Tang Taizong is my elder brother

Chapter 88 Artillery
"I heard that Li Changsheng is very powerful."

"Hmph, son of an official." Ashina Ran made a very short comment.

"That's good. It seems that this batch of armor belongs to us. It's really good." Aguna rubbed his hands happily and laughed, as if the weapons and equipment on the opposite side were already in his pocket: "I will listen to you this time. Dunhuang seems to have come to the right place."

Ashina Rangan smiled and said to the subordinates beside him: "Pass on my order, whoever obtains Li Changsheng's head will get two futures, and those who can capture Li Changsheng alive before the king will receive five futures!"

After hearing this, Aguna couldn't help being taken aback: "Didn't you say that he is a son of an official?"

"The usefulness of officials' children is much more alive than dead."

……

The Turkic elite on the opposite side spread out their array again, Li Changsheng also came to his own conclusion after observing:

"There are about 4000 Turkic soldiers on the opposite side, which is one and a half times as many as mine. The advantage lies in their large number of cavalry, while our army only has [-] cavalry under Commander Qin. Thousands of auxiliary soldiers, and our army's auxiliary soldiers are all in Dunhuang City, there are more than [-]. In this battle, our army has [-] troops against the Turks' [-]. Our army has a weak force."

But as long as we can last until night, it is our army's advantage.

In this dark night age, most people suffer from night blindness because of the simplicity of the recipes, and the soldiers of Changsheng have long been free of night blindness because they have accepted healthy recipes for a long time.Compared with the opponent who has become blind after entering the night, our army's vision is normal at night.

And the side that lights the torch first in night battles is tantamount to exposing itself to the enemy's sight, and has an absolute disadvantage.

So the situation where there are no more torches becomes a melee, and of course our army has the advantage.

Gao Ziran also understood this very well, and immediately nodded vigorously and said: "Well, if you persist until dusk, you will win. I fully believe in General Li, and I will leave everything to the general."

Chang Sheng nodded, and looked at the two Qianniuwei elder brothers beside Lord Gao: "The battlefield is changing rapidly, please protect Lord Gao well."

The two clasped fists together on the horse: "General Li, don't worry, as long as the two of us are here, Sir Gao's life will be guaranteed."

Gao Ziran also knew that staying here was useless except to distract Li Changsheng, so he simply retreated to the city and found a safe place to sit on the city wall.

After the three of them left, Qin Qiong came over. This guy has become a thief now, and he will try his best to wait until there are few people before asking questions: "My lord, I think there is something wrong with what you said just now. No possession, but both morale and firepower are far superior to the opponent, why wait until night, the goal should be to defeat and destroy the enemy's main force, this is too passive."

Changsheng smiled and said that Qin Qiong is still the straight-tempered and unflappable person who keeps three points when he talks to others, but before the battle between the two armies, he didn't want to give lectures on the philosophy of doing things, and he didn't intend to hurt the spirit of his teammates. Leave some leeway, but don't talk too much. The enemy army rushed up without waiting for the siege equipment, and they didn't fight for plastic surgery, and they didn't have the strength to cultivate. Obviously, they didn't know how to take it seriously. It's really daring."

After hearing Changsheng's analysis of the enemy's strength just now, Ye Qiu began to feel uneasy. He knew that the enemy was numerous, but he didn't expect it to be so many more than our army. A cold sweat broke out in shock: "Why is it exaggerated if we don't close the city, are you still thinking about taking the initiative to attack and wipe out the enemy army?" These are two lunatics.

Just as he was panicking, he suddenly saw Chang Sheng raising his horsewhip and pointing at the opponent's battle formation: "It's another breakthrough in the center and outflanking with two wings. It's the same as last time. Isn't there anything new at all?" Changsheng also decisively asked the infantry to form a full moon formation in the ox horn formation like the armored soldiers.

The main infantry phalanx of the Immortal Army was located in the middle, while the soldiers of the Gondor Battalion moved as far as possible to avoid the main direction of the enemy's attack.Form trailing wings.As long as the two wings hold the enemy back and don't be defeated immediately, the Immortal Army on the front will hold the enemy back and defeat them one by one.

After clarifying the purpose, Chang Sheng wanted to test his subordinates, so he asked Qin Qiong and Ye Qiu: "Which direction do you think the enemy will attack our department?"

The two replied in unison: "The right wing!"

"Yes."

