There are a total of 180 artillery members in the Broken Battalion, of which 20 are scheduled to let go, 20 are watchers, and 140 are dragging hands, all of whom are artillery players with experience in firing artillery. Zhao Lie didn't care about training, but it was still easy to find more than a hundred artillery players from 10,000 people.

After the establishment of this artillery unit, an old cannon named Hu Yanxiao served as the general. This "old cannon" does not refer to his age, but to his experience in discharging artillery. In fact, Hu Yanxiao is only in his early thirties, just in the prime of life, he looks black and thin, and his appearance is also very ordinary. But as soon as he opened his mouth, he was impressive.

"The last general will call for a roar and meet the marshal." Just such an ordinary sentence, coming out of his mouth, was like thunder, and within a radius of several zhang, everyone's ears were buzzing.

The generals were speechless.

Zhao Liewan smiled: "Is it because you roar with such a loud voice that everyone can hear the brothers who set off the artillery on the battlefield, so Shen Pingbo and Wan Zhong both recommended you to be the general of the artillery department?" ”

The reorganization of the Dragon Bird Army involves a large number of personnel, especially the appointment and dismissal of officers, and it is impossible for Zhao Lie to investigate them all one by one. Therefore, he adopted the principle of grasping the big and letting go of the small, and introduced a soldier election system, in which all junior officers below the rank of general were democratically elected by the sergeants. Adjutant generals and preparers at all levels are in charge to ensure that the election is fair and impartial. Officers at all levels, such as fire commanders, team generals, and subordinate generals, are to be recommended by the officers who are going to be named and above to prove that these officers have been democratically elected. If a future review reveals any fraud, the recommending officer will be held accountable.

This method of selecting officers by soldiers and reporting and recommending them by superiors has not been heard of since ancient times, and when it was first implemented, it caused a fluctuation in the dynasty. Fortunately, Zhao Lie controlled the scope of the election below the subordinate generals, which was equivalent to experimenting in the small scope of the Nine Rank Officials, and he controlled the Privy Council and implemented it in the name of reforming the military system, but he did not encounter much resistance.

This small military reform showed its effect in the first war. What Zhang Ba led was nothing more than a newly reorganized new battalion, and many of the soldiers in it were either beginners or soldiers on the battlefield, and they were the kind of troops that could easily collapse. But under the terrible artillery bombardment of the Yuan army, it did not collapse, and when the troops retreated, they were completely retracted, and not a single soldier was dispersed, and even the corpses of the war dead were carried back. That's a good way to get a new recruit. That's why Zhao Hunt's praise and no reward or punishment.

In order to do this, the prestige and control of the officers of the base house played a very crucial role.

Jiang Fenglie, Zhang Ba and others are all generals with considerable experience in battle formations, and from this tentative battle, they can see that the soldier election system, which they didn't understand at the beginning, has such a wonderful use, and they admire the commander even more in their hearts.

The Hu Yanxiao in front of him is the artillery general recommended by Shen Pingbo and Wan Zhonger.

When Hu Yanxiao heard this, he was slightly unconvinced in embarrassment: "The last general, this ......" just spoke so casually and in a low voice, which was similar to the shouting of others, which showed that this person was born and not intentional.

Zhao Lieyi waved his hand: "Whether you are because of your loud voice or your real level, whether you are a mule or a horse, pull it to Baishakou." ”

A moment later, Hu Yanxiao led his artillery unit of 180 men, carrying ten single-tip guns, followed by a gunners and musketeers, and rushed to Baishakou in a boat. These single-tip cannons are not heavy, and the four of them can walk as soon as they lift them. If it is a double-tip cannon, it is difficult for eight people to lift, this is a war, and the more people there are, the more inconvenient it is to fight, which is also the reason why Zhao Lie only asked Sun Daquan to make a single tip instead of a double tip.

Jiang Fenglie, Ouyang Guanhou, Zhang Ba, Su Jingzhan, Shen Pingbo, Chang Tai and others looked at the row of tall wooden shelves on the sampan that was gradually moving away, and they didn't know what Zhao Hunt meant.

Zhao Lie didn't explain, it's not that he didn't want to, but there were some things that had to be seen by his subordinates to be convincing.

The old rule is that as soon as the Yuan army saw the Song army rushing to the cliff, they began to shoot artillery. Although it only takes ten breaths to drop a bullet, no one will be afraid of the great terror between life and death when the sword hangs over the head and death falls from the sky. When a person is afraid, his body will stiffen, his movements will be deformed, his hands and feet will become chaotic, and his speed will become slower, and the slower he is, the more he will become a target.

The slowest and most striking move is the tall single-tip cannon, which will naturally become the primary target of the enemy's Yuan army. It's just that it's so difficult to use the primitive throwing weapon of the catapult to aim at a moving target and destroy it. Song Jun successfully carried the single-tip cannon onto the cliff, but the last single-tip cannon was hit by a blind cat and smashed into a mouse, and the four bursts of wood chips spikes pierced the four dragging hands and one fixed artillery hand of the cannon, or covering their faces or vomiting blood, and fell to the ground.

Hu Yanxiao, who had already rushed to the cliff, looked back and looked at it with tears in his eyes: "San'er! Da Biao! Bastard! ”

He turned around and wanted to jump down, but was dragged by several artillery men on the left and right: "Brother Huyan, go quickly, it's too dangerous here......"

