Sergeant George plundered a lot of valuable property during the capture of Shanxi and Hanoi, and transported it back to China through the merchants who accompanied the army, according to the merchants' estimates, the income of the mercenaries in these two years was enough for him to live a prosperous life for ten years, but the premise was naturally to return alive.

In the past, this problem rarely bothered him, he was an excellent soldier with rich combat experience, the French ** team had perfect first aid measures, and the fourth brigade of Major General Bo Hua in Vietnam had a very low mortality rate, and the most important thing was that the weapons and equipment of the French ** team were too advanced compared to the enemy.

However, now the situation is getting worse and worse, and during the day today, the other party actually used some mysterious weapon to kill the commander of his company, Pete, who was the old commander who recruited him back then.

The commander was the best kind of officer in France, and the soldiers of the entire company were his supporters, and it was definitely a heavy blow to him that he died here for no reason, and it seemed that he had to be more careful to save his life and survive this inexplicable battle......

Out of the corner of George's eye, he glanced at the dark sky in the north, and in that darkness, there seemed to be a man-eating beast hidden! This makes people suddenly feel a sense of extreme fear in their hearts! Suddenly, the eyes of the giant beast opened in the darkness, and George clearly saw a fierce light flashing in the darkness in the distance!

With the help of the flash of light on the opposite side, George could vaguely see that the light came from behind a slope on the opposite side, which naturally could never be the Qing army on the opposite side to light a bonfire to roast rabbits at night" He immediately understood what it was! George jumped up and shouted, "Shelling, shelling......"

George's terrifying shout immediately caused a chain reaction, and the French troops in the outer trenches all lay down in the trenches that were not too deep, and everyone obviously raised their middle fingers at the Qing army on the opposite side of the night without rest and without resting.

George hid in the pit of his own heart, his eyes looking up at the sky, at this moment"

When he heard the cannon shè, there was a loud "bang", but according to common sense, the explosion of the shell that should have been seen first was not alive, and the shell from the other party did not fall.

&oWhen I was thinking, a fierce bright light flashed in the sky, and a huge ball of light exploded in the sky above the French camp. The Qing people are really idiots, they even use cannons to salute hua! George's eyes widened as he watched the sky slowly disperse at the great salute...... But as soon as he turned his head, he understood what this salute meant!

Most of the French camp was exposed to the dazzling light of the lihua" This strange lihua burned in the sky for more than ten seconds, but this was definitely a fatal 1o second!!

Tang Fang, the first artillery commander of the guard, stood on the top of the slope with vigor at the moment, "Several officers in the bunker on the side gathered in front of several observation instruments, this is the latest achievement of the Horsetail Real Yàn Room A mortar auxiliary sight, of course, as a first-generation product, this thing is really a bit rudimentary.

What this thing can do at the moment is to roughly estimate the distance to the target before the shelling, and roughly convert the shelling correction value in the tongguò mechanism after the shelling, but this is an insignificant improvement for artillery.

The most powerful in the Nanyang system is naturally the naval artillery, but the largest number is the mortar, and now each battalion is equipped with at least 12mén, three mortar squads of firepower, although the mortar shè is very good, and equipped with a very accurate scale, very easy to adjust the mechanical elevation angle control device, this quasi-head is all controlled by the feeling of the shè hand.

Skilled mortarists are able to get a steady hit rate after three or four, while novices from the first school shè shells, may need shè 8 or more" to obtain accurate shè parameters, naturally, this problem was raised by the 6th Army to the Artillery Bureau, and the Artillery Bureau in turn raised the problem to the Mawei Shi Yàn room, which was distributed as a special topic.

The solution to the problem quickly formed a theoretical basis, and it took nearly a year to go from theory to the actual product, but even this crude generation of products made it possible for the mortar shè strike officer to obtain the exact shè fire parameters in 3 guns, which was undoubtedly a significant improvement.

The huge liturgical shell that lit up the sky finally disappeared into the sky, as the first large-scale flare by the artillery shè in this era" This is the result of the shell workshop led by Lin Deping of the Mawei Artillery Bureau, although this thing is almost made with reference to the lihua that Chinese people love, but some chemical components are added to it that can continue to burn, but it looks very good! ,

The illumination salute not only illuminated the sky of the French, but also illuminated Tang Fang on the hillside, as well as the dense soldiers on a large flat ground of more than 2o meters behind him, and the dense cannon barrels around the soldiers!

Yes, it is indeed a dense barrel, on the plane of the entire artillery position, each row is equipped with 8omm mortars 16mén, there are a total of 1o platoons, a full 16omén mortars, the shell box next to each mén mortar has long been opened, and the artillery is nervously wiping the bright gun barrel that can be used as a mirror! Everyone's faces were filled with excitement!

Tang Fang no longer has any regrets about his choice to give up the battleship shè strike officer at this moment, he is the shè strike officer of the 5O1 ship C gun position, Zhou Ruidong went to the navy dignitaries when he formed the artillery regiment, Lu Han recommended him, although he was a little reluctant to leave his beloved fleet, but when he heard that he was going to command a huge artillery group to fight, he immediately realized that it would be a new world!

