The Last Frontier of Fire and Sword

Artillery changed the form of siege warfare in the history of world wars not in 1453, but in 1446.

This year, 7 years before the fall of Constantinople, Muhammad II’s father Murad II used a cannon to attack one of the few remaining provinces in the Byzantine Empire-Peloponnese. Province.

Here, Constantine XI built a 6-mile-long wall on the Isthmus of Corinth, extending from the west coast to the east coast, blocking the peninsula completely.

But Murad II used a long-barreled artillery to attack the wall and broke it in just 5 days.

Constantine XI almost lost his life and barely escaped.

After that, in 1453, Mohammed II used the Urban Cannon to smash the city wall of Constantinople, which has not fallen for thousands of years, and turned it into Istanbul, the capital of the Ottoman Turkish Empire.

The power of the giant artillery shocked everyone, including the Russians.

In other words, since that time, the Russians have gone forever on the road of "stupid, black and rough".

After several failed attacks, on this day Prince Alexei finally sacrificed his weapon, the unparalleled stone cannon.

The artillery was preparing for the launch of the artillery. The gunpowder is loaded into the barrel, and then a wooden plug is filled into the barrel and pressed with an iron rod.

Then, the gunners used a set of lever tools to lift the stone bullet to the front of the cannon and carefully fill it into the barrel.

Although the shells are required to be designed to match the barrel, the caliber is actually difficult to completely match. Therefore, the gunner wrapped a layer of silk on the shells to enhance airtightness as much as possible.

Next, the gunners adjusted the pitch angle by using wooden wedges to bolster the high turret.

A group of serfs put the huge wooden beam in place behind the cannon and pressed the wooden beam with stones to absorb recoil.

After more than three hours of preparation, gunpowder was filled into the fire door, and the shooting preparation was completed.

At 10 o'clock in the morning on May 8th, the Russian gunners brought the torch close to the fire gate, and the monster uttered its first roar since the war began.

After the gunpowder was ignited, there was a terrible roar in an instant, and the ground under his feet vibrated violently, spreading to the distance, and the noise was unheard of.

The wooden stopper was rushed out by the hot explosion of dry air, and the stone bullet was pushed out by the powerful impact. The incredible power drove the stone bullets whizzing away, hitting the sharp corner on the side of the triangular fort.

Immediately, the sharp corner was shattered, and a **** paved with rubble and broken bricks was created in front of the triangular fort.

With just one shell producing such an amazing effect, Prince Alexei nodded with satisfaction.

After the smoke from the muzzle cleared, the gunners hurriedly returned to their running positions. One of them was to reset the cannon and check whether the wooden beams under the tail of the gun were loose.

This is one of the most important tasks that must be done. Because once the wooden beam is loose, the next time the gun is fired, the huge recoil of the cannon will rush backwards like a violent bull, thus leaving the fort, causing casualties and even bombing.

The other team of gunners carefully checked the barrel. Because the high temperature generated by the explosion of gunpowder will produce hairline cracks in the metal that is not pure enough. In order to control this problem, the gunner must immediately soak the cracks in the barrel with warm lard and butter after the shells are fired to prevent air from entering and expanding the cracks.

The work of the artillery is over, and it's time for the infantry to enter the field.

The trumpeter blew the offensive horn. More than a thousand Russian soldiers carried cotton bags that filled the trenches on their backs and screamed "Ula! Ula". They jumped out of several trenches and rushed toward the trenches.

The bags were thrown into the trench.

The defenders of the Triangular Fort were dizzy by the huge artillery bombing, and many people were beaten to blood by the fragmented rocks. But at this time, the Russian soldiers were filling the trenches at a speed visible to the naked eye. Regardless of the dust and bleeding wounds, they started shooting at the enemy one after another.

The gunfire sounded. One after another Russian soldiers bloomed with blood-colored red flowers on their chests, and then fell to the ground.

However, under the impetus of the officers and the supervising team, they were still defying death in filling the trenches, and even the dead comrades became tools for filling the trenches.

After paying nearly a hundred casualties, the trench was nearly half buried. Those wooden sticks and triangle nails were all buried by debris.

"Woo, woo!" the trumpeter wailed again.

The Russian soldiers filling in the trenches heard the trumpet like an amnesty. They turned their heads and ran back into the trenches.

"Everywhere! The Russians are about to attack." Piedro reminded loudly, leaning against a breast wall.

And his bat was wrapping his wound with gauze-a fragment of a flying stone bullet rubbed Pidro's forehead and took away a piece of flesh.

That Ma Bian was a recruit. He was frightened by the giant artillery just now. The action of bandaging the wound was also light and heavy for a while, which made Pidro feel painful from time to time.

