Da Wei Chun

Chapter 634

One by one, the cannons were unloaded by the soldiers from the backs of the poor horses, donkeys and mules.

Each is more than two feet long, nearly two inches in diameter, and about two minutes thick.The net weight is only forty catties, and even the weakest female donkey can carry two donkeys.If the animal strength is insufficient, the soldiers can also carry it.

Iron hoops are added to the gun head part to connect with the eight-character legs.There are iron trippers on the soles of the feet, which are hollow like rings. A two-to-three-foot iron nail is passed through each, and then smashed into the ground to stabilize the gun body.

This is the famous tiger squatting cannon in history. It was invented during the Jiajing period of the Ming Dynasty. Qi Jiguang used this object to resist Japanese pirates and made Qi's army famous.

Li Chengzhi made his appearance in the Northern and Southern Dynasties a full 1000 years in advance.

The gunpowder is packed in paper packs, and each shot is filled with three taels.There are various kinds of projectiles: there are scrap iron sand after steelmaking and smelting in a factory, fine pellets made of lead and tin that have nowhere to be used after copper ore is smelted in a copper factory, and fine stones from weak water.

The last one is the most convenient: set up two iron sieves in the shallow part of Yuhe River in summer.The river sand dug out is first passed through a coarse sieve, and then through a fine sieve, and stones as large as soybeans can be selected.With only two or three soldiers, tens of thousands of them can be screened out every day.

Li Liang requisitioned more than [-] vehicles for this time. Apart from transferring soldiers and loading grain and grass, more than [-] vehicles were all for goods and gunpowder.

If it is not enough, just find a river valley to sieve some gravel, or even smash a big rock to serve as a projectile.

The artillery guns also brought more than a thousand squats, and the artillerymen who specialize in handling firearms brought a whole house (the third battalion). From this, we can see Li Chengzhi's determination...

Naturally, Luo Jian couldn't recognize this thing.

He waited and watched for a while before, and he secretly breathed a sigh of relief when he didn't see the enemy's artillery carts in front of them.Even when the soldiers brought out stone pillar-like objects and smashed them on the ground with their hammers, he was still more curious than vigilant.

But when he saw the enemy's infantry in the center and armored cavalry on both wings opening their bows and drawing their bows, he realized later: this was to prevent his own armored cavalry from charging into the formation, and even more so for those who smashed nails into the ground. Pawns buy time.

At this moment, he was startled: How similar is the situation at this time to the scene when the pawns in the front line of Xihai set up their artillery carts when they confronted Li Feng a month ago?
Could it be that this thing is also like a cannon cart, which can throw that "flying thunder"?
But no matter how you look at it, it seems to be just an iron pillar...

Secretly guessing, but there was a faint feeling of ominousness in his heart, Luo Jian shouted coldly: "Recall the scouts, and order Wei Gang to prepare to attack!"

Luo Ping agreed, and the runners waved the flag to the center formation, and then heard the sound of gold, and the scouts of the town army returned to the formation one after another.

The Xihaitang cavalry didn't chase after them, but circled back to the main formation from the two wings.

Before the team leader dismounted, Luo Jian asked anxiously, "What does the enemy want?"

"The end general doesn't know!"

"Then what is it that the enemy nailed into the ground?"

"It should be an iron vessel, shaped like a cylinder, about two feet long and two inches thick. They all stand obliquely, like stumping posts. But the heads of the posts have no spikes..."

How could it be a tripping post?
With this skill, it is better to use spears as a wall and set up a horse-repelling formation.And the iron cylinder is so thick, far less sharp than a spear's thorn, and it is only two feet away, and it is so sparsely placed, not to mention hindering horses, even three carts driving together can pass without hindrance.

Besides, I am not blind, knowing that the enemy army has set up traps in front of the formation, how can I be so stupid as to charge forward?
And since the enemy bandits have spent a lot of trouble, putting this thing in front of the formation is by no means aimless, it must have a strange effect.

