Ming Zuo

Chapter 1442 Technology and hard work

When the fixed glider was made, the appearance of hot air balloons was a matter of course.

In fact, the principle and difficulty of making a hot air balloon are far inferior to those of a fixed hang glider.

Especially after the great progress of textile technology, the variants of various fabrics based on canvas provide conditions for the formation of hot air balloons.

This thing has become very common in the empire, and even qualified schools will use it to teach and teach physics knowledge.

The application in the military is even earlier.

The military has long discovered the condescending and reconnaissance characteristics of hot air balloons.

Zuo Menggeng even asserted that as long as the hot air balloon continues to be developed, it will be no problem to cross the ocean to reach the New World.

The Battle of Taiyuan was the first large-scale application of hot air balloons.

In the basket under each hot air balloon, there are four soldiers loaded.

One of them is in charge of observation and passing information to the army, while the other three are in charge of firepower output.

They all had muskets in their hands, and some small explosive packs were piled up in the basket.

After being ignited and thrown from the air, the effect is extraordinary.

When did the Qing army see this kind of air-ground strike?

Not to mention being beaten, the Qing army was terrified by the hot air balloon alone.

In their simple thinking, this thing must be the descending of the gods, and it is definitely not owned by the world.

Many people even knelt on the ground on the spot, kowtowed to the hot air balloon, chanting words, not knowing what they were praying for.

The Wehrmacht soldiers in the hot air balloon couldn't hear it, and naturally didn't care.

They reloaded their muskets in a leisurely manner, and then aimed at the target on the ground to shoot.

Accuracy Well, naturally lackluster.

The hot air balloon floating back and forth seriously reduces the accuracy of shooting.

But even so, many Qing soldiers were still killed.

Seeing the people around them die under the gun, the Qing soldiers who were still alive became even more frightened.

They only think that this is a punishment from the gods, and they must have sins.

Nexai had come to his senses, but was about to go crazy again.

As a well-informed and famous general, he certainly knew that the hot air balloon in the sky was a novelty weapon made by the National Defense Forces, and it was not a magical weapon at all.

But no matter how much he yelled, the soldiers of the Qing army still ran indiscriminately, having lost their fighting spirit.

Nexai had no choice but to organize some fairly strong soldiers to defend the city wall.

It is the general trend that the city wall loses its effect in the face of hot weapons.

Later generations generally believed that the reason why the city wall lost its function was that it could not stop the indiscriminate bombing of hot weapons.

In fact, the real reason is far more cruel than this.

Not only can the city wall not stop the indiscriminate bombardment of hot weapons, but once the enemy rushes up to occupy it, it will be impossible for the defenders to fight in the streets even if they want to.

Because the enemy can stand on the city wall and look down on the city's defenses at a glance, and can project firepower smoothly, destroying the defenders more easily.

After all, as long as it is a city surrounded by walls, no matter how large it is, it will be limited.As long as the muskets and artillery are mounted on the city wall, there is no place that cannot be hit.

This will greatly increase the difficulty of street fighting for defenders.

The progress of military history shows that terrain is actually more helpful to the side with advanced weapons.

Nexai had already tasted the power of the National Defense Army's long-range weapons, so he didn't dare to throw away the city wall at all.

In that case, I am afraid that Taiyuan will be lost before today is over.

He could only pile up the troops on the city wall helplessly and indignantly, trading his life for time.

The National Defense Forces attacked both air and ground, which put tremendous pressure on the Qing army.

After several sections of the city wall collapsed, the infantry began to move forward and compete with the Qing army for the city wall.

Nexai is under time pressure, and so is Jian Zongan.

The Sixth Division must conquer Taiyuan as soon as possible, and then go north to help the Ninth Division eliminate Duoduo together.

If he dragged on here for too long, he was afraid that the strength of the Ninth Division would not be able to stop Duoduo.

Therefore, Jian Zong'an can only speed up the attack and strengthen the attack.

The soldiers of the National Defense Forces were naturally not afraid of sacrifice. After receiving the order, they started a tide-like attack.

Seeing the infantry of the National Defense Forces approaching, the Qing army really burst into tears.

I can finally make a move, and I am no longer passively beaten.

There were still remnants of the Qing army on the city wall. Gritting their teeth, they drew their bows and arrows, and suddenly leaned out from between the walls, and at the same time let go of the bowstring.

These actions were completed in one breath, and he was about to shrink back in a hurry.

But although his movements are already fast, the muskets of the Wehrmacht are faster.

Just as the bow and arrow shot a Wehrmacht soldier, the Qing soldier was also shot in the right shoulder.

The strong inertia brought him to fall backwards, and he couldn't get up for a long time, which also made this section lack of firepower output.

The Wehrmacht soldier was shot in the thigh by an arrow and survived, but he was also unable to continue fighting.

The health worker mixed in the queue immediately ran forward, grabbed the straps of his tactical vest, and dragged him all the way back.

Just as the infantry rushed under the wall, mortars began to bombard the top of the city for the last time.

The artillery is absolutely afraid to fire at this time.

Otherwise, you will definitely hurt your own people by mistake.

Even though the mortars were much less powerful, the Qing army still couldn't lift their heads and gain a foothold on the city wall.

The ladders were erected one after another, and the vigorous soldiers began to climb up.

When they heard the shelling stop, the Qing army, who had shrunk under the other side of the city wall, also began to run up crazily.

The two sides appeared at the top of the city almost at the same time.

Seeing the National Defense Army coming up, the Qing army was shocked and rushed forward, trying to beat the enemy down.

At this time, the number of the Qing army is larger, which is very promising.

But they didn't know that the weapons in the hands of the Wehrmacht soldiers who took the lead on the city wall were all shotguns.

Facing the tide of the Qing army, these soldiers pulled the trigger again and again without fear.

A shotgun will have eight shots in the reel.

Each shot contains hundreds of steel balls.

When the eight shotguns were shot out in one go, a large firepower net was quickly formed.

None of the soldiers of the Qing army who were wrapped in it were spared, and they screamed and fell in a pool of blood, leaving a large open space at the top of the city.

After such a delay, the follow-up soldiers of the National Defense Forces have followed up.

Although these soldiers don't have shotguns in their hands, they still have grenades.

Each soldier threw four or five grenades, causing more damage than shotgun shells.

After two consecutive attacks, no one in the Qing army dared to rush to the city anymore.

It wasn't until this time that the soldiers of the National Defense Forces began to use muskets to block the entrance of the city ladder, which was considered to have completed the occupation of the city wall.

Under the defense of [-] Qing troops, Taiyuan, the capital city of Shanxi Province, did not last even a day.

Nexai had no choice but to lead the participating troops back into the city and engage in the most embarrassing street fighting.

(End of this chapter)