Before artillery appeared, the defender had an advantage in siege warfare, and it was a huge advantage.
Siege strategies can be roughly divided into four types: storming, siege, luring the enemy, and raiding.
In the early days of the Chinese feudal dynasty, or even in ancient times, the army often hoped to directly destroy the city gates to achieve the purpose of attacking the enemy city. However, during this period, due to the underdeveloped siege equipment, siege tactics were extremely backward, and storming by force was
There are very few examples of successful battles. Therefore, in "The Art of War", Sun Tzu emphasizes that "attacking a city will lead to defeat" and "attacking a city is the last resort", which largely reflects this problem.
According to historical documents, sometimes even if the attacking force has more than ten times the strength of the defenders, they still have to besiege the city for a long time, and finally defeat the opponent by eating, drinking, shitting and pissing. Therefore, those who use tricks to capture the opponent's city
, are often highly publicized, such as Trojan horses, secret tunnels, digging a river, etc...
But once artillery was invented, the gap between the offensive and defensive sides was narrowed.
There is almost no need to emphasize this. After everyone has seen the artillery, they will inevitably understand this.
The era of city walls collapsed after the emergence of artillery. Just like feudal barriers, they will eventually disappear in the long river of history, being submerged by the development of science and technology and becoming a broken piece of rubble at the bottom of the river.
While his soldiers were making final preparations for the battle, Taishi Ci was not idle either. He and several military princes confirmed the specific steps to capture the royal city. After eliminating the loss of clinging to a strong attack, the battle directly entered the royal city.
Everyone was full of confidence, so Taishi Ci said that he not only wanted to capture it, but also fight it well, smoothly and beautifully.
If the artillery unit successfully opens a gap, but the infantry and cavalry that follow are unable to fight, and are trapped in street fighting and unable to extricate themselves, wouldn't it be a slap in the face?
Taishi Ci, based on the limited information gathered from capturing horse thieves, roughly divided the structure of the city into three parts. One is naturally the core area of the palace and the royal city, the other is the commercial warehouse hoarding area, and the last is the royal city.
Residential quarters, etc. The importance is also arranged from front to back.
And if you want to eat these three parts relatively completely, of course you need a certain arrangement.
It's not impossible to rush in like a swarm of swarms, but it may cause confusion in the command. When the jurisdiction of the area is unclear, the divisions are not clear enough, and it will be ugly to fish in troubled waters and create chaos.
Even if you control the soldiers, you may not be able to control the local situation.
After all, if the distribution of responsibilities is not clear, there may be a state of ignoring two things, or simply not caring about three things. How can it be called clean and efficient?
If you want to fight, you must set a benchmark!
Not only to reassure General Fei Qian, but also to set a benchmark for all the countries in the Western Region to take a good look at!
Therefore, Taishi Ci divided his troops into three parts, each with their own responsibilities. One part was to directly raid various city gates along the streets, and be sure to seal all the city gates in a short time, so that various areas of the city could be divided for convenience.
The surrounding soldiers and horses entered the city as quickly as possible and controlled all parts of the city.
The second part is to surround the royal city and palace, and at the same time clear out the remaining enemy soldiers and horses on the streets.
The third part is to occupy the storage area and seal off the residential areas. At the same time, the three parts of the force have their own main coverage areas, some overlap with each other, and some operate independently.
Taishi Ci will serve as the core, and he will be in the middle to dispatch and coordinate. Anyone who is undecided must report it in time. Taishi Ci's requirements for each department are to be brave and quick, not to disperse the troops in secondary places, to focus on core tasks, and not to
Robbery without permission.
Of course, these plans were based on the artillery directly blasting through the city gates and walls. Everyone, including Taishi Ci, had full confidence in this project after seeing the power of the artillery.
When Taishi Ci and several military princes were determining the order of entering the city, high-pitched shouts rang out from the artillery position in front, followed by continuous roars, which suppressed the human voice again!
