weaving

Chapter 1251: The Artillery Camp is Finished

"Attention Portuguese, four rapid shots... fire!"

Following the order from Li Youcai, the commander-in-chief of the chariot troops, the flag bearer quickly sent out flag signals, and ten Type 2 Portuguese cannons and 720 Type 3 Portuguese cannons were fired at the same time.

As bursts of fire flashed, loud noises of "boom... rumble... boom... rumble..." continued, and amidst the rising clouds of smoke, countless iron cannonballs, stimulated by gunpowder, shot towards the western army formation and the artillery behind it at a speed beyond human power...

The range of the Portuguese cannon was originally incomparable to the red cannon of the Chuang army, but this is a different time and there are exceptions to everything!

Although Zhang Nai's firearms battalion had many red-haired cannons, most of them were old cannons captured from government troops. They were not very sophisticated to begin with, and were now even more dilapidated and outdated, so their range was slightly reduced.

On the other hand, the advantage of the falconet cannon is that it is light and easy to carry, and it is easy to load and has a very fast firing rate. However, its range is definitely not as good as the red cannon.

However, the Yongyi Army's falconets were slightly different. They were all carefully crafted by the Yunzhou craftsmen camp, so the quality was naturally top-notch. With the help of the Yongyi Army's fine granular gunpowder, the range of their falconets was also greatly improved.

It was precisely this decrease and increase that actually brought the firing ranges of the artillery of both sides closer to being almost the same.

What's more, Zhang Nai's firearms battalion was aiming at the camp wall on the western line of the Tengshe camp, while Li Youcai led the chariot soldiers a hundred steps out of the camp to set up the artillery position.

As a result, the firing range of the hundreds of falconets of the Tengshe Battalion was almost enough to completely cover most of the artillery of Zhang Nai's Firearms Battalion.

Of course, this also included the battle formation of Xiao Yunshan's "Shan Zi Camp", all of which were within the range of the Portuguese cannon.

…………

When a cannonball hit the ground, a cloud of dust rose up. The cannonball continued to jump forward, left, and right, forming a ricochet, which caused a trail of dust to fly.

  And what a powerful force it was when nearly three thousand cannonballs were fired in succession?

Hell on earth, only this word can describe the tragedy on the Chuang army's position at this moment. More than a thousand cannonballs were flying and jumping everywhere on the position, and the entire position was filled with stirred up smoke and dust.

In the smoke and dust, Xiao Yunshan had a dazed look on his face. He stood there stupidly, his eyes full of confusion. He didn't even know how to dodge, and no one knew what he was mumbling while his lips moved.

On the contrary, the two personal soldiers were smarter than him. One of them held his head and the other lifted his feet, and they carried Xiao Yunshan and ran away quickly.

In the smoke and dust, Zhang Nai, the commander of the firearms battalion of the Chuang army, also had a look of despair on his face: "How could there be so many? How could the government army have so many cannons?"

However, although Zhang Nai was young, he was also a young veteran thief who had experienced many battles. Although he was panicked by this sudden situation, he did not completely lose his mind.

"Quick, quick, avoid the artillery...be careful to avoid the artillery...all troops retreat!"

The young commander Hong Taibiao reminded him hastily, "Young General, our cannons...our cannons...what should we do?"

"It's too heavy. We can't control it!" Zhang Nai answered decisively, with the demeanor of a great general.

It can be said that Zhang Nai already possessed the basic qualities of a military commander. His rigorous and serious spirit when training the firearms battalion was far superior to that of other generals of the Chuang army. He also kept thinking over and over again about how the firearms battalion should fight, and even asked the surrendered official army artillerymen for advice, which was something that most generals of the Chuang army could not do.

Of course, Zhang Nai was able to devote all his attention to training the firearms battalion and studying firearms tactics, which might also have been due to the fact that "King Chuang married Huimei to Yuan Shizhong".

Moreover, after Huimei married Yuan Shizhong, Zhang Nai was able to "focus on the task" and devote himself wholeheartedly to the training of the Firearms Battalion. As a result, he developed a calm character, especially in critical moments, when he was extremely clear-headed.

  Just like today, facing countless shells firing at him, he immediately made an extremely accurate judgment, abandoning the hard-earned red cannon and retaining as many gunners and musketeers as possible in order to make a comeback in the future!

Zhang Nai didn't care whether Hong Taibiao could understand his decision or not. He turned around and retreated quickly. At the same time, he loudly ordered his personal soldiers to ride their horses quickly to the various artillery positions to pass on the message, asking all gunners to abandon their cannons, retreat immediately, and be careful to avoid the artillery.

…………

Tong Shoushan, commander of the "Shan Ziying" camp, looked at the front position from afar. The dust raised by the artillery shells covered the sky and did not dissipate for a long time, and the whistling sound of the artillery shells also continued for a long time.

"It's over, King Chuang's artillery camp is finished!" Tong Shoushan said in his heart.

He had mixed feelings in his heart. There was a hint of joy as he finally witnessed the power of his own artillery, and the general did not let him down. But there was also a hint of fear as he secretly thanked God that he was not the general's enemy, otherwise, facing such a powerful artillery bombardment, how would he have a chance of escape?

"It's cruel, so damn cruel!"

Tong Shoushan hid himself in King Chuang's army shortly after King Chuang conquered Luoyang, and his impression of Zhang Cheng, the Earl of Yongning, remained at that time.

Although he had recently heard that his own general had sent troops to aid Liao and defeated the Tartars under the city of Jinzhou, he was really happy for a long time and was even more excited than if he were there in person.

  Moreover, he now knew that General Zhang Cheng was awarded the title of Earl of Yongning in the Ming Dynasty for his meritorious service in aiding Liao and fighting against slaves, but in his heart he was still accustomed to calling Zhang Cheng "General"!

Of course, he didn't know yet that the Yunzhou Artisan Camp had already started manufacturing the "Hongyi Cannon", nor did he know that Wei Zhice's Tengshe Camp opposite had such powerful weapons as the Feilin Cannon and shrapnel shells.

  Otherwise, he probably wouldn't be able to close his mouth!

Although Tong Shoushan was "in the enemy camp but his heart was with the Yongyi Army", he was different from Guan Yu in the Three Kingdoms. He could not be as noble as Guan Yu, nor did he receive the same courtesy as Guan Yu.

So, we still have to do what we should do, and do it well. It is best to do it sincerely and express our true feelings!

"Someone, come quickly... go and see how Master Zhang is doing."

He turned around and shouted, "Quick, send Yan Mingda up to support Master Zhang. Make sure to protect Master Zhang."

"Send Lu Zhen and Fang Zheng up first to replace Xiao Yunshan and set up defenses in the front. You must hold it for me... Hold the defense line in front!"

Finally, Tong Shoushan shouted sternly: "Where is Bao Jiqiang? Gather the cavalry, gather for me quickly..."

Tong Shoushan is not sure how hard the Yongyi Army on the opposite side will fight, whether they will continue to attack, or even attack his camp, but no matter what, he has to make preparations.

That's why they had to mobilize troops and generals, not only to support Zhang Nai, but also to arrange defenses, and even to gather all the cavalry and horsemen in case of emergency!