I am Emperor Wanli

Chapter 716: Divine Fire Preparation
Half an hour later, the horns of the Oirat people sounded again. Two thousand Junggars and three thousand Tehuis, a total of five thousand cavalry, once again launched an attack on the Sunset River defense line.

Good job!
Wala people, you are really men!
Haninoyan Honggor, you are worthy of being a descendant of the Borjigin family, and your title of Great Khan of Oirad is well-deserved!

Pharmacist Song breathed a sigh of relief, as the fierce battle just now did not scare them away.

"Pass the order down. Only the Type 95 field guns are allowed to fire, and only single shells are allowed. After the enemy enters the square camp, the Type 60 short-barreled guns are not allowed to fire."

The staff officer was stunned: "Sir, you are not allowed to fire the 60mm short-barreled cannon?"

Pharmacist Song replied sternly, "Yes! In the exchange of fire just now, the casualties caused by the 60mm short-barreled cannon accounted for at least one-third. The enemy only held out for twenty minutes last time, but this time we must let them hold out for forty minutes. We must make them feel that as long as they try harder, they can defeat us!
Follow my orders! "

"Yes!"

Pharmacist Song's order was also reported to the front-line command headquarters intactly.

Xiao Wenkui nodded with satisfaction: "Pharmacist Song understands the intentions of General Qi and the commander, very good."

Without the support of the 60mm short-barreled cannon, which the Ming Army called a close combat broom, and with the two infantry regiments holding back under repeated orders from Song Yaoshi, the Oirat vanguard composed of the Dzungar and Tehui cavalry persisted in the second charge for more than 50 minutes, suffering more than a thousand casualties before leaving exhausted.

But the third attack came a little too quickly. In less than ten minutes, the third wave of vanguards rushed into the defense line. The Khoshut and Dzungar cavalry were dodging deep pits and chevaux de frise in the black mud.

The bodies of humans and horses lay in the deep pit, some of whom were still alive and were emitting screams and cries.

Hundreds of corpses were impaled on the sharp spears of the chevaux deer. There were still a few people alive and when they saw their companions coming back, they used up their last bit of strength to reach out to them, hoping to get help, but they were ruthlessly ignored.

There was gunfire everywhere, and the companions needed to carefully deal with the shooting from both sides.

They used shields to protect their vital parts, but it was no use. These wooden shields, which could block powerful bows and arrows, were as fragile as cardboard under the lead bullets.

Smart cavalrymen hide behind their mounts, but they can hide on the left but not on the right.

Some mounts were hit by lead bullets and in pain pulled the cavalrymen around, either bringing them into deep pits or throwing them onto the spears of the chevaux de frise.

The road was only two or three miles long, but it was so long that you could hardly see the end.

So the brave Junggar cavalry turned their horses around and rushed towards the square camp.

But this road is even more dangerous.

Twenty meters away from the wooden fence was a long and deep trench filled with spiked wooden stakes.

After trying every possible means to cross the deep pit, there were five or six more wire fences. The wire fences were less than a person's height, but even more difficult to climb over. The mount was pricked by the spikes several times and would rather jump into the trench than take another step forward.

The Dzungar cavalry carefully passed through the barbed wire, but many of them were hit by several lead bullets, or got hung on the barbed wire, unable to move, and finally were hit by several lead bullets again.

There were companions behind to cover with bows and arrows, but the arrows shot out were blocked by the thick wooden fence. The gap was not big, so it was difficult to shoot in, unless the opponent was very unlucky.

But the third attack lasted nearly two hours.

The tenacious Dzungar and Khoshut cavalry fought to the rear and were pleasantly surprised to find that the Ming army's shooting was becoming increasingly sparse, and their ability to stop them was becoming weaker and weaker. Victory was within reach, and they only needed to make a little more effort to push down the wooden wall and rush in to massacre these weak Ming soldiers.

However, after more than an hour of intense fighting, the Wala warriors were exhausted. They had no water to drink and no food to eat. They were thirsty and hungry. Many of their horses were also wounded and extremely tired and could no longer hold on.

Na Yan, the commander of the troops, had no choice but to order a retreat.

More than 3,000 cavalrymen began to retreat one after another. The Ming army seemed exhausted and watched them leave calmly, only firing a few shots sporadically.

This made the Wala warriors even more indignant.

We are tired, and the Ming army is also exhausted; we can't hold on, and the Ming army can't hold on even more!

Just a little bit, just a little more effort, and victory will be ours.

It would be great if reinforcements arrived at this time, or if we had more men and horses!
After returning, the Dzungar and Khoshut cavalry's 12 points of dissatisfaction turned into 120,000 points.

They regretted it deeply, they blamed the heavens and the earth, and even cursed the princes and nobles behind them, saying that they were cowardly and did not send reinforcements in time or did not send their entire army to the front, which led to their failure.

