At this time, the moon was dark and without light.
The flames from the exploding shells illuminated almost the entire battlefield, dimming all the torches on the battlefield. No matter how powerful it was, the presentation was quite shocking.
After Shen Yi gave the order to attack, a total of ten thousand-household battalions on the left and right lined up again and began to charge towards Yanzhou City.
After that, in the Chinese army's position, the artillery began a second round of salvo fire.
Compared with the previous round, after the experience of the first round, the accuracy of the second round of artillery was significantly improved. More than 90% of the more than 30 shells landed on the tower and exploded.
The best effect is to air explode in the enemy's face when he is about to land.
The sound of explosions sounded on the Yanzhou City Tower!
Even Ling Su couldn't help but stare at it. He murmured: "Mr. Shen...are you stuffing fireworks into the artillery?"
Shen Yi was using a telescope and looking intently at the battlefield.
Because, he actually has no idea about the actual function of this thing.
After all, previous experiments were conducted on some dummies and had never been used on the battlefield.
After hearing Ling Su's words, he put down the telescope in his hand, looked back at the two generals, and said: "This is a new thing that took me several years to come up with. People from the firearms workshop, Call it a blooming bomb."
"After the cannonball is fired, it can explode in the crowd."
Having said this, Shen Yi frowned slightly and said, "However, the power does not seem to be much stronger than ordinary artillery shells. If the solid bullet hits a crowd of people, the effect will not be much different."
Having said this, Shen Yi glanced at the battlefield and continued: "But this is the first time I have used this thing, and it is also the first time Qi Ren has seen it. Although it does not hurt many people, but..."
"It seemed to scare them."
There are fireworks in this era. Although the fireworks industry is far less developed than in the other world, they do exist.
Therefore, most people have seen something that can explode.
It’s just that fireworks have almost no lethality, but this kind of explosive bomb can not only hurt people, but also be quite powerful.
Although it cannot kill a person directly like a solid bullet, the broken iron pieces can easily penetrate into the flesh and blood.
You must know that these iron pieces are mixed with gunpowder, so they are not clean. Moreover, most of them have rust stains on them. It is impossible for the craftsmen in the firearms workshop to remove the rust stains.
Maybe water will be added to increase rust.
This is an era where there is almost no concept of disinfection. The most you can do is clean the wound with strong alcohol. Once you are injured by a blooming bullet with such a range of damage, the wound will definitely become infected, but the chance of infection will definitely increase significantly.
Su Ding looked at Shen Yi's Chinese army position and asked in a low voice: "Mr. Shen, how many of these explosive bombs are there?"
"We have made a lot of explosive bombs, and the number of artillery pieces is enough, but..."
Shen Yi shook his head helplessly and said: "There are just too few gunners available. This thing needs to temporarily trim the lead to ensure that the shell explodes before it hits the ground, or the moment it hits the ground."
He said slowly: "I have had people try it. If you don't trim the fuse, even if it is ignited, the impact of the shell will break the shell. At that time, even a violent impact can detonate the gunpowder, and the lethality will be weakened. a lot of."
Su Ding looked at the Yanzhou battlefield intently, lowered his head and said: "Mr. Shen, can you give some of these artillery pieces and artillery shells to the left army? I will need a hundred cannons and two thousand artillery shells at the end..."
"Then we are sure to take down Yanzhou!"
Mr. Shen rolled his eyes at the guy and said angrily: "These new artillery pieces are still being tested, so not many of them have been cast. The ones that are relatively usable so far are only a hundred or so."
"I'm afraid there are not even 500 shells left."
Mr. Shen groaned: "If you ask me for it, who should I ask for?"
Ling Su turned his eyes, lowered his head and clasped his fists and said, "Mr. Shen, I will need fifty new cannons and two hundred rounds of ammunition."
"The Right Army already has a lot of gunners, and they should be able to train qualified gunners quickly."
Master Shen looked back at Ling Su, coughed, and explained: "General Ling, this thing is still new and not yet mature. I brought it out today to put some pressure on the Yanzhou defenders, but more I just want to try out how useful this thing is."
"My idea is to first train an artillery battalion of the Qianhu Battalion in the Chinese Army Guard Camp."
"This artillery battalion will follow the Chinese army."
"Your two armies already have artillery battalions. If you need this new artillery for temporary use, just say hello to me and I will transfer it to you."
Shen Yi touched his chin and said: "When I become more proficient in the future, I will dispatch gunners from the artillery battalion of the Chinese Army and new artillery to your two armies."
Having said this, he looked at Yanzhou and said: "Today I ask you to come here with me to watch the battle. I don't ask you to ask for something from me, but I want you to see what this thing looks like and how big it is. Ability, and where and on what occasion it should be used in the future."
"As generals, you must know these things."
The two people clasped their fists and said yes.
