Lu Ming

Page 239

Therefore, for this war, the military still did a lot of preliminary work.It is worth mentioning that the leaders of the navy and army united unprecedentedly this time, and united to win a considerable amount of resources from the cabinet, which is why today's scene of the barge docking came about.

Of course, docking the barge is only the first step, and there are still many follow-up actions.

As the thick anchor chains were lowered all around, the barges firmly docked on the shore played the role of temporary docks.

At the same time, some engineers who had been waiting on the shore also boarded the barge.These people wore yellow or red vests, some went to the engine room on the barge to start the machines, some wore red bamboo engineering helmets, held small flags, and hung whistles on their chests, ready to direct the next wave of transport ships to dock.

In fact, strictly speaking, barges are not without power, but the power cannot be used for sailing.This barge named "Linpeng 04" was installed with a gas-powered traction device in advance.

The gas power system has been played very slippery by the industrial party.Born out of the original gas internal combustion engine in the 19th century, the parts are simple and the workmanship is rough. Nowadays, most of the workpieces can be "self-produced" in the factories in the kiln area.The only thing limiting the number of such internal combustion engines is the small number of parts that need to be imported.

Although the thermal efficiency of this early internal combustion engine is less than 10%, and the power does not exceed 10KW, it is a well-deserved artifact in the plane of crossing the crowd.You must know that in the current Ming Dynasty, there is no supply of liquefied petroleum gas or even higher-grade gasoline and diesel, so the gas power system that can use the ubiquitous vegetation in the [-]th century to generate power anytime, anywhere, is Best for the machinery of the current era.

After the engineering personnel entered the engine room on the ship, they first filled the steam coal stored in advance into the gas generator shaped like an iron cylinder, and then ignited it.Not long after, with the faint black smoke rising, the system started to work.

After the gas enters the internal combustion engine, it provides power.After that, the internal combustion engine starts to do work. When the power gradually increases, the thick iron wheel outside the internal combustion engine starts to rotate slowly.

At the same time, the barge terminal is also officially "receiving passengers": a slow-moving transport ship with a square head and a square brain is slowly docking at the port.

Up to now, more than an hour has passed since Cao Zongbing pointed out the country just now.However, the spectators on the city tower were not bored. Whether it was the generals who spoke in a rough voice or a group of wealthy businessmen who were unknown and crowded in the corner, they were all fascinated by the operation of the wharf that was close at hand.

People of later generations, when they go out, the streets are full of cars, cranes build buildings when they look up, and excavators demolish them when they look down, so they have long been accustomed to the power of industry.

However, in this era, the aborigines have not experienced the baptism of industrialization at all, so whenever people see that huge and mysterious power, they are always attracted immediately.

Although the aborigines have heard the legend about the iron artifacts of Yizhou organs before, how can the language be as shocking as the scene?So when the long barge was pushed to the shore, it attracted the interest of generals, businessmen, and people all over the place at the moment.The aborigines are watching excitedly, looking forward to the next action... The aborigines are not stupid. The aborigines know very well that building the wharf is only the first step, and there must be a show behind it.

After the square-headed and square-brained transport ship docked at the pier, the bow and stern also anchored.After the hull stabilized, something happened that made the audience cry out: the hull of the tall transport ship suddenly cracked.

Soon people saw clearly: it turned out that an outer wall was slowly opening.On closer inspection, the siding shone with metallic luster, and it turned out to be a large iron plate!The iron plate is very large, about the size of a carriage.As time went by, through the gap that got bigger and bigger, people even saw the sailors in the cabin who were slowly turning the capstan.

With the rotation of the winch, the iron chains on both sides were slowly lowered, and finally, the iron plate "clanged" and landed at the far end of the barge pier, forming a de facto slope.

Immediately afterwards, from the engine room of the barge, the engineering staff pulled out two thick ropes and dragged them all the way to the cabin of the transport ship.

Theoretically speaking, here is to use steel wire rope.However, such tall things as steel wire ropes cannot be produced by themselves at present, so they can only be replaced by oiled ropes.

After the rope was pulled into the cabin, it took a while before a small green flag was waved at the hatch.With the appearance of the small flag, the power machinery in the engine room of the pontoon began to output maximum power, so the rope was pulled and slowly retreated.

The next moment, a thick cannon appeared in full view.