The cavalrymen who had suffered defeat in the previous two battles also joined in.

That’s right, the Ming army was only powerful in firearms. They were weak and timid, and only dared to hide behind thick wooden fences and did not dare to engage in head-on battle with us.

We just need to make a little more effort, rush to the wooden fence, push it down or pull it down, and rush in with sabers waving. These Ming troops will flee like rats, and victory will surely belong to us.

These cavalrymen, who tried their best to get rid of the image of losers, exaggerated in their words, making the facts in their mouths unrecognizable.

At the same time, they tried their best to belittle the fighting spirit of the Ming army, just to convey a message that the Ming army's truly chilling firearms were becoming less and less effective.

what reason?
These deadly weapons are not endless. Under our desperate attack, the Ming army is almost exhausting their reserves.

Various news and rumors were passed upward through different channels, reaching the ears of the great nobles of the Khoshut and Dzungar tribes, and the ears of Darga and Haninoyan Honggor of the Oirat alliance, stirring up all kinds of waves in their hearts.

The noble confidants who heard the news, with different purposes in mind, all gave advice to Haninoyan Honggor.

Our main force has consumed a large amount of ammunition of the Ming army after a fierce battle on the front line. They are already at the end of their strength and will fall down with just a slight push.

The Torghut tribe, which was making a flanking move, was about to launch an attack on the flank of the Kobdo camp.

According to the current situation, the Kobdo camp is likely to be breached by the Torghut cavalry.

Once the Kobdo camp is broken, the Ming army will surely collapse across the board, and the Torghut tribe will be able to get the main credit. At that time, the Torghut leader Beigo Erlek will become famous.

Great Oirat Khan, Beigu Erlek has always been at odds with you and is the one who disobeys you the most among all the Oirat tribes. When he uses his power of defeating the Ming army to compete with you for the position of Darga of the Oirat tribe, what should you do?

After hearing the advice of a certain noble, Haninoyan Honggor immediately became alert and immediately found the leader of the Junggar tribe, Halahula.

"Hala, the warriors of the Dzungar and Khoshut tribes have exhausted the Ming army and used up very little ammunition. Now we only need to make a strong effort to win.

According to the plan, the Torghut tribe will soon launch an attack on the Kobdo camp from the flank."

Ha La Hula said immediately: "No, we have spent so much effort and sacrificed thousands of lives to get the fruit, how can we let the Torghut people take it away.

Dargah, we have to stop them."

"Hala, we can't send anyone to stop Beige Erlek."

Harahula also reacted when he heard it, "Yes, if we send people to stop them, the cunning Beiguoerlek will react immediately and ask the Torghut people to launch an attack immediately. No, Darga, we might as well send all our main forces to launch the attack first."

Haninoyan Honggor was waiting for this sentence, "Great! In this battle, the Junggar tribe contributed the most, and their warriors killed the enemy most bravely. The first merit belongs to the Junggar tribe. This Khan is convinced, and the other tribes will also be convinced!"

You old fox, you are trying to trick me into sending people to die again!

Ha La Hu La glanced at Haninoyan Hong Gol and said, "Zungar will send out 10,000 elite troops."

Haninoyan Honggor was overjoyed. "Okay, our Khoshut tribe will also send out 10,000 elite soldiers. We will deploy 20,000 cavalry at a time to launch a fierce attack on the Ming army. The rest of the tribes will follow closely behind, and try to break through the Kobdo camp in one go! Defeat the Ming army completely!"

The Khoshut tribe also sent out 10,000 cavalrymen, without any trickery or skulduggery. Ha La Hu La was quite satisfied, "Okay! This is what we have decided. I will go back and mobilize the troops right away."

The abnormality of the large-scale troop movements of the Junggar and Khoshut tribes was soon discovered by the No. 1 and No. 2 hot air balloons, and the information was quickly sent to the front-line command and the Dusi combat command.

After seeing this information, Xiao Wenkui and Qi Jiguang came to the same conclusion.

The Oirat people are finally going to send out their main force for an all-out attack.

Qi Jiguang immediately asked, "Where are Li Chengliang, Xiao Ruxun, and Ma Gui?"

"Reporting to General Qi, the three units have arrived at the designated location." The staff officer said, pointing to the three small red flags on the sand table.

"Niu Bingzhong's troops?"

"The three assault regiments of Solon Sushen led by General Niu are ambushing at this location." The staff officer said, pointing to another small red flag.

"Everything is ready except for the east wind! Tell Deputy Envoy Xiao that the divine fire can be used. He will decide when to use it based on the changing situation of the battle."

"Yes!"

When Xiao Wenkui received the order from the commander, he immediately said, "Send a message to Wang Fengmeng immediately, and tell him to make full preparations. The order can be issued at any time. If there is any mistake, military law will be enforced!"

