Ying Yu raised his telescope and looked towards Anping again. Unfortunately, there is no decent commanding height here. The altitude of the sand dunes is only six or seven meters, which is only slightly higher than the city wall of Anping. From here, he can barely see the Anping Town.
From the street, Zheng Zhilong's mansion cannot be clearly overlooked.
Ying Yu shook his head. As the captain of the army's artillery training team, he has rarely been seen in public in recent years, and all his energy has been focused on artillery shooting and training - although the smoothbore guns widely equipped by the army and navy are the same as the 130mm that he has used in the past.
Cannons have nothing in common.
This basic version of the howitzer, in his opinion, is almost like a toy, but it is already the crystallization of the highest technology in the Senate's industrial system. Several new front-loading and breech-loading rifled guns manufactured by the machinery factory have been successfully trial-produced and
After being tried out by the army for almost six months, he had already figured out the ballistic performance and shooting essentials of these artillery pieces.
The reason why he was asked to preside over the artillery surprise attack on Anping this time was not only because he was familiar with artillery, but also because he was one of the very few veterans who could carry out beyond-visual-range artillery attacks - let alone naturalized civilians.
Come on. After all, so far, the artillery used by the Fubo Army and Navy has almost all fired within visual range, even the direct-fire artillery.
In terms of the range of the 32-year-old brigade artillery, the entire Anping Town is within its effective fire coverage, but it is difficult to accurately hit Zheng Zhilong's residence without observation.
Something happened.
The map of Anping Town and Zheng Zhilong's residence that the former Foreign Intelligence Service spent more than half a year drawing: This map was not easy to draw: it was easy to sneak into Anping, and it was not too difficult to sneak into Zheng Zhilong's mansion, but it took several months of training.
It would be too difficult for an almost blind person to use the foot test method to accurately map out a map for artillery fire command, so Ying Yu did not have much confidence in using this map for accurate artillery bombardment.
Fortunately, they still have large-scale model aircraft. A few months ago, the Foreign Intelligence Service organized an aerial photography flight over Anping. They took a bird's-eye view of the entire Anping Town, and then based on the personnel's on-site surveying and mapping, the grid coordinates were drawn.
Accurate to scale map.
The brief appearance of the model aircraft caused a commotion in Anping and surrounding areas. There were divergent opinions for a while. Various temples in Jinjiang and Nan'an either explicitly or implicitly stated that this "miracle" was related to domestic gods. For a time, the temples were very popular.
.However, there are also prophecies indicating that there will be a "catastrophe" soon, and some are more straightforward, directly saying that the Zheng family will be destroyed.
Although there was no special propaganda purpose in the SIA's intention, the effect was unexpected.
With this map, he was confident of shooting beyond visual range. However, without observing the point of impact, shooting corrections could not be made. Due to the limited height, it was difficult to accurately identify the target by observing the falling bombs from the commanding heights outside the city. Using a model aircraft would have difficulties in transmitting data.
The requirements are high, and the aircraft model is too expensive and should not be used frequently. After careful consideration, it was decided to adopt a stupid method: once the bombardment started, a 9-meter-high aluminum alloy folding ladder was temporarily set up on the top of the dune and fixed with a rope.
The observer climbs to the top to observe.
Ying Yu commanded the team members to dig a pit and set up the artillery. After correcting the position, they carefully marked it with positioning stakes. The movement of the artillery was too large, and there would be a larger movement after each shot.
The position changes and it is difficult to accurately correct the parameters. Although the 32-year-old brigade gun was equipped with a friction disc brake system, it is not a real barrel retraction system after all. The gun body still moves slightly after shooting, so it is time to try again.
Many times, this earthly method was finally adopted to solve the problem.
After setting up the gun position, he once again checked the position, angle and direction of the artillery based on the map and compass points. Several team members hummed as they moved the shell boxes to their sides and opened them one by one. Ying Yu took out a grenade.
Install the detonating tube, load it into the gun barrel, and then install the brass cartridge that acts as a breather. Then close the breech block and insert the flame tube. I think everything is suitable. I made an "ok" gesture.
.
The team members began to pull camouflage nets on the artillery and fortifications to camouflage them, and sprinkled water in front of the muzzles. Xue Ziliang squinted at the dawning sky and estimated the time to start the bombardment. There were 40 shells prepared for the Zheng Mansion.
We fired half grenades and half shrapnel. We planned to bombard the Zheng Mansion with grenades first, so that the people inside would panic and run for their lives. Then we would use shrapnel to cover the escaping crowd and shoot them indiscriminately. Although there were no casualties,
Most of them must be servants in the palace, but there is no doubt that they can kill some important people of the Zheng family.
Once the Zheng Mansion falls into chaos and the navy launches another bombardment of Anping, it will inevitably force the Zheng family's main mission to escape from Kaicheng. At this time, the sniper squads distributed along the main roads can go on a killing spree.
Xue Ziliang looked at his watch. It was now 4:50 in the morning. The operator reported that all teams had sent "in position" signals. He refreshed and began to check the defense situation around the sand dunes - they were not using it without any warning.
