Not long after Qi Hongying's order was issued, the sound of gold was heard from the Ming army camp, and the second battalion, which was attacking, although unwilling, could only obey the order and began to retreat. Pen % fun % Pavilion www.biquge.info

The first battalion cleaned up the ladders and supported the wounded comrades, the third battalion also divided some soldiers to help the first battalion and the second battalion, pick up weapons and ammunition on the ground, and transport the corpses of their comrades, and the other part of the soldiers suppressed the Qing troops on the city wall to cover the retreat of the army.

The Qing army wanted to take advantage of the victory to pursue, but it was more than enough to be strong, and the city gate could not be opened for one reason, and the other reason was because the artillery fire of the Ming army would attack again, and everyone would not have time to hide, so how dare they dare to chase and kill.

The defenders on the city wall could only watch the Ming army retreat across the pontoon bridge, and then fire a crossbow tied to the explosive bag to blow up the pontoon bridge and create some trouble for the next attack of the Ming army..........

"Qi Shuai! It's only been a day and a half since the three days we said we'd got, so why didn't you let us attack? Qi Zhifeng hurried to the rear command post, and asked loudly as soon as he entered.

"Wait for reinforcements." Qi Hongying replied simply.

"Nope! Qi Shuai, we can still fight, really, give me another chance, this time I will personally lead people up, if I don't take Xuzhou, I will never take a step back! Qi Zhifeng said anxiously.

He thought that Qi Hongying was disappointed in him and wanted to change to the Second Army.

"Execute the order!" Qi Hongying said with a serious face.

Once again, a military order was issued, and Qi Zhifeng didn't dare to mess around anymore, so he could only hang his head and stand aside with a lonely face.

"Okay Commander Qi, don't have this expression, hurry back and reorganize your armament, and then you have to rely on you to fight the main attack!" Stilwell comforted.

There are only about 200 special forces in total, even if they are all elites, it is impossible to take the entire Xuzhou with them alone, as for the First Group Army, at this time, Qi Hongying promised them, and they were embarrassed to rob Qi Zhifeng of the credit.

"What do you mean?" Qi Zhifeng didn't understand.

"It's for you to go back to the whole team, launch a general attack tomorrow, and take Xuzhou in one fell swoop!" Guo Sheng has a hot temper and is too lazy to fix those twists and turns.

I don't know if Qi Zhifeng understands it, anyway, with Qi Hongying's order, Qi Zhifeng didn't dare to say anything more, so he could only honestly go back to rectify the troops...........

As night fell, a fleet appeared on the Grand Canal, with five Fu ships as the main battleships, covering the landing of three troop carriers.

Disembarking from the troop transport ship were 150 heavily armed Ming soldiers, led by Yang Xiu, the former owner of the Iron Gun Gate.

The soldiers wore steel helmets and combat uniforms, and each soldier, in addition to carrying a breech-loading rifle, also had a revolver diagonally across his waist, which could be said to be armed to the teeth.

The rear-loading rifle of the special forces is the latest development of a rotary rear pull bolt machine rifle, which has once again made a qualitative leap compared with the "Da Ming type".

Although the Ming style is a rear-loading rifle, its loading method is somewhat similar to a shotgun, namely: when loading, the butt should be separated from the barrel (folded to about 90 degrees), although the loading speed of the bullet is accelerated, but due to the problem of air tightness, the range is not high.

Nowadays, the new rifle equipped by the special forces is different, it is a rotary bolt machine rifle, which can also be said to be the ancestor of the bolt-action rifle in later generations, the new rifle abandons the disadvantages of the separation of the barrel and the butt before, so that the firearm is integrated, and the air tightness is close to the level of the rifle of the later generations.

And with the continuous innovation of steam machinery, the manufacturing process of brass shells has become more and more perfect, and the production line of metal shells has begun to gradually replace paper shells.

Although the miniaturization of this rifle bullet could not be completed overnight, it took three years for Bi Maokang's weapons research institute to finally produce this rear-loading rifle using metal cartridges.

Caliber: 15.4 mm (this is comparable to the caliber of anti-materiel sniper rifles in later generations).

Empty gun weight: 12 pounds (ordinary soldiers, really can't play this kind of big guy).

