New Shun 1730

Letner, the Swedish artilleryman relied on by the Junggars, looked at a strange ball flying in the sky opposite, wondering why.

The formation of the Han army on the opposite side also made him feel strange, as if it was a little too thin.

He was out of date.

When he was captured by the Russians in 1709, during the Battle of Poltava, he almost fled to Turkey with the King of Sweden, but was eventually captured by the Russians.

At that time, neither the Swedes nor the Russians used flintlock rifles in large quantities. They were still using matchlock rifles as the main force.

Then in 1716, he was captured by the Junggars, and now more than a decade has passed.

In the past ten years, tactics have undergone earth-shaking changes.

He has been training artillery for the Junggars, and he doesn't know what changes have taken place in the distant world.

Fifteen four-pound cannons, twenty ten-pound mortars, and eight eight-pound cannons, this is the full strength of the most elite "Baoqin" artillery of the Junggars.

The styles of these guns were all learned by him thirty years ago.

And what he learned thirty years ago was fifty years ago.

The casting material of the cannon is good, all copper. There is a copper mine near Lake Issyk-Kul, where the Junggars mined it, and he was responsible for casting.

Before this war, Lenat got a promise from the Khan of the Junggar tribe.

After this battle, he can go home.

The artillery of the Junggars is not very good, and Lenat knows this very well.

Indeed, gunners can rely on experience without mathematics, but commanders must be proficient in mathematics, otherwise there is no way to command an artillery.

In this era, those who can command five cannons at the same time can be called excellent artillery officers. And if you can command ten cannons at the same time, you can be called an artillery general.

Until decades later, Napoleon, who was known for his ability to use cannons, once lamented: ordinary artillery generals are nothing. However, generals like Drouot who can properly deploy, manage, and command thirty cannons are worth mentioning. Generals who can command thirty cannons are very rare.

This cannon refers to cannons with a caliber of more than eight pounds.

Camel cannons, revolving cannons, tiger squat cannons and the like, real artillerymen will not admit that they are cannons, they will only call them "large smoothbore rifles to strengthen infantry firepower".

Most of the artillerymen under Lenat are Uzbeks, or Bukharans.

The quasi-military does not trust them very much.

As commanders and officers, they are either Swedes like Lenat or captured Orthodox Russians.

Orthodox Russians serve as officers.

Lenat is the only one who knows mathematics and knows some geometry.

The rest, all rely on experience to operate artillery.

It is extremely difficult for Lenat to command eight artillery pieces alone.

The artillery of the Dashun Army is very powerful, which Lenat has heard about, at least it was very good before, because their artillery officers have to learn geometry and surveying.

The artillery in front of him should be more powerful. He heard about the general of this army fighting against Russia and knew that an excellent siege fighter must be a good artillery general.

Lenat was worried that the eight eight-pound cannons in his hand could not counter the enemy's artillery positions. As for those smaller four-pound cannons, according to the characteristics of the Swedish army, he suggested that the Khan of the Junggar tribe assign these four-pound cannons to infantry support.

As for the mortars with shorter range, they did not need to be deployed at this time because they could not hit the enemy.

Fortunately, the terrain here is very suitable for artillery. The ground is very hard and the shells can bounce on the ground.

Shouting to the Uzbeks under his command to deploy the cannons, Lenat once again looked up at the strange ball floating on the enemy's position, and a shadow passed through his heart.

Lowering his head and looking at the infantry in the opposite formation, Lenat aimed at the infantry line on the south side according to the order of Da Tsering Dundub.

"Lower the muzzle! Lower the muzzle! Don't try to hit them directly, let the shells fall in front of the formation and hurt them by bouncing."

With more than 30 years of artillery experience, he could tell at a glance that the muzzle of the cannon next to him was slightly higher.

The Bukhara gunner hurriedly raised the tail of the gun, pulled out the slightly larger wooden wedge, selected a smaller one, and stuffed it in.

Quickly stuffing the gunpowder into the cannon, Lenat estimated the distance, and based on years of experience, decided to test fire first to see how much adjustment was needed.

Just then, he saw a few flashes of gunpowder on the opposite position.

The sound of the gun was much later than the sight of the gunpowder, and Lenat almost subconsciously jumped into a pit next to him.

Huh...

Several shells whizzed past and landed within a hundred steps of these cannons. No casualties were caused, but Lenat's face was already pale.

The first test shot from the opposite side was within a hundred steps... It was obvious that the artillery officer on the opposite side had discovered his position and was ready to counterattack all his artillery from the beginning.

