Change the cannonball!

Change to a shell that can fire a delayed fuze.

Of course, this kind of artillery shell is definitely not a spherical projectile. When a spherical projectile hits the ground, it will not penetrate into the soil at all unless the soil is very soft, and it is even less likely to penetrate into the interior of the fortification and explode.

But new artillery shells can be used.

"Are there new types of cannonballs?"

Meichun asked with some surprise. Originally, he was amazed by this kind of "explosion bomb" that exploded when it touched the ground, but he never thought that there would be a new type of artillery shell now.

Zhu Guoqiang smiled.

"Not only are there new artillery shells, but there are also new cannons."

At four o'clock in the morning, with the help of the cover of night before dawn, the mortar battalion commanded by Zhao Kun quietly delivered all 32 mortars to Gaizhou City only 400 meters away using manpower transportation methods such as shoulder and hand carry.

Location.

Yesterday, the officers and soldiers of Huwei Town worked hard all night, opening several parallel trenches, and forming this trench where mortars can be deployed between the parallel trenches.

Different from ordinary field artillery, the trajectory of the mortar is curved and can be fired in the trench. This is enough to avoid frontal attacks from the enemy's guns in the fortress, and can avoid or reduce the casualties of one's own gunners.

As soon as they arrived at the position, the artillerymen began to get busy. They also used mortars. There was nothing novel about these mortars, but if you get closer, you can see that the caliber of these mortars is smaller and the gun body is smaller.

It's thicker, and its barrel actually has a few riflings.

"Rifled mortar!"

While the gunners were busy, Zhu Guoqiang smiled.

"The shells fired by these cannons are not spherical shells, but pointed cone-shaped shells. The 18-pound shells are made of pig iron, and a delayed fuse is installed on the tail. This kind of shells is different from the instant shells. It can be smashed into

into the one-foot-thick city wall bricks, and then exploded inside..."

Zhu Guoqiang looked slightly satisfied. These rifled mortars were his "invention" and were specially prepared for "breaking the city." From the day when Jiannu started building the bastion, he had been thinking about how to attack the bastion.

The past was obviously unrealistic.

What's the most direct way?

Siege artillery!

However, with the technology of this era, it is not easy to manufacture siege cannons, but today's siege cannons also do not need to penetrate half a meter or even one meter of reinforced concrete. After thinking about it, Zhu Guoqiang learned from the 19th century coastal defense

The technology of front-loading mortars or siege guns, or rifled mortars, is not complicated. After all, there were too many examples of rifled modifications of smoothbore cannons in the mid-to-late 19th century, even the 12-pound Napoleon

They have all been converted into rifled cannons. Although the performance is not that of specialized rifled cannons, it is better than nothing!

However, for Zhu Guoqiang, that is not what he needs. What he needs is cannonballs that can blow open the city wall.

After several trials, this front-mounted rifled mortar became the only weapon capable of achieving his goal - it was not heavy and could tear apart city walls.

These thirty-two front-loaded rifled mortars were the " trump card " he prepared to conquer the cities along the way, and Gaizhou City was the first time it was put into actual combat.

"Load!"

Amid the roars of the officers, the gunners held heavy cylindrical shells. The tails of these cylindrical shells had pre-carved grooves. After they aligned them with the rifling, they stuffed the shells into the chamber.

The front-mounted rifled mortar slightly exposed the bullet tip, and the projectile made of pig iron glowed with a cold metallic luster.

The ammunition loader carefully inserted the fuse into the pre-prepared shell... After completing the loading, the gunner made a final inspection of the gun. The gunner used an iron awl to penetrate the fire door and pierced it to wrap it.

Then he inserted the gunpowder linen into the fire door. The gunner on the side carefully held the matchlock rod, waiting for the final order.

Taking out his pocket watch, Zhao Kun turned his head and looked up at his own position behind him from time to time. Until a few minutes later, a red signal flare rose in the sky. Before the signal flare fell, he shouted an order to each gunner:

"All artillery positions, fire in sequence!"