A deafening sound erupted from the artillery position, and thick bluish-gray and bluish-white smoke spread out, covering the long front line.
In order to prevent the artillery from affecting each other if something went wrong, the artillery positions were almost placed side by side, occupying the entire front of the battlefield.
Amid the roar, the artillery shot back violently. Immediately, the shells roared out of the muzzle and smashed into the muddy city wall. The city wall near the city gate was smashed into dust and large pieces of bricks and broken earth.
It fell, sending up smoke and dust all over the sky!
Even though there had been martial arts performances before, such dense and loud sounds still made the horses in the back row and on the periphery neigh, shake their heads, stamp their feet, and snort.
The God of War showed extremely tyrannical power when he first stepped onto the battlefield.
After firing the gun, the gunner of each gun immediately cleaned the gun barrel with a stick wrapped in a wet wool felt blanket. The water should not be too much, otherwise it will contaminate the gunpowder for the next launch, but it should not be too dry, so the gunpowder in the gun barrel should not be too dry.
The deposit of incompletely burned gunpowder residue will affect the firing efficiency of the next artillery piece.
The sound of water vapor evaporating came from the hot barrel, and the soldiers were looming in white smoke.
After the gunner quickly cleaned the barrel, he waited for a moment and saw that the water at the mouth of the barrel was about to dry up. The loader filled the gunpowder bag into the barrel again. At the same time, another gunner covered it with a semi-wet cloth.
Above the fire door, prevent torches or other igniting objects from accidentally falling into the fire door and igniting the gunpowder in advance.
After the charger, there is the task of the loader.
Two people hold the round iron bullets, lift them up, and fill them into the muzzle. After loading, a third person needs to hold a special egg press... Well, it is a long rod with a top surface.
, press the iron bullet onto the gunpowder.
At this point, the preparations before launch are completed.
As for the subtle adjustments of the secondary launch and the modification of the target trajectory, at this moment, they do not exist...
Even with such a simple step, mistakes often occur at the beginning, but people who make mistakes often don't make mistakes next time, because most mistakes are fatal.
The next round of shelling soon roared out again.
The smoke that filled the position spread layer by layer.
Although gunpowder is already considered a third-generation or fourth-generation formula, the purification work and particle packaging are gradually being carried out. Just like the gunpowder for the artillery this time, the weight is determined in advance, and then specially prepared.
Bamboo paper is used for packaging to avoid the situation of being nervous when loading gunpowder and loading less or too much.
The burning of black gunpowder brought out a thick sulfuric smell, like a gap opening in hell, spreading out the smell of death.
The old monk Busen in the rear array was in a completely sluggish state. He was trembling all over, like a dehydrated fish, and drool was unconsciously flowing from his open mouth, dripping.
He fell to the ground, his eyes dull and lifeless...
Layers of smoke filled Bu Sen's vision, and his mouth and nose were filled with a strong smell of sulfide, making Bu Sen almost think he had fallen into hell.
"Devil! Devil!" Busen shouted heartbreakingly, tears streaming down his face. Although he could not clearly see the situation in the city of Kuni on the other side of the smoke, he could already imagine it...
When a new era comes, everything in the old, no matter how glorious it was before, is as humble as an ant.
The sounds of masonry falling and collapsing were heard from up and down the city, mixed with many screams and panicked sounds. In the face of artillery, the city wall that boasted of being powerful and solid was like a layer of egg shells. In front of gunpowder
, personal bravery has been suppressed. When smokeless gunpowder is born and rapid-fire weapons appear, personal force will be completely worth mentioning.
After three rounds, the artillery position became quiet.
In order to extend the life of the artillery, it will stop after three rounds and wait for cooling.
In order to extend the life of the artillery, it will stop after three rounds and wait for cooling.
