It was only forty miles from Wuqiao to Dezhou, and if it was only to form a deterrent and blockade, Bahana and Shi Tingzhu should have stationed their troops at Wuqiao. In this way, not only can there be a city as a backing, but also the greatest room for maneuver.

However, as offensive generals, the two will definitely choose to camp five miles under the city, which can not only put on the posture that I am the boss and I want to fight you, but also at a safe distance, there is no need to worry that Texas has a Shenwei cannon that can bombard five miles. Moreover, judging from the fighting will of the Ming army and the Shun army since entering the customs, perhaps the fact that the Manchurian soldiers appeared five miles outside the city of Dezhou was enough to make the city defenders abandon the city and leave.

After the cavalry of Zhenglanqi arrived at Wuqiao, the local squire really opened the city gate and informed the Dashun puppet official that he had absconded. Seeing the words "Return to the Ming Emperor" written on the white flag, the gentry in the county wept one after another, as if it was a great hardship to break through that day.

Seeing that people's hearts were available, the Manchurian soldiers naturally unceremoniously requisitioned food on the spot. As a result, a new wave of refugees poured into Shandong, and the vast majority of them flocked to Texas in the south, because they heard that it had been recovered by the Ming officers and soldiers. But there were still some people who were more afraid of the officers and soldiers, so they migrated west.

This Manchurian vanguard did not carry grain and grass, and when he saw that the situation had changed, he immediately drew his sword and collected it himself. Only then did the big families in Wuqiao take out some hoarded grain and grass and try to appease them.

Such a small turmoil also gave Xiao Mo time to calmly arrange the battlefield. After the battle on the river, the 1st Guards Battalion saw the advantages of mines with their own eyes, so they liked to use them very much, applied for a large amount of gunpowder, and set up a special mine team to be responsible for manufacturing and filling mines.

Although Qi Jiguang's steel wheel fire and thunder have not been restored, the conventional artificial detonation mine is already very skillful. As long as thirty or fifty pieces were buried in front of the fortifications, it was enough to affect the momentum and formation of the opposing cavalry in battle. - Although no one has yet seen what kind of formation the Manchurian cavalry charged.

The breastworks were soon lined up side by side, and between them were artillery pieces. This time, the timely deployment of artillery was very successful. Even the 2nd Battalion generously sent its own battalion 17 guns to Texas, and then re-received new guns from the Jiaozhou Cannon Foundry.

Today, the bottleneck that limits the mass deployment of artillery is no longer the production of artillery, but the transport capacity and artillery. There are still too few soldiers who can measure the range and memorize all kinds of shooting data, and the pack horses, auxiliaries, and logistics required for each artillery are also very huge. Theoretically, a gun would have to be fired five times on the battlefield to cause equal its cost.

Of course. If you take into account the blow to the enemy's morale, maybe the enemy will collapse with a salvo of five guns.

Under Zhu Cihong's urgent deployment of artillery and troops, the number of artillery pieces that could be used in Xiao Mo's hands reached an astonishing twenty-six. It's just that except for the five subordinate guns of the base battalion, which can be arranged by him, the other artillery arrangements must listen to the opinions of the artillery of the Firearms Division and find the artillery positions that are suitable for them as they see fit.

"Give them the five guns of the base camp as well." Xiao Mo said magnanimously.

"General, this ......"

Is it irony?

"People shoot every day." Xiao Mo said very seriously: "And you see, they put the artillery in front of the formation the same, but they pay more attention to the spacing." Let's learn better. ”

The artillery of the 1st Battalion Artillery Bureau was also trained by the Firearms Division, and the artillery lieutenant colonel who led the team this time also served as their instructor. Naturally, there is no resistance. And this time the firearms division brought not only artillery, but also artillery.

Under the efficient manpower excavation of the East Palace, more than ten veteran artillerymen were found in the Dengzhou generation. These artillery pieces were the remnants of the first batch of 200 Ming artillerymen trained by Xu Guangqi with Portuguese artillery. At that time, Xilao, the leader of the Portuguese mercenary team, brought 200 Portuguese soldiers and 100 followers to Dengzhou, Shandong Province as instructors, and participated in the battle, and finally died in battle. His discipline is even more admired than many Da Ming scholars.

After Kong Youde's rebellion in Shandong. After fleeing, Jin brought with him the big ships and artillery. As well as gunners and craftsmen. Huang Taiji hugged him for this, and one could almost imagine his joy behind his back.

As a result, the Houjin fighting style has entered more than two generations.