At this moment, he squinted at the French camp that disappeared into darkness in the distance, and a surge of pride surged in his heart, today is the appearance of the ** artillery regiment! What a spectacular scene this will be, it seems that Zhou Shen will forget to ask people to bring that big camera!

The opponent had a small regret, he smiled, took the observation number jù handed over by his officer, and immediately converted the shè strike parameters with reference to the shè hit table at hand.

, "Herald...... Divided into two groups、Xu Jin barrage shè hit! ”

, "A set of shè strike command target area No. 1, target No. 1O1, coordinates X8O477O"

Y477oo, front 2OO, depth 15O, No. 2 Yào, ruler 156, height 3O-2, shè o-

o4！ ”

, "Group 2, target area 2, target 1o8, coordinates x8o4oo, y451oo, front 2

oo, depth 35o, No. 2 yào, ruler 165, height 34-2, shè o-o4! ”

A complex set of shè parameters was quickly conveyed, and the soldiers huddled in front of their beloved mortars immediately nervously set the ruler and adjusted the elevation angle......

, "The first shè strike team is ready......"

, "The fourth shè strike group is ready......"

“……”

"All set!" In just 2o seconds, the final preparations before the shè strike were completed, and the officer immediately reported to Tang Fang.

"4 rush shè hit, 8 wait shè hit, 4 shè shè a lighting salute bomb, finish waiting for the order!" Tang Fang waved his hand very boldly and gave the order to bombard! This is the result of two months of cào practice, just waiting for today's critical moment!

In the next moment, "1 Bu Dongcao, the people around this land could feel the violent shaking of the earth, and the entire artillery position remembered the earth-shattering and almost simultaneous sound of "bang": "A white smoke enveloped the entire flat land!"

Mortar shells with tail fins flew through the sky, making a sharp sound of breaking the sky, everyone was attracted and surprised by this breathtaking sound, even the French who were in the shell strike circle were no exception, which made the world change the scene, this is definitely a realistic version of the Grim Reaper Bone Scythe.

In the French barracks, the pot had been blown up at this time, and the officers were desperately shouting orders, gathering soldiers to prepare for the sudden situation, but no one expected that the sudden situation would come so quickly and so deadly!

Lieutenant Colonel Martin had just assembled his two companies, and their battalion was located relatively far behind, which was supposed to be the safest area, but, in fact, it was completely wrong. Just as he was scolding the soldiers in the battalion who had forgotten to carry their guns, several other French battalions that were assembling in the distance were annihilated in front of him by the sea of fire created by the first round of mortars that fell from the arrows.

The targets of the first and second groups were located at the southernmost and middle of the French camp, and each group of 8omén guns formed a huge barrage of coverage.

The landing points of the dropped shells were spaced at a transverse interval of 4o meters and a longitudinal interval of 25 meters, and with one shè shot, the artillery fire had completely covered a cross-section of the French barracks.

Lieutenant Colonel Martin and his soldiers watched in amazement as at least four battalions of troops had just completed their build-up, enveloped in a rain of shells falling from the sky, and the smoke did not even wait for the smoke to clear."

A second round of shells roared again, once again baptizing the area with barrage and flames.

Martin's mouth was open, in such a steel storm, the possibility of surviving was really very small, he immediately realized that the shells below were about to fall on his head, and immediately pointed hoarsely at the camp away from the artillery fire...... Recessed ......"

Before he could finish speaking, another round of shells whistled in, directly igniting a tent set up in front of him into a sea of fire, and the explosion that was close at hand had already overturned several soldiers of Martin's company who were rushing to the nearby bunker! ,

Such a fierce shelling made Lieutenant Colonel Martin stunned, and he naturally did not stop, and quickly fled to the nearest trench, at this moment, the shallow trench dug in the tent area was already crowded with soldiers who had escaped from the tent, and they naturally understood that the earth pushed out of the trench was very likely to save their lives at this moment.

Because, it is difficult for cannonballs in this era to bypass the soil push and smash directly into the trenches, unless luck is too bad and there are some magical cannonballs, they will accidentally smash into the tunnel! However, the probability of being born in that situation should be very small......

Everyone looked at the sky in horror, and under the threat of the god of war, the most powerful soldiers could only tremble! In just a few minutes, the shells rained down, and with each round of artillery fire, a large area of the camp was turned into a sea of flames.

Every soldier was speculating in horror about what kind of army he was facing, the perverted rifle fire during the day, and at night there was such an outrageous, insanely dense artillery attack "Under such a powerful force, even if the follow-up reinforcements arrive and bring field artillery, the field artillery will not be able to compete with the opponent's powerful firepower at all."

