Chapter 1701 Renzi Volume 97 Before the Outpost War
When the eagle-billed muskets made a burst of explosions, which made the ears of the surrounding pike sergeants itchy, the dozens of cavalry swarming from the opposite direction were still a hundred steps away, like dead leaves hit by heavy rain in autumn. The ground fell.
Zhou Zhanpeng was unmoved.
He could see clearly that only more than 20 cavalry were hit by concentrated fire, and this was also thanks to the advantages brought by the opponent's concentrated breakthrough.
With another wave of his hand, the second wave of gunmen was already ready. The guns were placed on the gun rack. It was basically a formulaic process: shooting, measuring range, aiming, snapping, and burning match rope on the trigger. After pulling the trigger, he pecked forward and hit the ignition hole. The projectiles flew out of the barrel. Dozens of metal projectiles flew past again like a storm.
The shooting effect of this round is obviously better than that of the first round. After all, between the retraction and release, the cavalry is much closer, so close range strikes are undoubtedly more effective.
No matter how fast it is, it still takes time. The same is true for the cavalry. However, if you have already prepared everything, you only need to set up the gun, aim, and shoot. It is just like walking and eating. When you have to do it every day, you only need to set up the gun, aim, and shoot. When you recall these actions hundreds of times, day after day, month after month, even while sleeping and dreaming, everything becomes so simple and natural.
This was not the first time Zhou Zhanpeng directed shooting, but it was such a real and cruel first shooting that he could hardly hear other sounds in his ears, only the roar of the gun.
But he also knew that he had no room for thought. Apart from observing the situation ahead and nearby, he ordered the third round of shooting to continue without hesitation.
After three rounds, only a few riders were left standing helplessly in front of the queue. Having lost their masters, they didn’t know what to do. They could only mourn and lower their heads, trying to find their master’s body on the ground.
There were a few other riders who had already circled their horses sideways when they sensed something was wrong, escaped from the striking circle, and fled under the cover of night.
No one is a fool. In this situation, they still pounce on them. They don't even need the spear troops coming from both sides to surround and strangle them. They can't get close at all.
Zhou Zhanpeng found that he was so calm. He did not believe that he was a born general. He just felt that the number of enemies in front of him at such a distance would be difficult to break through his first three rounds of shooting, so he was so calm.
But if there are more enemies and a wider attack range, after surviving the first three rounds, the soldiers like you will go through dozens of processes at a much slower pace, and maybe it’s time for you to suffer.
But the first three rounds were almost a reincarnation **** for any enemy who wanted to charge without cover. He had this confidence.
Wang Xian did not expect that this battle would end so neatly, with such speed and short time that it was beyond imagination.
Although he did not think that these eighty-odd cavalry could break through his defense line, the three hundred spearmen in his hands could quickly form a hedgehog formation. If these eighty-odd cavalry were to charge forcefully, it would definitely not be a good thing, but if they were to use cavalry, If you use the shooting method to deal with your own side, then your three hundred cavalry will be in big trouble. Of course, if there are one hundred eagle-billed muskets, then these more than eighty cavalry will die.
But it still made him feel incredible that the battle was ended so simply and clearly.
They have also conducted joint drills with the Fire Gun Soldiers, but the Eagle-billed Gun Soldiers have always practiced on their own. In addition, they have their own auxiliary soldiers as a defensive force, so they do not cooperate much with their own side.
This battle made Wang Xian deeply aware of the power of fire cannons. The power of this large hawk-billed cannon was even more powerful than ordinary fire cannons. He saw with his own eyes that the enemy cavalry 120 steps away was attacked by a large cannon. The bombardments fell one after another, which was much more powerful than the ordinary fire cannon which only had a range of about fifty steps.
Wang Xian had never liked fire guns before. He always felt that the range of fire guns was short. Compared with the speed of shooting of bows and arrows, people can shoot three arrows, and a skilled fire gun soldier can only shoot one shot, and the range is also useless. There is no advantage, and the archers can even use projectiles to carry out long-range strikes. It can be said that the fire gun soldiers seem to have no chance of winning against the archers.
But after seeing that the Fire Cannon Soldier can take shape in three months, and the skilled Fire Cannon Soldier who has been trained for more than six months can already fire two shots when the archer shoots five arrows, if the Fire Cannon Soldier's triple round shot is added to the In terms of tactics, compared with the difficulty of cultivating excellent archers, the advantages of fire gun soldiers are immediately apparent.
Now look at the display of the power of the eagle-billed blunderbuss, which has a range twice that of ordinary fire blunderbuss. Wang Xian suddenly understood why the general would spare no effort to train fire blunderbuss players instead of using archers. This great The combination of blunderbuss and ordinary fire blunderbuss, as well as the Tiger Crouching Artillery Team as an auxiliary, the power of the firearms is enough to overwhelm everything. Of course, it cannot be separated from the help of their spearmen, otherwise the cavalry can rush in and slaughter them like lambs. clean.