In fact, strictly speaking, what appeared at the door of the movable cabin was the cannon butt—this was a 24-pound long-barreled naval heavy gun emitting black light.

Heavy guns are mounted on gun mounts.With the pulling of the rope, the cannon regressed and slowly slid down the steel plate slope. Then, under the gaze of thousands of eyes, it continued to retreat slowly, and was pulled all the way to the other side of the barge and landed on the shore.

Next, another group of long ropes took over the previous position, continued to be hooked on the gun mount, and began to pull... During the time when the barge docked, two sets of mobile traction systems have moved successively Between the pier and the artillery emplacement.

The so-called mobile traction system is actually no different from the components on the barge. It is still a gas-powered device, but the system on the shore is transported to the place by horse-drawn carriage and then assembled.

In this way, through the relay traction of three sets of mechanical systems, this 2.8-ton naval heavy artillery was able to pass through the floating pier and the temporary hardened gun half an hour later, under the command of engineering personnel waving small flags and blowing whistles. The dirt road was pulled to the rear of the preset artillery position.

The last step for the artillery to enter the position can only rely on manpower.A large number of young soldiers rushed forward, pushing and shoving, and placed the huge door in the circular artillery emplacement surrounded by sacks.

At the same time, the originally silent indigenous audience, perhaps because they had been watching the show with bated breath before, actually shouted excitedly at the moment when the artillery was put in place.All of a sudden, there were tidal shouts from the top and bottom of the city tower and even from the nearby sea, and people were expressing their respect for power to their heart's content.

Since the first cannon was successfully put in place, several transport ships began to "unload" in turn.And this unloading lasted for a whole day.

By the evening, a total of twenty 24-pounder long-barreled guns and fifteen 18-pounder guns had been placed in place.There are many other small-caliber artillery transported by land, so they don't need to be counted.

In just one day, the artillery positions preset between the gate and the enemy's fort were filled with cannons with their heads held high.

This huge metal position, which always reflects black luster, not only frightened the Portuguese on the opposite fort, but also made the natives of the Ming Dynasty show horrified expressions, even the generals: the Ming people never Having seen so much steel gathered together, the cold, sense of industrial massacre piled up by scale always shakes the hearts of all witnesses.

Chapter 552 Ming-Portuguese War ([-])

When the strength gap is relatively large, the leading party will be able to take care of themselves.

The same is true for the time-traveling crowd.After the artillery group landed that day, it was almost dinner time. Although the artillery array had not been completely set up, Mr. Cao had already started to invite the guests to leave the meeting and go downstairs for dinner, forcing a war into a nine-to-five rhythm.

The next night, aside from the excited Ming people, the Portuguese hiding in the fort naturally had a hard time.

Seeing that a large number of cannons were sent ashore by a devilish force, the process was so fast, the Portuguese naturally hated and feared.

However, being afraid of returning home is of no use.The Franji ghost couldn't even attack the artillery array at night-not to mention that the field of fire between the two armies had been flattened, and the beams of light strafing all night also made it impossible for any humanoid object with thought to hide.

Fortunately, the fort is solid.

When the St. Paul's Fort was built, it inherited the usual method of oriental engineering technology in this era. The original formula cement of glutinous rice juice, syrup, sand and oyster shell powder was used to fill the joints between the bricks and stones, so it is extremely strong.Some time ago, because of the looming war, the Portuguese even bought some cement from multiple channels to reinforce the fort and add protrusions.

This is the only thing the Portuguese can rely on.

Time: The next morning after the artillery array was deployed.

The straight-line distance between the Lotus Stem Gate and the Fort is two kilometers.After a busy day and night, at the midpoint of the two places, on a piece of land four to 500 meters in front of the gate, the artillery array has been completely placed.

On the emplacements whose ground had been hardened in advance, the sturdy cannons glowing with metallic luster formed a majestic 4-row phalanx.According to the different calibers, the small cannons are in the front and the cannons are in the back. During the period, ammunition carts filled with gunpowder and shells were regularly distributed.The artillery array is generally horizontal and vertical. At first glance, it looks like a crouching beast, full of murderous aura in silence.

At this moment, the generals of the Ming army on the tower were in complicated moods while observing the artillery formation.