Suddenly, with bursts of roaring, clouds of white smoke rose from the artillery position. Because the barrel was too short, a lot of gunpowder was wasted because it had no time to fully burn. However, the momentum was quite amazing.

There were loud noises one after another, and white smoke pillars rose up from the trench. The white smoke instantly enveloped the entire position. The unburned gunpowder in the white smoke was like New Year's fireworks.

Countless sparks were sprayed into the air, and the dazzling sparks were even charming. What was even more fascinating were the artillery shells flying out of the white smoke. The burning fuses at the tails of the shells sprayed sparks outward. These shells were like meteors.

It seemed to be dragging its dazzling tail, roaring towards Gaizhou City.

At the same time, under the supervision of the officers, the gunners once again started working in an orderly manner. They first used water-soaked cotton brushes to remove the sparks inside and outside the barrel, cleaned the gunpowder residue inside the barrel, recalibrated the position and angle, and again

Load the ammunition, insert the quill detonator, and prepare for the next launch.

At this time, those cannonballs pierced the early morning sky and roared towards the city. It was somewhat different from the dull sound of the spherical cannonballs. Its sound seemed a bit sharp, and of course, its speed was also faster.

"The Ming army opened fire!"

The Jian slaves hiding in the mud basket "fortress" on the city wall had been watching the Ming army vigilantly all night yesterday, warily staring at the trench that was getting closer and closer. Of course, they were also vigilant when the Ming army dug the trench.

I fired a few shots, but to no avail.

Originally they thought that the Ming army would attack the city through the long trench, but they never thought that the Ming army would put the cannons in the long trench.

In the early hours of the morning, the salvos of dozens of mortars that were very close at hand were extremely shocking, accompanied by violent gunfire.

After seeing several clouds of smoke rising from a distance, they were all stunned by the spectacular scene in front of them. Amidst the deafening sound of cannons, they looked at the spewing fireworks in amazement.

It took a long time for them to react.

"Get down!"

They all fell to the ground one after another and roared loudly at the same time. As soon as their roars ended, the sound of the shells breaking through the air reached their ears. The distance was really too close.

It was almost like firing a cannon under their noses, but the shells flew over in the blink of an eye. The Jiannu on the city wall all hurriedly crouched beside the earthen baskets to avoid the Ming army's shelling. Based on yesterday's experience

, they believe that they can save their lives by doing this.

For those slaves who were still sleeping, at most they had just been awakened at this time.

However, they were not worried. After all, yesterday's shelling had made them more confident. The earthen sheds made of several feet of thick soil and thick logs could completely withstand the Ming army's shelling.

After experiencing yesterday, no one would doubt it anymore. It is precisely because of this that when they heard the deafening sound of artillery outside, they could only curse. It seemed that their sleep was disturbed.

And annoyed.

"Chi...!"

The 18-pound sabotage bomb flying with a whistling sound did not explode immediately after hitting Jiannu's civil shed because of the delay. The sharp shell easily penetrated the two-foot-thick shell like an awl.

Covered with soil, and then directly smashed into the thick wooden beam.

The earthen shed that once seemed indestructible was torn apart easily like tissue paper in the face of sharp cannonballs.

Those Jiannu who were still cursing because their sweet dreams were interrupted could almost hear the impact of the wooden beams being deformed after the shells penetrated the soil.

In the darkness, they stared with wide eyes in astonishment at the cannonballs that continued to spit out flames in the darkness.

Even before they figured out what was going on.

There was a loud "Boom!" and the entire room was swallowed up by the explosion of fireworks.

Accompanied by several dull explosions, the shells from the wooden beams exploded inside the earth shed after penetrating the thick soil.

The earthen shed that originally seemed indestructible under the bombardment of grenades changed its appearance in an instant.
Chapter completed!