Chapter 736: Thunder and Thunder, and the Wind Rises (4)
Under the hazy sky, the cavalry’s advance was like a surging ocean tide. The cavalry formation, totaling nearly 6,000, looked densely packed from the sky. The heavy armored cavalry at the front were like huge waves rising from the tide, charging on the plain. There were really hills. The power of bulldozing crushes everything.
When the armored heavy cavalry roared forward, the half of the side and rear gradually separated and began to go sideways and forward. This was half of the light cavalry separated from the armored cavalry - although the iron kite was a heavy cavalry, it It is often used as the main force in Xixia operations. It is good at rushing operations and can maneuver quickly. During long-distance raids, they would be followed by an equal number or twice as many packhorses, carrying heavy armor. Although these pack horses are not as elite as war horses, when the heavy armor is removed, the accompanying auxiliary soldiers can still use them as mounts to form light cavalry for combat.
Xixia is originally a tribal system with strict hierarchies. As the elite among the elite, Iron Kites are often equipped with three deputies. These deputies are the slaves and personal guards of the Iron Kites knights, regardless of their bravery or Their loyalty is quite high, and they can be said to be the best among a hundred. Even though the war horse under his crotch is not good enough, he is still a quite elite force.
This time the Black Flag Army broke through Yanzhou and showed strong combat power. In order to quickly kill the bandit army coming out from behind, Mei Le led 2,700 iron kites to rush in quickly, followed by There are more than 2,700 pack horses and light cavalry. From the time when the war was about to start, Chang Da, the deputy leader, received the order to interfere from the side and act according to the opportunity. He led nearly three thousand light cavalry and began to surround the side. The array on the opposite side was orderly and looked quite fierce. However, according to past combat experience, this fierce army would still be overwhelmed by the heavy cavalry forward. open. What he needs to pay attention to is the one or two thousand light cavalry already lined up behind the opponent's array.
The opponent was riding a horse specially raised for combat. His own mount was slightly inferior, but the bravery of the knights under his command would never be inferior to anyone in the world. Chang Da had great confidence in this. Once the opponent shows any bad signs, the cavalry led by him will rush towards the opponent without hesitation.
He stared at the battle ahead, exhaling and inhaling. The heavy cavalry with iron hooves churning increased its speed to its peak and was about to step into the place of an arrow. According to past experience, arrows will fly over, but for Iron Kites, it is of little significance - even if they understand this, there will still be arrows, and sometimes a few unlucky heavy riders will fall off their horses.
But there were no arrows.
The next moment, the attack came like an overwhelming force!
Without much warning, as the first explosion flame rose, countless explosions set off huge waves on the front line of the cavalry wave, and deafening sounds swept out. The huge waves silently It lifted up and rose up, as if it were rushing head-on, rushing against the huge tide of iron kites, and there was a stalemate for a moment, and then both sides slapped each other in.
"Wow-"
Bang!
Boom—
Boom, boom, boom, boom, boom—
Squad leader Nagu shouted as he rushed into the huge tide of smoke and dust, and then fiercely hit him from the other side. After being smashed out, the fallen armored war horse pressed down on his body. He raised his head in the coexistence of pain and numbness. On this side of the huge waves, countless flowers were rising!
The gray-black barrier, the smoke, the surging shock waves, the choking and dry smell, everything was rising and expanding, and objects launched from the front crashed into this barrier. Yellow light exploded in the black smoke and dust, followed by dark red flames, various small objects splashed, and air waves rolled and raged.
In Nagu's field of vision, the nearby explosions were like the earth shaking. To me, the heavily armored iron kites galloped like mountains. They rushed out of this barrier, and their toppling and rolling were like landslides. generally. The impact on the enemy array shrunk the front of the cavalry formation, causing the distance between the horses to become closer than usual. The rising black smoke and dust blocked the sight of the cavalry. Many cavalry were still intact, but at high speed, As they sprinted, they either stumbled over the bodies of their war horses, or bumped into their frightened companions in front of them, flying to the ground with a loud noise.
On the high loess slopes, vegetation was already sparse. Although it was not as barren as in later generations, the power of the explosion caused the dust to rise.
In such a huge chaos, some of the war horses were still frightened.
The field of vision was trembling, and the ominous air flow was chaotic and unspeakable. The companions rushed out of the black barrier, running or collapsing, or a small number of them were still accelerating. Nagu saw a heavy horse rushing out of the smoke. The knight on the horse still seemed intact. The next moment, an object shot from the side hit the running knight. The horse was still rushing out, and half of the horse's body was covered with armor. It was blown to pieces in the rear.
This is magic! Huge fear surged in his heart, and he wanted to climb out from under the horse. Just as he was using his own strength, a kite jumped out from behind. The horse stumbled, and it flooded his field of vision like a hill...
"—— The second shot of the Elm Cannon is loaded!”
