804 Feint
"Boom boom boom..."
The river trembled, and the artillery fired in unison.
The bombardment lasted for half an hour and gradually stopped.
Long-term bombardment will overheat the barrel of the ship's gun. If it continues to be fired forcefully, it is easy to cause the barrel to explode.
Therefore, in recent wars, he basically only let the artillery and the navy fire for half an hour, that is, one hour of artillery fire, and then rest for half an hour before continuing the bombardment.
Of course, this is also because the steel of these ship guns is the result of the crucible steelmaking period.
If the steel made from the converter is used, the effect will be better.
But this is only the primary steel for weapons.
With the upgrade of muskets and artillery, special gun steel and barrel steel must be developed.
"Take advantage of now and pretend to land on the beach immediately." Zhao Xu said to Chang Wei.
"That's what I mean." Chang Wei said, and then he gave an order.
Not long after, hundreds of small boats, carrying more than 2,000 soldiers in total, went to the other side of the river.
Chang Wei stared at the boats on the river and shook his head.
What he thought of, the King of Yan always thought of it first.
He, the disciple taught by the King of Yan, was afraid that he would not be able to surpass this master.
Zhao Xu did not notice Chang Wei's resentful expression, but focused on the river.
When these boats carrying soldiers passed the middle of the river and were only five or six hundred meters away from Niutou Beach, the soldiers sitting on the boats immediately leaned over and lay down next to the boats.
This was to prevent being wiped out by a string of shells.
As soon as they lay down, bursts of fire and white smoke appeared on the opposite Niutou Beach.
Shells flew towards the troop transport boats in the river.
"Remember the active artillery?" Zhao Xu said at this time, speaking quickly.
The purpose of this feint attack was to record the artillery that had not been destroyed so that they could focus on it during the next bombardment.
Otherwise, when they really crossed the river, these artillery would pose a threat to the crossing ships.
"Only remember 30%." While crossing the river, Chang Wei called 36 soldiers to stare at the opposite side.
In front of them was the map of the artillery emplacement that the balloon soldiers had reconnoitred in this short period of time.
"Keep observing, be quick!" Zhao Xu said in a hurry.
Every delay would increase the threat of the soldiers who went to feint.
In the previous bombardment, most of the solid bullets fell into the river, splashing water.
But they couldn't always be so lucky.
"Yes, Your Highness." Thirty-six soldiers sweated, they were all people with good memories in their respective armies.
"Boom boom boom..."
Two minutes after the first round of bombardment, the sound of artillery was heard again at Niutou Beach.
In Zhao Xu's telescope, these shells fell near the small boats.
Two of the small boats were hit by shells, and one was hit on the side of the small boat by a shell, and the small boat capsized directly.
The second one hit the bow, the small boat was broken, leaked water, and gradually became silent in the river.
The soldiers were washed eastward by the turbulent river.
"Send the steamboat to rescue immediately." Zhao Xu said solemnly.
The river was very fast, and these soldiers would soon be washed out of the range of Niutou Beach.
They couldn't hold out in the river for much longer.
Only the steamboat could save them.
Chang Wei heard this and immediately passed on the order.
He turned around and asked urgently: "Have you remembered it this time?"
If all the gun positions cannot be recorded, there will be more casualties next.
Because they are getting closer and closer to the other side.
"Remember everything." Thirty-six soldiers, who were responsible for different areas, said at the same time.
Chang Wei nodded and immediately ordered the soldiers to signal with flags, ordering the soldiers who were feinting to withdraw, and at the same time sent the artillery map to Zhao Xu.
"There are still 260 gun positions alive." Zhao Xu said, "We have to carry out another round of artillery fire."
Throwing down the map, he continued to look at the river.
At this time, the boat began to turn around and retreat, but the other side obviously didn't want to let the soldiers who were feinting attack go.
The sound of artillery continued, and the shells chased the soldiers' boats.
Three more ships were hit and capsized in the river. It was unclear how many soldiers were killed and wounded.
Seeing this scene, Zhao Xu felt distressed, but he could only harden his heart.
War is so cruel that the generals on the battlefield must consider the overall situation and exchange the smallest cost for the greatest victory.
However, this cannot avoid that some soldiers will become the smallest cost.
However, the rise of a country always requires a group of people to sacrifice their lives.
In the cruel jungle of the world, there is nothing that can be easily obtained without paying a price.
He also has this awareness in his heart.
If he fails in the confrontation with the West, Dasong will be in a desperate situation.
He will not choose to live in disgrace, and may be like Chongzhen, the king will die for the country.
Although he does not agree with Chongzhen's ability as a king, he has to admire his determination.
"Boom boom boom..." The artillery on the other side is still bombarding.
However, the small boats that feinted basically passed the middle of the river, and their shells could only fall into the river.
The steamboat caught up with the soldiers who fell into the water, threw ropes into the river, and rescued the soldiers one by one.
And some soldiers will never come back.
"This king will make you pay a heavy price." The surface of the river calmed down, but Zhao Xu clenched his fists tightly.
Originally, the civil strife in Dasong should have ended easily.
But it was the intervention of these foreign countries that made the war complicated.
And those who were killing each other at this moment were all Dasong people.
They only had to pay a small price.
It took another quarter of an hour for all the soldiers to land.
The sailing warship adjusted its position again, and the location map of the remaining artillery positions was handed over to the navy's artillerymen.
This time, they will focus on the bombardment.
"Boom boom boom..." Not long after, the sailing warship bombarded Niutou Beach again.
This bombardment also lasted for half an hour.
After the bombardment, Zhao Xu ordered another feint attack.
However, compared with the last time, he ordered large troop transport ships to participate in this feint attack.
Because if a small force is sent again, the Western generals on the opposite side are likely to see through his plan and adopt deceptive tactics, allowing only part of the artillery to fire and the others to hide.
And this time there are nearly 10,000 people crossing the river at the same time, so he can't cover it up.
Otherwise, if these 10,000 people land on the beach, they will be in trouble.
Sure enough, the opposite side bombarded again, compared with the last time.
This time there are only 96 remaining artillery.
In the following time, Zhao Xu ordered the sailing warship to bombard Niutou Beach twice.
At this time, the sun was setting, and a day had passed.
Zhao Xu ordered a truce, and repeated the bombardment the next day as a feint.
When there were only more than 30 artillery batteries on the opposite side, he ordered a full crossing of the river.
Obviously, the remaining 30 artillery batteries were too hidden and tricky.
It was difficult to clear them with simultaneous bombardment.
The war could not be delayed because of these 30 artillery batteries.
At this moment, it was just after dawn, it was Chenshi, nine o'clock.
Under his order, the troop transport ships and hundreds of small and medium-sized ships rushed to Niutou Beach.
The entire river was filled with ships, mighty and imposing.