Since ancient times, the common people had a great interest in joining in the fun. During the Republic of China, the Sichuan army attacked Wuhan. The common people of Wuhan actually brought benches and melon seeds out of the city to watch. The Sichuan army actually did not win.
The Revolutionary Army held a public martial arts practice to show their military strength to all sides. He had to watch this show, he had to. For this reason, when the news spread from one to ten, and from ten to a hundred, countless people rushed over in various ways. Ever since the Revolutionary Army occupied Tianjin, the local people felt that their days were really exciting. The liveliness that they had not seen for thousands of years came one after another.
The news of the martial arts practice even spread to Tongzhou. Governor Xiong Tingbi, who was in charge of Tongzhou, was also interested. He also wanted to know to what extent the enemy in the south had developed. But he could not easily leave the central command, so he asked Sun Yuanhua, who had been to Tianjin before, to make a trip to investigate the military situation.
Sun Yuanhua went to Tianjin once, and now he had become the Ming court's anti-traitor. The imperial court would often consult him on various policies against the enemy. But consultation was consultation, whether or not they needed his advice was another matter. Sun Yuanhua also felt that this was a rare opportunity for Xiong Tingbi to give orders. The Revolutionary Army's ability to govern the place was already indisputable, but the military strength of their army was still confusing.
Sun Yuanhua wanted to go, and his teacher Xu Guangqi also wanted to go and see. This was because the communication between the north controlled by the Ming court and Tianjin was actually very close, and they had never heard of any insecurity. The highly efficient Revolutionary Army could even provide more goods to the capital than before. As long as there was money, anything could be discussed.
So the teacher and the teacher traveled along the canal to Tianjin. In the end, they met Old Li who came to Tianjin to see the Grand Marshal and give him a gift. The high-ranking officials of the court and the old farmers from the countryside gathered together and sat together to watch the martial arts practice.
In the previous battle in Tongzhou, Liu Gu's tens of thousands of troops suffered heavy casualties from the Revolutionary Army's artillery. The people who collected the corpses afterwards were all horrified and described the enemy's artillery as' rotten place '.
Sun Yuanhua was very interested in the art of making artillery. He had long wanted to see what the enemy's artillery looked like. Looking at it today, it was indeed extraordinary. After the battle of Tongzhou, the guards discovered that the Type-1617 short-barreled heavy cannons that were originally used for emergencies were actually designed to be very useful.
This imitation of the 'Napoleon Mountain Pomegranate' was very light. The entire cannon only weighed about 300 kilograms and could be dragged by a carriage driven by two horses. The carriage could also accommodate an entire squad of cannons and a certain number of cannon charges. It was very easy to maneuver on the battlefield. If the road was difficult to travel on, they could dismantle the cannons and transport them with animal power. It would not take much effort.
Zhao Ze was making slight improvements to this light cannon. He changed the cannon barrel from casting to forging, lengthening the barrel to 1.2 meters and thinning it to reduce its weight. He also added a steering mechanism to make it easier to operate. This way, the maximum range could be increased to 700 meters, which was basically the limit of visual range. The improved cannons were named the '1617 Armor' Type Battalion Cannons and were mass-produced.
At this moment, the three infantry phalanxes on the training field formed a battalion. Together with a cavalry platoon responsible for communication, reconnaissance, detour and pursuit, as well as two cannon platoons specially used to deal with the enemy phalanxes and fortifications, this was an independent combat unit.
Gao Daniu and the others who were previously commanders were all demoted and kicked out to command this' synthetic battalion '. Due to their poor basic qualities, these so-called 'high ranking officers' had trained for a few months, but their combat ability was still terrible. There was no hope for mobile combat. Once they moved, they would be like sheep that could not be controlled. It was better for them to honestly line up and shoot.
However, Sun Yuanhua did not know anything about this. He only saw that these light cannons could be pulled by carriages and felt that it was an eye-opener. Moreover, the caliber of these short-barreled heavy cannons was especially large. From his point of view, this was a 'General Cannon' that weighed more than a thousand kilograms. Daming's General Cannon did not even have a mount, let alone a carriage. They were mounted on large wooden boxes.
Their mobility was basically zero.
According to standard tactics, the infantry phalanxes would be arranged in a single line while the cannons would form a crossfire on the two sides. However, there was no way to 'cross' them on the training field today. Once the crossfire was fired, a large number of people who were watching the show would die. Moreover, for the sake of appearance, the two doors were placed at the front. The artillerymen got off the carriage with their shovels and dug a pit on the spot to build a firing position. They mainly dug a slope for the cannons to reset.
If they had to reset it manually, the artillerymen would be half dead from exhaustion.
Sun Yuanhua stared closely at every move of the Revolutionary Army's artillerymen. He could not help but secretly take out a small notebook to try to record. However, his teacher, Xu Guangqi, gently shook his head, meaning not to attract too much attention, otherwise, it would cause trouble.
In a quarter of an hour, the cannons were built. There were already two mounds about 300 meters away from the cannons. They were the targets. The artillery commander on the spot kept shouting. The onlookers saw the artillerymen begin to load the cannons. All the steps were methodical and not messy at all.
Someone among the onlookers shouted excitedly, "They're going to fire, they're going to fire. Open your eyes and look carefully. These cannons are aimed at the big mound in front. They will hit it in one shot. It's definitely a good look! "
Sun Yuanhua wished he could personally run to the two heavy cannons and take a closer look at the details of these important military weapons. He saw the Revolutionary Army's artillerymen easily adjust the muzzle height and left and right direction by turning the dial. This was something that Daming's cannons never had. Even Tessie's cannons didn't have this ability now. Aiming the cannons was a very complicated thing.
