Lin Fei explained with a smile: "The Spaniards are not stupid, they must be able to detect the approximate location of the incoming shells, and when the time comes, they will fire in that direction, according to the trajectory of the mountain artillery, the shells will definitely not hit the artillery company below the peak, but the sniper team at the top of the peak will be dangerous." ”

"But if I put the sniper team on the other side of the artillery company, the Spanish artillery unit will say that nothing will be able to hit them, and then we will be the only ones on the battlefield to fight them, but they will not be able to hit us at all."

Tang Yinchun suddenly realized and said: "So that's the case, I understand, then I'll prepare." ”

After Tang Yinchun finished speaking, he took his subordinates to prepare, and the next day, the soldiers of Lin Fei's troops collected more than 300 Muslim costumes in the surrounding villages and towns, because Lin Fei carried out land reform, so the local Muslims were grateful to Lin Fei, and would rather have no clothes to wear than lend clothes to Lin Fei's troops.

During this day, the sniper team also followed the artillery company to familiarize themselves with how to guide the target, including the use of steering wheels, theodolite and other artillery instruments.

At the same time, Lin Fei's scouts spotted a large number of Muslim troops about fifteen kilometers south of Zamboanga, but these troops had lost their command and were scattered.

Another day, on February 22, 1895, Muslim costumes collected from villages and towns farther away were delivered, and the total number of clothes reached 800, and Lin Fei sent the people in the vicinity to cut down branches in the surrounding woods to make torches and sticks, while the army recuperated, and after a day's preparation on February 22, everything was ready, only the east wind was missing.

At 10 a.m. on February 23, Lin Fei ordered the soldiers of the first and second battalions to change into Muslim clothes, bring torches and sticks, hide their rifles, and then lead them to the mountains and forests about three kilometers away from Shengtai Mountain.

Lin Fei also ordered Niu Dalong and Niu Dahu to lead the rest of the troops to hide in the mountains and forests about one kilometer behind him, and in the process of marching, the communications company carried a winding drum and a telephone set, and laid a telephone line between the troops led by Lin Fei and the troops led by Niu Dalong and Niu Dahu.

Two hours before Lin Fei led the troops to set off, that is, at 8 a.m. on February 23, Zhang Chuang led the sniper team, Zhao Menggang led the artillery company, and Tang Yinchun led the communications company to quietly set off and march to the unnamed high ground on the east side of the Shengtai Mountain.

At 4 p.m. on 23 February, all units arrived at their predetermined positions, and the artillery company also reached an open ground about 30 meters below the peak of the unnamed heights.

At 5 o'clock in the afternoon, Zhang Chuang's headquarters arrived at the predetermined position to guide the artillery bombardment, and Tang Yinchun also laid the telephone line between the sniper team and the artillery company, and immediately began to conduct a call test, the equipment was running normally, and the call effect was good.

Zhang Chuang held the binoculars in his hand and looked at the artillery position on Shengtai Mountain in the distance, only to see that ten mountain guns were scattered in a line, each two of which were about 50 meters apart, and about 30 meters behind each gun, there was a row of long wooden boxes, which were opened, revealing yellow and clear shells.

Zhang Chuang turned back to Xu Deping and said, "Let's start measuring the distance and direction." ”

Xu Deping then took out a variety of instruments from the box he was carrying, including a stereo rangefinder used to measure distance, a steering wheel used to measure bearing, etc., and Xu Deping arranged the artillery on the Spanish position into No. 1 and No. 2 in order from east to west...... Number 10, ranging and direction finding for each gun separately.

While Xu Deping was busy, Zhao Menggang's artillery company was not idle, they took down the parts of the mortar, assembled it into a mortar, and took down the shells they were carrying and put them aside, this time they carried 80 shells for each mortar, some of these shells were carried by themselves, and some of them were handed over to the hired migrant workers.

One of Zhao Menggang's soldiers said to Zhao Menggang while removing the fuse from the shell: "Company commander, we can't see the target at all, can we fight like this?" ”

Zhao Menggang smiled and said, "What's not to do?" Didn't Majesty tell us about indirect shooting? ”

The soldier removed the fuse pin, put the fuse pin on one side, put the shell on the other, and whispered: "I can't see the target and shoot the cannon, I always feel uncertain." ”

Zhao Menggang smiled disdainfully and said, "Don't think about those useless things, hurry up and work." Zhao Menggang left this soldier and said to the soldier of the meteorological class on the side: "How are the parameters of wind speed and temperature calculated?" ”

The shell is greatly affected by the environment when it is launched, in which the wind speed, temperature, air pressure and humidity will affect the trajectory of the shell, so Lin Fei set up a meteorological squad in the artillery company to measure these parameters for the artillery, in this era in 1895, the measurement of these parameters is not a difficult task, Lin Fei after the defeat of Cotabato scavenged a number of instruments to measure these parameters.