In fact, when the scene of the cannon landing yesterday appeared, many people had already realized what it meant.

The so-called layman watches the excitement, while the insider watches the way.Among the many generals invited to come this time, although there is a hereditary wine bag and rice bag, it is a minority after all, and most of the rest are regular officers, who are very sensitive to military technology.

Yesterday's amphibious cannon landing operation, for these discerning people, the word "speed" was the most shocking thing, followed by "lavish" and "mechanical device".

Although these officers have played with bronze runners and Francophones on weekdays, and even the battalions of several anti-Yao generals who have been in combat readiness for a long time have their own artillery teams, but it is precisely because of this that they understand the importance of deploying artillery in front of the enemy. of horror.

You must know that in the original Pearl River Delta environment full of water systems and vegetation, even if it is just a few small tiger squat cannons, it will take a lot of manpower and time to move them to the enemy's village.

But yesterday, in front of everyone's eyes, the cannons of several thousand catties were transported to the land by sea, and it only took a few hours before and after.Such an efficient logistics capability is indeed unimaginable for the old-style officers, not to mention that this is not one cannon, but dozens of them!

Thinking of the power contained in this, among the generals who rushed to "work" early in the morning, someone finally spoke: "It is possible to deploy such a cannon array within ten days. My lord is clever, and the salary is sufficient. The last general Submit!"

The black-faced general who spoke did not appear to be flattering, but with some expressions of admiration from the bottom of his heart.This person is Lianshan Defense Xianggong, who was born in the army. Because of his bravery in battle, he has accumulated meritorious service all the way to the defense officer.

Xiang Gong belonged to the kind of straight-hearted military general who relied on desperate battles for military merits, and he didn't have too many twists and turns in his head.After being shocked yesterday, he went back and thought about it all night. The more he thought about it, the more he felt that the cannon array was powerful inside and out, so today when he saw General Cao early in the morning, he finally couldn't hide his admiration, and he stood up honestly and handed it over. A bow.

Hearing this, General Cao nodded kindly to this nominal subordinate, and then laughed: "Xiang garrison and sit down for a while, today is the main attack, and there will be a show later."

Hearing these two answers, most of the people in the room had smiles on their faces, but if you look closely, some of them looked at Mr. Cao, which meant that it was difficult to understand... After all, not everyone It is the rectum.

After going back last night, as professional soldiers, most of the generals will actually think of a question: If one day "Cao Jun" mobilizes the artillery array and army horses in front of their own houses, how should they respond?

The answer for most people is "can't handle it".

The pace of war in the Middle Ages was very slow. In this southern water network area, a war could easily last for years and months.

However, last night when someone thought about this problem, cold sweats flowed down: a large number of artillery crossed the water and landed in front of their own city/fortress overnight, and the messenger sent here for help did not even look at the gate of the provincial capital Arrived, let alone mobilized soldiers to rescue.

Looking sideways at the court pillar/Zhongyong Bo Cao Chuan who was talking and laughing happily with He Zhen, and thinking about the fact that the city will be besieged by the same number of heavy artillery in the future, many people present today are naturally worried.

……

While the generals were chatting and laughing happily on the city tower, as the sun rose, the army of traversers, the artillery array that spent a huge amount of resources, was finally about to speak.

About 100 meters behind the artillery array, there are several field tents surrounded by sandbag walls. This is the actual headquarters of this battle.

In the headquarters at the moment, there are young officers in field uniforms everywhere, the sound of telegrams and short and powerful orders are intertwined, a tense form before the advent of the war.

And those who were a little out of touch with the surrounding atmosphere were the three traversers in the corner wearing general uniforms.These few didn't have the tension before the war at all, but were eating breakfast leisurely.

"Hey, I heard that all imported luxury goods are out of stock?"

Wei Yuan, the interim commander of the Pioneering Army, who was big and round, asked vaguely while eating the stewed pork with green peppers and potatoes in the military lunch box.

The person who answered the call was Wang Xiaohui, a naval liaison officer who also came to "observe".This gentleman probably has been trained in the army for a long time. He looks fat and white, and he is not polite when he stuffs his food. Private quota. Alas, I heard that the supply of spare parts is not available, and the equipment in the factory has to be stopped."

Wei Yuan shook his head: "Sooner or later, the stalls will get bigger and bigger, so there will be no supply."