After the loading and aiming was completed, the command sounded again. Most of the artillerymen near the cannons turned their heads and covered their ears to avoid the muzzle blast and loud noise when the cannons were fired. Only the artillerymen who were responsible for igniting inserted the ignition rod into the fire door at the breech of the cannon. With a boom, the gun carriage drove the barrel to recoil violently. It slid all the way along the solid slope to eliminate the recoil.
Wow …
The audience immediately shouted. Countless people were frightened by the sound of the cannons firing. Their hearts were beating wildly and their faces were pale. Some people felt dizzy while covering their hearts. They even stumbled and could not stand steadily. But firing the cannons wasn't over. The hot cannonball shot out of the barrel and bounced on the ground. After floating for a while, it accurately hit the mound 300 meters away.
A pack of black gunpowder was buried in the mound in advance. After being hit, it exploded on the spot. Another explosion shook the heavens, and the mound of earth exploded into pieces. White smoke and soil scattered in all directions, covering an area of dozens of meters. The surrounding people were already shouting loudly because of the sound of the cannons. Their throats were already in their throats. When they saw the explosion again, their hearts were about to fly out.
The audio-visual effect of the scene was superb!
Some people were mesmerized, some were frightened, and some even fainted on the spot. Without the baptism of the movies and television of the later generations, even thunder could scare people to death, let alone thunder that was so close to them.
Old Li let out a loud howl and was so scared that his whole body trembled. Xu Guangqi and Sun Yuanhua, who were beside him, were both frightened by this mysterious explosion. They also felt their hairs stand on end and shuddered. In their opinion, the cannons of the 'Revolutionary Army' were too powerful. Not only were they accurate, but they also destroyed a mound with one shot.
If they were to attack the city, wouldn't it be a matter of firing a few more cannons? No one could withstand it!
"This, this, this …" Xu Guangqi turned his head and looked at Sun Yuan Hua. He was panic-stricken. Sun Yuan Hua was also inexplicably horrified. He quickly reached out to support his teacher, but he could not think of any comforting words.
After one cannon fired, the other cannon fired again. The entire martial arts field was once again filled with exclamations. Everyone was satisfied. Everyone felt that they didn't come in vain today. Just the sound of the cannons firing was enough for them to brag for a lifetime.
Both cannons fired a solid bullet each and then exited the field. Next, the chest-armored cavalrymen whizzed forward and waved their sabers to cut some erected wooden targets. Due to the appearance of the cannons, these fierce cavalrymen made people feel that they were not powerful enough.
However, in the opinion of Xu Guangqi who had witnessed the martial arts practice of the Ming Army, if these Revolutionary Army cavalrymen really went to the battlefield, they would definitely be a force that could not be ignored. No matter who fought against them, they had to be careful of the harassment and attacks of these terrifying cavalrymen.
After the cavalry practice, the three infantry phalanxes that had been standing still began to move forward. They entered the battlefield under the crowd's gaze. Then, the three rows of gunners began to take turns to shoot. Their target was several rows of wooden targets within a hundred meters.
Bang, bang, bang … The dense and orderly sound of gunfire sounded one after another. White smoke kept coming out in front of the formation. The wooden targets in front of the formation were shot into pieces and fell down continuously. Sun Yuan Hua counted carefully and found that these gunners could basically fire one round in twenty breaths, or three volleys of gunfire in one minute.
Under such firepower, it was impossible to use cold weapons to attack them. Sun Yuan Hua whispered to his teacher, "The Revolutionary Army first used the cannons to break the formation, then used the cavalrymen to harass, and finally used the gunners to attack in turn. In this way, who in the world can fight against them? Even if they rush to the front of this phalanx by relying on the number of people, they still have two rows of long spears in thick armor. There's no need to be afraid at all. "
Sun Yuan Hua hoped that his teacher could use his rich life experience to give him a clear path. However, Xu Guangqi himself was shocked by the cannons of the Revolutionary Army to the point that his mind was in a mess. How could he have any ideas to talk about? He even sighed and shook his head. Even his eyes were wet and inexplicably sorrowful. He shouted, "We can't win. We really can't win. Supervisor Xiong spent hundreds of thousands of taels of silver from the imperial court, but he still can't win. "
Both the teacher and the teacher were in low spirits. They didn't have the mood to continue watching. They didn't even have time to say goodbye to Old Li. They supported each other to find their servants and prepared to go back to where they came from. They didn't have the mood to think about other things.
However, when Xu and Sun came out of the martial arts field, they suddenly found that there was a crowd around them. In front of them, there was a beautiful woman who was surrounded by a large number of servants and military police. They realized that something was wrong and hurriedly dodged to the left and right.
However, this woman took the initiative to step forward and slightly bowed to the teacher and the teacher. She said with a smile, "Mr. Xu, Mr. Sun, I'm Madam Zhou Wen. Under the order of my husband, I've come to invite you two talents into the mansion for a chat."
Xu Guangqi and Sun Yuan Hua were so scared that their legs trembled and they panicked when they heard their names being called out. Xu Guangqi forced himself to calm down. He saw that this woman was dressed luxuriously and had a gentle temperament. He hurriedly cupped his hands and asked, "May I know who your husband is? We don't have any good friends in Tianjin. "
The woman smiled. "My husband is the Grand Marshal of the Revolutionary Army, Zhou Qingfeng. He has been friends with the two of you for a long time. When Mr. Xu set off from Tongzhou, my husband said that he couldn't let you go easily this time. The people who took care of the ship along the way are all my husband's men. So, I hope the two of you will do me the honor and come with me. "
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