The meteorological squad immediately reported the relevant parameters, and Zhao Menggang notified the calculation soldiers of the parameters and asked the calculation soldiers to adjust the muzzle pointing according to these parameters, this process was not very difficult, because Lin Fei wrote the corrected ballistic column on the ballistic table according to his experience, and the calculator could adjust it according to the ballistic table.

At 5:30 p.m., the telephone operator said to Zhao Menggang: "Company commander, the sniper team has finished calculating the enemy's position and distance, and has sent the target Zhuyuan." ”

Zhao Menggang nodded and said, "Okay, immediately inform the calculation of the distance and direction, and the calculation soldier will immediately calculate the shooting yuan." ”

The telephone operator then said: "Target No. 1, distance, hole ninety-seventy-three, bearing, three, five, two......"

In the calculation of the direction, Lin Fei once again asked his subordinates to use the concept commonly used in modern military - the secret position, the so-called "secret position" is to divide a 360-degree circumference into several parts, each part is a secret position, so that it is more accurate when calculating the direction.

In Lin Fei's time, some countries divided a circle into 6,000 parts, and some countries divided it into 6,200 parts, Lin Fei was used to dividing it into 6,000 parts, so he regarded one-sixth of a circle as a secret position.

Lin Fei equipped the artillery with calculation tools such as a slide rule, and soon the calculation of the shooting elements was completed, and the calculation soldier reported to Zhao Menggang: "Report to the company commander, our unit should use the No. 3 charge with a firing angle of 56 degrees." ”

Zhao Menggang thought for a while and said: "The No. 1 artillery is ready, the target enemy No. 5 artillery, one test shot, notify the sniper team to observe the explosion point, and prepare for a fifteen-second countdown." ”

The telephone operator immediately shouted into the phone: "The artillery company calls the sniper team, our unit is about to conduct a test shot, please observe the explosion point." ”

The operator on the sniper team's position shouted: "Sniper team received, understood!" ”

The fifteen-second countdown has passed, and Zhao Menggang ordered loudly: "Launch!" ”

The shooter picked up a shell, put it in the muzzle, and as soon as his hand was loosened, he squatted down, hiding behind the side of the mortar, and at the same time covered his ears with both hands, and grew his mouth, this is not cowardice, but the self-protection of artillery, although the caliber of the HP-1 mortar is only 60 mm, the amount of propellant is small, and the explosion sound is not particularly loud, but it can also cause some damage to the artillery, and Lin Fei does not have the ability to manufacture special earplugs used by modern artillery, so he can only let his subordinates cover their ears with their hands and slightly protect.

The shell slipped in the barrel and made a "tintin" metal collision crunch, which was soon replaced by a "boom" explosion, and one shell whistled out of the muzzle and flew towards the summit.

The cannonball whistled and landed on the Spaniard's No. 5 gun, exploding more than forty meters in front of the left of the No. 5 gun. ”

The telephone operator immediately used the telephone to report the location of the explosive point to the artillery company, and Zhao Menggang immediately issued an order to correct the muzzle, and the shooter immediately adjusted the muzzle pointing and reported: "The adjustment is complete!" ”

Zhao Menggang ordered again: "Launch!" ”

The shells whistled out, this time falling exactly 15 meters in front of the left side of the No. 5 gun, and the anti-personnel fragments hit the gun, making a "clanging" sound, Xu Deping saw that the location of the explosion point was very close, and his heart was excited, thinking that if he adjusted the muzzle again, the Spanish artillery would suffer.

Xu Deping sneered and sent out the location information of the bombing point, and at this time, the artillery on the Spanish position began to be confused! For three days they had been at leisure, for the Moros had been driven away by them, but now they had discovered that a cannonball had fallen on their position.

The artillerymen were so surprised that they all stared blankly at the black smoke from the shells, and whispered: "What's going on?" Where did the shells come from? ”

"Do the Moros have cannons?"

"No kidding, how could the Moros have cannons?"

"And who hit this shell? Could it be the Chinese Empire? Impossible, isn't the Chinese Empire in Cotabatar? When did you come to us? ”

The soldiers were talking, and someone reported the news to the commander of the artillery battalion, Lieutenant Colonel Gustana, who heard that a shell had fallen on his position and hurriedly asked: "Where did the shells come from?" ”

The herald replied, "It's from the east, and we don't know where it is." ”

Lieutenant Colonel Gustana frowned, thinking to himself what was going on with the enemy attacking us from the east, where there were mountains and no place to deploy artillery. Lieutenant Colonel Gustana thought this way because he had never heard of the "mortar", a portable artillery.

Lieutenant Colonel Gustana thought for a moment and said, "Order the No. 7 and No. 8 guns, turn the muzzles, aim at the peaks of the mountains to the east, and fire back." ”

This book was first published from 17K Novel Network, the first time to see the genuine content! I734