"Yes!"

Wang Fengmeng, a disciple of Hai Rui, was the commander of the 45th Regiment of the Yulin Army.

According to the current Army Garrison Organization Regulations, the first to nineteenth corps of each army are the chariot and cavalry infantry regiments; the twentieth to thirty-ninth are the cavalry regiments; and the fortieth to fifty-ninth are the artillery regiments.

The 45th Regiment of the Yulin Army is not the 45th Regiment of the Yulin Army, but the 5th Artillery Regiment of the Yulin Army. Normally, an army only has two to four artillery regiments, and the 45th Regiment means that it is a very special artillery regiment.

That’s right, the 45th Regiment of the Yulin Army is a fully staffed rocket artillery regiment, and its current combat organization is the 1st Artillery Regiment directly under the Tianshan Regional Command.

Wang Fengmeng was going to the company to check the combat preparations.

The 45th Regiment has 120 Longqing Type 2 Army-version rocket launchers.

The Army version is different from the Navy version, it has eight rounds. The Navy version requires high accuracy, while the Army version does not require high accuracy, and it emphasizes coverage more.

Nine hundred and sixty rockets were fired in the shortest possible time, and eighty percent of them landed in a circle with a diameter of 500 meters, meeting the coverage rate requirement.

One hundred and twenty rocket launchers are equivalent to one hundred and twenty four-wheeled heavy carriages.

This carriage can carry a load of 1.5 tons and has folding brackets on the edge of the carriage. When it reaches the designated position, the brackets can be moved, fully unfolded, and supported diagonally on the ground.

At this time, 120 artillery pieces were parked less than two miles behind Song Yao Shi's Sunset River defense line, arranged in two rows, with a distance of 100 meters between them.

Wang Fengmeng and his adjutant walked between the artillery carts.

All the horses were taken away, and the four legs of each vehicle were propped up in a shallow pit dug in the ground. The ammunition boxes were placed in front of the gun carriage, and the non-commissioned officer was nervously removing the safety of the rocket.

The Longqing Type II Army version rocket has three safeties, the first two of which must be removed before loading.

One is the tail fuse.

The tail fins of the Longqing II rocket are used to correct wind errors. They are located at the tail of the missile, on each side, perpendicular to the ground.

When a rocket is flying in the air, the wind blows from the left, which will cause the tail to turn to the right. According to the lever principle, when the tail turns to the right, the head will turn to the left, so the warhead part will obtain a force to turn to the left.

The stronger the wind, the greater the wind force on the tail wing, and the greater the force to turn left, thereby compensating for the distance the missile is blown off course by the wind.

The second is to detonate the fuse.

At this time, Ming's primer was still in the experimental stage and could not be used for the time being. The front end of the rocket still relied on the traditional fuse.

Inside the projectile, that is, inside the propellant, there is a tube buried with a fuse with a very uniform burning time, which is ignited at the same time as the rocket propellant is ignited.

There is an embedded disc in the middle of the missile body, which can be turned half a circle, divided into ten levels. From the minimum range of 300 meters to the maximum range of 6,000 meters, it is divided into ten levels corresponding to different ranges.

Turn it, and there is a corresponding delay mechanism inside, so that the fuse burning time corresponds to different ranges. It is equivalent to double insurance, the propellant can ignite the explosive part, and the fuse can also ignite the explosive part within the set time.

The third insurance is the insurance of the ignition device. This needs to be pulled out after the projectile is loaded on the gun mount and ready to fire, so as to avoid misoperation.

Wang Fengmeng stood aside and watched his men, who worked in groups of two, loading the rockets with the first two safety devices removed onto the launch vehicle's launch pad, one after another.

Loading in place does not only mean that the length must be installed in place, but also the position must be placed in place. For example, the front wing and tail wing must be placed in their respective sliding grooves, and the ignition port must be aligned with the igniter.

Before loading, remove the wooden barrel of the warhead to expose the rotating wings.

That's right, the Third Research Bureau of Taipu Temple discovered that if the rotor was slightly improved and installed in the front, it would better ensure the stability of the rocket's flight trajectory than if it was installed at the tail.

Similar to the principle of a gyroscope.

Wang Fengmeng turned around and did not find any mistakes. His subordinates also loaded all the rockets and inserted a small triangular red flag high on the artillery vehicle.

Looking up, one hundred and twenty small red flags were like bright flowers, swaying in the breeze blowing from the direction of Jinshan.

"Report! Order from the front-line headquarters!"

Wang Fengmeng took the order, his face straightened, and he immediately announced: "All regiments on alert, ready to go!"

A sharp copper whistle was blown, and the entire position was quickly shrouded in a murderous atmosphere.

(End of this chapter)