Behind the right wing of the Sui army is the city wall. If the enemy breaks through from the left wing, the Sui army can use cavalry to support the attack on both sides.

The right wing is facing the main force of the Tiele Department.

As the forwards of the Turkic soldiers began to approach slowly, Changsheng said solemnly: "Ye Dusi, the right wing of our army will be handed over to you!"

"General Li, please rest assured, I will go all out in my humble position and fulfill my mission!" Ye Qiu cupped his fists, took the rein and pulled the horse's head, and went to the right flank, followed by a vast number of soldiers from the Gondor Battalion.

There are two wooden poles with scales standing in front of the formation, and an officer of the artillery battalion is measuring the distance with his hands. He was originally a well-known Fengshui master in Lingnan, but was later convicted and exiled for defrauding his master's money. , is now a flag officer.

"My lord, 400 meters, the Turkic can enter the limit range of our three-pound gun."

Changsheng looked at the white flag on the right wing of the enemy, and felt a shadow in his heart that could not be dispelled. The series of combined punches of the enemy made his troops passive. It can be seen that the enemy's general is an outstanding war master, and he is just an ordinary person. Although the soldiers are sharp and armored, can I, a recruit who has just been trained for a few months, defeat an armored elite who is twice as powerful as myself?

"Your Excellency, give the order." The messenger sentry beside him looked at him expectantly.

Changsheng cheer up, everyone has never doubted me, because I have always led them to victory, Lord Gao, Qin Qiong and many others follow me because I also lead them to victory, as long as you follow me, you can get promoted and get rich Drinking has a good life, and this time I will not let you down.

"Ricoche attack!"

The messenger's face became hot: "Design!" Turning around, he quickly waved the small flag in his hand in the direction of the artillery camp, and blew the agreed whistle at the same time.

The [-]th day of the first month of the fifth year of Daye.A total of nearly [-] Sui troops and Turkic Tartars are about to start a battle in Dunhuang.

On the Sui side, there were 4000 elite soldiers belonging to the Changsheng Battalion and the Gondor Battalion, plus more than [-] auxiliary soldiers, a total of [-] troops.On the Turkic side, there are about [-] soldiers from the Tiele tribe plus the main force of the Fuliju tribe, and there are nearly [-] unarmored soldiers.Soldiers of both armies stepped into the battlefield with the belief of victory, especially the Turks.It is with great enthusiasm and courage for this battle report.

Since the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms, the Turkic people took advantage of the internal strife of the Han clan and had no time to take care of the frontier. They wantonly burned, killed and looted on the northwestern and northern borders, invaded the land, fished and meat the people, and destroyed tens of thousands of frontier troops one after another. The nomadic tribe in China has grown into a bandit group with tens of thousands of people.

Three years later, although Daye defeated the opponent twice in field battles due to the joining of the Immortal Army, but in the winter offensive of the following year, due to the absence of the Immortal Army, all lines suffered blows to varying degrees. Back to before liberation.And Chen Ping, the main force of Dunhuang, was defeated by the enemy again, avenging the previous revenge of Dunhuang and Linchuan.

Right now, the elite of the Northwest Frontier Army's elite—the Immortal Army is in front of them. It seems that this army is like meat on a chopping board, waiting to be slaughtered by themselves.The Turkic people seem to have seen that the end of the Sui Dynasty's Northwest Frontier Army is just around the corner. As long as this last team is eliminated, the Northwest will be their own world in the future, and today they will complete their work in one battle!
……

"Lower the muzzle, lower it again!" Battalion Commander Shi Sanpao yelled at the top of his voice. The gunner of the three-pound gun next to him was quickly turning the handle to drive the pulley and screw on the sports car, allowing the gunner to move the gun without shaking the gun. Under the premise of the body, it is easy to adjust the direction of the muzzle height, left and right.

The muzzle of the black hole is slowly lowering, and the group of rare talents in the eyes of longevity around the cannon body were all fortune-telling liars, tomb robbers, or funeral burials.

These low-level social sects or scumbags are standing in front of the battle in style at the moment, with one hand on their hips and the other hand holding their thumbs up, and then their left and right eyes alternately use the inspection method to calculate the distance of the enemy. .

"400 meters."

"350 meters"

"300 meters"

"250 meters, get ready."

"200 meters."

Just as a gunner was about to light a fire, Shi Sanpao snatched the torch in his hand. He lit the letter all at once, and then shouted: "This is the glory of my Shi Sanpao!"

