Chapter 245 Thousands of artillery bombard the governor to escape
Zhu Yihai called the gunners of the meritorious general cannon. The guy in charge of aiming the cannon was very tall, nearly two meters long, with an eye-catching golden beard. When he asked, he turned out to be a Swede. This guy was in his forties.
The mercenaries are also veterans of the thirty-year battlefield in Europe.
He fought with King Gustavus II of Sweden and had a glorious time. However, when Gustavus II died on the battlefield, the bearded man did not continue to be loyal to Gustavus II's six-year-old daughter.
Queen Cristina accepted the employment of the Spaniards, but she was not very lucky and later moved to the East.
Faced with Zhu Yihai's inquiry about the award, von Philippe was quite honest and said that the shot was actually three-quarters dependent on skill and seven-cent luck.
Zhu Yihai was very satisfied with this guy's sincerity. Not only was he rewarded with ten more dragon silvers on the spot, but he was also promoted to the chief artillery instructor of Qianniu Town Young Army and awarded the title of guerrilla.
Von Philippe held twenty silver dollars and was in a daze.
Although I heard that Lu Jianguo was generous and generous when I was in Macau, I never imagined that he was so generous. After just one shot, he was rewarded with twenty silver dollars.
After arriving in the Far East, Philip got used to the silver of the Ming Dynasty. There were many European countries and their currencies were in chaos. For example, the pound was reformed to move closer to gold because silver was not very valuable, and the silver content continued to decrease, to about one tael.
Gold is worth five pounds, but one tael of gold in the Ming Dynasty is now worth fifteen taels of silver. In the Ming Dynasty, one tael of gold was exchanged for four taels of silver, to seven taels and eight taels. In the early days of Chongzhen, one tael of gold was worth ten taels of silver.
Five taels, due to the war, the gold and silver exchange ratio continued to increase.
According to this calculation, one pound was worth about three taels of silver at this time. This dragon-patterned silver coin looked pretty good. Philip made a quick calculation in his mind. He was an excellent gunner and was very good at mathematics. He quickly concluded that his shot would
This is equivalent to about six pounds, which is more than one tael of gold.
"Your Highness, let's just pull up these twenty-six mighty and invincible general cannons and blast them hard at the south gate. It should be able to collapse directly." Wang Zhiren came up and suggested very excitedly.
Zhu Yihai was quite calm.
The shot just now was indeed a lot of luck. Under normal circumstances, the accuracy of this front-loaded smoothbore artillery is very low. Of course, if so many artillery pieces are concentrated at close range for bombardment, it will be really powerful.
However, the Qing army also had artillery on the city. Although the number of artillery was not large, there were many small and medium-sized artillery, which was still very threatening when placed at the top of the city.
Zhu Yihai asked Philip for his professional opinion. He first carefully asked Zhu Yihai about the defensive strength, artillery, etc. in the city before giving an affirmative reply.
"Our artillery does have a great chance of breaking through the city wall and opening the city gate, but I suggest that it is best to clear the city wall first, especially the trenches. Otherwise, even if the artillery collapses the city wall, the infantry will not be able to follow in time.
If we rush into the city, the opponent will be able to block the gap."
"Another point is that if our artillery is pushed too far forward and too densely, it may be hit by artillery fire from the city, but if it is placed behind, its power will be greatly reduced."
The role of artillery is definitely very powerful, but he still recommends regular combat first. When the city is cleared and the city can even be suppressed, the artillery can then assist in blasting open the city gates to open a gap for the infantry to enter the city.
City head.
Zhang Cunren, Xiao Qiyuan, Tian Xiong and others went to the top of the city again. They looked carefully and saw only one cannon.
Tian Xiongtong blushed, "There are four red cannons at the top of the South Gate City. Are you all dead? Looking at the other side blasting us, you fucking can't fight back? The other side has pulled the cannons at such a close range.
You are condescending and targeting me!"
Several officers were so scolded that after receiving the order, they quickly ran to scold the general in charge of artillery below.
Soon, the Qing army's four red cannons counterattacked one after another.
The city defense's large Thousand-pound Franco machine guns, Weiyuan cannon, Grand General cannon, and short-barreled mortar Weiyuan General cannon also began to reload and take aim.
There are hundreds of various artillery pieces on the head of Nancheng, one-third of which are cannons weighing more than a thousand kilograms. They are said to be able to shoot a thousand steps, but in fact these cannons are only the four red-coated cannons that are the most powerful.