Ling Su once again looked at the Yanzhou battlefield. After pondering for a while, he whispered: "Mr. Shen, if the range of this thing can be further, far beyond the reach of bows and crossbows, it would be very powerful."
"The application on the battlefield is probably better than the old artillery."
"Tried."
Shen Yi squinted his eyes and said softly: "The range is sufficient, but the gunner's accuracy in grasping the fuse is much different. At this distance, more than 90% of the shells can be guaranteed to explode. If it is at the farthest range, I'm afraid only 30% to 40% can successfully explode."
"Today is the first time this thing has been unveiled, so I asked the artillery battalion to advance to this distance to ensure nothing goes wrong."
Having said this, Shen Yi looked at the Yanzhou battlefield.
At this time, both the left and right armies had pushed under the Yanzhou city wall.
The Yanzhou defenders on the city wall were suppressed by artillery fire, not to mention the use of bows and crossbows. Some were too timid to even push down falling rocks, but only dared to pour hot oil under the city wall.
Because I didn't dare to stretch my head, the hot oil was not accurate, and the effect was much worse.
Soon, some soldiers from the right army set up a ladder and climbed to the Yanzhou City Tower without any obstacles.
Unfortunately, there were too many Yanzhou defenders on the tower. The dozen or so Huai'an soldiers who boarded the tower were quickly outnumbered and were either killed or forced to retreat and fell from the tower.
Su Ding's eyes were excited and he said in a deep voice: "Mr. Shen, the Qi army seems to be in chaos!"
"General, I will go back and send more people here. Maybe we can capture Yanzhou tonight without setting up encirclement points for reinforcements!"
After thinking for a while, Shen Yi shook his head and said, "We don't have enough troops."
"Even if we fight in and fight in the streets, we may not be Qi Ren's opponent."
The current Huai'an army is severely dispersed.
Not to mention Xue Wei in Feixian County, who has 20,000 troops, Jining Prefecture, Zouxian County, and Qufu all have Huai'an troops left behind.
Now, the two armies on the left and right under Yanzhou City combined, which is about 50,000 to 60,000 people, cannot suppress the Yanzhou defenders in numbers.
In other words, even if you break into the city and engage in street fighting, you may not be able to take advantage.
After all, although the combat effectiveness of the Huai'an Army is not inferior to that of most Qi people, it is the Huai'an Army that was not reorganized last year. The current Huai'an Army has been "diluted" by the soldiers of the Forbidden Army and the Huaihe Navy.
In terms of individual combat effectiveness, it may not be as good as last year.
"Just these thirty cannons."
Mr. Shen stretched out and said, "Starting tonight, and every night from now on, we will bombard Yanzhou City from a stone's throw away."
"At the same time, cooperate with the soldiers to attack the city."
"First, let's put some pressure on Qi Ren, and secondly..."
Mr. Shen said calmly: "Let my artillery battalion practice artillery."
…………
Jiankang.
As time passed, public opinion in Jiankang City became more and more intense.
Now, some people not only say that Shen Yi set fire to the Confucius Temple, some even say that he even personally removed the plaque of the most holy teacher and smashed the statue of the old master.
These rumors made Shen Yi's reputation worse and worse among Jiankang scholars.
But it's not completely without benefits.
Because many people find this kind of behavior very relieving, and some storytellers spread the word about it, Mr. Shen's reputation among the people is now much greater than before.
However, many scholars are really angry.
Some scholars gathered at the gate of Gongyuan, filled with righteous indignation and wanting to vent their anger on the old master.
Even many people in the officialdom were furious and wrote articles and notices criticizing Shen Yi's actions.
The palace, however, ignored these public opinions.
As time passed, the second court meeting where public opinion broke out came as scheduled.
At the gate of Deqing Hall, many officials gathered in twos and threes. Some of them were scolding Shen Yi for his treason and expelled him from the ranks of scholars and even civil servants.
Prime Minister Zhao Changping stood alone in a remote place, closed his eyes and said nothing.
Song Ying, who had been promoted to the rank of doctor in the Ministry of Civil Affairs, stood respectfully behind Prime Minister Zhao, lowered his head and said: "Father-in-law, don't worry, the imperial envoys from the imperial court who inquired about the matter have not returned yet. Right and wrong have their own justice, and they cannot confuse right and wrong. Besides..."
Dr. Song thought for a while and continued: "Besides, Junior Brother Shen has made outstanding achievements, so His Majesty will naturally protect him and will not let those people talk nonsense."
Mr. Zhao silently turned back, glanced at his son-in-law, then shook his head and sighed.
"The bad thing is that Ziheng's achievements are so outstanding."
He raised his head and looked at the door of Deqing Hall, with some worry in his eyes.
"I worry…"
Before Zhao Shangshu finished speaking, the first ray of sunlight shone down, and the door of Deqing Hall slowly opened, accompanied by three bells.
Eunuch Gao's melodious voice sounded at the door of Deqing Hall.