On the [-]th day of the first lunar month in the fifth year of Daye, Shi Sanpao, commander of the Changsheng Battalion Artillery Battalion, fired the first shot of the Dunhuang Battle.

Two three-pound guns fired one after another. The solid shells flew high in the air, then drew a 200-meter flight arc, and then slammed into the ground. After two quick jumps on the ground, they rushed into the ground. out of the crowd.

The auxiliary soldiers next to the gunner had quickly cleaned up the slag in the barrel, and the two soldiers waiting aside immediately poured the gunpowder in again, then pressed it tightly, and stuffed the shells skillfully.The whole process takes less than 20 seconds.

"150 meters." The officer who reported the distance was still calm, and there was no trace of tension.

"Depress the muzzle by 3°." Shi Sanpao ordered without turning his head. This is related to his calculations. He has already designed the location where the artillery will be fired.

"Hey, twenty laps!" The artillery chiefs were instructing the gunners to work, and they were all cursing, eager to get their feet up. No matter how fast his subordinates were shaking the crank, he still felt slow,

"120 meters."

"Fire!"

"Fire!"

The hurried voices of the two officers sounded, and several three-pound guns also roared at the same time.The landing point of the several shells was controlled, and they flew into the crowd in an arc nearly one person high. One person was hit in the chest, and was taken away at that time, and the people behind him also fell down together. down.

The artillery officer spit hard when he saw it. The person who was hit in the chest was obviously dead, but there was no pain to cheapen the boy.

The other few shots smashed the armor of several people, and then their arms and legs were directly separated from their bodies. They fell to the ground and wailed in pain.

The other Turkic people were frightened, and hurriedly raised their shields high, but they didn't seem to be very useful. Some of their shields were made of rattan and some were made of wood. The shot put that passed through the shield flattened half of his head, and another wrist was directly broken, and the shield fell to the ground.

Others have too much potential energy, and then slowly stop after hitting several people one after another. This is the effect that Changsheng wants, and the attack is brought closer.

For a moment, dozens of Turkic soldiers wailed heart-piercingly on the ground, and some of them were in so much pain that they passed out.The other soldiers saw the miserable state of their companions, and then looked at the black ball parked on the ground not far away, and they all uttered fearful voices: "Devil, devil."

It seems that it is not a human thing but a monster from hell that took their names.

The pace of the Turkic advance slowed down, while the Changshengying camp was tense and even somewhat chaotic, desperately loading and launching. After all, this was the first actual combat shooting, and there was a big difference between facing a living person and shooting a target on the playground.

"No way..." Chang Sheng was a little dissatisfied when he saw the artillery's first actual combat performance.The effect was worse than she had expected. Although the artillery operated in accordance with the regulations and shot the target as close as possible, it just couldn't hit the target accurately. I don't know whether it was measurement, aiming or which step in the adjustment. There was a problem, and half of the shells fired did not hit the enemy in the first place.

This didn't require them to shoot at the limit of the range. They thought they could be more accurate if they were closer, but it didn't seem to be enough, and they had to practice.

Changsheng also knew that the reason why the troops were equipped with equipment was that there was still a big problem with the proficiency of his subordinates. To put it bluntly, there was not enough time for training and insufficient actual combat experience. These cannot be rushed and can only be accumulated slowly.

Also after several months of training, the effect of pikemen and musketeers is obviously much better than that of artillery. It really makes sense that artillery is a technical arm no matter what era it is.

The original idea was to surprise the enemy with an artillery attack, causing the enemy's frontal attack to fall into chaos and stagnation, and then shoot indiscriminately with muskets, causing the enemy to fall into panic and collapse, and finally use the pikemen to charge back the enemy in one fell swoop. The idea is full and the reality is skinny.

After the Turks entered the 100-meter musket shooting range, the Immortal Army concentrated and poured out all their firepower as soon as they arrived in advance.

The enemy stopped before 80 meters, not only maintained the pressure on the Sui army, but also organized bows and arrows to fight back, and the tall iron shield erected in front also blocked most of the musket attacks.The muskets of the Longevity Battalion did not cause much casualties to the enemy.

Seeing that the enemy began to organize a counterattack, and spread out to the two wings, and was about to attack in a roundabout way, Chang Sheng immediately knew that the time for melee combat had come.She ordered: "There are all Chinese troops, and the pikemen march forward in line."

(End of this chapter)