lcionline Chapter 117 Land Warfare (2)
Chapter 117 Land Warfare (2)
??
Seeing that the government troops had officially launched their attack, Liu Ye ordered, "You may fire!"
Quartz, who had been waiting impatiently, immediately gave the order: "Fire!"
All the cannons had already been marked with firing range and loaded with ammunition. At a command, the gunners simultaneously stood up and lit the fuses.
The first to fire were more than ten 10-pound field guns, aimed directly at the enemy's direction of attack—this was the first time these cannons, modeled after the legendary time-traveling weapon, the M1857 Napoleon cannon, had been used in actual combat.
The shells whistled through the densely packed crowd, solid shot weighing about 10 pounds hurtling towards the enemy 1000 meters away at an initial velocity of 457 meters per second. Shell after shell slammed into the ranks, instantly tearing flesh and blood apart. Shells that hit the ground bounced up, rolling backward and carving bloody trenches through the enemy lines.
The Ming army was not deterred by the cannon fire; the soldiers surged forward like a tidal wave, their generals urging their troops forward with shouts and galloping through the ranks. A second volley of shells rained down, decapitating rows of soldiers, tearing their bodies, ripping off arms and legs. Blood splattered everywhere, and the scene was littered with mangled corpses and screaming wounded.
Compared to an 8-pound mountain gun, the recoil of a 10-pound field gun after firing is astonishing, pushing it back several meters after each shot. After each firing, the gunners immediately push and pull the gun back into place.
The gunner with the cannon brush immediately inserted it into the breech and stirred it vigorously a few times, hooking out several pieces of charred and tattered cotton cloth—some of the cotton cloth used to package the gunpowder in fixed-load shells always remained after each firing.
In the 18th century, a well-trained crew of Napoleonic cannons could fire four rounds per minute at rapid fire. However, this would quickly cause the cannons to overheat and become unusable, and the hastily trained gunners in the escorting guards could not reach that level of proficiency. Now, gunners fire at a sustained rate of one round per minute, which still far exceeds the normal firing frequency of the Ming army's Hongyi cannons—even if their skill levels were comparable, Ming gunners still had to consider the risk of barrel explosions.
"Pull them quickly!" roared the Ming army's artillery battalion soldiers, whipping the conscripted laborers and livestock as cannons were dragged to their positions amidst shouts, groans, cries, and the neighing of the animals. These cannons had been positioned behind the trenches of the various camps as defensive weapons the previous night. However, they were too far from the enemy camps to fire. Li Mo, the battalion commander in charge of the artillery battalion, organized men to tow the cannons closer before firing.
However, the movement of troops ahead blocked the advance of the artillery battalion until the Chaozhou soldiers began their attack, which cleared the way. Li Mo dared not hesitate and quickly urged the soldiers to push the cannons forward.
After the cannons advanced to within seven or eight hundred paces, under the cover of the attacking troops ahead, Li Mo organized the soldiers to set up the cannons, aim them at the earthen fort, and began the tense preparation for firing.
"The M1857 Napoleon cannon truly lives up to its reputation as a time-traveling marvel." Liang Xiaoming, standing beside Liu Ye, was beaming with pride. He had been urging Liu Ye to accept the cannon, but it was replaced by a mountain howitzer, until they were finally able to refine gray cast iron.
The solid shot was very effective, but in such a surging crowd, it seemed insufficient to force the enemy to flee. Two Ming troops were still charging towards the camp, shouting as they went.
Liu Ye frowned; the Ming army's fighting spirit seemed stronger than expected.
"This shouldn't be happening. How could such a bombardment fail to break up this wave of Ming army's offensive?"
"Don't rush," Liang Xiaoming said, feigning composure. "Based on the experience of the Civil War, infantrymen would only flee if they were hit by grapeshot within 100 meters..."
"Please, this is the Ming army of the 17th century, not the federal army," Liu Ye said. "Shouldn't a medieval army like the Ming army have collapsed quickly after encountering such a bombardment? Wouldn't they have crumbled at the first contact with the Later Jin army?"
"I don't know if the Ming army would collapse under artillery fire," Liang Xiaoming shrugged. "But only the Qing Dynasty could probably manage to cause a complete collapse under artillery fire." According to his observation, the density of the artillery fire was relatively low compared to the surging crowd. This level of artillery fire was only average during the American Civil War.
In reality, the Ming army was at a significant disadvantage in its battles against the Later Jin forces, mostly in close-quarters combat. There were many reasons for this. The disparity in troop quality and extremely low morale were major factors, but the most crucial was that the range and rate of fire of the arquebuses were insufficient to support the advanced combat style of relying primarily on firearms. This led to repeated defeats against the Later Jin army, which possessed formidable assault and melee capabilities. However, the Ming army was accustomed to long-range firearm attacks, and their current casualties were within their tolerance range, allowing them to continue their offensive.
Just then, a loud booming sound came from afar, and two dark shadows flew over one after the other. One landed on the lower half of the earthen fortress and embedded itself in the soil, while the other crashed into the outside of the concrete breast wall. Soil and cement debris flew everywhere, startling everyone.
Quartz reacted very quickly, shouting, "The government army's cannons! Quickly find the firing position!"
The team members on watchtower looked in the direction from which the shells had come and saw flames rising more than 800 meters away, accompanied by plumes of smoke. They immediately reported the direction and location of the Hongyi cannons.
Shi Ying directed the cannons that were firing back towards the enemy's artillery. Several 10-pound field guns adjusted their direction, and after a simple calculation, one cannon fired first. The shells struck the infantry ranks not far from the artillery battalion, causing a commotion.
A wooden observation tower stood in the middle of the earthen fortress, and the soldier in charge of observation shouted, "It's veering off course, move it a little to the left!"
Liang Xiaoming's mind was full of technical issues, even on the battlefield: "We still need binoculars so that we can observe the enemy situation more accurately."
Liu Ye strongly agreed: "Currently, observing the enemy's position relies entirely on the naked eye, which is far too inaccurate."
After two or three rounds of aiming and calibration, the target's location was finally pinpointed, and several field guns began firing at the enemy's positions. Solid shot rained down on the artillery battalion. On the government army's artillery position, Li Mo watched in horror as shells fired from the earthen embankment flew past the charging infantry, trailing smoke, and fell straight down towards them.
"Damn it!" The thought had barely crossed his mind when cannonballs began raining down on the artillery battalion. One shell landed a short distance away, then bounced towards the troops. A shell cleaved a cow in two, then bounced up and knocked several laborers to the ground, leaving behind a mess of limbs and flesh.