The deputy general of the Shenji Battalion was Ma Dong, the son of Ma Fang, a general of the Gia Long Dynasty.
He watched helplessly as the rebel artillery fired in vain after only one round, and then the shells seemed to have eyes and fell on his artillery position, smashing his proud artillery camp into a terrible state.
Those red cannons that had just fired once and were still in the sage time had either their barrels overturned on the ground or their gun carriages destroyed, with the muzzles sticking on the ground and could no longer be used.
"General, let's retreat first!" The lieutenant general pleaded, "We can't hit them from this distance, we'll just get hit!"
What? Push the cannon closer before firing? Do you know how slow a cannon weighing several thousand pounds moves? Now they are exposed, and the enemy's cannons are accurate and have a long range. By the time they advance a hundred feet and re-position the cannons, the rebels will be able to kill them several times.
"No! How can we retreat without firing a single shot?" Ma Dong's eyes turned red, and he roared, "Call in the mighty and invincible General Cannon!"
The so-called "divine power and invincible general cannon" are two large iron cannons made by Qi Jiguang based on the specifications of the Yongle cannon. At that time, Qi Jiguang also wanted to cast copper cannons, but he had to have the financial conditions. He had to settle for the second best and use cast iron cannon bodies instead. In order to prevent the barrel from exploding, the barrel had to be thickened and five iron hoops were placed around it.
As a result, the gun barrel alone weighed 4,000 kilograms, making it almost unusable in field combat. But at least its power was not greatly affected, and it could still fire at a distance of three miles!
Because the battle was at close range this time and he had heard that the rebels' firearms were fierce, Ma Dong gritted his teeth and brought out two guns.
This time the effort was not in vain. Now I can use these two cannons to fight back!
Amid the rumbling sound of artillery fire, two black shells shot out, flew three miles in the air, and landed in front of the soldiers' position!
The distance is much closer this time, but there is still a hundred meters to go!
"Add three more gunpowder!" Ma Dong ordered loudly.
The gunners were terrified when they heard this. A normal amount of gunpowder could often cause the cannon to explode, so if the amount was increased, it would still be unstable?
"Add! There will be absolutely no problem!" Ma Dong said fiercely: "This cannon is exactly the same as the one on the other side. The fact that they can fire here means that they have more explosives than us! If all their cannons don't explode, ours won't explode either!"
The gunners nodded one after another, showing that they were impressed by the deputy general's rigorous logic. But after adding three more gunpowder, no one dared to fire the gun.
"You are a bunch of cowards. Give it to me and light it!" Ma Dong got angry and grabbed the torch...
The artillery staff on the opposite side was nervously calculating the parameters, trying to shoot down the two cannons that might threaten the soldiers, when suddenly a loud noise was heard in the distance and a cloud of thick smoke rose.
"What's going on?" The staff officers had only handled copper and steel cannons and were confused about the situation for a moment.
"It should be a burst, don't worry about it." The artillery battalion commander was experienced and immediately changed the target and said, "The enemy cavalry is coming."
~~
According to Admiral Yin's plan, the Shenji Battalion would use red cannons to bombard the enemy formation. After creating chaos, the 10,000 cavalrymen from the Shenshu Battalion would immediately launch an assault on both wings of the enemy!
So when the red cannon sounded, the cavalry of the Shenshu Camp trotted forward.
Although the red cannon only fired once before it went silent, the rebels' center army continued to rumble, and shells rained down on the Shenji Camp like hail!
Obviously, the Shenji Battalion suffered a great loss, but when the cavalry approached the enemy camp, they were delighted to find that the rebel formation was loose and as thin as a pancake.
There were only three sparse rows of musketeers on the outermost edge, and behind them was a large open space.
The cavalry soldiers were immediately overjoyed. Isn't this just a delivery? !
It seems that what the superiors said is true. The rebels are only good at naval battles, city defense battles, and siege battles, but they know nothing about field battles...
Well, originally it was said that the rebels were only good at naval battles, and they would be in trouble once they came ashore.
After the Battle of Tangshan, the battle to defend the city was excluded.
After the Battle of Baodi, we can’t say that the rebels won’t attack the city again…
The soldiers all joked privately, saying, after this battle, how will they patch the battle?
But it seems that no one is perfect, and we can still maintain the last advantage of field combat!
The morale of the soldiers was greatly boosted. They raised the three-barreled guns in their hands, shouted and urged their horses to speed up!
The first wave to greet them was not artillery, but the Oda City rockets that had set fire to Baodi before!
And the current 'Oda City Kaijo', which is a field version of the rocket, can explode.
The principle is very simple. To put it bluntly, it is just a large firecracker. Or, in other words, it is a combination of the Chacha grenade and the Oda City rocket.
I am absolutely not implying anything. My nephew is a gentleman. No way, no way. Don't believe in unofficial history.
However, this rocket has been improved several times, but it is still not perfect. After all, this kind of thing is really shameful. Oh no, it is because it cannot be triggered to detonate.
So for safety reasons, the rockets used slow fuses, which might explode only after they hit the ground. By that time, they would have already fallen far behind the enemy.
Fortunately, when the 5,000 cavalrymen charged, the team stretched for several miles, so they were able to get in and out by mistake.
