Late Ming sea owl

Chapter 191 Que Yue Meteor

"Can the shot be accurate? Can you ensure that you don't hit one of your own?"

Lin Hai was a little worried when he heard this. It was extremely unreasonable to fire cannons on a rocking ship. Now that the Ministry of War's shield-wielding forwards have landed, there are only a few dozen steps between the enemy and us. What if we get closer? Not fun anymore.

"Please rest assured, sir, my subordinate will take aim personally. Although I cannot guarantee that I will hit the enemy, I can guarantee that I will not hit one of my own." Jin Nao replied confidently from the side.

"Okay, you go and fire a few cannons." Lin Hai saw that the frontmen of the Army Department were still reorganizing their formation, so he ordered Jin Nao to fire some cannons. As long as he could scare away some enemy gunners, the process of establishing the defense line would be simple. It will be greatly accelerated, and follow-up troops will be able to land earlier.

Jin Nao then went down to the gun deck and found the 12-pound gun he was most familiar with. First, he commanded the gun to assemble the ammunition and pushed the cannon out of the gun door. Then he lay on the gun barrel and got from the gun door to the outside of the ship. Straight up and ride on the cannon.

Before the invention of the retractable four-wheeled gun carriage, this was how the gunners on the sailing battleships loaded their ammunition. It was too dangerous to load in this way on the battlefield, so at that time, they usually left the battlefield first and then carried out the loading operation.

In the Battle of Graveline more than thirty years ago, the Spanish fleet's heavy artillery used this loading method, so in the final statistics, the average frequency of shelling of the fleet's heavy artillery was one shot per day.

All broadside artillery of the Navy Department of Huiyou Company are equipped with retractable four-wheeled gun carriages, so Jin Hao rides on the cannon not for loading, but for aiming.

I saw him taking out a strange L-shaped instrument. There was a fan-shaped dial at the right angle formed by the long side and the short side, and a thin wire with a pendant hung on that corner.

This instrument is called a gun gauge, and its purpose is to measure the elevation angle of artillery. Because of the sector-shaped dial, it is also called a round gauge. Correspondingly, the square gauge that was used to measure the distance of distant objects was called a square gauge.

From this perspective, the importance of live-fire training in this era may be more important than after the standardization of artillery in later generations, but this requires sufficient training funds. At present, it is difficult for artillery units in the East and the West to obtain sufficient training opportunities.

An iron bullet weighing ten kilograms jumped up on the ground and smashed the pirate's abdomen into a pile of minced meat. The whole man was broken into two pieces at the waist. The man's upper body squirmed twice in the pool of blood. Soon, There was no movement.

After all, the pirates were all skirmishing and shooting at this time, and solid bullets could not explode. It was impossible to accurately target the enemy troops distributed in points.

Jin Nao inserted the long side of the gun gauge into the muzzle, and the short side was pointed perpendicular to the muzzle. The thin line hanging the pendant was now equivalent to a plumb line, and the angle between the short side of the gun gauge and the short side of the gun gauge was the elevation angle of the gun. This value can be easily read from the scale on the sector scale without the need for conversion like when using a moment scale.

In addition to controlling the range, Jin Nao simply pointed the muzzle of the gun at a few pirates who were loading ammunition. After completing the aiming, he returned to the gun deck and fired the 12-pound gun himself.

The killing efficiency of solid artillery is just that, but its deterrence is unparalleled. Once this thing is hit, it will turn into a pile of minced meat, and it will end up with broken hands and feet, let alone No matter what shields and armors, even Hou Jin's heavy carriage would turn into dust when touched.

The Bowang's third shot on the starboard side was fired amidst the sound of drums. This shot seemed to have been blessed by the gods and miraculously hit an enemy who was shooting.

Jin Nao ordered the artillery crew to adjust the elevation angle while measuring. All he could do was to ensure that the shells did not hit his own people and that they would not fall into the woods. Whether they could hit the enemy all depended on luck.

With a bang, the ten-pound iron ball flew out of the muzzle driven by gunpowder gas, passed over the heads of the Army Department soldiers, landed in the open space, and then jumped into the woods.

Unlike Liu Yu's response to the attack of the Northern Wei cavalry, Huiyou Company set up the Queyue Formation to defend against firearms, so the heavy chariot was turned into a light shield. The two ends of the defense line were not close to the water's edge and only needed to be screened. Enemy's range of fire is sufficient.

In addition to the moment gauge and the gun gauge, Western artillery instruments in this era also had a gun ruler, which was mainly used to determine the amount of charge. These instruments are useless on sea ships, but Jin Hao once served in Fort Santiago outside Manila, so he is very proficient in using them.