Before the words fell, the sky was dark again. A few artillery players were frightened, and they desperately dragged Hu Yanxiao back, standing unsteadily, and everyone rolled into a ball.

As soon as there was a bang, a stone projectile fell from the sky and smashed on the cliff where Hu Yanxiao and the others were standing, smashing a piece of earthwork the size of grinding.

In the flying sand, Hu Yanxiao and the others had blue faces and white lips, all of them suffocated.

After a while, Hu Yanxiao suddenly pushed away left and right, staring at the enemy buildings in the north and south with his eyes breathing fire, and yelled: "Grandpa is going to bite it to the death today!" Brothers, follow me! The sound was like thunder, and the enemy soldiers who were a hundred paces away could hear it clearly, and they all looked at each other in shock.

Hu Yanxiao can be voted as the eldest brother, and his prestige in the artillery department is not to be said, this time he took the lead, and immediately led the entire artillery department. Although the artillery crews were badly hit, their morale did not fall but soared.

Quickly rush to the predetermined location, quickly set up the cannon - this single cannon is so good, there is no need to disassemble it during transportation, go to the ground to lay the board, pad the stone leveling, put the cannon rack away, and you can start drying. If it is a double-tip, five-tip, seven-tip and other giant guns, they have to be disassembled and transported, and then reassembled on the ground, for fear that they will be beaten to pieces before they are assembled.

Nine single-tip guns stood at a distance of 30 paces to the northeast of the two enemy towers. Although the target is huge, the five-tip artillery in the enemy tower can only hit a long distance, and it can't hit such a close target. Although they can be cross-thrown, i.e. the southern enemy tower will hit the single cannon under the north enemy building, and the northern enemy tower will hit the single cannon under the southern enemy building, but the Dragon Sparrow Gun is placed too close to the enemy building. The Yuan army's five-tip cannon threw a rat bogey, for fear of hitting the enemy building opposite, so he didn't dare to fight at all. The same is true of the Seven Shoots Cannon, the great killer weapon of the Qiongguan City.

The commanders and generals of the Yuan army in the north and south enemy towers did not panic, and they also used this trick when they attacked the calm Qiongguan of the Song people, so they also knew how to defend. Under the order of the generals of the Yuan army, a piece of thick wood as the bottom and the straw bales as the table were erected in the enemy building. The single-tip artillery stones of the Song army on the left and right are only two catties, and they can't penetrate this defense at all.

The 100 gun players and musketeers of the Dragon Sparrow Army have 50 in the north and 50 in the north and south, with the gun plate in front and the musket in the back. As soon as the enemy appeared on the tower, the soldiers were shot and killed, but they did not take advantage of the situation to attack, but defended in front of the cannon. Their mission is to ensure the safety of the cannons.

And the Yuan army saw that the Song army did not attack, and they all hid behind the battlements, not daring to lean out of the slightest. Because there were soldiers who tried to shoot the gunners with bows and crossbows, but they died when they showed their heads, and those muskets were terrible.

The two sides entered a temporary stalemate, and the battlefield was silent.

"Prepare the shells!" As soon as Hu Yanxiao's loud voice sounded, several craftsmen came running to the side, each carrying a large wooden box on their backs, looking quite heavy. Inside these wooden boxes are polished stone bullets.

But the artillery keepers were stunned when they pried open the wooden box, what was it in? The yellow paste was a ball, like a paper ball, but it was heavy when I held it in my hand, seven or eight pounds.

Hu Yanxiao got the report, and he was stunned when he looked at the wooden box, and after a while, he remembered what the marshal said to himself before the battle: "This is the weapon you want to throw into the enemy building, it is not called a stone bullet, it is called a cannonball." ”

"That's right, that's it." Hu Yanxiao yelled, "Gunner, fire the cannon!" ”

Hu Yanxiao was talking about artillery shells instead of cannonballs, because at this time the Great Song Dynasty did not have the word "cannon".

Although the artillery men were puzzled, the general's order must be carried out. Besides, whatever this thing is, it's heavy enough anyway, and it's round, so that's it.

However, these shells were fired differently from stone shells, and the craftsmen were craftsmen who made gunpowder. They first set up a small pot, put charcoal to burn, and then inserted a dozen iron skewers. When the iron skewers were red, the leader of the craftsmen signaled to Hu Yanxiao that the cannon could be fired.

The shells were put into the leather nest, and the craftsmen divided nine people, stood in front of the nine artillery racks, lit the fuse with a fire pick, stared at the fuse burning, estimated that it was almost over, and shouted: "Release!" ”

Hu Yanxiao also shouted: "Release!" ”

"Release, release, release, release, release......" A series of shouts one after another, as if echoing with the surging tide.

Huhuhuhu

Yellow dotted phantoms streaked across the sky, flying into the north and south enemy towers with burning sparks.

Shao leaned, and it seemed that Yuan Bing's shouting and scolding voice came: "What kind of is this?" There are still sparks...... Wang, let's take a bow, and then, I'll kick—"

Boom Boom Boom!

The fire in the enemy tower was soaring, the black mist was steaming, the stumps were flying wildly, and there was a scream. After a while, the flame grew bigger and bigger, and it was obvious that the five-tip cannon had been ignited. Although this cannon rack is not easy to catch fire, there are hundreds of ropes on it, which is simply a hundred igniters, so it is not very burning?

Hu Yanxiao and all the artillery players and soldiers were dumbfounded - this, this is a cannonball?!