Chapter 35: The Tiger Cannon
After glancing at the mountain road in front of him that was full of Tartar corpses, Wei Zheng quickly shifted his gaze to Wang Feng and Zhao Yun who came in a hurry, and ordered Wang Feng with a burning face: "Brother Wang, how many soldiers do we have in the Tiger and Leopard Army. Although the Tartars who entered the mountain were completely annihilated, the Tartar troops left behind in the mushroom valley outside the mountain are still there..."
"Only by eating the Tartar troops left behind in Mushroom Valley in one go, can we really sit back and relax in a short period of time, and we don't have to worry about the Tartar troops outside the mountain leaking our news..."
"Of course, in addition to preventing the Tartars from leaking secrets, there is also an important reason, and that is the large number of ordnance and seizures stored in the Tartar barracks...."
"As far as I know, the Tartars have always had a habit of carrying their loot with them. These Tartars have invaded Zunhua for two months, and two months is enough time for the Tartars to loot enough supplies and equipment. Now that we are marching into Mushroom Valley, we will definitely be able to capture a lot of good things from the Tartar camp to replenish the losses of our Tiger and Par Army in continuous battles..."
Wang Feng's eyes suddenly shot out two fiery gazes.
Wei Zheng replied eagerly: "General, we have at least one hundred and forty combatable soldiers in our hands, and there is absolutely no problem with the Tartar troops left behind in Mushroom Valley, please give an order..."
Wei Zheng nodded and replied: "There are only about a dozen Tartars in Mushroom Valley, and there is no need for all of our Tiger and Leopard Army to fight." You choose the best of fifty from among the soldiers to fight with me. The rest is commanded by Brother Zhao, cleaning the battlefield, burying the corpses of the Tartars, and by the way, returning the equipment and armor of the captured Tartars to the barracks......."
For the remnants of the Haw Par Army today, ten Tartars is definitely a breeze.
Under the cover of the shield, the spear array used only one charge, and all ten Tartars in Mushroom Valley were stabbed into corpses.
Seeing that the fifty soldiers under his command were like a pack of hungry wolves, they rushed into the tents in the Tartar military camp in batches, carried out all kinds of captures, and quickly piled up into a small mountain.
Wei Zheng smiled.......
Although he did not know the specific type and quantity of the seizures, Wei Zheng could be sure that the Tartar Niulu he had just annihilated must have hidden a lot of private goods.
At this moment, Zhao Yun, who also rushed into the Tartar military camp, suddenly walked over with a mysterious face.
After desperately suppressing the joy from the bottom of his heart, he reported in as calm a tone as possible: "General, we have found the warehouse where the Tartars store weapons, I took a cursory look, and there are quite a few firearms and bronze cannons stockpiled in it......."
As a special soldier from later generations, Wei Zheng has always been very yearning for firearms that will become the protagonist of the battlefield.
Therefore, after hearing Wang Feng's answer for the first time, Wei Zheng was stunned first. Then, the surprise from the heart quickly jumped into my heart, and the already excited eyes began to become hot directly.
Facing Wang Feng, he asked eagerly, "Brother Wang, you are not mistaken...... Muskets and artillery were really found in the Tartar weapons warehouse. You know, the Tartar troops look down on the muskets that the officers and soldiers are equipped with, how can they have firearms..."
Wang Feng affirmed loudly: "General, you will never be mistaken....although I have not used firearms, I have seen the firearms used by officials and soldiers. The firearms in the tent are exactly the same as the ones I saw in the hands of the officers and soldiers, but I don't know if they can be used again, because many of them are rusty..."
Wei Zheng, who was eager to see the firearms of the Ming Dynasty, hurriedly waved his hand, and said eagerly: "Regardless of whether these firearms can be used or not, it is better than nothing....quick, take me to see these firearms..."
In the tent that exuded various smells, Wei Zheng had just walked in, and a slightly better preserved arquebus was handed to him by Wang Feng.
After taking the arquebus, Wei Zheng's first feeling was that this gun was very light, not as heavy as he imagined.
After Wei Zheng inspected the arquebus in his hand, with his own vision from later generations, Wei Zheng was sure: The arquebus in front of him must have been created by Ming Dynasty craftsmen cutting corners, and with the barrel of the arquebus of different thicknesses, the arquebus in his hand will explode if he fires up to three lead bullets.