Amid the sound of whizzing wind, rockets were shot out with orange flames trailing behind them. In the blink of an eye, they flew into the cavalry formation a thousand meters away, causing great chaos in an instant.
An unlucky cavalryman was hit directly by a rocket, his chest caved in instantly, and he fell to the ground with blood spurting out!
More rockets passed through the front team and flew backwards. Some exploded in the air, and some exploded on the ground.
But the enemies were too numerous and too dense. No matter where they landed or when they bombed, there would always be cavalry nearby!
Amid the violent explosion, the shock wave carried a large amount of iron nails and broken porcelain pieces, which instantly turned several cavalrymen, including their horses, into sesame cakes!
Immediately, people shouted and horses neighed, people and horses fell to the ground, and soon they were all turned into blood gourds...
The horrifying sight frightened the cavalrymen so much that they turned pale. When they saw or even heard the rockets flying towards them, they panicked and rode their horses to avoid them.
The originally neat formation suddenly became chaotic...
In fact, the fourth generation of field rockets can be fueled with chemical fuel, which can catch fire if it sticks to your body. If you don't take off your clothes quickly, you will be burned to death soon.
However, because it was too inhumane, Zhao Hao banned its use in the civil war. However, he still allowed a large number of them to be produced, and it was unknown when they would be used...
~~
Unfortunately, the rockets did not have much impact on the cavalry in the front team, and they still rushed to a distance of 800 meters.
At this time, the Xuande cannon located in the corner of the hollow square opened fire.
In the Coast Guard, Xuande Cannon has always been a rubbish. Yongle Cannon can easily shoot through an entire company column at a distance of 600 meters.
Even at a distance of 200 meters, the Xuande cannon could only barely penetrate half of a company column - although this comparison was very inhumane, it most directly illustrated the embarrassing position of this small cannon. If it were not light and flexible, suitable for the Marine Corps to carry, it would have been eliminated long ago.
But technological advances saved the fate of the Xuande cannon - it could now fire grenades.
Although the fuse was still a problem, and many of the bullets fired were duds, no different from solid bullets, but the 60% to 70% explosion rate was enough to cause huge damage to the enemy.
The key is that it can hit whatever it is pointed at, and it won't run around like a rocket.
Amid the rumbling of artillery fire, explosions, and gusts of air, people and horses were thrown to the ground, and shrapnel caused great casualties to the officers and soldiers.
When they rushed to a distance of 500 meters, the thick and short Hongxi cannon began to fire grapeshot!
Each shot can turn a group of cavalry into briquettes...
Four hundred meters, shotgun shells! Each shot shot seven or eight cavalrymen into sieves...
Of course, the coverage of the first-level artillery is limited after all, and it is far from being able to block the shooting. There are still a large number of cavalry continuing to charge!
"Ready!" Seeing that the enemy was about to enter the firing range, the company commander drew his command knife!
The three rows of soldiers in the hollow square formation faced the enemy. The front row immediately knelt and held their guns, the middle row leaned forward and held their guns, and the back row stood and shot, with the gun barrels resting on the shoulders of the middle row!
"Aim!" Three rows of soldiers immediately held their breath and focused, locking onto a target.
Everyone cherished this shot, because after firing it, the air was filled with smoke, and most people could only aim in vain...
"Shoot!" The commander's knife pressed hard, and all the soldiers pulled the trigger at the same time. With a loud bang, the three rows of officers and soldiers were engulfed in smoke.
Looking at the front row of cavalry that had already run to within 400 meters, they suddenly seemed to have hit a wall, and fell to the ground in unison, both the men and their horses.
The cavalrymen behind them were unable to dodge and could only push forward. Their horses' hooves trampled their comrades into a pulp...
"Load!" The company commander roared and gave orders, and the drummer also beat the drum with a clear rhythm!
In a battlefield full of gunfire, no matter how loudly the company commander shouts, many people can't hear him. It all depends on the drum beats. And it can also help them recall muscle memory! Follow the drum beats with your eyes closed, and you can quickly complete the reload on a battlefield filled with smoke!
"Ready!" Soon, the company commander gave the order again.
The drumbeats suddenly stopped, which was the signal to raise the guns. The three rows of soldiers immediately raised their guns again, repeated the previous action, and fired a second shot!
Although they didn't aim this time and just fired based on their general feeling, the dense firepower still mowed down a group of cavalrymen like mowing the grass...
Under the dense hail of bullets, the cavalrymen in the front row became targets. But they all knew that if they turned around and ran away before the people behind them, they would be hit by the cavalrymen rushing behind them. That would be much more exciting than being shot...
So we can only rush forward regardless of everything!
It has to be admitted that the soldiers of the Shenshu Camp showed great courage and deserved the title of ace cavalry.
After paying a huge price, the cavalry in the front row finally rushed to the range of the three-barreled gun. They put the muskets under their armpits with their left arms and took out the smoldering matchlocks in their mouths with their right hands.
Another volley of gunfire rang out, and most of the soldiers fell off their horses before they could even fire their three-barreled guns.
Only a dozen or so cavalrymen of the government army lit their three-barreled guns and fired them randomly.
The soldiers finally suffered casualties. The soldiers in the front row groaned and fell to the ground, but the soldiers in the back immediately stepped forward to make up for them. The firepower of the square formation did not decrease at all...