Master Yuan, start!

The mountain gun also has a caliber of 60mm, the same as the 60mm field gun imitated by the Incheon Machinery Bureau. It has only been slightly modified on the gun mount to increase the elevation angle and add several snap mechanisms to make it easier to disassemble and disassemble.

Eight soldiers can carry all the parts of a mountain cannon, and reassembly only takes a dozen minutes.

An artillery squad of the Wehrmacht consists of 10 people, 8 of whom carry the guns, and the remaining two carry a basic ammunition load of 20 rounds.

This has many advantages. First of all, artillery will no longer be limited by the narrow terrain. Open space is often scarce in the mountains, and it is difficult to find flat land where rows of gun mounts can be fully deployed.

Even if there is, the shooting angle is often limited.

Secondly, in terms of transfer, such a combination has strong mobility. In an emergency, a horse can carry these parts to quickly transfer the firing point and re-establish the artillery position.

Yuan Xiangcheng originally wanted to develop a mortar to replace the mountain cannon, but the Incheon Machinery Bureau did not have enough technical reserves and was unable to find the right caliber and appropriate shells.

As a result, the mortars produced were not of uniform standards at all. The same type of mortar, with the same elevation angle, could have very different firing distances. Some could fire more than 100 meters, while others could only fire more than 50 meters.

It would be fine if the distance was short, because most of the shells were filled with black powder and were not powerful enough. Unless they landed right next to you, they would hardly cause fatal injuries.

Therefore, Yuan Shikai had to postpone the assembly and let the Incheon Machinery Bureau continue to imitate and develop a more reasonable mortar.

At the same time, he also used his money and face to leverage his relationship with the American Hoover and a British company to import some yellow explosives to make up for the lack of power.

6. TNT is yellow gunpowder, also known as nitroglycerin explosive, which was developed by the famous Nobel in 1866.

The old Yuan Dynasty city does not have the ability to build a chemical plant, so it can only import from overseas.

according to...

...

q Artillery batteries were constantly being erected, but the officers and soldiers defending Xifengkou not far away were completely unaware of it and were still immersed in the mood of losing their wealth this year.

"Yuan Xiangcheng is a piece of shit!" the defending general Tamingan cursed.

Xifengkou is the trade route connecting the capital area within the Great Wall and the eastern part of Inner Mongolia. In previous years, around the Spring Festival, it was the time when merchants traveling from south to north gathered.

Every time this happened, he would pretend to go out of the customs and station himself on the road. Relying on his status as a member of the Zhenghuang Banner, he would collect a few taels of silver from every merchant caravan he met.

After more than two months, he was able to earn several hundred taels.

But since Yuan Shikai sent out his troops, this trade route has been cut off, simply because Yuan Shikai won victory after victory and quickly captured Shengjing City.

These merchants were afraid of encountering problems on the road and were unwilling to go to places like Shengjing, Jilin, and eastern Mengdong.

Cutting off someone's source of income is like killing their parents. After such a heavy blow, not a single caravan has passed through for a month. How could Tamingan have a good impression of Yuan Xiangcheng?

Tamingan doesn’t care about the dispute between the Queen Mother and the Emperor. He just wants money, money!

"Guard, Yuan Shikai's army has arrived at Shanhaiguan. Should we patrol places like Dongjiakou, Tiemenguan, Laoposhan, and Xifengshan?" asked the soldier guarding Xifengkou.

"Patrol, what the hell!" Tamingan yelled like an angry wild dog when he heard that.

"How long has it been since the court paid out salaries? Normally, they'd be in arrears for a year or two, but the brothers still have some money to make from it. Ever since Yuan Shikai started his rebellion..."

nFeilu82.9851

At this point, Tamingan recalled the bitter times of the past six months and suddenly spat.

"Damn it, I'm a genuine Manchu of the Plain Yellow Banner, not one of those Han soldiers who just raised the banner. During the four seasons and eight festivals, when the new emperor ascended the throne, the empress dowager in the court didn't even give any rewards.

I'm not patrolling for her!"

"Oh, Brother Tagore, that's not right to say. Are you thinking about the emperor who supports North Korea?" asked the guard beside him.

Who would have thought that Tamingan didn't think so much and only cared about money.

"Who cares about that bunch of shit? I just want to guard Xifengkou and collect lijin for the rest of my life. I won't change it even if the king comes!" Tamingan answered angrily.

"boom!"

Two cannon shots broke the tranquility of the Xifengkou city defense under the night sky. After taking measurements, the artillerymen of the National Defense Army finally started firing!

