Chapter 1277 Imperial Fortress (First update, please subscribe)
"Healthy male citizens aged 16 to 50 on farms in this area who have received this notice are requested to bring horses, guns, ammunition, and five days' rations to the town of Freiheide before dark on August 16 and report to Commander Kus van Remer..."
In August 1888, the day after the capital was "invaded by the British", such orders were posted everywhere in the Republic of Transvaal. Horse-riding signalmen delivered the mobilization orders to every village. Overnight, this country with a population of 300,000 was mobilized.
While tens of thousands of teenagers and adult men were riding horses, carrying rifles, pistols, machetes and rations, rushing to various places, gathering and on standby to guard against a large-scale invasion by the British, negotiations among diplomats were also ongoing. What would be the outcome of the negotiations?
No one knows, but one thing is certain: President Paul Kruger, who prophetically warned when the Rand gold mine was discovered, should not cheer but weep because our land will be soaked in blood. Foreigners (mainly British) are coming in droves and they will eventually take over our country.
It was precisely because of this political foresight that he tried to introduce Ming capital to fight against Britain. Now, facing the British invasion, Paul Kruger naturally thought of help from the Ming Empire.
While conducting diplomatic negotiations with Britain, Paul Kruger purchased a large number of weapons from the Ming Dynasty to strengthen his military preparedness. He also invited military officers from the Ming Empire to help him develop a plan to defend against British invasion.
"The core of defense is to build a strong fortress in a place that the enemy must attack, such as Johannesburg. The gold mine there is a place that the British must attack. Once the gold mine is seized, they can get huge economic returns. Of course, as long as the gold mine is in our hands, it can provide sufficient financial support for your country, so that your resistance can continue!"
In the conference room of the Presidential Palace, Zhao Wenyu, a major in the army of the Ming Empire, was recommending the empire's fortress defense system to him.
"…In addition to the firepower stronghold with the machine gun fort as the core at the foot of the mountain, the main artillery tower is built on the top of the mountain. The main artillery tower is composed of 4 base buildings as a group to form a main tower. The main tower is about 25 meters high. Each base is equipped with a 150mm heavy artillery on the top. This artillery uses the latest long-range fortress artillery of the empire. Its range is as far as 25 meters. It uses a high-magnification artillery telescope to observe and guide the artillery fire, and can fire at the corresponding target 20 kilometers away…In terms of internal structure, except for the basement, it is usually 5 floors. There is a spiral staircase between each floor, and an automatic elevator is used between the top floor and the top. There are 2 automatic elevators in total. In addition to military and cargo transportation, they can also be used for transportation. Send the wounded... From the outside, the turret looks like a ten-story building. According to our design, it is equipped with four 152mm heavy guns on the top and twelve 120mm field guns on the four corners, as well as several machine guns for defense... Since the turret is a reinforced concrete structure with an outer wall thickness of more than 2.5 meters and a top thickness of more than 3 meters, its structure is extremely strong. Even a twelve-inch shell cannot pose a threat to it, and the 150mm gun can attack any target within 20 kilometers from a high position, so the British heavy guns were destroyed by the heavy guns on the turret before they approached..."
What is this artillery tower that Zhao Wenyu introduced?
It is a product of the Nanhua era. At that time, Emperor Zhu Yuanzhang saw that the Pampas where Nanhua was located was endless and there were no high ground or passes to defend against enemy attacks. So he moved out the Sandezi anti-aircraft turret from World War II and used it as a fortress to defend against enemy invasion.
Compared with ordinary fortresses, what is its biggest advantage? It is high above the ground and strong enough.
How strong is San Dezi’s anti-aircraft turret?
The tower could not be knocked down by planes or artillery fire. The concrete armor alone was several meters thick, which was indestructible. During the entire World War II, none of the eight towers built by Sandezi was occupied. When the Soviet army captured Berlin, they directly brought in a bunch of heavy main battle tanks to bombard the Berlin Anti-Aircraft G Tower, but the tower remained intact. Not only that, during the war, the anti-aircraft tower was also used as a shelter and hospital, where tens of thousands of residents avoided the damage of artillery fire.
It was because it had so many advantages that Emperor Zhu chose it back then. However... in the end, not a single one of them was built in the Ming Dynasty.
Why?
There is not so much steel!
Once there was enough steel, there was no need for the Ming Dynasty to build such artillery towers.
But it was different in Transvaal. They had a real need to build this kind of artillery tower, so the imperial military directly moved the plan of Emperor Zhu from decades ago, and even used airships to transport the drawings and engineers directly from the local area to Pretoria.
"Not only that, its wide turret is also a natural refuge for residents. They can hide from artillery fire in the turret during the war. Of course, if necessary, they can also serve as soldiers in the fortress to resist the British invasion. After all, in such a patriotic war, the way to resist is to mobilize all the people to serve as soldiers!"
"Indeed, just as you said, the only option to resist the British invasion is to mobilize all the people to fight!"
Smith agreed with him and said that in fact, the reason they were able to repel the British and force them to withdraw from Transvaal a few years ago was because everyone was a soldier. Now they are also prepared to use this to defend their country.
"So how long can it hold out? I mean a turret like this."
Paul Kruger asked.
"That depends on the number of people. If the number of people taking refuge in it is 5,000, they can theoretically hold out for a year based on the material reserves. In fact, as long as there is enough food and ammunition, they can hold out for longer. After all, each blockhouse has its own deep well, independent water supply facilities and power generation equipment. As long as there is enough food and ammunition, theoretically the blockhouse can hold out even if surrounded by the enemy."
"One year, 5,000 people..."
Paul Kruger thought for a moment and then said.
"That's enough, Major. Let's build a turret like this in Johannesburg. Find a suitable place and build it. If war breaks out, then we will be there to make the British pay for their invasion!"
After the words fell, Paul Kruger said.
"But I want to know what Daming can do for us!"
(End of this chapter)
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