Chapter 3242
Although Sun Zhen had seen the live firing effect of this new artillery half a year ago, this was the first time that it had been actually deployed on the battlefield.
Sun Zhen didn't quite understand why Tiandu Arsenal named this type of artillery "howitzer", but he knew that this thing was extremely powerful. The spindle-shaped hollow shells could be filled with high explosives or a large number of steel balls. , the former is used to blast strong fortifications, while the latter focuses on killing people.
When the artillery was tested in the deep mountains, one shot of this thing could blow up a bunker made of stone to pieces. The damage area of the shell fragments could reach ten feet in radius, which was far better than the previous solid artillery shells.
Moreover, the operation of this kind of gun is extremely simple. You only need to insert the shell into the barrel, close the breech, fire at the target, then open the breech, eject the shell, and load the next shell. Compared with the old artillery, the firing frequency has at least doubled.
Whether it is combat efficiency or lethality effect, Sun Zhen is very satisfied with the performance of this howitzer. The only problem is that the manufacturing process of this thing is said to be complicated, and the current production capacity is very low, so the cost is extremely expensive. Even if you are as rich as Haihan, it will be difficult to install it in large numbers in the military in a short period of time.
Sun Zhen did not know the specific number of new cannons allocated to the garrison in the Northern Region, but he speculated that there should be no more than twenty.
Even for a difficult task like attacking Shanhaiguan, which required powerful weapons, Sun Zhen was only assigned four howitzers, which shows that Chen Yixin's inventory was extremely limited.
Sun Zhen was actually not very sure whether these four cannons could blast through the Shanhaiguan defense line. But now that the arrow is on the string and it has to be fired, it can only be used first to see how effective it is.
With the sound of several cannons, a huge plume of smoke and dust exploded from the Great Wall two miles away. The effect of the high-explosive grenade did not disappoint Sun Zhen. He observed in his telescope that a small gap had been created where the shell hit.
However, this section of the city wall was built with an outer layer of masonry and an inner layer of rammed earth. It was nearly two feet thick and was far stronger than the outer walls of the fortresses captured by the Haihan Army yesterday. Such shelling was far from enough to destroy them.
"Keep bombing! Blow down the city wall until it collapses!"
At this time, Sun Zhen didn't care about the limited ammunition. He had to blow a gap here to break through the Shanhaiguan defense line.
At the same time, the shelling of Nanyi City and Weihai City on both sides of this attack point has also begun. Although Sun Zhen did not intend to storm these two small cities, it was necessary to maintain the offensive so that he could not easily divide his troops to reinforce the upcoming gaps in the defense line.
However, Sun Zhen's limited troops limited the scale of the feint attack. The defenders soon noticed that Haihan had changed the main attack direction to the south of the defense line, and immediately took countermeasures.
The two battalions of soldiers rushed to the area where Haihan was shelling. Once Haihan really broke through the city wall, they would form the first line of defense within the city wall.
A cavalry force, numbering nearly a thousand, came out of Dongluo City and began to harass the flanks of the Haihan Army.
Sun Zhen did not dare to be careless, so he could only allocate part of his troops to strengthen the defense on the flanks first.
At this time, the shortcomings of the Haihan Army were gradually exposed. Due to insufficient troops, they could only maintain a relatively narrow offensive surface.
As for the Shanhaiguan defense line, which is more than ten miles long, Haihan's attack range is actually very small. The defenders can increase their local strength advantage through mobilization, thus forming a new front on the flank of Haihan Army. This prevents them from fully concentrating their forces in the main direction of attack.
However, these Ming troops operating on the flanks did not dare to get too close to the Haihan Army's defense line, nor could they be too concentrated, nor could they stop and remain still, otherwise they might become living targets for the Haihan Army.
Several snipers under Sun Zhen have climbed onto the high platform and began to use binoculars to search for suitable targets on the battlefield. These cavalry need a flag as a signal for action, and the commander in the team must be very close to the flag. Even if they are camouflaged to a certain extent, their mounts are probably better than ordinary soldiers, and the process of giving orders is also easier to identify.
Once the target is confirmed by a sniper, how long it can survive on the battlefield is a matter of luck.
After seven rounds of shelling on the selected target, there was a burst of cheers from the Haihan army, because after more than 20 rounds of artillery shells, the city wall had collapsed visibly, and a wall of at least two feet appeared. What a wide gap.
Upon seeing this, Sun Zhen began to change his tactics and use other artillery to suppress the Ming army's firepower points near the gap. At the same time, let the artillery launch the mortar and strive to further expand the width of the gap.
The stubby mortar has a much larger caliber than ordinary artillery. It can fire high-explosive shells with delayed fuses, and the explosive power is stronger than grenades.
But the shortcomings of this thing are also obvious. Because of its high-projection trajectory, its range is much shorter than that of ordinary artillery. And because the shells are heavy, the loading process is troublesome, and the firing frequency is extremely low. Therefore, before entering the shooting position, you must first clear out the fire points that can pose threats.
This process consumed the Haihan Army a lot of time, and when the Ming Army noticed that their opponents were replacing mortars for battle, they dispatched more troops from Nanyi City and Weihai City in an attempt to prevent the Haihan Army from expanding its results.
The Haihan Army has opened a gap in the defense line. If it is not stopped, the Haihan Army will occupy this gap, and the Ming Army will become passive. By this time, casualties are no longer the main issue that commanders on both sides need to consider.
At this time, thousands of Ming troops appeared on the north and south wings of the Haihan Army. Sun Zhen had limited troops at hand, so he could only suspend the bombardment of the Great Wall and let the artillery troops turn their muzzles to deal with the Ming troops that were forming a pincer attack on their own side. military.
Although the Ming army clearly had an advantage in terms of strength, its weapons and equipment were more than one level behind the Haihan army. The vast majority of the Ming army could only be equipped with swords and bows as their main weapons.
The musketeers were still a relatively elite unit in the Ming army, and their weapon range was already at a disadvantage. If they were to form a mass formation, they would become a real target.
The two teams of musketeers coming out of Nanyi City and Weihai City had already taken Haihan's shells as soon as they formed their formations and before they opened fire.
Seeing that nearly half of their men were lost before the battle began, the Ming army commander had no choice but to angrily order the musketeers to retreat first.
Although the Haihan Army had superior firepower, they did not dare to further extend the battle line due to limited troop strength. They could only adopt a defensive and counterattack strategy to first repel the Ming Army's harassment battle.
It was nearly noon, and the Ming army finally called for gold and retreated. Although thousands of corpses were abandoned east of the defense line, the Ming army basically achieved its combat objectives and delayed the Haihan army's offensive.
During this period, civilians within the defense line had piled a large number of sacks containing soil and bricks into the gaps in the Great Wall, and construction was still ongoing.
Although the temporary repair is not as reliable as the original, it has at least restored about 50%. When Sun Zhen saw this scene in the telescope, he couldn't help but secretly groan in his heart.
(End of chapter)