The battlefield was filled with gunsmoke. Pen % fun % Pavilion www.biquge.info

The Qing batteries on the outskirts of Chenzhou were the first to emit furious flames, first Portuguese six-pounder guns, then Portuguese twelve-pounder guns, and then the Manchu Qing Dynasty's own ten-cat, fifteen-cat, and twenty-catty generals' cannons.

Artillery rumbled, and smoke billowed from it.

The lonely city of Chenzhou stands on the land of eastern Henan, and the four passes outside the city have been completely bulldozed, leaving no houses. The Qing army built complex earth slopes, trenches, tunnels, breastwalks, and forts on the bulldozed land. However, with the sudden loss of Zhoujiakou and the departure of Ah Gui's troops, the panicked defenders of Chenzhou, even though Chenzhou City had a complete defense system, yesterday evening when the vanguard of the Fu Han Army approached the city, the defenders who felt that their strength was insufficient still made the decision to abandon the extended position. Concentrate forces to hold positions outside the city - inside and outside the moat + the fort area, and the city itself.

With the help of the Portuguese and the efforts of those missionaries and Manchu craftsmen in Beijing, the performance of the heavy general cannon has been improved step by step, and the range of the 10-pound cannon is slightly inferior to that of the 12-pounder cannon in the Portuguese format, and the 15-pound cannon has exceeded a little, and finally the most powerful 20-pound cannon. The firing range is more than five miles, although it can't reach the legendary red-coated cannon's 'erosion ten miles', nor can it do 'week and non-stop, each cannon station, erosion of dozens of feet, no physiology' such a level, but the performance is indeed much more than the original version of the Wucheng Yonggu General Cannon.

On the fort outside Chenzhou City, a 20-pound general cannon was placed on the left and right, and the next 15-pound general cannon, 10-pound general cannon, and even the Portuguese 12-pounder cannon. The various gun emplacements on the turret are closed and semi-enclosed, and the defensive and offensive firepower are very strong.

Clearing, resetting, charging packs, loading, adjusting the elevation angle of the barrel, and the movements of the Qing gunners in the turret are also extremely skillful.

After a dull roar sounded from the barrel of the cannon, the solid iron balls hit their targets with lightning speed. Their target was not the artillery of the Fu Han army, but the infantry of the Fu Han army lined up behind the artillery. These people are five miles away from the city wall of Chenzhou, and this distance is relatively safe in their cognition, because few artillery can hit here, and even if they can hit, it is the end of the crossbow, and they can't cause much damage to them. Moreover, they did not dare to line up too far from the artillery position, because they were afraid that the Qing army's horse team would suddenly kill them, and it would be difficult for the artillery corps to stop the Qing army's large cavalry with only the escort of the artillery unit.

In this battle of Chenzhou, a very important problem has been carried out so far -- Chen Ming still does not know the exact location of the Manchu cavalry group led by A Gui.

Last night, Ah Gui divided his troops again and again, and the cavalry was interspersed and staggered, which made people dazzled, and the chess pieces buried in the dark camp could not be tracked by horses in the middle of the night, and the final result was that he was missing.

Therefore, not only Chen Kaishan on the Tangzhuang side, but also Gao Yuanhou, the commander-in-chief of Chenzhou, must also be cautious.

Soon, two twenty-pound iron balls let the Fu Han army five miles away know that it was not safe here. The whistling iron ball created a not very terrifying, but very shocking damage in the array of the Fu Han Army. The infantry of the Fu Han army had expanded the interval as much as possible, but the two twenty-pound iron balls that crossed the entire formation diagonally knocked down five people like a devastating one, and then bounced on the ground several times, changing direction and touching several people in a row before finally stopping.

And those soldiers who were hit and grazed were killed instantly, and those who were clung to them were either dead or maimed.

Any soldier who is touched by a cannonball will be taken away from his arms and legs even if he does not die, and he may not be able to survive in this era. Even if the medical conditions of the Fu Han Army are the best in the entire army on the planet, but the technology is limited, and no one dares to guarantee that every disabled soldier will survive in the end.

It is difficult to hit a cannon with a cannonball. After the Qing army fort first gave the Fu Han army a dismount, it still aimed at the artillery position of the Fu Han army.

The left and right forts outside the western city of the Qing army were each fired two rounds, and 20 shells were fired before one hit was achieved -- a 15-pound bullet jumped and hit the rattan frame and sand bags placed on the outer fort of the Fu Han army's artillery position, and a large puff of dust and smoke was raised.

But such an achievement is quite amazing! Even if the Qing artillery may have accurately measured every area outside Chenzhou, and even each artillery has conducted a certain amount of test firing on each area, it is only a theoretical 'pointing and fighting'.

