1850 American Gold Tycoon

Chapter 665 The Western Army’s artillery fire was fierce and accurate

"4600 yards!"

"It's definitely more than 4,600 yards, it's already longer than the lime tree, at least 4,700 yards!"

"At least 5,000 yards! The shells fell into the middle of the Platte River."

A few seconds later, the cannonball hit the ground. A group of officers on the fort wall discussed the distance of the cannonball's impact point based on reference objects. Although the specific distances were different, they still agreed on one thing, and that was the cannonball. The distance of the landing point must be far beyond the 4,500 yards that Parrott advertised to them.

Mason smiled too, his smile as bright as a chrysanthemum blooming in autumn.

Except for the slower rate of fire, the Parrot Cannon's performance in other aspects has exceeded Mason's psychological expectations. He is very satisfied with the performance of the Parrot Cannon.

"Your Excellency, a telegram from Major Alex."

Mason's smile didn't last long. The signal soldier who came from the telegraph fee presented the telegram from Major Alex of Gosenberg to Mason.

After seeing the contents of the telegram clearly, Mason's smile like a chrysanthemum suddenly disappeared without a trace.

A field gun with a range of 5,000 yards and a rate of fire of at least 4 rounds per minute? Are you kidding me?

The first person to notice the change in Mason's expression was Parrott. Parrott thought that Mason was dissatisfied with his cannon, so he stepped forward and asked, "If you have any suggestions, please feel free to make them. We can make improvements in the next batch." . After all, this is a new product, and flaws are inevitable.”

Parrott very much hoped that the artillery he designed and supervised could replace the Napoleon cannon and become the standard artillery of the federal army. He was still very willing to absorb the opinions of frontline officers and soldiers.

"Look, Your Excellency, you are an expert in artillery. Do you think this is possible?"

Mason handed the telegram to Parrott.

After reading the telegram, Parrott was stunned and his mouth was open enough to stuff a complete goose egg.

"No way, absolutely impossible."

Parrot did not want to believe that the performance of the cannon he spent many years pouring on was not as good as the old cannon that had been put into service by the Western Army a few years ago.

"Perhaps Major Alex was dazzled by nervousness? You must know that people are most likely to make mistakes when they are nervous, even if they are obvious and low-level mistakes."

Parrott found such a reason. This was not because he was unwilling to accept the reality, but because the Sacramento artillery data provided in the telegram was too shocking to be believed.

Parrot has always wanted to dismantle and study a Sacramento gun, but the Western Army has always been very strict about the confidentiality of the Sacramento gun. In addition, the price quoted by the Sacramento Arsenal is also very high. Even the Napoleonic cannon is too expensive for the War Department. Naturally, it is not interested in the expensive Sacramento gun. There is little interest in the artillery.

Therefore, Parrott has never been able to see the true appearance of the Sacramento Cannon with his own eyes. He only knows that the Sacramento Cannon is a breech-loading rifled cannon, and knows nothing else.

"Do other countries have similar artillery?"

At this time, Mason's mood was complicated. He was unwilling to believe that the Western Army's field artillery could reach the exaggerated range of 5,000 yards. However, Mason also understood Alex's character. Alex was a relatively decent professional soldier. You would never lie to him about something so important.

"I've never heard of it." Parrott thought for a long time and said, "The British seemed to have developed a breech-loading rifled gun with good performance last year, but the data circulated was not as exaggerated as the Sacramento gun.

If the field artillery produced by the Sacramento Arsenal can reach a range of 5,000 yards and maintain a rate of fire of 4 minutes per minute, there is no doubt that this will be the most advanced artillery in the world.

The Sacramento Arsenal's artillery design and their metallurgical processes will also reach a level that is difficult for us to reach. "

Parrott didn't say anything. Emotionally, he didn't want his opponent to have such a powerful weapon, but technically, it wasn't completely impossible.

The progress of American smelting technology in the past 20 years is obvious to all. Under this situation, the updated research and development of weapons in the United States is still stagnant. To a large extent, it is not a technical problem, but a lack of demand and motivation to develop more advanced weapons. After all, The United States does not have much pressure on national defense, and the military expenditures provided by the Department of War are also very limited.

Of course, except for the western region, which has been a breath of fresh air in the United States in the past ten years. The thirst for new weapons and new technologies seems to be insatiable, regardless of the cost.

"That is to say, this possibility cannot be ruled out." Mason murmured to himself.

"Your Excellency, I have a request. If you can capture a Sacramento cannon, please tell me and I will send someone to get it." Parrott made a request to Mason.

