Chapter 101: 101 Nervous collision
Chapter 101 101 Nervous collision
Of the more than 600 people in Tang Mo, about 70 were forcibly recruited. These 100 people had basically no formal training and were basically "death squads" bought with money.
It's not appropriate to call them a death squad, because they didn't dare to fight to the death. Even when Tang Mo recruited them, he didn't tell them to die.
He recruited menial servants, horsemen, cooks and porters who accompanied the army. In short, these people have no fighting ability.
In addition, in order to cultivate his direct team, he also brought out a youth class with about 40 people. These children also have little fighting ability.
They have only received semi-military training and had shooting training on the way here, so their combat effectiveness is approximately zero.
This part of the Boy Scouts does not fight with regular troops. They follow the artillery unit, learn how to operate artillery, observe the war and get used to the atmosphere of war.
In fact, the commanders of the combat platoons composed of these children were elected by the parents of the students. The purpose of their coming here is not to fight, but to supervise Tang Mo and prevent these children from being abandoned on the battlefield at the critical moment.
It is obviously unrealistic to expect these children to fight, so the only ones Tang Mo can really fight are dozens of artillerymen, three infantry companies that have been trained seriously and have seen blood, 40 cavalry and some elite hunters.
So, to be precise, this army only has more than 500 people at full strength. Excluding the dozens of artillery loaders who are almost making up the number, it may not even be satisfied with 500 people.
Such a unit only arrived at Sanchakou a few hours ago, and the artillery did not have time to survey the site or test fire.
In terms of weapons, they do have the most advanced artillery and rifles in the world, but apart from the weapons, they are just new recruits.
This is also the reason why they fired a salvo the first time they fired, and also why the first salvo missed.
Standing on the artillery position, Redman angrily yelled at several ashamed officers, pointed at the black smoke rising in the distance and shouted: "It's so far away, how can you miss it?"
He wanted to kick him and asked through gritted teeth: "Aren't you bragging that you can hit more than 3 kilometers? Are you bragging?"
That’s 6 cannonballs! Do you know how much that shell costs? Tang Mo had boasted to them on the way, saying that these artillerymen were all precious little things, hard-earned golden eggs!
According to valuation calculations, these cannons are only trial production and have not yet been mass-produced. The materials are melted and then recast with great effort, so the price of each one is sky-high.
The unit price of a cannon is 300 gold coins. According to the previous calculation of the Earl of Beiling's family, he could only buy five cannons if he went bankrupt. However, Tang Mo is now equipped with six cannons.
Each shell and the fuse were hand-made by senior skilled workers such as Matthews, and the fuses of more than a dozen of them were assembled by Tang Mo himself—this kind of thing is so delicate that one fuse costs 3 gold coins. above.
This does not include the shell body, primer propellant and other costs. Even if Tang Mo got the cost price, these shells could never be said to be cheap.
What's even worse is that these shells are not easy to make. If the war had not broken out and the disadvantage was obvious, Tang Mo would not have been willing to reveal that he had such a killer weapon at this time.
Several artillery commanders were extremely ashamed after being scolded. They also knew how expensive the weapons in their hands were. As a result, all such expensive items missed the target, which really made them blush.
On the other side, Redman was still pointing at the black smoke raised by the explosion in the distance and yelled: "I trust you so much! I'll let you fire a volley when I come up! What's the result! Show me! What the hell!" Missed!"
Actually, the reason why he shouted so loudly was that he was frightened by this weapon. Before this, he had never heard of a cannon that could shoot out and explode...
The shock this thing gave him was so great that even if it was a weapon under his command, he couldn't help but feel fear and awe.
According to Tang Mo, this thing is the **** of war, the "truth" of the future, the voice when reasoning, and the most vicious tone when swearing.
So, involuntarily, Redman felt even more distressed, because history is destined to record today's colorful event, and he will also be "famous in history" with the six shells that were shot away.
Obviously, he will be known to everyone and God in a shameful way: the human breech-loading cannon was put into actual combat for the first time, and no one hit in the first shot. The commander...the stupid pig Redman.
Thinking of this, he became even more irritated and angry. He poked his fingers in the direction of the explosion: "Do you want some face? Do you want some face?"
"Don't do calculations all at once! Calculate each gun crew separately! Check the parameters carefully! Fire separately! Don't miss it again!" In the end, in order to let them continue firing quickly, Redman ended his lecture: "Quickly ! Prepare for the second round of bombardment!”