Length: 1420 mm (fairly normal).

Bullets: Brass metal bullets.

Loading method: rear loading.

Rate of fire: 10-12 rounds / min.

Muzzle velocity: 305 m/s.

Feed: Single-shot feed.

Effective range: 460 steps (about 600 meters).

If the first few data are still a little weak, and even in terms of rate of fire, they are only comparable to the "Da Ming style", then the final effective range greatly exceeds the "Da Ming style".

What is the concept of the range of 600 meters, the range of the Tiger Squat Cannon is only about 400 meters, and the range of the Qing Army's Furlong machine gun is only 500 meters (the solid bullet is 1000 meters), the new rifle equipped by the special forces is already equivalent to a small cannon, the key is that its rate of fire is more than ten times that of these small cannons, and the accuracy rate is more than ten times.

And this new type of rifle, because it was developed with the assistance of a government-run enterprise, was naturally named "Daming II Style".

However, this "Daming two style", because the manufacturing process is complicated, and even most of the parts are handmade, the size is different, and it cannot be universal, so whether it is in terms of output or battlefield application, there is still a long way to go if it wants to be popularized on a large scale.

Even the 200 new rifles equipped by this special force were still changed out of Li Hongfei's personal pocket.

In addition to the "Daming II type", the revolver of the special forces is also a grade better than the revolver that the Ming army is now equipped with on a large scale.

The metal cartridge bullet comprehensively upgraded the performance of the revolver, with an effective range of 50 meters, and in terms of power alone, it has reached the level of the revolver of the First World War in later generations.

In short, the special forces led by Yang Xiu, on the other hand, are actually more equivalent to weapons actual combat test troops, and the active weapons of the Ming army are basically the first to be used by the special forces before they begin to be installed in large quantities.........

"It's worthy of the special forces, you really cut your hair!" Guo Sheng was not interested in these equipment (he had known about it before), but was surprised by the hairstyles of Yang Xiu and others.

Filial piety comes first, and there have been in China since ancient times: the parents who suffer from the skin of the body dare not damage or disable.

For the people of the Ming Dynasty, cutting hair was unfilial.

No wonder Guo Sheng has such an expression.

Fortunately, after the Qing army entered the customs, they forcibly issued a shaving order, and many people were forced to shave their hair and keep braids.

After all, people are social animals, and those people who were forced to shave their hair, after returning to the rule of the Ming Dynasty, did not want to be treated as "monsters".

Some ordinary people even feel that these soldiers who shave their hair are thinking about them, and it is impossible to grow their hair in a short period of time, but it is very easy to keep their heads flat with these soldiers and Master Li.

It is believed that it will not be long before these flat hairstyles will gradually become the mainstream hairstyle in the areas occupied by the Manchus.

This is why Guo Sheng was only surprised, not reprimanded.

"We are not thinking about those ordinary people, after all, we are soldiers, and we should take improving combat effectiveness as an important criterion." Yang Xiu is pragmatic.

Long hair is indeed a burden for soldiers, not to mention that it is very troublesome to tidy up, and it also invisibly increases the load.

Since the implementation of the all-firearms unit in the Ming army, the steel helmet has become the only individual protective equipment of the Ming army.

After enjoying the benefits of agility, as the only super trump card in the whole army, what the special forces prefer is to try their best to reduce their own weight, although the large steel helmet does not increase the weight too much, but there are lighter and more practical equipment, who wants to carry such a burden?

Under Li Hongfei's tutelage, the style of the Ming soldiers is far from being comparable to those Confucian and sour shows.

"Gotta get it, whatever the reason you want, in short, don't try to change my concept." Guo Sheng said.

Li Hongfei's influence is too strong, he is afraid that he will be careless, so he will cut his hair.

"In fact, you have changed a lot over the years, but you just don't want to admit it." Yang Xiu pointed out.

Guo Sheng has indeed been greatly influenced by Li Hongfei over the years, from fighting in the past and always liking to take the lead in rushing, to now knowing how to strategize and control the overall situation, from the initial obsession with heavy infantry, to later taking the initiative to ask the whole army to change into new military uniforms.......... These are all influenced by Li Hongfei.

"By the way, why are there only one hundred and fifty people coming here this time, and besides, are the new weapons you said that they are really that powerful?" Guo Sheng was ready to change the subject.