“Hurry up, hurry up, hurry up! ——"
"Don't let them breathe——"
On the Black Flag Army's position, the officers of the Special Regiment were shouting hysterically. From behind, two thousand cavalry began to pull out. , the atmosphere in the infantry array was chilly, Hou Wu, Mao Yishan and others were waiting for the moment to charge. Around them, soldiers from the Special Regiment were rapidly assembling portable resistance horses. These horses use long cast iron sticks as the central axis, which are cross-inserted with iron spears and fixed. Six spears and one piece of cast iron form a set. After being fixed, it is almost impossible to move when placed on the ground. Even if it rolls over, it will still be the same. After the shape is assembled, it is quickly pushed forward.
The battle on Dong Zhiyuan has just begun, but this oncoming blow is like a dream. In this era, it is almost a sight that has never appeared.
The first round of shelling directly paralyzed or killed probably more than a hundred armored heavy cavalry, but what was truly spectacular was the rising smoke barrier. It blocked the line of sight of Iron Kites' charge, and the fallen cavalry also became the resisting horses. At this time, the number of fallen cavalry was still increasing. The nearly a thousand cavalrymen who were covered in the entire front line were more or less affected. Some horses were frightened and ran wildly in the wrong direction. In these years, the cavalry set off firecrackers or made noise to scare the horses. Training to get used to the sounds of the battlefield, but never to this extent.
Some cavalrymen had their eardrums ruptured while on horseback, and the flying smoke and dust blurred their eyes. The balance of the warhorses was also affected. For a while, the galloping heavy cavalrymen might be tripped by their companions. , fell and broke their necks, or bumped into other cavalrymen while running. The knights on horseback pulled their horses desperately, ran faster and faster, and then fell to the ground with a crash. The remaining cavalry continued to run after slight adjustments, and here, artillery shells were still being fired continuously.
Many cavalrymen were continuously filtered out.
In the artillery array, the soldiers quickly cleaned the gun barrels and loaded hollow or solid shells into the elm cannons. There were more than 20 iron cannons, and most of them were hollow shells. , the specifications and caliber of these iron cannons They are not all the same, some are integrated, and some have been divided into two sections. Like the later Folan machine guns, the barrel and the charging sub-cannon have a separate structure. After one is fired, the sub-cannon is removed and the other is The sub-cannon was quickly loaded.
Lin Jingwei and Gongsun Sheng, the person in charge of the craftsmanship category in Xiaocang River, stood near the iron cannon cluster. They frowned slightly as they looked at the heavy cavalry who were wandering alone in front of the battle line, or struggling to get up from the ground. At this time, the surroundings were full of loud noises, shouts, and gunfire. Lin Jingwei looked at it and shouted to the side: "Come as usual, come as usual, over there, what are you doing! Watch out for the cannonball in your hand, it will kill you bastard——"
Amidst the banging sounds, there were also explosive packets flying into the sky. Some exploded after falling among the horses, and some exploded after a while. Gongsun Sheng watched the power of the explosion carefully.
Nearly nine years have passed since Ning Yi came to Wu Dynasty, and Ning Yi has been subconsciously making improvements to gunpowder almost from the beginning. In a sense, ancient Chinese black gunpowder and modern yellow gunpowder are two different concepts. The space for improvement of black gunpowder is not unlimited, but has to be developed into modern explosives, such as trinitrotoluene and (stone) glycerol. It requires a lot of chemical foundation.
Bottlenecks exist, but some things are not without compromise. The three basic compounds for making glycerol, sulfuric acid, have been discovered by alchemists in ancient times. Nitric acid is not available for the time being, but its raw materials were not lacking in the Wu Dynasty. In this era, the main functions of saltpeter are: Large households use it to make ice in the summer. Nitric acid can be obtained by carbonization of saltpeter, or by reacting with sulfuric acid and hydrolyzing it. As for glycerin, it can be separated by heating sulfuric acid with animal and vegetable oils and fats, and then reacting with soda or lime. It can even be used to make soap.
For Ning Yi, these principles are not unfamiliar, but it is naturally very difficult to find the appropriate ratio and production method in this era. Fortunately, although his expertise is not in chemistry, it is in employing people and operations. After spreading basic chemical knowledge to his craftsmen, these things can be done by others. Since people like Gongsun Sheng joined in, the number of craftsmen under his banner has continued to increase. In fact, his initial chemical knowledge can no longer keep up with the research in the workshop. progress.
In the subsequent advancement of the explosives workshop, practical results were much higher than theoretical knowledge. Craftsmen with basic chemical knowledge could not become Mendeleev. However, under the modern research system that pursues efficiency and pays attention to recording and comparison, other The quality of the gunpowder produced has become increasingly pure. After both sulfuric acid and nitric acid could be prepared, substances such as nitrocellulose appeared in workshops. After all kinds of messy things were mixed by people like Gongsun Sheng, the explosive power of gunpowder was already considerable, enough to be used decisively on the battlefield. .
