Xiao Yiqing rushed to the southeast of Heishi'ao overnight. The night was dark, the fields were covered with white snow, and the snowy light was diffuse, but he could barely make out the black shadow of Liang Jun moving eastward in the distance.
In addition to the terrifyingly powerful artillery, the Taiyue Marching Army is also equipped with a large number of bed crossbows, scorpion crossbows and various chariots. Even if the same size of troops is engaged in field battles, the combat effectiveness of the Taiyue Marching Army will be superior, let alone before nightfall.
, east of Elephant Trunk Ridge, the Queen Mother’s Camping Army had an absolute advantage in strength.
Wusu Zongshu watched helplessly as the Heishi'ao camp fell, but he did not lead his remaining troops to flee north. Instead, he gathered nearly four thousand cavalry in an unknown village southeast of Heishi'ao and stood by.
The new type of war weapon that Liang Jun called the "Fuhuo Crossbow" was terrifyingly powerful, but it was only in limited quantity. Wusu Zongshu didn't believe it. When their main force retreated from the south, Taiyue Xingying was at an absolute disadvantage.
The army is really like a rock and iron wall, lying across the open area east of Elephant Trunk Mountain, motionless.
Xiao Yiqing rushed over and met up with Wu Su Zongshu first. In addition, the garrison at Savage Peak and the southwest of Changyuan Mountain had already regrouped 20,000 soldiers and horses on the northern front by nightfall.
However, in the face of the new weapons introduced by Liang Jun into the battlefield, the generals lacked the necessary knowledge, and the horses were easily frightened away by the thunderous explosions. Launching a surprise attack at night really had little chance of winning.
"This is the lead elixir refined and presented by the former alchemist Qing Xuzi..."
A few days ago, after receiving a report from a scout, Xiao Yiqing speculated that the new type of war equipment that Liang Jun was trying out at the camp had thunder and purple flames emitting from the cast iron pipe mouth, so he guessed that the iron pipe was probably filled with explosives similar to lead.
At that time, he and Wu Su Dashi were in Huguan City, so he ordered Wang Jingrong to find a craftsman in Luzhou to try to refine lead pills.
Lead pill is made from saltpeter, sulfur, realgar, nectar and other substances. It was regarded as a great tonic stone medicine in the world. Many pharmacopoeias have recorded prescriptions. Some pharmacopoeias also record that there will be explosions after ignition.
Burning, the phenomenon of purple flames rising into the sky.
Saltpeter, sulfur, and realgar are all relatively common medicinal materials. As long as the quantity is not tens of thousands of kilograms, Luzhou City can collect and refine dozens of finger-sized lead pills, which is more than enough.
In just a few days, Wang Jinrong had people make the lead pill according to the pharmacopoeia.
Wanting to imitate Liang Jun's new war weapon, iron pipes were difficult to cast, so Wang Jingrong specially made several small copper pipes with one end sealed, showed them to Xiao Yiqing, and said: "Crush the lead into powder.
It is put into a tube and ignited. In addition to thunder and flames, airflow is also ejected. I guess that the new type of war weapon made by Liang Jun is the lead that is ignited and then erupts with airflow, pushing the projectile out to hurt humans and animals. But it is difficult to imagine the power.
It’s so terrifying…”
Xiao Yiqing has been secretly watching Luoyang's every move over the years, especially in the development of new learning. He has tried every possible means to infiltrate and bribe. However, there are many new learning and techniques practiced in Luoyang, and it seems that they can think of many of them.
There are some key points, but when I really start to imitate them, there are many things that are specious, or in other words, they are just a hair's breadth away.
The structure of the spring-arm type crossbow is not complicated. It is mainly made of multiple layers of fine iron bars fastened together to form a crossbow arm with extremely strong tension and strength. However, in the past two years, the spring-arm type crossbow imitated by Taiyuan Institute of Technology has
The effective range of the crossbow can barely reach 250 steps, which is too far behind Liang Jun, so it is difficult to use it on the battlefield to compete with Liang Jun.
According to the scout's description, Wang Jingrong had previously tried pouring powdered lead into a copper pipe and lighting it for testing. At this time, he took out the copper pipe and demonstrated it in front of Xiao Yiqing, Zong Shu, Na He Yanzhen and others.
After loading the medicine, the cotton string and the stone pellets were ignited, a dull sound passed, and in a burst of purple smoke, the stone pellets were also sprayed ten steps away.