The pirate gunmen who came forward began to flee in large numbers, but there were still a few who did not believe in evil and chose to continue moving forward. For the one hundred taels of silver reward, these desperadoes were willing to risk their lives.

This section of defense line stands with its back to the water, drawing a beautiful crescent shape on the coast. Time seems to have traveled through twelve centuries at this moment. Lin Hai on the Bowang saw this scene in front of him and couldn't help but imagine the Yellow River a thousand years ago. The classic battle formation on the north bank where 2,000 infantrymen defeated 30,000 elite cavalry.

The pressure on the Army Department's selection of 150 forwards suddenly eased, and the speed of formation was greatly accelerated. Before Jin Hao fired his third shot, 151 hard and soft cards had already formed a continuous line of defense.

However, he was too familiar with the artillery on this ship and had personally fired each broadside many times, so the gun gauge was useless. For artillerymen of this era, familiarity with cannons and shooting skills were equally important, because each cannon had its own unique ballistic characteristics.

As the Queyue Formation took shape, the sound of boluo representing departure rang out on the Madam Feng, followed by the beating of drums for the marching army. The remaining soldiers from the second and third rounds of the Army Department began the landing operation.

The cannon successfully ricocheted but did not hit any enemy troops. Despite this, a dozen pirates who were closer to the trajectory of the cannonball began to give up shooting and ran back into the woods.

After half a cup of tea, Jin Nao fired a second shot on the Bowang. This shot still did not hit the enemy, but more pirates gave up shooting. Everyone knew how many artillery pieces there were in the fleet at sea. , they had already faced a broadside salvo in the woods before.

Later, there was also a gun quadrant meter used on the outer surface of the gun barrel, which could be used to replace the gun gauge. Since the outer diameter of the gun barrel is generally thinner at the front and thicker at the back, the elevation angle deviation measured by the gun quadrant meter will be larger, but the operation It's much more convenient to get up.

"Stop the bombardment!" On the Bowang, Lin Hai quickly ordered Jin Hao to stop firing. The number of enemy troops on the position was too small at this time, and they were too close to Queyue Formation. It was meaningless to continue firing from the sea.

"Put down the boat and send me to the Lady Feng." Lin Hai decided to go to the Lady Feng to watch the battle. Wu Guoyi was in charge of the command of the leading force of the Army Department there. At this time, the Princess Jieyou had returned to the vicinity of the Yiyang, and Zhou Yifa led the The soldiers of the first round are boarding the ship.

In the woods, a group of pirate leaders couldn't sit still anymore. They came to Zeng Wulao one after another and started shouting: "Five Lao, withdraw your troops quickly. This battle can't be fought." "Withdraw your troops? The leader is the next one." Those who obeyed the death order, do you want to go back and be beheaded?" Old Zeng Wuda suppressed loudly with a livid face. His personal martial arts is also quite outstanding. He was Yan Siqi's favorite general as early as Li Dan's time, and he was quite famous among the Dongfan pirates. prestige.

"This group of officers and soldiers have magical weapons. I can beat the officers and soldiers, but I can't beat this crazy monster. Even if the master comes, I will still say the same thing."

The leader who had previously stopped Zeng Wu Laozhu from charging suddenly spoke again, and the other leaders also echoed: "That's right, let's go back to the city first and invite a few Taoists to destroy the bird magic weapon. Dongshan Island is so Are you worried that you won’t be able to find an expert who knows magic?”

"Shut up, everyone, I will chop off whoever farts again!" Zeng Wulao pulled out his knife and shouted at the top of his lungs, silencing the surrounding noise.

The leaders looked at each other, no one dared to speak first. There were a few who were eager to try, but Zeng Wulao glared at them and chose to shut up.

Zeng Wulao also knew that it was hard to go against the will of the people, and the current situation would definitely not last long, so he had to continue: "There are still three brothers reloading, wait and see if they can penetrate the bird sign on the opposite side, and if they can't, I ordered the troops to withdraw."

At this time, the three unafraid pirates had completed their reloading and arrived twenty steps away from the middle of the Queyue Formation.

With a bang, the first blunderbuss was fired at close range. Lu Tiedan, who was squatting behind the rigid and soft card holding the bracket, felt a huge force coming from his hand, followed by a sharp pain in his shoulder.

The lead bullet penetrated the shield and hit his armor. Fortunately, the projectile was already at the end of its strength after penetrating the rigid and soft armor. It was finally caught in the one-inch-thick armor and failed to penetrate it.

Despite this, Lu Tiedan was still beaten until his shoulders were numb, and he couldn't help but groan. Fortunately, the shot did not hit his unprotected face, otherwise he would have turned into a corpse on the spot.

