Chapter 511 Blast a Big Hole

Historically, Yang Xiuqing had an overview of the affairs of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom. If it hadn't been for the expansion of ambitions in the later period and the vain attempt to replace Hong Xiuquan, his achievements in life would have been more than that.

It is also true that Hong Xiuquan in the wilderness is extremely afraid of Yang Xiuqing. From the very beginning, Hong Xiuquan put Yang Xiuqing into the army and never let him interfere in the affairs of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom.

However, Hong Xiuquan is naturally an expert in establishing doctrines, organizing sects, and playing tricks. But when it comes to governing the country, Hong Xiuquan is a complete layman.

Therefore, the economic situation of the three counties under the rule of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom is not very good, and Hong Xiuquan's personal prestige is responsible for maintaining the rule.

The people under the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom lived in extreme poverty.

The country is easy to change, but the nature is hard to change.

Although Hong Xiuquan was not as extravagant and lustful as in his previous life, proper enjoyment was still inevitable. The idea of ​​"equalizing the world" he put forward in his previous life was also completely abandoned.

Hong Xiuquan in this life is a kingly supremacy through and through.

...

Looking back at the battlefield, Yang Xiuqing led his troops to launch a third fierce attack on Mulan Fortress.

On the battlefield, gunpowder smoke filled the air.

"Boom!"

Under the continuous bombardment of the artillery, the walls of the Mulan Fortress were under a huge test.

The army of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom on the South Road is not afraid of death. Wearing iron shields, the soldiers guarded the four cannons to the death without fear of sacrifice, determined to blast a big hole in the Mulan Fortress.

Ming Dynasty artillery, is it easy?

In the midst of the rumbling, a big hole was finally blasted out of a corner of the east wall.

"Aim at that big hole and blast me through it!"

The artillery commander looked excited, seeing the dawn of victory.

Ever since, the four cannons fired a volley, and one after another the "Thunderballs" bombarded into the big pit. The big hole in the city wall became bigger and bigger and deeper.

Due to the shortcomings of the Ming Dynasty artillery itself, the accuracy of the artillery at this time is really not satisfactory. It is extremely lucky to have one of the four shells hit the big crater.

During the Ming Dynasty, whether it was muskets or artillery, they were widely used, but why didn't they completely replace cold weapons with hot weapons like in the West?

There are four main reasons.

First, the artillery must be able to fire "blossom shells", that is, explosive bombs.

why? Because only explosive bombs can turn artillery from a siege device into a field weapon, which can kill and injure living targets in large numbers; and if only solid iron balls can be fired, the lethality is naturally limited.

A cannonball blasted out and exploded into countless fragments, causing extensive damage.

The "poisonous fire flying fight" made in the Ming Dynasty, the barrel is made of wrought iron, filled with more than ten taels of gunpowder, the shell is melted and cast from pig iron, and the shell is filled with "five taels of arsenic and sulfur poison". In addition, violent shattering hurts people.

Unfortunately, this technology was immature during the Ming Dynasty and was not applied on a large scale.

In the Qing Dynasty, instead of making improvements, they regressed and replaced shells with solid iron lumps, or even stones and iron filings.

Before the Westernization Movement, the power of Qing Dynasty artillery was naturally child's play.

In the 1870s, Zuo Zongtang went to the west and found the "blossom shells" of the late Ming Dynasty in Fengxiang, Shaanxi. The island tribes roam the sea, and they have been proud of me for decades?"

Manchu Qing's conservatism in the guiding ideology of weapons and equipment caused the Qing army to pay a heavy price in the Opium War. Before the Westernization Movement, during the more than two hundred years of the Qing Dynasty, firearm technology was even more backward than that at the end of the Ming Dynasty. Compared with the active improvement of firearms by the Ming government, the ignorance of the Qing rulers can be seen.

Second, the artillery must have considerable mobility.

The mobility of artillery is not good, which is not conducive to mass concentration. The artillery of the Ming Dynasty, whether it is the tiger squatting cannon, the Fran machine gun or the later Hongyi cannon, has poor mobility.

Although the tiger squatting cannon is not big, it has to be nailed to the ground with big iron nails before firing; the Hongyi cannon was originally a Portuguese naval gun, weighing thousands of catties, too bulky and only suitable for defending the city.

On the other hand, in the West, the cannons were of appropriate caliber and were drawn by horses, which could quickly concentrate and form artillery positions in a short period of time. The Ming army also had horse-drawn artillery carts, but the artillery on the carts was too weak.

Just like the five cannons transported by the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom from Tianjing, it took a lot of effort along the way. Otherwise, the artillery that appeared on the battlefield would not be five, but ten, or even more.

Third, there must be a considerable number of musketeers.

Even matchlock guns have great advantages over bows and arrows, not to mention flintlock guns with four or five rounds per minute. During the Warring States Period in Japan, Oda Nobunaga's musket three-stage strike was very famous.

Unfortunately, there was never a real firearms unit in the Ming Dynasty army.

There is no unified standard for those big and small firecrackers, which puts a huge burden on logistics; some of them even require two people to operate them on a bamboo stand, which is extremely inconvenient.

