On a sunny afternoon, on a grassy plain, butterflies flutter in the grass, and flowers sway in the breeze with their shēn posture, stretching their petals and receiving the sun's caress (ài). The birds chirped on the branches, and the fragrance of earth and grass came to the face as the breeze blew, and what a quiet and beautiful picture it was!

It was on such a beautiful picture that several hideous steel beasts suddenly appeared, with bottomless black holes, as if a bottomless pit full of greed that could never be filled.

Everywhere they passed, the grass was bent and fell limply to the ground; The blooming flowers have been trampled on by the qíng, and they can only hope to turn into the "chūn mud". The fluttering butterfly was so frightened that it flashed into the grass and disappeared in an instant; Even the birds spread their wings and flew high, and in a moment they turned into invisible black dots (ròu) and disappeared between the blue sky and white clouds. The appearance of these steel behemoths undoubtedly destroyed this beautiful picture in front of them!

These steel behemoths have a monstrous name: Cannons! The damage it has done to this beautiful picture may have been outrageous, but it was nothing more than what they were going to do (qíng)! And the culprit of all this is naturally the one who wants to test the cannon (shè) - Captain Napoleon!

Several soldiers in the tricolor uniforms of the French Revolutionary Army were busy working on the five hideous beasts (shēn), while the captain Corsica on the side was stroking his forehead in pain, looking at them with a sad look.

The working principle of the cannon is actually the same as that of the musket, and at best it is an enlarged version of the musket. Han Xing and Napoleon brought out several of the guns from the warehouse, all of which were standard big guys, two 24-pounder guns, two jiu (fourth) guns, and one 32-pounder gun.

In this era, there was no such thing as caliber, because each country did not have a common standard for the length and caliber of the barrel when casting artillery, and it was purely their own freedom, so instead of the standard of measuring the power of artillery according to the single weight of the shell, that is, the XX pounder gun.

A 24-pounder cannon means that a solid cannonball is a 24-pound ball of iron, and so on. Theoretically, the higher the poundage, the larger and more powerful the shell, but in practice this is not the case, the larger the shell means the larger the size of the gun, the larger the heavier, and the speed of action is naturally slow.

In fact, the artillery used in the army in the late Napoleonic era was about six-pounder, eight-pounder, twelve-pounder, and at most sixteen-pounder. The 24-pounder and 32-pounder guns were often used in naval or fortified defenses rather than as field guns because of their bulkiness and poor maneuverability.

"A division! A whole division! The establishment of 12,000 people has only 10 guns, and now there are only 5 left! And it's all stupid and bulky mortars and field guns! Can you imagine? Hanschel? Napoleon couldn't help but laugh and said to Han Xing on the side.

"You know what makes me even more unbearable? It's these crooked melons and cracked jujube artillerymen! Before Han Xing could organize his words, Napoleon had already angrily pointed at the artillerymen who were grinding and loading ammunition and roared.

"No, to call them 'artillerymen' is simply an insult to the artillery profession! Look, look, they've been grinding for 20 minutes! 20 minutes! Not a single shot! Napoleon pulled out his pocket watch and roared with his index finger to the scale on it.

Napoleon stepped forward angrily, grabbed the soldier who looked dazed, and took the cannon chamber cleaning tool in his hand (similar to a large strip, wooden, with strips of cloth tied at one end, a bit like a torch, or the long-handled sea surface brush used to brush glasses at home), and stood by the cannon in a daze, snatched the cannon chamber cleaning tool from his hand, and said to him: "Soldier, you have been cleaning the cannon chamber for 20 minutes, tell me, are you cleaning the cannon chamber or fucking brushing the pot!" ”

"Are you going to shoot or not, what the hell are you idiots doing?" Looking at the soldiers who were struggling and their heads were bowed, and the group of crooked melons and cracked dates pretending to wipe the cannons, Napoleon said angrily.