"Oh my God, the artillery on the opposite side is too fast."

…………

None of the Qingzhou Army's artillery had thirty years of experience like Lenat, and most of them had only been using artillery for three to five years.

However, the overall quality of the artillery was a luxury in the entire world at that time.

The gunner of each cannon had a foundation in geometry and surveying, and the officer who concentrated on commanding a three-gun group had learned deeper geometry, learned to look up tables, and learned to calculate simple parabolas in the past five years.

The Qingzhou Army’s cannons used momentum pendulums to try to calculate the velocity of the shells. Although the error was large, at least they tried.

The officers followed Liu Yu to learn parabola calculations for two full years. Although it takes longer to learn more advanced mathematics and Liu Yu’s energy is limited and he can only teach a small number of people, this is enough.

The theoretical quality and mathematical level of the Dashun artillery officers will not be caught up by Austria until 10 years later, but now they should be far ahead.

The engineers selected the artillery positions in various places yesterday and dug dozens of artillery positions in total, which can be moved at any time.

These artillery positions are very standard.

The engineers dug pits, cut trees, and made earthen ramparts to prevent artillery.

Behind the earthen ramparts, felled fir trees were laid, and the engineer carpenters scraped the wooden boards.

In this way, the cannon will not sink into the mud and can be reset more easily after firing.

The French twelve-pound cannon is very heavy, but its accuracy is much more accurate than the eight-pound cannon cast by Renat.

The threaded jack replaced the wooden wedge for adjusting the height, and a smaller threaded adjustment was also installed on the modified gun carriage.

The four-wheeled gun carriage allows the weight of the cannon to be pressed on the wheels instead of on the horse, making it easier to pull.

The hot air balloon rose very early, and the observers on it had long been eyeing the artillery of the Zhunbu. The landmarks that had been marked yesterday were easy to identify. The positions of the Zhunbu artillery were drawn on the map and thrown down, and the messenger delivered the map to the artillery commander.

The artillery staff sat next to the gun carriage, using gunpowder barrels as tables, calculating the distribution positions of these artillery groups, deploying them to different gun positions, and striving to knock out the Zhunbu artillery as soon as possible.

The three-gun groups were assigned different tasks. The gunners who were trained on Liugong Island with gunpowder that seemed to be free of charge did not understand geometry or parabolas, but they could understand the officers' orders.

According to the officers' orders, adjust the angle of the muzzle.

The battle on the northern foot of the Altai Mountains was started by the Qingzhou Army's artillery.

Fifteen twelve-pound guns were divided into five groups and deployed in several artillery positions on the southern line.

After the first test firing, the members of the gun crew took off their uniforms and put them on their shoulders, lifted the breech of the cannon with a wooden pole, and the rest pushed the heavy cannon.

Fortunately, the pits dug by the engineers were good, and the wood was smooth. The wood carved by the carpenter in the engineers was far from that carved by the coffin shop owner, but it could be used.

"One, two, three! Push!"

The officer shouted the slogan, and the shirtless artilleryman pushed the cannon back to its original position, and after cooling it down quickly, he stuffed the paper-wrapped gunpowder into it again.

The gunner quickly turned out the test firing table based on the test firing situation just now, and fine-tuned the angle of the muzzle according to the data on it.

"Fire!"

With a shout, the gunner who ignited the cannon stood on the side of the cannon, and the others covered their ears, waiting for the next reload.

The packhorse hiding in the pit nearby had heard countless roars of cannons and smelled countless stench of burning gunpowder on Liugong Island. It was not afraid and was concentrating on licking a little oat on the ground. This crop is now grown in Inner Mongolia. Although the yield is low, it is more suitable for the local environment and horses like it more.

The sound of cannons continued to sound, and the gun positions were already filled with gunpowder smoke. The wind was not very strong today, and the gunpowder smoke on the gun positions was a little slow to dissipate.

The gunpowder smoke gradually dissipated, and the artillery stared at the Junggar artillery in the distance and cheered.

…………

Lenat looked at the bronze cannon that was shattered next to him, and he knew in his heart that his artillery was finished this time. The Junggar artillery was no match for the Dashun Army artillery.

One test shot, one correction, and then two consecutive rapid shots, three of the eight bronze cannons had been destroyed.

Many of the horses pulling the cannons were killed in the remaining five, and the Uzbek gunners were panicked.

The smoke from the opposite side showed the position of the Dashun artillery. At this time, they should have adjusted quickly, but the gunners were confused.

