I am Emperor Wanli

Chapter 966 Extra

A set of shining armor, from head to toe.

The two wings behind it, red as fire, fluttered forward across the field, as if to burn everything.

The loud shouts of "Ura" from all over the ground were like gusts of wind, blowing the large cloud of fire forward.

Led by the Polish Winged Hussars, hundreds of thousands of European coalition forces, including infantry, cavalry, and musketeers, formed into square formations and attacked the Ming army's positions with great momentum.

The Ming army's position was located in the wilderness four kilometers northwest of Yile City.

Three trenches, each six kilometers long from north to south, crisscross the land.

There are countless trenches connecting them in all directions, and many circular and rectangular underground shelters have been dug at each node.

There are field hospitals, field kitchens, field warehouses, and field communication centers.
In the trench in front, every thirty or forty meters, there would be a circular position protruding forward one or two meters, surrounded by thick walls made of sandbags, with a hole in the middle.

A Type 07 heavy machine gun was mounted inside, with the muzzle facing the opening.

The main gunner was a sergeant sitting behind the heavy machine gun. He had just checked the gun and was now checking the shooting field and directing other soldiers to help clear obstacles in front of the shooting field.

The assistant machine gunner carried two buckets of clean water in rectangular iron buckets and placed them next to him.

Now checking the ammunition with the ammunition handler.

They took apart the ammunition boxes and used tools to quickly press 7.62x63 standard rifle bullets into canvas belts, one hundred rounds in a belt, and put them into another ammunition box.

There are hooking devices at both ends of the canvas bullet belt, which can be connected one by one to maintain continuous shooting.

They hurried to suppress more bullet belts. The four ammunition boxes over there were filled with canvas bullet belts, with a total of two to three thousand rounds.

Once the war starts, I don’t know how many bullets will be consumed.

In the trench, the soldiers leaned forward and lay in front of the trench. A row of sandbags were placed above them to provide additional cover.

Everyone placed their Type 05 rifles on sandbags and stared ahead nervously.

These are all new recruits.

The veterans and non-commissioned officers leaned against the trenches with their rifles resting beside them, smoking, drinking hot tea, and chewing on military biscuits, taking the time to replenish their calories.

They knew very well that once the war started, no one knew how the war would turn out, when it would end, or when they would be able to eat.

There were also soldiers who came over with their heads down and their backs bent, carrying boxes of ammunition on their shoulders. There were also signalmen who bent their backs and stretched their legs, running very fast in the trenches.

There were also political officers wearing blue-brimmed hats who came over. Seeing their serious expressions, the old soldiers and non-commissioned officers who had been laughing, smoking, drinking tea, and bragging just now quickly shut up and obediently lowered their heads to drink tea and smoke.

More than two kilometers further back is the artillery position.

Twelve Type 10 80mm rapid-fire guns were distributed in an orderly manner in twelve gun positions.

The left and right shovel frames are separated and each is supported in a pit.

After reading and accepting the order from the company, the gunner gave the command, and the gunner turned the elevation and steering machines. After they were in place, he carefully checked the dials.

The gunner stepped forward and looked forward through the sight on the gun carriage.

At this time, he could not see the enemy. What he saw were the landmarks on the battlefield, or natural objects, such as hills, rivers, bridges, castles, or trees.

Some of them are pre-set up by artillery on the battlefield, with a long pole and height markings on it.

By observing these benchmarks and comparing them with the parameter table, we can make sure that the artillery is aimed correctly.

The Type 11 18mm rapid-fire gun has a caliber of 6mm, a weight of kilograms, a length of meters, a barrel length of times the caliber, an effective range of meters, a firing angle of -°~°, a muzzle rotation angle of °, and an initial velocity of meters/second.

In the distance, a hot air balloon rose into the air, a full two hundred meters high.

There were two artillery observers on top, observing the surveying data with telescopes. Two communicators passed the data down by phone and sent it first to the artillery command. The artillery command used slide rules and manual calculations. After confirming that they were correct, the coordinate data was sent to each artillery company by phone.

The artillery company then directly issues it to each gunner, who is also the sergeant major and squad leader.

At the back was an underground shelter, the top of which was constructed with thick wood and covered with a thick layer of sandbags, which could withstand a direct hit from an 80mm high-explosive bomb.

Although the enemy did not have the ability to carry out such an attack, the Ming Army Artillery Manual stipulated this, and the artillerymen strictly followed the regulations.

There was an ammunition depot in the underground bunker, and the artillerymen first moved out some of the shells.

The shells are high-explosive shells, weighing six kilograms, and filled with 0.95 kilograms of yellow explosive, so they are quite powerful.

Initially, this yellow explosive was loaded into artillery shells and would easily react with metal and cause an explosion.

The Gunpowder Research Institute tried every possible way, adding different ingredients to try to prevent the yellow explosive from reacting with metal, but to no avail. Finally, an ordinary technician came up with an idea: coating the inside of the shell filled with yellow explosive with a layer of wax to isolate it from the metal, wouldn't that work?