However, although the 60mm mountain gun is relatively easy to move, it is completely useless during sieges.

Especially for a city wall like Xifengkou Tower that has been continuously repaired throughout the dynasties, the bombardment by artillery shells would at most shake off a few bricks, which would not cause any serious damage.

"Brother Tagore, let's go! Yuan Xiangcheng's army is attacking!"

"What are those Jiashen Fourth Army from Shanhaiguan doing? They can't even keep a single person in sight! We'll settle the score with Yuan Shikai later. Run away if the wind blows!"

Tamingan was not at all mentally exhausted. When he heard about the artillery attack from Yuan Xiangcheng's army, the first thing he thought of was to blame others for not keeping an eye on the situation, rather than blaming himself for not patrolling.

He packed his bags in a hurry and was about to run away.

At this moment, outside Xifengkou, the guards stationed at different passes had already discovered the National Defense Army's artillery bombardment. Although they had not received orders from their superiors, they were also trying to fight back.

But Tamingan couldn't care less.

"Where are you going?" Just as Tamingan was about to run out of the city, a man came towards him.

"Get out of the way! Don't block your Master Ta's way!"

"Zhu Hongzhang, Commander of the Second Regiment of the Jiangnan New Army, and General of Langshan Town, I have been ordered to rush to the aid of Xifengkou. Who are you, and why are you not defending the city gate?!"

Upon hearing this, Tamingan couldn't help but look up and forward, only to find that a dozen soldiers in yellow uniforms were walking up the city wall one after another.

The person who came was Zhu Hongzhang, the commander of the Second Regiment of the New Hunan Army, officially known as the Jiangnan New Army.

This time, the Hunan Army marched northward, initially led by Chen, the commander of the First Regiment. Later, after Zeng Guoquan received a telegram from Cixi agreeing to share the salt tax in Lianghuai, he sent Zhu Hongzhang north again.

Chen and Zhu Hongzhang were both old subordinates of the Ji Camp when Zeng Guoquan attacked Tianjing. Under Zeng Guoquan's orders, they were stationed in the northeastern part of Yongping Prefecture, later Tangshan.

Zeng Guoquan only gave them one order, which was to stop Yuan Shikai from going south to attack the capital, and the rest was left to them to do as they pleased.

When they were in Yongping Prefecture, they heard the news that Yuan Shikai was conquering cities and territories outside the Shanhaiguan Pass, and saw that the army at Shanhaiguan was gathering more and more.

Chen and Zhu Hongzhang, both veterans of battle, knew that gathering troops in one place and waiting for the enemy to attack was the stupidest tactic.

The Taiping rebels were trapped in Tianjing for more than two years, but the city was eventually destroyed and the soldiers were killed. It was just Shanhaiguan, how thick were the walls? Could it be compared to Tianjing?

8 Moreover, there are more than one way to enter the pass through Shanhaiguan, so after the two men agreed, they let Chen continue to stay in Yongping Prefecture and be ready to provide support at any time.

He took 5000 troops and divided them into two groups to support the Xifengkou and Gubeikou Great Walls.

Since ancient times, there have been four ways to enter the country from the northeast, namely Juyongguan, Gubeikou, Xifengkou and Shanhaiguan from west to east.

3Now that Shanhaiguan was heavily guarded, he chose the nearest Xifengkou for support, and asked his deputy general to run a little further to defend Gubeikou.

As for Juyongguan, it is too far away, 600 miles. Unless Yuan Shikai was crazy, he would not run so far to enter the pass when the weather was not warm enough.

Zero "They are coming to attack the city!" Zhu Hongzhang had a gloomy face. He stretched out his hand and killed the soldier running in the front, then glared at Tamingan who was following behind.

Fortunately, he arrived in time, otherwise, if these Eight Banners good-for-nothings were left guarding Xifengkou, they might not even be able to stop a pig!

"That's not the case!" Tamingan threw down his bag immediately.

Damn it, it was so scary. Luckily I came out a little bit late to pack up, otherwise I would have been the one who died just now, Tamingan was shocked.

"I, Master Ta, have been guarding Xifengkou for many years. No matter it's windy, rainy, earthquakes or landslides, I, Master Ta, have never left!"

Tamingan was somewhat afraid of this group of lawless Hunan Army killers. After all, they had even embezzled millions of taels of silver from Emperor Xianfeng. Killing a bannerman in front of the battle was really nothing.

Seeing that Zhu Hongzhang still had an unwavering expression, Tamingan, fearing that he would be dragged out to be sacrificed, hurriedly explained:

"I worked here before Yuan Shikai became famous. When I was fighting off the bandits during the Xianfeng era, I don't know where he was in the womb.