Wang Xiaohui chuckled: "I don't care, anyway, I quit smoking."

... Just as the officers were chatting, a dark and thin young officer came over to salute: "Report, I received a telegram from the Fuyuan, asking about the time of our bombardment."

At this moment, an equally dark and thin traveler officer reached out to take the telegram.

This person is Yu Mingjie, one of the last time-travelers to join Daye, he served in the artillery unit "before his death", and he is still doing his old job after time-traveling.In this battle, Yu Mingjie, as the director of artillery, was not only in charge of shelling, but also the commander in the first half of the battle.

After taking a glance at the telegram, Yu Mingjie reached out to pick up the walkie-talkie on the folding canvas table, first communicated a few words with the tower and the infantry battalion headquarters behind the tower, then got up and issued an order: "Call back to Fuyuan, five minutes The bombardment was launched."

"Yes!"

After issuing the order, Yu Mingjie walked out of the tent, came to the low wall piled up with sandbags, and said to several staff officers there: "Calculate and shoot Zhuyuan again, and test the gun in five minutes."

The artillery staff officer who received the order began to conduct observation operations with the artillery mirror.

In order to train the troops as much as possible and think about the future, the traversers who have reacted have begun to implement the "de-high-tech" operation in the army.Nowadays, except for the sparsely populated special forces and the army and navy headquarters, the rest of the arms no longer have the right to use electronic equipment.

However, the original artillery scope is more than enough in this case.After all, the Portuguese in the castle on the opposite side had no weapons that could threaten this side, so the staff members could spend their time calculating and shooting the various elements.

Soon, in less than 5 minutes, the data reported loudly by the observers was marked on the map by other staff using the map operation.

Silently watching the staff members skillfully work on the map, although Yu Mingjie's face was tense, his heart was full of emotion: Only God knows the painstaking efforts he has spent in training a bunch of shop assistants and children to what they are today right?

Five minutes later, following Yu Mingjie's order, the herald trotted and sent the note saying "shooting Zhu Yuan" to the artillery position in front.

After reading the note, the artillery company commander in front announced the data loudly with an iron horn.

At first it was a small cannon, and then a cannon. Accompanied by bursts of white smoke and loud noises, according to the different calibers, each artillery group began to test the cannons in turn under the command of the headquarters.

Attacking Macao City from the land direction belongs to west to east.At the moment when the sun rises, it is actually not good for the attacker, because it needs to face the sun directly, which is a disadvantage in the era of cold weapons, including the era of hot weapons.

However, when the technology gap is large enough, these unfavorable factors do not matter.

The artillerymen on the gun positions fired in turn, facing the glare of the sun, and corrected the firing angle of each gun.And at this time, no accident, the shells fired from the opposite St. Paul's Fort also landed near the artillery position.

After 10 minutes, the scattered artillery battle between the two sides temporarily came to an end.

The "Ming Army" ceased fire because Zhu Yuan had been measured, and the next step was to prepare for a salvo.The Portuguese, as the passive side, naturally wouldn't shoot endlessly without thinking.

The reason is simple: the red hairs don't have so many shells to waste, and the cannons they have can't accurately shoot military targets 1000 meters away, so the Portuguese have little interest in this kind of long-distance shooting.

However, some people think otherwise.

Another 20 minutes later, amidst the strange cry of "Battle of Huaihai" by Wang Xiaohui, an expert in military history, the artillery array began the first round of rapid fire.

This round of earth-shattering cannon fire shot more than 50 iron balls of different sizes into the Portuguese castle thousands of meters away.For a while, the artillery position was full of gunpowder smoke, and the loud noise from 50+ artillery pieces made Ming people within a radius of 5 miles feel like thunder. Everything changes color.

However, within 2 minutes, the second round of rapid fire was fired again, and then the third round, and the fourth round... After a "bang", someone on the tower finally overturned the chair amidst the earth-shattering sound of the cannon. Sitting down on the ground.

Chapter 553 Ming-Portuguese War ([-])

With the improvement of productivity and the accumulation of primitive industries of human beings until the seventeenth century, artillery formations composed of multiple artillery pieces have already appeared on the battlefield.In Europe, whether it is the ongoing 30-year land war or the large-scale naval battles that have appeared on the sea many times before, firing artillery is nothing new for European soldiers.