The officers and soldiers alike understood in their hearts that the present situation was not at all a question of how to win, but of how to flee for their lives, and after lying in the trench, Martin had already checked the condition of the other half of the camp: "It is evident that the enemy's shelling was not only accurate and swift, but also advanced quickly from the middle of the camp, - at this moment the improvised camp had already become a sea of fire, and the flammable tents had quickly turned into large fires after the shelling, and the camp was clear."

The barrage extended by more than 5o meters per round of shè attacks, and the camp shrouded in the barrage was in a sea of fire, although from time to time there were people in the sea of fire who rushed out desperately, "but there was no doubt that they fell again in the next round of indiscriminate artillery coverage, and it was obvious that it was a futile thing to compare with the artillery fire."

And the heat of the explosion of the artillery fire had already made the French people crawling in the trenches tremble, and many of them began to draw crosses and pray for the protection of the gods, and now, the weapon they had always trusted was useless!

15o m...... 1oo ...... 5o m ......

Seeing the barrage getting closer and closer, facing the coming of the test of life and death, some people couldn't help the pressure of the gods, and suddenly ran out of the trenches like crazy, running around the camp without purpose, and everyone was also dead when they saw this situation! After being covered by artillery fire at hand, Martin looked at the sky illuminated by the flames of the explosion, and his eyes looked dazed.

On the small mound on the right flank of the mortar group, Zhou Ruidong was already lying in the bunker observing the French garrison in the distance, with a satisfied look on his face.

From the beginning of the first round of shelling, with the extension of 5o meters per round of artillery barrage, the two mortar groups ploughed the entire camp of the other side with shells in just a few minutes, and at this moment "the French camp on the opposite side does not need shè lighting salute shells, and they can see it clearly."

But "the whole camp was hard to distinguish anything but the burning flames and the black smoke from the explosion of the shells, and the French had been overwhelmed by the sea of shells of their own making." However, in this short 3 minutes, more than 25 shells were fired for each mén mortar.

In these three minutes, 4ooo shells were poured on the enemy's position, and it was only a simple garrison with no fortifications to speak of, and the effect of this round of strikes would definitely be very jīng彩, he immediately gave the order to continue shelling the opponent's barracks, and at the same time organize fire to launch artillery bombardment on the enemy's temporary positions in front! Although this mortar is not as easy to aim as a field gun, it is far more effective than it in striking the enemy.

In order to prepare for tonight's artillery battle, Zhou Ruidong spent a lot of money and almost carried out the mortar shells produced by the Mawei Artillery Bureau.

Although after more than two years of technical transformation, the mortar shell technology of the Mawei Artillery Bureau has made great progress, but the output of mortar shells has not increased much, mainly due to the complexity of the processing technology, and the cost of each shell is close to 2o taels of silver. ,

The Artillery Bureau has a large number of projects waiting to start, how can there be such a senior technician to engage in the production of mortar shells, fortunately, over time, there is some inventory, which can make Zhou Ruidong move to the Zhiling Fortress like ants, this time, Zhou Ruidong is determined to fight with the French, so the shells of the entire warehouse are transported! There were nearly 12,000 new shells, plus more than 3ooo mortar shells from the early chestnut sè fire yào.

After receiving Zhou Ruidong's new order, the artillery regiment had already exhausted two base shells, and the camp of the French on the opposite side had undergone the baptism of the third barrage, and the commander Tang Fang immediately issued an order to concentrate the shelling one by one, and each mortar squad began to adjust the muzzle according to the parameters of the shelling issued in advance, and was responsible for the key shelling of an area in units of two mén guns.

And the degree of shelling was also significantly reduced, the artillerymen carefully adjusted the shè shooting parameters, and the shells smashed at the French on the opposite side as if they didn't want money! However, the time interval of the shells was deliberately extended.

At this moment, Bo Slip was in a state of anxiety in the camp, but fortunately he dug the bunker next to his tent to let him escape this catastrophe, at this time he had slipped out of the camp with his men, and was ready to meet the counterattack of the Qing ** team on the left side of the fortifications, such a large-scale artillery bombardment, this purpose is naturally obvious.

"Report, 7 percent of the 7th battalion was killed and missing, and the battalion commander was killed!"

"Report, there are only 3 people left in the 12th Company, and they have lost control!"

"Report, twelve battalions of indigenous soldiers fled en masse!"

It's just that the officers who came to report brought bad news without exception, and what is worse is that a large number of troops and officers were scattered in the shelling, and under the current circumstances, it is impossible to gather troops in the barracks, and the shells are still harvesting the lives of the soldiers all the time.

He immediately ordered to gather all the stragglers he could find in the superficial position on the west side into a battalion, and he appointed an officer to take command and let them stand quietly in the dark, and soon he had assembled a force of more than 1,000 men and divided it into two battalions.

After receiving the news, Major General Thaler also rushed to the first time, but the luck of this beer-bellied man seemed to be even worse, his left hand was already hanging the lottery, his head was drooping, and there were only a few dozen pro-troops around him who could be mobilized......

Soon, a ray of light pierced out from the east, and Bo Slip immediately realized that the final test had finally arrived! a。