After the severe pain, Lu Tiedan felt that he was not seriously injured. He gritted his teeth and did not check the wound. He still held on to the bracket of the shield. If no one was holding the bracket, the shield might be hit by high-speed projectiles. will fall.

At this time, the wolf on his right released his hand and asked in a trembling voice: "Captain, have you been shot? Is your shield penetrated?"

As soon as he finished speaking, the shield in front of the wolf swordsman suddenly collapsed. Before that, a lead bullet penetrated the shield and hit his neck. Blood spurted out and sprayed on the back of the falling shield.

Before Lu Tiedan could react, the shield and wolf hand on the right fell together. He was confused for a moment, and suddenly Ruan Jin's voice came from the left: "Captain Lu, use my bow and arrow to shoot him to death." Pirates across the way.”

After the Battle of Xiamen, the Zhoushan Battalion issued bows and arrows to officers above the captain level and asked them to practice diligently on weekdays. After all, bows and arrows have the advantage of shooting speed. If the shooting skills are superb, they will be more effective than the muskets of this era in many situations.

Later, the Huiyou Company was established, and Ruan Jin was transferred to the Army Department, and also received a six-power standard combined bow. A strong man like him is actually best suited to use a bow, but this bow is too soft for him and cannot be used at all.

If a bow and arrow is to be used smoothly, it must be tailor-made. As the saying goes, "Adjust the bow according to your ability, measure the bow and make the arrow." Most people are fine with standard bows and arrows, but a man like Ruan Jin is one of the best in the world. That won't work.

The production period of the off-angle bow is still very long, and there is no strong bow suitable for Ruan Jin in the Army Department's arsenal, so he has not practiced archery yet, and this bow is just a decoration for him.

However, in order to show his magical power and boost morale, Ruan Jin, who usually never carried a bow and arrows, went into battle fully armed. In addition to the combined bow, he also carried two bags of arrows, a total of sixty arrows.

Lu Tiedan is the corps commander. His standard equipment is a long card and a waist knife, and he does not have a bow and arrow. However, he started practicing archery with Wu Guoyi as early as a year ago. After becoming the corps commander, he continued to practice diligently, and his archery skills have now improved. There is progress, and in the third game this new army is almost at a level that stands out from the crowd.

After hearing Ruan Jin's order, Lu Tiedan didn't have time to think too much. He took off Ruan Jin's bow, then took out the arrows from his quiver, walked behind the fallen shield and took a look, and saw a total of There are three pirates.

One person was raising a gun, another was loading, and another was running into the woods. This man was the pirate who had just shot and killed the wolf-stricken pirate. He was the one who broke the rumors about the magical weapon. He was rushing back to collect the reward. If he lost his life, the reward would naturally be gone.

The man who raised the gun was originally aiming at the follow-up landing troops, but Lu Tiedan suddenly appeared in his sight. He stood stunned for a moment, pointed the muzzle of the gun at Lu Tiedan in front of him, and then pushed away the pair of hands covering the ignition powder pool. Leaf rotating disc cover...

Lu Tiedan didn't have time to think too much. His mind was empty. He raised his hand and shot an arrow. The arrow shot out of the air and hit the pirate who was aiming his gun at the throat.

This pirate used the most common three-coin bird gun in the Ming Dynasty. The gun adopted a Japanese-style instant-fire design. He pulled the trigger the moment before the arrow hit the target, and the horizontal lever immediately rotated, releasing the restriction on the faucet. The latter was driven by the U-shaped energy storage reed and slammed into the ignition pool. The smoldering match rope on the faucet instantly ignited the ignition powder.

The distance between the two of them was only twenty steps, and the projectile that exceeded the speed of sound shot out from the muzzle of the gun, flying forward with the slightest sound of breaking through the air, and the speed of the electric shock was so fast that no one could see it clearly. trajectory.

Lu Tiedan still maintained the posture after the arrow had left the string, and the lead bullets flew past his ears. He even heard the sound of bullets breaking through the air, which was masked by the gunfire.

In this mid-range sniper battle, which was a matter of life and death, the pirate took two seconds to aim his gun, open the lid of the medicine tank, and pull the trigger. Unfortunately, he was hit by an arrow before the projectile came out of the barrel, and the blunderbuss in his hand was slightly deflected. In the end, he failed to die together with Lu Tiedan, perhaps because of the moment when he stood still.

And in the same two seconds, the bow and arrow in Lu Tiedan's hand completed shooting, and at the same time, the arrow flew twenty steps like a meteor and hit his throat.

(End of this chapter)