But for the ancient and backward Ming people, this earth-shattering scene is a kind of subversion-it subverts the Ming people's world view, making them realize that in the world they seem to be familiar with, there is a An unprecedented force.Power is the driving force behind all changes.

Although the two battleships also fired on the waters of Macau before, it was an emergency after all, and there were not many Ming fishermen who were lucky enough to watch the live broadcast.Today's bombardment is a close-range strike launched from land under the gaze of thousands of eyes. The effect is completely different.

The shelling is indeed shocking, even for people from later generations, because this is the first live ammunition land artillery fire that occurred in the Far East on this plane.

The sense of presence brought by gunpowder smoke and huge air shock cannot be felt by watching the Battle of Huaihai on the TV screen.Therefore, the melon-eating people in the tower, including Cao Zongbing himself, were very excited during the first round of rapid firing of ten rounds.

"What a big battle! Ashamed and ashamed, the old man was off guard for a while, making everyone laugh."

It was a fat and white gentleman who spoke.His surname is Pan, and he is a social leader in Zengcheng County. He owns a restaurant in his family, and his dim sum is famous far and wide.Master Pan was also the first group of people to have a relationship with the Cao family, so he was lucky to be in the corner of the tower today.

However, during the rapid artillery fire just now, Mr. Pan, a Taiping scholar, did not stand the test of the revolution. He trembled under the deafening artillery fire. fell to the ground.

Fortunately, Master Pan was surrounded by people, so he was helped up immediately after he fell down.At the same time, Bai Juren from Zengcheng urgently asked for a wet towel to wipe Master Pan's face, which made Master Pan calm down.

"Oh my god, the explosion of this cannonball is really earth-shattering. It's no wonder that Master Pan lost his composure, and my student is also shaken!"

After a few sentences to smooth things over, Master Bai saw that the sound of the cannon had stopped for a while, so he took care of the orderly who was wearing a military uniform and was specially sent to do miscellaneous work, and asked for an oblate military iron kettle painted with green paint, and poured the tea in it. I gave Master Pan two gulps.

Not to mention the melon-eating business gentry who were surprised by the artillery fire from their own family, let's talk about the square formation of generals in the middle of the tower.

Even though it had been expected beforehand and no one made a fool of themselves just now, the generals still showed the shock in their hearts on their faces.After all, everyone has seen Francophones and a few cannons firing on weekdays. Have you ever seen such a battle?

The outspoken General Ma Shen was still standing behind the binoculars at this moment, with a sluggish expression, his mouth wide open, looking at the artillery position in front of him that was covered in billowing white smoke like a fairyland, and muttered in his mouth, "Your Excellency, relying on such a sharp weapon, must be invincible in the world! "

"It's not surprising, everyone is leading the coquettish."

Cao Zongbing had already returned to his soul at this time.Seeing someone cheering him on, he looked confident, and seized the opportunity to show a wave of strategic vision that a commander should have: "Nowadays, China has frequent exchanges with overseas countries, and all kinds of military preparation methods depend on this. Firearms are getting more powerful."

"The current battle is just the beginning. Fighting a group of lone troops at the door of the house, the right time, place and people are not there. But it will be hard to say in the future. The territory is vast, and one day we will meet the opponent's army."

Speaking of this, Cao Zongbing put on a strict expression: "Everyone, the world has changed. Those of us in the army no longer rely on swords and spears to fight the enemy. Today, sitting on this tower, They are all talented and fierce generals. After this battle, everyone should learn to broaden their horizons, and must not cling to the handicapped and stick to the little tricks handed down by the ancestors to make a living!"

As the saying goes, whoever has the biggest fist has the right to speak.Hearing Deputy Commander Cao's semi-preaching words, coupled with the rumble of cannons below the tower, all the generals present except Commander He bowed and clasped their fists together: "The last general will be taught!"

……

It is said that the rumbling cannons heard on the tower at this moment were not actually fired from the artillery positions below.The first round of ten rapid fire here has been fired, and what is still roaring now is the sound of the counterattack from the St. Paul's cannon.

In fact, from the third round of rapid fire, the St. Paul's Fort began to fight back.The Portuguese waited in full force for so long, and after confirming that the opponent was officially firing on a large scale, they immediately ordered the artillery to return fire.