"I'm pretty good at playing, even the earthquake bomb has come out!"

Yang Feng said with a smile. Pen × fun × Pavilion www. ｂｉｑｕｇｅ。 ｉｎｆｏ

"Your Majesty, this kind of thing is indeed a clever trick to deal with those ground rats, according to Qin Yu's report, these fifty tons of explosives directly killed only a few hundred enemy soldiers, but the earthquake effect created buried nearly fifteen thousand alive, more than half of the 30,000 defenders of Nasiriyah City died from this giant bomb, the only problem is that it is too troublesome to use, it can neither be thrown in the air with an airship nor can be artillery, it can only be made on the spot, so it is very inconvenient to use."

Chen Lie said.

Previously, the Ming army in the Sanzar valley also encountered this tactic, if it were not for the Bukhara people who were frightened by Yang Feng's arrival and surrendered, then it was estimated that it would take more than a month just to pass through this valley that was only a few dozen miles long, and before the Kokand people surrendered, the Ming army had already suffered more than 3,000 casualties, and it was estimated that it would be more than 5,000 if it was really hard to get through.

This is arguably unprecedented.

If the enemy in the future plays like this in the defense of the pass, it will be really troublesome.

This kind of super bomb is obviously a solution idea, but it is only a solution idea, at least for the time being, this method still has no practical value, because those enemy troops will not let the Ming army easily make such a bomb on the spot, and even in the future, it is impossible for the Ming army to think of such a simple way in urban combat, so we must think of some more convenient, effective and practical methods, or to create a super bomb that can be used directly, a bomb that can be dropped by an airship.

But it takes a big airship.

"This problem is not difficult to solve, first of all, to build a giant bomb, limited to the carrying capacity of our airship, as far as I know, the largest airship can already carry nearly six tons of bombs, then build six tons, use high-altitude throwing and delay fuse to use the speed of the bomb's fall, hit the ground and make it drill into the ground, even if one is not powerful enough, it is nothing more than throwing a few more, Qin Yu They detonated fifty tons, then we can throw ten or twenty such bombs on the ground, and we will almost be able to achieve the same effect."

Second, build giant mortars.

It doesn't need to be too long-range, and it doesn't need to be too high-precision, as long as the shell is large enough, at least more than a ton in weight, and the kinetic energy of the shell when it falls is also used to drill into the ground and explode, our largest army gun is only four inches now, and even a super-heavy rocket is only ten inches. In fact, heavy rockets can be calculated, but the speed of this thing is too slow to have the ability to penetrate the ground, and a large part of the weight of the shells is given to the propulsion part, so let's simply make a larger artillery, increase the caliber to thirteen inches or even higher, and a shell weighs two tons and then bombard the target, so that no matter what enemy is crushed. ”

Yang Feng said excitedly.

The thought that he could create a monster like the Great Bertha immediately struck him with an irrepressible urge.

"Your Majesty, such a cannon may weigh hundreds of tons, and it is impossible to transport it by road, so it can only be transported by rail, and even if it is transported to the battlefield, the ground will definitely not be able to withstand the impact of recoil."

Chief of General Staff Chen, who was born in artillery, cautiously reminded him.

"Are we building cannons like this to bombard those small villages? No, we built this thing to bombard large cities such as London, Paris, and Rome, so it can be completely disassembled and transported by water, and then laid tracks to transport it to the battlefield, and the position can also be poured with reinforced concrete in advance, so isn't it? Imagine setting up ten of these giant cannons outside the city of Paris, and then bombarding the city day and night, what enemy would have the guts to continue holding out there? In fact, in my opinion, after a salvo of our artillery, it is estimated that the vast majority of the enemy will know what to do. ”

Yang Feng said.

As soon as he said this, Chen Lie was relieved, to put it bluntly, it is a strategic deterrent, such a cannon is not of high practical value, of course, it does not mean that it is useless, it must be useful, but the most important thing is not the significance on the battlefield, but to show the powerful power of the Ming Dynasty that crushes everything. As the emperor said, such a few cannons are set up outside the enemy's city, and there is no need for more, and a salvo may have to frighten many enemies, and no one can insist on fighting in front of such a terrifying cannon.

In other words, even if they want to persevere, they can't withstand such a few shots.