Relatively backward.
Just like the mighty general cannon, it is a kind of mortar with a very short body but a huge mouth. This cannon is shaped like a bell and is commonly known as the watermelon cannon or the sky cannon. This kind of cannon is usually found on the bow of Western sailing warships. This kind of cannon
The shooting elevation angle is large and it is difficult to shoot directly. The shells fired are very huge. It is most suitable for attacking a city, especially for throwing it over the city wall and attacking inside the city wall.
Of course it would be good to put it on the city wall, but the problem is that the range of this kind of gun is actually not far, and the accuracy is even worse.
As for the Weiyuan Cannon, the General Cannon, and the Fran Machine Cannon, they are actually more suitable for loading shotguns and suitable for bombarding infantry groups at close range.
But there were orders from above, and the gunners couldn't care less.
The cannons were loaded quickly, regardless of the actual range, they were just rushing towards the huge cannon that had just fired.
Suddenly, hundreds of cannons fired on the south wall, and the ground shook.
Countless iron ball lead bullets of various sizes and even huge stone bullets from mortars flew all over the sky.
It's like poking a hornet's nest.
Zhu Yihai, who was standing a mile away at this time, was also frightened. He quickly grabbed the old bachelor Xu Shiqi and others and ran away.
"Quickly retreat!"
These cannons are no joke. Although they are not very accurate, who dares to block their luck?
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When the smoke cleared, Zhu Yihai stood up from behind a shield car in a somewhat embarrassed manner. Although he was several miles away from the city wall, the violent bombardment just now still left him a little frightened.
"Your Highness, the mighty and invincible general has lost his cannon."
Yang Boxing came over to report with some heaviness.
The Tatars fired a volley of hundreds of artillery pieces, and then fired not just one shot, but bombarded that cannon for a long time.
He had just accomplished his feat, blowing off half of the roof of the South City Gate of Hangzhou with one cannon. The twenty-four-pounder cannon, which Zhu Yihai Qin named the most powerful and invincible general cannon, had already been blown to pieces.
The gun carriage completely fell apart, and the shield truck blocking the front was also blown to pieces.
Fortunately, Philip and other gunners saw the opportunity and ran quickly.
The Tatar counterattack was so fast that they did not even have time to withdraw the artillery.
"Too careless."
Zhu Yihai looked at the artillery position still filled with smoke and dust, and could only say helplessly.
Just pushing the cannon one mile in front of the city did greatly increase its power, but it also placed the cannon within the counterattack range of the city. Originally, Zhu Yihai thought that there were only four 18-pound red cannons on the city, allowing them to fire
Even a few shots are unlikely to hit.
But who would have thought that this Tatar is crazy.
He actually used the hundreds of large and small artillery on the south city to fight back and retaliate at all costs, bombing them indiscriminately for a long time. No matter how bad the accuracy is, they can always hit it. After all, they are only one mile apart.
He Tengjiao stood there with a pale face. When he was in Huguang, he also guarded one side, but he had never encountered such a style of play.
This scene of hundreds of cannons blasting together is so spectacular.
Xu Shiqi didn't look good either. He sighed, "Five thousand taels of silver, now it's gone?"
Zhu Yihai was okay, "It's not like it's gone. The lumps of copper and iron are still there. Just pull them back and re-melt them. We also have gunsmiths and technicians. If you recycle them, they'll be worth a lot."
"Don't move the cannon to the front for the time being. It should be at least three miles away from the city wall. It is best to build a bunker for the cannon and build a fence on the wall."
The master was beaten to death with random punches, and everyone was really caught off guard.
Just now, the Ming army's momentum in the city was high due to the power of that cannon, and they shouted "Long Live the Mountain", but they were immediately beaten and were stunned.
Wang Zhiren rushed over and said, "Your Highness, we cannot let the Tatars take away our spirit. Please retaliate with artillery."
Zhu Yihai looked around and found that everyone was indeed stunned by this random attack, which greatly damaged morale.
"That's right, we don't have fewer artillery than the Tatars, how can we let them take away our morale?"
"Send the order, pull up the cannons, and set up an artillery position three miles away. Since you want to blast, let's blast it to see whose cannon is more powerful."
There are hundreds of large and small artillery pieces in the Tatar city, but they are divided into four gates, and the space at the top of the city is limited, making it difficult to place them.