But the question is, how should I deal with it?
Suspicious for a while, Luo Jian let out a sigh of relief: It's too late to change the formation now, so I can only play a game first and then watch.

"Inform Wei Gang, act according to plan!"

After the voice fell, the soldiers behind him waved the corner flag, and there was a "boom" in the middle of the battle, and a drum sounded.

More than a thousand semi-armored cavalry stepped out from the left wing and rushed to the center of the West Sea.

When Li Chengzhi was teaching at the military academy, he had already mastered the formation and tactics of the cold weapon era.It has been mentioned many times that there are more than [-] people in a big battle. It is rare to have a sudden decisive battle as soon as they meet each other. Most of them are testing, testing, and testing.Either they are more than [-]% sure, or they are already in a desperate situation, and they will only be activated when they have to fight.

There was no need for Li Liang's reminder, nor for Zhang Xinyi's order, even the Paoying Kofu General and his battalion generals and brigade commanders could tell that the enemy was coming to explore the formation.

The general of the government standing on the cloud tower gave an order, and the soldiers waved the order flag violently, and then saw the infantry in front erected square shields one after another, covering the artillery behind the shield wall.

It is also because artillerymen have relatively higher requirements for flexibility, so they only wear iron helmets and half armor, so this is the case.

Correspondingly, the cavalry on the right wing of the artillery formation also moved, and only Qianqi responded.

And just like before, the cavalry of the two sides chased in the formation between three li.Most of them shoot at each other, and it is rare for soldiers to meet each other.

If you only talk about cavalry, you can't talk about who is strong and who is weak, because cavalry can only deal with cavalry by moving and braking, and using speed to control speed. Loading or igniting fire in cavalry combat may also cause accidental injury, so it is not used here.

Although the Xihai armored cavalry is better than the strict discipline of the army, the food, clothing, armor, and treatment of the soldiers are not comparable to the town army, and the morale is naturally higher than the town army.However, the town army has been fighting for many years, and its experience is better, so there are victories and losses for each other.

But in this kind of melee, it is naturally impossible to grasp the proportions just right, whether it is the West Sea or the town army, naturally there will be cavalry cavalry approaching the enemy's position from time to time.

At this point, the difference can be seen at a glance.

The infantry of the town army shot ordinary arrows, at most they were stronger crossbow arrows, but if they failed to hit the vital points of the soldiers and horses, even a hundred arrows could hardly knock the knights off their horses.

But Xihai is different. Every arrow he shoots is a rocket.

Although it is not as maggots attached to bones as kerosene, it can burn non-stop when it touches iron armor.But if he couldn't hold it back, Li Chengzhi had made improvements a long time ago. The rockets used by the archers mostly used bamboo poles, and the knots were sealed with gunpowder.

Not to mention how lethal it is, just the sound of the explosion and the burst of flames can scare the horse.

Therefore, in just a moment, there were dozens of armored cavalry of the town army who fell in front of the formation in the West Sea and were dragged into the formation by infantry with hooks and sickles.

And Luo Jian and Wei Gang are three miles apart, so they can be seen so carefully.After another two full quarters, he suddenly became alarmed when he saw the commander of the armored cavalry battalion running to the front of the phalanx waving the flag.

The flag order was simple and clear, and Luo Jian saw it clearly: Nearly half of his subordinates were killed or injured, and he requested to withdraw to the main formation...

How long has it been, less than half an hour, in a one-on-one match, nearly half of the thousand armored cavalry were killed or injured?
In contrast to the enemy army, although some knights fell from their horses from time to time, there were still as many as [-]% of the soldiers galloping in the formation.

Luo Jian shouted in a low voice: "Return to the formation!"

But this time it was not as cheap as before.Hearing a few sharp whistles from the West Sea formation, the armored cavalry leaned over at the same time, took off the crossbow from the hook, and shot at the fleeing enemy cavalry.