These old artillerymen were all cronies of Governor Sun Yuanhua, so they naturally did not want to go with Kong Youde. After Sun Yuanhua's death, they didn't want to die on the battlefield. So he scattered incognito, and finally because he couldn't bear the work assignment of "making the best use of his talents" in the imperial court, he reported his old background. Fang was freed from the ordinary labor force and became a jishu soldier.

With the acquisition of these systematically trained gunners, the Firearms Division improved the operational specifications for artillery operations, eventually positioning them in eleven dismantling movements, as well as perfecting the equipment needed for artillery aiming.

"This is a gun gauge." The lieutenant colonel summoned the gunners of the 1st and 2nd Battalions who had not been trained in time. Conduct battlefield training. He held aloft two bronze rulers, one long and one short, nailed at right angles, connected by a quarter-arc ruler, on which were engraved with a straw scale.

"This line with a pendant is called the weight line, and if you insert the long handle into the gun muzzle like this, the weight line will overlap with the scale on the arc ruler, and this scale is the elevation angle of the body." The lieutenant colonel inserted the gun gauge into the muzzle of the gun, and asked the gunners to come and look at it one by one, and sure enough, they could all report the readings simply and clearly.

"What's this angle for?" The lieutenant colonel asked himself, "Look at the nameplate hanging on the gun truck. That's a table on that. ”

Everyone squeezed over, and sure enough, they saw a table hanging under the gun truck, which listed the firing range of this gun at various elevation angles under the condition of fixed gunpowder and standard projectiles. Originally, this work was done when preparing the position before the war, and it was only learned after the test firing that it was more like a directional mine than artillery.

At present, the firearms department takes each gun to shoot a target when it leaves the factory, measures the relationship between distance and elevation angle, and customizes the shooting meter. It is equivalent to giving each artillery an extra ID card, and it also allows the battalion artillery to use it immediately, eliminating the need for test firing before the battlefield.

The artillerymen were all excited, and it was obviously much more convenient to use this method than to draw a map and bombard the ground stupidly. Even on the battlefield where you are not prepared, you can come to the battlefield and obviously have a greater sense of presence.

"Because the error of the jumping eye method is still too large, it is more stable to measure the battlefield when conditions permit, and mark the distance with chalk or other things." Lieutenant Colonel explained.

The sappers pushed the measuring carts and used rope rulers to measure the front fifty feet of the artillery position. Fifty zhang away, mark a marking point for easy observation every ten zhang until one hundred and fifty zhang.

This kind of measuring scooter was invented in order to measure the acres of land in Wanli time, and the inventor was the author of "Algorithm Tongzong", the great mathematician Cheng Dawei. Since Wanli began to promote the use, there are still a large number of physical objects today, and there are a full set of written materials such as complete parts drawings, assembly drawings, design instructions and modification instructions, so it is easy to manufacture in large quantities to meet the needs of various projects. [Note 1]

After marking the distance, the sappers took out the cross in the middle of the rope ruler, turned the crank, and quickly put the rope ruler on the ground back, no different from the tape measure of later generations.

Zhu Cihong rode on his horse, seeing that the artillery was ready and the chest wall had been built, he knew that Xiao Mo was ready to attack the Dongyu head-on.

After Chen De arranged for the fortification department to carry out the rush construction, he mobilized the demolition department to assist in planting the mines. Gunpowder mining jishu, which has been popularized in the Wanli period, can be used with mines with only a slight change.

"Your Highness, if these Dongyu don't come, it's really a delay." Chen De arranged the affairs of the engineer battalion, and rode his horse into the circle of officers behind Zhu Cihong.

Although the other generals were dissatisfied, they couldn't stand Chen De's thick skin. If Min Zi had known Chen De for a long time, he would not have stopped him. Moreover, the horse is a gentle animal after all, and will more or less move to give way when it sees its kind coming. This allowed Chen De to get up and talk to the crown prince as he wished.

Zhu Cihong smiled: "How is the progress of the project?" ”

"It's still a little slow." Chen Dedao: "But if you want to be faster, I'm afraid you can't help it." After using the rammed earth, it is almost at the limit. ”

"If you want to do a good job, you must first sharpen your tools. Tell the professors at the technical college what you need. Sometimes they don't know what others are missing, and if they do, they may be able to solve it easily. Zhu Cihong said with a smile.

"It would be nice to be able to make that quarrying and crushing thing, and it would free up a lot of manpower." Chen De pretended to sigh again: "Your Highness, I am so worried that I can't sleep all night. (To be continued......)

PS: Note 1: The full set of written materials for Cheng Dawei's invention of measuring the scooter is still well preserved today, so we can know that Cheng Dawei's working habits are very good. Therefore, Xiaotang can logically deduce -

He must often vote for recommendation and monthly passes 23333333~~~