(Shi Xiao) At this time, there is already a certain preparation basis for glycerol, but Ning Yi did not rush to develop this. First of all, after the rebellion, there was a real shortage of supplies. Later generations raised pigs and they were all fat. Pigs raised in these years were all lean meat. Making glycerin from animal and vegetable fats was too luxurious and not cost-effective. Secondly, there is still a long way to go before the invention of glycerin can be used relatively safely. Ning Yi did not dare to mess around until the craftsmen in the workshop understood diatomaceous earth. As for this troop dispatch, basically everything that can be used in Xiaocang River has been used.
Several delay fuses made in the workshop, hand-made hollow bullets, including the large-yield explosive package that Ning Yi requested from the beginning, extremely luxurious iron launch tubes - these extremely caliber Large cylinders that project explosive packets were called flying mines in later generations.
During the War of Liberation, the power of explosive packets forced from oil barrels when dropped was much more amazing than ordinary cannons. The power of the modern explosives packed in them could sweep across a radius of more than 20 meters at a time. , humans and animals were wiped out. Because they were killed by the shock wave, no wounds could be found when they died, so they were also called "heartless cannons."
The explosive package launched at this time would naturally not have such power. However, after it landed on the ground and exploded, the shock wave expanded to a range of three or four meters around. The momentum and air waves were astonishing. In the billowing smoke and dust, the war horses were Those who are nearby will be thrown away due to the huge momentum, slamming into the companions next to them.
"The world is about to change..."
The dark clouds dispersed in the sky. Gongsun Sheng looked at the small number of heavy cavalry rushing over, said something, and then reached out to pick up the big hammer on the ground. He was dressed in a Taoist priest's robe and looked like an immortal. In fact, he could occupy a place in the Liangshan gang and was quite powerful. At this time, he was dragging his hammer and rushing forward. A heavy horse was galloping towards him. The two of them blinked In contact with each other, the Taoist priest used the momentum to swing the heavy hammer violently, and hit the head of the war horse with a terrifying loud bang from bottom to top. The whole war horse roared, and its hooves flew forward and hit the war horse. On the ground beside him, blood and dust rolled.
He took the hammer and walked towards another cavalryman who was rushing towards him. Infantrymen also rushed over. Only when he knocked the cavalryman to the ground did Gongsun Sheng yell towards the rear: "Hurry up. ——”
The heavy cavalry that came from the opposite side, survived the explosion area, and successfully reached the front line here, now only one third, part of the heavy cavalry because of The injured knight or war horse was still shaking in the smoke and dust in confusion. More than twenty iron horses were carried by soldiers and waited in front of them, followed by sabers, spears and hammers. The soldiers waiting here also received a huge shock, and there was almost no sound in their ears. The armored cavalry lost some speed due to the turbulent bombardment, but they still came over like an overwhelming force. The armored heavy cavalry hit the horse, breaking it, or pushing it to walk on the ground. More heavy cavalry came over, They waved sabers and spears to meet them, and the hammer soldiers swung their heavy hammers and hit the armor of the horse or knight hard, and blood poured out from the gaps in the armor.
At this time, the iron kite's center formation had also pounced on the huge wall of smoke and dust. They were relatively cautious and slowed down slightly. They moved more around to both sides of the smoke and dust, and due to As the shelling weakened, the rising black smoke came into view from the sky, and Mei Le from behind could roughly see the situation ahead clearly.
In these years, the general army will collapse after 10% battle losses. The Iron Harriers are not such a weak army. They are the elite among the elite. In many cases, they do not hesitate to sacrifice in exchange for victory, but the important thing is that sacrifice can bring victory.
At this time, not long after the war started, a charge was made. The front formation rushed over. The middle formation hesitated a little. At this time, they had already entered the range of the battle. They still wanted to go. They charged forward, but further ahead, the army was like a giant beast, swallowing up one third of the Iron Kites troops. Before this, there was no long-range confrontation that could threaten Iron Kite like this.
The central formation was still charging. Things happened so fast that they had no time to collapse. The soldiers in the formation just felt confused. The officers who had some sense looked back at the huge flag. Meile was also leading the crowd to rush towards him - he originally wanted to rescue or support the front line caught in the explosion. At this time, even though he was experienced in the battlefield, his heart was blank.
The entire front line has almost completely lost its combat effectiveness - it's over.
But morale has not been lost, and it seems that we can still fight when we rush over. To continue rushing, or not to rush, that is the question.
At this moment...he thought of his mom...
************
Not many people noticed that the entire artillery formation had already Silence... I don't know if I can code it out tomorrow. I wish you all a Happy New Year first^_^
(End of this chapter)