Although on the surface there does not seem to be any big changes, in fact because metallurgical technology and alloy technology are not up to standard, whether the bronze or black iron used in the artillery will undergo slight deformation after continuous firing, especially
In the area at the rear of the breech, the explosive and burning gunpowder not only exerts force on the shell, but also exerts force on the breech.
Continuous firing will cause the originally cast or forged gaps in the gun bore to expand, increase metal stress, and shorten the life of the gun.
To put it simply, it costs money.
At present, within an hour, the artillery can fire approximately six to nine times. After every three consecutive rounds of firing, you need to wait for the gun body to cool down. And even so, the life of the artillery is very short, and it can only guarantee a hundred times.
It is safe to fire for 100 times, but it may explode at any time afterwards. Therefore, the use of artillery is basically limited to 100 shots, and then it needs to be scrapped.
Scraped artillery cannot be melted, reused, and cast into artillery again. Because with current metallurgical technology, there is no way to completely remove sulfides, carbides and other impurities from the metal, and can only be used as a secondary demand.
Use, such as making agricultural equipment or something...
Therefore, these artillery are not only used as sharp weapons for the current siege, but also as raw materials for the subsequent development of the Western Region, copper and iron farm tools. It can be regarded as barely killing two birds with one stone.
While waiting to cool down, the smoke slowly dissipates.
The devastated city of Muni was like a man and a woman who had overindulged in lust and stayed up late. Their outer robes were torn off, revealing their broken faces and bodies, which were completely gone from their previous gorgeous appearance.
The yellow rammed earth city wall has almost no immunity to artillery shells. Under the artillery fire, many cracks are almost visible to the naked eye, like land that has been dry for a long time. The black cracks are bottomless. The battlements on the city wall
It is also quite mutilated. I don’t know whether it was beaten down or shaken down...
The king of Shanshan, Tong Grojia, who was originally on the city wall, has long since disappeared, and the remaining soldiers of Shanshan are like walking zombies, moving almost instinctively, as if they are still proving to themselves and others that they are still alive.
…
Half a quarter of an hour later, the artillery roared again.
The morale of the Shanshan garrison on the front wall had dropped to freezing point under the renewed firing of artillery.
Taishi Ci couldn't help but look back. As a top-level general, he had a deeper understanding of the horror of artillery than ordinary soldiers. Fortunately, the rate of fire of artillery was slow, and the firing was cumbersome and expensive.
if not……
Taishi Ci couldn't help but shiver as he thought about it, and felt a chill in his back, but he soon felt glad that he was now on the side with the artillery. Then he thought of what the hussar had said before, that the big man must always be in the lead, at least
To be more than 30 years ahead of the surrounding area, whether it is military force or civilization and culture. At first, Taishi Ci was still ignorant and did not have a clear understanding. But everything in front of him also made Taishi Ci fully understand the "lead".
The meaning of the word.
Meanings written in blood and iron.
During the artillery fire, the city gate that was the focus of attention was not blasted. Instead, a section of the city wall near the city gate collapsed with a heart-wrenching sound, revealing a big gap!
"Send the order!" Taishi Ci shouted in a deep voice, "Attack!"
In the wilderness, the war drums roared, as if taking over from the artillery's loud voice, they began to sing the next song "Xintianyou" from Guanzhong of the Han Dynasty.
According to the original plan, all the arrays moved, crossed the artillery line, and approached the foot of Wuni City.
The resistance on the Muni city wall, which was bombarded from the front, was almost zero.
Because their respective tasks had been assigned and confirmed repeatedly in advance, the soldiers under the hussars basically did not stop at any time, and did not even block or collide with each other. They were like flowing water, flowing from a distance.
came, and then blended together naturally, mixed into the smoke and dust, as if they were originally here and have always been here.
The first team's array successfully rushed to the gap in the city wall and erected simple ladders. In some places, ladders were not even needed because the collapsed masonry and broken earth had paved a not-so-steep path.