As for Zhu Yihai, who was on the siege side, he could pull all the artillery over and focus on attacking one point. Although the Tatars had the upper hand and had the advantage, they had more heavy artillery.
Of the twenty-six twenty-four-pound cannons, one was lost, and there were twenty-five more. Not to mention that although the three-pound regimental cannon weighed only more than 500 kilograms, this cannon was comparable to any of the more powerful cannons in the city. General
The gun is not a little bit stronger.
The order was passed down, and Wang Zhiren went to take command in person.
The soldiers in the imperial camp rushed to help push the cannon.
An hour later, an artillery position was built about three miles away from the south city gate.
Twenty-five twenty-four-pound long guns, plus twenty-six three-pound guns, as well as some Franchise machines, general guns, etc. were also brought up. Anyway, all kinds of guns in the imperial camp were all used this time.
Come together.
They were all handed over to the artillerymen of Shenji Town for use.
"The artillery is in position, please fire!"
For safety reasons, Zhu Yihai and others were pulled to a location ten miles away from Hangzhou City and stood under the banner of Zuozhu.
Taking out two balls of cotton, Zhu Yihai plugged his ears and said, "Shooting is allowed!"
Nanchengtou, Hangzhou.
In the dilapidated city gate building, Zhang Cunren and others had been watching the reaction of the Ming army outside the city, watching cannons being pulled out one after another and placed several miles away.
My heart keeps sinking.
Tian Xiong and others all looked in disbelief.
The excitement of destroying the Ming army's cannon just now was like falling into an ice cave. They couldn't believe how the Ming army had more cannons than they did.
Tian Xiong gritted his teeth and suggested that he please assemble the cavalry in the city and go out to destroy the Ming army's artillery.
Zhang Cunren wanted to agree, and even wanted to lead the cavalry out personally, but at this time Hangzhou was caught off guard. There were only a few thousand soldiers in the city, and even fewer hundreds of cavalry.
Facing tens of thousands of Ming troops, rushing out is like beating a dog with a meat bun.
The Ming army's artillery positions, which were at least three miles apart, were basically beyond the range of the city's artillery. The cavalry did not dare to move out, and the artillery could not hit them.
In the end, all that is left is to wait for the end of being bombarded.
Seeing that the opponent had completed preparations, Zhang Cunren had no choice but to run down the city with a dark face again.
Xiao Qiyuan, Tian Xiong and others also followed downstairs. The prefect Zhu Guofan also followed downstairs excitedly. If he didn't go downstairs this time, he would probably be blasted to the sky.
Hiding in the soldiers' cave in the city wall, several people remained silent.
The atmosphere is stagnant.
There was a dull thunder in the distance, and then I felt a huge earthquake under my feet.
An hour later.
Zhang Cunren led Xiao Qi Yuan Tianxiong and others to climb the south city wall again. The city gate tower had completely disappeared. Even the battlements of the south city wall had been blasted to pieces. Even the brick wall had many cave-ins and cracks.
Although it has not collapsed yet, it is still crumbling.
The four red cannons and more than 100 other artillery pieces deployed on the south wall were destroyed by two red cannons and more than 20 other cannons in this round.
Zhang Cunren walked around the city, ignoring the broken arms and limbs on the ground, and finally stood on the city and looked at the city below for a long time, then turned and went downstairs.
Early the next morning, Tian Xiong went to Governor Zhang's Yamen to meet with Governor Zhang to discuss military matters. He was told that the Governor had broken out of the siege last night and went to Jiangning City to move reinforcements. Governor Xiao Qiyuan also left.
Governor Zhang left a message when he left, saying that the defense of the city would be led by Admiral Tian Xiong, and the logistics and civil affairs would be left in charge of the prefect Zhu Guofan.
He asked the two of them to work together to defend the city. He and Governor Xiao would be able to bring reinforcements back soon.
Tian Xiong was stunned for a long time, unable to believe it.
When it was confirmed that Zhang Cunren and Xiao Qiyuan had run away shamelessly, he kicked down the door angrily.
The governor and the governor fled in the middle of the night and took away a thousand Manchus and Eight Banners from the city, which only made matters worse.
Tian Xiong cursed in his heart, why didn't the Ming army outside the city surround and annihilate these two guys last night? They cut them into pieces. His grandma, if you want to leave, take me with you.
