Generally speaking, in ancient times, when attacking a city, it was necessary to surround it with at least ten people, cut off the source of food and grass for the defenders, and then constantly use the lives of the soldiers below to test and fill holes until the defenders in the city were exhausted and exposed their flaws.
Then they swarmed up and captured the city.
Of course, this process usually takes a long time...
But for Zhu Gaojie, attacking the city was not actually a difficult task.
Although the Ministry of Industry has not yet been able to develop powerful firearms, and the power of the Ming Dynasty's artillery is also very average, Zhu Gaojie has countless knowledge and experiences of later generations in his mind, and he has already tinkered with the counterweighted gun carriage.
In addition, during this expedition to Mobei, he also specially asked the army to bring more than a dozen newly developed artillery pieces, ready to experiment when encountering the enemy's stubborn defense.
In fact, artillery has always been used in the Ming army, but they are iron cannons fixed on launchers. They are big, thick, and black. They use the most primitive black powder. They are slow to load and have low power when fired. The range is small.
Also very average.
And because the gun body is made of iron instead of relatively soft copper, these artillery often explode the chamber, directly killing soldiers nearby, so the military does not have a great impression of artillery.
But Zhu Gaojie knew that firearms were the discovery of future development, and were the basis and hope for the Ming Dynasty to conquer the world in the future. Therefore, he ordered the Ministry of Industry to start further research and development of firearms early on, and also allocated a large sum of money from the Ministry of Household Affairs.
After the funds were passed, some outstanding students from the liberal arts academy were sent by him to secretly handle the matter.
Although the progress is not too fast, at least some results have been achieved.
For example, the Tiger Crouching Cannon that Zhu Gaojie was obsessed with was the most commonly used artillery in Qi Jiguang's army in history. This kind of gun barrel has a thin wall, is easy to carry, and is very flexible and maneuverable. It can be launched at large elevation angles, and is comparable to modern mortars.
Cannons have different approaches but the same purpose.
There are also breech-loaded cannons similar to classical breech-loading howitzers. Although the level of Ming craftsmen today is far from reaching that standard, Zhu Gaojie asked the craftsmen to reduce the diameter of the gun barrel and add a hoop to prevent
The explosive chambers are all made of copper materials, and several of them have been built.
The most important thing is that Zhu Gaojie also taught the students the relevant knowledge of gun lugs and sights, which directly gave these breech-loaded artillery the ability to observe and sight, and the range and accuracy were greatly improved!
Coupled with the granular gunpowder production method given by Zhu Gaojie, he successfully produced more stable and more powerful gunpowder, and also produced shotguns with more than 500 bullets, which can be directly fired with one shot.
Twenty or thirty meters ahead!
And if you use siege artillery shells, a big hole will be blasted out of the ordinary city wall with one shot!
Therefore, in Zhu Gaojie's opinion, attacking the city is actually not very strenuous.
Just let the artillery in the army fire!
The Oala people on the opposite side have just learned how to defend the city. They are still nomadic people in nature. After encountering continuous and powerful artillery attacks, their military morale is absolutely in chaos...
"Your Highness, there are only so many artillery pieces in the army. There are fifty squatting cannons and only twenty breech-loading cannons. If we really let go, the supply of gunpowder will be a big problem."
After Su Wu inspected the artillery positions, he approached Zhu Gaojie.
"The opposite side is just a small town, and with the purpose of delaying us, all the artillerymen were dispatched. Isn't that too high of a view of them..."
"How about we transfer half of it and give it to the Shenji Battalion to defend the left side of the army? It can also better kill the Oara army that wants to outflank us."
When Zhu Gaojie heard this, he shook his head slightly:
"You don't understand. Things like artillery need to be concentrated together, like a fist with enough strength, and then give the opponent a violent blow."
"If they are dispersed, once the power is not enough to deter the Wala people in the city, do we still have to let the soldiers below use their lives to fill it?"
"Besides, you have also seen that the Ministry of Industry spent countless materials and manpower, and the Communist Party of China can only build this little artillery, and it has not been tested in actual combat."
"The reason why I did not use them against the Tatars was because I wanted to see the real impact of these artillery on the army, whether it would affect the marching speed, and how much the artillery and ammunition were affected by factors such as weather."
Having said this, Zhu Gaojiao raised his telescope again and looked at the city in the distance.
"As long as we can knock through Helin City in front of us and scare the Wala people, even if all these artillery pieces are destroyed, it will still be worth it."
"As for the sneaky Wala army that wants to outflank us, the scouts have been keeping an eye on them, and the Shenji Battalion is almost at its scheduled location."
"As soon as our artillery fires up, the Shenji Battalion will launch an attack on them, catching them off guard."
He chuckled, his tone full of confidence in the soldiers of Shenji Battalion:
"With the Shenji Battalion's current strength, and these tens of thousands of troops marching long distances to get here, they will definitely win a great victory."
"Those Oala prisoners can be used to attack the city and fill the holes to reduce the casualties of our Ming army..."
Hearing Zhu Gaojie's words, Su Wu also agreed. Indeed, it was much better to let the Oala prisoners fill the pits and die than the heroic soldiers of the Ming Dynasty to die.
What's more, they still have many Tatar prisoners of war in their hands, just to play a role in the siege...
"Pass my order and prepare the artillery. In an hour, launch with full force!"
"Based on the basis of normal training, the breech-loaded cannon uses siege bombs, aims at the city wall, and fires ten rounds first."
"Then the Tiger Crouching Artillery Team moved forward and fired fifteen rounds continuously from the farthest distance."
"Finish with the rear-loaded cannon, use shotguns, aim at the place on the city wall where there are many defenders, and fire ten rounds in a row!"
Relatively speaking, the power of the Crouching Tiger Cannon is not too great, but it is more flexible and maneuverable, has a very fast rate of fire, and can shoot at large angles. It is very lethal to infantry, and it is difficult to hide even if you want to.
As for the shotgun shells from the breech-loading cannon, they really exploded in all directions. If one shot passed by, a bunch of defenders on the city wall would be killed!
"Let the flag bearers be ready. Once the artillery here starts firing, we will immediately pass the flag message to the Shenji Battalion and let them launch an attack at the same time."
Zhu Gaojie issued orders continuously, with a very firm and decisive tone:
"We won't take the risk of rushing out from the opposite side. He will definitely wait for the Wala army to sneak attack on us."
"I'm going to make this time difference and let him lose his wife and lose his troops!"