Seeing this scene, Xiao Yiqing guessed that the reason for the fire-volting crossbow made by Liang Jun might be here, but the small stone pellets sprayed out ten steps away were as powerful as the iron pellets weighing more than twenty or thirty kilograms.
It can shoot two thousand steps away, tear apart heavy armor like a piece of wood, and pierce through walls. The difference is so astonishing!
He didn't know when Luoyang secretly developed such a terrifying weapon, and he didn't know what kind of mentality Han Qian had to bring it out at this moment.
There is no shortage of talented people on both sides, and cruel war is the most direct and efficient catalyst for the development of military technology.
Based on hundreds of years of experience in ambushing fire with gold and stone and refining lead and pills, there are no obstacles to the emergence of fire systems and prototypes of artillery. Even in the late years of the previous dynasty, some people used lead and pills to crush them and put them in tubes to launch flaming arrows.
Although Han Qian had the Engineering College develop prototypes of artillery and powder guns when he first arrived in Tangyi, the power of the first generation of artillery and powder guns was too limited.
The artillery is loaded with stone bullets and has a range of only three hundred steps; and the power of the gun|powder gun is even far less than that of the pre-improved arm-opening crossbow. Of course, there is also a very fatal problem here, that is, the preparation of saltpeter is extremely backward.
The production scale is extremely limited; even saltpeter is often confused with the more common Glauber's salt, making it extremely difficult to identify.
Putting artillery and powder guns with immature technology and low power into the battlefield too early will not have much meaning other than causing hostile forces to imitate. Therefore, when artillery technology develops to a sufficiently advanced level, it will also ensure that it is difficult for hostile forces to
Before the successful imitation in a short period of time, only a very limited number of people inside knew about the existence of this technology, let alone put it into actual combat too early.
Of course, using the research and development system established on the basis of new learning, gunpowder and gun technology have been continuously improved for more than ten years. The progress here is so great that Xiao Yiqing and others can hardly imagine it.
If Luoyang had not formed a primary chemical system over the years, the identification, extraction, and purification of saltpeter alone might have required hundreds of years of experience and exploration.
The gunpowder Luoyang put into actual combat at this time was almost close to the limit of black fire|powder in terms of physical properties. The explosive power was almost ten times that of simply crushing lead into powder. Therefore, it could be
The range of the heavy smoothbore gun with a long barrel was increased to a terrifying distance of three thousand steps.
In addition to the performance of gunpowder, the power of guns is also directly related to the casting level and accuracy of guns.
The casting of heavy smoothbore cannon is a microcosm of Han Qian's achievements in promoting the development of smelting and casting for more than 20 years.
Of course, at this juncture, Xiao Yiqing and Wang Jinrong, the engineers, demonstrated in public how to shoot rocks with lead powder. This was not to study the principles of the fire-fighting crossbow. His main purpose was to let the generals see Liang Jun.
The new weapons used are not magical, so there is no need to be afraid.
If the generals cannot overcome their inner fear, this battle will really be impossible to fight, let alone successfully break through to the north from the interception of the Taiyue Marching Army.
This is bound to be a sleepless night.
Wang Jingrong led engineers to various temporary camps to demonstrate to generals and military attaches how to use lead powder to fire stone pellets. At the same time, new troops and horses continued to withdraw from the south overnight; at dawn, Wusu Dashi was surrounded by more than a thousand horsemen.
, rushed over to meet Xiao Yiqing.
Outside Yangwu Valley, after the trail to the west of the enemy's stronghold in Heishi'ao was opened, thousands of Liang troops continued to pass through Heishi'ao and extend to the wilderness east of Elephant Trunk Ridge that night.
Between Elephant Trunk Ridge and Ducheng Ridge, the relatively flat gap is about seventeen miles wide.
In addition to Wen Yuan's troops shrinking to the west of Yangwu Valley and taking care of the east entrance of Yangwu Valley, Li Xiu also deployed more than 20,000 soldiers, more than 10,000 capable civilians, and 5,000 heavy troops and horses to the Elephant Trunk Ridge to the east overnight.
and its four highlands.
The height of the so-called high ground is also limited, ranging from a few feet to more than ten feet. It is more than a hundred steps to the left and looks more like a small mound, but it can be used as an artillery position for combat deployment.
The four highlands are staggered in front and back, but the maximum distance between every two highlands is no more than six miles.