If Yuan Xiangcheng dares to come now, I will definitely kill him with a knife and stab him in the heart!"

After all these bold words, Zhu Hongzhang still did not respond. Tamingan became anxious and did not want to lose his life here.

"I... I'll go in with a white knife and come out with a green knife, I'll stab him in the gallbladder! I... I'll go in with a white knife and come out with a yellow knife, I'll stab him in the shit bag"

"That's enough!" Zhu Hongzhang's expression softened as he spoke out to stop Tamingan, finally making him stop this passage.

He was born in Guizhou and had always been fighting in the south. He had never heard of northern crosstalk. Now, after being amused by Tamingan, he actually gave up the urge to kill anyone.

"Since you are so brave, you can guard the pass." Zhu Hongzhang assigned a task to Tamingan.

"Alright, Master Zhu, I wish you good luck." Seeing his life saved, Tamingan thanked him profusely, but he still felt reluctant to defend the city. "Master Zhu, I can still fight back. Guess where I can stab him?"

Seeing that Tamingan was still trying to talk nonsense, Zhu Hongzhang, Lin Linqi, and Si Umbrella Swollen drew their swords. A cold light flashed in Tamingan's eyes: "Where can you see my sword penetrate?"

"Okay, I'll go to the city to defend it now!" Taming'an knew he couldn't escape, so he could only put on his luggage and climb up the city wall under the watchful eyes of a group of Hunan Army generals.

"General, Yuan's army has already attacked the city. What should we do?" asked the deputy general who came with them.

"What should we do? Defend!" Zhu Hongzhang now regretted not bringing more troops.

The Xifengkou section of the Great Wall does not have only one pass, but a defensive line consisting of Qingshankou, Dongjiakou, Tiemenguan, Xifengkou and Panjiakou.

Xifengkou is sandwiched between Daxifeng Mountain and Xishan Mountain. It is the largest pass among them. Although not all passes can accommodate the passage of large armies, as long as people can enter, they must be defended.

But 2500 people were placed at these checkpoints, like scattered sesame seeds, with a little bit everywhere, and the defense was very dispersed, while Yuan's army gathered its troops to attack one place.

Fortunately, the Xifengkou Great Wall was still quite strong, and Yuan’s army’s artillery shells could not knock it down for a while.

boom!

Zhu Hongzhang listened to the cannon fire coming from outside the Great Wall, and was shocked and anxious: "No, you must quickly send people to Yongping Prefecture to ask for help. At least ask Chen to send another 5000 people to support us. I am afraid that we can't hold on without more!"

"Yes!"

Several fast horses quickly moved away from the Xifengkou Great Wall and ran towards Yongping Prefecture.

"Damn it, you're twenty thousand years too early to ask Master Ta to guard the city!" Taming'an turned over and fell down, turning back to curse at the Great Wall.

At first, he ran to the Xifeng Mountain Great Wall to defend it, and was relatively obedient under the supervision of the Hunan Army.

But the Hunan Army that came from afar was not as familiar with the terrain as he was. He had actually been stationed in Xifengkou for 20 years. This was the only truth he told Zhu Hongzhang.

Taking advantage of the gap when the Hunan Army was patrolling back and forth, Taming'an flipped over through a gap. After landing, he rolled several times and was blocked by a dead tree root. He successfully escaped the Xifengkou Great Wall defense line.

At this moment, Tamingan ran to the north side of the Xifengkou Great Wall and was in the same range as Yuan Shikai's army.

However, he thought he was familiar with the terrain, so he turned left and right on the hillside, intending to return to the interior of the country along the path in the dark.

...

"Commander, what should we do? It seems we can't fire the enemy. The infantry brothers who tried to charge were also beaten back by muskets. The defenders of Xifengkou are not as few as the intelligence said!"

Cao Kun was extremely anxious at this point and started complaining to Duan Qirui.

"We'll settle the score with Mingye when we get back. It's useless to say anything else now. The important thing to do now is to capture Xifengkou!" Duan Qirui also felt that it was Mingye's intelligence error.

However, although he usually looked down on Ming Ye, he knew that now was not the time to get entangled in whether the information was correct or not.

"Is it really true that bombarding the city walls with mountain artillery is completely useless?" Duan Qirui asked.

"Yes! A few more rounds of bombardment will always loosen it up, but we don't have that much ammunition in stock. If we use all the artillery, it will probably take 100 rounds to make a small gap. Even if we use all the ammunition, it won't be enough to bring down the city wall!"