Chapter 383 The Strongest Spear and the Strongest Shield
In fact, the late Ming Dynasty was a very special era. It was in the era of full-speed development of European military technology. It can be said that before the late Ming Dynasty, there was no gap in military technology between China and the West. The gap really widened from the
From the late Ming Dynasty to the late Qing Dynasty, Western military technology rapidly surpassed China.
In the process of Western military development, the widespread use of muskets and cannons not only changed the way of warfare, but also changed the concepts of offense and defense.
Changes have taken place, especially the urban defense system, which has become a link that many Western countries attach great importance to.
In response to the rapid development of artillery technology, the towering city walls of the Middle Ages became vulnerable, especially when cannons were set up on such high walls. The weak city walls of Western Europe simply could not withstand the vibration of their own cannons. In this era, the Italians began to try to build the city walls.
It was lowered and the inner trench wall was formed in the form of a trench, so that the city wall could make full use of the terrain and soil volume, absorb the kinetic energy of the cannonballs, and greatly improve the defensive capabilities of the corresponding cannons.
In order to maximize the linear effect of musket shooting, the medieval circular fortresses were eliminated, and a star-shaped layered military building began to form. In addition to the trenches, excavated earth mounds were used to fill the impact slope.
The star-shaped horn protrudes beyond the defensive line, thus increasing the angle and length of shooting, allowing the defender's firepower to easily suppress enemy troops invading from the wild.
Of course, the bastion technology currently popular in the West has not yet reached its peak. It was a Frenchman born in 1633, Vauban, who really made bastion tactics famous in the world.
Although this man did not directly command an army on the battlefield, he helped win many battles with his genius in military city building. Later he became a marshal of France. He built more than 100 fortresses in his life.
More than sixty of them were characterized by an emphasis on active defensive operations. Later, they creatively invented the Vauban bastion and Vauban siege method, becoming a military genius in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries.
The emergence of Vauban not only promoted the development of bastion fortresses, but also had a profound impact on the layout of European cities. That is, the medieval city walls evolved into trenches around the city, and were finally replaced by fortresses in the outskirts, while the development of the city lost the constraints of the city walls.
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Lin Jing understood that the current situation in the Ming Dynasty could not directly copy Vauban's approach. After all, what Sun Chengzong, the governor of Jiliao, did in Liaodong was to build fortresses extensively, but the effect was quite limited, and a lot of money was wasted - but
One thing is that for some key places, the bastion method can effectively resist the attack of Hongyi artillery.
After Lin Jing recorded these key points, Song Yingxing and Tang Ruowang also rushed over. Although they had many things on their hands at the moment, they were finally on the right track and would not waste time. Instead, because of Lin Jing's frequent thoughts
It was indeed quite useful, so the two of them rushed over early.
"Your Majesty Song Yingxing pays homage to His Highness."
"Your Majesty Tang Ruowang pays homage to His Highness."
Lin Jing asked the two of them to stand up and sit down, and then handed the things in their hands to them, and said in a deep voice: "I have been analyzing Donglu's strategy during this period, and found that they have become more proficient and attach importance to the use and casting of Hongyi cannons.
I believe that when the Donglu move south in the future, they will continue to use Hongyi cannons on a large scale."
During the Songjin Battle, the Qing army used sixty homemade red cannons to defeat the two cities of Tashan and Xingshan held by the Ming army, which was the key reason for the defeat of the Songjin Battle.
Regarding the issue of Hongyi cannons, Tang Ruowang undoubtedly has the most say, because he is the person in charge of the construction of Hongyi cannons in the Ming Dynasty. He said: "This is indeed a very bad phenomenon. I think that the Ming Dynasty needs to further cast Hongyi cannons."
, to maintain our technological and quantitative advantages."
Lin Jing said softly: "But compared to the current combat method of the Qing army, their use of Hongyi artillery is undoubtedly a greater threat to us - after all, if we want to attack the Qing army, we need to seek victory in the field. In this regard,
The role of the Hongyi cannon is very limited."
Indeed, the Hongyi Cannon was originally an imitation of the Western long-barreled cannon. As a front-loaded heavy smoothbore cannon, it was very powerful. The projectiles used were spherical solid projectiles made of stone, iron, lead and other materials. Therefore,
It directly hits the target and has a destructive effect, so it is more conducive to siege, but not conducive to field battles.
Therefore, after the Ming army chose to introduce the Hongyi cannon, they shot themselves in the foot because they used it in the wrong place.
Tang Ruowang's expression changed. He sighed softly and said, "Your Highness already understands what you mean. However, if we choose field artillery, we can only rely on the Fo Lang machine gun and the Tiger Crouching Cannon... They
The power is not enough to change the direction of the war."
It turned out that Tang Ruowang had misunderstood Lin Jing's idea and thought that Lin Jing was planning to give up casting the Hongyi cannon, so he had to express his opposition tactfully.
Lin Jing shook his head slightly and said: "We can discuss the cannon-casting matter later, but we need to improve the city-building methods now, otherwise it will be difficult for these cities to withstand the bombardment of Donglu Hongyi cannons.
....It will be difficult for the Ming army to withstand the Donglu attack by then."
"I already understand what Your Highness means...but the city defense method is not that easy to improve. Even the current city walls in Western countries can hardly withstand the attack of Hongyi cannons."
Tang Ruowang shook his head. It was not that he didn't know about bastions, but the bastions in the west were still at a very early stage and had no advantages compared to the fortified cities in the east.
Lin Jing said no more and handed the manuscript paper in his hand to Tang Ruowang, "Master Tang, you might as well take a look at this first. I think that after the upgrade of the bastion tactics, it can completely withstand the bombardment of the Hongyi artillery."
Hearing this, Tang Ruowang and Song Yingxing were a little surprised. They both understood the power of the Hongyi cannon and ordinary city defense methods could not stop him.
But when the two looked at the manuscript paper, their faces couldn't help but show a bit of wonder. The star-shaped bastion on it couldn't help but make people's eyes shine, and the various layouts of the Vauban-style bastion were also very vividly expressed in the form of words.
It's shown, but it makes people unable to help but continue to look at it carefully.
After a long time, Tang Ruowang let out a breath, with a bit of surprise on his face, and said: "The bastion defense law written by His Highness seems to be an upgrade based on the current bastion fortifications.
, if it can really be realized, it seems that the defensive power is indeed quite impressive... However, it seems not enough to rely on it alone to demonstrate whether it can resist the Hongyi cannon..."
Although Song Yingxing on the side didn't understand very well, he could clearly see the power of the bastion itself. He was amazed and looked at Lin Jing with some expectation.
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Could it be that with this magical method, the Hongyi cannon still couldn't be blocked? This chapter has been completed!