Fourth, the artillery must have considerable fire control capabilities.

The so-called fire control ability is specifically the use of instruments such as gun gauges, gun rulers, and moment gauges, as well as the mastery of the skills of loading ammunition and ammunition. Without this, the accuracy of the firearm is a joke.

A good gunner must estimate how far away the enemy is before firing his cannon. Although you can guess the distance from the size of the human figure seen through the telescope, you can measure the distance accurately if you use the moment.

In the early years of Chongzhen, the Ming army's imitation of the Hongyi artillery had entered the stage of mass production. However, the Western method of using instruments to improve the accuracy of artillery aiming was always a blind spot for many Ming army gunners at that time.

Hong Xiuquan obtained the "Ming Dynasty Artillery Manufacturing Technical Manual", so he naturally did not have the ability to improve the Ming Dynasty artillery. It is extremely difficult to produce it as it is according to the manual.

Therefore, the four cannons of the South Route Army can be seen on the front sight.

The four cannons bombarded the whole morning, and only eight shells accurately hit the big crater in the city wall, and all the other shells missed.

Seeing this, Yang Xiuqing's face was livid with anger, but she couldn't get angry again.

In one morning, the South Route Army lost more than 6,000 people. Counting, the South Route Army has lost more than 30,000 people, but has made no progress.

Thinking of Heavenly King Hong Xiuquan's strongly worded reply, Yang Xiuqing's face became even more ugly. He ordered the whole army to stick to it, not to blow down the city wall, and never to withdraw to rest.

...

On the city wall of Mulan Fortress, Bai Qi's expression was unprecedentedly dignified.

Although the enemy's artillery hadn't worked yet, it shocked Bai Qi too much.

As a general from the Warring States Period, Bai Qi is really unfamiliar with firearms. Seeing that the huge iron monster launched by the enemy can blast through the city wall several meters thick, how can Bai Qi not be surprised?

Bai Qi immediately realized that with the appearance of artillery, there will be a change in the future battlefield.

As a general, Bai Qi will never be satisfied with the status quo and give up learning and progress. After this battle, it's time to learn about firearms.

From this point of view, it is only a matter of time before the city wall is blasted through.

Bai Qi immediately ordered to mobilize ten saimen knife carts to stand by near the city wall bombarded by the north.

The gate knife cart is a defensive tool used to block the city gate when the city gate is breached. Twenty-four steel knives are installed on the front wall of the knife. When in use, the cart is pushed to the gap of the city gate, which can not only kill the enemy, but also block the enemy's arrows and stones. In this way, it is difficult for the other party to climb, forming a barrier to activity.

Therefore, the Saimen knife cart is the most useful emergency weapon when the city is broken.

At the beginning of the design of the Mulan Fortress, a complex design was adopted for the city gate. Not only are two consecutive urns designed, but the main city gate is blocked by huge stones, and the stone gate can only be lifted by using equipment.

This set of equipment was specially improved after the Mohist family moved in.

Therefore, for the Southern Route Army of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, in order to break through the gate of Mulan Fortress, it is better to directly bombard the city wall, which is simpler and more straightforward.

The only disadvantage of Mulan Fortress is that there is no moat.

Now that the enemy is going to bombard the city wall, Bai Qi can only mobilize the saber carts and organize the defense.

In addition, Bai Qi also sent a fierce general evil, asking him to lead the two mountain barbarian heavy infantry brigades of the third division to stand by near the city wall bombarded by the north.

Once the city wall is blasted through, there will inevitably be a bloody battle at the entrance of the North Bombardment.

Whether you can block the enemy's attack and firmly hold the gap is the key to this battle. At this time, Bai Qi naturally wants to mobilize the most elite troops to participate in the defense.

In the entire Shanhai City army, there were no mountain barbarian heavy infantry, so the iron wall of this territory was more suitable.

After everything was arranged properly, Bai Qi breathed a sigh of relief, he had already prepared for the worst.

...

At two o'clock in the afternoon, the entire battle situation ushered in the biggest turning point.

"Boom!"

Following an iron shell, it accurately hit the big pit before, and with a "crash", the section of the city wall on the east side was finally bombarded by the artillery, creating a huge hole.

Immediately, the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom South Army cheered loudly, as if they had won.

Yang Xiuqing's complexion also improved slightly. He knew very well that morale was available at this time. Don't wait until tomorrow, send an order immediately to use the hole in the city wall as a breakthrough to launch the most violent charge against Mulan Fortress.

Be sure to win the battle.

The ones rushing to the front are Li Xiucheng's department.

"kill!"

The young general Li Xiucheng led the vanguard and was also the most elite infantry under his command. He rushed towards the big hole immediately, his eyes were red, and he looked at death as if at home.

And at the first moment when the city wall was bombed, the soldiers of Shanhai City cleared away the collapsed stones as quickly as possible, and pushed the two saber carts accurately to the entrance of the cave.

Elai led the Shanman Heavy Infantry Brigade, behind the sword cart, waiting in full force. Raksha, who sat down evilly, let out a roar, and couldn't wait to rush into the battlefield.

One of the most difficult offensive and defensive battles is about to start in the narrow hole.