After shaking his head speechlessly, Wei Zheng had to shift his gaze from a pile of arquebuses to a pile of cannons piled up next to him, hoping to find some hope from here......
Although only the barrel of these artillery pieces remained, with Wei Zheng's familiarity and understanding of various firearms in history, he immediately judged from the iron hoops on the barrel that all these artillery pieces in front of him were the famous Huzun guns on the battlefield of the Ming Dynasty.
Compared to other artillery guns equipped by the Ming army, the Tiger Squat Cannon did not have any advantage in range, and it was very slow to reload. However, in Wei Zheng's view, no matter how many shortcomings the Tiger Zun cannon has, some advantages cannot be covered up.
First of all, the weight of the Huzun cannon is very light, one person and a horse can carry a Huzun cannon and a considerable amount of ammunition, which is very suitable for mountain warfare....
Secondly, the range of the Huzun cannon is very close, which proves that it has almost no lethality when firing solid bullets.
However, if you change the solid bullet to a scattered bullet, equip the chamber with hundreds of steel balls or iron filings. Wei Zheng can be sure that with one shot, a Tiger Zun cannon can bring a devastating blow to the enemy within a range of more than ten meters in the front.
So. For Wei Zheng and the current Haw Par Army, the Tiger Zun Cannon is definitely a medium and short-range strike weapon with excellent comprehensive performance.
As for the arquebus, which he judged to be cutting corners, although it could not directly equip the troops, and Wei Zheng also looked down on this kind of musket with a short range and low power, which could only be used on sunny days. However, the iron used to make this musket was a rare concentrate, and if it could be tempered into steel, the weapons factory under his command would be able to produce flintlock pistols that would soon replace arquebuses under their own direction.
Thinking of this, the excited Wei Zheng hurriedly ordered: "Brother Wang, you immediately arrange for someone to transport back all the firearms we have captured from the Tartars, and not a single musket can be left for the Tartars..."
"Yes, General, I personally asked my brothers to bring back these firearms..."From the continuous change of Wei Zheng's expression, Wang Feng also felt that Wei Zheng attached great importance to these firearms, and replied with a stern face.
Firearms are available, and without gunpowder, these firearms would turn into a pile of scrap metal.
Although Wei Zheng hid in his mind and did not find a gunpowder formula, it was difficult for Qiao Woman to cook without rice, and in the absence of raw materials, Wei Zheng could not produce qualified gunpowder.
Therefore, before there is a truly stable and self-contained base area, seizure is undoubtedly the best way and method for Wei Zheng to obtain gunpowder.
Then he asked Wang Feng: "Brother Wang, have you found gunpowder and lead bullet in the tent, if there are only firearms and no gunpowder, even if these firearms are transported back, they will be a pile of scrap iron.......
Wang Feng was stunned for a moment, then pointed to the several wooden barrels that were stored separately in the corner of the tent and asked: "General, all the gunpowder you said is stored in these large wooden barrels....each barrel contains a hundred catties of gunpowder, and there are a total of ten such large wooden barrels, totaling a thousand catties of gunpowder, which are very well preserved..."
When the lid of the barrel was opened and the oil paper in which the gunpowder was wrapped was opened, the pungent smell of gunpowder quickly spread through the tent. After grabbing a pinch of gunpowder with his fingers and wiping it in the palm of his hand, Wei Zheng's nervous facial expression quickly relaxed.
Wang Feng replied with a satisfied face: "Yes, it's these gunpowder...... Brother Wang, you must remember clearly that these gunpowders are more important than firearms, and they must be transported back to the barracks intact, and I will be of great use when the time comes..."
"Please rest assured, the general will ensure that the task ......will be completed," Wang Feng assured loudly.
After looking at the six Tiger Zun cannons he captured in the Tartar barracks, a hundred arquebuses of substandard quality. As for other captured cold weapons and equipment, Wei Zheng was not interested at all.
Of course, in addition to the equipment, a total of 600 war horses, more than 12,500 taels of silver, more than 1,500 taels of gold, more than 400 heads of various livestock, and more than 20,000 catties of grain were seized in the Tartar barracks, which still made Wei Zheng sigh with emotion.
The Tartars who were completely annihilated by themselves were even more bandits than bandits, otherwise, they would not have been able to collect so many finances in Zunhua in just two months.
However, all of these qiē were laughed at by Wei Zheng and the entire Haw Par Army at this moment...