In actual combat, a problem of wind direction, the hardness of the land in different seasons, or the flatness of the land, as well as the slight quality gap of gunpowder, the effect of storage and preservation of the medicine bag, and so on can clearly affect the accuracy of the cannon. Now that so many shells have been hit before one shot, maybe it's still a luck bullet!

Chen Ming is still in Zhoujiakou, and it is the 1st Garrison Division and the Guards Brigade that were sent to attack Chenzhou City, with Gao Yuanhou, the second commander of the 1st Garrison Division, as the commander-in-chief.

After Chen Erbao stayed in Lingnan, the first garrison division was led by Gao Yuanhou. And Gao Yuanhou was the reconnaissance battalion officer under Chen Ming at the earliest. After all, there is no way to expand the reconnaissance unit in a big way, and it is not the same as the gendarmerie unit or even the artillery unit. Gao Yuanhou left the scout system very early, first as the leader of the Left Battalion of the Guards, then as the leader of the Guards Brigade, and now he has replaced Chen Erbao as the leader of the First Garrison Division.

Because he has been in Lushan for a long time, among the senior generals of the Fuhan Army, Gao Yuanhou has very rich qualifications, but his military exploits are the least.

Chen Ming put the First Garrison Division [missing the Fourth Brigade and staying in Lushan] and the Guards Brigade on the front line to attack Chenzhou Fucheng, which also meant to increase his military exploits.

As the supply base of the Qing army in the eastern Henan defense line, the garrison fortifications of Chenzhou and the current strength will obviously not cause too much trouble to the 1st Garrison Division and the Guards Brigade.

The battery of the Qing army was a great threat. But when the hot air balloon of the Fu Han army was raised, the dark camp had already sent the layout map and exact spacing map of Chenzhou to Chen Ming's hands, and the 12 catties of the Fu Han army could completely cross the city wall of Chenzhou and shoot the shells directly to the arsenal of Chenzhou and their barracks, artillery positions in the city and other key positions.

Chen Ming didn't think that the Qing army in Chenzhou could really withstand the onslaught of the 1st Garrison Division and the Guards Brigade. Even if the 1st Garrison Division lacked the 4th Brigade and the Guards Brigade lacked a regiment, the latter would still have a total strength of 16,700 men. Whether it is a cannon or a soldier, it is far beyond the Qing army in Chenzhou!

Zong Weifeng stood in front of the formation with a little uneasiness, and behind him was the second battalion of the 21st Brigade and the 2nd Regiment of the 1st Garrison Division.

This garrison of the Lu battalion, which has been secretly communicating with the Fu Han army for a long time, led the troops to surrender cleanly in an attack on Xuzhou by the Qing army last year. And then the credit of 'discussion', Zong Weifeng's credit is still very good. At the beginning, he transported a lot of urgently needed medicinal materials for the blockaded Lushan, which was credited to Chen Han. So after a one-year study period, Zong Weifeng first went to the new barracks, and then went to the new 21st Brigade as a deputy regimental plus battalion officer.

The second battalion of the 2nd Regiment of the 21st Brigade of the 1st Division was garrisoned, with a total strength of 553 people, and there were only seven of the old brothers of Zong Weifeng here. This is a brand new unit, and it has no connection with the Lu battalion at all.

Just like Zong Weifeng now, he is no longer a small soldier in the past, but a battalion officer of the Fu Han Army.

The 2nd Regiment was a garrison stationed in the southwest corner of the battlefield, and the southwest position was the main direction of the Fu Han army's siege. The two forts on the left and right sides of the western city wall of the Qing army blocked the front, and if they rushed to the center, they would be the biggest fool in the world. The angle of attack of the Fu Han army was the narrow space on the westernmost side of the west wall of Chenzhou but not out of the corner. Because if you want to go out of the southwest corner, you will be flanked by the right battery outside the east city.

Zong Weifeng's battalion was the outermost battalion of this regiment. From the moment they entered the position yesterday, they raised their spirits and were on guard for a possible attack by the Qing army. It didn't!

And then today they are also on full alert. This garrison has been guarded to the capital of Chenzhou City, which is in danger.

Zong Weifeng watched the hot air balloon rise, the weather in Chenzhou today is very good, the wind is not strong, it is a good time to raise the hot air balloon. As for whether the true face of the hot air balloon was exposed or not, he didn't know. But it is a fact that the arsenal and artillery positions of the Qing army in Chenzhou City were knocked out, and the huge explosion sounded as if it was an earthquake, and the moat outside Chenzhou City set off three-foot-high waves, as well as a fiery red black cloud that rose like a huge mushroom.

The morale of the defenders of Chenzhou fell in an instant.

Even the two forts outside the city walls had become 'low on energy'.

If it weren't for the fact that Chenzhou City not only had a very wide moat, but also a very strong city, the attacking troops of the Fu Han army would have really taken the city in one fell swoop.

"Boom, boom, boom......"