Seeing that the artillerymen were bowing their heads, and none of them dared to look at him directly, Napoleon said angrily: "Have you ever fired even a single shot?" The worst artillerymen I've ever seen are nothing more than clumsy fools, but even such fools can at least guarantee that I will hear the cannon at least once after 20 minutes of busy work! Even if it's just a muffled sound, or even a bore! But where are you? I waited for 20 minutes and didn't even hear a pì sound! ”

"Gentlemen, I have to tell you the truth, I am disappointed in you! I definitely don't want to work with you on the battlefield! It is better to count on your artillery support than to pray for the enemy's musket to be muted! Napoleon came up and gathered the dozen men and said to them in a loud voice.

"You should see this as a disgrace, a disgrace in your career! I dare say that there is no more failed artillery in the whole of France than yours! After 20 minutes without a hit, I don't think anyone will be able to break your 'highest' record in the future!" Napoleon put his hands behind his back, and with a calm face, he tried to be kind and pleasant.

"What were you doing, soldier? What are you responsible for! Napoleon suddenly pointed to a young soldier with a black eye.

The soldier who was named was taken aback, and it took more than ten seconds before he woke up like a dream and said, "I... I... I, I'm a loader, as you can see! He raised the tool in his hand to clean the chamber.

"Then why didn't you reload?" Napoleon asked viciously.

"Because the gunpowder hasn't been brought yet······" The soldier was aggrieved.

"So who's going to get the gunpowder?" Napoleon asked patiently (xìng). But none of the dozen or so made a sound, and all of them looked at Napoleon with blank eyes.

"Who's in charge of which gunpowder? I'll ask one last time! Napoleon said with a dark face. Only then did a trembling voice whisper: "Up... Captain, the person in charge of the gunpowder was Sergeant Rey, who was wounded in the last battle! ”

Napoleon's face was turned green with anger from these living treasures, "You are a dozen big living people!" It's not a dozen pigs! For 20 minutes, won't any of you want to get gunpowder? You look at me like this, I look at you! ”

Han Xing was amused by this group of artillerymen, and laughed out loud, "These people are really geniuses!" Can you talk a little bit more nonsense? ”

This even reminded Han Xing of the cute and stupid army that surrendered in World War II because there was no crowbar and could not open the ammunition box; And then there's the classic joke about planting trees, where one person in the front digs and one person fills in the back, so someone wonders: Why do you do such a meaningless thing (qíng)? Answer: The person in charge of planting the saplings in the middle did not come today! It's amazing~

"Tell me, why are you doing artillery?" Napoleon, after learning about this group of living treasures, simply cried without tears, they would not have fired at all! Most of them were just temporary draws from the infantry or recruited on the spot!

"Because I heard my uncle say that it is safer to be an artilleryman········· You don't have to charge..." A childish young soldier hesitantly stretched out his hand and said.

"Wait, let me sort it out, you don't know how to fire at all, you can't load ammunition, you don't even understand how artillery works, and you have never received any artillery-related systematic military training?" Napoleon, holding back his heart (qíng), was about to collapse, and asked in a deep voice one last time.

Seeing that the dozen or so soldiers nodded silently in unison, Napoleon said in his heart: "God, what the hell are these people!" Karto, look at what kind of pì you have assigned to me! ”

"No, didn't Major Martian take you to the last Battle of Orioule? Didn't he himself die in battle? Napoleon asked, holding on to the last glimmer of hope.

"Captain, Major Maltian was actually wounded by a cannon explosion··········· For the sake of his honor, we claim that he was killed by enemy fire······" An artilleryman cautiously said to Napoleon.

"He had us fill the artillery with a lot of gunpowder, almost to the brim, and then barely stuffed the shells in······· He insisted on lighting the fire himself, saying that he wanted to witness the spectacle of the moment when the most powerful gun in history, built by his own hands, opened fire·········"

"Hahaha, this Major Maltian is also too interesting! He probably thought that the more gunpowder was filled and fuller, the more powerful the cannon would be! Han Xing laughed directly and couldn't (shēn) the son came.

"Can I ask him what he did before?" Han Xing held back a smile and asked curiously.