From Fort Gosenberg to Fort Lexington, the American Republic had launched an artillery bombardment against the federal troops who refused to surrender, and the sound of earth-shaking artillery was heard endlessly.

The 1st Artillery Brigade was split into three regiments, each responsible for bombarding a Union fort.

Fort Gosenberg, Fort Zacord, and Fort Lexington are all small forts. With limited funds, it doesn’t matter whether the forts are strong or not.

In terms of firepower, the firepower of the three small forts, Fort Gosenberg, Fort Zakod, and Fort Lexington, is relatively weak. The three forts have no more than 40 fortress gun emplacements.

The 1st Artillery Brigade is the only brigade-level artillery unit of the Western Army. It has three artillery regiments and four battalions under the regiment. Two of the battalions are field artillery battalions, equipped with 12-pound Sacramento field guns, and the other two heavy artillery battalions. The main equipment is the 20-pound and 30-pound Sacramento heavy artillery.

The unit below the artillery battalion is the artillery company, and each battalion has 4 artillery companies.

Like the Northern Union Army and the Southern Confederate Army, the basic combat unit of the Western Army artillery is also the artillery company. The difference is that the Western Army artillery company has more people and equipment than the artillery companies of the Northern Army and the Southern Army.

The Northern Army generally has 6 artillery groups in an artillery company. Due to the shortage of artillery, the Southern Army has reduced it to 4 artillery groups per artillery company. The Western Army's artillery company is the most generously equipped, with 8 artillery groups, which is exactly twice the number of the Southern Army's artillery company!

At Fort Goshen, the torn Stars and Stripes fluttered in the wind and was about to fall.

"Major! The Western Army's artillery fire is too damn fierce!"

A second lieutenant of the Northern Army covered his eardrums and almost broke his ears and shouted to Major Alex, the military director of Fort Goshen.

"Not only is it fierce! It's fierce and accurate! There are 37 gun positions in our fortress, and 16 of them were damaged by the Western Army!"

A lieutenant of the Union Army crawled into the cellar and found Major Alex curled up in the cellar. After experiencing the Western Army's 7 hours of uninterrupted bombardment, their uniforms had been smoked black and gray by the smoke and fire.

"Go to the warehouse and drag out the spare artillery! Hang it up! Fire back after it is installed!" Major Alex shouted at the lieutenant and gave orders.

As a front-line fortress, Gossenburg had done enough preparations for war, and there were spare artillery in the warehouse.

After being bombed for a full seven hours, Alex was a little stunned.

What kind of artillery did the Western Army equip? It was the first time since the founding of the country that field artillery could suppress fortress artillery bombardment.

When Alex's father participated in the Second War of Independence, the British army was powerful enough, but the British field artillery could not bomb the American fortress.

"You can't fight back, Major. Our broken Napoleon cannons can't reach the Western Army's cannons!"

The face of the Northern Army lieutenant who answered was full of fatigue and fear, and his eyes were scattered. He no longer had the determination to continue fighting, only endless fatigue and confusion.

The Western Army's artillery bombardment showed no signs of weakening. What echoed in the ears of these officers was not only the rumbling of artillery, but also the painful wails of their comrades and the muffled sound of soldiers falling to the ground around them.

The rain-like artillery fire of the Western Army had shattered their will to resist. All the officers present had realized that no matter how much they resisted, it would be futile and there was no need to make fearless sacrifices.

Even if they chose to be responsible for executing Alex's orders at this time, no soldier was willing to risk the Western Army's artillery bombardment to hoist the spare artillery in the warehouse to the gun position on the wall.

Besides, what's the point of hanging those Napoleon cannons?

Fire two cannons to make the Western Army hear a noise, and then wait to be destroyed by the Western Army again?

"Wait a little longer, it will be dark in an hour, and the Western Army will definitely stop bombarding after dark, and we can take a breath and hang the cannons up then." Alex opened his pocket watch, looked at the time displayed on the pocket watch and said.

"According to the bombardment method of the Western Army, even if people can bear it, the cannons can't."

Holding on until dark and waiting for the Western Army to stop bombarding after dark is Alex's only hope now, or it can be said to be a luxury.

Alex doesn't want to surrender, but to live and die with Gosenberg.

Even if he has this idea, the group of big-headed soldiers under his command who earn $9 a month will not follow him to the end, even though many of these big-headed soldiers are his fellow countrymen.

Alex has never considered whether to surrender or not, but when to surrender.

Of course, the time of surrender cannot possibly be today. It would be too shameful to surrender on the first day of the war. At the very least, we have to hold on until the next day before surrendering.