And these cannons are only used to bombard those symbolic and important cities, as long as these cities are frightened by these cannons and choose to surrender, then who else in those places with these cities as spiritual pillars, who will really fight to the death?

"Your Majesty Shengming!"

Chen Lie said immediately.

Of course, what he didn't know was that the reason why Emperor Yang would build this thing was actually mainly to satisfy his own interests, after all, there was no real fortress in front of the Ming army at this time.

"Send an order to the army weapons factory, let them immediately start developing this cannon, the first batch of at least ten cannons, and an artillery brigade directly under the army general staff, which is specially responsible for the use of these ten cannons!"

Emperor Yang said ambitiously.

Ten are enough, too many are useless, this cannon is too cumbersome to use.

In this way, the holy decree of building the Ming Super Cannon was immediately issued from the Kangju Palace, as for how to build it, it was the matter of the great craftsmen of the Ming Dynasty.

In fact, there is no great difficulty, the emperor said that the caliber of thirteen inches, one inch of the Ming Dynasty is three .2 centimeters, that is, four hundred and twenty millimeters, and the heaviest artillery of the Ming Dynasty has reached seven inches, although the increase of nearly two times is indeed amazing, but it is not unattainable, it is nothing more than the performance of steel. Daming steel technology is still very trustworthy, now even stainless steel has been put into production on a small scale, in fact, the overall level is close to the pre-World War I standard, Yang Feng is to make a big Bertha and not a little David, there is not much pressure on technology.

When Yang Feng issued the task of developing the super cannon, the two armies of the Ming army were still moving forward along the Euphrates River and the Tigris River, bulldozing all the Ottoman towns along the way like a terrifying sandstorm, leaving one desolate ruin after another, because with this tactic of piling up explosives to cause earthquakes, it is no problem to hit Baghdad in two months at the current speed, and the only thing left is how to raze this ancient city.

At the same time, the Ming army, which had just conquered Jerusalem, also rushed straight to Damascus, relying on its strong strength to quickly break through the Ottoman resistance in the Golan Heights, and then surrounded this equally ancient famous city like a bamboo, followed by a bloody and cruel siege, when to raze Damascus depends on the speed of the Ming army.

Anyway, the new Ottoman Sultan Mahmud I was not in a position to support them.

In fact, Mahmud I had already abandoned Damascus and Baghdad, and he simply had no ability to hold these two places, not to mention the difference in strength, even if he could not support the logistics alone, and it was much more difficult for him to supply these places from land than the Ming army with two rivers and sea transportation. So he simply threw these two places out to delay the Ming army, and the real focus of defense was the Anatolian plateau, where the undulating mountains and mountains were his real reliance, and even Istanbul He gave up, after all, there was his uncle's experience there, he didn't want the Ming army to enter the Sea of Marmara again one day, and a cannon sent him to see the lord Zhen.

So he moved the capital.

The capital of the Ottoman Empire was temporarily moved to Edirne, where at least there was no need to worry about the Ming artillery bombarding their palace.

As for the Persian battlefield, at this time the Ming army was still making slow progress, this land full of mountains had contained the strength of the Ming army's entire five armies, but it still could not be said to be a real conquest, although the Ming army had already occupied Isfahan, but the Persian king took a large number of subordinates into the mountains, and then used the support of those temple elders to control the country.

In fact, the situation on the Persian battlefield at this time had become a war of law and order, the areas occupied by the Ming army and the guerrilla activity areas of the Persians were intertwined, there were no large-scale battles between the two sides, and there were countless small-scale battles every day, all of which were Persians attacking the Ming army to clear the Persians and then attacking the Ming army and then clearing and suppressing. Battalion after battalion of Ming troops, in the lofty mountains of the Persian Plateau, just like the Japanese army in the Taihang Mountains in the original history, exhausted and fighting with the guerrillas, His Majesty the Emperor has ordered to send at least two more armies to Persia again, and even the local defense forces of the Japanese state have been transferred to Persia.

In short, there is no shortage of troops in the Ming Dynasty, and the Persians can play to the end if they want to!

Anyway, Yang Feng is not in a hurry now.

His next goal was to cross the Caspian Sea and start attacking Eastern Europe, but this had to rely on railways, even if the plains of Central Asia were easy to build, he wanted to extend the railway that had just been built in Talas for more than 3,000 miles, and it would not take a short time to complete, even if it was built from both ends of Persia at the same time, it would take at least a few years, and this time was the time for him to clean up Persia.