Cannons rumbled, and shells fell on the batteries and walls. The corner towers in the southwest corner of the Chenzhou city wall were all collapsed by cannons, and the assault troops carried long ladders to break through to the moat.

The array of attacking troops was very open and open, because the artillery of the Qing army could shoot shotguns. Although the firing angle can reach the westernmost side, only a part of the gun emplacements on the left turret. But the impact surface is so narrow that even a shotgun wants to be able to completely envelop the impact surface.

But it's also a gain and a loss!

The prisoners of war at the forefront of the line all looked dead and carried a small wooden shield in their hands, blocking their chests.

They lowered their heads, and from the high vantage point in front of them, they could only see the red tassels jumping on their helmets. The Fu Han army gave them helmets and armor, and at first glance, they thought they were all Fu Han troops. It's just that there is no red military uniform under the armor.

The purpose of the Fu Han army was to save their lives as much as possible, and asked these prisoners of war to put a pair of auxiliary ladders on the moat.

The trumpet sounded "tick-tick...... and the assault troops began to advance. The crystal teardrops under the corners of the eyes of the prisoners of war at the front were threatened and driven by the swords and guns of the soldiers of the Han Army behind them, and they ran towards the moat like madness.

During the war years, he became a prisoner of war, that is, he was involuntarily a pig and sheep to be slaughtered. They were unlucky enough to catch up with the job of 'filling the pit'. For the current act of 'substitution of death' that they need to endure, it is very inhumane and inhumane to 'fairness and justice', but how much 'fairness and justice' can there be during the war years? If you don't need these people to block the cannons, do you want to use the precious lives of the soldiers of the Fu Han Army to dye the cannons of the Qing Army?

At first glance, the attacking force of six or seven hundred people actually had only one team of soldiers from the Fu Han Army.

A loud shout of "rush, ......" sounded, and the prisoners of war began to run with a long ladder, many of them did not allocate their physical strength, and they ran halfway through and lost their strength, and then they were quickly knocked to the ground by those behind them.

All the prisoners of war knew that if they wanted to survive, they had to put a long ladder on the moat, and this was the main premise. Within the range covered by the Qing army's shotguns, any slowness was fatal. The slower the speed during this period, the more you are looking for death.

The sortie position of the Fu Han army was built through a tunnel left by the Qing army, and it was only three or four hundred meters away from the moat. A little closer, and the closer places were filled in by the Qing army.

"Boom, ......boom, boom, boom" The cannons on the left and right batteries of the Qing army fired in unison, and the smoke of gunpowder filled the forts, and one after another the shotguns spread out in the air to form a large net. Musketeers of the Qing army also appeared at the head of the city, and rows of bullets hit the assault troops!

When the net and the rain of bullets fall, that is the time for human life to be harvested. Plasma, screaming, ......, one by one the charging prisoners of war were knocked to the ground, and a pair of deputy ladders were abandoned on the ground......

The first wave of attacking troops suffered heavy losses.

Not only the prisoners of war in front, but also the soldiers of the Fu Han Army who followed behind, also lost more than 30 people.

The Qing troops in the fort were as if they had been beaten with chicken blood, and the speed of firing the artillery suddenly rose to a higher level, and the shotguns were too heavy and heavy for the attacking troops. Moreover, a group of Qing musketeers poured out of the left battery, and they opened fire on the attacking troops of the Fu Han army on the fortifications around the fortifications around the forts, the breastwall and the mound.

Although at the end of the offensive of the Fu Han army in this wave of Qing troops and the Qing army at the head of the city, they themselves suffered heavy losses and were beaten by the artillery of the Fu Han army.

"Dada, Dada......"

Crises always come inadvertently, and a large force of Qing cavalry does not know when they appeared in the southwest corner of Chenzhou.

When the second wave of prisoners of war continued to rush into the street, the third wave of prisoners of war finally threw 20 long ladders into the moat, no Qing soldiers in the left battery drilled out to shoot guns, and no Qing soldiers dared to stand there and release guns at the head of the city, and the third wave of prisoners of war finally succeeded.

Starting not far in front of the sortie position, and all the way to the moat, a layer of prisoners of war fell within a hundred zhang distance.

In this era of platoon shooting, which pays attention to 'riot soldiers', shotguns or something, it's really disgusting.

"Quickly send a signal flare, the Qing army horse team is coming!"

Three red flares were raised from the southeast of the Zongwei Peak Camp. That was the first and last signal from the scouts sent out by the 2nd Regiment!

Two thousand Manchu cavalry slipped past the edge of the garrison position of the 2nd Regiment and attacked the camp behind the artillery and infantry positions of the Fu Han army.

They did not attack the infantry artillery position of the Fu Han army, but rushed towards the camp where they were eating and the most lax guards, and Zong Weifeng reacted instantly-this Qing army horse team was not specially designed to rescue Chenzhou, they were here to reap benefits. (To be continued.) )