The Cangshan Mountain Range is lined with ridges and consists of nineteen peaks rising from the ground from north to south, like a winding dragon crawling on the bank of Erhai Lake. Therefore, Xiaguan, located at the southern end of Cangshan Mountain, is also called Longweiguan.
Shangguan Pass, also known as Longshou Pass, is located at the northern end of Cangshan Mountain.
Under the leadership of Wang Bi, the soldiers of the Ming army climbed up the wooden cliff at night. Needless to say, there were hardships and dangers. But they once again created a miracle and conquered the thousand-foot-high Diancang Mountain!
When the sky was dark, five thousand Ming troops had been walking through the Cangshan Mountains for a long time. At this time, they finally saw the true face of these mountains.
As far as the eye can see, the mountains are full of green forests, but the top of the mountain is covered with white snow. The melted snow water from the top of Cangshan Mountain gathers into spectacular waterfalls in the canyons of the mountains.
Moreover, the mountains were shrouded in clouds and mist, and the clouds were constantly changing. The clouds gathered and dispersed, sometimes as light as light smoke, and sometimes as black ink. The soldiers watched in wonder, as if they were in a fairyland.
"Let's go." Wang Bi had no intention of admiring this wonderful scenery and kept urging the troops because he was late.
According to the plan, this Ming army should arrive at the Xieyang Peak behind Xiaguan City before dawn, and after the army attacks the city, they should suddenly rush out and create chaos.
However, neither Lan Yu nor Wang Bi thought that the climate in Diancang Mountain was very different and unpredictable when making plans.
When they set out last night, they watched the stars at night and were sure that it would be a sunny day. However, after going up the mountain, a strong wind suddenly came up in the middle of the night, causing the soldiers to stagger around and unable to distinguish between north and south.
Then it rained heavily again, making the already rugged mountain road even more difficult to navigate. Although the Ming army soldiers tried their best, they still arrived an hour later than planned.
When they climbed over mountains and ridges, overcame many dangers, and finally arrived at Xieyang Peak, they heard shouts of killing Zhentian from the southern foot of the hillside.
When the soldiers heard the news, they were very anxious. They hurriedly exerted all their strength and climbed up Xieyang Peak. They saw that a fierce battle had been going on in front of Longwei Pass for a long time.
"Hurry!" Wang Bi anxiously urged the soldiers to cut down the bamboo poles and prop up all the flags he brought. Then he beat the drums desperately and blew the horns.
In the midst of the thundering drums and horns, he drew his sword, pointed at the dragon's tail at the bottom of the mountain and shouted: "Children, follow me!"
After saying that, he led five thousand selected forwards and rushed towards Xiaguan like tigers down the mountain...
~~
To the east of Xiaguan, Lan Yu has already commanded the main force to attack the city.
The first thing to be solved was the wide Erhe River under Xiaguan City. To this end, Lan Yu ordered people to build a number of bamboo rafts in advance and put them into the river one by one.
Holes were left at the four corners of each bamboo raft, and the adjacent holes on all adjacent bamboo rafts were tightly tied with iron chains. A spacious pontoon bridge was built bit by bit.
The artillery unit used to cover the engineers building the bridge was the first appearance of the Yunnan Battle. During the time that the Lan Yu army was in Weichu City, one was to rest and recuperate, and the other was to wait for this unit to arrive and join forces.
Originally, the Ming army did not have artillery suitable for field battles, especially when fighting in the mountains of Yunnan. Heavy artillery was definitely a nightmare for the baggage troops, so the generals had no idea of firing artillery.
But this time the attack on Dali, whether from Shangguan or Xiaguan, will have to face a strong and complete city defense system with high walls and thick walls. In order to reduce the casualties of the siege troops, Lan Yu listened to the advice of His Highness the King of Chu and waited until
After the first mountain artillery team of the Ming Dynasty arrived, they marched to attack Dali.
When he originally designed the rappelling system, Lao Liu also wanted to design a mountain cannon for the Ming army. Under his care over the years, Ming's cannon-making industry has developed rapidly, and its manufacturing capabilities are now unprecedented. As long as he can design a suitable style,
, the Ordnance Bureau can make it for him.
Mountain artillery is required to be light in weight, small in size, easy to transport, and at the same time must ensure power. If these two conditions are both necessary and necessary, all the artillery used by the navy will be inappropriate. Even the lightest bowl.
The muzzleloader is too heavy for mountain warfare.
Fortunately, this did not trouble His Royal Highness the King of Chu, because he thought of Qi Jiguang's Crouching Tiger Cannon. He remembered that Qi Jiguang's original intention of inventing the Crouching Tiger Cannon was similar to his own, both because he had to cope with the inability of cannons to maneuver in mountainous areas, forests, paddy fields, etc.
Fighting in the area, this kind of light and powerful artillery was invented.
The style of the Tiger Crouching Cannon is also very simple. The gun body is only two feet long, but the inner diameter of the muzzle is three inches. It is a short-bodied, straight-barrel, large-caliber artillery. In fact, it is the world's first mortar officially equipped with the army.
Qi Jiguang's squatting tiger cannon was made of wrought iron. In order to prevent the barrel from exploding, seven iron hoops were added around the body. The cannon head was supported by two iron claws and an iron trip. The total weight was thirty-six kilograms. It can be used by an animal.
It can be dragged. When necessary, soldiers can march with the cannon on their backs. It is very light.
The cannons made by Laoliu are all made of copper, so there is no need to worry about the chamber exploding, and seven iron hoops are saved. Therefore, the weight of the "Six-Type Tiger Crouching Cannon" has been further reduced to less than 30 kilograms, but the range is one step further than the iron cannon.
cut.
~~
Yu Min belonged to the siege force. She was standing in the queue behind the position, and she and her colleagues looked curiously at the squatting cannons in the front row, as well as the busy artillerymen.
The artillerymen were busy digging holes to set up the Crouching Tiger Cannon.
Because the recoil of the mortar is very strong, before firing, you must first dig a hole in the ground, sit the breech of the gun in it, and then use large iron nails to fix the gun body to the ground. The muzzle is raised high, like a squatting tiger.
Hence the gun's name "Tiger Crouching".
After the gunners placed the artillery, they began to load it quickly.
I saw that they first inserted the powder wire and tied it with cloth; then put in six or seven taels of gunpowder and covered it with a wooden horse. Then they filled the muzzle with a little dry soil, put in a hundred lead pieces weighing five cents, and then
Use less soil to build a few times. This is to maintain the air tightness of the muzzle and increase its power.
Finally, a large lead bullet weighing thirty taels was pressed onto the top to complete the loading.
After the officer gave the order, the gunners lit the fuse with a match rope, then covered their ears and took a few steps back.
When the experienced veterans saw this, they quickly covered their ears and opened their mouths. Only new recruits like Yu Min, who had never seen a cannon, were still watching stupidly.
Then he saw a flash of muzzle fire and a deafening sound of artillery on the battlefield. Yu Min was so frightened that he sat down on the ground, his head buzzing. He couldn't hear a word of what General Niu Qi was saying to him next to him.
It wasn't until Niu Zongqi pulled him up from the ground and waited for a while that he regained his hearing.
It was so miserable to watch the artillery fire, let alone the target being hit by the artillery fire.
The Dali army at the head of Xiaguan City had never seen any cannons. Before the cannons were fired, they all stood on the Great Wall and threw stones at the Erhe River desperately, trying to prevent the Ming army from erecting a pontoon bridge.
When the smashing was in full swing, the cannon fired, and the Dali army did not know how to dodge. In the blink of an eye, they were shot down...