The smoke was not coming from one place, but from several places at the same time. They had no idea which direction to bombard.

Lenat looked through the telescope and felt a little desperate.

The cannons on the opposite side were hidden in the dug gun positions, with wood and a thick layer of soil piled outside. Even if they counterattacked, it would be difficult to blast them open.

After four shots, three of his cannons were blown away. Lenat knew that the artillery on the opposite side was much stronger than the group of people under his command.

Although he had known that the artillery of Dashun was slightly stronger, he did not expect it to be so strong. Lenat thought that even Sweden and Russia definitely did not have such artillery.

"Pull the cannon away! Pull the cannon away, don't bombard! You can't counter their cannons, retreat first, retreat!"

Waving his saber, Lenat shouted loudly, trying to cheer up these Bukhara gunners. The scattered corpses nearby frightened the Bukhara gunners. They had never imagined such an accurate artillery attack.

As soon as Lenat gave the order, the Bukhara gunners praised Allah Akbar, and the Russian captive gunners made the sign of the cross and called the Virgin Mary, and hurriedly led their horses to leave.

Lenat jumped on his horse and ran to the rear of the Great Tsering Dundub, shouting: "Our artillery can't beat them. If this continues, they will soon turn all their artillery against them. The 'Baoqin' should withdraw, and can't fight with them."

The Great Tsering Dundub looked at the smoke coming out from the opposite side and asked: "Are the Han army's artillery so powerful?"

"They have more artillery and they can shoot more accurately. Their general is good at siege and a very good artillery general. He is very powerful. They can shoot farther and more accurately."

Lennart didn't want to die on the gun emplacement. After this battle, he could return to Sweden, where he had been away for nearly thirty years. He didn't want to die here.

Xiao Ce Lingdun Dobu shouted: "Without cannons, can't we fight? When Genghis Khan, did we have to use cannons? Our warriors all wear armor, and our armor is very good. If the arrow can penetrate, we will kill it." Kill the craftsmen. Just charge forward and let those Bukhara retreat, they are all cowards."

While talking, another burst of gunfire came from the opposite side. After looking around, I saw that two more cannons had been shot down, and the Bukhara gunners who were still busy had scattered and ran away. The quasi-unit supervising team rushed over, hacked two to death with knives, and whipped the rest back with whips, shouting: "Go back, go back!"

Lenat was convinced that the artillery gap was too big. In previous battles between the Quasi-Party and the Kazakhs, his artillery had the advantage. When fighting the Russians, the Russians don't have much artillery here.

Dace Lingdun Dobu looked at Lenat and said with relief: "It's not your fault. The Han army's cannons have always been very good. They have more craftsmen and more money. Then, the remaining small cannons and mortars Where are the cannons? Should they be dispersed in front of the formation, or should they be used together with the camel cannon?"

Lenat didn't know what to do. In previous battles with the Kazakhs, the Kazakhs did not have such strong artillery, so his artillery always had the advantage.

Now that he had no power to fight back at all, he thought about it and said: "When we Swedes fight, we allocate small artillery to the battalion for support. Then separate it. The remaining eight-pounder cannons retreat to the back and wait for opportunities to use them again. "

Ling Dunduobu, the great strategist, knew that if the bombardment continued, his artillery skills would be lost, so he agreed with Lenat's opinion.

"Then retreat. When I attack the Chinese army later, I will find an opportunity to attack again. We can still fight without cannons. The Han army doesn't even have armor, they only have muskets, and they don't even have spearmen to cover them. Let's shoot at each other for a while, and we should be able to get away with a dash."

boom……

There was another round of artillery bombardment. This time the artillery did not bombard the artillerymen who were retreating, but bombarded the arquebusiers arrayed on the south side.

Twelve-pound shells can directly penetrate seven or eight people, and a camel carrying a revolving cannon is directly blown to pieces.

The cannonball hadn't stopped yet. After rolling on the ground twice, it was blocked by a stone and jumped up, creating a path of blood.

Dace Lingdun Dobu was not suspicious. According to his experience, artillery could not kill too many people in the field, and the quasi-quarters did not have a dense array of spears like Dashun. It seemed that there was no need to worry too much about the damage of the artillery shells.

It looks scary and bloody, but in fact not many people die at one time, but the blow to morale is greater.

"Let the musketeers in the south move forward and shoot with them. The warriors in armor wait, shoot for a while and then rush to the south. Let their central army go south to support them."

Dace Lingdun Dobu still insisted on his own tactics.