Taking into account that Liang Jun will not completely retreat to the high ground and can rely on the high ground camps to launch operations on both wings at any time. At the same time, there are intermittent dense forests in this area. After winter, the branches and leaves fall but still make it difficult for men and horses to move. In fact, Liang Jun has already
The "closing and sealing" is initially completed on the north side.
Liang Jun relied on temporary highland camps and dense forests to dig trenches and build fences on both flanks overnight. Xiao Yiqing knew that the breakout was a bit hasty at this time, but there was not much time left for them, and he did not give them any time.
With sufficient preparation time, it is recommended that Usu Dashi put all the troops that can be gathered on the northern front into the battlefield before noon and launch an attack at all costs.
Even if you only need to successfully capture a highland position of the Liang Army, you can ensure that the vitality of the Mongolian people will not be cut off in this battle!
Although they have 130,000 infantry and cavalry between Jincheng and Jinquan Mountain, Liang Jun has 60,000 to 70,000 elite troops from the south slowly forcing them. They still have to leave enough rear troops on the southern front. Even so,
They can also devote a total of more than 80,000 elite troops to the northern front breakout operation.
However, can 80,000 elite soldiers and horses definitely break through the blockade of Taiyue's marching army?
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The cast iron barrel of a heavy smoothbore gun weighs more than 5,000 kilograms. With the gun mount, even if it is pulled by four to six horses, it will be very inconvenient to move on the rugged battlefield.
Fortunately, the heavy smoothbore cannon has a long enough range. Even if it is fixedly deployed on a small highland at the core of the defense array, it can still provide powerful fire support to the infantry and cavalry fighting more than 2,000 steps away.
The infantry cavalry entered the battlefield directly and carried out mobile interception operations on both wings. They were forty-eight-loaded light smoothbore cannons divided into eight combat groups.
It has to be said that the Mongol cavalry has extremely rich combat experience and is mature enough.
The offensive launched by the Mongol cavalry in the afternoon, when the distance was far away, slowly advanced northward in a loose formation. Even if the solid bullets fired from ultra-long distances frequently triggered ricochet, the tragic situation would not occur when one shot was fired; when the distance was closer,
, the Mongolian cavalry would speed up their horses, gather together during a rapid assault, and conduct a concentrated assault towards a certain location of the Liang Army.
In this process, the firing direction of Liang Jun's artillery will be avoided as much as possible.
However, when they got closer, they were greeted by chain bullets and shotguns that had not appeared yesterday.
Compared with solid bullets, the range of chain bullets is shorter, but the two solid bullets are connected together with an iron chain. After being launched, they spin at high speed and fall into the enemy's formation. The coverage is by no means comparable to that of a single solid bullet.
.
Although chain bullets have a complex structure and are launched more slowly, they are much more effective against scattered enemy soldiers than solid bullets.
The shotgun has a shorter range and is mainly used to kill enemy troops within a range of 300 steps. However, a light smoothbore cannon contains 200 small projectiles in one shot. Four to six smoothbore cannons are fired at the same time, forming a huge enemy in an instant.
The fan-shaped barrage is enough to destroy the enemy troops currently charging.
The firing power of a six-bore light smoothbore cannon at close range is comparable to a thousand super-powerful war crossbows. How can we fight this battle?
Of course, the more important thing is that the elites of Daliang have forged a steel-like will after years of fighting in the north and south. Even with the original war equipment, they are not afraid of facing the Mongol cavalry in the field.
Even if the Mongolian cavalry could avoid the artillery's firing angle and get entangled, the elites of Daliang Baizhan would fight forward without fear, entangled with the enemy in hand-to-hand combat, and then asked the artillery troops to calmly look for opportunities to launch during the entanglement.
…
After fighting for a long time, I watched the exhausted soldiers covered with scars retreat to the temporary camp in the south one after another at night. I watched the faces of these soldiers were so anxious and desperate, and even violently whipped their beloved horses under their crotches.
Xiao Yiqing's heart felt cold.
In just half a day, more than 7,000 soldiers were thrown into the wilderness among the ice and snow, and they were not even able to defeat any of Liang Jun's interception arrays extending from the highlands to the periphery.
The Liang Army's First and Second Central Camps not only completely occupied Jincheng today, but their main force also pushed ten miles north from Jincheng, compressing their activity space between Jincheng and Jinquan Mountain to seventy miles.
Not deep enough.