"You!" Piedro shouted to his horse, "Go back to Fort Konotop and ask the team leader to immediately transfer a team of Cossack sailors and German two-handed swordsmen. Do you hear clearly?"

The Mabian nodded in fear.

After the horse was gone, Pidro shouted again: "Fill the musket with gunpowder, and the enemy is coming up soon!"

But Pedro's expected attack did not come right away. The Russians "cleaned" the triangular fort with a fierce fire.

The shelling lasted more than an hour.

The breast wall and sandbags of the triangular fort were crushed, and the shooting port became a pile of ruins. However, under the suppression of artillery fire, the defenders in the triangle fort could not make any repairs to the gap.

"These Russians are really getting better and better." Pidro cursed.

At this time, the third horn sounded. The sound of the cannon stopped, followed by the sound of footsteps from thousands of pairs of leather boots stomping on the ground.

The Russian New Army Musketeers in red uniforms came to the position armed with heavy arquebus and long axes.

They lined up in five rows, then inserted the tail end of the long axe on the ground, and set the matchlock gun on the long axe.

After the first row is fired, retreat to the back to load the ammunition, and then fire the bullet in the second row. Again and again, again and again, three and five.

The New Army Musketeers placed their shooting target on the sharp corner of the triangular fort that was destroyed by the giant artillery-an offensive point that was conducive to climbing.

"Prepare, prepare. This time they are really going to attack." Piedro shouted.

"Deputy Captain Pidro, here we are."

At this moment, a team of German two-handed swordsmen and Cossack sailors led by Xie Miao came to support the triangular fort through the channel connecting with the triangular fort.

"Very good!"

Seeing the reinforcements arrived, Pidro slapped his thigh happily.

"You will get ready for the gap right away. When the Russians rush up, the Cossacks and sailors will give them a pistol. Then the German swordsmen will use their swords to chop. Remember, if the ones who come up are wearing mirror armors. Boyer cavalry holding a steel shield, they will use a steel shield to protect their face and body, you use the sword to chop their feet." Pidro said.

This is the experience that Pedro summed up in the battle of Smolensk. He hopes it can still be applied here in Konotop.

After a volley, the cavalry commander Alexei Vorotensky led an offensive team of 300 men, composed of dismounted Russian pistols, noble cavalry, and Boyer cavalry, and launched an attack toward the gap.

They quickly climbed up the gap, and the pistol cavalry rushed to the front.

After boarding the triangle fort, these soldiers wearing breastplates will carry out a fire-powered cleaning of the enemies near the gap with their pistols.

After the sharp corner of the triangular fort was destroyed, the gap left by it was not big nor small, just enough for five people to walk side by side.

The three pistol cavalry took the lead to climb the triangle fort, but they raised their heads and were about to raise their guns to shoot at the enemies that were bound to appear around them, but saw a swordsman with a flame sword strode in front of them with a slash.

The three heads fell to the ground.

Immediately afterwards, the three headless corpses came back.

"There is an ambush! Be careful, be careful." The Russian under the gap yelled in panic.

Then, a burst of gunfire sounded. This is the pistol cavalry blindly shooting at the gap ~ www.wuxiaspot.com ~ About five meters behind the gap, twenty German two-handed swordsmen fell to the ground on one knee, their flame swords and two-handed swords slanted. Pointing forward at 45 degrees, and behind them were fifty Cossack sailors standing with guns.

After the Russian pistol cavalry finished their bullets, they drew their sabers at the urging of Alexei Vorotensky and rushed to the triangle fort again.

This time, it was not Li Jian of the two-handed swordsman who greeted them, but the pistols of the Cossack sailors.

Seven more Russian pistols fell. But this time, the Russians finally rushed into the gap and fought with the defenders of the Triangle Fort.

In close combat, defenders with better armor quality have the advantage. Although even Pidro was amazed by the bravery of the Russians in the line of fire, their mirror armor and breastplate were at a disadvantage when facing the full-body plate armor of the German two-handed swordsman. What's more, the defenders also have big killers such as "pipe organ" platoon guns and giant shotguns.

A "pipe organ" platoon gun and giant shotgun can be loaded with 30 to 50 bullets. The effect of these bullets at close range is amazing-they are extremely penetrating, and a lead bullet hits a person's body. An armored Boyer cavalry can not only directly penetrate the Boyer cavalry’s shield and body, but also penetrate the person standing behind him, and then kill another person until the power of the gunpowder is exhausted.

A lead bomb can kill two or three people at the same time.

Finally, after four hours of fierce battle, the Russian commandos were driven out of the gap.

The scorching sun shone on the city wall, but it suddenly quieted down. Only the occasional groan of the dying man lying in the trench and in the triangular fort broke the calm. The defending army finally collapsed to the ground like a dead man after experiencing a deadly battle from seven in the morning to four in the afternoon.