They are all three-stone crossbows with steel wires as strings, and equipped with fine steel armor-piercing cones. In this round alone, twenty or thirty enemy cavalry were hit by arrows and fell off their horses.

All the generals of the town army standing in front of the battle and watching the battle were all shocked: the rockets and flying thunders are nothing more than that, all the cavalry are equipped with crossbows, and they are so powerful?
It is Xihai's middle distance, and he uses a cavalry formation to hedge against. This round alone, I am afraid that he can kill three points of the courage of his soldiers...

Looking at the Xihai armor cavalry who drew back the air crossbow and retreated towards the formation, Luo Jian gritted his teeth.

His original intention was to lure Li Liang to attack by using the tens of thousands of civilians in the middle array as bait.When the enemy army rushes to the foot of the mountain, when the momentum slows down a little, they will stand out from behind the mountain, gather right-wing armored cavalry and right-wing chariot formation, and rush through the enemy formation with a condescending momentum.

He expected that Li Liang would see through this trick, but he would never let him lead him by the nose.Just like that, the Xihai army arrived as promised, but they only defended instead of attacking, and they didn't want to step into the pit knowing it was a trick.

But if there is only this point of Taoism, Luo Jian will not be Luo Jian.

Even if this plan fails, he also has a second plan and a third plan.

As long as he avoids the extremely weird sky thunder, he is [-]% sure that he will leave Li Liang and the [-] Xihai soldiers at the foot of Nanbed Mountain...

The blame can only be blamed on Li Liang's youthful vigor, he dared to lead an army to the appointment, and he only brought [-] soldiers. How is this different from dividing troops?
Now that we're separated, let's separate completely!
Luo Jian called Luo Ping, and whispered a few words.

Not long after, the left-wing cavalry of the town army left the formation one after another, with five or six thousand cavalry, and plunged obliquely towards the west of the Xihai formation.

Zhang Xinyi frowned slightly, and shouted in a low voice: "Go to the rear and invite the master to come here!"

The distance between the front and back of the battle was only one mile, and in just a moment, Li Liang came on horseback.Zhang Xinyi pointed to the left wing of the town army which was already empty, and then pointed to the enemy cavalry who were gradually moving away: "Could Luo Jian want to attack my camp?"

"It took nearly a month for the town army to capture a small Bigan city. Luo Jian must have suffered under his father (Li Feng). How could he not have a long memory and be so urgent?"

Li Liang pondered for a while, "Nine times out of ten, the cavalry on this route should go to the camp and stand up with our army on the way back, in order to divide and encircle them... After all, Luo Jian has an army of nearly [-], and the siege of [-] is more difficult Gancheng, [-] besiege the big camp, and then divide [-] to besiege you and me, and it will make our army difficult to care about...

Li Liang paused for a moment, then smiled again: "No wonder Luo Jianjin set up a solitary battle with the Jedi as if looking for death, so it was just to lure me out of the camp? He concluded that I was in a hurry, and the food and grass brought from the camp must be insufficient. So if you and I are trapped for ten and a half months, the morale of our army will collapse..."

"Ha ha……"

Zhang Xinyi immediately beamed with joy, "He thinks that once our army is in formation, he dare not change formation, let alone move lightly? In this way, the artillery battalion can take advantage of this opportunity to assemble the artillery carriages. Let Luo Jian see the power of artillery..."

"Don't be in a hurry, it doesn't matter if you stay here for half a day, just let the soldiers rest!"

Li Liang echoed, "Later, you will first order the two wings to be alert and prepare more rockets, and then order the artillery battalion to assemble the artillery vehicles one by one... And remember not to rush for quick success, in case the enemy takes advantage of it..."

"I will understand at the end!"

Zhang Xinyi clasped his fists together, and as soon as he went down to pass the order, he heard Li Liang confess: "Before the enemy cavalry formed their formation and cut off the rear, first send Tang cavalry to Li Shi to pass an order to him to stick to the camp without our military orders. You must not go out of the stronghold to meet the enemy..."