"Major Maltien was a poet before joining the army········· He said that he wanted to write a poem about war, and in order to try to rhyme, he came up with the idea of coming up with a cannonball that is unique in the world·····"

"Putting his life into it in order to write poetry rhymes in the future, this poet must be too sacrificial, right? However, he does have one thing that can be called unparalleled in the world, that is, his way of death is indeed unparalleled in the world! Stupid! Han Xingbu (jìn) complained in his heart.

"I don't care what purpose you came to be an artilleryman, whether it was for safety or honor! I just want to ask you: do you want to return to your hometown in the future, full of honor, with flowers and applause; Or do you just want to take a piece of money and spend your life here in vain, and finally retire with the rank of highest second lieutenant, get a meager pension, and be a nameless bad old man, who will be buried in some unknown church garden after death? ”

Napoleon suddenly began his speech, and he offered two choices, of which even a fool would know to choose the first! Who wouldn't want to return home? Who doesn't want to be famous? The artillerymen had a thoughtful look on their faces, clearly struggling with their thoughts.

"But we are artillerymen! The advantage is that we don't need to fight the enemy (ròu), but the disadvantage is that we can't count our kills, so we can't get any merit! A middle-aged artilleryman in his forties, with a scruffy beard and a face full of vicissitudes, sighed hesitantly, "And the generals don't care about us at all!" ”

"I've been an artilleryman for more than ten years, and the commander has changed one stubble after another, but no one cares about our artillerymen! I've been in the position of sergeant for eight years! That stupid Major Maltian last time was a layman who didn't know anything at all! And there are many such people, I originally thought that the revolution would bring a new atmosphere, but it turned out that in the past, the aristocracy who used to point fingers is now a poet, an artist, a lawyer! The layman guides the insider! It's no different at all! The sergeant, full of vicissitudes, said.

"So you're actually going to shoot?" Napoleon asked, looking at him with burning eyes.

"Yes, I'll shoot, but what's the use? Artillery has long been only a vassal of cavalry and infantry! Coming as soon as it is called, it is lingering and all the honor belongs to those dashing cavalry, or brave and fearless infantry! Anyway, it won't be us 'cowards' artillery in the rear (shēn)! Several elderly men in the artillery said indignantly.

"Look at me! Am I not just an artillery officer? Napoleon pointed to himself and spoke aloud to the soldiers. Different from those generals' contempt for artillery, I think: artillery is the master of the battlefield in the future! Without the support of artillery, would those infantry be able to break through the walls with their heads? Without artillery, can the cavalry allow their horses to walk on the water and use their sabers against the British warships? Napoleon declared his own (shēn) share, and even humorously expounded the importance of artillery (xìng), and the artillerymen immediately laughed when they heard his words.

"Is there anything in the world that is more powerful and epoch-making than artillery? We are artillery, we can strike at the enemy from a distance of hundreds of meters, and the enemy is powerless! Cannons are greater weapons than swords and muskets! And the (cāo) longitudinal cannon is an exquisite art! Napoleon exclaimed, "There is a great opportunity for us to make a difference!" Let us use practical actions to prove that artillery is the only king who will dominate the battlefield in the future, and our artillery is a well-deserved hero!

The artillerymen finally regained their morale, and they cheered Napoleon's name and threw him up as a sign of respect for him. Under the guidance of Napoleon and the demonstration of those well-hidden veterans, in just a few days, this group of scattered and crooked artillerymen was able to complete the loading and firing of artillery smoothly and quickly!

With a thunderous roar, the monstrous steel beast finally let out its roar, as if to announce that it and its master were about to shake the whole world! A high-speed bowling ball-sized cannonball whizzed through the sky, easily shattering a boulder, and finally falling heavily on the hill hundreds of meters away, leaving a deep crater several meters wide, and the dirt and dust splattered (shè) rose to a height of more than two meters!

Just one cannonball is so terrifying that if 10,000 cannons fall in the enemy's army······ What a devastating scene it would be!