Solve the problem in one fell swoop.

However, the Gunpowder Research Institute invented other new types of explosives through different experiments, which is another topic.

There are shrapnel shells, weighing eight kilograms, with thin walls, filled with yellow explosive and hundreds of steel balls, plus air burst fuses, contact fuses and delay fuses to ensure that it will explode and explode spectacularly.

It is absolutely perfect for fighting infantry.

An airburst fuze is actually a time fuze.

Determine the target distance, calculate the time it takes to land fifty meters above the target, and then turn the dial in front of the warhead to ensure that the grenade explodes between fifty and ten meters above the enemy's head.

Seven hundred meters to the left rear is a rocket launcher position.

Ten Type 12 eight-barrel rocket launchers were arranged in two rows, and the artillerymen were stuffing 130 mm thick rockets onto the rails. The rockets had a diameter of 130 mm, a total length of 1,420 mm, a weight of 43 kg, and a charge of 8 kg, which was a truly insane move.

The range can reach nine kilometers, and the dispersion range of eight salvos is 90x160 meters. It is quite sharp. Using it to attack dense infantry formations is simply the arrival of death.

The only downside is that such an advanced rocket launcher is still pulled by pack horses.

The Ming Dynasty’s internal combustion engine is not powerful enough!
The order was given quickly.

The 270,000-strong coalition army launched an attack on the Yile fortress position in an area four kilometers wide and six kilometers deep.

All units are on standby and ready to fire at any time.

The first to open fire were the 3rd Infantry Regiment of the Wuhe Division, a field infantry regiment stationed in Chifeng, western Liaoning*, which had participated in the Liuhe ambush.

That was the first battle that Qi Jiguang fought when he was ordered to transfer north to Ji-Liao Town.

Fifteen hundred Polish Winged Hussars charged straight at its position with great momentum and fire.

The officers and soldiers were not at all panicked. Thirty Type 07 heavy machine guns were concentrated on the regiment's defense line of about one kilometer, with one gun every thirty meters.

The first to open fire were the fifteen guns directly in front.

Amid the roaring sounds, fifteen chains of fire poured hundreds or thousands of bullets onto the plain. The bullets quickly hit the Polish Winged Hussar vanguard a hundred meters away, causing blood to splatter.

No matter how fine and thick the armor was, it could not stop the 7.62x63 standard rifle bullet. Under the attack of the fire chain, these winged heavy armored cavalrymen fell down row by row, with people and horses falling, horses neighing and people screaming, and wailing continuously.

Then the ten heavy machine guns nearby turned their muzzles and fired diagonally from both sides, forming a cross fire with the machine guns in front.

It took less than five minutes for twenty-five heavy machine guns to knock down fifteen hundred Polish Winged Hussars, known as the strongest cavalry in Europe at the time.

These noble knights fell in the mud and blood, turning from flying birds into struggling insects.

The war horses were either dead or injured, and there were two or three hundred horses with lighter injuries that ran madly into the distance, neighing in pain as they ran.

Everyone was stunned.

Since the Ming Army Infantry Drill Manual had strict regulations on firing, most of the infantrymen of the 3rd Infantry Regiment did not have time to fire. Especially the machine gunners holding the Type 07 light machine guns, who were eager to kill in all directions, suddenly found that the enemies in front of them were gone before they ran into their shooting range.

The Teutonic Knights, Saxon Knights, and Lithuanian Knights following behind the coalition forces were also frightened.

In their eyes, the Polish Winged Hussars, who had once had a glorious record and were unstoppable, were beaten by the Ming army with unknown firearms in less than five minutes, leaving not a single one of them still able to ride on their horses.

"Devils! They have Satan's weapons!"

But after the exclamation, these noble knights felt embarrassed.

If they continue to charge forward, they will suffer the same fate as the Polish Winged Hussars.

If you don't charge forward, what about the knight's honor? Is it just a toilet paper?

“For the glory of God!”

A group of knights wearing white robes and with black crosses in front and behind them roared, urged their mounts, and rushed forward.

These Teutonic Knights are so brave!
The Saxon knights were inspired by the Teutonic Knights, and their blood immediately boiled over, and they also rushed forward.

The six thousand Lithuanian knights looked at each other and cursed in their hearts at the same time, "Idiot!"
Turn the horse around and make a strategic move to the southeast.

Because the battlefield was too vast, the coalition forces in other places had not yet learned of the tragic end of the Polish Winged Hussars, and they were still confidently lining up to attack the Ming army's positions.

At this time, the Ming army artillerymen, filled with grief and indignation, opened fire.

Just now, the infantry had easily dealt with 1,500 Polish Winged Hussars with heavy machine guns, and the artillerymen who didn't have time to fire a single shot were very unhappy.

At this moment, they poured all their emotions into the shells and fired one after another.

It was all shrapnel.

Most of these shells exploded at a height of fifty to ten meters above the heads of the Allied infantry. Countless steel balls flew to the ground, turning the area within a radius of dozens of meters into a living hell.

