When he received the post and knew that Zheng Zhilong was coming, Liu Jun had a smile on his face.

He made a lot of fanfare along the way, not just to catch this big fish, and now the fish has finally taken the bait. Liu Jun personally met Zheng Cai, the nephew of Zheng Zhilong, who came to send the post, and agreed to meet Zheng Zhilong in the new army camp outside Nanjing the next day.

In Liu Jun's view, although it is said that Zheng Chenggong, the son of Zheng Zhilong, later recovered Taiwan in history, he fought with the Qing army for a lifetime. But at this time, Zheng Zhilong was just a businessman. It can be seen from the fact that after he was recruited by the imperial court and awarded the post of guerrilla general, he immediately left Taiwan, which had been in business for many years since Yan Siqi, and brought all the people to Fujian, it can be seen that Zheng Zhilong was only a businessman at this time, a businessman who wanted to be recognized by the imperial court and do maritime trade in peace.

If he had any thoughts of secession at this time, then he would not have easily abandoned this part of Taiwan and moved his family to Fujian. Therefore, Liu Jun is actually quite sure about this meeting.

In fact, the maritime merchants of the Ming Dynasty are all the same, and they all want to be recognized by the imperial court. If the court refuses to approve of them and does not allow them to do maritime trade, then they will become pirates. If the imperial court recognizes them, then they will change from pirates to maritime merchants, Wang Zhi, Li Dan, Xu Xinsu, etc., and Zheng Zhilong will not be an exception.

However, Liu Jun will not underestimate Zheng Zhilong, Zheng Zhilong, who was born in ordinary people, can rise on the sea in just over ten years and become the overlord of maritime business today, so he is naturally not an idle person.

Early the next morning, Liu Jun freshened up and changed his clothes under Liu Ruye's service, dressed up in a particularly majestic manner, and rode the imperial war horse to the camp in the suburbs.

In order to give Zheng Zhilong a little bit of power, Liu Jun ordered the high roll of the Chinese army's big tent tent, and a group of generals and colonels of the army were lined up outside the tent. He also pointed out a hundred sturdy guards to pair with long knives, and laid out fifty cold knife doors, while he himself sat in the big tent.

Moreover, since the camp gate, there are columns of firecrackers standing solemnly, and outside the camp gate, there are dozens of cannons.

The soldiers of the seventh battalion in the battalion were still practicing in formation. The momentum is moving.

When Zheng Zhilong arrived with a group of horses, he heard the sound of drills in the big camp from a distance, and saw that the camp was heavily fortified and the banners were hunting.

After waiting for a while, I saw a small colonel galloping out of the camp and inviting Zheng Zhilong and others into the camp.

Zheng Zhilong rode a horse and followed into the camp, and as soon as he entered the camp gate, he saw a long column of cannons placed there.

An officer with a flag on his back and a knife at his waist shouted. "Move forward in formation!"

Zheng Zhilong stopped and looked at the gunners carefully. In this era, artillery is a sharp weapon, especially at sea, and the cannon of a giant ship is king. Zheng Zhilong had seen the purge of Liu Jun's soldiers and horses, and now he wanted to see the artillery fire of Liu Jun's soldiers and horses.

Over there, following the orders of several artillery bureau chiefs, several artillery bureaus began to advance rapidly towards the predetermined positions. The soldiers who drove the car skillfully drove the horses and chariots. When you arrive at your destination, you immediately stop the horse. The gunners ran forward and, upon arrival, quickly removed the guns from the vehicles in front. Push it into the firing position drawn by the commanders of each artillery bureau with waist knives.

The purpose of this is to prevent enemy counter-battery fire from hitting the artillery, and at least with an interval of four zhang, it can prevent one shell from hitting two artillery groups.

At the same time as the artillery was deployed. The soldiers driving the car drove a few more steps and then got out of the car and untied the front car from their horses, a task that the well-trained Hydra artillerymen accomplished in a matter of seconds. Then, they led the horses to the protective area behind them to hide the horses on the battlefield. These horses will be the main target of the enemy.

Because the artillery was without horses, it was difficult for the artillery to move.

According to the code, the front car was to roll into its proper position, after which each artilleryman entered his own position.

Three gunners were located in the front car, four behind the guns. Four gunners, behind the gun, stood to the left of the tail of the gun and waited for orders.

At this time, the hundred generals of the various artillery bureaus began to issue orders.

"Start firing!"

Zheng Zhilong and his brothers watched intently as the nine-headed bird's artillery operated in an orderly manner, and they were very amazed in their hearts, these gunners were quite well-trained.

At this time, after the gunners on the field heard the order, the No. 1 gunners of each artillery with projectile pushers and gun brushes immediately walked to the right of the muzzle and stood still, while the No. 2 gunners of each gun stood to the left of the muzzle, ready to accept the shells and medicine bags and load them into the chamber.

The third gunner was on the right side of the breech, and one of their important tasks was to protect the gun's door while the gun was being reloaded.

Gunner No. 4 stood on the left side of the breech, ready to punch a hole in the medicine bag through the fire door, then inserted the fire rope and lit the fire rope after hearing the order of the hundred generals.

The fifth gunner stood behind the front car, he was often called the ammunition porter. He waited by his side while gunners six and seven prepared their ammunition.

Gunners No. 6 and No. 7 were the busiest in the whole gun, because if explosive shells were used, they had to cut the wooden fuse tubes and load them into the shells.

The commander of the guns is the commander of each artillery, and after receiving the order to fire, he gives the order to reload the ammunition, and specifies the type of shells needed, choosing whether it is solid, explosive or shotgun. They also had to indicate the range of the shells to reach the target according to the target, and this required the gun commander to rely on his own experience to estimate, so each gun and the most experienced veterans in the artillery crew.

