and avenge the dead and injured brothers."

The Artillery Second Lieutenant turned his head, his face was smeared black and white, "General Zheng, the enemy's forward position has been destroyed, and there is nothing I can do if we go up."

"Not bad!" Zheng Zhiqiang nodded in satisfaction and said, "Thank you for your hard work. You fought well. Every time you kill an enemy, you can increase our brothers' hope of survival."

"General Zheng, they are all brothers of my own family. Why do you have to say so hard? Then the Shenwei cannon will no longer be needed, and I will have no use for it. If General Zheng thinks highly of me, I will charge forward with everyone and have a good time killing!" The lieutenant rubbed his fists, since he became an artillery soldier, he never went into battle with a knife, and felt the pleasure of piercing the enemy's chest with a knife and gun. Although the cannon is mighty, it can only see the effect of the cannon from a distance, far from it. It's a pleasure to kill the enemy yourself.

"No!" Zheng Zhiqiang waved his hands again and again, "You are all the treasures of General Deng. Before you came out, you specially told me to protect your safety. Next, we will deploy Shenwei cannons on a large scale in Dingzhou. You experienced The gunner will serve as the instructor of each department, and each of them is precious, the next attack will be a hell, it's too dangerous, you'd better stay here honestly."

After hearing Zheng Zhiqiang's words, the artillery captain lowered his head in frustration.

"Brothers!" Zheng Zhiqiang turned to the soldiers of the first battalion under his command, "Brothers in the artillery have cleared the front line for us, and it will be up to us next, brothers in the artillery will watch our attack here, you have confidence Is it?"

"The Dingzhou army is victorious!" [-] marines burst into a cry.

"By defeating the green beach and controlling the Lai River, our navy can go straight up the river and hit Tianqi's chest. This great feat is in front of us, but it requires us to sacrifice our lives. How dare you! "

"Kill, kill, kill!"

Zheng Zhiqiang turned around abruptly, drew his knife out of its sheath, and the blade shone brightly in the sun.

"Dingzhou Marine Corps, attack!"

"Dingzhou Army, Wansheng!" The team members jumped over Zheng Zhiqiang's side and rushed towards the steep mountain road.

(End of this chapter)