Father can be an enemy country

Chapter 989 Tiger Crouching Cannon

The Cangshan Mountain Range is lined with ridges and consists of nineteen peaks rising from the ground from north to south, like a winding dragon crawling on the bank of Erhai Lake. Therefore, Xiaguan, located at the southern end of Cangshan Mountain, is also called Longweiguan. Shangguan Pass, also known as Longshou Pass, is located at the northern end of Cangshan Mountain.

Under the leadership of Wang Bi, the soldiers of the Ming army climbed up the wooden cliff at night, and there was no need to mention the hardships and dangers during the process. But they created a miracle again and conquered Diancang Mountain, which stands thousands of meters high!

At dawn, five thousand Ming troops had been traveling through the Cangshan Mountains for a long time. At this time, they finally saw the true face of these mountains.

As far as the eye can see, the mountains are full of green forests, but the top of the mountain is covered with white snow. The melted snow water from the top of Cangshan Mountain gathers into spectacular waterfalls in the canyons of the mountain.

Moreover, the mountains were shrouded in clouds and mist, and the clouds were constantly changing. The clouds gathered and dispersed, sometimes as light as light smoke, and sometimes as black ink. The soldiers watched in wonder, as if they were in a fairyland.

"Let's go." Wang Bi had no intention of admiring this wonderful scenery and kept urging the troops. Because he is late.

According to the plan, this Ming army should arrive at Xianyang Peak behind Xiaguan City before dawn, and after the army attacks the city, they should suddenly rush out and create chaos.

However, neither Lan Yu nor Wang Bi thought that the climate in Diancang Mountain was very different and unpredictable when making plans.

When they set out last night, they watched the stars at night and were sure that it would be a sunny day. As a result, after going up the mountain, a strong wind suddenly came up in the middle of the night, causing the soldiers to stagger around and unable to distinguish between north and south.

Then it rained heavily again, making the already rugged mountain road even more difficult. Although the soldiers of the Ming army tried their best, they still arrived an hour later than planned.

When they climbed over mountains and ridges, overcame numerous obstacles, and finally arrived at Xieyang Peak, they heard shouts of killing Zhentian from the southern foot of the hillside.

When the soldiers heard the news, they were very anxious and hurriedly used all their strength. They climbed up Xieyang Peak and saw that a fierce battle had been going on in front of Longwei Pass for a long time.

"Quick!" Wang Bi anxiously urged the soldiers to cut down the bamboo poles and put up all the flags he brought. Then he beat the drum desperately and blew the horn.

In the midst of the thundering drums and horns, he drew his sword, pointed at the dragon's tail at the bottom of the mountain and shouted: "Children, follow me!"

After saying that, he led five thousand selected forwards and rushed down the mountain towards Xiaguan...

~~

To the east of Xiaguan, Lan Yu was already commanding the main force to attack the city.

The first thing to solve is the wide Erhe River under Xiaguan City. To this end, Lan Yu ordered people to build a number of bamboo rafts in advance and throw them into the river one by one.

Holes were left on the four corners of each bamboo raft, and the adjacent holes on all adjacent bamboo rafts were tightly tied with iron chains. A spacious pontoon bridge was built bit by bit.

The artillery unit used to cover the engineers building the bridge was the first appearance of the Yunnan Battle. During the time when the Blue Jade Army was in Weichu City, one was to rest and recuperate, and the other was to wait for this army to arrive and join together.

Originally, the Ming army did not have artillery suitable for field battles, especially when fighting in the mountains of Yunnan. Heavy artillery was definitely a nightmare for the baggage troops, so the generals had no idea of ​​firing artillery.

But this time the attack on Dali, whether attacking from Shangguan or Xiaguan, would have to face a strong and complete city defense system with high walls and thick walls. In order to reduce the casualties of the siege troops, Lan Yu listened to the advice of His Royal Highness the King of Chu and waited until the first mountain artillery team of the Ming Dynasty arrived before marching against Dali. When he originally designed the rappelling system, Lao Liu also wanted to design a mountain cannon for the Ming army. Under his care over the years, Ming's artillery industry has developed rapidly, and its manufacturing capabilities are now unprecedented. As long as he can design a suitable style, the Ordnance Bureau can build it for him.

Mountain cannons are required to be light in weight, small in size, easy to transport, and powerful. If these two conditions are both necessary and necessary, all the artillery used by the navy will be inappropriate. Even the lightest bowl-mouth cannon is too heavy for mountain combat.

Fortunately, this was not a problem for His Royal Highness the King of Chu, because he thought of Qi Jiguang's Crouching Tiger Cannon. He remembered that Qi Jiguang's original intention of inventing the Tiger Crouching Cannon was similar to his own. It was because he had to deal with fighting in areas such as mountainous areas, forests, and paddy fields where cannons could not maneuver, so he invented this light yet powerful artillery.

The style of the Crouching Tiger Cannon is also very simple. The barrel is only two feet long and the inner diameter of the muzzle is three inches. It is a short-bodied, straight-barrel, large-caliber artillery. In fact, it is the world's first mortar officially equipped with the army.

Qi Jiguang's squatting tiger cannon was made of wrought iron. In order to prevent the barrel from exploding, seven iron hoops were added around it. The cannon head is held up by two iron claws and an iron trip, with a total weight of thirty-six kilograms. An animal can drag it. When necessary, soldiers can march with the cannon on their backs, which is very light.

The cannons made by Laoliu are all made of copper. There is no need to worry about the chamber exploding, and seven iron hoops are saved. Therefore, the weight of the "Six-Type Tiger Crouching Cannon" has been further reduced to less than 30 kilograms, but the range is one step further than the iron cannon. cut.

~~

Yu Min, who belonged to the siege force, was standing in the queue behind the position, looking curiously at the squatting cannons in the front row with his colleagues, as well as the busy artillerymen.

The artillerymen were busy digging holes to set up the Crouching Tiger Cannon.

Because the recoil of the mortar is very strong, before firing, it is necessary to dig a hole in the ground, sit the breech of the mortar in it, and then use large iron nails to fix the mortar body to the ground. The muzzle of the gun is raised high, and it looks like a squatting tiger, so the gun is named "Tiger Crouching".

After the gunners placed the artillery, they began to load it quickly.

I saw that they first inserted the medicine thread and tied it with cloth; then put in six or seven taels of gunpowder and covered it with a wooden horse. Then fill the muzzle with a little dry soil, put in a hundred lead pieces weighing five cents, and then build it a few times with a little soil. This is to keep the muzzle airtight to increase power.

Finally, a large lead bullet weighing thirty taels was pressed onto the top to complete the loading.

After the officer gave the order, the gunners lit the fuse with a match rope, then covered their ears and took a few steps back.

When the experienced veterans saw this, they quickly covered their ears and opened their mouths. Only new recruits like Yu Min, who had never seen a cannon, were still watching stupidly.

Then he saw a flash of muzzle fire and a deafening sound of artillery on the battlefield. Yu Min was so frightened that he sat down on the ground, his head buzzing. He couldn't hear a word what Mr. Niu Qi was saying to him next to him.

It wasn't until Niu Zongqi pulled him up from the ground and waited for a while that he regained his hearing.

It was so miserable to watch the artillery fire, let alone the target being hit by the artillery fire.

The Dali army at the head of Xiaguan City had never seen cannons. Before the cannons were fired, they all stood on the Great Wall and threw stones at the Erhe River desperately, trying to prevent the Ming army from erecting a pontoon bridge.

While they were enjoying themselves, the cannons fired, and the Dali army did not know how to dodge. In the blink of an eye, he was shot down...

(End of this chapter)