Smoke propellant and white gunpowder smoke will quickly reveal the location of the artillery, so be prepared for enemy forces in the city to come out and counterattack.
At 5:12, a dull cannon sound came from afar, not much louder than the thunder in the distance. Xue Ziliang and Ying Yu couldn't help but look towards the direction of Weitou Bay: It has finally begun!
The sound of artillery became more and more intensive, and thick black smoke began to appear on the horizon. Although Xue Ziliang did not know the specific battle situation, he knew from the few words from the headquarters that the battle was going smoothly - of course, it was unlikely that it would not happen.
Successfully, in Xue Ziliang's opinion, this was simply a sign of bullying.
From the telescope, I saw a commotion at the top of Anping City. According to reports from each team: Anping Town is now closed with four gates, and no one is entering or exiting.
"From now on, we will closely monitor whether anyone comes in or out of Anping, and any stray people who come in or out will be shot to death." Xue Ziliang gave the order over the walkie-talkie, "If there are any abnormalities, report them immediately."
Although the situation in the city could not be seen clearly, the bells and drums soon sounded in the city, as if to summon people, and then the whine of horns was heard. The soldiers on the top of the city were scurrying around like headless flies. Soon,
The entire Anping City was covered with defense soldiers.
The fleet under Anping City also became nervous, and Xue Ziliang noticed that the ship also became busy instantly.
Xue Ziliang knew that armies in the Middle Ages rarely took the risk of marching at night. Therefore, even if Anping wanted to reinforce Weitou, it would have to wait until after dawn. In other words, the fleet reinforcements would not be until at least half past five. The army would be even later - Medieval Times
The level of military mobilization in that era was very low, and troops could not be dispatched in a hurry. Not to mention that before this, commanders who did not receive news would be indecisive because they could not judge the situation.
Cutting off contact between Anping and other places made it impossible for the main commanders of the Zheng family to confirm the situation on the front line. This was the most effective action to delay and disrupt tactical deployment.
"Put up the ladder!" Xue Ziliang gave the order, and several team members immediately set up the aluminum alloy folding ladder. When fully unfolded, the aluminum alloy folding ladder was 9 meters high. The team members used four cable stays to fix it.
An observation team member rushed up with a telescope and walkie-talkie hanging around his neck, and climbed to the top of the ladder on both hands and feet. Ignoring the shaking of the ladder, he sat astride the top and used his telescope to observe the situation in Anping Town.
The situation in the town was chaotic, but there was no sign of a large-scale military concentration - obviously the Zheng family had not judged the situation and made a decision. Xue Ziliang felt that the opportunity was just right, and immediately waved his hand: "Start taking action!"
Ying Yu knelt down on one leg, and with a pull of the matchlock, the artillery shot back violently. The friction plate played its role in retarding the artillery. The range of the artillery's recoil was very small, and the shells roared into the sky accompanied by thick white smoke. Xue Ziliang's
His eyes followed the trajectory of the cannonball, and the arc-shaped trajectory passed high over the Anping City Wall and fell towards the Zheng Mansion.
"Reset!" he shouted, and the two team members pushed the cannon wheel, stared at the mark, and pushed the cannon back to its original position.
Ying Yu opened the breech and the hot brass cartridge came out of the barrel. He took the second shell from the team member and quickly completed the loading of the second shell. He waited for the observer to report the impact point of the first shell.
. He planned to use 4 rounds of artillery shells to correct the firing point. Each shell was expected to fly in the air for 15 seconds before landing and exploding. After the impact point was calibrated, he would then fire rapidly at a rate of 10 seconds.
It would have been nice if it was a mortar. He had some regrets: a mortar could be fired every two seconds without any problem. Although mortars were specialized in infantry and were not related to his artillery major, the ballistics were at least similar.
The first shell from the correct firing point hit the street in front of the Zheng Mansion. When it exploded, a ball of fire rose up and bricks and stones flew across. Several pedestrians on the street were killed on the spot. The tiles of nearby houses on the street were damaged.
It fell down and shattered into pieces.
Ying Yu rotated the adjustment handle of the height machine based on the observer's report, raised the muzzle slightly, and fired the second shell.
The second shell directly hit the roof of the car hall, blowing a large hole in the roof of the car hall and sending tiles flying from the roof gutter.
Ying Yu began to sweat on his forehead. He glanced at the map coordinates, used the handles with both hands to adjust the altitude and azimuth angles, and the third shell popped out of the chamber.
The hit coordinates of the third artillery shell came from the intercom. The shell landed at the intended target: the pond in the backyard of Dunren Pavilion, where Zheng Zhilong's office was used for meetings. A water column was set off, and several ornamental waterfowl were lifted into the sky by the air waves.
.
Ying Yu looked at the map again and knew that he had roughly calibrated the target. He rotated the handle slightly again. The fourth shell directly hit the eaves of the front yard of Dunren Pavilion, killing several footmen and soldiers who were waiting on the spot.