This new weapon, not long after it came out recently, Guo Sheng only knew its performance parameters and specific style through letters, and he had never seen it, and at this time he began to look towards the middle of the cabin, wanting to see the true face of Lushan.

"Master Li is going to patrol Jiangnan, and I left a squadron to protect his safety. As for the new weapons......... Here! It's in that heap of boxes. Yang Xiu pointed to a pile of boxes in the cabin and said to Guo Sheng.

Because the expenses of the special forces are very large, and even completely exceed the budget of the Ministry of National Defense, the Ministry of Defense is not willing to pay for this group of soldiers at all, and according to Zhu Youzhen's consistent frugal style, it is better to spend so much money to raise 200 people, it is better to use these military funds to train a regular force of 4,000 people.

It can be seen from this that the military expenditure of Yang Xiu and others is about 20 times that of the conventional troops, and this is not counting the equipment research institute established by Suzhou Heavy Industry Co., Ltd. for special forces.

Raising special forces is simply a bottomless pit.......

Only Li Hongfei is more persistent in this, and would rather pay for it privately than set up this army.

Of course, he is not raising a private army, but has reported to the Ministry of National Defense, but the right to use this army belongs to Li Hongfei, once he makes meritorious service on the battlefield, or when the imperial court needs to let this army shoot, then he has to pay the corresponding remuneration, after all, Li Hongfei will not be stupid enough to raise this army in vain.

Since the size of the special forces is only 200 people, Zhu Youzhen will not be stingy, and a first-class member cannot even have a "family guard" of 200 people.

Therefore, the biggest boss of this mercenary force is Li Hongfei, and he naturally divides part of his strength to ensure Li Hongfei's safety.

Looking at the wooden boxes with a length of less than one meter and a width of less than half a meter, Guo Sheng was dumbfounded, stunned for a while, and finally couldn't help but burst into a foul mouth: "Yang Xiu, why are you fooling me!" Can such a small box hold a cannon? You can't even fit a flintlock pistol! ”

That's right, the new weapon Yang Xiu mentioned in the letter is a kind of artillery called "mortar".

Mortars were very famous in later generations, but now they are nothing in Guo Sheng's eyes..........

The so-called artillery in Guo Sheng's eyes are all very thick "iron pillars", even if the tiger squat cannon with a firing range of only 400 meters, the barrel is about one meter five, and this small box of less than one meter, how can it be loaded with a cannon?

If this box is really filled with artillery, doesn't it mean that the barrel of these guns is not as long as a flintlock pistol, so how much propellant can be filled and how far can it be hit?

Before, Guo Sheng swore in front of Qi Hongying that as long as the new weapons arrived, he would be able to take Xuzhou immediately, and now that he learned the "truth", it was strange that he was in a good mood.

"It's not that you don't know what I'm doing, you just put a hundred hearts, the data reported before have been tested by live ammunition, and there will be no problem. With these twenty mortars there, I dare not say anything else, and there is no problem at all in suppressing the defenders on the city wall of Xuzhou. Yang Xiu patted his chest and reassured.

To be honest, when Yang Xiu saw this kind of small artillery for the first time, he was also very disappointed, but after firing it with live ammunition, he was full of great confidence in it.

If it weren't for the limited production capacity of the research institute, he could only take out twenty doors after working overtime for two consecutive months, and he would be eager to get forty or fifty doors, anyway, this thing is simple to operate (two people can manipulate it), with a fast rate of fire and high accuracy, it can be used as a rifle, and it can even complete the "Da Ming two style" on the hand.

Well, the special forces are capricious when they are rich, and they actually want to use mortars as rifles...........

Since Song Yingxing solved the problem of fire cap and thunder mercury three years ago, the weapons research institute of Suzhou Heavy Industry has developed rapidly like a rocket.

Song Yingxing solved the software problem, and the hardware of the weapon was handed over to Bi Maokang, Li Hongfei and others to complete.

Li Hongfei can't design weapons, but he has a golden finger, he knows the right direction of development of weapons, whether it is guns or artillery, he can often "whim" a lot of ideas, and these ideas eventually have to work hard to achieve by Bi Maokang's team.