Corridor. The commander of the military academy in the front row gave a loud order. Immediately, the longitudinal array divided into two teams, and then divided into combat teams. Some advanced along the collapsed and messy rocks and mounds of earth, while others advanced along the corridor.
Climb quickly up the city wall using the ladder.
By the time these soldiers had climbed onto the city wall, it seemed that the Shanshan soldiers had reacted in panic and confusion, shaking their heads and bodies, and rushed forward in a scattered manner.
I have to say that those who can still maintain their fighting spirit under such circumstances may be considered very good warriors...
Unfortunately, that's all.
Regardless of morale, equipment, or even battle formations, they all lagged behind the Hussars' soldiers. Even if these Shanshan warriors mustered up the remaining courage to resist, how effective would it be?
The hussar soldiers cooperated smoothly. After the first queue climbed into the city, the second queue was waiting at the bottom of the city. When the second queue climbed up, Li Long was in the third queue, in the city.
Queue below.
When Li Long led his men up, the Shanshan soldiers in other directions of Wuni City tried to come to block the gap in the city wall.
Unfortunately it's too late.
If we can set up an array at the first time, and then attack and suppress the fragile link of the hussars climbing with more strikes and fewer attacks, we may not be able to hold on for a while longer, but by the time the hussars have climbed up
After forming two queues and spreading out to the left and right, even if these Shanshan soldiers reorganized their array, it would not have much effect.
The hussars fought while advancing forward. After occupying a certain city wall, they began to build a position. According to the plan, subsequent soldiers either supplemented the left line, supported the right, or advanced towards Li Long.
Follow the direction, the direction is clear, no hesitation, no delay, no confusion and congestion.
The soldiers in King Shanshan City had no idea what they were going to do. One moment they heard this person shouting for support, and the next moment they heard another person shouting that they had been broken through by the Han people. It felt like they were trapped.
Under the heavy siege of the Han people, there were loopholes everywhere and no one could defend against them.
Li Long led his men and ran straight forward along the street. Their purpose was very simple, which was to seize the city gate before the other party could react, then open the city gate and stand guard in place. As for the rest,
The matter has nothing to do with him!
After rushing forward for a certain distance, the smoke and dust gradually became thinner.
A group of Shanshan people rushed over. The leader of the team in front shouted an order. Immediately there were soldiers holding crossbows. They took the crossbow arrows and fired them in front of their faces without saying a word!
Several Shanshan soldiers who rushed to the front were shot to the ground on the spot. Some died immediately, while others rolled on the ground and screamed.
The Shanshan soldiers who were rushing behind were either startled by the death in front of them and their movements changed, or they had to dodge because they wanted to avoid the compatriots who were rolling and screaming on the ground.
Queues are bad.
Li Long and others did not stop at all. After the crossbowmen finished shooting, they moved sideways to get out of the way and continued to load new crossbow bolts. The soldiers with shields and guns rushed forward to cover each other, and soon
The Shanshan people were defeated and killed one after another in a chaotic formation, and the way forward was opened.
"Keep going! Keep going! Don't stop!"
Li Long shouted loudly, "Leave the enemy troops behind to be dealt with by those behind!"
This tactic is completely unbelievable in the eyes of Shanshan people. They don't even know whether they should chase the team that passed before or face the next team that is coming.
In fact, this fighting method is an infantry fighting method that evolved from cavalry tactics.
After all, when the cavalry clashes, there is no way to say that it is like a TV movie. In the huge military column, a wide area is specially opened for the protagonist and supporting characters to fight each other, and others need to applaud on one side.
Most of the time, when cavalry are hedging, they only have one chance to fight. No matter whether they can kill the opponent or not, they have to face the next opponent immediately and have no time to care about the situation behind them. Only after the two sides stagger and rush out of the roundabout can they make a U-turn. In the next battle, Li Long and others, who were accustomed to cavalry tactics, naturally cooperated with each other in a tacit understanding, like a sharp knife, thrusting straight into the belly of the city...