And not just Persia, of course.

"Give them an hour to think about it, and if they don't surrender in an hour, then the island will be razed!"

Xu Shou looked at his pocket watch and said.

At this time, his fleet was in a spectacular posture, lying in the sea off a small island that was not very large, and all the cannons pointed at the island were raising their muzzles, and all the artillery was waiting to pour out the fury of death on the target.

This is Malta.

"My lord, the Spaniards are coming!"

Just as an envoy boarded a diesel-powered dinghy and sailed to the port, an officer said to Xu Shou.

Xu Shou turned his head and saw the same small boat in the distance, slowly rowing towards him, and behind this small boat, a fleet larger than his fleet lay across the sea, with countless white sails on the towering masts, and the steam-powered warships spewing black smoke on this side were relatively guarding each other less than ten miles away.

This is the combined Spanish and French fleet.

In order to ensure the strongest strength, Philip V combined two navies in his hands, this specimen of the sail era, with more than a hundred battleships, and equipped with all rifled guns, including the latest fifty-eight-pounder cast steel rifled guns, the real strength is close to the level of the mid-nineteenth century, and it is estimated that it will be easy to destroy Nelson, but unfortunately this is not useful, because in the eyes of the Ming army, this is still ......

"Trash!"

Xu Shou said.

Under his disdainful gaze, the Spanish messenger climbed the gangway and was brought to him.

"Your Excellency, the island of Malta belongs to the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies, and His Majesty the King is the King of the Two Sicilies, so I hereby solemnly declare that the island of Malta is under the protection of His Majesty King Philip V of Spain, and the actions of your army are an encroachment on the territory of His Majesty Philip V."

The officer said righteously.

"So you mean that the Knights of the Medicary were appointed by you, so they dared to fight against the Ming Dynasty?"

Xu Shou said lightly.

"Well, the actions of the Knights of the Medicary have nothing to do with us."

The officer hurriedly said.

This charge could not be borne under any circumstances, and if he dared to say that the Knights of the Medicary had anything to do with them, then the artillery of the Ming army would be bombarded by Gibraltar.

"Then I'm curious, you say that the Knights of the Medics on the island of Malta have nothing to do with you, and you say that the island of Malta is your territory, so what is the matter?"

Xu Shou said.

"They leased the island."

The officer said.

"That is to say, you lease your territory to a group of people who are enemies of the Ming Dynasty, and let them use it as a base to fight against the Ming Dynasty, ah, this problem is very serious, I really can't imagine that a country that claims to be an old friend of the Ming Dynasty will do this kind of thing, this is a betrayal of the precious friendship of the Ming Dynasty, you have seriously hurt the feelings of the people of the Ming Dynasty, I must play this matter to the emperor."

Xu Shou immediately said indignantly.

"Uh, Your Excellency the Marquis, we have no offense to His Majesty the Emperor of the Ming Dynasty, and our friendship is absolutely sincere."

The officer said hurriedly.

"And how can this be explained?"

Xu Shou said.

At the same time, the alarm behind him immediately sounded, and then the officers issued a series of orders, and all the cannons began to turn, and the muzzles that were originally pointed at the island of Malta were all aimed at the Spanish warships in the distance, and at the same time, the other Ming warships on the sea also began to turn their muzzles.

"Look, our soldiers are angry!"

Xu Shou said.

The officer looked at this scene with a pale face, especially the huge twin five-inch cannon behind Xu Shou, and the frighteningly large cannonballs behind the cannon, he swallowed with difficulty, looked at his own fleet behind him, and then looked at the island of Malta in the distance. He put on a smile like a spring breeze as quickly as he could, "Your Excellency Marquis, I think I'm mistaken, I remember that our King sold this island to the Medicary Knights a long time ago, at least a hundred years ago, and I almost forgot it for so long." ”

"So it's not about your country here."

Xu Shou said with a smile.

"Nothing to do with it, nothing to do with it."

The officer said firmly.

"That's fine, aim at the island of Malta and fire the cannon if you don't surrender in half an hour!"

Xu Shou said with satisfaction.

(New book "Full-time Traverser", link below)