Nanming Engineer

Chapter 461
When Dorgon received the news that there was a change in the Shiling Guanming Army, he was standing behind the artillery barracks, watching with his own eyes a red-clothed cannon slowly moved towards a hard ground compacted with stone rollers under the manipulation of hundreds of people. Pushing forward, the huge and heavy cannon, surrounded by everyone, is like a queen guarded by a group of worker ants, delicate and precious.

"The Ming army has turned on and off?" He turned his head and looked in disbelief at Li Guoying, the commander-in-chief of the Han army who came to report the news, with doubts in his eyes.

"It's absolutely true!" Li Guoying replied firmly, with excitement in his eyes: "Not only was the door closed and opened, but even the low wall in front of the door was brought down to resist horses, and soldiers poured out, looking at the posture to line up! "

Due to his position, there were people in front of Dorgon. Standing here, he could not see the movement on the other side. The hill guard who used to supervise the formation was in the rear formation. He did not go back, but directly hit the horse and led the people to the front formation. go.

The battle formation of the Qing army is orderly, regardless of the troops behind the formation, the Jurchen Eight Banners and the Mongolian Eight Banners of the same color in the Chinese army, 2 people are divided into several small squares to form a huge Chinese army phalanx; the left and right wings , are the soldiers of the Eight Banners of Mongolia and the Eight Banners of the Han Army. The same square formation is rigorous, but the difference is that there are mostly cavalry. On the outermost side, there are a large number of Mongolian tribal cavalry outside the Mongolian Eight Banners; while the front formation is mainly composed of the Han Eight Banners and the Han army. , the rectangular phalanx composed of [-] Han and Eight Banners is a little behind, and the phalanx of [-] Han troops is at the front.

The position of the cannon in red is at the position of the Eight Banners of the Han Dynasty, directly behind the Han army.

Looking out from the cannon's hillside, all the heads of the Han army are in front of them. I don't know how the Han soldiers will feel when the cannon is fired, the roar of the cannon is heard, and the whistling shells fly overhead.

But Dorgon didn't seem to have any scruples about this, he hurried to the front of the battle.Li Guoying led the way ahead, stretched out his hand and pointed forward, and said joyfully with trembling voice: "My lord, please look!"

Under the sun, a rock sparrow flew over from the direction of Shiling Pass, as if it hadn't woken up, and rushed towards it. When it got close, it was startled that there was also a dark crowd in front of it, and it quickly flapped its wings upwards, flying from Dorgon's head. fly over.

Looking out from the direction where the rock sparrow flashed past, a large piece of white was shaking on the scorched earth, and battle flags of various colors were fluttering in the wind. The armor and weapons reflected the sunlight and gathered into a huge mirror, making the whiteness over there more shiny.

Orderly positioning and orderly movement, the deployment of the Ming army is more like a performance art. Tens of thousands of people rushed out from a few limited exits in a short period of time, forming squares on the front at an astonishingly fast speed, with clear water chestnuts. , the small squares form several huge big squares, until it becomes a huge fish scale array.

A variety of iron cannons, copper cannons, and unnamed cannons were either dragged by healthy horses or pushed by manpower, along the passage between the blocks, emerged from the flow of people, and parked in the park according to their respective ranges and functions. In different positions, some cannons even have vans blocking the front. I don't know what the purpose is.

Dorgon felt a little itchy in his heart, and wanted to order immediately to let the former army take advantage of the opponent's unstable foothold, quickly kill him, and catch him by surprise.

However, when he saw dozens of Shenwei cannons on both sides of the opponent, he dismissed the idea. Those dark muzzles were the chief culprit that caused Nikan's defeat. Of course, he also wanted to get it baby.

On the unobstructed plain, both sides have a panoramic view of the opponent's movements, and they can't hide or hide. The mountains on both sides are steep, and it is unlikely to send heavy troops to go around and attack from behind when they are facing each other. It's possible, but that's not very interesting, so Dorgon quickly decided that the battle with Wang Huan was in person.

The distance between the two sides is more than ten miles. Although the weather is clear and the wind is sunny, they are so far apart that those with poor eyesight can only see the outline of each other.

"Let's change the formation," Dorgon thought for a while, and said to the left and right: "Bring up the cavalry on both sides, and the artillery battalion should be further forward. Seeing Nanman's posture, he wants to copy the tactics used against Nikan. How can this king let him do what he wants?"

Someone agreed to go, the Qing army was mobilized, the cavalry was fine, and they galloped like the wind, the artillery battalion was forced, and they hurriedly sent people to the front to select the ground and grind the land, humming To drive cattle and lead horses, you have to work hard yourself, pushing the heavy cannon and crawling forward.

Standing in front of the formation at a place that would be used as an artillery position, Sun Long was a little nervous. The Ming army artillery battalion on the opposite side arrived first, and it was obviously dispatched later than the Qing army but settled down first. It moved several times faster.

At this time, Sun Long was very envious of the Ming army on the opposite side. How could the heavy cannon, which seemed not much lighter than the red cannon, move so easily?It should be because of the gun mounts. The two huge gun wheels are taller than people, and the two horses are carrying them around. If there is a chance to grab one, you have to study and copy it.

Gushan Ezhenchagu, who came with Wuzhenchao Haying's army, rode a horse and came to Sun Long. He set up an awning and looked at the opposite side. Said to have seen it?"

Sun Long shook his head: "I haven't seen their heavy artillery fire before, but I have seen a lot of others, which are very sharp, but those things like thunder and bamboo tubes filled with gunpowder are of little use later. The opponent should be those heavy artillery with big wheels."

Chagu nodded, narrowed his narrow eyes, stared into the distance and said: "I heard from the people who followed Nikan that the artillery of the Ming army can go seven or eight miles. I don't understand. Putting so much gunpowder, it will Won't it explode?"

Sun Long shook his head: "Well, it really can't be defeated by our cannons. The Ming army's gunpowder is unique and powerful. It can shoot very far without adding so much gunpowder."

Chagu glanced at him: "Have you seen it?"

Sun Long nodded again: "Yes, it smells wrong and the color is wrong. The Regent has already sent someone to Shenyang. There are many capable people there, maybe they can crack the method of manufacturing."

Chagu's face became more dignified, and turned a little pale: "So, the range of the red cannon may not be able to suppress the Ming army?"

Sun Long smiled wryly, and said to Zha Gu: "Er Zhen, I'm sorry to say something bad, but when the battle starts, our artillery battalion is so close. If the artillery battle starts first, you should choose a better place." , dodge it, so as not to be hurt by the iron bullet."

Cha Gu frowned and said with displeasure: "What are you talking about? How can a general of the Qing Dynasty avoid fighting and be afraid of death? You and I, my colleagues, please tolerate it for the time being, and we must not say such war-fearing words again, otherwise, the military law of the Qing Dynasty will not recognize it. Human!"

Sun Long scolded in his heart that he didn't know how to flatter, and he didn't understand kindness.But he hurriedly cupped his hands and begged for mercy: "Yes, Sun Long was rude, please forgive me!"

Chagu is a bull-tempered person. Hearing Sun Long's apology, he snorted and walked forward for a while. He stepped out of the army formation for more than ten steps before he stopped and shouted: "It's not bad here. Push the cannon over here. Put it here, it will be convenient to cover the army later!"

The soldiers behind hurried up and worked with a wooden roller, while Sun Long shrank to one side and watched coldly.

(End of this chapter)