"You're welcome, Mr. Wang. Without your protection, we wouldn't dare to start shooting so confidently and boldly. Otherwise, once the enemy attacks from the flanks, we will have no choice but to sit back and wait for death." Zhou Zhanpeng was very polite. This will be indispensable in future wars. Helping the spearmen to protect and save lives on the outside, don't dare to offend. "Brother Wang and I will share the results of this battle equally."'
This is what Wang Xian wants. You can't say that all the results of these dozens of cavalry battles belong to your hawksbills. What about our spear team? Fortunately, Mr. Zhou is not old, but he is experienced in doing things.
"Haha, it's easy to talk. There will be more time for us two brothers to cooperate in the future. If you have anything, just say it." Wang Xian nodded with satisfaction and looked ahead again, "Brother Zhou, we have to hurry up. It looks like Mr. Zhang We have already reached Stone Bridge, we still have to catch up."
“Well, Brother Wang, wait a moment, I have to organize a team here to tidy up, but you can’t just lift your feet and walk. Each of my brothers is covered in a lot of bits and pieces.”
Zhou Zhanpeng told the truth. An eagle-billed gun weighs twenty-eight kilograms. This is just the weight of the gun alone. Adding gunpowder, projectiles, detonators and bayonets, the weight is at least thirty-five kilograms. The auxiliary soldiers You need to carry a gun rack and shield for protection.
Just when Zhou Zhanpeng and Wang Xian solved the problem of enemy ranger harassment, Zhang Dingyuan had already led most of his troops to Shiqiao.
As expected, there were sporadic cavalry roaming at the head of Shiqiao Bridge. Zhang Dingyuan ignored them. These twenty or thirty cavalrymen posed almost no threat to his side. He immediately ordered Jiao De's spearmen to gather and advance, and the fire gunmen followed. And go.
Soon the scattered riders disappeared on the bridge. Surrounded by the soldiers, Zhang Dingyuan immediately boarded the bridge to inspect the situation and prepare to deploy defenses.
The stone bridge is very strong. Although it is old, it is spacious and thick. There are stone railings on both sides. The bridge deck is more than three feet long, which is more than enough for three carts to travel parallel. This is both good and bad for Zhang Dingyuan.
The good side is such a spacious stone bridge. If the Xuanfu army wants to advance eastward, they will definitely be reluctant to give up and build a pontoon bridge elsewhere. Not only is it time-consuming and laborious, but it is not necessarily fast, especially since they may not have thought that they would need it before. Crossing the river, as long as I hold here, I can delay the Xuanfu army's eastward advance.
The bad thing is that the stone bridge is too wide. If it were narrower, it would obviously be more convenient to block it.
However, Zhang Dingyuan never expected that any good thing would be his turn. He was very satisfied that he could occupy the stone bridge first. Blocking the stone bridge would make the Xuanfu army in Hebei stare blankly. If they break through, they can only **** back the stone bridge, and they are waiting for them to **** it.
After a brief inspection of the situation in Hebei, Zhang Dingyuan quickly returned to Henan, and he already had a plan in mind.
The stone bridge is only about ten feet long, and the river surface is about the same. The enemy archers on the other side of the river can easily cover the entire bridge head with missiles. This is a considerable threat and is a disadvantage to our own side.
At the same time, our own side also has an advantage, that is, using the hawkbill gun can also give full play to its long-range shooting advantage, and can also cross the river to cause damage to the enemy on the other side of the river.
At the same time, your own fire gunners can firmly block the bridge deck. The three hundred fire gunners can use three rounds of fire to turn the bridge into a mountain of swords and a sea of fire.
Without any time to think, Zhang Dingyuan began to issue orders.
The eagle-billed muskets quickly spread to both wings and controlled the east and west sides of the south bridge head of the stone bridge. Not only could they pose a threat to the other side of the river, but more importantly, they blocked the bridge deck through cross-fire. On the front, the musketry teams gathered in a dense formation. , place spearmen at both ends and at the rear to prevent the enemy from breaking through and attacking from the rear.
While issuing orders to deploy defenses, he sent people to rush back to Gonghua City immediately to report the situation. However, before the sentries could return to report the news, lights were lit on the opposite bank of the river, and they were as shadowy as a long dragon gathering along the official road on the other side of Hebei.
Zhang Dingyuan's heart sank.
He also hoped that he could wait until the generals got the news and come quickly, so that he would not need to bear such great pressure. But now it seems that the Xuanfu army on the other side is also aware of this and strives to break through and attack in the shortest possible time. Capture this stone bridge.
With his mouth feeling dry and bitter, Zhang Dingyuan realized that from this moment on, his thousand talents were really facing a fierce battle. They had to survive this battle no matter what, before they could talk about anything else.
His only hope is that the general will get the information and take it seriously. Should he directly rely on this stone bridge to severely defeat the Xuanfu army, or should he simply let his unit defend for a period of time to buy time for the main force to deploy defenses in Gonghua City? ?
(End of this chapter)