The scouts who sneaked into Mengzhou and Jiangzhou also rushed back to report that Liang Jun had carried out comprehensive mobilization in Mengzhou, Jiangzhou, Hejin, Pingyang and other places three days ago, and almost 30,000 to 40,000 troops were marching from Taihang, Qin, etc.
Water valleys continue to flow into southern Shanxi.
Hearing footsteps behind him, Xiao Yiqing turned around and saw Wu Su Dashi walking over accompanied by Zhebie.
"We have to prepare for the worst..." Xiao Yiqing lowered her voice and said.
If all 200,000 soldiers and civilians were destroyed here, not to mention Huguan in the north, Luzhou would not be able to hold on, and even Taiyuan Prefecture, even the three towns of Heshuo and the Yanyun states in the north would fall sooner or later.
To prepare for the worst, Wu Su Dashi and some core generals, protected by a small group of elite soldiers and horses, climbed over the steep mountains of Taiyue Mountain and rushed back to Taiyuan City to organize the largest and most complete retreat since the southern invasion.
Not only were Taiyuan, Zelu, Heshuo and other places abandoned, but Yanyun and even Liaodong were also abandoned to protect the last Mongolian tribes and move them deep into the desert to rest and recuperate.
Unless Mengwu one day masters smelting, casting and ordnance casting techniques comparable to those of Liang Jun, he should never be an enemy of Liang Jun again.
"Unless you are desperate, you will not prepare for the worst!" Wu Su Dashi interrupted Xiao Yiqing decisively and did not let him continue.
Looking at Wusu Dashi's face as cold as a mountain stone, Xiao Yiqing felt panicked, knowing that Wusu Dashi might not really think that there was still hope for a successful breakout at this time. Perhaps he felt that even if he escaped back to Taiyuan, it would be better to die here than to die in battle.
There's not much difference, right?
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The Mongolian army rested for a day, and it was not until the third day that the Liang army launched another charge at the defensive position established east of Xiangbi Ridge. However, it was more like a final desperate struggle.
The morale of the infantry recruited from Yanyun and Liaodong became extremely low after two or three rounds of charges. They tried every possible means to delay their dispatch, or they dispersed after being dispatched just after two or three shellings in the array.
, return to the narrow starting area that shrinks to the front of the supervising team.
Not wanting to trigger an uncontrollable mutiny, Wusu Dashi did not dare to supervise the battle too hastily. At this time, he mostly used his own cavalry to charge into the formation, but everything was in vain.
Since the Liang Army on the southern front was also equipped with a certain amount of artillery, the Mongolian army's rear troops could not effectively intercept the Liang Army on the southern front.
Liang Jun on the southern front was still advancing northward unswervingly at a speed of ten to twenty miles per day.
On the fifth day, except for the soldiers and civilians who were defeated or fled, Wu Su Dashi and Xiao Yiqing were unable to withstand Liang Jun's north-south attack. They could only lead the last 80,000 remnant troops and were forced to retreat to Changyuan Shandong.
In a valley at the foot of the mountain.
Liang Jun, who was constantly recruiting reinforcements from Mengzhou, Jiangzhou, Pingyang and others, had already gathered a strong force of 130,000 troops east of Changyuan Mountain.
Prior to this, not only were 100,000 women and children evacuated from Jincheng dispersed, but countless people died of hunger and cold in the ice and snow. There were always 70,000 soldiers in the Mongolian army, who were either killed, captured, or escaped by luck.
Deep in the mountains and forests...
In addition to opening a narrow passage to accept the surrender of Yanyun, the Han army in eastern Liaoning, and the surrendered troops in Jin and Heshuo, Kong Xirong commanded the army to tightly surround the remnants of the Mongolian army from three sides, and carried out artillery bombardment from time to time every day.
The remnants of the Mongolian army pressed deep into the valley.
On the last day of the seventh year of Taihe, each tribe sent their elites into the enemy formation, completely defeating the last remaining will of the Mongolian army to resist.
Sima De and Cao Zhe, accompanied by Wen Ruilin, walked into the enemy camp and saw Xiao Siqing, Zhebie and other enemy generals dying in front of a large tent. Only then did they know that Wusu Dashi had been killed four days ago.
He was shot by a loose pellet and died that night. His body has always been parked in this tent.
Sima De, Cao Zhe and Wen Ruilin walked into the big tent. In addition to seeing the coffin containing Wu Su's corpse, they also saw Xiao Yiqing who had died of drinking poison...