Zhang Xinyi respectfully agreed and went downstairs.

In just a moment, there was another crisp sound of ding ding dong dong in the formation.Swinging the hammer, the gunner lifted the small cannon out of the ground and put it on the cannon carriage.

In fact, it is a small wheelbarrow with an extremely simple structure: a board with a radius of about three feet, the surface is covered with steel armor to prevent the recoil from being shattered, and the second is a counterweight.

There are not many parts, just two pieces of steel clad wood, one end is inlaid on the bottom of the board, and the other end has grooves, which are buckled on both sides of the axle, and then plugged with bolts, the wheelbarrow is formed.

There are small holes drilled in the gun base frame and the car plate, which are still connected with bolts and locked with steel wires.

With three gunners and one squatting cannon, it may take less than two minutes to assemble the front and rear.Then people push it, or attach the cart to the tail of the mule, and the soldiers only need to master the balance behind them...

Luo Jian couldn't understand again.

The fifth battalion of the town army had all their cavalry out, and it was clear that they wanted to cut Li Liang's back. Why was Li Liang not in a hurry?
According to common sense, Li Liang would never turn a blind eye.Regardless of the rest, his total strength is only [-]% of his own, how dare he sit back and watch being divided and surrounded?
At least the cavalry should be sent to fight, and the town army should not stand on the west side of its formation.But he was fine, and made the pawns fiddle with the iron cylinder again?

What is the use of this iron cylinder?
Just as he was secretly guessing, Luo Ping, the grandson of the family, leaned into his ear and asked in a low voice: "Captain, do you remember that three years ago Li Chengzhi led a lone army to the north, mixed into Woye Town, and then only took more than a hundred pieces of music, and he was able to do it overnight?" Defeat the Lu Brothers and put down the old affairs of Wo Ye?"

It was that battle that shocked Luo Jian that Li Chengzhi was a heavenly man, how could he forget it?

"Speaking bluntly, why bother?"

Luo Jian snorted coldly, but was suddenly taken aback, as if frozen.

As soon as Luo Ping reminded him, he suddenly remembered: Li Chengzhi used the white dragon fish suit to quell the night of Woye. In addition to the thunder weapon, he also used a firearm.

He doesn't know what it is, but he knows it in detail: this thing is about the thickness of a child's arm, shaped like a bamboo tube, but it is made of iron.It can spray fireworks up to a height of three to five feet, and the sparks shoot out like shooting stars.

But remember that this thing has no effect on killing the enemy, at most it can be used to scare people, or scare war horses?
If this is the case, the big deal is that you don't need cavalry to charge the battle, but just send armored cavalry, so what can I do?

Even though he thought about it like this, Luo Jian felt a little uneasy in his heart: he always felt that this thing must be extremely terrifying, nine out of ten it would not lose to the flying thunder thrown by the cannon.

Otherwise, the enemy will not be so cautious, let alone watch the enemy cavalry cut off his back but remain indifferent and only concentrate on manipulating this thing.

"Luo Ping!"

"Please give orders!"

"Send armored cavalry again to test the formation before the enemy. No matter what, we must find out the usefulness of this thing!"

"promise!"

Luo Ping responded, and then boldly asked, "May I ask the governor, if the enemy still sends armored cavalry to fight, or stops them with rockets, what should we do?"

Luo Jian didn't respond, but his face suddenly sank.

Luo Ping only seemed to be annoyed with him, and said anxiously: "The humble official is in a hurry, and I hope the governor will forgive me!"

Seeing him wave his sleeves impatiently, he stepped back quickly.

But Luo Jian secretly sighed: If it is as Luo Ping expected, I am afraid that there will be big troubles.

Just like the strange soldiers lying behind the mountain, how could they move lightly if it wasn't when the victory or defeat could be determined?

(End of this chapter)