The Type 10 80mm rapid-fire gun was the world's first breech-loading gun, the first smokeless powder gun, and also the first self-resetting gun equipped with a thrust mechanism, all in one go.

Under the control of skilled artillerymen, fifteen shells can be fired in one minute, which is several times more powerful than the musket or volley fire.

The shells exploded above the heads of hundreds of thousands of Allied soldiers, forming clouds of smoke.

Only the coalition soldiers on the ground could experience it firsthand that every cloud of smoke was the gaze of death and would take away dozens of lives.

In front of them were hundreds of heavy machine guns, thousands of light machine guns, and tens of thousands of Type 05 rifles, which were frantically pouring ammunition, making it difficult for them to move forward.

When the coalition soldiers, covered in blood, wavered and prepared to evacuate, rockets poured down on them like a meteor shower, shattering their last bit of courage.

Six thousand Lithuanian knights successfully transferred from the battlefield. When they were about to cross a 30-meter-wide river and transfer to the vaster East European plains, an army suddenly broke in and blocked them on both sides of the river.

This is the assault infantry regiment formed by the Sauron people.

Armed with Mauser pistols, Type 05 cavalry rifles, or Type 07 light machine guns, they rode out of the woods on both sides of the river and fired fiercely at the Lithuanian knights, knocking them off their horses.

Then more than twenty four-wheeled carriages drove out and drove parallel to the river.

There was a Type 07 heavy machine gun mounted on the carriage. The machine gunner fired fiercely at the Lithuanian knights in the middle of the river and on the riverbanks on both sides while driving at a leisurely pace.

The dense formation and the uncovered shooting range meant that there was no need for careful aiming. Just aim in the general direction and don't let the muzzle go too low or too high. Just sweep all the way across, and the Lithuanian knights fell down in rows like harvested oats on the Eastern European steppes.

When the carriage reached the end, the driver pulled the reins, drove the packhorse to make a big circle, then came back and continued to shoot at the Lithuanian knights.

Half an hour later, the river turned red, and the river and the beaches on both sides were filled with corpses.

More than a thousand fish that had escaped the net fled in panic on the plain, followed by thousands of Sauron cavalry. They clamped their mounts with their legs, easily controlling them, and raised their cavalry rifles with both hands, aiming at the targets in front of them.

Boom!

Just like hunting on ordinary days, the Lithuanian knights were like rabbits, foxes, roe deer and other prey, almost one by one shot, and they kept falling off their horses.

When the coalition forces were defeated and fled in all directions, the cavalry who had been waiting for a long time seemed to emerge from the ground. They rode two or three horses, biting the fleeing soldiers' tails, using cavalry rifles from a distance and Mauser pistols at close range, constantly reaping the lives of the fleeing soldiers.

When they encountered people who were resisting in groups, they would throw a grenade at them from a distance.

As they galloped on horseback, they often encountered groups of surrendering Allied soldiers.

They just randomly placed branches in a sparse circle around the captives.

"Stay inside and wait for the infantry behind to take over. If you dare to leave this circle, you will be killed without mercy!"

The interpreter left a word and continued forward with the cavalry.

These prisoners numbered from twenty to thirty to thousands. They stayed obediently in the invisible circle and dared not go anywhere.

The Ming army fought with the Principality of Moscow for more than ten years and its reputation spread far and wide in Europe.

If we say that prisoners will be treated well, we will definitely treat them well. Although you will be asked to build railways and do manual labor, you will have no worries about food and clothing, and there will be doctors to see you, and you will definitely be allowed to return home alive.

If I say I will kill your entire family, I will definitely kill your entire family and I will never go back on my word.

These prisoners waited obediently for the infantry regiments that followed to take over. In a remote place, more than 400 Prussian prisoners of war waited for three days and almost starved to death but dared not run out of the circle.

Fortunately, the signalman who delivered the message discovered them, and one man and one horse escorted them back to the traffic line more than ten miles away, where they surrounded a prisoner-of-war camp on the spot and notified the infantry to take over.

The Wuqi Army chased and killed them.

A cavalry battalion chased the troops of King John III of Sweden and King Sigismund III of Poland, father and son, westwards.

The Swedish Prime Minister, Stan Lejonhof, John III's uncle, and the Polish Prime Minister Jan Zamoyski all led troops to stop the enemy, but it was useless.

They crossed the Dnieper River and chased to the outskirts of Kiev. In front of tens of thousands of soldiers, civilians and nobles on the city wall, they cut off the heads of the injured John III and his son Sigismund III, and then left.

This scene was painted into an oil painting by a Polish painter and spread throughout Europe.

The Mongols are here again, and they are still as fierce and barbaric!
But this time, they are the pioneers and lackeys of the Ming people, like a boundless fire in the wilderness, and will soon burn across the entire European continent!
****
The new book "Tianqi Ming Dynasty" is about another good grandson of the Ming Dynasty, the grandson of Emperor Wanli, Emperor Tianqi.

Everyone is welcome to taste it.

(End of this chapter)