"Load the explosive bomb, five hundred steps ahead!" The artillery commander shouted.

Gunners No. 6 and No. 7, located at the rear of the front car, immediately consulted the table affixed to the cover of the front car, which detailed the angle of fire required for the corresponding shells, charges and ranges, as well as the flight time of the corresponding shells. Gunner No. 6 immediately reported to the gunner in a loud voice after finding out the required angle and time of fire.

"Report Gun Commander"

Immediately after receiving the report, the gun commander began to determine the angle of fire with the gun and adjust it with the sight, while shouting foul words to the third and fourth gunners in a loud voice to ask them to adjust the gun. At the same time, it is necessary to make appropriate corrections according to the wind direction and wind strength.

At the same time, the No. 7 gunner was to cut the length of the delay fuse appropriately according to the time of hit, after which the active plug was drawn from the fuze hole of the shell and the fuse was inserted into the appropriate place in the fuse hole.

When the shells are ready. Gunner 5 loaded it into the Gunner's Rucksack, a backpack designed to carry shells to the gunner's position.

The gunner inspects the shells to ensure that they are fitted with fuses, that they are of the type of gun that is needed, and that the cartridge has not leaked gunpowder or been otherwise damaged.

Meticulous inspection is completed. After discovering that everything was normal, the gun commander again gave the order in a loud voice.

"Go ahead!"

Having received the order, the fifth gunner went straight to the muzzle, where he handed the shells to the second gunner.

The explosive bomb was placed by gunner No. 2 into the muzzle, which was bounced into the chamber by gunner No. 1, and when it was done, gunners No. 1 and No. 2 left the gun and stood behind the muzzle with their backs to the enemy.

At the same time, gunner number four made holes in the medicine pack. Then insert the arquebus into the fire door, leave the cannon, and turn your face away from the enemy according to the drill code.

Everything was ready, and the gun commander gave the order to fire.

"Put!"

The fire rope was lit and the cannon roared. The heat, roar, and black smoke filled the air, and it was difficult for the gunners to figure out when the shells had come out of the muzzles.

After the shells were fired, the launch was not over. Observation and evaluation of the fired shells are also carried out. The gun commander had to determine where the fired shell had landed so that it could be corrected for the next shot.

While the gun commander observed. The gunners pushed the guns back into position, then began to clean the chambers, and then the gunners re-ordered the second shot, readjusting the guns and correcting the angles of fire. Even the delay time of the fuse was corrected, and then the second firing was made, and as long as the 100 guns did not order it to stop, the shot was repeated.

Zheng Zhilong and his entourage watched from beginning to end, and the nine-headed bird artillery fired ten rounds in a row.

Zheng Zhilong silently recalled in his heart the operation of the artillerymen of the Chu army just now, one artillery group and eight artillerymen. One gun commander with seven gunners, one gun, one forward cart with two ammunition carts, and eight mules and horses per cart. And one artillery team, it seems, is four guns. In the artillery fire just now, there were a total of nine artillery groups, and a total of three, a total of 36 artillery pieces.

"Big brother, the artillery of this Chu army is so fast, it is estimated that it will only take one pillar of incense to shoot ten cannons, what a fast speed."

Usually speaking, the time of one pillar of incense is about five minutes in the West, and the nine-headed bird artillery fires two shells in one minute, which is indeed shocking to Zheng Zhibao and others.

"Yes, and the Chu army still fires explosive bombs, and almost half of the time is spent on repeated adjustments."

"This bomb is so powerful, have you noticed, their delay fuse is so accurate, every time the shell is fired, it explodes before it hits the ground, this time is excellent." Zheng Cai also exclaimed.

"And this cannon of theirs, have you noticed, it's not a long-barreled cannon, it's a short-barreled cannon. This cannon fired this kind of explosive shell, and it didn't blow up a single breech, and the shell could explode every time it was fired, and it was still a curved shot. ”

Zheng's entourage are experts in using artillery, fighting at sea, mainly in artillery battles, Zheng's three-masted gunboats, and even a ship with more than 40 cannons, but now the shooting demonstration of the nine-headed bird still shocked them.

This short-barreled, large-mouthed cannon is similar to the Tiger Squat Cannon, but it is very different, it can be equipped with and fired explosive shells, but its effect is extremely strong. Since the nine-headed bird has such a sharp weapon, it goes without saying that the ordinary Hongyi cannon or the Franc cannon must be used better.

There was another drum sound, and the gunners, who had fired ten rapid-fire explosive shells, brought their horses back again, loaded the guns into the front car, pulled the guns away, and the ammunition carts followed.

The horn continued, and another artillery corps appeared. This time, they were carrying heavy Hongyi cannons with long barrels.

First the solid iron bullet was fired from a distance, and then the shotgun was fired. Hundreds of lead bullets were loaded in an iron bucket, put into the barrel, and with a bang, the iron barrel shot out of the chamber, and immediately burst out after leaving the chamber, and hundreds of lead bullets exploded in a fan shape.

Zheng Zhilong and the others knew the power of this kind of shotgun, sacrificing long range, but for close combat, it was extremely powerful. Especially when firing this kind of shotgun, it does not need to be particularly delicate, but there is no need to wipe the chamber of the gun, and there is no need to aim, just shoot it in the direction of the enemy's attack, a large piece, and the speed is also fast.

"The artillery of the Dutch is nothing more than that!" Zheng Zhilong sighed. When he came here today, he just entered the camp and saw such a thing that amazed him. The artillery of the Chu army was not only advanced, but also more proficient in artillery, and Liu Jun's strength was far beyond his imagination.

After three rounds of artillery fire, the Chu officers led them to continue in. (To be continued......)

PS: Thank you-S, ghost husband for your support, kneel and beg for recommendation votes!