"Yes!" The nearest officer turned around and saw the gunner standing next to the cannon he was in charge of. He shouted angrily: "What are you looking at? Quickly correct it! Quick!" "Let the Boy Scouts also count. ! Don't make this mistake again! Hurry up!" Another officer walked back to his cannon position and yelled with the same shame.
Of course, apart from themselves, the other ones who were shocked were the Susus troops who had lined up to fight.
These Sussus soldiers, who had not received too strict training in the first place, were frightened by the sudden explosion behind them.
The first impression of many people is that these explosions were explosives that had been buried on the roadbed in advance. This is one of the few ways they can reasonably explain the explosions.
After all, although there are some explosive shells these days, not even these new soldiers, not even their commander, have seen such powerful explosive shells.
Therefore, these soldiers secretly let out a sigh of relief: What a danger, it must be the explosives planted by the enemy in advance. They did not detonate when they crossed the road just now. It is definitely the blessing of God.
Of course, they were actually blessed by the gods, because if the gods had not protected them, their place might have been covered by six howitzer shells.
"Bang!" When a Susas soldier finally came to his senses, looked away from the explosion on the roadbed, and then looked behind him, he suddenly discovered two slender battle lines of the soldiers from Beiling. The line is already close at hand.
Hence, the panicked Susa soldier did not wait for an order, he pulled the trigger and fired a shot at the queue of Tang Mo's new army camp in the distance.
This shot also reminded more Susas soldiers of the fact that there were two rows of enemy soldiers walking towards them in neat steps.
"Don't fire! They are still some distance away! Don't fire!" A Sussian officer, hoping to stop his own soldiers who were already panicking, shouted loudly in the queue with his long sword raised.
The confidants of General Tucci, who were standing in their own positions, had also come to their senses at this time. He now simply judged his battlefield situation and found that the advantage was still in his own hands.
On the one hand, although the enemy's artillery was a bit strange and the explosions made him uneasy, after all, this round of shelling had passed.
According to the theoretical reloading speed, it is estimated that it will take a few minutes for the enemy artillery behind to fire again.
The other side has obviously not experienced a battle, and there is an obvious gap in the coordination between infantry and artillery—their infantry is still halfway there, and when both sides get closer, the other side may not be ready for the second round of artillery bombardment.
In addition, there was another thing that made him gradually feel relieved - the fool commanding the infantry on the other side didn't seem to have much combat experience.
Under normal circumstances, the attacking teams will be arranged in three rows, or simply attack directly in a square formation. This can ensure the density of firepower and ensure that one's own soldiers will not collapse immediately due to losses.
Obviously the opponent's commander did not realize this. The opponent only had two horizontal rows. Although there were two square formations, there were only two horizontal rows, which looked extremely thin.
Such a thin battle line can be penetrated by just one salvo, and the opponent's formation will be completely scattered, and there will be no decent combat effectiveness at all.
With these two advantages, Tucci's confidants felt that he could still hold the battle line. However, the explosion just now still made him a little panicked.
So, he grabbed a signal soldier next to him and asked nervously: "Where are the signal soldiers sent out to urge reinforcements just now? Have they set off? Have they already sent the message to Lord Tucci?"
The signal soldier shook his head. He was not a god, so how could he know where his colleagues who had set off first had arrived at this moment.
The situation on the battlefield changes rapidly. The man may die on the way, he may not find Twitch, or he may sprain his foot and get lost... He knows where he is going.
"You! Go now! Go quickly! Go and urge him again! Tell General Tucci what's going on here! Hurry! Go now!" He let go of his hand, and the signal soldier immediately turned around and ran back.
On the other side of the battlefield, Tang Mo, who was following the team and moving forward step by step, saw a cloud of white smoke rising from the enemy formation in the distance and a sharp gunshot. No one fell. Down.
He breathed a sigh of relief and shouted loudly to encourage all the soldiers: "Hold on! Gentlemen! Our tenacity is like the steel of Beiling! Our blood can ignite the coals of Beiling!"
“This is our home! A home that no one can take away! Let these **** taste the taste of our North Ridge bullets!” He waded through the weeds step by step, watching the opponent’s phalanx getting closer and closer. He chatted tirelessly, trying to relax himself as much as possible.
(End of this chapter)